Inside Look at the Structure of Zombies
08 Dec 2009 | Nick Butcher
This article will discuss the structure of Zombies, including the variants of zombie decks being played on the competitive circuit and why they are in many people’s minds the best deck in the September 2009 – March 2010 format.
There are many types of Zombie decks that are being played at the moment, including the most popular build “Destiny Hero Zombie”. At Shonen Jump Columbus, Kevin Slapnik came in 2nd place with his innovative Destiny Hero Zombie Deck. Here is the build:
1 Dark Armed Dragon
1 Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
3 Caius the Shadow Monarch
2 Mystic Tomato
1 Sangan
1 Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind
2 Mezuki
2 Goblin Zombie
1 Spirit Reaper
1 Plaguespreader Zombie
1 Elemental Hero Stratos
2 Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude
2 Destiny Hero – Malicious
3 Destiny Draw
2 Allure of Darkness
1 Gold Sarcophagus
1 Reinforcement of the Army
1 Lightning Vortex
1 Smashing Ground
1 Brain Control
1 Heavy Storm
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Solemn Judgment
2 Phoenix Wing Wind Blast
1 Mirror Force
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Trap Dustshoot
1 Lightning Vortex
2 Threatening Roar
2 Dust Tornado
2 Breaker
2 Mirror of Oaths
3 Light-Imprisoning Mirror
3 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
2 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Ally of Justice Catastor
1 Mist Wurm
1 Revived King Ha Des
1 Doomkaiser Dragon
1 Goyo Guardian
2 Stardust Dragon
1 Colossal Fighter
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Blackwing Armor Master
1 Red Dragon Archfiend
1 Thought Ruler Archfiend
1 Magical Android
As you can see the deck is based around drawing with “Allure of Darkness” and “Destiny Draw” so you can draw all the cards you need to obtain a faster One Turn Kill. The main card in the deck is “Caius the Shadow Monarch”, an amazing card with “Mystic Tomato”. The Deck does take some setup before the deck obtains speed with your Zombies and Destiny Heroes. With a Ratio of 4 Destiny Heroes and 3 “Destiny Draw”, you can have dead “Destiny Draws” in your hand, which is why Kevin Slapnik ran 2 copies of “Phoenix Wind Wing Blast” and 1 copy of “lightning vortex” in your hand.
Also cards you want in your graveyard can also be used as discard fodder such as “Destiny Hero Malicious”, “Mezuki”, and “Plaguespreader Zombie”. There is no “Burial From The Different Dimension” in this deck because you are not trying to spam your Zombies like in the next couple of builds. Overall this deck is very solid and if you enjoy using the Destiny Hero engine you should definitely use this deck.
The next deck is called Straight Zombies created by Lazaro and Dale Bellido. This deck is probably the most consistent of the Zombie Decks being covered in this article. Here is his build:
2 Mystic Tomato
2 Pyramid Turtle
2 Goblin Zombie
2 Caius the Shadow Monarch
2 Mezuki
2 Krebons
1 Sangan
1 Dark Armed Dragon
1 Plaguespreader Zombie
1 Zombie Master
1 Tragoedia
1 Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness
1 Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind
2 Book of Moon
2 Allure of Darkness
2 Burial from a Different Dimension
1 Heavy Storm
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Emergency Teleport
1 Brain Control
1 Lightning Vortex
1 Creature Swap
1 My Body as a Shield
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Mirror Force
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Dust Tornado
1 Phoenix Wing Wind Blast
1 Dimensional Prison
3 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
2 Doomcaliber Knight
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
1 Tragoedia
1 Lightning Vortex
1 Smashing Ground
3 Light-Imprisoning Mirror
2 Trap Hole
1 Dust Tornado
1 Dark End Dragon
2 Stardust Dragon
2 Colossal Fighter
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Blackwing Armor Master
2 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
2 Doomkaiser Dragon
1 Goyo Guardian
1 Revived King Ha Des
1 Tempest Magician
1 Ally of Justice Catastor
The deck has 4 recruiter cards, 2 “Mystic Tomato” and 2 “Pyramid Turtle” so it is faster to get your Zombies on the field. The 2 “Mystic Tomato” and 2 “Pyramid Turtle” combo great with 1 copy “Creature Swap”, Along with “Goblin Zombie” and “Sangan”. Even though there is 7 cards that combo great with “Creature Swap”, only 1 copy is needed because you don’t want to draw more than 1 it is certainly dead so 1 is adequate. Lazaro and Dale are playing the Teleport engine instead of the now very popular “Deep Sea Diva” engine because if you draw both of your Diva’s there completely unusable and you can easily summon a “Goblin Zombie” and activate “Emergency Teleport” and easily Synchro for “Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier” or “Goyo Guardian”.
Only 2 Burials need to be run because drawing them early can cause clogged up hands. The deck can have amazing hand advantage so “Tragoedia” is a great choice in this deck. “Tragoedias” second effect is the main reason you play this, by discarding your “Mezuki” and Other Zombies to the grave you can steal your opponent monster. Overall if your want a normal zombie deck, this would be the best build.
This build of Zombie is the most popular build and is both fast and consistent. Created by Jeff Jones, it does not seem like a great deck at first sight but with some explaining you will definitely think this deck is by far the best zombie deck out so far. Here is the build:
2 Mezuki
2 Mystic Tomato
2 Pyramid Turtle
2 Goblin Zombie
2 Deep Sea Diva
1 Dark Armed Dragon
1 Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
1 Caius the Shadow Monarch
1 Zombie Master
1 Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind
1 Sangan
1 Plaguespreader Zombie
1 Spirit Reaper
3 Burial from a Different Dimension
2 Allure of Darkness
2 Gold Sarcophagus
2 Foolish Burial
2 My Body as a Shield
1 Heavy Storm
1 Brain Control
1 Mind Control
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Book of Moon
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Mirror Force
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Dust Tornado
2 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
2 Legendary Jujitsu Master
3 Light-Imprisoning Mirror
2 Mind Crush
2 Mirror of Oaths
2 Fairy Wind
1 Dust Tornado
1 Thought Ruler Archfiend
2 Stardust Dragon
2 Doomkaiser Dragon
2 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Red Dragon Archfiend
1 Colossal Fighter
1 Dark End Dragon
1 Blackwing Armor Master
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Goyo Guardian
1 Revived King Ha Des
1 Magical Android
1 Ally of Justice Catastor
Ok, there is a lot to get through here. Plain and simple, this deck is all about “Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier” and getting the OTK fast. 2 “My Body as a Shield” is to keep your Synchros from being hit with “Bottomless Trap Hole” and “Torrential Tribute”. 3 Burial is to spam your “Mezuki” and get 4 Synchros on the field and win the duel. 2 “Foolish Burial” is to send “Mezuki” to the graveyard. 2 “Gold Sarcophagus” is to search what you need for a certain situation, early game you usually search for “Heavy Storm” or “Dark Armed Dragon” or one of your main side deck cards, Tip: Always side out “Gold Sarcophagus” in a mirror match because they can burial your monster into the grave so you don’t get back your monster if you search for a monster that is.
The Combo with Diva is Set “Mystic Tomato” or “Pyramid Turtle”. They attack; you search for “Goblin Zombie”. Next turn summon Diva and get another, Synchro for “Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier”, search “Mezuki” and discard it to put to Monster bad in the opponents hand. Remove “Mezuki” and bring out “Goblin Zombie” and synchro with the second Diva and synchro for another level six and you will still have 6 cards in your hand. Overall this deck is the best for OTK and is probably the best zombie deck.
So in conclusion, on a competitive scale, Zombie is very good and not as sacky as Lightsworn so you get enjoyment out of playing and winning.
For discussion.