Going Oldschool

As many of you may have already realized that the prices of classic Six Samurai support cards has increased exponentially since the announcement of new support for the theme. The first of these was True Six Samurai - Kizan, a card that unlocked so much potential to the Samurai that players began hyping them up as the new X-Sabers. I was skeptical at first but when I learned that the archetype was to receive their own set of Tuners and a new Shien Synchro Monster, it was pretty clear that Six Samurai would join the ranks of the other Tier 1 decks.

Speaking of which, I just love how each of the True Six Samurai has a relation to previous Six Samurai cards:

• True Six Samurai - Kizan is a younger Grandmaster of the Six Samurai.
• True Six Samurai - Shien is Great Shogun Shien before he became a ruler. Also, Tenkabito Shien is Great Shogun Shien without his armor. Tenkabito means "conqueror of the world".
• True Six Samurai - Enishi is Enishi, Shien's Chancellor before he joined Shien's court.
• True Six Samurai - Mizuho is a younger Hand of the Six Samurai.
• True Six Samurai - Kageki is a younger Chamberlain of the Six Samurai, before he lost his arms.
• True Six Samurai - Shinai is Spirit of the Six Samurai before it died. Also, based Shinai and Mizuho's effects and art, it's likely they may have been lovers in the past.
• Shien's Yoriko is a younger Shien's Footsoldier. Yoriko means "approaching child" (scout).
• Kagemusha of the Six Samurai is a younger Kagemusha of the Blue Flame. Kagemusha means "impersonator" (body double), and Shien means "blue flame".

A few hours ago I received word of new Spell and Trap support for the archetype, and believe me Samurai fans, you'll be lovin' some of these:

Shien's Smoke Signal (Normal Spell Card)

Add 1 Level 3 or lower "Six Samurai" monster from your Deck to your hand.

Residence of the Six (Field Spell Card)
Each time your Normal Summon or Special Summon a "Six Samurai" monster, place 1 Bushido Counter on this card. Face-up monsters your opponent controls lose 100 ATK for each Bushido Counter on this card.

Ascetism of the Six Samurai (Quick-Play Spell Card)
Activate by selecting 1 "Six Samurai" monster you control. Special Summon 1 "Six Samurai" monster with the same ATK as the selected monster but with a different name from your Deck. During the End Phase of this turn, destroyed the selected monster.

Rokusakani no Magatama (Counter Trap Card)
Activate only if you control a face-up "Six Samurai" monster. Negate the activation of an opponent's Spell Card, Trap Card, or Effect Monster's effect that destroys a card(s), and destroy it.

Their own Reinforcement of the Army, a new Field Spell that has synergy with Gateway of the Six and Six Samurai United, a newer version of Cunning of the Six Samurai, and finally their own Counter Trap...makes me think that Konami should have named this set Storm of the Six Samurai.

Remember players, the game ends with you.