I am sure everyone will say it but, fear the Reaper.  Here’s the old review I wrote of it with updates to explain its new status.

 

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 effects, and slips under Messenger of Peace.  Of course, Spirit Reaper is played for his own 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).  Any effect that would destroy Spirit Reaper that targets it will be what destroys it; it’s just that if it were to somehow survive such an effect then it would blows itself up anyway.  Finally, let me point out that Spirit Reaper has to be in play and face-up for its self-destruct effect to kick in: if bounced to the hand or flipped face-down, it will survive.

 

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.  That means your opponent’s Monster gets to attack again, turning Spirit Reaper into a “freebie”.

 

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 Spirit Reaper acts as a tiny blocker for nearly all decks, not requiring any elaborate combos.  It became prominent in so many decks due to the natural combo with Cyber Dragon: Cyber Dragon Special Summons itself, and either Spirit Reaper is Set to act as “insurance” or Summoned in ATK position because Cyber Dragon is clearing the field.  This is an incredible tactic early game, and the potency of this combo insured its inclusion in many decks… which in turn made it easy to include Chaos Sorcerer in most of those same decks.  Restricted to a single copy, I expect Spirit Reaper to simply become a Staple: it’s the ultimate blocker that forces the opponent to burn another card to get rid of it (save those obscure examples like Gravekeeper’s Assailant).

 

Ratings

 

Traditional       : 3.75/5-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.  However, since Monster removal is so prominent it can be left out to hit that “perfect 40” count.

 

Advanced        : 4/5-This card has been a common sight for quite some time now.  It is easier to do without than Sangan, but that really is because of how potent Sangan is, but again most decks can make great use of it: on offense use it to tear up their hand, on DEF let it block.

 

Summary

Much to my delight, I did indicate in my last version of this review that I thought Spirit Reaper was getting out of hand and that it might need some Restriction.  Now I know that it needs banning.  It’s become just another Staple for the pile: looser than some other staples, but still there.  The inability to be destroyed in Battle on such a small, easily searched out and Summoned Monster is too much.