One of the decks everybody’s wondering about here today is Six Samurai, and the different variants that have been created around the theme. I’m personally not a fan of the Reasoning-based Samurai builds, but I also can’t argue with results; Mike Glowacki is 2-0 here today with a Six Samurai Reasoning deck. His deck is a lot more than just a standard Reasoning Samurai, running only two copies of the ubiquitous spell. Here’s what it looks like:

2 Enemy Controller

1 United We Stand

1 Heavy Storm

1 Brain Control

1 Premature Burial

Traps:

3 Solemn Judgment

3 Dimension Wall

1 Torrential Tribute

1 Magic Cylinder

This deck is all about the swarm; building it and protecting it. Glowacki wins fast, and he does so consistently; for the past two rounds he’s been the first person over at the feature match table after finishing his matches. Due to the focus on speed, the deck runs only one copy of Enishi, Shien’s Chancellor, as mid-game or late game power in the rare instance the opponent lasts to that point. More than one copy would be overkill here, simply because the deck wants to win before it ever gets two Samurai into the graveyard.

With this strategy in mind, three Cyber Dragon are a must, but three copies of Great Shogun Shien are a bit more interesting. Not only do they add a ton of power and explosive force on the damage dealing side, but Shien’s effect keeps the opponent locked down.

A good dose of damage-dealing stall lets Glowacki be coy for the first turn or two of a duel. Dimension Wall and Magic Cylinder can deal serious damage in the early game, allowing him to draw into big swarms of monsters with special summon effects. Alternatively, if he goes off early but can’t finish the job, Cylinder and Dimension Wall will often provide outs to a win during topdecking. There’s very little spell and trap removal being run here today, so Glowacki’s opponents just aren’t ready for the defensive burn cards. The fact that Cylinder can also keep Yaichi around, or defend Irou and Zanji from Cyber Dragon, is also incredibly valuable.

Cunning of the Six Samurai is run in triplicate here for several reasons. First, it lets Glowacki make all-important double attacks with big Samurai; attack once, send the Samurai that just attacked to the graveyard, and then bring it back up and it’ll be able to attack again. It’s a valuable trick that lets Grandmaster attack twice in a big swarm, often meaning game. It’s also excellent in topdecking situations, allowing Irou and Zanji to do serious work on the opponent’s face. The Six Samurai – Nisashi, which Glowacki plays two copies of, can deal 5600 damage with four attacks in a single turn. Brutal.

The same card can also protect Glowacki when he over-extends, saving important Samurai from targeted monster removal or Brain Control. It’s almost as much of a defensive tool as it is an offensive one, and it’s probably the best trick this deck has going for it when it comes to maintaining field presence.

Almost as notable for what the deck uses, is what it doesn’t use. Breaker the Magical Warrior is the only real cookie cutter monster being played with the exception of Cyber Dragon. No Sangan, no Snipe Hunter, no Reaper. This deck was built as a joint effort between Glowacki and Jeff Baumgartner, and the themed dedication each of these players is capable of really shines through in this decklist.

With so many people playing Light and Darkness Dragon, and many more running slow decks paced to match the Dragon’s speed, a blazingly fast strategy like this one could easily make it to Day 2. I really wouldn’t be surprised if we see Mike Glowacki in the Top 16 tomorrow.