Fairy Tail Ep. 169

[DarthEnderX]

Why did did Obra's (Ivan's trump card, pretty much) magic not work is a nice question. The only real explanation is Laxus's speed

That was the conclusion I came to. That Laxus took him out before he could cast his spell.

but that should have been taken into account. I guess I must be giving Ivan too much credit, as Kraco says. He doesn't seem to be terribly smart either.

Keep in mind also that Ivan didn't realize Garjeel was a triple agent. He was probably basing most of his plan on information Garjeel was feeding him, most of which was probably false.

It's probably simply a matter of Laxus being much stronger than Ivan was led to believe.