Benji in Outsiders Limited

Benji, the Piercing Wind was first introduced in Flesh and Blood in Crucible of War. As a Blitz only hero, he took some share of the meta, but he was often the second or third Ninja on a player’s radar in the format. With Outsiders, Benji finally gets a dedicated Limited experience for players to pierce their kodachi into.

Overview

Benji has a unique hero ability in the form of built-in evasion for Attack Action cards with two power or less. This pairs well with his second ability, which is a deflated version of Ira’s infamous once-per-turn buff. Once per turn, after an Attack Action card has hit, your next attack gains plus one power.

Benji decks will likely try to thread a needle between evasive but below rate attacks and cards that can still force your opponent to spend cards on defense. This will be critical given the fragility of Benji’s 17 health and the plethora of two blocks in his card pool.

Benji’s intellect of four is standard for all non-Data-Doll heroes. He begins the game at 17 life, 85% of the other ninja in Outsiders, Katsu. Does his evasion make up for the health discrepancy when compared to the consistency offered by Katsu’s hero ability? It might.

Core Cards

You can break Benji’s core card pool into two sections: Attack Actions with two or less power, and those with greater power that are not affected by his ability. Because this is an article about Benji’s Limited format potential, we’ll be focusing mainly on common and rare cards.

3+ Power

These reds are combo starters. They do not get evasion, but they can be a critical piece to turning on combo to some of your yellows and blues played later in the chain.

• Combo Starters

  • Red Twin Twister (Common)

  • Red Be Like Water (Common)

  • Red Head Jab (Common)

    

2 or Less Power

These are Benji’s bread and butter. They get evasion from his hero ability and, outside of Twin Twister, can be pitched to pay for kodachi.

• Combo Starters

  • Yellow & Blue Twin Twister (Common)

  • Yellow & Blue Be Like Water (Common)

  • Yellow & Blue Head Jab (Common)

    

• Combo Payoffs

  • Yellow & Blue Recoil (Common)

  • Yellow & Blue One Two Punch (Common)

  • Red, Yellow & Blue Back Heel Kick (Common)

    

Other Useful Cards

• Attack Reactions can abuse evasive attacks and punish those without Defense Reactions ready to respond:

  • Short and Sharp (Common)

•  Built in Go-Again with potentially relevant ability:

  • Wander with Purpose (Majestic)

  • Deadly Duo(Common)

  • Hurl (Rare)

  • Plunge (Common)

  • Spinning Wheel Kick (Rare)

    

Sleeper Cards

I’ve included these in the Core Cards section, but I think they are being underlooked ahead of the pre-release weekend.

• Back Heel Kick (Common): This card can compound buffs such as its combo starter Twin Twister’s on hit, Benji’s ability, and Attack Reactions.

• One Two Punch (Common): Presenting additional damage on hit is very difficult to handle in Limited. Your only outs are Seeker’s equipment, Brush Off and Peace of Mind.

• Short and Sharp (Common): Reacting to an evasive one or two power and bringing it to four will require the opponent to have damage prevention or reactions to deal with it. On top of this, it can buff a kodachi swing during a critical turn to push damage or force a response early in the chain from an opponent so your combo on hits have a higher likelihood of connecting. I expect a lot of Benji games to be won off the back of Short and Sharp.

  

Meaningful Generics

• Mask of Many Faces: The ability to turn one of your evasive Go Again attacks into a combo starter, enabling an evasive Recoil or One Two Punch can be powerful.

• Fleet Foot Sandals: Benji will be running a lot of blue one power attacks. Giving something like Recoil or One Two Punch evasion and Go Again on a critical turn to continue presenting damage can put the opponent in an awkward position.

• Looking For A Scrap: Can be a relevant mid to late game attack potentially forcing cards from the opponent’s hand as a chain starter into additional evasive damage. 

• Spring Load: With lots of natural Go Again, this can be a chain ender after you’ve dumped your hand to hopefully strip some cards from the opponent by presenting above rate damage.

• Silken Gi: At the “cost” of reducing a card's damage by one, your next attack costs one less to play. This can transform a Go Again attack with 3 power (Twin Twister, Plunge) into a now free to play and evasive two power attack.

• Fisticuffs: An expensive Breaking Scales. With all the yellows and blues that Benji is likely to run, floating resources may not be a problem. As stated above, reactions are a great way for Benji to push damage. Notably, this can buff any Attack Action card.

  

Example Playlines

Hand: Yellow Deadly Duo, Yellow Head Jab, Yellow Recoil, Any Blue Zero Cost.

Pitch Blue: Kodachi (1) > Kodachi (1) > Yellow Deadly Duo (2) > Yellow Head Jab (3) > Yellow Recoil (2) = 10 damage with a break point on hit forcing the opponent to put a card from hand on top of deck.

---

Hand: Red Short and Sharp, Yellow Twin Twister, Yellow Back Heel Kick, Any Blue Zero Cost.

Pitch Blue: Kodachi (1) > Yellow Twin Twister choosing buff next attack (2) > Yellow Back Heel Kick (6*) > Attack React with Short and sharp (+4*) = 13 damage.

*Back Heel Kick’s combo effect pumps +1 power for each instance of power increase.

---

Hand: Yellow Decedent Gustwave, Red Bonds of Ancestry, Yellow Spinning Wheel Kick, Any Blue Zero Cost.

Pitch Blue: Kodachi (1) > Yellow  Descending Gustwave (2) > Bonds (5) > Banish a Spinning Wheel Kick from Grave then Banish a Red Spinning Wheel Kick > Red Spinning Wheel Kick (4) > Yellow Spinning Wheel Kick (4) = 16 Damage. 

---

Hand: Yellow Hurl, Yellow Plunge, Blue Concealed Blade, Any Blue Zero Cost.

Pitch Blue: Kodachi (1) > Plunge (2) > Kodachi (3) > Hurl (2) > Hurl a Kodachi (1) > React with Concealed Blade (+1) grab another Kodachi > Kodachi (1) = 11 Damage.