Not quite.

BTU045 John Stewart has the Trait "IN BRIGHTEST DAY...: Willpower. When John Stewart uses it and succeeds, he takes a maximum of 2 damage from attacks until your next turn." and then, yes, at the back end of his dial he's got regular printed Willpower in his Defense slot.


But the way that works with Outwit is, "IN BRIGHTEST DAY..." can't be Outwitted, as it's a trait (not a power). You can, however, target John Stewart with Outwit and choose Willpower. Once you've done that, until your next turn, John Stewart can't use the standard power Willpower - no matter where he gets it from.

So if you Outwit his Willpower while he's got his "THE ARCHITECT" defense special, and then damage him such that he's knocked down to plain Willpower, he doesn't get Willpower back--it's already Outwitted, even though the standard power was not showing on his dial at the time. This is true regardless of whether or not he's equipped with the BTUS002 Green Lantern Ring.

Note also that if he succeeded on his Willpower roll during your opponent's previous turn, Outwitting Willpower doesn't affect his "takes a maximum of 2 damage from attacks" effect--it only stops him rolling to get that effect on your opponent's next turn.

Compare with one of the other Green Lanterns in the set:


Say your opponent's Prime Batman is equipped with the Green Lantern Ring, and you're able to target him with Outwit. If you choose Willpower, then he can't get it back from the ring (or any other source)--although if he succeeded on his Willpower roll during your opponent's previous turn then he keeps the +1 to his combat values (and also he keeps the Invincible).

On the other hand, if you chose to Outwit his special defense power "I AM WILLPOWER," he no longer has Invincible or the +1 to his combat values--but he can still use the standard power Willpower, because he gets that from the ring if he can't already use it (and in this example you Outwitted the special power that was the source of his "can already use Willpower," but not the standard power "Willpower" itself).


Clear as mud? Let's keep going. ;-P

Finally, imagine you've Outwitted Prime Batman's Willpower but, on your opponent's next turn, they're able to put a ninth Clue token on BTUMC006, "Murder in the City Enduring" -- say some other Detective or Green Lantern Corps-keyword character succeeds at rolling Willpower, or they pull a token off Batman with Leadership or BTU015's Rally effect or something, it doesn't really matter how. They choose Prime Batman for the "Case Closed" effect of the Mystery Card and so he now has the Cosmic Energy team ability.


At that point, Batman would get his Willpower back, not because the Cosmic Energy team ability grants him Willpower, but because the Cosmic Energy team ability grants him "SAFEGUARD: Outwit," which means the duration of Outwit effects that previously targeted him immediately expire.


(For what it's worth, I think that John Stewart is still pretty great, but it does seem like his trait and his defense special were meant to be the other way around, yes).

Agreed. His trait and his defense special feel like they are mixed up. The only other answer would be if the standard willpower on the dial was simply overlooked.