Resolving conflicts through a merge or a rebase is a different style (all-in-one vs piece-meal), and I find both have their uses in different contexts. Sometimes, a big merge with tons of conflicts is too daunting, where a patch-by-patch conflict resolution is more palatable. Other times, you're doing busy work on tons of patches which would be far more efficient just doing once on a big merge.

But, again, this depends on the situation, the code, the history, the patches, etc. It's just a useful tool to keep in mind come merge time.