A-Imperial Subduer

The reward for going in alone. The "attacks alone" trigger is the connective tissue of a Samurai and Warrior plan built around a single committed threat rather than a wide board, and this turns that mechanical constraint into a tempo lever. Tapping a creature you don't control clears the path for the lone swinger to connect: peel off the likeliest blocker and the damage lands unopposed. The timing is worth reading closely. Because targets for triggered abilities are locked in when the ability goes on the stack, the aggressor must name the creature to tap the instant a Samurai or Warrior attacks solo, before either player gets priority and long before blockers are declared. That means committing to a read on the board rather than reacting to it: you are guessing which creature would have blocked, not answering a declared blocker. The 3/1 body is the honest half of the bargain. It wants to be the one swinging solo, but it folds to nearly any point of removal or an even trade in combat, so it works better as the enabler standing behind a larger attacker than as the attacker itself. The design rewards a build committed to the solo-attack rhythm rather than a go-wide swarm, which is exactly the seam where the Samurai identity was meant to live: one disciplined threat, escorted through the red zone by the pieces that clear a lane for it.