“What do I do when they show up?”

“Handle it your way.”

“‘My way’? What’s ‘my way?’”

“Grab your partner. Let him take the hit!”

“Oh yeah . . . my way . . . My way is not very sportsmanlike.”*

Last week, we concluded our introductory discussion of the Six Samurai mechanics with a look into how their substituting effect can interfere with effects that involve destroying a monster in battle. That interference can extend to the effects of spell and trap cards as well, and sometimes hilarity will ensure.

So what happens when you use one Six Samurai to save another from Ring of Destruction? Continue reading to find out.

Hot Potato

Targeted effects that generate damage based on the destruction of the selected monster tend to get scrambled by the substitution effect of the Six Samurai. This is a result of the targeted Six Samurai card destroying another Six Samurai card with his own effect. The original effect fails to destroy its intended prey and anything it might have gained from this will be lost.

Example: The Flaming Hoop

Kyle has The Six Samurai - Zanji and The Six Samurai - Nisashi face up on his side of the field. He is down to just 1400 life points and his opponent Rebecca is looking to finish the duel. Rebecca activates Ring of Destruction and selects The Six Samurai - Zanji. Rebecca knows that it doesn’t matter which monster she destroys, because either way the damage is enough to end the duel.

Neither player decides to chain, so the Ring of Destruction resolves and attempts to destroy The Six Samurai - Zanji. Kyle decides to have The Six Samurai - Nisashi be destroyed to protect Zanji. Rebecca begins to take the 1400 life points from Kyle when Kyle politely reminds her that the duel is not over.

Rebecca didn’t realize when she activated Ring of Destruction that the Six Samurai substitution would disrupt Ring of Destruction. The Six Samurai - Zanji isn’t destroyed by Ring of Destruction and The Six Samurai - Nisashi is destroyed by Zanji. Neither monster is destroyed by Ring of Destruction so it can’t inflict any damage.

Clearing the Field of Battle

Your opponent will soon realize that one-for-one card trade effects don’t work as intended. Frustration or an unfortunate series of events will eventually lead him or her to mass removal effects like Mirror Force, Lightning Vortex, and Torrential Tribute. When multiple Six Samurai cards are threatened, using their effects can become tricky or outright impossible.

If a Six Samurai card is threatened with destruction, it has to look for a fellow Six Samurai that is not threatened with destruction. For example, if you have two attack-position Six Samurai and one of them is attacking, both of them will likely be destroyed if your opponent activates Mirror Force. You might be thinking, “Well, I can just use the effect of one to protect the other and that will keep it from being destroyed.” Unfortunately that isn’t the case.

When a Six Samurai card is going to be destroyed and he starts searching for a buddy to take the fall for him, he can only select another Six Samurai monster that is not also being destroyed by the same card effect. In the Mirror Force example above, both Six Samurai monsters are being destroyed by the Mirror Force, so they cannot destroy each other to save themselves.

Having a face-up Six Samurai on your side of the field that isn’t also being destroyed by the same card effect does allow you to save one of your endangered Six Samurai, but only on a one-for-one basis. It is not possible to destroy one Six Samurai card to save multiple Six Samurai cards from destruction.

Example: Samurai Plague?

Joann has The Six Samurai - Yaichi, The Six Samurai - Yariza, and The Six Samurai - Irou face up on her side of the field. Her opponent Wally activates Deck Devastation Virus with the intention of cleaning up some Samurai. When the Virus resolves there are only two monsters it will destroy: Yaichi and Yariza.

Yaichi and Yariza cannot use their effects to destroy each other for their own protection, but The Six Samurai - Irou is fair game because he is not going to be destroyed by the Deck Devastation Virus. Yaichi can save himself by destroying Irou, or Yariza can save himself by destroying Irou, but you cannot do both. Whichever outcome you choose, one will survive while two are destroyed.

Noble Steed

The equip spell card Legendary Ebon Steed affords a similar substitution effect to one specific Six Samurai card, but unlike the effect of the Six Samurai, this one isn’t optional. If a Six Samurai card equipped with the Legendary Ebon Steed is going to be destroyed, the Steed will always take the hit. You can’t even think about using someone else.

This works well when you only have one Six Samurai and you really need to keep him on the field, but you shouldn’t ignore what it can do when the team is assembled together. If you have a Six Samurai card, use his substitution effect to destroy the Six Samurai equipped with the Legendary Ebon Steed: the Steed will still protect its rider.

Example: Smashing Ground meets Ebon Steed

Dwayne has The Six Samurai - Zanji and The Six Samurai - Kamon face up on his side of the field. His Kamon is equipped with Legendary Ebon Steed. His opponent Carol activates Smashing Ground.

When Smashing Ground resolves, it picks out Dwayne’s monster with the highest DEF (in this case The Six Samurai - Zanji). Dwayne doesn’t really want Irou leaving so quickly, so he decides to substitute The Six Samurai - Kamon. When the Legendary Ebon Steed realizes that its rider is going to be destroyed, it valiantly destroys itself instead. The Six Samurai - Zanji and The Six Samurai - Kamon remain on the field and the Legendary Ebon Steed is destroyed.

The Smashing Ground caused a lot of trouble, but ultimately didn’t destroy anyone, although certainly not for a lack of trying.

Next week we will conclude with more character-centric mechanics for Great Shogun Shien and Grandmaster of the Six Samurai. Until then, send all comments and question to Curtis@Metagame.com

* I still love that movie. (You’ll pardon the parody, I hope.)