Fighting the Metagame: Six Samurai

Undoubtedly, Six Samurai has single-handedly defined the metagame for
the ban/restriction list of September 2010 – March 2011. Having
dominated the OCG metagame upon the release of Storm of Ragnarok, the
Six Samurai will make their debut in the TCG metagame with Championship
Series Dallas this weekend.

Six Samurai’s biggest strength lies with Legendary Six Samurai – Shi
En. With the ability to soft-lock opponent’s Spells and Traps, duels are
often won with the opponent being unable to take out Shi En.
Additionally, Gateway of the Six with Double-Edged Sword Technique
allows the Six Samurai player to swarm and win fast, before his opponent
can break out of his soft-lock.



Decklist

Monsters – 14
2 Grandmaster of the Six Samurai
3 Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan
3 Legendary Six Samurai – Kageki
3 Kagemusha of the Six Samurai
2 Legendary Six Samurai – Mizuho
1 Legendary Six Samurai – Shinai

Spells – 17
3 Gateway of the Six
3 Six Samurai United
3 Shien’s Smoke Signal
1 Reinforcement of the Army
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Giant Trunade
1 Monster Reborn
3 Book of Moon

Traps – 9
3 Solemn Warning
2 Double-Edged Sword Technique
1 Solemn Judgment
2 Dust Tornado
1 Mirror Force

Extra – 15
1 Ally of Justice Catastor
1 X-Saber Wayne
2 Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Goyo Guardian
1 Naturia Barkion
1 Naturia Landoise
1 Ancient Fairy Dragon
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Stardust Dragon
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Colossal Fighter
1 Mist Wurm
1 Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

Playing Six Samurai
Summoning Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En is the utmost priority. By
maxing out Legendary Six Samurai – Kageki and Kagemusha of the Six
Samurai, together with 3 Shien’s Smoke Signal and 1 Reinforcement of the
Army, the chances to do so are 60% on the first turn.

A commonly seen hand would be 1 Legendary Six Samurai – Kageki, 1
Kagemusha of the Six Samurai, with 1 Gateway of the Six. After placing
Gateway of the Six on the field, summon Kageki and trigger its effect to
special summon Kagemusha, generating 4 Bushido counters on Gateway.
Tune Kageki and Kagemusha for Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En, bringing
the Bushido counters to 6. Remove 4 Bushido counters to search for
Grandmaster of the Six Samurai and special summon it, bringing the
Bushido from 6 to 2 and then to 4. Remove the final 4 Bushido counters
to fetch a Six Samurai and keep it in your hand; often it would be
either Kagemusha or Mizuho.

Eventually on the board would be 1 Shi En, 1 Grandmaster, 1 Gateway
and 4 cards in your hand. Shi En will lock-down your opponent’s spell
and traps, while Solemn Warning/Book of Moon will lock-down his monster.

Alternatively, having 2 Legendary Six Samurai – Mizuho and 1
Legendary Six Samurai – Shinai in the deck allows infinite Bushido
counters combo. Assuming we have an opening hand of 1 Gateway of the
Six, 1 Six Samurai United, 1 Legendary Six Samurai – Mizuho and 1
Legendary Six Samurai – Shinai.



The combo can be performed as long as you have a combination of these:
1 Gateway of the Six
1 Six Samurai United or Gateway of the Six
1 Legendary Six Samurai – Mizuho, or Legendary Six Samurai – Shinai
1 Grandmaster of the Six Samurai, or Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan, or
Legendary Six Samurai – Kageki, Legendary Six Samurai – Mizuho/Shinai
(the other pair than the one above)

Additionally, if you have 2 Gateway of the Six, 1 Grandmaster of the
Six Samurai and 1 Kagemusha of the Six Samurai, the infinite Bushido
counters combo can still be performed through Ancient Fairy Dragon.

With infinite Bushido counters, you can fetch all your Six Samurai
from your deck/graveyard, as well as pump your Six Samurai’s ATK to over
10,000 each.

Playing against Six Samurai
Solemn Warning is extremely crucial against Six Samurai. As it negates
the summon, it prevents Gateway of the Six and Six Samurai United from
gaining any Bushido counters. Additionally, being a Counter Trap (Speed
3), Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En will not be able to negate it.

Puppet Plant is extremely useful in breaking out of the Legendary Six
Samurai – Shi En soft-lock. However, since it’s only until the end of
turn, mainly synchro-based decks or Monarch decks will be able to
utilize Puppet Plant efficiently.

Since all Six Samurai are warriors, Kinetic Soldier is able to take
down every single one of them. This is the preferred card for beatdown
decks, since they are unable to fully utilize Puppet Plant. Beware of
Legendary Six Samurai – Mizuho, Hand of the Six Samurai or a non-warrior
Synchro Monster though.

To a certain extent, Gozen Match is useful in controlling the Six
Samurai player. However, it will not be able to stop the swarming of
Kagemusha, Kizan and Grandmaster. Creates a soft-lock with Kinetic
Soldier.

Dust Tornado and Spell Shattering Arrow are useful for taking out Gateway of the Six and Six Samurai United.

Royal Oppression stops Six Samurai from swarming.

Seven Tools of the Bandit is useful for negating the Six Samurai
player’s Solemn Warning, especially crucial for Blackwing. Alternatively
can useful to negate a Double-Edged Sword Technique.

Future of Six Samurai
Shien’s Dojo is useful for special summoning Kagemusha if your hand
contains Kageki and another Six Samurai monster, allowing you to synchro
for Shi En. However, without Gateway on the field, it does not generate
any card advantage.