User blog comment:Xilinoc/Ch. 561 - THE VILLAN/@comment-5147109-20131211163958/@comment-14244059-20131211172330

This it the whole point of this Arc. The whole series the Shinigami have been presented as warriors who can whip out a new technique and win the fight no matter the situation. But the Quincy are not playing that; they've studied their enemy thoroughly and prepped for this fight for close 1,000 years. Not to mention that Quincy are polar opposites to Shinigami.

The Shinigami were both under prepared and ill-informed about these enemies and the Quincy liked it that way and has done all they can to use the element of surprise to their advantage. They're ruthless, far more so than the Arrancar were, and have the power to back it up, which nobody was expecting. Shinigami have been underestimating these new Quincies left and right and they're paying for it by having their asses stomped into the ground.