Saias

(Stats are shown with a Spd Refined Juicy Wave+ at +2 merge.)

Saias' stats aren't usually seen by many as very impressive; his speed is quite low even for a mage who relies on his ploys, and his lack of IVs don't exactly help matters either. So, what's a man to do?

Well, with a mixed drink from a certain wyvern riding beach goer, this. This is what he can do.

This is a pretty basic Fury/Desperation set that can also debuff exceedingly well. Juicy Wave frees up his B slot and is refineable so he can run Chill Atk to help disable a particularly nasty enemy, and Fury/Squad Ace D in junction with that bring his sad 31 speed up to an impressive 39. If he gets speed ploy off on an enemy, they need to be at an effective 49 speed in order to get a double on him, and as he gets knocked into lower HP brackets, he'll be able to start firing off Icebergs left and right.

Another idea for the set is Chill Spd, ensuring that the foe needs an effective 51 speed to continue to get a double on him after the chill.

This may seem pretty week on defense, but it really isn't and I'll explain.

With Wargods tome and with Spd Ploy activating, he has atk/res ploy 2 with spd ploy 3 active, totalling his stats at:

Hp/Atk/Spd/Def/Res
36/53/35/24/38

This is when the ploys activate, which is easy to setup with some well placed bait. This is further supported by his allies, one of which I mention being Katarina on all accounts, as she covers his weakness and works best with some support as well. She gives him def/res rally skills, ally support, and Chill spd on other enemies, further debuffing his enemies. As such, lets replace the Spd Ploy debuff with Chill Spd, and lets add the rally skill, and ally support:

Hp/Atk/Spd/Def/Res
36/55/37/29/43

In short, he becomes much harder to kill, and can in turn retaliate. Also keep in mind that this is without taking more support from other units, including more drives or spurs. And this solidifies the whole unique build thing for him. As I'm sure no one has built him.

Okay I know it looks like it won't work (and you're probably right) but I just wanted to be more creative. BEFORE EVERYTHING, KNOW THAT SAIAS SHOULD PROBABLY HAVE A FIRE BLESSING.
Anyway, this is supposed to be a defensive, anti-Manakete build. The strategy behind it is that Saias would initiate combat (he should probably be on a defensive tile when performing this action) with a Manakete without it counterattacking. You see, this is when Watersweep 3 and Phantom Speed 3 come into play (if Saias has enough speed of course). After combat Atk Smoke 3 will activate, inflicting the enemy (and other enemies within two spaces) with -7 attack. The Blessed Bouquet's effect will activate after that, giving Saias 5 points of Defense and Resistance. Enemy Phase! Manakete will attack Saias. Blessed Bouquet's effect will kind of sheild Saias and Atk Smoke 3 should soften the blow. Defensive tile helps too.

Saias is in some ways like Micaiah, except lacking in merge potential, ivs, and a incredible weapon like Thani, none the less he can preform amazingly with a dancer.
Fury is great on him, it bumps his spd base to 33, which is ok, his atk hits 50 with weapon and his res hits a titanic 37.
Desperation combos well with brash assault seal and fury as the A skill, as it allows him to bypass his disappointing spd tier and hit for massive damage.
Iceberg is his special here, though something like glacies can work to nuke the enemy if needed to.

Saias has a stat spread (and weapon) very close to Arvis. With the exception of some res and spd, they are very identical. Saias has a base speed of 30, which is below average, and can't be used very well on player phase, without a large amount of dedication to him. He has a res stat of 34, which is good for tanking mages. Combined with distant def 6 on enemy phase, he gets to 46 res, which is capable of tanking many mages (provided they don't have TA and are green). Quick Riposte is a staple in this build, providing a slow Saias with a necessary follow up attack. Due to his low speed, he will get doubled, and will be able to proc iceberg on his final attack. This is helpful in getting that final push to kill, since Saias only has 33 attack base. If this is not desired, Glacies can be used instead. Attack Smoke is optional, but if Saias has to tank more than 1 magic user, it helps to lower the attack of nearby units that would attack him next. This essentially gets him to 53 res, (34 + Distant Def 6 + -7 Atk on Foe) which is exceptionally high.