The King of Fighters XV/Benimaru Nikaido/Strategy

General Gameplan

It is often speculated that all Benimaru needs to do to win is use j.D. This is false; although j.D has excellent reach and can be used as a poke, jump-in and mixup tool, its lacking priority makes it susceptible to anti-airs, low profile 2B spam and j.CD spam. Regardless, within j.D range is ideally where Benimaru wants to fight. This is the same range where his longest grounded pokes will also reach, including f.B, f.C, f.D and 2D. The former two are quite fast and are good for checking hops and jumps, but if the opponent is crouching then they will miss. f.D is your best bet for Maxmode conversions and it goes over lows, but it is notably slower than your other normals, and not very good compared to previous iterations. Benimaru can hop in with j.D from far away or pressure with air Raijinken (j.236P), which has an even better hitbox and gives Benimaru control over where he wants to land. The quick j.B and deep-hitting j.C are also important in hop pressure, while on the ground Benimaru can easily convert from his 2B into decent combos or grapple with Benimaru Collider (hcb,f+P) for mixup options. Bear in mind that Benimaru Collider is no longer instant in this game.

Any further out from this range and Benimaru has to play carefully. Though barging in with j.D is an option, it is not a wise one, given its lacking priority and shallowness as a jump-in. Instead, it is often wiser to use Benimaru's long-ranged pokes and anti-air with Super Inazuma Kick (dp+K) to stand his ground. Another important change to note is that dp+K has terrible range compared to prior iterations of the move. Raijinken (236P) is a long-ranged poke which can eat fireballs and end strings safely, but be mindful it is vulnerable to slides and sweeps. In addition to pushing forward with Raijinkens, Benimaru may also use Raimeitou (qcb+P) to get through fireballs, creating a projectile shield as he lances forward. Even safer is EX Raimeitou, where Benimaru fires a fast, fullscreen projectile which eats one-hit fireballs while he himself doesn't move. One must exercise caution with these moves, as they are easy to whiff punish when rolled in anticipation. Benimaru is chiefly a zoner of the poking variety, but against fireball characters he is forced to play the role of rushdown, which he is flexible enough to handle but not always well enough.

While he can dissipate fireballs with 236P, he may be forced to spend the meter he has built on qcb+AC against fireball characters such as Robert and King, who are popular as point characters. Even then this investment is not guaranteed to pay off, as qcb+AC is an easy roll given its speed. Benimaru's mixup potential is worse compared to other iterations of the character, making it tricky for him to confirm into a Quickmode into Climax combo as anchor. Because of this, he is best played on point or mid.