Note these are not my videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ1BLokxOlU

@12:34 - Discussing the differences and uses between Garuda and Ifrit.

@19:43 - Talking about the validity in adding Thunder to your dot lineup. Main argument against it is that it isn't affected by Fester. Wondering if his observations here are accurate since a lot of SMNs seem to say to take it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diROOR4VZKg

Side-by-side comparison of Garuda to Ifrit. Seems Ifrit is way ahead of Garuda in terms of raw damage till you factor in enemy defenses then they're about even, though the ease of using and keeping Garuda alive makes her generally the winner.

I found it interesting he found Ifrit to benefit from all melee debuff types (blunt, slashing, and piercing) so if you have a melee heavy party and the mob will be affected by multiple melee debuffs it could be better to use him assuming you can keep him alive.

Thoughts?