Shiranui Samurai

Shiranui Samurai — Power Evaluation

Final Score: 57 ± 7 · Confidence: Medium

• Intrinsic: 54.6 · Deck: 56.2 · Meta: provisional
• Primary role: Utility · Secondary: Material body, Recovery/Recursion

Why it scores here

Shiranui Samurai is a cheap one-of utility body rather than a combo centerpiece: across 400 recorded decks it averages 1.1 copies with 375 decks running exactly one, and it appears in only two recorded combos with zero starter, material, or payoff tags. What it reliably converts is a Level 4 FIRE Zombie body that doubles as graveyard recursion — if it is banished, it adds a "Shiranui" monster from the GY to hand — plus a Quick Effect that trades a GY Zombie for 600 ATK and banishes whatever it battled. Its 1800 ATK and the boost to 2400 earn no points by themselves; the score comes from slot efficiency, material quality, and modest recursion value, not from stats or popularity.

Axis scores

Calculation

Weight profile: 0.7 Utility + 0.3 Material body. Intrinsic ≈ 54.6, Deck ≈ 56.2, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Compact flex slot (1). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck

Strengths

• Cheap one-of utility slot: 1.1 average copies and 375/400 decks run exactly one, with no restrictions or garnets
• Level 4 FIRE Zombie body (1800 ATK) that is clean material for Synchro/Xyz/Link plays and keeps that value when its effect is negated
• Banished trigger converts into a +1 by adding a "Shiranui" monster from the GY to hand
• Quick Effect can push it to 2400 ATK and banish any monster that battles it after damage calculation
• Extremely consistent archetype fit: 83.8% Shiranui decks and 97.8% co-deck rate with Shiranui Solitaire

Weaknesses

• No summon, search, or board-building effect on its own — zero starter/material/payoff tags in recorded combos
• Quick Effect removal requires it to battle and resolves only after damage calculation, so it is easy to avoid
• Recursion only triggers if it is banished; being destroyed in battle or sent to the GY does nothing
• Competes for the Normal Summon with the deck's real starters such as Shiranui Solitaire and Shiranui Squire
• Archetype-specific text ("Shiranui" name, Zombie GY banish) limits its use outside Shiranui/Zombie shells

Counters / choke points

• Effect negation on the monster (Effect Veiler, Infinite Impermanence) blanks the Quick Effect ATK boost and battle banish
• GY disruption (D.D. Crow, Called by the Grave) can strip the banished target or the GY Zombie needed for the cost
• Graveyard-denial effects that remove Zombies from the GY deny both the Quick Effect cost and the recursion target
• Removing it without battle (targeted destruction, bounce, or banish) sidesteps the battle-phase effect entirely

Best use

Level 4 Zombie body / graveyard-recursion utility. Decks: Shiranui, Mayakashi Shiranui, Zombies. Suggested copies: 1.

Evidence & gaps

• Verified: Card text: Quick Effect banishes 1 Zombie from the GY to gain 600 ATK and banishes any monster that battled this card after damage calculation, until end of turn; Card text: if this card is banished, target 1 "Shiranui" monster in the GY except "Shiranui Samurai" and add it to hand; each effect is once per turn; Level 4 FIRE Zombie, 1800 ATK / 0 DEF, archetype Shiranui, legal in TCG, OCG, Master Duel and Duel Links
• Observed: 400 of 400 recorded decks run it in the main deck, average 1.1 copies (375 at 1 copy, 10 at 2, 15 at 3); 83.8% of those decks are Shiranui, and Shiranui Solitaire co-occurs in 97.8% of them; Combos evidence: 2 appearances (100% of recorded combos) with 0% starter, searched, material, payoff, or end-board tags and an average power index of 72.5; Usage statistics show 100% inclusion at 3 typical copies in the Zombies archetype sample; One guide (Shiranui Fire King) lists it in its CORE section
• Inferred: Its practical role is a Level 4 FIRE Zombie material body plus a one-time GY recursion effect, not a combo starter or payoff; The Quick Effect is a battle-phase trick that only converts when the opponent actually battles it; The 1-of deckbuilding pattern indicates a flexible utility slot rather than a card the deck is built around; FIRE attribute plus Zombie typing makes it a natural fit for the Shiranui Fire King shell named in the guide
• Data gaps: no banlist token — assumed 3 copies (unlimited) only 2 recorded combos, and neither tags a role for this card, so combo centrality is under-measured guide snippet is effectively empty ("chết não"), giving no human context on its role no per-format legal copies values were supplied no dated metagame sample, so meta power is null/provisional