User blog comment:IamJakuhoRaikoben/Chapter 496: Forward, Review./@comment-1776824-20160801144847

The chapter was probably the biggest, and without a doubt most recent, representation of Mashima's habit of "getting to the point" being put in favor of actually giving his shonen battle manga the "shonen" and "battle" that his fans desperately crave. One of the coolest, most sought-after match-ups was right here, at his fingertips, and he literally blew it with the most nonsense explanation whatsoever, which also only paves the way for Bradman and Wahl to fodderized by lower-tier mages (while this is okay for Bradman, Wahl already had a bullshit defeat). What we will experience is a series of rushed battles for those who already had opponents; they will be defeated off-screen. The only ones who will probably have their own 2-ish chapter fights dedicated to them are August, Larcade and Invel. But what about revenge fights and showing off the strengths we never got to see? Well, Mashima doesn't care, obviously, so why should we.

And in the words of Misk:

[10:32:35 AM] Misk: Lisanna vs Ajeel [10:32:36 AM] Misk: /o/