Darth Maul was a powerful force user, as demonstrated in The Clone Wars finale where he single-handedly destroyed an Imperial ship, and in The Phantom Menace when Maul force-pushed Obi-Wan down the reactor pit late into their duel.
Having trained in the ways of the Force, Darth Maul was a formidable warrior strong with the dark side and possessed deadly skills in lightsaber combat. After he lost his place as the Dark Lord of the Sith at Sidious' side, Maul remained a scheming mastermind who plotted to gain ever more power.
He just wasn't explicitly taught it, or dark side sorcerery more generally. His training was focused on the skills of a Sith assassin, being an overwhelming lightsaber duelist. You need real legs to be able to force-siphon the electric current from the ground. That's why Maul or Vader can't use lightning.
Aside from playing to Maul's emotions, Obi-Wan mined inspiration from his first clash with the former Sith Lord. Dissecting the short fight, Obi-Wan used the same moves Qui-Gon Jinn did during their battle in The Phantom Menace, tricking Maul into executing the same parry he did before.
So Maul vs Kylo. In terms of physical ability Maul is far physically superior being able to handle the strength of Savage Opress and overpower the strong style of Qui Gon Jinn. His durability involves being able to be cut in half and a pain tolerance so high he can flinch of weaker force lightening like nothing .
Why Darth Maul was Deeply Ashamed of the Way Qui-Gon Died - IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS
Could Maul beat Vader?
The duel. Darth Vader defeats Darth Maul. The two Sith Lords engaged in a lightsaber duel, going through the volcano and onto a bridge situated over a river of lava, which collapsed, though they both survived and continued their battle.
By the time of Episode 3; Anakin is in his prime, and already one of the Jedi Order's most powerful “masters” (although technically still a knight), just behind Obi-Wan, Windu, and Yoda. Maul wouldn't stand a chance.
Regardless, based on the season 7 of The Clone Wars, and the fact that Darth Maul was aware of Anakin Skywalker's future and his role as the Chosen One, it is very likely that Darth Maul indeed feared Darth Vader to some extent, and preferred to avoid a direct confrontation with him, at least, on his own.
It's already been shown in the source material… more than once… that Darth Maul is not on Darth Sidious's level. Every time he dueled Sidious as his apprentice (in Legends) he got easily defeated. In the show Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Palpatine takes on Darth Maul and Savage Opress simultaneously.
Like his master, Darth Sidious, better known as Sheev Palpatine, Maul's main weakness was his overconfidence. In Luke Skywalker's confrontation with Palpatine during The Return of the Jedi, he tells the Emperor that his overconfidence is his weakness.
Two easily explainable reasons for why Maul never used Force lightning, which have come up several times, are one) that he wasn't a Sith Lord and two) he never learned the ability in the first place.
Sidious revealed to Maul that he did not intend to kill his former apprentice, as he still had use for Maul; it was Sidious' hope that Maul would lead the Sith to Mother Talzin, Maul's mother and the leader of the Nightsisters, so she could be eliminated as a potential threat to the eventual Sith rule of the galaxy.
Mace Windu vs Darth Maul | Fandom. Mace windu clear winner 9/10 times. His use of vapad would make the fight play out similair to windu vs palpatine. He would use the seething rage pouring out of maul against him, and as mauls force power was so much weaker than windu's it would be an undisputed win for windu.
Anakin Skywalker was one of the strongest Jedi in the films and Darth Vader was one of the best Sith. It only makes sense that they both could have decimated Darth Maul if they faced him. At the peak of Anakin's power, he was able to take on Count Dooku and win, and went toe-to-toe with Obi-Wan on Mustafar.
Overall, Dooku was far more equipped to become a Sith Master than Maul was. Had he managed to overthrow Palpatine, Dooku would have been able to use his position, combat abilities, and dark side Force powers to take his place on the throne Palpatine had carved.
Yoda is extremely wary of the dark side, he knows that it clouds judgment. Maul is a prime example of this. Yoda would easily be able to outmaneuver Darth Maul and then outsmart him.
However, not everyone loved Maul. In fact, Darth Sidious didn't care much for him. Here's what the evil Sith Master really thought of Darth Maul, as outlined in Star Wars: Hidden Empire #1 (by Charles Soule, Steven Cummings, Victor Olazaba, Gur-eFx and VC's Travis Lanham).
Star Wars Rebels lead creator Dave Filoni even admitted that Maul and Vader were meant to have a fight, but he felt it would take away from the battle with Ahsoka. But as things stand, Star Wars not only lacks a fight between Vader and Maul, but the two have never even spoken to each other.
Darth Vader's true identity as Anakin Skywalker was a highly guarded secret, known only to a select few individuals including Palpatine, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke, Han, Leia, R2-D2, C-3PO, Master Yoda, Bail Organa, Ahsoka Tano, Darth Maul, Grand Moff Tarkin, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Jocasta Nu, Ferren Barr, Verla, Reva, ...
Darth Maul could have killed Anakin Skywalker at least twice and therefore prevented Darth Vader from being created, but that does not mean he would have been powerful enough to stop Darth Sidious' rise to power.
After becoming Sidious's true apprentice, Maul became incredibly skilled in lightsaber combat and was considered one of the greatest duelists in Sith history. He can slaughter his enemies with ease and defeat experienced Jedi Masters. At the age of 17, Darth Maul nearly defeated Sidrus in a test on the planet Highbury.
Ahsoka's lightsaber form and double blades gave her an edge against Maul, allowing her to defeat him in battle. Qui-Gon failed to defeat Maul because he focused on defense rather than offense, while Ahsoka's aggressive form countered Maul's chaotic style.
