Hero Masakado T1

Written by Reika

Overview

Hero Masakado Turn 1 teams are built to abuse Masakado A's Guardian of the East passive that generates an extra Press Turn if going first. These teams typically have high battle speed and abuse Critical mechanics to decimate their enemies in the very first turn.

Due to matches against them being generally one-sided, they are sometimes affectionately referred as "T1 Cancer".

Concept

• Masakado A's Guardian of the East passive generates an additional Press Turn if going first.
  • Since the passive will only trigger if you go first, high battle speeds are recommended.
• Criticals are used to extend press turns, giving your demons more actions to clean up the opponent.
• Pierce and Almighty attacks are used to ignore NDR. Some form of AOE is preferred to quickly sweep the opponent.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Very effective (and oppressive) if built right
• Extremely high damage output, can even overwhelm certain bulky teams.
• Flexible team composition, can easily adjust battle speed depending on team members. Useful for revenging.
• As most fights end very quickly, it allows you to climb the PVP ladder faster if doing last minute pot rushes.

Cons:

• Very high entry cost - Masakado A is a Banner exclusive, and most recommended demons are also Banner exclusives and/or require panels.
• Frail, will easily roll over if outsped.
• Has trouble with bulky teams. Asherah is a particularly troublesome matchup.

Team

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

Core Demons

The only core demon is Masakado A, of whom the team is named after.

Masakado A

Masakado A

• One of the best support demons in the game.
• Guardian of the East provides an additional Press Turn going first. His other unique skill Kuyo Flash deals moderate Almighty AOE damage and applies Tarukaja, Rakunda, Sukukaja and Sukunda all in one go.
  • This essentially swings offensive buffs entirely in your favor, allowing you to go easy on Auto-skills.
• Has innate Physical Pierce to avoid being walled by Phys NDR when out of MP.
• Panel 2 provides his entire team Null Mortal for a Turn. This protects against Ixtab defenses and can act as a safety net if you fail to end the opponent on the first turn.

Skills and Brands

• Speedster and Epitome of Swiftness can be used to raise battle speed. Going first is vital for the team.
• Auto-Taruka and Auto-Rakunda help to negate enemy autos, ensuring your Kuyo Flash will debuff them.
• Savage Glee's increase Crit rate is useful for scenarios where he needs to Auto-Attack.
• Herculean Strike L and Deathbound gives him a cheap AOE to clean up remaining demons. 4MP means it can be cast after Kuyo Flash with Divine Brands. Herculean Strike does more damage overall, but Deathbound is more useful versus single enemies and for clearing Endures.
• Divine Brands are required to cast Kuyo Flash Turn 1 if not P3. Speed brands are the recommended sub-set for Battle Speed.

Supporting Demons

When picking Supporting Demons, always consider your team's Turn Order. Ideally you will want to lead with a high Crit demon so that you can cast Kuyo Flash on the half turn. Avoid having Masakado A in the number 1 spot, as he will waste the entire Press Turn casting Kuyo Flash.

Kartikeya

Kartikeya

• One of the fastest demons in the game, Kartikeya is used to accelerate your battle speed.
• His unique aura Skanda raises your whole party's Crit rate and Accuracy, both important stats for the team. 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.
• Unless you have a specific Metagame strat, Kartikeya is the safe pick, providing everything your team needs.

Skills and Brands:

• Phys Pierce (weak) is mandatory 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-Taruka and Auto-Rakunda can be used to increase your team'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.

Shiva A

Shiva A

• Shiva A is a powerful Almighty Sweeper.
• Ishvara gives him a guaranteed Crit on his first attack to get the Crit Ball rolling.
• Third Eye is a fully unblockable Almighty attack that can also Crit for massive damage.
• Panel 2 is mandatory for him, as he is walled by Tetra Shift otherwise.
• It is recommended to make him the lead demon, as Ishvara guarantees he will crit pass for Masakado A. This will also allow him to gather enough MP to cast Third Eye in the same turn, even if he is running Spell Brands.
  • You will need to do some creative branding if you plan to run him with Kartikeya. He needs to have a minimum of +3 AGI Mitama to speed tie Masakado A, with both him and Masakado A running Lead Brands in order to go before Kartikeya.
• Purple is the recommended color. Savage Glee increases the odds of Third Eye landing a crit.
• Shiva A is the luxury option, pick him if you managed to Panel him.

Skills and Brands:

• Butcher is used to increase Third Eye's damage.
• Speedster and Epitome of Swiftness can be used to raise battle speed.
• Great Aim can be used to patch up his accuracy if required.
• Spell Brands are recommended to increase his damage. Aim and Speed brands are acceptable sub-sets depending on preference.

Asura Lord

Asura Lord

• Asura Lord is a single-target Nuker that carries a valuable aura.
• His unique aura Endless War buffs the critical rate and damage of all your teammates.
  • It also stacks with Kartikeya's Skanda, giving your whole team a whopping +40% to crit!
• Slaughter All is a fully unblockable Almighty Single Target attack that deal ridiculous damage, has above average Crit rate, bypasses Endures and can be casted T1, either through Divine Brands or Panels.
• Purple is recommended to boost his damage further through Master Assassin.
• He is best run in the 3rd position, abusing Slaughter All's high crit rate to generate a Press Turn for your 4th attacker. This also lets him take full advantage of Kuyo Flash's buff swing to assassinate a key opponent even through Endures.
• Asura Lord is a very solid Nuker with a very helpful Aura, pick him if you have him.

Skills and Brands:

• Speedster and Epitome of Swiftness can be used to raise battle speed.
• Great Aim can be used to patch up his accuracy if required.
• Assassin and Berserker can be used to buff Slaughter All's damage.
• Divine is required to cast Slaughter All turn 1 without Panels. If you have Panel 2, War Brands are also acceptable to increase his damage.
• Aim and Speed brands are acceptable sub-sets depending on preference.

Susano-o A

Susano-o A

• Susano-o A is a Physical Nuker that excels in defense teams, as his unique passive Heavenly Valor deals piercing AOE damage whenever the enemy passes.
• Violent Slash is a hard-hitting single target Physical attack that grows in power the more it is cast. The skill has 150 Base Power initially and can be cast T1 even without Divine Brands, making him a great candidate for the team.
  • Purple is recommended for Master Assassin, which raises Violent Slash's damage.
• Innate Epitome of Carnage means he will naturally crit a lot, especially if paired with Kartikeya and Asura Lord auras.
• He is best run in the 3rd position, abusing his high crit rate to generate a Press Turn for your 4th attacker. This also lets him take full advantage of Kuyo Flash's buff swing to assassinate a key opponent.
• A very good candidate for Defense Teams. If you plan to run this team on Defense, definitely try to slot him in!

Skills and Brands:

• 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.
• Speedster and Epitome of Swiftness can be used to raise battle speed.
• War Brands are usually used to maximize his damage potential. Aim brands are the recommended sub-set.

Cu Chulainn A

Cu Chulainn A

• Cu Chulainn A is a dual-element physical sweeper.
• Barbed Spear is a piercing Force-element Physical attack that deals multiple hits on all enemies.
  • This gives him increased chances to crit for a half turn. On the other hand, it is also possible to lose turns from missing. As such, he is typically run in the 3rd or 4th position, depending on your risk aversion.
  • Beware teams running Rama + Susano-o A, as the combo walls him.
• Cu Chulainn A is a high risk high return pick. Against teams without Force Anti-Pierce, he can deal massive amounts of damage while generating Press Turns from crits. Inversely, teams that do run Force Anti-Pierce will completely invalidate him.

Skills and Brands:

• 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 or Speed brands are acceptable sub-sets.

V☆

V☆

• V☆ is an Almighty Mage that excels at dealing spread damage.
• Whenever someone on your team does an auto-attack, V will follow up with Griffon-Bolt, dealing light Almighty damage to 4 random enemies.
  • This is an incredible follow up to Kartikeya and/or Shiva A's initial attack, and Masakado A's own auto-attack after running out of MP.
  • It also allows him to clean up any Endures remaining, and balance up the team by providing Magic damage.
• Shadow-Shock essentially guarantees he will never have MP issues, as it gives him a free Almighty ST attack that also triggers his own Griffon-Bolt.
• He is best run in the 4th slot, as his auto-attack is not able to crit for Press Turns.
• V☆ is the safer option compared to Cu Chulainn A. While less explosive, he does not have to worry about NDR and Accuracy.

Skills and Brands:

• Butcher and Serial Killer can used to increase Griffon-Bolt's damage.
• Speedster and Epitome of Swiftness can be used to raise battle speed.
• Spell Brands are used to increase his damage. Speed brands are the preferred sub-set.

Finalized Team

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

• 1st demon should have high Crit rate to start the crit chain.
• 2nd demon should be Masakado A.
• 3rd demon should be a heavy ST nuker
• 4th demon is flexible, though an AOE is appreciated at this point.

High Speed Hero Masakado

Kartikeya Skills Phys Pierce (weak) Savage Glee Brands Speed, Speed Requirements 40% speed

Masakado A Skills Herculean Strike L Speedster Brands Divine, Speed Requirements 15% speed

Susano-o A Skills Phys Amp Speedster Brands War, Aim Requirements 15% speed

Cu Chulainn A Skills Force Amp Speedster Brands War, Aim Requirements 15% speed

Assuming maxed AGI Mitama on everyone, the above team can reach 40k Battle Speed, enough to outspeed the majority of the metagame. Both Susano-o A and Cu Chulainn A are capable of unleashing their unique skills Turn 1, and Masakado A can mop up any remaining demons with Herculean Strike L.

Midrange Hero Masakado

Shiva A Skills Butcher Great Aim Brands Spell, Aim Requirements 15% speed, P2 unlocked

Masakado A Skills Epitome of Swiftness Speedster Brands Divine, Speed Requirements 40% speed

Asura Lord Skills Assassin Speedster Brands Divine, Aim Requirements 15% speed

V☆ Skills Butcher Serial Killer Brands Spell, Speed Requirements 15% speed

Unlike the high speed version above, this variant sacrifices speed in order to improve the matchup versus Intimidating Stance Teams and Drain Teams. Assuming maxed AGI Mitama on everyone, the team can still reach 30k Battle Speed while still running offensive passives on the main attackers. All of the attacks are Almighty element, allowing the team to counter Drain Teams.

A typical battle versus double Intimidating Stance Teams (5 initial Press Turns reduced to 3) will look something like this:

• Press Turn 1: Shiva A crits from Ishvara --> Griffon-Bolt follow-up.
  • Half Turn 1: Masakado A casts Kuyo Flash.
• Press Turn 2: Asura Lord casts Slaughter All, deleting a demon and scoring a crit.
  • Half Turn 2: V☆ auto-attacks (turns into Shadow-Shock) --> Griffon-Bolt follow-up.
• Press Turn 3: Shiva A casts Third Eye, scoring a crit. By this point the enemy team should be mostly annihilated.
  • Half Turn 3: Masakado A auto-attacks --> Griffon-Bolt follow-up to clean up any remaining demons.

Checks and Counters

While very oppressive, Hero Masakado teams are by no means unstoppable. There are several ways to counter them on both offense and defense.

Outspeed

Uriel Nekomata A Garuda A

• Hero Masakado teams are glass cannons, being outsped is usually a death sentence.
• Speedy teams like Archangels can outspeed and decimate them T1.
• This is especially true versus the Midspeed variant that sacrifices speed for power.

Crit Resistance

Wild Instinct Passive -75% to Critical hit rate of damage received.
Epitome of Fortitude Passive +20% to max HP, -50% to Critical hit rate of damage received.
As Hero Masakado teams rely on crits to generate press turns and have highly optimized turn orders, missing a single crit can be game-losing. Crit Resistance swings this in your favor, especially versus Hero Masakado defense teams as the AI will always try to attacking low LUK demons for Press Turns. Bulky Demons like Asherah who have low LUK are the best carriers of the skill, as the AI will likely target her and fail to crit. She also appreciates the extra HP granted from Epitome of Fortitude.

Bulky Teams and AOE Resistance

Orcus Nidhoggr Asherah

In a similar vein, powerful single target attackers can soft-counter Drain Teams by targeting elements they are not immune to. Indrajit is a very notable check, as none of the Physical Sweepers Drain Elec and his Five Elements upon kill allows him to wall Mother Harlot indefinitely. Some players try to get around this by running double Defensive Autos and Life brands on all of their demons, greatly reducing the odds of being sniped.

Mortal

Alice Masakado Taking out Rama instantly makes the rest of the team vulnerable to Pierce. Alice is the best candidate for this as she ignores Endures and Rama's Evasion. Some teams tech Yama and Masakado A to protect themselves against Mortal, take note when you see these demons.