Kaze (B17)

## Overview

Written by: Basil

Kaze is one half of the ninja crit engine, and is usually the preferred MC of the two. The ninja package is a unique gameplan with a lot of potential, but requires a bit of setup and luck to work well. When the deck works, he has an explosive turn 4, critting and cycling and even going up in card advantage. He’s also in white, so he gets to run Oboro and the usual solid white top end with Ryoma and Mamui that he can cycle into if he can’t end the game on turn 4.

## Gameplan

As an aggressive deck, Kaze wants to play his low costs and swing face early. However, since it’s a ninja deck, there is a bit more to it than usual. Ninjas are interesting because they have a pretty rough statline for aggro cards- 30 attack, 1-2 range, and 20 support. This means they’re not likely to hit the average 40+20 MC in the early game unless they get unlucky, which is normally a bad strategy for aggro. However, they make up for this with their ability to deploy themselves via their support skill Ninjutsu Emblem, where you discard a card to deploy them tapped. Some even get you your card back, like Asugi and Elise, or get you extra value by deploying another ninja like Kagero and Saizo. With how much you’re spamming the board with ninjas, you have more chances to hit overall, though your odds still aren’t great.

Nevertheless, you do want to have as many ninjas on board as possible for when you promote and get into turn 4. Your ideal turn 4 is to play 2 cards- Oboro 1 (with Oboro 4 in the retreat), and Kagero 3(2). Oboro will let you immediately flip your 4 bonds to draw 4 cards, giving you a burst of fuel, and Kagero will let you use that fuel and turn it into aggression along with Kaze. Kaze lets you use any 1 cost to crit for any unit, so when combined with Kagero who replaces the cards your ninjas crit with, you get the ability to crit for free with all your ninjas on board, and even draw once thanks to Kaze’s other skill. This is why you want so many ninjas on board in advance- all of them become crits later, which also cycle.

After this burst turn, if they aren’t dead, you thankfully have a decent chance of keeping your engine alive, as Kaze is your MC and Kagero isn’t targetable in the back line. This means you can continue to use it and apply pressure, in addition to deploying the usual top end with Ryoma and Mamui to get more cards.

## Strengths & Weaknesses

**Strengths:**

* Explosive combo that can kill on turn 4/5
* Combo doesn’t drain your resources so you can keep it going
* Kagero can stick thanks to her skill 2

**Weaknesses:**

* Ranged MCs can pick off your ninjas before your combo turn, making it less threatening
* The ninjas aren’t great at putting pressure on before turn 4
* Needs Kagero 3 to function well

## Key Cards

### Kagero 3(2)

This card is your other half, you need it on turn 4 to get your engine going and apply pressure. She lets you basically throw away whatever 1 costs you have as crits and turns them into cycles, so you end up with a solid hand by the end of your turn. What’s nice is she has to be either destroyed by a skill or pulled to be cleared, so she can end up sticking around for quite a while.

### Oboro 1 & 4

Oboro is your only bond spender, and is here just to refuel your hand from dumping low costs early on. Her efficient draw and ability to be a 70/80 base off of just her 1 cost are exceptional, and also help her fit perfectly on curve with Kagero 3(2) on turn 4.

### Ninjas (Kagero 1, Saizo 1, Asugi 1)

Your ninjas are what’ll be applying pressure on the early turns and in the mid game if they stick. Since each one can cycle crits with Kagero and be used as a crit with Kaze, they are basically free hits on the opponent’s MC. They also can randomly deploy themselves, which can easily happen since you’re swinging a lot as aggro.

### Top End (Ryoma & Mamui)

Since it's not super common to end the game on turn 4, Ryoma is your ideal turn 5 play along with Mamui, assuming you don’t need to redeploy Kagero. They can draw you cards, let you spam out more low costs, and attack the opponent’s MC.

## Sample Decks

Mono Kaze
4 Kaze, Faithful Verdancy
4 Kaze, Refreshing Breeze Devoted to Hoshido
3 Kaze, White-Serving Green Shadow
4 Saizo, Fifth Generation
4 Kagero, Garbed in Glory+
4 Kagero, Hoshidan Kunoichi
4 Oboro, Stunning Spear Maiden
4 Oboro, Matching Ponytail
3 Corrin (Male), Divine Son of the Dazzling Dawn Dragon
2 Corrin (Male), Dawn Breaks Through the Gloom
3 Ryoma, Brave King of Dawn Walking with the Dusk
4 Takumi, Young Prince of Hoshido
4 Asugi, Sweetening Zeal
2 Elise, Budding Ninja
MC:
1 Kaze, Easygoing Ninja