You’ve spent your diamonds. You’ve ground the materials. Now you’re staring at a screen, wondering if that unit you just pulled is actually going to help you climb the PvP ladder or if it’s just box fodder. It’s a common story in The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross. Honestly, the ten commandments 7ds lineup is one of the most polarizing groups of characters Netmarble has ever released. Some are absolute gods in specific niche teams; others have aged about as well as milk in the sun.
If you’re coming from the anime, you expect these guys to be world-enders. In the game? It’s a bit more complicated than that.
What Most Players Get Wrong About Commandments
Most people think a Commandment is just a high-stat unit with a cool skin. That's a mistake. The real power lies in the "Commandment" passive itself. These are unique debuffs that trigger for both allies and enemies unless you have specific counters like the Droplet of Life or certain Holy Relics. It’s a double-edged sword. You play Galand of Truth, and suddenly your own team is getting Petrified because they used a Rank Up skill. It’s chaotic. It’s risky.
But when it works? Man, it’s satisfying.
The meta has shifted toward Light and Dark festivals like Purgatory Meliodas or Ultimate Escanor. You might think the old school ten commandments 7ds are dead. You’d be wrong. Thanks to the Holy Relic system and the "LR" (Legendary Rare) evolutions, some of these demons have clawed their way back from the grave. They aren’t just placeholders anymore. They are strategic nukes.
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Let's get real about the roster. We aren't looking at them through a lore lens. We are looking at them through the lens of "Will this win me a match in Elite PvP?"
Zeldris: The Eternal Engine
Zeldris of Piety is the glue. If you are running a Demon team, you are likely running some version of Zeldris. His Commandment—which depletes Ultimate Move Gauges when skills are moved—is a massive headache for rush teams. But it’s his passive "Regent of the Demon King" that does the heavy lifting, boosting basic stats for every debuff on the enemy. He makes Meliodas hit harder. He makes Estarossa tankier. He’s the backbone. Without him, the Demon synergy often falls apart.
Derieri: The PvE Queen
Look, her PvP days are mostly over. Everyone knows how to strip her buffs or Petrify her before she gets going. But in PvE? In demonic beast battles or high-level raids? Derieri of Purity is still a monster. Her "Combo Star" passive is legendary. You just keep attacking, her attack stat keeps skyrocketing, and eventually, you drop a gold "Leap" card that hits for millions. It’s simple. It’s effective. It’s satisfying.
Estarossa: The Face of the Meta Shift
When we talk about the ten commandments 7ds, we have to talk about the shift from the old "Love" Estarossa to the "Berserk" version. While Berserk Estarossa is technically a Festival unit, he defines the modern Commandment playstyle. His ability to apply "Encroachment" makes it so the enemy literally cannot survive more than a couple of turns. He turned the Demon team from a slow, defensive build into a hyper-aggressive blitz crew.
The Forgotten Commandments: Why They Fell Off
It’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Some members of the ten have been left in the dust. Fraudrin? He’s basically a sacrifice. You want him to die. That’s his whole job. You put him in level 1, no gear, let the enemy kill him, and boom—your team has full Ultimate gauges. It’s a cheesy strat, but it works in specific Brawl settings.
Then there's Melascula.
Kinda niche.
Kinda annoying.
Her ability to keep a dying ally alive for three turns is a great "gotcha" mechanic, but with the amount of "Remove Buffs" and "Abyss" damage in the current game, her protection feels like a paper shield.
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Drole and Gloxinia suffer from "Green Unit Syndrome." In a world dominated by powerful Red and Dark attackers, being a Green support unit is a death sentence. Drole’s heavy armor and petrification are cool, sure. But when Purgatory Meliodas can one-tap him through a defense buff, what’s the point? They need massive LR buffs to stay relevant, and even then, it's an uphill battle.
Mechanics You Need to Master
If you're going to use the ten commandments 7ds, you have to understand the "Demon" tag synergy. Most of these units don't function in a vacuum. You can't just slap Monspeet into a human team and expect magic.
- Crit Resistance: Many Commandments rely on lowering the enemy’s ability to crit.
- Debuff Stacking: The more Grey or Red debuffs you land, the more certain passives (like Zeldris's) kick in.
- The Sacrifice Play: Knowing when to let a unit like Fraudrin or Melascula take a hit to set up a counter-sweep.
Honestly, the learning curve is steeper than the standard "Slam Escanor's Finger" playstyle. You have to track the Commandment effects on your side too. If you forget that Grayroad’s commandment is active and you kill a unit, you might accidentally debuff yourself into a loss. It’s a chess match.
Building a Modern Commandment Team
If you’re looking to actually win games today, stop trying to use all ten. That’s a rookie move. You want a core that utilizes the best synergy.
A high-tier setup usually involves:
- Fest Estarossa (The damage dealer)
- Zeldris (The stat buffer/Ult control)
- Purgatory Meliodas or DK Meli (The powerhouse)
- Cusack or Chandler in the back (The support)
Wait, notice something? Those last two aren't Commandments. That’s the hard truth. The best ten commandments 7ds teams use the "Commandment" units as a foundation, not the whole house. You need the raw power of the newer Demon King units to actually close out games.
The Gear Trap
Don’t just slap HP/Defense on everyone. While Zeldris benefits from staying alive, units like Derieri or Estarossa need Attack/Crit Damage. However, there’s a nuance here. Because many Commandments have high base lifesteal, building them with a bit of "Resistance" can actually make them harder to kill than just stacking raw HP. It’s about the "Effective HP."
Also, Holy Relics are non-negotiable now.
If you don't have Zeldris's relic, his value drops by 30%.
If you don't have Estarossa's relic, you're missing out on crucial stat boosts.
Grind the Bird. Grind the Deer. It’s the only way.
Why the Community Still Loves Them
Despite the power creep, there is something inherently cool about the ten commandments 7ds. They represent a specific era of the game where strategy mattered more than just having the newest shiny unit. Pulling off a win with a well-timed Grayroad debuff or a Monspeet ignite stack feels earned.
The developers know this. That’s why we see constant reworks and "LR" versions of these characters. They are the villains we love to play. They have a style that the "Holy Knight" characters just can't match.
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Practical Steps for Your Account
If you want to make the most of your Demon roster, stop spreading your resources thin.
- Focus on Zeldris first. He is the most versatile unit in the group across almost all game modes.
- Save your LR coins. If a Commandment gets an LR evolution, it usually catapults them to the top of the meta for at least three months.
- Check the passive interactions. Spend five minutes reading the actual text of the Commandment debuffs. Know which ones affect you and which ones affect the enemy.
- Invest in the Demon backline. Getting units like Nanashi (with his relic) or the older Demon supports will make your Commandments feel twice as strong.
The ten commandments 7ds aren't just a relic of the past. They are a specific, high-skill-ceiling archetype that rewards players who actually read the cards. Don't be the player who just taps the shiny gold card. Be the player who knows why that card is going to end the match.