Intimidating Stance Teams

Written by Reika

Overview

Intimidating Stance Teams are built around the powerful Intimidating Stance passive, which reduces the enemy's Press Turns if going second. These teams aim to out-slow the enemy, denying their Press Turns and unleashing powerful attacks on the counter-swing.

Concept

• Intimidating Stance removes a Press Turn from the opponent if going second. This ability may not stack more than twice.
  • As such, there are two flavors of Intimidating Stance Teams: Single Stance and Double Stance
• Going second also gives your team additional MP. This allows you to fire off stronger attacks without using Divine Brands.
• These teams typically run slow but bulky demons, with the aim of going second, surviving the initial turn and countering hard on their next turn.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Going second gives you access to more MP and in turn stronger attacks.
• Flexible team composition, can easily adjust battle speed depending on team members. Useful for revenging.
• Can safely ignore the speedwar as the team aims to go second anyway.
• Low barrier of entry: The team can be built using fuseable demons.
• High damage ceiling, depending on how much you invest into the team.
• Highly resistant to Meta shifts: These teams have been around since game launch and will continue to remain relevant for a long time.

Cons:

• Best options are Gacha and Banner exclusives.
• Will be at a disadvantage is out-slowed. This makes them prime targets for revenging.

Team

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

Guidelines

Outside of the constrain of using Intimidating Stance demons, the team building is flexible.

Intimidating Stance inherently provides a defensive cover against offensive Turn 1 teams. Having two of them increases your defense against them. However high Tier offensive teams are well adapted to Intimidating Stance meaning you may be forced to add other defensive demons.

The need or/and difficulty you have facing off against either offensive T1 teams or more grindy teams drive the proportion of (Utility) Supporting Demons vs (Attacker) Supporting Demon.

• Get more Supporting Demons (Utility) with large bulk, revival abilities and/or defensive passives if you wish to strenghten yourself against very offensive T1 teams.
  • These teams are often full offense but low defense and as such can be destroyed if you survive and can land a hit.
• Get more Supporting Demons (Utility) with buff/debuff active skills to face off against teams with strong to very strong defenses that can force you into a grindy game.
• Get more Supporting Demons (Attacker) for fight against team with strong defenses that could however be broken the offensive capability you can afford.

The Supporting Demons proposed here are simply the most noteworthy options. Many other may exist.

Core Demons

There are five demons in the game with the Intimidating Stance passive. As this effect does not stack more than twice (using more than 2 will cause the third to not remove any PTs), you should pick at most two demons from the list below for your party. Note that even though Masakado's passive is not named Intimidating Stance, it still has the same stack restrictions.

Masakado

Masakado

• The OG PVP Nightmare, Masakado is a physical powerhouse who is still one of the most powerful demons in the game.
• His unique passive Warlord's Wrath not only provides him Intimidating Stance, it also gives him Phys Pierce and a 100% Counter on receiving Physical damage.
• His signature Occult Flash is a high-damage, high-critical single target Physical skill that inflicts Mortal (instant Death).
• Innate Vorpal Blade gives him a powerful AOE against teams without Physical Anti-Pierce.
• Both Purple and Teal can be used depending on team composition:
  • Purple gives him Phys Amp, greatly amplifying his damage.
  • Teal gives him Drain Phys, making him a good partner for Rama's Drain Pierce (allows Drain resistances to invalidate Pierce effects).
• Masakado is the best Stance demon period. Use him if you have him.

Skills and Brands:

• Phys Boost 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.

Atavaka

Atavaka

• Has Intimidating Stance in purple.
• His unique active Enemy Annihilation fully debuffs the enemy before firing off a powerful Piercing AOE Physical attack.
• His other unique, War Aid, increases his accuracy and acts as Anti-Pierce: While he is alive, Repel Resistances will negate Pierce effects.
• High STR, decent HP with low AGI makes him the perfect Stance demon.
• This combination of abilities make him a highly flexible unit.
• Atavaka is the only Stance demon with an Anti-Pierce (excluding Masakado) and also the only one with a debuff skill.

Skills and Brands:

• Phys Amp is a good option to boost his damage.
• Auto skills allow him to further support his team.
• Epitome of Fortitude increases his HP and provides Critical Resistance.
• Wild Instinct provides him even more Critical Resistance, consider this if you constantly face Crit-pass teams like Hero Masakado T1.
• As Enemy Annihilation has a high MP cost, most players choose to run Divine Brands. Life brands can also be used to increase his HP. Aim brands are the recommended sub-set.

Surt

Surt

• Has Intimidating Stance in Clear.
• Tetra Shift synergizes well with Stance, and is great to catch teams running leads without Phys Pierce / cheap attacks.
• Ragnarok is a single-target Nuke that hits extremely hard despite his low MAG.
  • It does not Pierce though, keep that in mind when selecting targets!
• On the downside, his AI is notoriously bad for defense if not running Divine Brands with maxed Ragnarok.
• Surt is the only Stance demon with a Magic focus. Use him if you desire a balanced team.

Skills and Brands:

• Surt can be run as either a Nuker or a Support.
• If run as a Nuker:
  • Fire Amp and Fire Boost are good options to boost his damage.
  • Divine Brands are recommended on Defense, as the AI will default to Berserker God after the first maxed Ragnarok without it.
  • Spell Brands can be used for Offense, or if you are confident of winning after a single Ragnarok on Defense.
• If run as a Support:
  • Auto skills allow him to further support his team.
• Epitome of Fortitude increases his HP and provides Critical Resistance.
• Wild Instinct provides him even more Critical Resistance, consider this if you constantly face Crit-pass teams like Hero Masakado T1.
  • Life Brands are useful for increasing bulk.

Zhong Kui

Zhong Kui

• Has Intimidating Stance in Purple.
• High STR and LUK lets him hit hard and crit for Press Turns.
• Innate Auto-Taruka increases your team's damage.
• On the downside, he does not have Pierce and his accuracy is shaky at best.
• Being a 4 Star, Zhong Kui is a very accessible source of Intimidating Stance. He can also be deliberately capped at Level 1 to forcibly lower your own Battle Speed.

Skills and Brands:

• Phys Pierce (weak) prevents him from being walled by Phys NDR and Tetra Shift.
• Auto skills allow him to further support his team.
• Evade and Dodge can be used to run an Evasion build, considering his high LUK.
• Due to his high luck, he can also run Ailment skills like Mahashibabooon.
  • Consider running Sick Brands with Ailment Infliction % stats if running him as such.
• Life brands can be used to increase HP. Aim or Dodge brands are both acceptable sub-sets depending on role.

Baihu

Baihu

• Has Intimidating Stance in Purple.
• The earliest fuseable Stance demon. As he doesn't do much, he is typically run as a support and capped at Level 1 to reduce Battle Speed.
• Cheapest Stance demon, though you should really consider fusing a Zhong Kui or Surt to replace him

Skills and Brands:

• Endure and Enduring Soul increases his survivability (important for sustaining Press Turns).
• Dodge and Evade can be useful to bait the AI into auto-attacking him.
• Auto skills allow him to further support his team.
• Life brands can be used to increase HP. Dodge brands are the recommended sub-set.

Supporting Demons (Attackers)

Supporting demons that go well in Intimidating Stance teams tend to be slow, bulky and have high-MP cost attacks (for attackers). The section below lists some of the more popular options, though it is by no means a comprehensive list (feel free to explore other demons that tickle your fancy!)

Guan Yu

Guan Yu

• Guan Yu is a bulky physical sweeper that has low AGI.
• 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.
• Both Purple and Teal can be used depending on team composition:
  • Purple gives him the incredible Null Mortal passive, making him immune to instakills such as Alice's Die for Me! and Masakado's Occult Flash.
  • Teal gives him Drain Phys, making him a good partner for Rama's Drain Pierce (allows Drain resistances to invalidate Pierce effects).
• Guan Yu is one of the best demons for Intimidating Stance Teams. There is little reason not to use him if you have him.

Skills and Brands:

• 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. Aim brands are the recommended sub-set.

Mother Harlot

Mother Harlot

• Mother Harlot is a slow Mage who excels in Almighty damage, while having a Charm ailment focus.
• Death Lust automatically charms her opponent at the start of her first turn, while increasing her damage versus charmed enemies. This is particularly potent with her Panel 1 automatically applying Barrier Break if going second.
• Babylon Goblet deals heavy AOE damage and drains 1 MP all enemies.
  • The MP drain 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.
  • Panel 2 will randomly charm enemies after casting Babylon Goblet. Considering how spammable this skill is, it is not uncommon to see entire teams charmed by the end of your turn.
• Purple is the recommended color as it provides Deadly Charm to increase her damage towards Charmed enemies.
• One of the best options for consistent Magic damage. She is not an explosive sweeper, preferring to slowly grind down her enemies via MP drains.

Skills and Brands:

• 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.

Mot

Mot

• Mot is a bulky Mage who thrives in extended fights.
• His unique Harmonious Death gives him an extra Press Turn and damage boost every second turn (stacks up to three times for 60% increase).
• He has two powerful AOEs, Megidolaon for every day use and Mamudodyne to hit Archangels for Weakness.
• Having two innate repels makes him a very good partner for Atavaka. Force Repel stops Baal and Cu Chulainn A from sweeping, while Dark Repel prevents him from being targeted by Alice (very useful if you don't have Panel 2).
• He has three colors can be used depending on preference:
  • Red gives him access to discounted Deathtouch, providing him extra sustain. This is especially potent with Panel 1 unlocked as it will reduce its cost to a meager 4MP.
  • Yellow has discounted Judgement, letting you deal damage while providing Tarukaja. Panel 1 helps to reduce the skill cost.
  • Purple's Life Surge makes him tankier.
• A great AOE sweeper that grows stronger as the fight drags on.

Skills and Brands:

• Butcher can be used to increase his damage.
• Epitome of Fortitude increases his HP and provides Critical Resistance. This also stacks with Life Surge if you chose Purple.
• Wild Instinct provides him even more Critical Resistance, consider this if you constantly face Crit-pass teams like Hero Masakado T1.
• Life Brands are usually used to make him even tankier, though Divine can be used if you constantly run into MP issues. Shield or Guard brands are the recommended sub-set for increased bulk.

Vairocana

Vairocana

• Vairocana is an Almighty Mage who excels going second.
• Radiant Mantra wipes out all buffs on the enemy side and debuffs on your side at the start of their turn, essentially negating all their Auto skills.
• Path of Prominence deals respectable Almighty damage while giving your team full buffs, letting him attack and support at the same time.
• Purple gives him Butcher to further enhance his damage.
• As he naturally repels Fire and Light, this makes him an ideal partner for Atavaka. This combination in particular counters Archangels, as he is immune to two of their AOE elements.
  • You can also run Teal for yet another Repel resistance in Repel Dark.
• An Almighty Mage that really shines with Atavaka, consider running him if Atavaka is your Stance carrier.

Skills and Brands:

• Serial Killer and Berserker can be used to increase his damage.
• Auto skills allow him to further support his team.
• Epitome of Fortitude increases his HP and provides Critical Resistance.
• Wild Instinct provides him even more Critical Resistance, consider this if you constantly face Crit-pass teams like Hero Masakado T1.
• Divine Brands are recommended as Path of Prominence has a steep cost.

Lucifer

Lucifer

• Lucifer's unique Morning Star does colossal Almighty damage in exchange for having a huge MP cost. As such, he is perfect for Intimidating Stance teams.
• Purple is the recommended color for Butcher, which further increases his damage.
• Panels increased his damage significantly. P3 Lucifer will have a whopping 40% extra damage added to Morning Star.
• One of the best Fuseable attackers for the Intimidating Stance strat.

Skills and Brands:

• Serial Killer and Berserker can be used to increase his damage.
• Concentrate costs a turn and 6 MP, but it substantially boosts Morning Star damage.
• Resist Light covers his weakness.
• Outside of Concentrate strategies, which generally require Divine brands, Spell Brands are recommended to maximize damage. Either way, you want to try to end the battle in the same turn you cast Morning Star.

Vishnu

Vishnu

• A fuseable alternative to Lucifer, Vishnu will do less damage, but he has extra durability and lower AGI.
• Red is the recommended color, giving him Megidolaon for 7 MP. Panel 3 reduces its cost even further, to 5 MP.
• His unique skill Avatar provides a death prevention effect and stacks with Endure and Enduring Soul. If he has all three skills, the enemy demons will have to kill Vishnu four times before he finally goes away - or even five, if Meat Balloon's Dx2 skill triggers. Indrajit and Alice are still dangerous because of the nature of their attacks, but most other demons will have trouble.

Skills and Brands

• Adding Endure and Enduring Soul to the unique skill Avatar will make Vishnu extremely durable.
• Although 7 MP is a lot, Spell Brands are still preferable to Divine brands; going second in PvP, you'll be able to cast Megidolaon almost as often.

Cu Chulainn

Cu Chulainn

• One of the easiest 5* demons to fuse, Cu Chulainn is rarely the ideal choice, but he's still a solid "budget" demon that's useable in many strategies, including Intimidating Stance teams.
• Low AGI helps ensure your team goes second.
• Purple for Force Pierce is essential, allowing Cu Chulainn to use Mazandyne freely. Relatively few teams will go out of their way to include Force Anti-Pierce, although Susano-o A and Cu Chulainn A both sometimes appear in teams with Rama.
• Mother Harlot and Hecatoncheires are commonly used demons that sometimes have their Force weakness uncovered.

Skills and Brands

• Force Amp and Force Boost increase Mazandyne damage.
• Concentrate greatly enhances the damage Mazandyne will do. When going second in PvP with Divine brands equipped, Cu Chulainn will have enough MP to use Concentrate for his first action and Mazandyne for his second without needing to Pass.
• Spell brands are preferred when not using a Concentrate strategy.

Supporting Demons (Supports)

Asherah

Asherah

• Asherah possesses the best Resurrection spell in the game, Mother's Creation. It is a full HP revive that also generates a Press Turn, allowing your revive target to immediately act in the same turn.
• Naturally bulky, she can also double as a cleric with Silent Prayer in Yellow, or act as an Ice Anti-Pierce in Teal when paired with Atavaka.
• Pairs well with Orcus as she has two open weaknesses.
• Unfortunately, her AI is easily exploitable as she has two high MP spells (Maragion and Mediarama) she will gladly waste MP on if no allies are dead.
• One of the best support demons in the game, you can't go wrong running her.

Skills and Brands:

• Null Bind and Null Charm allow her to play the role of Cleric in Yellow. Beware teams that tech Mute though.
• Epitome of Fortitude increases her HP and provides Critical Resistance.
• Wild Instinct provides her even more Critical Resistance, consider this if you constantly face Crit-pass teams like Hero Masakado T1.
• Auto skills allow her to further support her team.
• Life Brands are usually used to make her even tankier, though Divine can be used if you constantly run into MP issues. Shield or Guard brands are the recommended sub-set for increased bulk.

Ananta

Ananta

• Ananta is the only demon in the game who possesses all 3 Auto-buffs in Purple.
• He is typically used as a hard support, and as such can be capped at Lv 1 for speed control.
• Run him if yoou are looking for an Auto-Buff mule. And run him at Lv 1 if you want to drop extremely sharply your battle speed.

Skills and Brands:

• Auto-debuffs further his role as an Auto-mule.
• War Cry, Acid Breath and Fog Breath allow him to act as a debuffer.
• Most players tend to ignore Ananta as he doesn't do damage. Recarmdra can help to turn the tables in such scenarios.
• Evade and Dodge can be used to run an Evasion build.
• Epitome of Fortitude increases his HP and provides Critical Resistance.
• Wild Instinct provides him even more Critical Resistance, consider this if you constantly face Crit-pass teams like Hero Masakado T1.
• Life Brands are usually used to make him tankier. Dodge brands are the recommended sub-set.

Orcus

Orcus

• Orcus is a slow, bulky support demon that can also double as a buff control unit.
• His first unique passive, Law of Hell prevents the enemy from gaining Press Turns when hitting Weakness. This directly feeds his second passive, Hell's Gate which provides your entire team AOE reduction depending on how many weaknesses are open.
• Innate War Cry and Nocturne in Yellow give him powerful buff control.
• Consider him if you need a support that can also exert buff control for your team.

Skills and Brands:

• Samarecarm lets him revive a fallen teammate.
• Auto skills allow him to further support his team.
• Epitome of Fortitude increases his HP and provides Critical Resistance.
• Wild Instinct provides him even more Critical Resistance, consider this if you constantly face Crit-pass teams like Hero Masakado T1.
• As he is very MP hungry, Divine Brands are recommended. Shield brands can shore up his magic resistance, making him even tankier.

Hecatoncheires

Hecatoncheires

• Hecatoncheires is a slow, tanky support mainly used for his unique passive, Guards of Tartarus which reduces all AOE damage your team receives by 15%.
  • This is especially good to soften up damage from Archangels and V☆ teams.
• One of the demons with the lowest AGI, increasing your probablity of going second.
• Due to his high HP, he is usually left for last. As such, Recarmdra is a great skill for him as it will revive all his fallen teammates in exchange for his life.
  • The AI is also smart enough to save MP for it. This makes him one of the better demons for Defense teams.
• Unfortunately, he is weak to two very common attacking elements, Light and Force. Consider covering at least one of them.
• Consider him if you prefer a more defensive approach to PVP and/or need to drop sharply your battle speed.

Skills and Brands:

• Enduring Soul can provide him a layer of insurance, helping to ensure he gets to cast Recarmdra. It will also prevent Recarmdra's feedback damage from killing him.
• Auto skills allow him to further support his team.
• Epitome of Fortitude increases his HP and provides Critical Resistance.
• Wild Instinct provides him even more Critical Resistance, consider this if you constantly face Crit-pass teams like Hero Masakado T1.
• Life Brands are recommended to boost his bulk further. Shield brands can shore up his magic resistance, making him even tankier.

Gogmagog

Gogmagog

• Gogmagog is a slow demon typically run as a support due to his excellent Panels.
• His panels provide the entire team Physical reduction (-15%, cannot be pierced) and Crit Resistance (30%), useful against Hero Masakado T1 Teams.
  • He is also an easy demon to fuse, making P3 a reasonable goal to strive toward.
• One of the demons with the lowest AGI in the game making you more likely to go second.
• He gains Repel Phys in Teal. When paired with Atavaka, this lets him act as a Phys Anti-Pierce unit.
• His three weaknesses make him an ideal partner for Orcus to give your team massive AOE reduction.
• Consider him if you need a Repel Phys support to pair with Atavaka. At P3, even without Atavaka, he is an upgrade compared to Hecatoncheires.

Skills and Brands:

• His huge bulk and Repel Phys means he is usually left for last, making him a suitable Recarmdra carrier.
• Auto skills allow him to further support his team.
• Epitome of Fortitude increases his HP and provides Critical Resistance.
• Wild Instinct provides him even more Critical Resistance, consider this if you constantly face Crit-pass teams like Hero Masakado T1.
• Life Brands are recommended to boost his bulk further. Shield brands can shore up his magic resistance, making him even tankier.

Finalized Team

To recap, your finalized team should typically look something like this:

High-end Intimidating Stance Team

Guan Yu Skills Phys Amp Epitome of Carnage Brands Life, Aim

Masakado Skills Auto-Taruka Epitome of Carnage Brands Life, Aim

Atavaka Skills Auto-Rakuka Auto-Sukuka Brands Divine, Aim

Asherah Skills Auto-Rakuka Epitome of Fortitude Brands Life, Shield

A typical Double Intimidating Stance team running two sweepers and two supports. Two instances of Auto-Rakuka are run in order to ensure the buff sticks for survivability.

Non-Gacha Intimidating Stance Team

Lucifer Skills Serial Killer Berserker Brands Spell

Ananta Skills War Cry Auto-Tarunda Brands Life, Dodge

Zhong Kui Skills Samarecarm Auto-Rakunda Brands Life, Dodge

Surt Skills Fire Amp Fire Boost Brands Divine

A sample Intimidating Stance team without Gacha exclusive units. Lucifer and Surt are your main damage dealers, with Zhong Kui and Ananta as supports.

Checks and Counters

Outslow

Orcus Gogmagog Hecatoncheires

• Mainly for revenging or targeted attacks.
• Going slower prevents them from activating Intimidating Stance, while denying them the MP needed to use their skills.

Parvati / Ganesha

Parvati Ganesha

• Parvati's unique Joy Song and Ganesha's Faith in Wealth provide your entire team 1 MP when Intimidating Stance activates.
• This gives your team a burst of MP, allowing them to fire off skills normally not possible T1.
• Heavy sweepers like Shiva A and Rama work well with this team.

Masakado A

Masakado A

• Masakado A's Guardian of the East passive generates an extra Press Turn if going first. This helps to offset the turn lost to Intimidating Stance.
• Hero Masakado T1 teams are crafted around this passive, with some even designed with double Intimidating Stance in mind.

See also

• Tier List
• Skill List
• Brands
• PVP Team Guide for more Team guides