Written by Liam Bosecke  

  

  

  

Introduction

For anyone that has played long enough to remember the 'Turtle Ira' deck, this feels similar in the way it's piloted.
Your basic aim is simple: Live long enough to kill your opponent in one fell swoop.

One thing to note is that I don't claim to have invented this strategy, or this deck, as this has existed in various forms on fabdb.net already. I simply would like to go through the strategy of playing Benji.

  

Benji's abilities can be devastating to come up against.

   

Ensuring you live long enough is one of the major challenges you will face in this aggressive format. One way to mitigate damage throughout the game is blocking with cards that defend for three or higher. Your Benji deck will contain very few cards which defend for less than three to ensure consistency with each hand you draw. You may think that blocking for two is not such a big deal, but after trialing a 'no block' play style that utilized six each of Ride the Tailwinds and Hundred Winds, I soon found that you never had enough time to setup for your much needed massive turn. I'm currently considering putting more 3 block cards in than I already have too. 

Think about it, on average you can expect your opponent, in blitz, to come in with at least two or three attacks per turn (when looking at each hero that is most played). For every two block card you defend with, you're: letting in at least one damage, using one more card to defend with than usual and potentially an on hit effect by your opponent. For this particular deck, we want to make use of life gain and defense reactions which will let you stack your deck. When I say stack your deck, I mean that, if you opt and see an attack action or a red pitch on top of your deck, such as a Razor Reflex, you may want to save it for later if you deem the situation not suitable to pull off your OTK (one-turn-kill). 

   

Your main defensive tools, keep one in arsenal.

  

How to Play the Deck

The way you play will largely depend on your match-up. Unfortunately, this isn't a well rounded strategy as it largely depends on pulling off a combo. You can however, reliably pull it off if you leave yourself with some fail safes.

What is the combo exactly?

Two magic words: Spring Tidings. If you can successfully hit with this card, your opponent is in for a world of hurt. The way to make sure you're able to hit with this card is in two ways. One way is to have a Razor Reflex with in hand or in your arsenal, ready to boost your attack. Usually this alone is not enough for an experienced opponent, as they would be savvy to this strategy, since the threat of a Razor Reflex is usually enough for them to over block. To ensure you can finish them off, you need to have both Spring Tidings available to play on the same combat chain.

  

Your ticket to victory.

  

Benji's Mask of the Pouncing Lynx is a perfect way to get your second Spring Tidings, I almost never use it to fetch just the one. Your opponent may be caught off guard, if they're focusing their attention on the one you fetched for in your deck.

  

How to Block

Like anything we talk about in terms of strategy, the way you block will be determined by what you believe your opponent can do this turn. You need to weigh up how much damage you're willing to take in order to (maybe) kill your opponent. Flesh and Blood is a game of trading, in the sense that your trading two of your opponents life and two of your cards for one of your life and two cards (in an ideal scenario). 

To put it simply for a new Benji player, you can block with atleast three cards in your hand if it means no damage is getting through, but only until you have found at least one spring tidings in your deck and possibly a razor reflex (if you're lucky).

Here is an example of a typical hand you may have during the game. Do you know which card would be the most ideal to keep in this situation?

  

Which card would you keep if you could only keep one?

  

The answer for me is one of two cards depending on who I'm versing. However, my first choice would be Ride the Tailwind, since it only blocks for two, can be played for free and can chip at your opponent for two damage. One thing a new player should learn to do, is to ignore the majestic red circle a the bottom of a card. In most situations, that majestic your holding onto is useless and is better used to block your opponents on hit effect which will devastate you next turn.

  

Different Match-ups

The first thing you should look at once both players have revealed their heroes and equipment is there equipment defensive capabilities. If you're experienced, then you know what to expect. 
I will go through my experiences, both successes and failures, battling a vast array of different heroes. Some heroes are much easier than others if you play your cards right.

 

Brute

Brute comes in hard and fast, Rhinar is the main brute we will be focusing on here. Your main strategy will not deviate against any brute and you will still be using your Mask of the Pouncing Lynx, whether you choose to use Breaking Scales of Ironhide Gauntlet is up-to you, but if you aren't scared, I'd opt for Breaking Scales. 

Runeblade

Arcane damage is your focus for this match-up, prevent it at all costs. For this match up you may wish to switch one of your Harmonized Kodachi's for an Arcane Lantern and Nullrune Robe. I would also switch in Ironhide Gauntlet here because of the sheer amount of damage Runeblade can do. I believe that timing is everything when it comes to this match up, especially against Viserai, where you will want to watch the number of Rune chant Tokens that are building up.

You may want to bring in your Mask of Momentum if you choose to slowly chip away at their health and apply pressure over a long game by threatening the card draw.

Save your blue pitch cards to deal with arcane damage, similar to Wizard. Even if you have some pitch left over during there turn, it may discourage them from further additional damage. You'll want to finish this game once all of their armour has been used up and before they have built up enough stamina to kill you in one fell swoop, similar to yourself. This is a very difficult match-up because of the amount of armour the hero has at their disposal.

 Warrior

Bring out your Ironhide Gauntlet and possibly your Mask of Momentum, this is another tough match up. Just stick to your original strategy and focus on pressuring them to use their equipment. Again, it comes down to timing your OTK turn and not waiting till it's too late (or too early).

Wizard

Again, not an easy match up for Benji. Bring in all your Arcane Barrier and be sure to save a blue in your hand at the end of your turn to defend their out of turn damage. They will try to kill you in one turn when you are around 10 life, so finding your spring tidings early is important. They won't have armour to block with most of the time so getting big damage through is usually not a problem against Kano. Watch out for Iyslander, as she may include a few attacks such as Exude Confidence and Enlightened Strike in the deck.

Guardian

At the moment, this match up is generally an auto loss because of the amount of armour that a guardian has. They have the ability to turn off your OTK no matter what. Include all of your armour pieces and Mask of Momentum to apply pressure throughout the game. I have been successful in beating an Oldhim using this strategy and slowly poking them through the game

Everyone Else

Your normal strategy and standard equipment layout should see you through the game just fine for every other hero that is commonly played in the meta. Your standard turn will be cheating in at-least two to four damage whilst blocking with two or more cards until you find a Spring Tidings and a Razor Reflex.

  

   
Benji Deck

  

Conclusion

Benji is a fun hero to play this blitz season and will prove to be a formidable foe to your opponents. he certainly isn't top tier in terms of strategy and overall versatility, but a skilled pilot is sure to reap the rewards of good decision making.