Who is the most powerful of Darkseid's Elite?

1. Is it Steppenwolf? He fought the Flash (Bart) in a pretty epic (sorry for using that term; I know it's cliché) battle that went to round 2 before Green Lantern (Hal), Red Arrow, and Black Canary came in for the win. Then again his Electro-Axe did nothing to Superman when used as a melee weapon.

2. Is it Mantis, Infinity-Man rogue and sometimes Orion foe? He's claimed his anti-matter can destroy star systems, but that's probably a bogus claim. He fought the Legion during Genesis, so I dunno how that messed with everyone's powerlevels. He's lost to Superman, and Warlord dodged his energy blasts until he ran out of juice. It is rumored he is second to Darkseid in power (that would probably exclude Pythia as she's more powerful than both).

3. Is it Devilance the Pursuer? He too was an Infinity-Man rogue. Last I saw of him was in 52.

4. Is it Dr. Bedlam? He's got a nifty powerset, being made of psionic energy and inhabiting homonculi. Haven't seen him in action too much though.,

5. Is it Kalibak the Cruel? He's strong but undisciplined. He hit Hal the hardest back in the day but got defeated by a deadly DC gas explosion. He's lost to Dan Turpin due to frag grenade in the mouth. But, he's strong as his half-brother Orion and has defeated Lightray.

6. Is it Kanto? I honestly don't know too much about him except that he is a traitor to Martian Manhunter and they had a rivalry going. Kanto can survive the firepits.

7. Is it Slig? He was on the news with reported strength in the Superman class. He's clashed with Aquaman and he did a number on Orion back in the day thanks to his sealife-mutating powers. In Simonson's run, not so much.

8. Is it DeSaad? Hear me out, while he may be a weak coward, the dude invented the Killing Glove, and he was the one to save Apokolips from Doomsday. He's also manipulated people and powered them up from behind the scenes. Plus he can shapeshift into Darkseid's image, but not his powerlevel.

9. I can't really think of others at the moment, but if you have a write-in please, I'm all ears.

10. I personally think Agogg was Darkseid's strongest minion, but he's long dead. Yes, I realize the others have been dead too, and rebooted. But let's pretend it's pre-Death of the New gods. Of the Elite, I think Mantis is the most powerful. Of evil New gods, (not bugs), I'm stumped.

DeSaad, although he plays the coward he really isn't. He is like Lex Luthor with new god power and new god tech.

@CapitolPunishment: Thanks for the well-thought-out reply. I also like your answer - DeSaads one of my favorites.

@The_Last_Son_of_Czarnia: Thanks, sorry for the short reply I'm on the mobile phone. I think it is also worth noting that he has had physical battles with super heros while simply pretending to be Darksied.

DeSaad with a backbone would be a truly great threat. I think Apokolips should go to him if Darkseid ever gets de-throned.

Kalibak

Desaad is the most valuable. Without him many of Darkseid's plot devices (freezing Godwave Ares, for instance) may not have been possible.

Kalibak is probably physically the strongest, but Mantis has a better power set, which should make him more dangerous overall (plus he's loads smarter).

Agogg I wouldn't really count. A one-shot villain with no explanation, no history, nothing. Even just looking at him, he's basically just a bigger, stronger, smarter version of Kalibak. Totally pointless, totally unremarkable, and makes no sense at all with either the family or power dynamics of the New Gods. Just a lazy idea that never should have happened. But yes, if you include him he should rank above Kalibak and Mantis.