Well, since it's apparently not allowed for me to write a formal guide on Six Samurai, I'm going to give my own personal view anyways.

Ahh, the Six Samurai. Traditionally, this deck has done well in locals tournaments and true competition alike. Back in the days when synchros weren't around, Six Samurai Chaos decks were a dangerous threat. They didn't really make a splash, however, until the release of Gateway of the Six and Hand of the Six Samurai, respectively. Looking at their past, their biggest assets before those 2 cards released were Solemn Judgment at 3, Cold Wave at 3, and Reasoning at 3. A samurai duelist really didn't have to commit much to the board to gain momentum, and could easily overpower an opponent with one monster, much less a Grandmaster, Chaos Sorcerer, or Great Shogun Shien play.

That said, the Chaos Sam build of yesteryear is now obsolete. Let's change pace as we look at the future of samurai warfare, for with the release of the Legendary Six Samurai, the deck has changed drastically.

First, the main cards of the deck. These are cards you should see in every Six Samurai deck.

Legendary Six Samurai-Shi En
1 warrior tuner+1 or more non tuner six samurai monsters
Once per turn, during either player's turn, when your opponent activates a Spell/Trap Card: You can negate the activation, and if you do, destroy it. If this card would be destroyed, you can destroy another face-up "Six Samurai" monster you control instead.

The boss monster of the Six Samurai deck; this guy isn't really impressive with his attack, though he is the biggest lv 5 synchro out there, but his effects are what defines him as the deck's leader. He can negate one (non counter) trap or any spell per turn, rendering it useless. This is an instant disadvantage to the opponent; as they have to consider going -1 every time they choose to use backrow. His other ability allows his troops to take the fall for him. This gives him the ability to maintain his advantage quite well. Limited and rightfully so.

Shadow of the Six Samurai -Shien
2 level 4 six samurai monsters
Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card to target 1 face-up "Six Samurai" monster you control with less than 2000 ATK; its original ATK becomes 2000 until the End Phase.

Not quite as amazing as the Legendary Shi-en, but definitely notably effective. This guy has the ability to turn a Kageki into a 3500 attack beatstick! Run 1 for the extra bushido counter abuse, and Kageki abuse, but extra deck space is limited, so don't run much more

Legendary Six Samurai-Kizan

If you control a face-up "Six Samurai" monster with a different name, you can Special Summon this card (from your hand). While you control 2 or more other face-up "Six Samurai" monsters, this card gains 300 ATK and DEF.

Run this card in 3 copies, no exceptions. This guy is overlay and synchro heaven. He's a pivotal card to this deck, being both an earth attribute, allowing for Barkion and Naturia Beast useage, but he's also a lv 4 warrior, making him easy material for Blade-Armor Ninja or Heroic Champion-Excalibur, two definite mainstays in the extra deck this deck is packing. He swarms, he slices (with his 2100 attack), he dices, and he's free bushido. A more appropriate name for this monster is Bushido Bomb.

The Six Samurai-Irou
At the start of the Damage Step, if this card attacked a face-down Defense Position monster: Destroy that monster. You must control a face-up "Six Samurai" monster with a different name to activate and to resolve this effect. If this card would be destroyed, you can destroy another face-up "Six Samurai" monster you control instead.

This guy is useable with Kageki and Enishi as an Asceticism target, perfect for that Ryko or Geargiarmor set. run 1-2.

The Six Samurai-Zanji
At the end of the Damage Step, if this card attacked: Destroy the monster this card attacked. You must control a face-up "Six Samurai" monster with a different name to activate and to resolve this effect. If this card would be destroyed, you can destroy another face-up "Six Samurai" monster you control instead.

An Asceticism target with Kizan, and a great way to get over wall monsters. run 1 for sure, not 2-3, as you never want to normal summon this guy alone.

Legendary Six Samurai-Enishi

Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can banish 2 "Six Samurai" monsters from your Graveyard to target 1 face-up monster on the field; return that target to the hand. You must control a face-up "Six Samurai" monster with a different name to activate and to resolve this effect. While you control 2 or more face-up "Six Samurai" monsters except "Legendary Six Samurai - Enishi", this card gains 500 ATK and DEF.

Run 1-2, this guy will save your bacon, it's a Compulsory in convenient monster package, that uses your synchro and overlay materials to fuel his ability. A well-timed Enishi will give you a game win. he is also a target for Asceticism, making him a noteable lv 4 warrior for the deck.

Legendary Six Samurai-Kageki

When this card is Normal Summoned: You can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower "Six Samurai" monster from your hand. While you control a face-up "Six Samurai" monster with a different name, this card gains 1500 ATK.

Sam's Marauding Captain, replaces Marauding Captain, which was popular in the Chaos Sam days.This beast has an added bonus of extra attack, and being pumped by Shadow of the Six Samurai-Shien's ability, this guy is the g-spot of the deck. Watch out for Veilers, they will hit him. I usually only summon him if I have a Kizan in hand, so I can effectively bait out the opponent's Veilers. Run 1-2.

Elder of the Six Samurai
If your opponent controls a monster and you control no monsters, you can special summon this card from your hand.

run 1-2; not all that impressive, but definitely run at least 1. He has the same attack as Kagemusha, so he's able to asceticism Kagemusha into play and vice-versa, plus the fact that he's earth, making him able to summon Naturia Beast as an alternate option to summoning Shi En.

Kagemusha of the Six Samurai
During either player's turn, when exactly 1 face-up "Six Samurai" monster you control is targeted by a Spell Card, Trap Card, or card effect that could have targeted this card: You can activate this effect; that Spell/Trap/effect now targets this face-up card on the field, instead.

I'll say this again, this monster can asceticism with elder, summon with Kageki's effect, there are plenty of ways to get a lv 5 synchro with this guy. He's the Sam's go-to tuner. Main 2-3; most will main 3.

Shien's Squire
During damage calculation, in either player's turn, if a "Six Samurai" monster you control battles: You can send this card from your hand to the Graveyard; that monster cannot be destroyed by battle this turn.

The deck's monkey; if you run Dojo, run 1-2 of him, no doubts. He can be used to protect your Sams from destruction in battle, but he's more useful when summoned with Dojo by a lv 4 samurai. 3 is way too cloggy and will take up space that should be filled with either support traps or an Effect Veiler.

Legendary Six Samurai-Mizuho
If you control a face-up "Legendary Six Samurai - Shinai", you can Special Summon this card from your hand. Once per turn, you can Tribute another "Six Samurai" monster to select and destroy 1 card on the field.

Basically, this card is a Gravekeeper's Descendant for samurai, once per turn. You can asceticism with Hand of the Six for a similar effect, and has synergy with Shinai. Run 1 in a normal samurai build, as you won't be using Shinai, and 2 in a Power Ranger Samurai build, to take advantage of the Shinai loop.

Hand of the Six Samurai
If you control another face-up "Six Samurai" monster: You can Tribute 1 "Six Samurai" monster to target 1 monster on the field; destroy that target.

This lady is a monster nuker, searchable with Asceticism. Definitely run one of this to remove pesky stall cards, as well as to abuse Asceticism and bushido counters. With Gateway at 1, this card doesn't need to be at more than 1, it was much more popular when Gateway was unlimited.

Legendary Six Samurai-Shinai
If you control a face-up "Legendary Six Samurai - Mizuho", you can Special Summon this card from your hand. If this card is Tributed, select 1 "Six Samurai" monster in your Graveyard, and add it to your hand, except "Legendary Six Samurai - Shinai".

This card will see use in a Power Ranger Samurai build (one focused on using Mizuho+Shinai with bushido counters to gain infinite destruction effects), not regular Sams. run zero in a regular samurai build, run 1 in a Power Ranger Sam build. This card will not be used in regular samurai because it's asceticism target (Kamon) only ever sees side deck play in most samurai builds, if at all.

Spirit of the Six Samurai
Once per turn, you can either: Target 1 face-up "Six Samurai" monster you control; equip this card to that target, OR: Unequip this card and Special Summon it in face-up Attack Position. While equipped by this effect, the equipped monster gains 500 ATK and DEF. If the equipped monster destroys an opponent's monster by battle: Draw 1 card. (A monster can only be equipped with 1 Union Monster at a time. If the equipped monster would be destroyed, destroy this card instead.)

This guy is amazing; he gives Samurai a consistent draw engine that doesn't simply go away after one turn. As a union monster, he can also equip and unequip himself, this lets him protect your boss monster from destruction effects and save his effect for a different card, as well as give him a strength boost. He's also a key enabler monster for Grandmaster and Kizan, letting them special summon and power up if need be. He has no asceticism counterparts in the deck, but his special summon unequip ability lets him generate bushido counters multiple times if need be.. Run 1, 2-3 is too much due to his inability to use Asceticism.

Grandmaster of the Six Samurai
You can only control 1 face-up "Grandmaster of the Six Samurai". If you control a face-up "Six Samurai" monster, you can Special Summon this card (from your hand). When this card is destroyed by your opponent's card effect: Target 1 "Six Samurai" monster in your Graveyard; add that target to your hand.

Run 1-2; 3 tends to get a bit cloggy, other than that, this guy is amazing. Kizan before it was cool, and with an added bonus of letting samurai dodge destruction effects. Chaos Sams used to use Chain Destruction on their own Grandmaster to get an instant bonus from his summon. This combo still can work, but isn't really necessary with Gateway in the mix.

Chamberlain of the Six samurai
Normal Monster

This guy is a nice tactic for Samurai builds that use Kageki heavily; you can get around a veiled Kageki quickly using this guy; just asceticism him into play, then use White Elephant's gift on him to draw 2, hopefully drawing into Kizan or a searcher for it, maybe even Gateway. Not a common deck play, but a powerful one. Even without Elephant's gift, he gives the deck easy access to more bushido use and rank 3 summons. Consider testing this guy out, if you're adventurous, in 2's.

Great Shogun Shien
If you control 2 or more face-up "Six Samurai" monsters, you can Special Summon this card (from your hand). Your opponent can only activate 1 Spell/Trap Card each turn. If this card would be destroyed, you can destroy a face-up "Six Samurai" monster you control instead.

This guy used to be the deck's boss monster, again, coupled with 3 Solemn Judgment, 3 Reasoning, and 3 Cold Wave, meant most samurai games, your opponent wouldn't be able to play much, if any, backrow. Reasoning was awesome for this, as the samurai had a wide range of levels. More often than not, Shien would summon due to Reasoning and just own the field. Nowadays, he's a weakness to the deck more than a strength, as you are already overcommitting to the field before you play him in the first place. Run 1 or none in a competitive sam build regardless, he's really nowadays just a win-more option.

Now, for spells.

Gateway of the Six
Continuous Spell
Each time a "Six Samurai" monster(s) is Normal or Special Summoned, place 2 Bushido Counters on this card. You can remove Bushido Counters from your side of the field to activate these effects.
● 2 Counters: Target 1 face-up "Six Samurai" or "Shien" Effect Monster; that target gains 500 ATK until the End Phase.
● 4 Counters: Add 1 "Six Samurai" monster from your Deck or Graveyard to your hand.
● 6 Counters: Target 1 "Shien" Effect Monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon that target.

The main support card of the deck. No Six Sam deck should be without it, if it's legal in their format. Generates all of the deck's advantage. Mostly effect #2 will be used to swarm, but effect 1 can be used to help enable samurai to get over bigger monsters if necessary, and the last effect will see almost no use whatsoever. Main this for sure.

Six Samurai United
Continuous Spell
Each time a "Six Samurai" monster(s) is Normal or Special Summoned, place 1 Bushido Counter on this card (max. 2). You can send this card to the Graveyard; draw 1 card for each Bushido Counter on this card.

This is the deck-specific draw engine of the deck. run 3, no questions asked.

Shien's Smoke Signal
Normal Spell
Add 1 Level 3 or lower "Six Samurai" monster from your Deck to your hand.

This is a Sam-specific reinforcement of the army... run the max, which at the moment is two. Notably, it will be unlimited next season.

Shien's Dojo
Normal Spell
Each time a "Six Samurai" monster(s) is Normal or Special Summoned, place 1 Bushido Counter on this card. You can send this card to the Graveyard; Special Summon 1 "Six Samurai" or "Shien" Effect Monster from your Main Deck, whose Level is less than or equal to the number of Bushido Counters on this card.

Most new Samurai players make the mistake of maxing this card out. it does not generate hand advantage, just field presence, and can get very cloggy with all of the other bushido enablers in the deck. Run 1 or 2 max.

Asceticism of the Six Samurai
Quick-Play Spell
select 1 face-up "six samurai" monster you control. Special summon 1 "six samurai"
monster from your deck with a different name but equal ATK to the selected monster.
During the end phase of this turn, destroy the selected monster.

This card is amazing; just so much win. Most samurai have synergy with it in that the old samurai have new, legendary counterparts. Most noteably are Irou/Enishi/Kageki, Elder/Kagemusha, Zanji/Kizan, and Kizan/Grandmaster, with special mention for Hand of the Six/Mizuho, giving power to what I like to call the Power Ranger build. Run 2 minimum, but 3 is optimal


One Day of Peace
Normal Spell
Each player draws 1 card, and neither player takes damage until the end of the opponent's next turn.

Not normally used in Six Samurai, and I don't see why not! a good defensive card for samurai, coupled with what samurai need, deck thinning. Receiving honorable mention because it has samurai artwork, showing Kizan in the picture, chilling out and taking a break from war. Main 3 while you still can, as this card lets you go offensive, then play in main phase 2 to stop the opponent's battle for the next turn; it's a proactive Threatening Roar/Hanewata all in one card!

Cunning of the Six Samurai
Quick-Play Spell
Send 1 face-up "Six Samurai" monster you control to the Graveyard, then target 1 "Six Samurai" monster in either player's Graveyard; Special Summon that target.

An overlooked gem in the samurai arsenal nowadays, this used to be in every Sam user's deck, x3, no questions asked. Beast soul swap for Six Samurai. It's weakness is in the fact that you have to have already committed a samurai to the grave, but with synchro summoning and overlay useage, that's hardly a problem nowadays. Attack with Shi En, use it on him, attack with Shi En again, as well as reset his effect for the turn. So much potential for OTK with this card, and since samurai tend to exhaust their resources fast, it's important that you make every strike count and hit true. A masterpiece for samurai users everywhere.

On to traps, there are other spells for the deck but they'll be in honorable mentions category

Musakani Magatama
Counter Trap
When your opponent activates a Spell Card, Trap Card, or monster effect that destroys a card(s), while you control a face-up "Six Samurai" monster: Negate the activation, and if you do, destroy it.

Samurai's main weakness in the old days was mass board wipe. This card fixes that problem. I'm sorry, starlight road, heavy storm, space typhoon, etc, you won't be having your way with my beautiful field today. run 1-3, depending on personal preferences. It's notable that as a counter trap, it is capable of stopping Solemns, a big weakness of the deck.

Double-Edged Sword Technique
Normal Trap
Target 2 "Six Samurai" monsters in your Graveyard; Special Summon those targets in face-up Attack Position. During the End Phase of this turn, destroy them, and if you do, take damage equal to those destroyed monsters' ATK.

This card used to be terrible in the format, it was used to try to push advantage and OTK, but often misfired. In an exceed-heavy format, this card no longer has to worry about it's drawbacks. You can overlay the monsters or tune them, gaining instant field presence. Run 2-3 for sure, this card is amazing.

Other cards of noteable mention; mainly because they either aren't optimal, but useful, or simply don't fit the Sam archetype itself, but are indispensable to the deck nonetheless:

Monsters:

Naturia Beast
Naturia Barkion
Naturia Landoise
Mist Wurm
Black Rose Dragon
Stardust Dragon
AOJ Catastor
#16: Shock Master
Blade-Armor Ninja
Photon Papilloperative
Heroic Champion-Excalibur
Maestroke The Symphony Djinn
Abyss Dweller
#39: Utopia
Puppet Plant
Maxx "C"
Effect Veiler
Cardcar D
Genex Ally Birdman
MX-Saber Invoker
Temtempo the Percussion Djinn
Wind-up Zenmaines


Spells:
Reinforcement of the Army
Dimensional Fissure

Traps:
Fiendish Chain
Rivalry of Warlords
Compulsory Evacuation Device
Six Samurai-Dual Wield



Deck Weaknesses: As I've stated, the deck originally suffered from a weakness to mass board removal, but this has been fixed. They also used to suffer to Gozen Match due to their widespread use of different attributes, but samurai are now less restricted by this due to the release of more earth-attribute monsters, allowing samurai to maintain field presence even while this card is active. Gozen Match does still hinder the deck, stopping some key synchro and overlays, but not nearly as much as in the past. The deck's chief weakness now is that it intentionally over-commits to the board. By it's very nature, samurai decks are meant to work in tandem, 2 monsters minimum, in order to use most of their effects, so you're minusing your hand right off the bat. A smart Samurai user will commit resources to the protection of their monsters and only swarm if necessary to get the quick win. This means sometimes summoning only one monster in a turn, and protecting it with heavy backrow, instead of the other way around. unfortunately, in this format, that can be problematic too, as many decks can snipe the backrow one at a time without committing resources to the board, and even gain pluses off of doing so. Warning: samurai are NOT an autopilot deck, contrary to popular belief. Go into a match and overcommit every time, you will wind up losing the game against even rookie players with any serious training. The overextending factor can be overcome by playing conservatively with your monsters, as you have less of them, traditionally, than you do of spells and traps to support them, and gain draw effects whenever possible, wearing your opponent down and forcing them to use their resources until you have an opening to move in for the kill.

As this is an unofficial guide made by someone who is still learning, I welcome and encourage players to comment with their thoughts on other notable cards that help Samurai, and your opinions on this guide are welcome. Thank you very much for taking the time to read this guide!

Damn!! alot to read but he it will be fun

wow ^_^ nice!

this is a discussion folks. Some input would be appreciated, you know, a discussion?

Well, I guess the thing in a Six Samurai deck is, what to use, and what not to use, the deck have many styles, but however, I'd go for a control build while playing Six Samurai, in other words... no Mizuho/Shinai, Spirit of the Six, Shien's Squire and Chamberlain of the Six for me xD.

One day of Peace... I mean, you use one spell... give your opponent a +1 on his hand, and you just replace a card in your hand... not being able to take any damage next turn ofc stop OTKs, but One Day of Peace is the kinda of card that I like when my opponent use's, because it gives your opponent hand advantage, and meanwhile you gets a bit of "thinning", wich can be adquired by a less costy way with Upstart Goblin.

Cunning of the Six, I guess nowdays Six Samurais have enough control to be able to play without it, however, I guess it could still fit some decks...? Maybe?

Reinforcement of the army aka ROTA is a "must have" card there.

And what about a mention on "Backs to the Wall" and "Dual Wield", maybe dual can be overpowered by Compulsory, but is in the archtype anyway, Backs to the Wall may sounds bad, but can be a miracle card, however in don't run they, due to the possibility of having a "Dead Draw" for the first turn, since it is not so usefull on the beginning.

Double Edged Sword Technique can be used to Synchro too, I mean... Yeah ofc, why not.

Temtempo, Zenmaines and other rank 3 monsters can fit too, since you can overlay 2 Kageki in your hand or maybe a Elder, it is... in case you don't have Kagemusha.

Nice guide, maybe there should be a side deck part, as Puppet plant is a nice side deck thing.

the main deck skeleton was keeping the theme in mind, I didn't include reinforcement of the army for the same reason I didn't include monster reborn. Backs to the wall, while a great tech, is not generally used because of it's speed and lack of re-usability. It used to be bar none in six sam, in the days of chaos, because it was your OTK pusher, and can be now, but you will generally have less monsters in the grave in a sam duel nowadays, due to LSS-Enishi and the deck's inherent ability to maintain field presence. Dual Wield deserves mention; it won me a game against Dark Worlds at my locals to push me into 1st place, but again, it's not a standard play. One day of peace is there because it fits the archetype, not necessarily because it's the best card for the deck. Upstart Goblin is a much better replacement, but it doesn't have a pic of kizan on the card, does it? That said, I use one day of peace in sams because of it's ability to stop OTK's, so that is why it is in there. The exceeds do deserve honorable mention, I will add them in, and also Dual Wield. Thank you for your input!