| The featured card for November is one of the first Ultimates to be released in over six months, The SengokuSixGeneral Tensei.
Tensei is a natural Cost 6 with 3 green reduction. Its levels are rather standard for its cost, starting out at 10000 BP, moving onto 16000 BP with 3 core, and capping out at a high 22000 BP with 5 core. It's got plenty of familial ties to reap from, being both a Next Generation and a Blade Beast.
Two things distinguish Tensei from most of the previous Ultimates. The first one is its summon condition: your life must be at 3 or less to summon Tensei. This means you won't have to have spirits out to summon an Ultimate, which is wonderful for when you're in trouble (and you probably are if your life is 3 or less). At the same time, Tensei's effect is more beneficial the more you have on field.
The other thing that makes Tensei stand out is the new ability, Soul Drive. Rather than sending the opponent's cards to the trash, the Soul Core is banished from the game for a one-time effect. While somewhat more balanced than Ultimate-Trigger, and much easier for the uninitiated to understand, Soul Drive is still a force to be reckoned with. Tensei's in particular is green to the extreme: you gain one core on your field for every core on your reserve, Spirits, or Ultimates. This essentially doubles your core supply, minus whatever is in the trash. Needless to say, this is a useful effect to have, especially when trying to bring out a high-cost spirit. Perhaps the one downside of this core boost is that the core cannot be added to the reserve, making core boost for High Speed less viable.
Both of these qualities make Tensei an easy fit into most green decks. Combine it with The SixAbsoluteDeities Harvest-Thearth to have more core than you'll ever need, even against a depletion deck. However, Tensei can also fit incredibly well in non-green decks. Since there's no color limit to its summon condition or any other effect, you can enjoy a massive core boost with any color. Of course, it's recommended that you do keep some dual-color green spirits like Homuraitachi for reduction.
Tensei's LV4 effect is also an advantageous effect. Whenever it battles, an opposing spirit can be exhausted. Since it activates while blocking as well, Tensei still has its uses as a blocker even after it's activated Soul Drive. While this effect can't be increased by Charge, it does help to lower the opponent's numbers.
There's plenty of support for this Ultimate, both new and old. The Retainer Yukinojou helps to prevent instant core wipe by Biranba, and also is a good measure against level cost boosters like Wisteria. Though it doesn't have the conveniences of Soul Burst, Raideen-Wolf can further put the opponent at a numbers
disadvantage with a spirit exhaust and Ultimate refresh. Blade Panther can prevent the opponent from activating their burst for the entirety of your turn, or you could simply opt for an anti-burst double-symbol with The EarthDeitySword Gaianohoko. And to boost draws until you summon Tensei, The Fruit of Life is always a satisfactory choice.
All in all, The SengokuSixGeneral may not be as jaw-dropping as some of the other Ultimates in the SengokuSixGeneral series, but it's an impressive support card in its own right. While a plain Blade Beast deck will utilize this card plenty, it's got plenty of potential outside of its main color: Ultimate decks, Behemoth decks, red-green decks, even green-purple decks for novelty seekers. Soul Drive being a one-time effect might be a turnoff to some, but Tensei stays worthwhile with its exhaust effect and formidable BP. Tensei isn't to be taken lightly, no matter the situation.
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