EARTH
3Spirit of the Six Samurai
Archetype:
Six Samurai
ATK:
500
DEF:
500
View:
4211
Once per turn, you can either: Target 1 face-up "Six Samurai" monster you control; equip this card to that target, OR: Unequip this card and Special Summon it in face-up Attack Position. While equipped by this effect, the equipped monster gains 500 ATK and DEF. If the equipped monster destroys an opponent's monster by battle: Draw 1 card. (A monster can only be equipped with 1 Union Monster at a time. If the equipped monster would be destroyed, destroy this card instead.)
Spirit of the Six Samurai — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 55 ± 7 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 56 · Deck: 55 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Material body · Secondary: Utility
Why it scores here
Spirit of the Six Samurai earns its score almost entirely as a cheap, searchable Level 3 EARTH Warrior "Six Samurai" name that can be re-Special Summoned off its own Union equip, not from its 500 ATK/DEF. Its ceiling is low: the only advantage it generates is a battle-dependent draw, the equip pump is a stat change rather than a board, and it offers zero interaction with the opponent. Deck evidence is strong (400 sampled decks, ~1.03 copies, 100% inclusion in the Six Samurai sample), which confirms it is a reliable one-slot role-player in its home archetype, but no combo data exists to show it converts into a winning board. High stats did not earn points here — the 500/500 body is scored purely on its material and name value.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 75 | A Level 3 "Six Samurai" with 500 ATK is reachable through Shien's Smoke Signal and Reinforcement of the Army, and it shows up in 400 sampled decks with 100% archetype inclusion at ~1.03 copies (observed). |
| Combo & Conversion | 32 | On its own it builds nothing — the equip/unequip loop only re-supplies one 500-ATK body per turn and the +500/+500 pump is a battle stat, not a board (inferred). |
| Resource Economy | 42 | The only card advantage is a conditional draw when the equipped monster destroys a monster by battle, making it roughly card-neutral and slow (verified). |
| Effect & Interaction | 8 | The card provides no negation, removal, or disruption whatsoever; its sole live effect is the ATK/DEF pump plus the Union destruction-replacement clause (verified). |
| Material Utility | 63 | As a Level 3 EARTH Warrior carrying the "Six Samurai" name it is clean material for Rank 3, Link, and Synchro plays (Shi En) and still converts when its effect is negated (inferred). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 50 | Union wording lets it re-Special Summon itself after being equipped and destroys itself in place of the equipped monster, but any monster-effect negation blanks it (verified). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 65 | One copy is the norm (392 of 400 decks run exactly 1) and it is not a hard garnet, though its impact per slot is small (observed). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Material body + 0.3 Utility (default). Intrinsic ≈ 56, Deck ≈ 55, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Level 3 EARTH Warrior with the "Six Samurai" name — searchable by Shien's Smoke Signal and Reinforcement of the Army (inferred)
- Union loop: equip, then unequip next turn to Special Summon itself for a recurring free body
- Grants +500 ATK/DEF to the equipped monster and replaces a battle-destroyed equipped monster with itself
- Conditional draw when the equipped monster destroys an opponent's monster by battle
- Runs as a compact 1-of (avg 1.03 copies over 400 decks) and is included in 100% of the sampled Six Samurai builds
Weaknesses
- 500 ATK/DEF body does almost nothing on its own if the effect is negated
- Equip effect requires an existing face-up "Six Samurai" monster you control
- Draw trigger depends on battle destruction, which is slow and unreliable in the modern game
- Provides no disruption, negation, or removal
- No combo evidence (0 appearances) to prove it converts into a meaningful end board
Counters / choke points
- Effect negation (Infinite Impermanence, Effect Veiler) blanks the equip/unequip activation
- Removing or negating the intended equip target before the equip resolves
- Not attacking into the equipped monster denies the draw
- Non-destruction removal that bypasses the Union replacement clause on the equipped monster
Best use
Searchable Level 3 EARTH Warrior material / equip utility. Decks: Six Samurai, Secret Six Samurai, Shadow Six Samurai. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text: once per turn, either equip to a face-up "Six Samurai" you control or unequip to Special Summon it in Attack Position; Card text: equipped monster gains 500 ATK and DEF; draw 1 card if the equipped monster destroys an opponent's monster by battle; Card text: Union clause — destroy this card instead if the equipped monster would be destroyed; Decks evidence: 400 sampled decks, all main deck, average 1.03 copies, max 3; Usage statistics: Six Samurai inclusion 100%, typical copies 1
- Observed: 392 of 400 decks run exactly 1 copy; 27 distinct archetypes contain it, dominated by Secret Six Samurai (55.2%) and Primite (15.2%); 97.8% co-deck rate with Asceticism of the Six Samurai and 97.2% with Shien's Smoke Signal; 0 combo appearances — no recorded combo uses this card as starter, material, or payoff
- Inferred: Searchable via Shien's Smoke Signal (Level 3 or lower "Six Samurai") and Reinforcement of the Army (Level 3 Warrior); Serves as non-Tuner material for Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En and as generic Rank 3 / Link material; Once equipped, the unequip clause re-supplies a body on later turns for Synchro/Link extension; Inclusion is archetype-driven rather than generic: the equip clause requires a "Six Samurai" target
- Data gaps: no combos supplied — combo conversion is text-only inference no guides supplied no banlist token — assumed 3 copies (unlimited) legal copies is empty for all listed formats usage statistics covers a single archetype (Six Samurai), so cross-home consistency is unmeasured