Agh. Had a decent run going against Marilith before ATB got in my way. Was just the annoying input delay away from Edge's doppleganger going off and refreshing last stand partywide, but instead a savage flame slash killed Edge and Ramza. If you're going to start on one of the magicites, I think Marilith's the easiest one. She spams lots of fire spells, but that's pretty much it- she's like a beefier sealion.

As I look at my team, I also found part of the reason I was struggling- Aerith did an admirable job of keeping everyone up and running despite being equipped with an Orichalcum dirk from the last time I leveled her. I thought 2800 was a really weak heal for curada.