There's some balancing issues. The enemy AI is so friggin annoying starting at intermediate level. Parry stun time is way less than the enemy's version. And I still can't figure out how to roll away when downed like the AI can do.
Intermediate AI is super simple. The balancing issue is that you get cash faster than levels. You can buy an intermediate toon before you yourself are intermediate level. You body intermediate toons with an intermediate toon. So your main character gets replaced by someone 2-3 levels up in the progression(and often very good traits). Say i beat 1 intermediate, recruited her and she just became the new MC cause stats are better(her level ups were decent). You really can't lose an even level fight and even an up a tier fight unless your build is bad(happens early if you say got few special attacks and they got like 3-4 that are hard to play around).
Imo go one of two routes. Grab multiple long range strikes and mog them as they approach. Or go all in on Cha and ruin with one grab
Edit:
Here's a lv 10 intermediate i recruited styling on a lv 16 skilled
Simple things to note - the 2 low attacks can trigger as someone is getting up, locking them up. Upper cut can double as a get out of jail card. You can combine these to nuke even the final boss of the tournament. I did it at lv 13 vs 23. Once you knock down once you low kick+upper cut, sweeping kick+unload punches and you got them to 0. So any knockdown is for good and you only need 3-4 series to get into lethal range. As a note, AI is really good if you are playing it like a 2D game and just coming at it. But if you go diagonals and constantly change angles and range minutely it struggles.