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.

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

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).
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. There is no reason to not use him if you do 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

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 and also the only one with a debuff skill.

Skills and Brands:

Phys Amp is a good option 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.
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

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.
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.
- Life Brands are useful for increasing bulk.

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.
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 brands are the recommended sub-set.

Baihu

Has Intimidating Stance in Purple.
The earliest fuseable Stance demon.
Cheapest Stance demon. He can also be deliberately capped at Level 1 to forcibly lower your own Battle Speed.

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.
Due to his high luck, he can also run Ailment skills like Mahashibabooon.
Life brands can be used to increase HP. Aim brands are the recommended sub-set.

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

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 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 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.
- Did I mention ridiculous damage? Not taking into account any transfer skills, Slaughter All has 210 BP, plus 12% from levels, 20% from Master Assassin and 10% from his Aura, with 40% base crit rate fired off a Titanic 242 STR (4th highest in the whole game).
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.
Savage Glee lets him reliably Crit for press turns, while indirectly buffing 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 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 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☆ 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 have high Crit rate to generate another press turn.
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.

Anti-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

Savage Glee

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 ~27k Battle Speed (enough to outspeed Midrange Teams) while still running offensive passives and brands 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 Anti-Midrange 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 Asherah Nidhoggr

Orcus helps to soften the damage from Third Eye, Kuyo Flash and Griffon-Bolt.
Asherah is bulky and Mother's Creation allows her to revive a sweeper with an extra press turn for the counter-sweep.
Nidhoggr is naturally bulky and has innate Enduring Soul plus Wild Instinct (in purple).
- His unique skill Nastrond heals a large portion of his HP whenever a teammate is killed. This greatly increases his chances of surviving the Turn 1 onslaught (provided he is not killed through Endure by Slaughter All) and turning the tables through Recarmdra.

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.
- Paired with Nidhoggr (who is almost guaranteed to survive) or another tank like Orcus or Asherah, Ce Acatl will automatically bring him back to life the next turn, letting him sweep with two Aztec Pulses (pass on the tank).