True, but had been defeated later on in the comics. Geras having the Sands of Time to control gives him a decisive advantage, just like Apocalypse has one.
Apocalypse has super-genius intelligence in tactical planning and other things, but Geras it’s not been determined how smart he is. I thought Geras might be nearly omniscient based on the billions of lifetimes he’s lived through. But it’s not guaranteed.
