Shien’s Advisor has lot of great strengths and a lot of hurting weaknesses; it’s not incredibly strong, though it’s effect punishes many mono-type decks, and that makes him so very well designed in my opinion.
While it’s heartbreaking that he missed out on getting a “Six Samurai” title to give him compatibility with Shien’s Squire to Synchro for Shi En, allow Kizan and Grandmaster to come to the field and the ability to accumulate counters on United, Dojo and Gateway, there are a lot of good things to say about him.
His effect says that when he’s Normal Summoned alongside a Six Samurai partner, he can shut down one type of monster from being attacked or Special Summoned as long as exists on the field to punish mono-type decks, loaded with a specific theme.
Because the Six Samurai have a lot of Special Summoning effects in their arsenal, it isn’t implausible to drop him on the same turn as, say, Elder and go into Shi En, or Double-Edged Sword Technique for Shi En or Shadow, or something like that. Also, with his ability putting a restriction on both Special Summoning and attacking, it could easily become relevant in a format where Atlanteans rise to power or Blackwings make a resurgence. If you can stop Icarus Attack, Advisor can be a huge boon to your goals.
Even against Chaos Dragons, he isn’t awful. Granted, Xyz monsters have such variety that protecting him can be a challenge, but even if only to stop attacking Dragons for a turn or two and give you the extra time to draw what you need, he can be a game changer.
The main man himself, Kippōshi (吉法師), the man who initiated the unification of Japan in the 16th Century and a prevalent Shogun in the Sengoku Period, the embodiment of Oda Nobunaga’s memory: Great Shogun Shien. The original Boss Monster of the Six Samurai archetype.
During a Magical Explosion format that left Dimension Fusion banned, this monster was the linchpin to storming tournament tops, and was responsible for a YCS victory against Adam Corn.
Flash forward to the current day, and our man in red isn’t the same powerhouse he used to be, now being out-flashed by his younger incarnation Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En. However, due to the relative ease of summoning two Six Samurai with Kizan, Kageki, Mizuho and Shinai, it’s not an unlikely thing to make happen to summon and take advantage of this guy.
Pairing him with Shi En won’t create the same lock that some people might think, but at the same time, it’s clear that he can create plays where you’ll let through a bad Spell or Trap to make sure a good Spell or Trap doesn’t go off. Also, they can’t play a Spell or Trap and chain another, because the activation of the first Spell/Trap hasn’t been negated yet.
There are definitely tactical applications to his presence, but he does run the risk of being dead in the mid-game if both players get kicked to top-draw mode.
With some people playing Creature Swap, and lots of people playing Mind Control, this card has an interesting Niche to take advantage of. Especially since the Level 2 stat leaves him pretty save from being Xyz’d away, with most people not running Level 2 monsters anymore, and Synchros dying down as Xyz pave the way for competitive play.
Also considering the extensive range of searchability this little guy brings to the field, it wouldn’t be entirely outlandish to assume that he may see play in the future as a Creature Swap target in some strange tech build of the Six Samurai. Otherwise, though, his usefulness is pretty limited. Setting him is a near-definite way to slow your own game down and give them a chance to Laggia or Dolkka over you for damage, or to set up a play of their own. I would be entirely hesitant to run him in a standard build, and I don’t know that this meta in particular facilitates the kind of Creature Swap plays you really want going on.
The second, and lesser-known, Tuner for the Six Samurai family, this poor little guy suffers an identical fate to Shien’s Daredevil for the fact that he missed out on the linchpin trait of holding a “Six Samurai” title. Because of this, he lacks interaction with the Special Summonable Six Samurai, and holds no real value outside of OTKs with Trishula, or a Six Samurai handloop deck that I’ll be debuting on Youtube and linking to shortly.
Since he is disassociated from the main branch by name, he fails to see much play competitively, and for good reason. Being a virtually dead card in hand, and also a poor Normal Summon option, since you would lack a follow-up, running him bears the risk of drawing him, and hindering your hands in an already combo-oriented deck that has trouble with clogged draws from time to time.
That said, he can be used for those extravagant loops and silly OTKs, which should keep him in the sublight at least, since people will always love sacking into something ridiculous.
This card had so much ridiculous potential. Speaking from a loyal fan of the archetype, and not wanting to bad-mouth my boys in armor, this guy… Is just SO sub-par to what he could have been. If his name was changed from “Shien’s Daredevil” to “Daredevil of the Six Samurai” to allow him to interact with Asceticism and Mizuho/Hand, Kizan, Grandmaster, Double-Edged, United, Temple, Gateway, Kageki… In fact, even if you were to use his counter to put one on Shien’s Dojo and search out Squire, you still couldn’t make Shi En because he requires a “Six Samurai” non-Tuner.
You would have been able to generate two counters with one summon on United, which would be amazing…
In fact, about the only card he DOES interact with is Six Strike - Thunder Blast, which is an incredible card with awful activation conditions.
If I were to look for a bright side to Daredevil, though, it would be that he’s essentially a 1900 attacker, and can operate under Gozen Match with several of the Six Samurai.
Other than that, there’s virtually nothing good to say about him, unfortunately. His art is great, and that’s about it. D:
I’ll probably still try to build something gimmicky with him one day, but… Let’s be real. There have to be a few cards not worth playing in an archetype, and he missed out on the “Six Samurai” name.
Long having been thought of as the “Joke of the Archetype”, Chamberlain has been given new interest, whispered among a small portion of the masses. With Rank 3 Xyz and Rescue Rabbit around, Chamberlain’s time to shine may soon be on the way. M-X-Saber Invoker can be made with the two, which can get Kizan from the deck. That is to say, for one Rescue Rabbit, you can put two counters on United or Dojo, four on Gateway and/or take up to four cards out of the deck with Gateway and no United, or five cards with three searched and two drawn using United and no Gateway. And with both? Forget it!
Here that? It’s the air coming to life in an electric ecstasy over such a silly play.
Unfortunately, without running a deck built around silly shenanigans, there’s not much to say about our Normal Monster friend, but with a new Xyz for the Six Samurai coming out in June… We may just be seeing some interesting things come from this guy.
What should essentially read “Cyber Dragon of the Six Samurai”, this card has several diverse applications, though many of them fail to shine in a way that leaves me starstruck.
In the list of pros, it’s an EARTH Six Samurai, meaning that it can operate under Gozen Match with Kizan, Grandmaster, Spirit, Yariza and Kagemusha, and then Shien’s Daredevil and Shien’s Squire in off-theme but related choices. With Spirit or Yariza to make Rank 3 Xyz under Gozen Match, your only option would be M-X-Saber Invoker, though Invoker is able to get Kizan from the deck, which is interesting. And with a Shien’s Dojo to get Kagemusha or Squire, that could lead to Naturia Beast or Barkion plays. Unfortunately, that would only be if you were to run Invoker and Squire, which I would certainly not recommend for anyone headed to Nationals this year, let’s just say.
It can be used to enable the Special Summon of Kizan and Grandmaster under Gozen Match, which can be useful since the only decks that really go into Gozen Match tend to have problems beating away Grandmaster or Kizan with the boost, especially if Spirit is involved.
Side Deck not considered, however, Elder can make second-turn plays MUCH safer, call out Solemn Warnings, enable Asceticism into Kagemusha for Shi En, leave your Normal Summon live and a host of other things. In that regard, there isn’t enough I can say about how much I like him.
I would, more than definitely, main deck two in any build that uses Asceticism and probably one even if you don’t, though you really should be.
Spirit of the Six Samurai, the ghostly, fire incarnation of Shinai, has many interesting niches that no other Six Samurai monster can accommodate. Firstly, and probably foremost, is the ability to increase every +1 in battle to a +2. And not just a simple +2, either. Because it’s in the form of drawing, instead of reducing the opponent’s resources, it’s a +2 that can further your strategy and give you more options.
Beyond that point, Spirit shares the ability of Legendary Ebon Steed, a post for another day, to prevent the destruction of a Six Samurai monster that it is equipped to by destroying itself- potentially reminiscent of some bond between Shinai and Mizuho, if you allow for the input of Japanese folklore.
Another point is the marginal ATK and DEF boost that he offers, allowing Grandmaster and boosted Kizan to get over Dolkka and Laggia, as well as enabling Shi En to mow down most anything in the game at the moment. And don’t be afraid to tie two monsters together with equal attack! Spirit will save your Samurai, and also get his draw effect, still netting you the same +2.
Lastly, he can also be unequipped as a Special Summon, to create Bushido Counters on Gateway, United or Dojo (or Temple, I guess… But who… Who even?). That can lead to another summon, a Rank 3 Xyz or a 500 ATK push to edge in game.
Being a Union monster, he has some interesting support options in Roll-Out!!, Frontline Base and Formation Union, but the general outlook on those cards is that they are situational and not high-utility, which they would need to be in order to be productive.
Overall, Spirit of the Six Samurai should probably be at 1 in almost every deck that isn’t designed to go into a crazy loop like Quasar. Having more than that could potentially clog hands, but a deck based on Spirit and controlling the field that way through advantage could have a lot of potential in a meta where D-Prison didn’t see any play and Wind-Ups weren’t hungry for your hand all the time. With people starting to play the deck more for control than the hand loop, though, even Wind-Ups aren’t looking much like a reason to avoid Spirit-Control Samurai.
Enishi is one of those cards that would be just SO good if only one small thing was changed about it, from having a more threatening ATK power to swing around, being able to destroy Face-Down monsters or being able to be Special Summoned with outside effects after being properly summoned the first time, like it’s off-theme counterpart “Chaos Sorcerer”.
Despite these things, Enishi has a few things going for him worth taking a look at. Firstly, his status as a Level 6 can enable Level 8 Synchro Summons with Kagemusha, which the deck cannot reliably do otherwise. Beyond that point is that his effect is a +1 every time it goes through, which can really rack up if they don’t do something about him quickly. In addition, it’s cost to Special Summon can lead to some interesting, albeit situational, plays with Leviair.
However, in a meta where big hitters come out quickly and often have abilities that make Enishi moot, again using the examples of Dolkka, Laggia and Grapha, among others, his relatively squishy nature just can’t be compensated for by his above-average abilities.
I don’t find myself using him, though a gimmicky build meant to be taken to a Locals could certainly see his play.
… And, of a VERY minor note, with a Double-Edged Sword Technique set, and a Kagemusha in hand and in Grave, you can make Red Nova Dragon with him. I’ve thought about building a deck like that just to laugh about sometime. Maybe after the Long Beach YCS I’ll play around with that in a locals. lol
Once the cornerstone of the entire Six Samurai gameplan and a ground-breaking TCG Exclusive in Strike of Neos, this powerful tool of the archetype still has a largely intact playbook and a high play-value.
While it is somewhat overshadowed by the presence of such easily-summoned monsters that would destroy it in battle, like Laggia, Dolkka and Grapha for example, it’s virtual immunity to the effects of Laggia, Thunder King Rai-Oh and Solemn Warning/Judgment, among others, make it still quite important.
Because it is a Level 5 monster, and an EARTH, it can help the deck battle around Gozen Match; joined in arms by Kizan, Elder, Kagemusha and the Naturia Triplets, the deck’s EARTH presence is rather noteworthy. Also due to it’s level, it is the deck’s only way to make the fierce beast of nigh-unprecedented control: Naturia Landoise.
With it’s inherent Special Summoning being hinged only on controlling a Six Samurai, it can also work with Kizan and Kageki to apply more ease in Hand of the Six Samurai’s destruction by giving her more friends on the field all at once with no external loss in advantage through Spells or Traps.
While it can be hit with Bottomless Trap Hole, it can potentially net another copy of itself or a Kizan, which would essentially result in the same end and a free, hypothetical Mystical Space Typhoon. Beyond that, with two Torrential Tribute in play, his effect is much more likely to recover you options.
The only fear a Grandmaster has is outright removal without destruction, through cards like Dimensional Prison.
Overall, if you can back-up Grandmaster with Shi En or a card like Cunning of the Six Samurai to dodge around removal, he is still quite relevant and quite powerful, and not to be underestimated.