A Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Wall of Text Review: STRUCTURE DECK Samurai Warlords

      Well sometimes I wonder exactly what they think when they release new decks (or tins for that matter) and it just seems like they're trying to fix the game a bit when it comes to balancing issues in organized play.  Granted unlike Magic The Gathering where it is only the last so many sets that are allowed in tournament use, Yu-Gi-Oh! has only its shifting ban list and the sometimes crazy market for selling individual cards to keep it...well enough of such talk, back to the deck
      The cover of the box is Shadow of the Six Samurai - Shien, the new Xyz made for this deck, and while we received this deck the OCG received a new water Structure Deck, and with any luck eventually we'll have it as well.  If you ever wanted to build a Six Samurai deck, this is a decent base to modify with any other Six Samurai cards you may have or want to put in.  Now, let's get a talking.

      First off, we'll get the three rares out of the way.  The cover card, Shadow of the Six Samurai - Shien is a rank 4 Xyz Warrior with 2500 ATK and 400 DEF, fitting for the style of play Six Samurai are known for, and the draw back it has as an Xyz.  It can only be brought out with two Level 4 "Six Samurai" monsters, which isn't as hard as it sounds, but a lot easier if you add in a few of the Six Samurai from Storm of Ragnarok in.  It's effect is seemingly silly to a degree, Once a turn you can detach a material to target 1 face-up "Six Samurai" monster you control with less than 2000 ATK, its original ATK becomes 2000 until the End Phase.


      Silly of course until you look at the other Six Samurai, especially the second rare Legendary Six Samurai - Kageki, which when you have another face-up "Six Samurai" with a different name it gets 1500 ATK.  This means its 200 ATK base is now 1700, unless you use Shien's ability, knocking that to 2000ATK plus the 1500 from its effect, and the earliest you can pull off such a thing is on your second turn, as Kageki summons another level 4 or lower "Six Samurai" from your hand when it is Normal Summoned, which in this deck can land you a turn 2 Shien as well as having Kageki out.  If you have the 2 Level 4's needed to bring out Shien in your opening hand and just happen to have or draw Shien's Smoke Signal, the third rare, then you are in luck, as it adds one Level 3 or lower "Six Samurai" from your deck to your hand, and oh look, Kageki is a level 3.
      Other fun cards included are The Six Samurai - Yariza, Zanji, Nisashi, Yaichi, Kamon, and Irou, meaning all six original are there.  Great Shogun Shien, Enishi, Shien's Chancellor, Legendary Six Samurai - Kizan and Enishi,  and Shien's Daredevil.  Spells include Dark Hole, Reinfocement of the Army (something that I swear seems to be reprinted every deck with a main focus on warriors), Six Samurai United, and Gateway of the Six.  When I saw the traps it came with, I was a little excited, as Rivalry of Warlords happens to be one of the fun cards for theme decks, being a type based version of Gozen Match, meaning you can run different type warrior monsters for example and force hodgepodge decks to choose carefully until they can get rid of it, or help clear an opponents field a bit before a Xyz or Synchro summon.
      Overall this is a rather nice deck, not a bad pickup if you ever wanted to make a Six Samurai deck and are missing some of the cards for it, or if you even are like me and just wanted the Rivalry of Warlords (although the rest of the deck isn't bad).  It is definitely worth a closer look at least in my opinion, and its price is the same as any other Yu-Gi-Oh! deck you can buy.  Last but not least, here is a picture of the mat, unfortunately I'm not adept enough with this blog format to know if there is a way to put both pictures side by side, but still this is a nice mat, when it has no glare.