Splashing Shi-En

Sorry for the lack of posts. I have strangely enough had more free time than usual, but still managed to post less? Hard to explain. It's not like I've gotten a life or something.

Well, the newest trend in Yu-Gi-Oh! is splashing an infamous Synchro Monster. It is also the first non-Generic Synchro Monster to hit limited status.

When this wicked guy was released, he had the requirements 1 Warrior-Type Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner "Six Samurai" monsters.

Some people might have wondered why, and the answer quite simply lies in cards such a Shien's Squire which would be worthless otherwise. The decided to make the Synchro level 5, and since that would make Junk Synchron too good the decided on having the Samurai Tuner as a level 2.
This essentially made Shi En impossible to summon outside of a Six Samurai deck.

With the release of Elder of the Six Samurai, as splashable level 3 non-Tuner Six Samurai was released. And with the release of T.G. Striker, all decks now had access to a good level 2 Warrior-Type Tuner as well. Also, both of them fare well on their own (unlike what a single Yaichi would do) and can be searched by Reinforcement of the Army.

Some of the decks which use this are Agent Angels, and more recently, X-Saber. (It should be noted thought that X-Saber use Pashuul instead of T.G. Striker as means of a tuner).

Barring obscure plays, in a non-Six Samurai deck Shi En is impossible to play t1, and without that possibility you cannot do the effective and disrupting Shi En+Warning on your first turn, leaving your opponent's only chance a Ryko or Snowman-Eater.

Even if you happen not to have Striker + Elder, you can still other stuff such as Elder+Warwolf. In one of the test games I played with T.G. Shi En Angel (funny name eh?) I summoned Venus and my opponent used Bottomless. So I summoned out Elder+Warwolf and made Leviair, brought back Venus and suddenly had a really good field.

Just how good is he?
Against Trap Heavier decks the answer is simply: no.
They will stop his summon too easy, and even if they are forced to use double Dimensional Prison to remove him it's still an even trade.
Shi En shines against deck playing fewer traps but more Spells, such as Agent Angel, X-Saber, Zombies and some HERO variants. The have loads of Spell Cards they want to resolve and will heavily lose advantage even if only one of them are lost every turn. Note that Shi En in no way is an auto-win, but it is a solid t2 play if you happen to have no monsters, and serves as control, beat stick, pressure and also a DARK in the grave when fallen.
I like Shi En as a card, at least somewhat. He is a -1 to play, but requires some careful planning to not simply be killed off.
In one game (back when Shi En was Unlimited), I had a hand of Goblin Zombie, Plaguespreader Zombie, Destiny Hero - Malicious, Dark Armed Dragon and a Reinforcement of the Army, facing down two Shi En and no backrow. I played the Reinforcement and he looked at my impressive other 5 cards and let it pass. I won that turn using Dark Grepher.

So far I do not own any Shi En, testing only of Dueling Network, but I can assert you that that Ultimate Rare Shi En I saw in a store last week is going to get an owner soon.