Zombie
Zombie is an aggressive monster-based strategy that abuses Pyramid Turtle to easily special summon large Zombie-type monsters. Giant Rat is often played as an additional recruiter that adds consistency by allowing the pilot to more easily find and abuse Turtle.
Overview
Zombie is an aggressive monster-based strategy that abuses Pyramid Turtle to easily special summon large Zombie-type monsters. Vampire Lord and Ryu Kokki are the most powerful targets, though cards like Spirit Reaper can also be searched out if the situation calls for it.
Giant Rat is often played as an additional recruiter that adds consistency by allowing the pilot to more easily find and abuse Turtle. Support cards like Book of Life and Call of the Mummy create other avenues of easily summoning large zombies, and Regenerating Mummy and Fear from the Dark are sometimes used as four-star beaters, too.
Zombies saw some success in the 2005 era. Sporting a Phoenix package, Keanson Ye piloted the deck to a 2nd Place finish at SJC LA. Eric Wu also placed well in the same event with a Chaos variant. Finally, Robert Tagoe made Top eight in the 2005 UK Nationals with the undead. However, pure zombie decks were not seen as competitively viable until Delinkquent's impressive first place finish at FLC 17 in 2021. Since then, his list has become the new standard for Zombie strategies.
Deck List
This is Delinkquent's FLC17 list. While the deck does use many classic Zombie staples, there's a lot to be said for the major differences this list has compared to traditional Zombie decks. Maximizing on Gorilla, Kokki, and a full six recruiters shows just how aggressive the deck is supposed to be. Kycoo helps keep Chaos decks in check, and Rat can even toolbox for Exiled Force or Injection Fairy.
A full three Book of Life partners well with the rarely seen Tribute to the Doomed. Together with Turtle and Royal Decree, the pilot can focus on creating threatening board states and pushing through for damage without being hindered by opposing monsters or traps.
Monsters
3x Berserk Gorilla
3x Giant Rat
3x Kycoo The Ghost Destroyer
3x Pyramid Turtle
3x Ryu Kokki
1x Breaker the Magical Warrior
1x Exiled Force
1x Injection Fairy Lily
1x Tribe-Infecting Virus
1x Vampire Lord
Spells
3x Book of Life
3x Tribute to the Doomed
2x Creature Swap
2x Nobleman of Crossout
1x Graceful Charity
1x Heavy Storm
1x Mystical Space Typhoon
1x Pot of Greed
1x Premature Burial
1x Snatch Steal
Traps
3x Royal Decree
1x Call of the Haunted
Variants
Card of Safe Return Zombie
True to its name, this variant of Zombie tries to get the most out of Card of Safe Return (CoSR). While most strategies only have access to two reanimation effects (Premature Burial and Call of the Haunted), Zombie decks can also make use of three Book of Life to trigger CoSR. Playing normal-type zombies means Soul Resurrection can also be played to maximize your CoSR draws.
Monsters
1x Breaker the Magical Warrior
1x Exiled Force
2x Giant Rat
3x Pyramid Turtle
1x Ryu Kokki
1x Sangan
1x Spirit Reaper
1x Vampire Lord
3x Master Kyonshee
Spells
3x Book of Life
2x Book of Moon
3x Card of Safe Return
2x Creature Swap
1x Delinquent Duo
1x Graceful Charity
1x Mystical Space Typhoon
2x Nobleman of Crossout
1x Pot of Greed
1x Premature Burial
1x Snatch Steal
Traps
1x Call of the Haunted
1x Mirror Force
1x Ring of Destruction
3x Solemn Judgement
2x Soul Ressurection
Drain Zombie
Drain Zombie tries to take advantage of the interaction between Skill Drain and recruiter monsters. Because recruiters activate in the graveyard, their effects are not negated by Skill Drain. So, one can disrupt the opponent's monsters without losing out on the effects of their own.
Both Ryu Kokki and Vampire lord are also powerful under Skill Drain. The former is a large threat that can beat over or trade with most monsters played in the format, and the ladder can revive itself even with Skill Drain in play.
Monsters
1x Breaker the Magical Warrior
3x Giant Rat
3x Pyramid Turtle
3x Regenerating Mummy
1x Ryu Kokki
1x Sangan
1x Vampire Lord
Spells
3x Book of Life
2x Book of Moon
3x Card of Safe Return
2x Creature Swap
1x Delinquent Duo
1x Graceful Charity
1x Mystical Space Typhoon
2x Nobleman of Crossout
1x Pot of Greed
1x Premature Burial
1x Snatch Steal
Traps
3x Dust tornado
1x Mirror Force
1x Ring of Destruction
3x Skill Drain
3x Solemn Judgement
2x Trap Dustshoot
Skull Servant Zombie
Skull Servant Zombie uses Pyramid Turtle much like traditional Zombie decks. However, the deck also has a large focus on Skull Servant and his king. Pyramid Turtle makes finding either of them simple, and when combined with Mystic Tomato, it becomes easy to fill the grave with Servants and make King a respectably large threat.
Because Skull Servant is level one, it is also common to see the deck play Metamorphosis in order to summon and abuse Thousand Eyes Restrict. In these cases, Scapegoat is also usually seen, along with Creature Swap, which can trade goats or recruiters to great effect.
Monsters
1x Breaker the Magical Warrior
3x King of Skull Servant
3x Mystic Tomato
3x Pyramid Turtle
1x Sangan
1x Sinister Serpent
3x Skull Servant
Spells
2x Book of Life
3x Card of Safe Return
2x Creature Swap
1x Delinquent Duo
1x Graceful Charity
1x Heavy Storm
3x Metamorphosis
1x Mystical Space Typhoon
1x Pot of Greed
1x Premature Burial
3x Scapegoat
1x Snatch Steal
Traps
1x Call of the Haunted
1x Mirror Force
1x Ring of Destruction
1x Torrential Tribute
Additional Card Options
Delinkquent-style lists could run any number of discard-cost spells or traps instead of Tribute to the Doomed. Raigeki Break, Back to Square One, and Magic Jammer could all work.
Call of the Mummy allows for interesting openers that allow the zombie player to cheat in any of their tribute zombies, including the eight-star powerhouse Despair From the Dark. Double Coston is sometimes played in these lists as an alternative to playing Despair more easily.
- Fear From the Dark
- Decayed Commander
- Despair From the Dark
- Double Coston
- Vampire Lady
- Zombie Tiger
- Call of the Mummy
- Back to Square One
- Magic Jammer
- Raigeki Break
Articles and Reports
Modern Articles
- History of the Meta: Zombies
- GFC 12 Deck Tech: Necromancy4Kids's Zombie list
- GFC 11 Deck Tech: Ghibo's Skull Servant Zombie list
- Anketsu Blog's Zombie Overview
- Format Library's Deck Page
- Goatformat.com's Old Deck Page
Historic Articles
Historic Reports
