The key example is always versus an AP or Necromancer. If you miss a cranial or a bash there's a pretty high chance you'll get slept. Once you're slept, there's a really good chance you'll die. Once you die, there's a pretty fair chance any good gear you had is now gone. Once your good gear is gone, there's a pretty decent chance you're at a 50% disadvantage in raw stats versus any similar warrior-type class to you.

So on.

When I say competitive I mean it in the normal sense of the word "as good as or better than others of a comparable nature" (courtesy of Google). That's how everyone else means it too. They don't mean it as "if everything flows properly, you have the possibility of winning a fight". Do you really think a warrior in unlimited gear with unpracticed skills is competitive with other warriors at similar level who has perfected skills and hasn't lost gear from dying? Because...mathematically it's not even close.

Edited to add : I'd suggest, even if you don't publish the results...you guys start tracking things like DPS and DTPS in fights along with gear and skills. If that gap is within 10-15% - you can argue it's comparable. But it's...not. Not by a long shot.