SS - Corran Horn (Greysentinel365) vs Kyle Katarn (MasterCilghal)

• Feats take precedent over directly and indisputably contradicted statements.
  
  
• Quotes are binding and have no expiration date unless directly or subtextually contradicted. For the latter, such a case must be made within the debate itself.
  
  
• All letter or number statistics ascribed to characters from C-Canon sources, including role-playing games and trading cards, are banned.
  
  

Fury wrote:“Masters Horn and Katarn have volunteered. I am also willing to lead it. But I haven’t assigned a mission leader yet…because I think you should lead it.”

Fury wrote:He thought about it a long moment. “Here’s my decision. Master Katarn will lead this mission.”

"What about these impulses?" Kyle Katarn asked. With brown hair, brown eyes, and a tan shirt tucked into brown breeches, he looked like a farmer about to return to his fields instead of one of the Jedi order's most famous and skilled members. "Are you talking about Force impulses?"
Source: Dark Nest I: The Joiner King

Dark forces: Jedi Knight wrote:The Jedi accessed the knowledge gained from the long-dead Tal, blocked the mental strike and answered with an attack of his own. He launched a head cut from the third position, flexed his wrist, and extended his arm. Though a good deal lighter than its metal counterpart, the Jedi energy weapon possessed similar characteristics. It could penetrate like a rapier and cut like a saber. A double-edged saber.

Sariss blocked the mental blow, wondered where Katarn had garnered such knowledge, and found herself under attack.

In the novel legacy of the force: fury, when Luke decides to send a group of jedi to take down Caedus, Kyp Durron, Corran Horn and Kyle Katarn offer themselves as possible candidates to lead the Jedi strike team: 

Jaina dipped her head in acknowledgment, then spun to meet her next attacker-and found Luke picking his way toward her. His lightsaber was already deactivated, and his expression was serene, as though fighting Sith at three-to-one odds was only meditation for him. Following a step behind him was Ben. The young man looked a bit awestruck, but he was spattered with enough blood to suggest he had not been idle.
 
In the opposite direction, Jaina found Corran coming to join them. His nose was wrinkled at the stench of so much death, but he seemed no more troubled by the fight than did Luke

- LotF Fury

While Katarn ultimately proved himself Caedus’ inferior and was unable to defeat him, there is no indication Corran would have done any better.

  Kyle Katarn, thanks to his experience as an imperial stormtrooper, a rebel agent and a Jedi Knight (during which he defeated several opponents who employed extremely unorthodox styles of combat, such as Jerec’s dark jedi) is an extremely versatile duelist, who employs all lightsaber styles and creates a unique fighting style by mixing them: 

Under Vader's relentless tutelage, the Apprentice all but perfected the fine art of lightsaber combat and learned to wield many fearsome dark side powers.

- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia

Shaak Ti is a Master of Makashi and Ataru forms in addition to her legendary strength in the Force. Known far and wide as a cunning and serene Jedi, only the most skilled of the Order could stand against her!
- The Clone Wars Adventures

The Jedi revere Shaak Ti as one of the highest of their Order and among the most accomplished in lightsaber combat.
- The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide

Out of the cloud of metal fragments leapt a second of the Emperor's Sith assassins, saber-staff upraised. The apprentice met him with a clash of sparks and lightning.
Sith against Sith, they fought backward and forward through the broad, metal-lined space. This assassin was more proficient than the first, wiry and strong with a good reach and penchant for telekinetically throwing items from inside the apprentice's blind spot. He proved to be tough work until the apprentice wrenched the next giant fan off its gimbals and sent it spinning through the air. The black guard seemed so stunned by the sight of it that he didn't jump until it was too late. One spinning blade took his right leg off at the knee. From then, the fight was over.
- TFU Novel

None would be trained sufficiently to be a threat to Darth Bane's insistence that there only be two Sith, nor would they be a threat to Darth Sidious or his apprentice Darth Vader. The most powerful of these agents were 'only' Sith adepts but would appear to be almost as dark Jedi - the likes of Asajj Ventress, Mara Jade or Inquisitor Valin (in fact a fallen Jedi). The lesser agents were reduced to still-deadly faceless minions. Amongst their ranks were the Shadow Guard.


- Starships and Vehicles Collection #63

LUKE AND KAM: (grunting with effort)
 
KAM: DIE, SKYWALKER!!!
 
LUKE: You cannot defeat me, Dark Jedi.
 
KAM: If I do not (grunts), others will follow (slash)!! I-- uhh--am one of many! The Emperor's Dark Side warriors will find you!
 
LUKE: Uhh!! If you kill me-unn--I will gain powers beyond your imagination.

KAM: Your Jedi delusions mean nothing--uhn--to me!! 

- Dark Empire II script

This fact is made all that more damning because we actually saw very little of each other. In the mornings we would run together, then Luke would concentrate on working with Mara much as he had Kyp. That left Kam instructing the rest of us. After lunch we would listen to more Jedi lore from the Holocron, then Mara and I would practice with the lightsaber. While I was not her equal with the shimmering blade, we would have been closely enough matched to seriously hurt each other, so Kam just pitted us against remotes.


- I, Jedi

Full match:

The Empire's deadliest agent married to the Rebel Alliance's greatest hero. The irony is thick, but many on both sides relish the symbolism.

- The New Essential Guide to Characters

The flesh around her eyes tightened. "My Imperial training directed me toward using dark-side techniques for tapping the Force. I let emotions fuel what I did. I came here thinking Luke would show me new things I could do, new abilities to learn, but what he did instead was show me how to employ the light side. I'm still doing the same things, but I have a new fuel source."


- I, Jedi

Katarn has proven against opponents such as Desann and Sariss that he can deal with mental attacks, in the former case defeating the dark jedi whom we see using his illusions in jedi outcast 

In the latter, Katarn was able to defend from a mental attack and counter with his own: 

Kyle swallowed, knowing his opponent was more experienced than he, and then suddenly reeled under the impact of a mental attack. 

- Dark Forces: Jedi Knight

First, he won’t be attempting to use force lightning against Corran, as he knows very well it would just ackfire on him.

"You want me, come get me."

 
The Yuuzhan Vong took a step forward, and Corran cranked his right wrist around. The throttle assembly twisted, swapping a diamond for an emerald in the lightsaber's interior assembly. The energy beam narrowed and went from silver to purple, then more than doubled in length. The blade's tip stabbed deep through the younger Vong's left eye socket.


- Dark Tide Onslaught

Not once. But twice in your opener your points fall apart from failure to read the larger context of the book, or even the passage.

Fury wrote:“Actually, it’s a plan for a mission against Jacen. A capture-or-neutralize,” he said, his lightsaber flashing at Luke.
“Neutralize.” Luke frowned. He circled Kyp, trying to put him in the middle of their three-way exchange, but Cilghal paced him so that Luke remained in the center. “Meaning ‘kill.’”
Kyp nodded, not repentant. “This isn’t a mission of assassination, Luke. But if the capture isn’t clean, if the choice is to run away and leave him in charge of the Alliance or finish him then and there…”

Hmmmm so when it came to actually taking down Caedus and not placing a piece of cloth, Luke sends Kyle to get stabbed and wants Corran and Kyp Durron with him as backup.

Fury wrote:“The cargo compartments of their StealthXs were loaded with equipment especially chosen and crafted for this mission—which originally entailed having the squadron creep up close to the Anakin Solo as it waited in space, then launching a salvo of engine-crippling proton torpedoes and having most of the Jedi divert retaliatory attacks and starfighters while Luke and Kyp, laden with equipment, secretly boarded and tried to reach Jacen.”

Backlash wrote:He might have been a match for an expert swordsmaster such as Kyp or Kyle Katarn.

And this is not the only time Luke has made such a decision. Such as in Apocalypse where Luke had to pick a strike team to go with him to take down the main shield generator without which the entire planetary assault force would fail. He chose...... Corran over Katarn to accompany him. 

• To my knowledge, the book never mentions that Luke chose Corran personally or, for example, that Corran volunteered for the mission, which is possible considering that it was an extremely high-risk one. 
  
• Jaina, a fighter who, in the past, you have repeatedly labeled as relatively unimpressive and below Luminara Unduli was also part of that mission. 
  
• From what I can understand, it wasn’t just Corran and Luke who were supposed to infiltrate the temple and lower the shield generator, rather it was the goal of the entire jedi strike team, which included several knights. 
  

During this mission Corran not only matched Luke against the Sith Sabers

But fought a prolonged battle against a slew of Sith forces and Abeloth. To the point where all of them were glowing from force energy.

Apocalypse wrote:Korelei—or whoever, whatever she was—raised an arm, and a powerful bolt of Force lightning crackled down the run. Taken by surprise, Corran screamed and went down, then lay on the duct floor convulsing and shaking, swaddled in dancing forks of blue energy and unable to free himself.

(a level of output Kyle cannot and has demonstrated he can match). Kyle got punked easily by injured Caedus.

In the end, Kyle chased the Dark Jedi to the temples of Luke's Jedi academy on Yavin 4, where he and Desann engaged in furious lightsaber battle for a final time. Only Kyle emerged alive from the conflict.
-D20 Desann (credit to @Goat) 

Yoda: Dark Rendevouz wrote:“ Yoda had the dragon’s eyes again: half closed, gleaming under heavy leads. “Strong, strong in the dark side is in this place,” he murmured. “Touch it you can, like a serpent’s belly sliding under your hand.”

“But on Vjun, the force was bent mighty to the dark side.” 

Note that in both fights, Galen had to resort to the force or the environment to overcome the Shadow Guard. He could not defeat them in blade to blade combat. Stalemating in the novel and receiving physical strikes in the comic.

Force unleashed novel wrote:
"What happens if he recognizes you?" Juno had asked him with concern before he left the Rogue Shadow.

"He won't," he had said, remembering the general's burned eyes and the absent scars on his own hands. His body had changed in subtle ways, thanks to Lord Vader. The Force-signature he had possessed over Nar Shaddaa, in the midst of his murderous mission, would be very different from the one he projected now.

Force unleashed novel wrote:
Calm. Reassurance. Hope.
[…] 
He turned his back on Kota, hoping the old man recovered a sufficient sense of self-preservation to look after himself. Not only did his would-be rescuer have to take out the Imperials, but he had to do it without harming any innocent bystanders. That wouldn't look good to anyone schooled in the Jedi ways.

Hey everyone loves this one

There's a relevant name in there. But we haven't even gotten to her yet. The shadow guards are all inferior to Palpatines Sith Adepts/Dark jedi. This would include our lovely friend Vill Goir, a lightsaber teacher and member of Palps Dark Side Elite

Also a member of this elite is Kam Solusar. Who on his own could challenge DE Luke Skywalker. Straining him

Corran then held the edge of Kam in spars consistently

Later, when both were recovering from Vong toxins Corran defeats Mara. Marvelling Luke with their display

On top of this keep in mind Mara Jade was the deadliest of Palpatine's agents.

Including Vader. And this does not relate to her assassination abilities. As notably, Mara could learn nothing new from Post DE Luke's private teachings or anything at the NJO. Whether is be saber or force techniques

Spoiler:

So we finally get back to your not reading/watching things (sorry)

Oh man Kyle just walked through that illusion. What follows after this is a lengthy puzzle section during which Kyle falls for every single one of these three illusions before figuring out how to proceed.

But I'm sure he'll have plenty of time to play puzzle while Corran is stomping him in sabers.

MasterCilghal wrote:While both cases do not indicate him being able to shatter illusions, it’s the experience that Katarn has obtained from them that leads me to believe he can deal with Corran’s distractions, especially when one takes into account he is expecting them, as he knows Corran.

Kyle's mental attack did nothing. And if you had bothered to read one, just one line up

[…]
Ahh to reel, what is it to reel?

Reel: lose one's balance and stagger or lurch violently.
Oh man, so a basic TP attack from Jerec's dark jedi can send Kyle staggering or lurching violently?
Thankyou you Clighal. You have proven Kyle is very vulnerable to Corran's TP for me.

She is one of the most powerful of the seven Dark Jedi, strong in both the physical and mental Force powers.
Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II Game Manual

Corran outmatches Kyle in force reserves, skill and endurance.

If by some miracle Kyle makes it to a direct duel, Mara, has fallen for this dual phase trick as well as noted in the spar above and Corran can beat him directly either way.

Abyss wrote:The exit panel opened. Luke found himself standing faceplate-to-faceplate with four surprised enemies. Two were small and female, and two were large and male. He put a trio of blaster bolts through the largest male’s chest and ignited his lightsaber in the faceplate of the other male, then retreated to the rear of the lift and used the Force to depress the activation lever.

Abyss wrote:Through their vac suit armor, neither of them was taking much damage—but it would not be long before someone slipped, and when that happened, the end would come quickly. Luke continued to strike and counterstrike, his head starting to spin as his air scrubbers strained to keep pace with his exertions and the atmosphere bleeding from his gashed suit. The Sith woman fought like a shenbit, never letting up, never hesitating, never pausing. It was all Luke could do to stay between her and the wall, and he used the Force to keep her trapped in front of him, using her like a shield to keep the girl from slipping around to attack his flanks.

Omen wrote:Lord Vol and I have handpicked a single strike team to bring against this Skywalker. He—”

“I—felt someone very powerful in the Force,” she said, her voice slightly shaky and laced with an uncertainty that Vestara had never before heard from her. It made her stomach clench. “Strong in the power of the light side. A Jedi … a great Master.”

Abyss wrote:Had Lady Rhea not been standing there, Vestara was quite sure that response would have been a Force spike through her own heart.”
“Taking her lead from Lady Rhea, Vestara leaned slightly forward and turned to lock gazes with Xal. It was a terrible affront for a mere apprentice to face a Master in such a manner. And that affront would suggest to the entire crew that Lady Rhea’s power was so great that even her charges felt secure in challenging Xal.”

Allies wrote:"And I select only the strongest and most powerful Sith to accompany me now," said Taalon. "Khai. You and Faal will accompany me."

Ascension wrote:His mind—he wasn’t the way he used to be. I think that’s why I was able to win against him at all—because he wasn’t as focused. He was so proud of being Sith, so proud of what the Lost Tribe had accomplished. Now he’s—he was—blindly following Abeloth.

• Katarn is chosen over Corran before the objective of the mission changes, which is reinforced by Luke choosing Katarn’s equal in Kyp to support him 
  
• Corran’s feat in Apocalypse is impressive, but Katarn has feats of stamina on this level before his prime. 
  
• Corran gets no scaling from Galen Marek or shadow guards.
  
• Katarn’s scaling from the lost tribe places him on a fairly high level in his era.