Responding to your post:

Quote Originally Posted by Zekander View Post
So basically the only reason RDM can magic cleave is because it gets a lot of MAB gear and because SE superbuffed the low tier nukes. Just a year ago RDM would not be able to do that much aoe damage by any means. Yeah, yeah, get with the times, but my point is that aoe is not supposed to be a strength of the RDM job (if it was we would have gotten aoe enfeebles a long long time ago). Whereas Subduction is only one of many of BLU's aoe spells, and I doubt it's the most damaging.
Yes, same is true of Blm, Sch/Blm, Geo/Blm and TBH, with the right support you can probably cleave on silly stuff like Brd and Whm etc, but that wouldn't be particularly efficient. But frankly the main reason Rdm is one of the better jobs for cleaving is because of Phalanx. Blu's mostly not that great at cleaving without it either, wouldn't have been possible for them without Rdm support or Trust, which is a game changer.

Blu's AoE spells traditionally have always been terrible, notable exceptions being Charged Whisker and Subduction, anything else is not nearly as efficient taking MP/Damage/Casting time into account (Embalming Earth/Tempestous Upheaval and Rending Deluge h ave all come about in this last year, and they're not bad, but not superior to Subduction).

And as far as what a job was "meant" to do, Ninja wasn't meant to be a tank, until it was, jobs roles are determined both by the designers and the players. I think both Blu and Rdm would be considered decent cleavers in present day. Rdm better when you don't have an outside source of Phalanx such as trust, Blu better when you do (except on mobs that don't take damage from wind).

As to them being incomparable, there's a grain of truth to that mainly because they're not competing for the same slot in party composition, usually. But I see no problem with comparing their overall merits and overlapping roles when they do occur.