like because he wasn鈥檛 as powerful a bender, he trained with weapons, which he then incorporated into his bending?? that鈥檚 cool as fuck! and it鈥檚 pretty much the only time we see a fire bender do this (aside from iroh鈥檚 fire whips)
also, as far as i know, him and iroh are the only benders that can breathe fire (or i guess the only ones who thought of it?)
and! zuko doesn鈥檛 just rely on his bending, he鈥檚 a great swordsman and hand-to-hand combat fighter!
not to mention, he鈥檚 an excellent tracker and is adept at stealth, and has a ton of random (but useful) knowledge
he inflitrafed TWO highly guarded military prisons, and freed people both times!
basically i think his fire daggers & fire breathing are cool as fuck