The All-Purpose "Versus" Thread

[TheUltimateNinja]

Is he healed after each match? If so, he should clear, but otherwise he might lose too much stamina to defeat all three Super Saiyan.

Goku (Post Virus) should be able to stop him, healed or not.

Goku stated that he couldn't beat the androids or Cell, after being healed from his heart virus.

Chapter: 366 (DBZ 172), P3.5
Context: after Goku recovers from his illness
Goku: “The way I am now, I definitely can’t beat the androids or this ‘Cell’ guy.”

Is that from Herms' strength checker? Most translations I've seen have Goku saying he thinks he can't beat them, not that he definitely can't. Besides, he can't even sense the androids and he doesn't know Cell's current battle power, but I suppose I'll accept Herms' expertise on this one.

Anyway, that contradicts Grade 3 Goku > Semi Perfect Cell. Unless Cell's gains from absorbing millions of people and 17 were minimal, Grade 3 Goku should be considerably below Semi Perfect Cell if Initial Cell > SSJ Goku.

[ryan1227]

Goku (Post Virus) should be able to stop him, healed or not.

Goku stated that he couldn't beat the androids or Cell, after being healed from his heart virus.

Chapter: 366 (DBZ 172), P3.5
Context: after Goku recovers from his illness
Goku: “The way I am now, I definitely can’t beat the androids or this ‘Cell’ guy.”

Is that from Herms' strength checker? Most translations I've seen have Goku saying he thinks he can't beat them, not that he definitely can't. Besides, he can't even sense the androids and he doesn't know Cell's current battle power, but I suppose I'll accept Herms' expertise on this one.

Anyway, that contradicts Grade 3 Goku > Semi Perfect Cell. Unless Cell's gains from absorbing millions of people and 17 were minimal, Grade 3 Goku should be considerably below Semi Perfect Cell if Initial Cell > SSJ Goku.

Yeah it is. Goku somehow knew what was going on immediately after waking up, because he called Piccolo 'Kamiccolo' as soon as he saw him, despite not having been told about that.

I don't see how that contradicts that. There is nothing set in stone of how powerful Semi Perfect Cell would be or how much Grade 3 would boost one's strength.

[Nejishiki]

The Strength Checker provides the most literal translations. It's a good thing other translators run it naturally. It's not meant to be read that way for a native in the language. The purpose of the thread is to leave no doubts on intended phrasings. In context of this discussion, it's the most direct evidence one could provide.

[apex_pretador]

Goku (Post Virus) should be able to stop him, healed or not.

Goku stated that he couldn't beat the androids or Cell, after being healed from his heart virus.

Chapter: 366 (DBZ 172), P3.5
Context: after Goku recovers from his illness
Goku: “The way I am now, I definitely can’t beat the androids or this ‘Cell’ guy.”

Is that from Herms' strength checker? Most translations I've seen have Goku saying he thinks he can't beat them, not that he definitely can't. Besides, he can't even sense the androids and he doesn't know Cell's current battle power, but I suppose I'll accept Herms' expertise on this one.

Anyway, that contradicts Grade 3 Goku > Semi Perfect Cell. Unless Cell's gains from absorbing millions of people and 17 were minimal, Grade 3 Goku should be considerably below Semi Perfect Cell if Initial Cell > SSJ Goku.

No it does not contraditc Goku (grade 3, unknown training time) beating semi-cell (suppressed)

[TheUltimateNinja]

Goku stated that he couldn't beat the androids or Cell, after being healed from his heart virus.

Chapter: 366 (DBZ 172), P3.5
Context: after Goku recovers from his illness
Goku: “The way I am now, I definitely can’t beat the androids or this ‘Cell’ guy.”

Is that from Herms' strength checker? Most translations I've seen have Goku saying he thinks he can't beat them, not that he definitely can't. Besides, he can't even sense the androids and he doesn't know Cell's current battle power, but I suppose I'll accept Herms' expertise on this one.

Anyway, that contradicts Grade 3 Goku > Semi Perfect Cell. Unless Cell's gains from absorbing millions of people and 17 were minimal, Grade 3 Goku should be considerably below Semi Perfect Cell if Initial Cell > SSJ Goku.

No it does not contraditc Goku (grade 3, unknown training time) beating semi-cell (suppressed)

We already know Goku didn't do any real training until then, all of his time was spent teaching Gohan SSJ and then he was simply watching Gohan train while he himself figured out how to break the SSJ barrier. And suppressed Semi Perfect Cell was far above 16 who's far above 17 who's far above SSJ Vegeta, so what you're saying is Goku jumped 4 strength tiers by using Grade 3.

[ryan1227]

Is that from Herms' strength checker? Most translations I've seen have Goku saying he thinks he can't beat them, not that he definitely can't. Besides, he can't even sense the androids and he doesn't know Cell's current battle power, but I suppose I'll accept Herms' expertise on this one.

Anyway, that contradicts Grade 3 Goku > Semi Perfect Cell. Unless Cell's gains from absorbing millions of people and 17 were minimal, Grade 3 Goku should be considerably below Semi Perfect Cell if Initial Cell > SSJ Goku.

No it does not contraditc Goku (grade 3, unknown training time) beating semi-cell (suppressed)

We already know Goku didn't do any real training until then, all of his time was spent teaching Gohan SSJ and then he was simply watching Gohan train while he himself figured out how to break the SSJ barrier. And suppressed Semi Perfect Cell was far above 16 who's far above 17 who's far above SSJ Vegeta, so what you're saying is Goku jumped 4 strength tiers by using Grade 3.

Grade 3 is a large power boost. Cell stated that Grade 3 Trunks easily surpassed the power he used to tank a kick straight to the neck from Grade 2 Vegeta.

[TheUltimateNinja]

No it does not contraditc Goku (grade 3, unknown training time) beating semi-cell (suppressed)

We already know Goku didn't do any real training until then, all of his time was spent teaching Gohan SSJ and then he was simply watching Gohan train while he himself figured out how to break the SSJ barrier. And suppressed Semi Perfect Cell was far above 16 who's far above 17 who's far above SSJ Vegeta, so what you're saying is Goku jumped 4 strength tiers by using Grade 3.

Grade 3 is a large power boost. Cell stated that Grade 3 Trunks easily surpassed the power he used to tank a kick straight to the neck from Grade 2 Vegeta.

We know Grade 3 is below SSJ2 which is a 2x boost, but even if you assume it has the same power as SSJ2 and give it a 2x multiplier, SSJ Goku still has to be at least ~55% of suppressed Cell's power. And we know SSJ Vegeta (Post RoSAT) is a match for suppressed Cell as Trunks is surprised he immediately went to Grade 2, so the Grade states can't be massive boosts that allow characters to take on people far above their paygrade.

[apex_pretador]

Is that from Herms' strength checker? Most translations I've seen have Goku saying he thinks he can't beat them, not that he definitely can't. Besides, he can't even sense the androids and he doesn't know Cell's current battle power, but I suppose I'll accept Herms' expertise on this one.

Anyway, that contradicts Grade 3 Goku > Semi Perfect Cell. Unless Cell's gains from absorbing millions of people and 17 were minimal, Grade 3 Goku should be considerably below Semi Perfect Cell if Initial Cell > SSJ Goku.

No it does not contraditc Goku (grade 3, unknown training time) beating semi-cell (suppressed)

We already know Goku didn't do any real training until then, all of his time was spent teaching Gohan SSJ and then he was simply watching Gohan train while he himself figured out how to break the SSJ barrier. And suppressed Semi Perfect Cell was far above 16 who's far above 17 who's far above SSJ Vegeta, so what you're saying is Goku jumped 4 strength tiers by using Grade 3.

We don't know if goku did any training after reaching into the ROSAT. For all we know, he might've done light training.

And he was doing mental training (like piccolo does) while trying to break the SS barrier, so that's this thing.

[ryan1227]

We already know Goku didn't do any real training until then, all of his time was spent teaching Gohan SSJ and then he was simply watching Gohan train while he himself figured out how to break the SSJ barrier. And suppressed Semi Perfect Cell was far above 16 who's far above 17 who's far above SSJ Vegeta, so what you're saying is Goku jumped 4 strength tiers by using Grade 3.

Grade 3 is a large power boost. Cell stated that Grade 3 Trunks easily surpassed the power he used to tank a kick straight to the neck from Grade 2 Vegeta.

We know Grade 3 is below SSJ2 which is a 2x boost, but even if you assume it has the same power as SSJ2 and give it a 2x multiplier, SSJ Goku still has to be at least ~55% of suppressed Cell's power. And we know SSJ Vegeta (Post RoSAT) is a match for suppressed Cell as Trunks is surprised he immediately went to Grade 2, so the Grade states can't be massive boosts that allow characters to take on people far above their paygrade.

SSj Grade 3 Trunks surpassed at least three strength tiers (Full Power Semi Cell, Grade 2 Vegeta, Warm Up Perfect Cell) so if you don't have trouble fitting that in a 2x gap, then I think you can figure something out with Goku and Semi Cell.

[TheUltimateNinja]

No it does not contraditc Goku (grade 3, unknown training time) beating semi-cell (suppressed)

We already know Goku didn't do any real training until then, all of his time was spent teaching Gohan SSJ and then he was simply watching Gohan train while he himself figured out how to break the SSJ barrier. And suppressed Semi Perfect Cell was far above 16 who's far above 17 who's far above SSJ Vegeta, so what you're saying is Goku jumped 4 strength tiers by using Grade 3.

We don't know if goku did any training after reaching into the ROSAT. For all we know, he might've done light training.

And he was doing mental training (like piccolo does) while trying to break the SS barrier, so that's this thing.

Even so, we know Vegeta discovered the Grade forms in 2 months with no prior experience, Goku went in with the advantage of knowing about this, plus he's a better tactician combat wise than Vegeta, so he most likely obtained the forms much sooner than Vegeta. Less than 2 months of light training would barely increase his power.

[TheUltimateNinja]

Grade 3 is a large power boost. Cell stated that Grade 3 Trunks easily surpassed the power he used to tank a kick straight to the neck from Grade 2 Vegeta.

We know Grade 3 is below SSJ2 which is a 2x boost, but even if you assume it has the same power as SSJ2 and give it a 2x multiplier, SSJ Goku still has to be at least ~55% of suppressed Cell's power. And we know SSJ Vegeta (Post RoSAT) is a match for suppressed Cell as Trunks is surprised he immediately went to Grade 2, so the Grade states can't be massive boosts that allow characters to take on people far above their paygrade.

SSj Grade 3 Trunks surpassed at least three strength tiers (Full Power Semi Cell, Grade 2 Vegeta, Warm Up Perfect Cell) so if you don't have trouble fitting that in a 2x gap, then I think you can figure something out with Goku and Semi Cell.

Grade 3 Trunks only jumped 2 tiers, the gaps between FP Semi Cell, Grade 2 Vegeta and Warm Up Cell aren't that large.
By my numbers:
Vegeta (Post): SSJ: 10 Suppressed: 13 Grade 2: 15
Semi Cell: Suppressed: 10 Full Power: 12-12.5
Perfect Cell: Initial: 15 Warmed up: 17
Trunks (Post): SSJ: 9.8 Grade 2: 14.7 Grade 3: 17.6

[ryan1227]

We know Grade 3 is below SSJ2 which is a 2x boost, but even if you assume it has the same power as SSJ2 and give it a 2x multiplier, SSJ Goku still has to be at least ~55% of suppressed Cell's power. And we know SSJ Vegeta (Post RoSAT) is a match for suppressed Cell as Trunks is surprised he immediately went to Grade 2, so the Grade states can't be massive boosts that allow characters to take on people far above their paygrade.

SSj Grade 3 Trunks surpassed at least three strength tiers (Full Power Semi Cell, Grade 2 Vegeta, Warm Up Perfect Cell) so if you don't have trouble fitting that in a 2x gap, then I think you can figure something out with Goku and Semi Cell.

Grade 3 Trunks only jumped 2 tiers, the gaps between FP Semi Cell, Grade 2 Vegeta and Warm Up Cell aren't that large.
By my numbers:
Vegeta (Post): SSJ: 10 Grade 2: 15
Semi Cell: Suppressed: 10 Full Power: 12-12.5
Perfect Cell: Initial: 15 Warmed up: 17
Trunks (Post): SSJ: 9.8 Grade 2: 14.7 Grade 3: 17.6

Why should they be any smaller than the 17, 16, and Semi Cell gaps? They all have similar feats (tanking punches/kicks) besides Kamiccolo and Cell, in which case you could say Piccolo was exhausted against Cell, so his blast wasn't as powerful as it would be at full power. In any case, there also isn't anything contradicting Grade 3 having a higher boost than SSj2, because it was a useless transformation anyways, so that could also provide a solution.

[TheUltimateNinja]

SSj Grade 3 Trunks surpassed at least three strength tiers (Full Power Semi Cell, Grade 2 Vegeta, Warm Up Perfect Cell) so if you don't have trouble fitting that in a 2x gap, then I think you can figure something out with Goku and Semi Cell.

Grade 3 Trunks only jumped 2 tiers, the gaps between FP Semi Cell, Grade 2 Vegeta and Warm Up Cell aren't that large.
By my numbers:
Vegeta (Post): SSJ: 10 Grade 2: 15
Semi Cell: Suppressed: 10 Full Power: 12-12.5
Perfect Cell: Initial: 15 Warmed up: 17
Trunks (Post): SSJ: 9.8 Grade 2: 14.7 Grade 3: 17.6

Why should they be any smaller than the 17, 16, and Semi Cell gaps? They all have similar feats (tanking punches/kicks) besides Kamiccolo and Cell, in which case you could say Piccolo was exhausted against Cell, so his blast wasn't as powerful as it would be at full power. In any case, there also isn't anything contradicting Grade 3 having a higher boost than SSj2, because it was a useless transformation anyways, so that could also provide a solution.

Grade 2 Vegeta's Final Flash is able to blow off half of Cell's body whereas Kamiccolo's Light Grenade does absolutely nothing to Cell, Vegeta's kick causes Cell's head to move to the side whereas 16's punch has no effect on Cell.

MSSJ Gohan is below Cell, yet SSJ2 puts him so far above Cell that even after Cell undergoes 3 huge power ups Gohan is still above him despite being injured. Cell reveals his full power, then bulks up, then blows himself up and comes back with a huge Zenkai boost, yet Gohan is able to overpower his fully charged Solar Kamehameha with his own one handed Kamehameha which did not have nearly as much charge time. Granted, he needed Vegeta to distract Cell for a moment, but that was because he was unable to call on his true power.

If Grade 3 gives far more power than even that, Goku and Gohan would use it regardless of the flaws as one single attack would completely erase Cell. If Goku did the Instant Kamehameha using that power Cell would be completely obliterated as Goku's power would surpass even Super Perfect Cell.

[ryan1227]

Grade 3 Trunks only jumped 2 tiers, the gaps between FP Semi Cell, Grade 2 Vegeta and Warm Up Cell aren't that large.
By my numbers:
Vegeta (Post): SSJ: 10 Grade 2: 15
Semi Cell: Suppressed: 10 Full Power: 12-12.5
Perfect Cell: Initial: 15 Warmed up: 17
Trunks (Post): SSJ: 9.8 Grade 2: 14.7 Grade 3: 17.6

Why should they be any smaller than the 17, 16, and Semi Cell gaps? They all have similar feats (tanking punches/kicks) besides Kamiccolo and Cell, in which case you could say Piccolo was exhausted against Cell, so his blast wasn't as powerful as it would be at full power. In any case, there also isn't anything contradicting Grade 3 having a higher boost than SSj2, because it was a useless transformation anyways, so that could also provide a solution.

Grade 2 Vegeta's Final Flash is able to blow off half of Cell's body whereas Kamiccolo's Light Grenade does absolutely nothing to Cell, Vegeta's kick causes Cell's head to move to the side whereas 16's punch has no effect on Cell.

MSSJ Gohan is below Cell, yet SSJ2 puts him so far above Cell that even after Cell undergoes 3 huge power ups Gohan is still above him despite being injured. Cell reveals his full power, then bulks up, then blows himself up and comes back with a huge Zenkai boost, yet Gohan is able to overpower his fully charged Solar Kamehameha with his own one handed Kamehameha which did not have nearly as much charge time. Granted, he needed Vegeta to distract Cell for a moment, but that was because he was unable to call on his true power.

If Grade 3 gives far more power than even that, Goku and Gohan would use it regardless of the flaws as one single attack would completely erase Cell. If Goku did the Instant Kamehameha using that power Cell would be completely obliterated as Goku's power would surpass even Super Perfect Cell.

The Final Flash is implied to be incredibly powerful, as Cell was clearly shocked by its power. Before Vegeta unleashed the Final Flash, Cell was fully ready to take on a ki blast from Vegeta, and only got blown in half because the Final Flash was greater than what Cell expected. As for the other example, kicks are more powerful than punches, so that is a possible reason why Cell budged from Vegeta's kick but not from 16's punch. Also, Cell showed signs of pain from 16's punch, while he showed no signs of pain from Vegeta's kick.

Except they wouldn't be able to hit Cell in the first place, so it would still be useless. Plus, they didn't use Grade 2 despite the fact it has no overbearing flaws, so it is possible that at that level the grade transformations simply don't boost power as much.

[TheUltimateNinja]

Except they wouldn't be able to hit Cell in the first place, so it would still be useless. Plus, they didn't use Grade 2 despite the fact it has no overbearing flaws, so it is possible that at that level the grade transformations simply don't boost power as much.

Cell was caught completely off guard by IT Kamehameha, Grade 3's lack of agility would pose no problem there. Also, power boosts also increase defense, we see this as Grade 3 Trunks takes hits from Cell much better than Grade 2 Vegeta. Goku could simply power up to Grade 3 and easily tank all of Cell's hits. Grade 2 wouldn't be enough as FP Cell would still beat him, plus Goku already knew he couldn't beat Cell and was simply drawing the fight out so Gohan could see Cell's moves. If Grade 3 is weaker than SSJ2 it makes sense that Goku feels even using that he can't muster up enough power to take Cell down, but if you have it with power surpassing even SSJ2 he could easily finish the job.

[ryan1227]

Except they wouldn't be able to hit Cell in the first place, so it would still be useless. Plus, they didn't use Grade 2 despite the fact it has no overbearing flaws, so it is possible that at that level the grade transformations simply don't boost power as much.

Cell was caught completely off guard by IT Kamehameha, Grade 3's lack of agility would pose no problem there. Also, power boosts also increase defense, we see this as Grade 3 Trunks takes hits from Cell much better than Grade 2 Vegeta. Goku could simply power up to Grade 3 and easily tank all of Cell's hits. Grade 2 wouldn't be enough as FP Cell would still beat him, plus Goku already knew he couldn't beat Cell and was simply drawing the fight out so Gohan could see Cell's moves. If Grade 3 is weaker than SSJ2 it makes sense that Goku feels even using that he can't muster up enough power to take Cell down, but if you have it with power surpassing even SSJ2 he could easily finish the job.

The Instant Kamehameha by itself blew away Cell's top half. Combining that with Grade 2 could've killed Cell, yet instead Goku remained as a regular SSj. It is possible that mastering SSj like Goku and Gohan did greatly reduces the power boost which the grade forms give, as Goku decided not to use Grade 2 despite the fact that it doesn't decrease speed (Trunks turned Grade 2 while chasing after Semi Cell).

Goku also had no idea how strong Cell was at full power, so you can't say that Goku knew how Grade 2 and Grade 3 would stack up against Cell.

[TheUltimateNinja]

Except they wouldn't be able to hit Cell in the first place, so it would still be useless. Plus, they didn't use Grade 2 despite the fact it has no overbearing flaws, so it is possible that at that level the grade transformations simply don't boost power as much.

Cell was caught completely off guard by IT Kamehameha, Grade 3's lack of agility would pose no problem there. Also, power boosts also increase defense, we see this as Grade 3 Trunks takes hits from Cell much better than Grade 2 Vegeta. Goku could simply power up to Grade 3 and easily tank all of Cell's hits. Grade 2 wouldn't be enough as FP Cell would still beat him, plus Goku already knew he couldn't beat Cell and was simply drawing the fight out so Gohan could see Cell's moves. If Grade 3 is weaker than SSJ2 it makes sense that Goku feels even using that he can't muster up enough power to take Cell down, but if you have it with power surpassing even SSJ2 he could easily finish the job.

The Instant Kamehameha by itself blew away Cell's top half. Combining that with Grade 2 could've killed Cell, yet instead Goku remained as a regular SSj. It is possible that mastering SSj like Goku and Gohan did greatly reduces the power boost which the grade forms give, as Goku decided not to use Grade 2 despite the fact that it doesn't decrease speed (Trunks turned Grade 2 while chasing after Semi Cell).

Goku also had no idea how strong Cell was at full power, so you can't say that Goku knew how Grade 2 and Grade 3 would stack up against Cell.

Goku knew that Cell was above his MSSJ self, after fighting with him he also knew Cell wasn't going all out and had far superior stamina as while Goku's ki was draining Cell was still fresh. Cell taunts Goku and asks him if he should make it easier and he even tells Goku to take a senzu a few times during the fight, so Goku most likely realized that Cell wasn't taking him seriously and even with Grade 2 he can't take Cell. Plus, Grade 2 is stated to use up far more energy than even unmastered SSJ, let alone MSSJ, so Goku wouldn't use it for that reason as even if he surpassed Cell it wouldn't be by enough to finish him before his energy runs out.

[ryan1227]

Cell was caught completely off guard by IT Kamehameha, Grade 3's lack of agility would pose no problem there. Also, power boosts also increase defense, we see this as Grade 3 Trunks takes hits from Cell much better than Grade 2 Vegeta. Goku could simply power up to Grade 3 and easily tank all of Cell's hits. Grade 2 wouldn't be enough as FP Cell would still beat him, plus Goku already knew he couldn't beat Cell and was simply drawing the fight out so Gohan could see Cell's moves. If Grade 3 is weaker than SSJ2 it makes sense that Goku feels even using that he can't muster up enough power to take Cell down, but if you have it with power surpassing even SSJ2 he could easily finish the job.

The Instant Kamehameha by itself blew away Cell's top half. Combining that with Grade 2 could've killed Cell, yet instead Goku remained as a regular SSj. It is possible that mastering SSj like Goku and Gohan did greatly reduces the power boost which the grade forms give, as Goku decided not to use Grade 2 despite the fact that it doesn't decrease speed (Trunks turned Grade 2 while chasing after Semi Cell).

Goku also had no idea how strong Cell was at full power, so you can't say that Goku knew how Grade 2 and Grade 3 would stack up against Cell.

Goku knew that Cell was above his MSSJ self, after fighting with him he also knew Cell wasn't going all out and had far superior stamina as while Goku's ki was draining Cell was still fresh. Cell taunts Goku and asks him if he should make it easier and he even tells Goku to take a senzu a few times during the fight, so Goku most likely realized even with Grade 2 he can't take Cell. Plus, Grade 2 is stated to use up far more energy than even unmastered SSJ, let alone MSSJ, so Goku wouldn't use it for that reason as even if he surpassed Cell it wouldn't be by enough to finish him before his energy runs out.

Cell also lost energy in his fight with Goku, so I don't think he had superior stamina. The energy drain you mention in Grade 2 is even more so present in Grade 3, and combined with the heavy speed decrease, even if Grade 3 gives a larger boost than SSj2, that doesn't mean Goku would use it.

[TheUltimateNinja]

The Instant Kamehameha by itself blew away Cell's top half. Combining that with Grade 2 could've killed Cell, yet instead Goku remained as a regular SSj. It is possible that mastering SSj like Goku and Gohan did greatly reduces the power boost which the grade forms give, as Goku decided not to use Grade 2 despite the fact that it doesn't decrease speed (Trunks turned Grade 2 while chasing after Semi Cell).

Goku also had no idea how strong Cell was at full power, so you can't say that Goku knew how Grade 2 and Grade 3 would stack up against Cell.

Goku knew that Cell was above his MSSJ self, after fighting with him he also knew Cell wasn't going all out and had far superior stamina as while Goku's ki was draining Cell was still fresh. Cell taunts Goku and asks him if he should make it easier and he even tells Goku to take a senzu a few times during the fight, so Goku most likely realized even with Grade 2 he can't take Cell. Plus, Grade 2 is stated to use up far more energy than even unmastered SSJ, let alone MSSJ, so Goku wouldn't use it for that reason as even if he surpassed Cell it wouldn't be by enough to finish him before his energy runs out.

Cell also lost energy in his fight with Goku, so I don't think he had superior stamina. The energy drain you mention in Grade 2 is even more so present in Grade 3, and combined with the heavy speed decrease, even if Grade 3 gives a larger boost than SSj2, that doesn't mean Goku would use it.

Cell didn't lose nearly as much, though, Goku was so exhausted he was getting thrashed by Cell Jrs. whereas Cell was still confident in beating Goku even if he ate a senzu. Also Roshi comments on how Goku's getting weaker while Cell's still fresh while watching the fight, and after doing the IT Kamehameha Goku says he used up a lot of energy doing that attack yet Cell's ki barely dropped. Also, Goku used to use Kaioken in desperate situations and that drains energy even faster than Grade 3, if he was sure it could beat Cell he would use it.

[apex_pretador]

Cell lost energy only because he had to regenerate half his body.