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Pojo's Yu-Gi-Oh Card of the Day

Spirit Reaper
Rare

This card is not destroyed as a result of battle. Destroy this card when it is targeted by the effect of a Spell, Trap, or Effect Monster. If this card successfully attacks your opponent's Life Points directly, your opponent discards 1 card randomly from his/her hand.

Type - Zombie / Effect
Card Number - DR1-EN024

Card Ratings
Traditional: 4.8
Advanced: 4.65

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale 1 being the worst.
3 ... average. 5 is the highest rating.


Date Reviewed - 09.05.06

 

ExMinion OfDarkness
Spirit Reaper

You run the 1 copy you're allowed (in 95% of all decks) or you're a n00b. See my note on Sangan yesterday.

It's a great defensive wall, forcing your opponent to waste a card or card effect to destroy it, and in the late game, it can be several turns before your opponent draws something to get rid of it. In addition, the chance to smack your opponent for a card in hand can be quite valuable -- if your opponent doesn't waste a card to stop the puny 300 attacker, or can't destroy it, odds are their next best option will be to summon Cyber Dragon and attack it for 1800 next turn. We play Confiscation, which costs 1,000 LP and a card and gets rid of a card, so losing a little more but keeping your card on the field for later is just as good, if not better.

It's restricted for a really good reason.

5/5 all formats
 

Coin Flip
Spirit Reaper is a ludicrous card. The ability to completely forego the battle phase because all of your opponent's attacks bounce uselessly off of a 300/200 monster is both the boon to all control decks and the bane of all beatdown decks everywhere. As though that weren't bad enough, Spirit Reaper also provides hand destruction... Combo hand destruction with powerful defense and you have a great card.

I had a general rule for fixing decks for the last three years. That rule was "if it doesn't have three Spirit Reapers, it probably should". People who knew how to build good decks would understand why that rule didn't always apply. They also wouldn't need to ask me for deck fixes. People who didn't know could only benefit from learning the utility of this card. I was also known for a while at the card shops I regularly visited for saying that given the opportunity, I would run five copies of this little zombie friend.

This format, the same holds true, except the number has been upped to six. If you are not playing Spirit Reaper... You should be.

General: 5/5
 

Otaku

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.

 


Ryoga
Spirit Reaper:
An excelent defense combined with hand control makes one of the most powerful cards ever, that really needed restricting.

Spirit Reaper is hard to kill. It's virtually always a 1-4-1, and combined with Cyber Dragon forms one of the most painful first turns in the game. The ease of summoning Spirit Reaper through Mystic Tomato made him rampant. He shall probably still be in decks as a useful stall should it be required, but hopefully will never be abused as much as in the past.

Traditional: 5/5
Advanced: 5/5

Share and enjoy,
Ryoga
 

Tebezu

  

Spirit Reaper

This card took some time for people to realize it was good. Upon its release I never saw anyone running it, and often found myself asking why. Then they banned BLS/TER and its play skyrocketed.

During the BLS error, he saw play in a few Shonen Jump top 8 decks. I often find myself relieved by this observation due to the fact that everyone is not "slow to learn what is a good monster".

5/5

At one he is easily a staple. I think I will miss him at 3. I use to run 3 and won countless games due to both his mean effect and godly stalling ability. An almost guaranteed 2 for 1 if played correctly.

Why it took so long for people to restrict this is beyond me.

(HAS ANYONE NOTICED THAT MOST OF THE BROKEN CARDS ARE USUALLY COMMON/SILVER STAMPS? Metamorphosis (back when TER roamed in 3), Spirit Reaper, Magical Scientist, etc.)
 

Dark Maltos

 

Spirit Reaper :

Well, I missed Sangan, which sucks, but you lucky guys have me for the rest of the week. I’m starting 6th form this week though, so don’t expect much Maltos for a while. I’ll do my Cotd’s as usual though, hopefully no worries there. So, staple week? I can do that .

Spirit Reaper , for a long time has been considered a very near staple at the very least, providing a great defensive wall as well as a make shift Don Zaloog. Until recently, he was allowed in 3’s as well, and so , as with most things, the abuse began.

Getting past an invincible monster like Spirit Reaper could prove to be a very difficult thing to do, even with his self destroying ability if he’s targeted (often the ONLY way around him) , and it proved near impossible when he was allowed in 3’s. Since then, Yugioh has smartened up. UDE and Konami have finally puts Spirit Reaper’s years of terror into check by recently restricting him.

Spirit Reaper is a great monster. Arguably the best defense card in the game , and often the reason why people regain their hands after a massive blow-out. In 3’s, this card was a force to be reckoned with, in a singular form, its not so hot being vulnerable to both Exiled forces, DD Warrior lady, and even Mystic swordsman lv 3. Still, a superb monster, and still a near must - run, especially considering you can turn this bad boy into attack and unleash a world of hurt of the unsuspecting opponent.

Traditional ; 4/5 It’s Dark baby.
Advanced : 5/5 Nice

Art ; 4/5 I like it, but the hood’d be better in black.
MPS ; 5/5 I love this lil guy.
 
MikeJ

Spirit Reaper

 

Basic Summary: Now great job for ude for restricting this little annoying zombie took them long enough, No more fearing about your opponent attacking you with a Reaper making you discard which is bad unless you run Dark World :O. One of the many things that made this card annoying was that it was very searchable through either Mystic Tomato, Pyramid Turtle or even yesterdays card Sangan. Once Reaper was on the field it can't be destroyed through combat so unless you run Trample you need to waste removal on it or worse it managed to get in a hit to your LP directly making you discard so either it makes you waste stuff or takes stuff from you hand. Now should it be still be run even if its at "1" the answer is simple Yes since Reaper can defend you for a turn or few until you can make some kind of comeback.

 

Conclusion:  Now it depends on you if you still want to run Reaper but if you do its still a very solid card.

 

Traditional Format > 2/5: Too much reckless removal ( Raigeki ) to make Reaper usefull in my opinion.

 

Advance Format > 4/5: Still a very solid card to use either in sidedeck or maindeck

 

Artwork > 3/5: Creepy looking =/

 

MikeJ

 
Yugiman

 

Spirit Reaper

Ahh, poor Spirit Reaper went from 3 per deck to 1 per deck. I wanted it at 3

but alas its okay and stuff.

So why did it get restricted to 1? Because it cannot be killed, it basically

stays plus with the discard effect when it attacks, it just doesnt help its problem. It would stall out duels and make them longer. Now with Reaper at 1, Tomato's arent as strong now, but can still run Don Zaloogs instead of Reapers.

Even though its 1 per deck, I suggest you still run it, as it can come in use at right time, can still be effective at the right moment and the card is sexy too. It can stop Stein cold if they bring out Cyber Twin, and cannot

kill or Limiter Removal it. It'll give you a turn or so to get yourself out of a hole. I wish they would make it foil though, it deserves it.

Imo, run it if you have it.

Ratings:
Traditional: 3/5
Advanced: 4/5
Even with it restricted to 1, it can be good at right times.

E-mail freezergeezer111@hotmail.com if you wanna talk.
 

DeathJester
Spirit Reaper – PGD-076

It’s quite easy to see why Spirit Reaper was restricted to 1. He’s just too powerful. There aren’t enough ways to kill him with losing a card in the process. He’s just too good. It’s a shame too that he’s a Zombie (my favorite sub-type).

Last Word: There’s isn’t much I can say that you guys don’t already know. Spirit Reaper is a fantastic card and we’re all glad he’s down to 1.


Traditional: 5/5
Advanced: 5/5
 

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