I suppose it depends on each persons play style. True it can be of use quite well, but my line of thinking would be, why not place a strong duelist instead?
I should note that I am far from a skilled player and I used Samurai as an example. A lot of this is still in the hypothetical scenario for me. Hopefully for not too long.

On the subject of Shizuka though, if you shed blockers, how does priority work? Which enemy is allowed to pass and which stays?