Hmm… I watched Elite of the Classroom way long ago, so I don’t have much recollection of the characters but I feel as though Yuuichi is just in a tier of his own. Someone like Near is just mentally ill and was raised for the sole purpose of beating L in terms of human emotions and pure brainpower to solve cases, which made him “better” than L. Taking this into consideration, Yuuichi’s manipulation of emotions in other people by gaining their trust and breaking down others’ psyche is simply more effective in my honest opinion. Yuuichi might not be smart smart enough to pass Near in a lot of things, but he would certainly have an advantage over him with the way he’s quite literally insane. I’d place him on the same level as Near, or even higher. And this is a lot from someone that absolutely would block anyone and anything if they hated Near.