Money Smith piloted his Six Samurai Deck to a better finish than any other Samurai Duelists in the tournament. His strategy? Swarm the field with Samurais and protect his aggression with his 3 Main Deck copies of Starlight Road. Smith made some Deck choices that were previously unheard of in Six Samurai Decks, like the exclusion of Great Shogun Shien from his Deck, but given his finishing 9-3 record in the tournament, these Deck choices may become integrated into basic Six Samurai strategy. Take a look at his Decklist:

Monsters:
3x Grandmaster of the Six Samurai
3x Hand of the Six Samurai
3x The Six Samurai – Zanji
3x The Six Samurai – Irou
3x The Six Samurai – Yaichi
1x The Six Samurai – Kamon

Spells:
3x Six Samurai United
3x Gateway of the Six
3x Solidarity
2x The Warrior Returning Alive
2x Shrink
1x Heavy Storm

Traps:
3x Starlight Road
3x Dimensional Prison
1x Backs to the Wall
1x Mirror Force
1x Solemn Judgment
1x Call of the Haunted
1x Torrential Tribute

Smith is running 3 copies each for The Six Samurai – Zanji, The Six Samurai – Irou, The Six Samurai – Yaichi, and Hand of the Six Samurai. These monsters have the power to destroy monsters by attacking them, destroy monsters without attacking them, and take down Set cards. He also runs 1 copy of The Six Samurai – Kamon, which he can use to destroy a face-up Spell or Trap Card. With The Warrior Returning Alive in his Deck, he can call any of these Samurais from his Graveyard when he needs them. “I forgot to put Reinforcement of the Army in my Deck,” Smith told me, “but I should be playing it.” With it, Smith would be able to call out the Samurais he needs from his Deck.

Smith’s Deck depends on Summoning Grandmaster of the Six Samurai to swarm the field with Warriors. He uses Gateway of the Six to search his Deck for the Grandmaster, just to make sure he gets it into his hand. Smith also uses Solidarity to boost his monsters’ ATK and create an overwhelming field for his opponent to deal with.

By excluding Great Shogun Shien from his Deck, Smith limited the number of hands he would draw that include cards he’s unable to play. He knows that the aggression enabled by Grandmaster and the other Six Samurais is more than enough to beat his opponent, so adding a card that requires him to have 2 Samurais on the field to Summon it seemed unnecessary.

Money Smith’s Deck also takes full advantage of Starlight Road. He packs a full 3 copies in his Deck to protect his swarms of monsters, as well as the several Trap Cards and Continuous Spell Cards his Deck plays. Since Starlight Road can Special Summon a 2500 ATK monster to the field for Smith to attack with, it helps Smith build up the game-ending swarms his Deck depends on to win. Smith also uses Backs to the Wall, which lets him create a game-ending swarm in one shot.

Money Smith’s Samurai Deck is a new take on an old theme that may help to shape the way more Six Samurai Decks are built in the future.