Style Points – Bunjitsu

Hello everyone! Dino here. I’m a regular HEX streamer and the creator of the 4Keeps competition. If you enjoy building wacky decks, playing for sweet prizes, and watching hexcellent shenanigans, you can check me out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on twitch.

Today I would like to welcome you to the first installment of “Style Points,” an article for the creative deck builder. I believe that it is not enough to simply defeat your enemies: you must crush them with panache and Rube Goldberg-like flair. To that effect, every week we will be looking at “bad” champions and cards—the neglected and ignored, those things in HEX that most in the community have said are not worth using. You may look at these cards from time to time and ask yourself why you still have them. You haven’t seen them in the meta, and they rarely grace your decks. What’s the point? Here at Style Points, we don’t believe in “bad.” So without further ado, let’s look at your collection differently.

Overshadowed by his more popular brothers, this fearsome warlock has languished on the sidelines since Shards of Fate was released. But Bun’jitsu thrives on the power of darkness. He’s been biding his time and gathering his forces. Let’s see if we can’t give this champion his time in the spotlight.

Many of you may be scratching your heads at this point. His double threshold requirement commits him heavily to blood, his charge cost is high, and he is built-in tempo AND card disadvantage. Basically, once or twice a game you can give up attacking with two troops and send them to the void to create a slightly bigger troop that is easily dealt with by a single removal card on your opponent’s side. On the surface, that seems… problematic. But perhaps we’ve been blind to Bun’jitsu’s true potential.

It can’t be denied that Bun’jitsu supplies a relatively large body on command (two tiny 1/1s become a healthy 5/5). Can we take advantage of that? Typically, large troops benefit you by forcing favorable trades on the board. Your opponents must block with multiple things to kill your single card, and thus you can create card advantage for yourself. They also threaten to take great big bites out of your opponent’s health total if unanswered (yum). Unfortunately, Bun’jitsu’s Abominations don’t come with evasion or Crush to get through opposing defenses, and you still risk your opponent using an answer when you swing. You’re only one Murder or Repel away from a terrifying 3-for-1 and a river of salty, salty tears.

To ensure that you get value out of the Abomination, “enters play” effects are the most efficient option. Cards like Feral Domination or Azurefate Sorceress will ensure that when you use your Bun’jitsu power, you affect the game immediately. Now, cards with “enters play” effects like those two cards are still few and far between at the moment, but even with the few we currently have we can kill a thing, deal direct damage, or… bury your opponent.

At the 4Keeps competition, we asked the community to put their Bun’jitsu powers to the test and create a deck powerful enough to defeat three other decks without losing. With prizes and glory on the line, you guys succeeded brilliantly. Let’s take a look at the 11th 4Keeps competition winner, TheKnightsofNI, using Bun’jitsu like a boss.

TheKnightsofNI – 4Keeps Competition Winner #11

Champion: Bun’jitsu

Azurefate Sorceress with Major Sapphire of Subterfuge and Minor Wild Orb of Conservation

Nestled within a blood control chassis is an engine of pure awesome. High Tomb Lord (another underrepresented card), and Azurefate are already a potent combo. The more you bury, the bigger your Tomb Lords become. The bigger your Tomb Lords become, the more they bury.

Delicious.

Yet Bun’jitsu really takes this combo to the next level. When you use Bun’jitsu’s power, the Abomination will ALSO bury your opponent. Thus your Tomb Lord, which just grew because you buried a bunch of cards off of your opponent’s deck, becomes an instant bury victory (assuming a standard 60 card deck) when combined with just about any other troop.

Case in point: let’s say you play a Tomb Lord with a conservative 6 cards in all graveyards. When combined with the major bury gem, the Sapphire of Subterfuge, this buries 12 cards off of your opponent’s deck. These buried cards then buff your Tomb Lord, making it a monstrous 18/18. Even if you only use Bun’jitsu’s power on a 1/1, this creates a 22/22 Abomination. Thanks to Azurefate, that is another 44 cards off of your opponent’s deck. For those keeping track at home, that is a grand total of 56 cards buried in one turn. Ouch.

It is also worth mentioning that the Spellshield gem, the Wild Orb of Conservation, is a perfect choice for the deck. The beauty of deckbuilding in HEX is that the sum is always greater than its parts—weaknesses held by one card or champion ability can almost always be allayed by careful use of other cards. Remember when we talked about Bun’jitsu creating potential card disadvantage? The Spellshield gem ensures that even if you don’t bury your opponent out for some reason, your Abominations are safe from targeted removal. You are free to attack in and not be afraid of losing the two troops you voided and your charge power to anything less than a Purge or an Extinction.

In closing, don’t write off the warlock just yet. This bunny is ready to bounce into the light.

Dream big, everybody!

Dino out~

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