Stats                : Spirit Reaper is a Level 3 Monster, allowing it to attack under Level Limit-Area B and Gravity Bind.  It is a hardy combination of Dark and Zombie, giving it much, much support.  It is very weak in terms of ATK and DEF: 300 ATK and only 200 DEF.  At least this means that it can easily be searched via Sangan or searched and Special Summoned via Last Will, Mystic Tomato, and Pyramid Turtle’s respective effect, and slips under Messenger of Peace.  Of course, Spirit Reaper is played for his effects…

 

Effect(s)            : Spirit Reaper has three effects.  Two are supposed to be positive while the third is supposed to be restrictive.  However, it is possible to have the two good effects backfire or the third effect prove useful.

 

The actual effects are that Spirit Reaper cannot be destroyed as a result of battle, that it lets you randomly discard a card from your opponent’s hand when you attack them directly with Spirit Reaper, and that Spirit Reaper will destroy itself if it is targeted by an effect.  Note that if it is attacked by a card with an “auto kill” effect, like a Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke or Mystic Swordsman LV2, those count as effect kills, and Spirit Reaper still dies.  If Spirit Reaper attacks directly and the damage is prevented, it won’t cause a discard.  At least one point of damage must go through, so a Kuriboh, or Waboku, or Mask of Weakness would prevent the discard (and in the latter’s case, trigger the self destruct, but only after the damage step).  An effect that would destroy Spirit Reaper that targets it will be what destroys it; it’s just that if it survives an effect then it blows itself up anyway.

 

Uses and

Combinations  : This is one of the best defensive cards in the game, especially since it is very easy to search from the deck and Special Summon with the slightest adherence to a theme.  Even without that support, it will usually cost the opponent one other card to get rid of it.  If not removal, then a Snatch Steal or the like, and that’s very useful.  If it stalls long enough for you to get ahead, you can switch it to ATK and press the advantage.  Usually, you’re only risking about 1500 LP or so doing this, and it can be well worth it.  It can also be useful with Creature Swap; kick it into ATK mode and swap it for whatever they got then have every Monster of yours attack.  Just make sure it’s for a serious gain (preferably for the win) unless you have access to Trample or a convenient way to destroy Spirit Reaper afterwards.

 

Trample is, of course, the natural enemy of Spirit Reaper; it can’t die and has a pathetic DEF, so it’s practically a doorway to your LP against Trample effects.  Likewise, effects that target during battle without destroying a Monster, e.g. Gravekeeper’s Assailant can destroy Spirit Reaper due to its self-destruct mechanism, which changes the amount of Monster’s on the opponent’s side of the field, which triggers a replay.

 

Although rarely seen, there are some fun combos with Spirit Reaper.  It is a natural partner for Strike Ninja, “holding down the fort”, so to speak, when Strike Ninja pulls his disappearing act.  Spirit Barrier is useful since it means that Trample and Direct Attacking Monsters won’t score any damage for going “through” Spirit Reaper.  Perhaps the most fun is Staunch Defender: Spirit Reaper will blow itself up, but it has already been ruled that if the Monster Staunch Defender forces your opponent to attack is destroyed, they can’t attack anything at all.

 

Most of the time though, it’ll be used like I said in the first paragraph.

 

Ratings

 

Traditional       : 3.5/5-Very nice: forces the use of that Monster removal ahead of schedule.  It is very lame using a Raigeki on just a face up Spirit Reaper.

 

Advanced        : 4/5-This card is getting quite common now.  If a deck is Dark or Zombie, it needs a real good reason to not run this card.  Then it works in most other decks as well.

 

Limited            : 5/5-This card is sick here, as it can often ensure you at least don’t lose.  Yes, there are many useful effect Monsters in the sets Spirit Reaper is in, but getting it all off to blow up Reaper is far from easy.

 

Summary

I am starting to understand the desire for a Restriction or Semi-Restriction of Spirit Reaper.  At least for the moment, I believe the effectiveness of Spirit Reaper comes from certain inherent flaws with the game design; if those flaws are addressed, he remains good but not broken.  Given the low odds of this and the effectiveness of Spirit Reaper in the current format, I worry.  In other words, Spirit Reaper is a good Monster: use it unless it clashes with another theme.