Spirit Reaper

Here we are reviewing classic cards today. Spirit Reaper needs no introduction during the time of the Monarch Format. It has 300 ATK and 200 DEFon a level 3 DARK Zombie. Like most Zombies, his stats ar enot the best, but he is a Zombie, and that should count for something.

The effects made him a powerhouse back in the day. He cannot be destroyed by battle, is destroyed when he is targeted by an ability and when he attacks directly, he discards an opponent's in hand card. These effects are slightly less viable today, as Blackwings Pierce through him and Gladiators just tag into Murmillo.

If he were to go back to 3, I think that people would take notice of the little zombie that could, but until then he is just a relic from a bygone era. Very versatile, but not suited for this format's fast paced environment.

Traditional-1/5
Advanced-2/5

Spirit Reaper ...

Still doing his thing after all these years ... This is one of those cards that is destined for the Yugioh Hall of Fame (if such a thing ever existed). Often imitated but never duplicated, Spirit Reaper was the 1st of the unbreakables - the monsters that cannot be destroyed by battle. Sure, u target him with almost anything, and he dies, but ur opponent has to waste a targeting card to do it, and lots of people don't play with that many. The Smashing Grounds and Fissures wont target ... And the ones that people DO use - the Mind Controls and Brain Controls - most likely opponents hate to waste them, not being able to get the BENEFIT of using said card, since Spirit Reaper would instantly be destroyed.

Add to that his ability to pluck from the hand when he attacks directs and causes damage makes him fearsome. U just gotta love the frustration on opponents faces when they ram into him in DEF and cant find a way around him to your lifepoints. Great for stalling, and his attributes - Dark, Zombie, and 3 stars, raise him from fearsome to spectacular.

Terrific for Zombies, Stall/Burn/Control (whatever THAT is), Dark, and loads of other things.

Keep rockin, Spirit Reaper!

Traditional: 4/5
Advanced: 4/5

- FREEZA

Spirit Reaper:

A rulings nightmare to be sure, Spirit Reaper has wreaked havoc upon Yugioh for quite some time now. The little temporary wall has waned in and out of favor from format to format, depending on whats popular. He's always a surprise for your opponent, as well as a nuisance. When Zombies were still viable a format ago, it wasn't uncommon to see this guy splashed into a deck here and there... now... not so much. Not a single showing in the top 32 decks from last YCS. I'm not really sure what deck could benefit from him right now in this ridiculously fast format. All of the top decks have an answer for him, namely Mist Wurm, Brionic, and Caius/Raiza for frog-monarchs.

Traditional: 2.5
Advanced: 3.0 (while not useful so much now, he's still a powerful little card)

Tuesday: Spirit Reaper

This has always been an amazing card. While GB and Blackwings have really cut its uses, the card has made a resurgence in this metagame because it is such a stable tool against X-Sabers and Herald of Perfection.

You can see in National Champion Theerasak Poonsombat's feature match he used a copy that won him a game against an unbreakable field setup of Herald + Kristya. All of the members of Team CoreTCG.com used it in their X-Saber decks.

Reaper is a great card.

T: 4/5
A: 4/5

Spirit Reaper

Ah, Spirit Reaper. My old friend. We’ve been through so much together, haven’t we?

The Reaper is a 3-star DARK Zombie, all of which is amazing stuff to be. He’s got 300 ATK and 200 DEF, which is awful, but for what he does, it’s more than fair.

First off, he can’t be destroyed in battle. There are many cards like this, but Spirit Reaper is in some ways the best of them all, but also one of the easiest to destroy.

Being a Zombie, even if Reaper gets killed off somehow, it’s very easy to get him back if you need to. Book of Life, Zombie Master, and Mezuki all can revive him. Combine that with the easy ways to search him out, like Sangan, Pyramid Turtle, and Goblin Zombie, and you’ve got a defensive wall on demand.

But defense isn’t his only use, of course! He’s also a potent offensive threat. Those 300 ATK points aren’t very threatening, but hitting the opponent with a direct attack will cause them to discard a card randomly. And the hits will keep often keep on coming, since the opponent won’t be able to destroy him by battle next turn, a problem cards like Don Zaloog traditionally have had. This will often lead to opponents using cards like Dimensional Prison or Battle Fader just to prevent the Reaper from hitting directly. Baiting out cards like these early with Reaper can help with big pushes later on.

Now, a card as good as Spirit Reaper’s got to have a drawback. Any time he’s targeted, he commits suicide. Something like Mind Control, Enemy Controller, or Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind can just pop him like nothing. Just remember that the effect resolves first, then Reaper destroys himself. Cards like Book of Moon or Compulsory Evacuation Device will not destroy him.

Art: 4/5 Those purple robes are very… threatening.

Traditional 2/5: Too slow, and there are too many easy ways around him here, and there’s better hand disruption cards to play too. He is a decent DARK to use, though.

Advanced 5/5: Simply fantastic here. He fits in a plethora of decks, and provides very useful disruption and stall.