Drain Teams

Placeholder / WIP by Reika

Overview

Drain Teams are built around Rama's Drain Pierce passive. The team typically runs demons with high Drain resistances, and is sometimes combined with other archetypes like Intimidating Stance Teams.

Concept

• Rama's Drain Pierce passive prevents Piercing skills from working on Drain resistances.
  • Pierce is very widespread in PVP, especially Physical Pierce.
  • Running Evasive Rama + 3 Drain Phys demons essentially provides you immunity to Physical damage.
  • Rama is one of three demons who can provide Anti-Pierce, and the only one which targets Drain.
• Drain Pierce protects your team from being swept by Pierce. Enemies will either attack into it and lose Press Turns, or be forced to choose a different action such as passing. Both work to your advantage.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Rama is a very flexible unit, capable of acting as a powerful Mage with his signature Brahmastra or a support with discounted Luster Candy.
• Many demons have Drain resistances, giving you a high degree of control over your team composition.
• As the minimum requirement is having Rama plus one other Drain demon, you can form Hybrid teams by combining with other archetypes such as Intimidating Stance Teams.
• Not too reliant on battle speed, allows you to ignore the speed war.

Cons:

• High entry cost - Rama himself is a gacha exclusive, and most of the good Drain demons are banner exclusives.
• Does nothing against Almighty damage

Team

Now lets go in-depth as to how to build this Team.

Core Demons

The only core demon is Rama, the titular carrier of Drain Pierce.

Rama

Rama

• A very flexible unit, and the cornerstone of this team strat.
• He can be built as a Support or Mage, depending on your team:
  • Yellow is his most popular build, as it gives him access to discounted Luster Candy, the strongest non-unique buff in the game. Running him as a support also allows you to focus on survivability, which is important to ensure Drain Pierce is remains active as long as possible.
  • Purple provides him Ice Pierce. Combined with his innate Mabufudyne and decent MAG stat, this lets him act as a powerful Pierce sweeper. This also lets him capitalize on his other unique skill Brahmastra, a devastating Almighty spell that breaks Endures and can be spammed near indefinitely thanks to it's MP refund at max level.
• His panels are amazing and definitely worth unlocking:
  • Panel 1 gives him raw HP (which support builds appreciate) and extra damage on both his spells (benefiting Mage builds).
  • Panel 2 gives him increased Evasion and raw MATK.
  • Panel 3 gives him reduced MP cost for all AOE spells. This includes both his attacking spells (6 MP) as well as Luster Candy (5 MP is maxed).

Skills and Brands

• Evade stacks with his Panel 2 Boost and protects him from Physical skills, most notably Masakado's Occult Flash.
• Enduring Soul gives him an extra layer of protection to keep Drain Pierce active.
• Butcher increases the damage for both his spells.
• Auto-Tarunda and Auto-Rakuka are useful spells for initial buff control.
• Either Life or Divine Brands work well on him:
  • Divine Brands allow him to spam his spells repeatedly, especially if you have Panel 3 unlocked. It also allows you to cast Luster Candy turn 1 going first.
  • Life Brands increases his overall survivability.
  • Dodge Brands are the recommended sub-set to abuse Evasion.

Drain Phys Demons

Due to widespread Phys Pierce in PVP, demons with Drain Phys are popular with this strat. It is recommended you run at least one Drain Phys demon to avoid getting sweeped by Phys Pierce. Running three Drain Phys demons with Evasive Rama is a popular strat to wall off Physical teams.

Masakado

Masakado

• The OG PVP Nightmare, Masakado is a physical powerhouse who gains Drain Phys in Teal.
• Still one of the most powerful demons in the game. Not only does he posses innate Intimidating Stance and Pierce, his signature Occult Flash is a high-damage, high-critical single target Physical skill that inflicts Mortal (instant Death).
  • His high Synergy with Rama is one of the reason double Intimidating Stance is so often run alongside Drain Teams.
• Phys Amp and Epitome of Carnage are good options to boost his damage.
• Great Aim and Epitome of Aggression can be used to patch up his shaky accuracy.
• Auto skills allow him to further support his team. Players who run this build typically use him purely for inflicting Mortal via Occult Flash.
• Usually runs Life brands to compensate for his rather low HP. Aim brands are the recommended sub-set.
• Masakado is the closest you'll get to a second core demon for this strat. There is little reason not to use him if you do have him.

Susano-o A

Susano-o A

• Susano-o A is a defense-team oriented Physical Nuker that gains Drain Phys in Teal.
• He also naturally Drains Force, allowing him to counter Force sweepers like Baal, Garuda A and Cu Chulainn A.
• His unique passive, Heavenly Valor punishes the enemy for Passing. As such, he is usually used as a dedicated Defense Team demon.
• Violent Slash is a hard-hitting single target Physical attack that grows in power the more it is cast.
  • Don't let that description fool you tho: The skill has 150 Base Power initially (equal to Dragon Blade's initial strike), and can be cast T1 even without Divine Brands. This makes him a surprisingly good T1 attacker.
• On the downside, his AGI is on the high side, making him a less suitable partner if you wish to run Intimidating Stance together.
• Phys Amp and Phys Boost can be used to increase his damage.
• Great Aim and Epitome of Aggression can be used to patch up his shaky accuracy.
• War Brands are usually used to maximize his damage potential. Aim brands are the recommended sub-set.
• The best combo demon for Defense Teams. If you run Drain Teams on Defense, definitely try to slot him in!

Asura Lord

Asura Lord

• Asura Lord is a single-target Nuker that carries a valuable aura and gains Drain Phys in Teal.
• His unique aura Endless War buffs the critical rate and damage of all your teammates.
• Slaughter All is a fully unblockable Single Target attack that deal ridiculous damage, can crit, bypasses Endures and can be casted T1, either through Divine Brands or Panels.
  • It is also of the Almighty-element. This gives you the upperhand in mirror matches, as it lets you freely clap Demons with Drain Phys.
  • This also makes it hard to boost his damage further, as Almighty does not have dedicated Boosts and Amp skills. Master Assassin is the best choice.
• On the downside, his AGI is on the high side, making him a less suitable partner if you wish to run Intimidating Stance together.
• Divine, Life and War brands are all acceptable choices for him. Aim brands are the recommended sub-set.
  • Divine Brands are mandatory if you wish to cast Slaughter All turn 1 without Panels.
• Asura Lord is a solid choice if you plan to run three Physical Demons alongside Rama. Not only does he provide Drain Phys to round up a triple Drain Phys party, his aura also greatly benefits your other sweepers.

Guan Yu

Guan Yu

• Guan Yu is a bulky physical sweeper that gains gains Drain Phys in Teal (notice a pattern here?).
• His signature Dragon Blade does heavy damage to a single target, and chains into an AOE physical sweep.
• His unique passive Loyal God of War heals him and refunds MP upon killing an enemy.
  • Paired with his excellent STR, HP and VIT stats, he can quickly snowball off kills and extra Press Turns generated from crits. Not only does Loyal God of War keep him healthy through healing, it allows him to repeatedly spam Dragon Blade from the MP refund.
• His low AGI makes him a suitable candidate for Intimidating Stance. On the flip side, this also gives him accuracy issues.
• Running him in Teal means he loses access to the excellent Null Mortal in purple. This makes him weak to Alice, who can snipe him with Die for Me!
• Phys Amp and Epitome of Carnage can be used to increase his damage.
• Great Aim and Epitome of Aggression can be used to patch up his shaky accuracy.
• Life Brands are usually used to make him tankier. Higher HP also improves Loyal God of War's heal efficiency, as the base heal amount depends on your max HP.
• Guan Yu is an excellent choice for slower Drain Teams, as well as defense teams.

Cu Chulainn A

Cu Chulainn A

• Cu Chulainn A is a dual-element physical sweeper who gains Drain Phys in Teal (see a pattern now?).
• Barbed Spear is a piercing Force-element Physical attack that deals multiple hits on all enemies.
  • This gives him access to Force-element sweeping, which improves your odds in a mirror match.
  • On the other hand, Drain Teams running Susano-o A will completely wall him.
• Culann's Hound gives him an Auto-Charge at the end of the turn, threatening major damage if he is not taken out. This forces your opponent to deal with him and in turn alleviate pressure off your other sweepers.
• Force Amp can be used to increase his damage.
• As Accuracy is very important for him (Barbed Spear has 12 chances to miss and lose Press Turns), Great Aim is recommended.
• Due to Barbed Spear's low MP cost, he can run War Brands for increased damage. Aim brands are the recommended sub-set.
• Cu Chulainn A is a high risk high return pick. Against teams without Force Anti-Pierce, he can deal massive amounts of damage while forcing the opponent to respond to him. Inversely, teams that do run Force Anti-Pierce will completely invalidate him.

Mother Harlot

Mother Harlot

• Mother Harlot is an Almighty Mage with Drain Phys in (you guessed it) Teal.
• She has a unique niche being the only relevant Drain Phys demon that relies on Magic.
  • This improves your matchup versus the mirror, as you can simply ignore Drain Pierce and just spam Almighty magic.
• Babylon Goblet deals heavy AOE damage and drains 1 MP all enemies. This is very powerful in triple Drain Phys teams, as enemies out of Mana will simply try to auto-attack Rama and miss.
  • The MP drain also allows her to spam the attack repeatedly, provided the opponent hasn't run out of MP.
  • It also punishes greedy builds that run non-Divine brands, as it messes with their overall MP regeneration.
• Death Lust is a nice bonus that will when it manages to occasionally charm enemies. You should not build around this passive however, as Babylon Goblet is her main draw.
• Butcher can be used to increase her damage.
• It is recommended to cover up her weakness with Resist Force, as Force is a popular attacking element.
• Life Brands are recommended to increase her overall longevity. This gives her more chances to spam Babylon Goblet.
• Mother Harlot lets you add Almighty damage to your team's damage options. She is not as explosive as the other sweepers, preferring to slowly grind down her enemies via MP drains. Pick her if you feel like balancing out your team.

WIP

• His unique passive, Heavenly Valor punishes the enemy for Passing. As such, he is usually used as a dedicated Defense Team demon.
• Violent Slash is a hard-hitting single target Physical attack that grows in power the more it is cast.
  • Don't let that description fool you tho: The skill has 150 Base Power initially (equal to Dragon Blade's initial strike), and can be cast T1 even without Divine Brands. This makes him a surprisingly good T1 attacker.
• Phys Amp and Phys Boost can be used to increase his damage.
• Great Aim and Epitome of Aggression can be used to patch up his shaky accuracy.
• War Brands are usually used to maximize his damage potential.
• The best combo demon for Defense Teams. If you run Drain Teams on Defense, definitely slot him in!

• The OG PVP Nightmare, Masakado gains Drain Phys in Teal.
• Still one of the most powerful demons in the game. Not only does he posses innate Intimidating Stance and Pierce, his signature Occult Flash is a high-damage, high-critical single target Physical skill that inflicts Mortal (instant Death).
  • His high Synergy with Rama is one of the reason double Intimidating Stance is so often run alongside Drain Teams.
• Phys Amp and Epitome of Carnage are good options to boost his damage.
• Great Aim and Epitome of Aggression can be used to patch up his shaky accuracy.
• Auto skills allow him to further support his team. Players who run this build typically use him purely for inflicting Mortal via Occult Flash.
• Usually runs Life brands to compensate for his rather low HP.
• Masakado is the closest you'll get to a second core demon for this strat. There is little reason not to use him if you do have him.

• Third of the Archangel trio. As his passive does not deal damage, he is not treated as a core demon.
• He does however complement the team very well, being a powerful Force mage. Tailwind is useful for cleaning up any demons that survive your initial onslaught and it also breaks Endures. It should also be maxed with Kasane for reduced MP cost and more damage.
• Purple is the recommended color, as Force Enhancement lets him nuke even harder.
• Force Amp and Force Boost are good choices to further boost his damage.
• Speedster and [[Epitome of Swiftness] can be used to raise battle speed.
• Maxed Tailwind has a MP cost of 5. As such, he can run Spell brands for more damage and still be able to cast it T1. Speed brands are the recommended sub-set to raise battle speed.
• Compared to the other options, Raphael is a lot faster, letting the team hit higher battle speeds. On the flip side, Tailwind's random targeting nature might backfire at times due to bad RNG, and it can be stopped by certain Anti-Pierce combinations such as Rama + Susano-o A.

Mastema

Mastema

• Mastema's signature skill Trial of Hate is a powerful AOE light attack that also applies a random debuff.
  • This attack does not pierce by default though. Light Pierce (weak) is mandatory as NDR Light is common.
  • With Panel 3, he will apply two random debuffs instead.
• He gains access to Light Amp in purple, and P1 further increases his light damage.
• As he is one of the easier 4x4 fusions in the game, he is one of the more achievable P3 demons.
• He needs to run Divine Brands in order to cast Trial of Hate T1. Speed brands are the recommended sub-set to raise battle speed.
• Pick Mastema if you want another AOE sweeper to go with your other AOEs.

Metatron

Metatron

• Metatron's Fire of Sinai is similar to Raphael's Tailwind, a random-targeting skill. However, it does 5 hits instead of 4, and is almighty element instead of Force.
  • This makes it a lot safer for him to spam, as Almighty can only be stopped by Five Elements (which you should not be seeing if you are going first!)
  • As with Tailwind, this is a very useful spell for cleaning up and breaking Endures.
• Red gains access to discounted Mahamadyne, giving you the option of casting either an AOE or Fire of Sinai for clean-up.
  • Mahamadyne will not pierce though, so bear that in mind.
• Metatron has the highest Base Magic among the options, and has access to Infinite Chakra by default, allowing him to run Spell Brands and still be able to spam either Mahamadyne or Fire of Sinai turn 1.
  • While not easy to achieve, Panel 3 increases all damage dealt by a significant margin.
• Pick Metatron if you are okay with sacrificing a bit of battle speed for more reliable firepower.

The other Herald / Divine demons don't provide enough advantages to be considered. Please keep your Seraphs on Democalypse duty.

Fourth demon

While you could run 4 Heralds, aesthetics aside there is little reason to do so. Your last team slot is better suited for another demon that compliments the team better, namely for improving battle speed.

Masakado A

Masakado A

• Arguably one of the most meta-defining demons. Guardian of the East provides your team an additional Press Turn going first, giving you even more turns to delete them Turn 1.
• Kuyo Flash swings offensive buffs entirely to your favor, countering any defensive Autos.
• As his kit is fully self-sufficient, he has great flexibility over transfer skills and brands:
  • Speedster and [[Epitome of Swiftness] are recommended to raise battle speed.
  • Auto-Rakunda can be used to increase your combo's damage right off the bat.
  • Double speed brands are recommended to further bump up battle speed. Focus on speed Primary for the Legs, and Speed Tertiaries for everything else.
• Pick Masakado A if you have him. The only exception is if you are manually choosing targets and need a faster demon to outspeed.

Garuda

Garuda

• Second fastest demon in the game.
• Innate Auto-Rakunda helps to increase your team's firepower.
• Colors don't really matter for him. Most go with Purple for Berserker for a minor boost in damage.
  • Speedster and [[Epitome of Swiftness] are recommended to raise battle speed.
  • Bufula L is a nice, cheap spell to exploit Ice weakness (which is usually uncovered) for Press Turns.
  • Double speed brands are recommended to further bump up battle speed. Focus on speed Primary for the Legs, and Speed Tertiaries for everything else.
    • P1 is required for him to cast Zandyne T1 on defense, otherwise he will not have enough MP and end up auto-attacking, running the risk of missing or hitting into Tetra Shift.
• Panel 3 increases his Battle Speed and is worth aiming for.
• Garuda is the "tried-and-true, can't-go-wrong" option.

Kartikeya

Kartikeya

• The fastest demon in the game.
• His unique skill Skanda raises his Crit rate. Combine this with innate Mortal Jihad (a high base crit rate skill) and high base LUK, he can reliably crit for Press Turns.
• Comes with innate Speedster in Clear. Some potential transfer skills include:
  • Phys Pierce (weak) is highly recommended to avoid being walled by Tetra Shift
  • [[Epitome of Swiftness] can be used to raise battle speed. It's a very rare transfer skill though.
  • Savage Glee brings his already impressive Crit rate to near-guaranteed levels.
  • Auto-Rakunda can be used to increase your combo's damage right off the bat.
  • Double speed brands are recommended to further bump up battle speed. Focus on speed Primary for the Legs, Crit rate for the Arms and Speed Tertiaries for everything else.
    • With P1, you can run double speed and still T1 Mortal Jihad. Unfortunately, Kartikeya is notoriously difficult to fuse, costing upwards of 8 million Mag from scratch.
• Kartikeya is the luxury option. While he brings a lot to the table, he also requires a lot of investment in terms of Magnetite and rare transfer skills.

Finalized Team

To recap, your finalized team should contain both Uriel and Gabriel, another Herald and one Speedster demon. It should look something like this:

Sample Archangel Team.

Garuda Skills Bufula L Speedster Brands Speed, Speed Requirements 40% speed, +20 AGI from Mitama

Uriel Skills Fire Amp Speedster Brands Divine, Speed Requirements 10% speed, +20 AGI from Mitama

Raphael Skills Force Amp Speedster Brands Spell, Speed Requirements 10% speed, +8 AGI from Mitama

Gabriel Skills Light Amp Speedster Brands Spell, Speed Requirements 10% speed, +20 AGI from Mitama

The above team hits 41k battle speed, enough to outspeed every PVE challenge and the vast majority of PVP defenses.

Checks and Counters

While they are a powerful combination, the Archangels are by no means invincible. There are several ways to counter angels both on offense and defense.

Outspeed

Kartikeya Nekomata A Garuda A

• While Archangel teams are fast, they are not the fastest. This is especially evident if you chose to run Metatron or Mastema as your third Herald.
• Being outsped is almost an automatic loss. Even if they do not teamwipe you on their turn, losing just one Herald means your chain effects will not trigger the next turn, severely reducing your damage output.

Repel Pierce

Asura Lord Vairocana Atavaka Alilat

• Asura Lord and Vairocana innately repel both Fire and Light, the main two elements in an Archangel team.
• Alilat's Repel Pierce and Atavaka's War Aid both prevent Repel resistances from being pierced.
• This team composition is extremely hard to attack into, as the repelled attacks will carry over their piercing properties, dealing full damage to you. Casting AOEs like Sunrise will also result in Press Turns being burned as a penalty for attacking into NDR.
• It is almost impossible to wipe this team T1, and they will no doubt hit back hard on their counterswing.

Asherah and Daisoujou

Asherah Daisoujou

• Asherah and Daisoujou are both bulky support demons that are often run together as a support duo.
• Asherah's Panel 2 halves the damage she takes from Fire attacks, while Daisoujou's Panel 1 halves the damage he takes from Light attacks. These resistances cannot be pierced as they are not your typical NDR.
• Combined with their natural bulk, they are almost impossible to burst down T1.
• Asherah carries Mother's Creation, the strongest revival spell in the game. It resurrects a teammate while refunding a full press turn, giving the revived teammate a chance to act immediately.
• Daisoujou typically carries Recarmdra, a party-wide resurrection.
• They can usually tank your entire combo, revive their fallen DPS demons and wipe you on the counterswing.

Quetzalcoatl A

Quetzalcoatl A

• Quetzalcoatl A is a deadly Fire mage that is capable of dealing high amounts of damage, thanks to having innate Fire Amp and Butcher.
• His unique passive Ce Acatl automatically revives him if he is dead at the start of your turn, and refunds a Press Turn icon.
• When paired with a bulky demon like Orcus or Asherah, he becomes a soft counter for Archangel teams used on defense.
  • As long as the tank survives, Quetzalcoatl A will come back to life the next turn and respond with two Aztec Pulses (pass on the tank).