The Six Samurai

The Six Samurai, known as the Six Warmasters (六武衆) in the OCG, are a series of Warrior-Type monsters that debuted in Strike of Neos, with further support included in Gladiator's Assault. Their names include "The Six Samurai" or "Shien". They rely on having multiple Six Samurai on the field to use their effects, and as such a Deck revolving around them is often based on swarming the field.

The "Six Samurai" monsters consist of the original six, as well as their allies and masters. "Shien" cards are supported by this theme, "Great Shogun Shien" seeming to be the warlord they serve. The overall theme seems to be futuristic, while in some form drawing inspiration from feudal Japan.

The basic Six Samurai monsters (the initial '6') all have the effect "If this card would be destroyed you can destroy another "Six Samurai" monster you control instead" and also "While you control another "Six Samurai" monster with a different name, this card can... " meaning that their effects only activate when another "Six Samurai" monster is on the field.

In the set Storm of Ragnarok, a Legendary Six Samurai sub-archetype was released, providing further support for the original six, as well as their new counterparts.

Play style
Six Samurai have been radically altered by the release of Storm of Ragnarok. With the release of the Legendary Six Samurai, their strategy has shifted very rapidly from one of a normal Aggro Deck to a low monster search based Aggro Deck.

The addition of "Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En" is one of the major factors that has shaped the shift, with his ability to negate a Spell or Trap card once per turn, allowing the Deck to extend farther than most other Metagame Decks without fear. Easy and quick to Summon, using "Legendary Six Samurai - Kageki" and "Kagemusha of the Six Samurai" (both searchable by "Shien's Smoke Signal", "Reinforcement of the Army", and "Gateway of the Six"), with a high ATK to reliably stay in play, he is now the key card of Six Samurai decks.

In addition to "Shi En", "Legendary Six Samurai - Kizan" has had a major effect on the play style of Six Samurai. The ease with which he can be Special Summoned and searched has greatly increased the speed of the deck and allowed it to use fewer monsters. He can either be Normal or Special Summoned, and, in the presence of two or more other Six Samurai monsters, is buffed from his relatively high 1800 ATK to a fantastic 2100 ATK.

Since the release of Storm of Ragnarok, Six Samurai have run far fewer monsters than they used to, indeed the least of any major deck in today's metagame. The reason for this is their access to large numbers of search cards. They may use 3 "Shien's Smoke Signal" and "Reinforcement of the Army" to boost their effective monster count to around 16, and make up the difference in monsters with "Gateway of the Six" from there.

The Six Samurai have access to amazing draw power in the form of "Six Samurai United". It is effectively a +1 when used, and the Bushido Counters it generates can be used for "Gateway of the Six" (Though this is not recommended unless you can refill its Bushido counters and draw on that turn.) In addition to "Six Samurai United", a popular option is to run "Upstart Goblin" to boost the deck's consistency, using the argument that if they manage to get their field properly set up, the extra Life Points will not matter anyway.

The fact that the Six Samurai are all Warrior-Type monsters give them access to "Rivalry of Warlords" in their Side Deck, a card that can cripple many major decks in today's metagame, including X-Sabers and Plants.

Weaknesses
Negation of Special Summoning and Prevention of Summoning

"The Six Samurai", much like "Blackwings", require field presence to properly swarm. Any card that prevents them from doing so for a turn slows them down greatly. Past this, "Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En" and "Musakani Magatama" largely solve this problem. Because of their varied attributes, "Gozen Match" can create problems for "The Six Samurai". This problem can be solved by negating or destroying the card with "Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En" or "Mystical Space Typhoon".

Mass Destruction

"The Six Samurai" are also particularly vulnerable to cards that clear monsters out en masse, such as "Torrential Tribute", "Dark Hole" and "Black Rose Dragon". Cards like "Legendary Six Samurai - Shien" and "Musakani Magatama" help to alleviate this problem. By switching a "Six Samurai" monster into Defense Position prior to attacking with another monster can minimize damage taken by cards similar to "Mirror Force". Since "Mirror Force" only destroys Attack Position monsters, your "Six Samurai" monsters being destroyed can use the ones in Defense Position to "negate" their destruction.

Effect Negation

"The Six Samurai" is currently a very effect-reliant Deck. Without its effect, "Legendary Six Samurai - Kageki" is as useless as "Chamberlain of the Six Samurai". The most threatening effect to be negated, however, is that of "Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En". The negation of the effect of "Shi En" makes the Samurai player open to previously unfeared Spell and Trap Cards, and allows a player locked down by "Shi En" to attempt a comeback. The common method used to negate "Samurai" monster's effects is simply "Effect Veiler", as it is the most effective monster effect-based negation (Spells and Traps are usually negated by "Shi En"). Unfortunately, there is no easy way for a "Samurai" player to combat this.

Trivia
The basic Six Samurai monsters (the initial '6') artwork features each of them holding a weapon which refers to their effects.

Each Six Samurai has a different attribute, and those with polar attributes have opposite effects. Yaichi's opposite is Kamon, Nisashi's is Yariza, and Irou's is Zanji. Yaichi destroys face-down spell/trap cards, and Kamon destroys face-up spell/trap cards. Nisashi can attack twice and potentially destroy multiple monsters, and Yariza bypasses monsters entirely to attack directly. Irou can take down monsters with his effect before they become a threat, and Zanji can be take out an already opposing threat with his effect.

Most card artworks featuring the Six Samurai and their supporting cards contain a heraldic crest/coat of arms(紋章 - monshō or 家紋 - kamon) representing the Six Samurai. The crest is composed of a bolded outer-circle and an inner-circle. The inner-circle contains six smaller dotted circles which are connected to each other (in a specific path) and 6 other irregular shapes that are likely to represent the initial Six Samurai. To date, the only Six Samurai related cards that do not feature the Six Samurai crest are "Great Shogun Shien", "Tenkabito Shien", "Shien's Footsoldier" and "Shien's Castle of Mist".

The name of the archetype may be derived from the 1954 Japanese film "Seven Samurai", by Akira Kurosawa.

Monsters

 * Legendary Six Samurai - Kageki
 * Legendary Six Samurai - Kizan
 * Kagemusha of the Six Samurai
 * Grandmaster of the Six Samurai
 * Hand of the Six Samurai
 * Spirit of the Six Samurai

Spells

 * Reinforcement of the Army
 * Six Samurai United
 * Gateway of the Six
 * Upstart Goblin
 * Shien's Smoke Signal

Traps

 * Double-Edged Sword Technique
 * Musakani Magatama

Extra Deck

 * Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En
 * Naturia Beast
 * Naturia Barkion
 * Naturia Landoise