Cunning of the Six Samurai

Quick-Play Spell

Send a face-up “Six Samurai” monster you control to the Graveyard, to Special Summon 1 “Six Samurai” monster from either player’s graveyard.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, you can bring back the same monster you tributed for the spell’s effect. That means that if you summon The Six Samurai - Zanji, special summon Grandmaster of the Six Samurai and then Great Shogun Shien, and attack with all three, you can play Cunning of the Six Samurai to give up the Grandmaster, bring him back, and attack again for a total of 7500 damage!

While this seems like an overly idealistic situation, it doesn’t have to be. Also remember that when a Six Samurai monster like The Six Samurai - Yaichi uses his effect, he can’t attack. Now you can utilize one such effect (probably taking an opponent’s card down with no cost and clearing the way for direct attacks), and then play Cunning to trade the used Samurai for a fresh one that can battle.

The power behind Six Samurai decks is their rather unique ability to blend useful effects with aggression, and Cunning of the Six Samurai allows you to take advantage of both of these strengths in the same turn. You’ll be able to utilize the monster’s effect to clear the way for a direct attack, then swing with it for big damage.

Also, with the use of Cunning of the Six Samurai, you’ll trade a useless Samurai for the one that fits your situation perfectly. While the card is most powerful when used in an aggressive style, it can be used as a Swiss Army knife instead. Can’t press Yaichi over your opponent’s face-up Gravekeeper’s Spy? Blow away a spell or trap and trade Yaichi for Zanji. Need to destroy a face-down monster? Trade out for Irou.

This also opens up the possibility of Samurai decks utilizing Card of Safe Return, much like Zombie decks have done. With almost as many recursion effects as Zombies (and arguably more aggressive power), they’ll probably make for some interesting matchups in upcoming Shonen Jump Championships.

Now, consider the timing of the release dates for these cards. Premium Pack 1’s Shield Crush has just been made legal, meaning that first-turn aggressive plays are even easier than before. If there’s any deck that can take advantage of a clear field on turn 1, it’s probably Six Samurai. Also, many players have noted the significance of printing Double Summon for Six Samurai decks. It isn’t that unlikely that a Samurai deck will begin a game by playing Cyber Dragon, Double Summon, and two Six Samurai monsters. If that move is followed up with Grandmaster, the game has hit an incredibly fast pace.

With these two printings, Samurai decks are able to become faster and control the speed of the game, forcing out slow opponents who might be playing a form of Phoenix Wing Wind Blast control or any Monarch deck. While these strategies want to control the speed of the game—grinding it to a halt until they can create an advantage and defeat a disabled opponent—they can’t do this if the game is moving too fast. This is why the decks often play monsters like Apprentice Magician, Mystic Tomato, and Gravekeeper’s Spy: they slow the game down to a speed more comfortable for the Monarch player.

With the speed to defeat Monarchs, Six Samurai’s common remaining matchups would be Zombies and burn. While they are amazing decks, Six Samurai have special side-decking choices that most others don’t. Three copies of The Six Samurai - Kamon, along with Dust Tornado and Twister in the side deck, should be enough to shut the burn decks down. Against Zombies, the Dust Tornado should defeat the draw power of the deck by destroying Card of Safe Return. Often, when playing Zombies, destroying Card of Safe Return turns an amazing hand into a rather poor one. At that point, you’re just a Mirror Force away from winning the game, and most Samurai decks also play Lightning Vortex.

Another strength Six Samurai decks have when side decking is their monster type: Warrior. With two copies of Reinforcement of the Army—one of the greatest cards for a player who needs an answer to a specific problem—you’ll be able to side deck a single copy of rather conditional Warriors such as Big Shield Gardna, Greenkappa, or any Different Dimension monster. Also note that while Greenkappa won’t stop Wave-Motion Cannon in a burn deck, it will help destroy the Solemn Judgment and Dark Bribe cards protecting them.