Let's be real, the werewolf versus vampire debate feels like picking a favorite sports team at this point, but most of the time, the vampire comes out on top. It's not even about raw strength. A wolf during a full moon is pure brute force, but vampires have centuries of accumulated strategy, mind games, and that crucial ability to just... turn into mist. A werewolf can't punch mist.
Think about it from a narrative perspective. A vampire's weakness is super specific and often requires a human agent to exploit it—sunlight, a wooden stake through the heart, an invitation into a home. A werewolf's weakness is a celestial event they can't control and a vulnerability to silver, which, while rare, is a tangible material someone can bring to the fight. A clever vampire just needs to survive until dawn and let the sun do the work, or arm their human minions with silver.
I've seen so many stories where the vampire antagonist is ultimately undone by their own arrogance or a betrayal, not a straight-up brawl with a shifter. The wolf is the primal force of nature, but the vampire is the patient, cunning hunter. In a no-rules, empty-field fight, I'd bet on the wolf's frenzy. In the messy, political, long-game world most pop culture builds, the vampire's the one pulling the strings from the shadows every time.
That's why so many urban fantasy series have the vamps running the cities and the packs guarding the territories outside. It speaks to a deeper hierarchy.