Laxus had three top commanders in the Thunder God Tribe, all possessing the strength to be S-Class in an ordinary guild:
Fried, Laxus's loyal little fanboy, specialized in Word Magic, loved runes, had an ambiguous sexual orientation, and possessed an eleven-thousand magic power level.
Bickslow, an otaku at heart who loved dolls, specialized in Soul Magic, possessed a Shaping Eye capable of controlling souls, and had a ten-thousand magic power level.
Evergreen, a narcissist who liked fairies, studied a wide variety of magic—learning anything that resembled a fairy—possessed a naturally awakened Petrifying Shaping Eye, and had a ten-thousand magic power level.
Besides those three commanders, during the period when Fairy Tail exploded in popularity, it also attracted many new recruits. As long as their strength reached the standard Laxus set (around 6,000+ magic power), he accepted all of them without turning anyone away, which was the origin of the group of men in black coats behind him.
So, saying the Thunder God Tribe were all elites was indeed accurate.
Yet Laxus was clearly getting a bit full of himself due to his skyrocketing magic power, growing arrogant and audacious enough to speak in such an overbearing manner.
Natsu's defining trait was a thick skull: "Damn Laxus! To the duel arena! I'm going one-on-one with you!"
"Tch, even a guy who can't beat Erza wants to challenge me? Go back and train for a few more years."
Laxus had no interest in small fry like Natsu. He was conceited and a bit chauvinistic; the only ones in the entire guild who caught his eye were Mistgun and Aibo, who were also S-Class.
Mistgun was a technical talent with no magic power, so Laxus had little interest in winning him over. Only toward Aibo was he "sincere"; he felt Aibo's mindset and