Shiranui Samurai

Too unstable to run in 3’s but too good to not at least include 1, Samurai is the classic emergency button. He cures all ails with his insatiable non-targetting, boss-banishing, Spiritmaster-triggering goodness. What else needs to be said? He slices Dark Destroyer up with his ice sword and then finishes off Dante with his fire sword. He waits during the opponent’s turn until that perfect moment, when Instant Fusion brings out Norden and summons that second level 4 monster from the grave. Then he uses his handy-dandy quick effect to banish Spiritmaster and send them both to the depths. He’s searchable when you need him, he can be summoned using Solitaire’s effect or Book of Life, and he’s a good little beatstick that boosts his own attack.

What more does he need in order to be included in every Shiranui build? Oh right, maybe another effect that allows you to profit off Swallow’s Slash or Gold Sarc and add that Spiritmaster or Solitaire to the hand just when you need them. Samurai is sneaky good. Don’t overthink your zombie deck-building. Always include this monster when you play Shiranui… always.

Advanced: 4.5/5

Future Potential: 4/5

• Strong ATK for LV6.
• The first effect is very good.  It makes up, in part, for the Shiranuis' weakness of banishing themselves
• Since it can be chained at any moment, you can (most likely) get the effect of at least twice minimum
• Changing the battle positions can help you defeat the opponent's strong monsters in battle.
• That effect also can protect you from attack(s)
• It gets a Gilfer-like effect (-500 ATK on an opponent's monster) when banished.  Negligible, but better than nothing I guess.
• Overall, this card does several good things but there's nothing that it does that's amazing.
• Zombie decks of any variant may want to run a copy of this card so they can re-use Mezuki.

3/5

Hello Pojo Fans,
 
One of the two archetype-specific Synchro monsters for Shiranui, Shiranui Samuraisaga will be the go-to as a Level 6 Synchro, gelling with Spectralsword and a Level 4 Zombie.
 
It's effect is unique. Zero Gravity combined with a restriction. Able to shift your opponents monsters into defense either turn is great, but only if you can return a banished Zombie with a high enough ATK. Mezuki should be more than enough though with 1700 ATK, not to mention other Shiranui banished monsters. It's final effect isn't really important. A 500ATK drop may make a difference, but you need to banish this monster, which would likely involve you going into a combo with Spectralsword. It's a neat little tack-on to this solid Synchro for the archetype and even regular Zombie players.
 
Advanced-3/5
Art-3/5
 
Until Next Time
KingofLullaby

Shiranui Samurai is a Level 4 Fire Zombie-type monster with 1800 Atk and 0 Def. Finally, there exists a Shiranui with some decent attack value, at least for a Level 4 monster. Then there is his pumping effect that can be activated during either player's turn. At the cost of banishing a zombie from the grave, Shiranui Samurai gains 600 Atk and banishes anything it battles. I do love monster removal that doesn't target or destroy. Additionally, the banishing effect will trigger other Shiranui effects if it's not the Damage Step. Both effects have a "use" (not activate, did use replace activate?) once per turn, but this one lasts until the end of the turn. 
 
The second effect triggers when Shiranui Samurai is banished from anywhere. You can target a Shiranui monster in the grave except itself to add to the hand. If there was an 'or from the banished zone' clause this effect would be much better. Shiranui monsters don't tend to exist in the grave for this second effect to be useful. The balance of a very good effect with a not ideal effect makes for a decent score. 
 
Score: 3.5/5
Art: 4/5
 
-WarlockBlitz