~Masters of the Undead~ Zombie's Article V.1

Now Now...I've been wanting to do this Article for a long time, and what better time than now?

I've personally Always been a big fan of zombies, Plus I think scorp May enjoy this article; So here we go..





~Introduction~

Zombies Zombies Zombies...how best to describe them?
In one word....Unrelenting.

Unlike in say Magic the Gathering...Zombies are not exactly Masters of Death and Famine. In Yu-Gi-Oh though; They are considered one of the best creature types in terms of Revival and swarming.

Obviously enough...zombies have been around for awhile...So to best cover them; Lets take it in steps; shall we?



~Zombies of the Past~

Back when Yu-Gi-Oh first came out...there wasn't much to be had in terms of Zombies...but the same could be said about most creature types at that time.

For zombies..they got their first taste of Support in Pharaonic Guardian.

This pack included some cards still used now, but for the time this pack came out...the zombies introduced in this pack were a small drop of what zombies would soon be capable of doing.





Spirit Reaper


One of the more annoying stall cards in the game. For the most part this card is still used in Zombie decks as a source of protection in a pinch, but also having the effect to be able to discard cards from your opponents hand don't hurt



Pyramid Turtle


This Card is IMO; One of the best searchers in the game STILL. When this card gets destroyed by battle..you can search out almost EVERY zombie in your deck. There's no telling if this card will ever be replaced for zombies...but this card's potential didn't truly shine, until zombies began to have further support. Now in present day...this card is a staple in almost any zombie deck.



Fushioh Richie


One of the first big zombies to play around with during its time. In this day and age..it would be pretty hard to use, but back when this first came out, and It was possible to summon...it began to show you what zombies could be capable of doing if they were to be expanded upon.



Dark Dust Spirit


I'm going to warn you...I was VERY close to making a joke about a Vacuum cleaner here, but I decided to maintain some sense of professionalism ( and credibility) and not,lol..

Regardless, This fun little card was a part of the spirit Set of monsters that was being support around this time, and for a zombie monster..he fits right in. The only downfall about the card is the fact it IS a spirit..so it does limit it's use some..but this card does still see play even in the present; However he isn't tied down to purely zombie decks and can be used in various decks to clear a field in a pinch.



Call of the Mummy


One of the first real support cards for Zombies. In the present day this card COULD see some use, but this cards usefulness was more seen when it first came out and a few packs later. Overall, If a zombie archetype comes out in the future with high level monsters..this card will be a godsend for them.



Book of Life


*Sigh*....If only there was a way to Revive my zombies from the grave....wish I could Use 3 Monster Reborns Ohh,wait...I forgot...I don't need Monster Reborn..silly me

Jokes Aside, This is quite the card to have at your disposal for zombie decks. Your very own monster reborn; How much fun is that,xD Granted you can't revive your opponents monsters with it, but no worries...this card will be able to see some use once the next set came out.....




As Time moves on...all living things change...but with age comes wisdom..and experience.....Just a shame Zombies don't age or this would be a beautiful quote Mooooving on...

Dark Crisis was the next booster set to further pump out some Zombie cards. In this set though...you began to see even more powerful zombies...and personally..one of my Favorites.



Vampire Lord


Oh how I loved this card when it first came out. Still remember when I traded for it to make my own little zombie deck...oh..the memories...

As for the card itself; This was one of the first true examples that personified what a zombie should be. This was the first card to have the effect that made it impervious to magic and trap cards, and like a zombie...just come back over and over again.

At the time when this card first came out..before there was all kinds of cards to run this card over with...it was quite the monster to use in a zombie deck. In this day and age...its greatest weakness is its attack power...not its effect. IMO, it's effect was ahead of its time really...and in this day and age is alot more common to see..if only his attack was 2400...he would be a staple for a zombie deck and a flat out amazing monster.....oh well >.>



Despair from the Dark & Berserk Dragon


Both of these cards released in this pack I can assume were meant to be used together...but that never really did happen,heh...

In the present day..these cards are not used, but they do serve as the strongest of the Zombie monsters at your disposal.

Only Way I see these being used...is if Zombies get High Level monsters to add too the Creature Type...then You could use Berserk..and maybe Call of the Mummy, which I mentioned earlier.




The first Structure deck to use zombies as the theme. The idea behind the deck was to roughly expand upon the graveyard revival zombies possessed.



Vampire Genesis


The Cover card of the structure deck...and IMO...A failed attempt at getting people to use vampire lord; Is Vampire Genesis. This Cards effect isn't BAD...but generally with cards that require you to tribute a specific monster; It slows the deck down. Reason being..it makes the card dead in your hand without the monster you need to special summon it...which is a big no-no in competitive dueling.

Overall..was great in theory to make a structure deck for zombies...but hate the card they made for it.


~Zombies continued~

The zombies of the past were ok to start...but that isn't all. Now we get to the rest of the notable zombies of present and future. For the sake of space though..I'll cover just the main cards in various packs and not list every little common,etc





1. Spirit of the Pharaoh



Not a bad card, but there is just so little that you can use it for...that it won't ever see use. The main reason this card is bad though is the summoning conditions for it...if it wasn't for that...this card could MAYBE see use.




1. King of the Skull Servants



A Key card in what would come to be a Skull Servant deck. Generally even in the present, A skull servant deck is playable...but you can only do so much with it to improve it.




1. NecroFace



A bit of a odd card, In the sense that it isn't used in a actual zombie deck and usually just used in mill decks or removal decks. I would hope this card can have some use in a future zombie deck...but as it stands now...not so much,lol




1. Lich Lord, King of the Underworld



Another odd card that isn't traditionally seen in a pure zombie deck, but does have use with specific cards that require a monster tribute so you can recycle him without any issue. The idea behind the card was to be used with a card called Ectoplasmer..but I have a feeling this card will see some use in the future with future zombie monsters.






1. The Lady in Wight



Yet another piece to the "Skull Servant" card set for zombies. This is basically their source of protection and help makes them a tad more competitive. Currently..this is the last real support card for a Skull Servant deck, but maybe something new pops up in the future..who knows.




1. Vampire Curse
2. Goblin Zombie
3. Zoma The Spirit



Vampire Curse is roughly the polar opposite of Vampire Lord, and a nice card for the most part.

Of those three cards though; goblin zombie is the one notable one. It is yet another searcher for zombies to be used in conjunction with pyramid turtle to make zombies run that much faster.




1. PlagueSpreader Zombie
2. Doomkaiser Dragon
3. Revived King Ha Des
4. Red ogre
5. Goka, the pyre of Malice
6. Zombie Mammoth
7. Everliving Underworld Cannon




Overall, this was a big boost to zombies and gave Zombie user's more options deck wise on how to use them.
Plaguespreader was the key card in this and what gave zombies the power to be able to add synchro summoning to their arsenal of swarming.

The synchro's made are pretty nice and more so in pure zombie type decks.

Also, Goka is decent, and may see some use in the future in a skull flame deck.




1. Zombie Master
2. Ill bud



Two crucial cards for swarming the field and recycling the various zombies that hit the grave. Generally in a zombie swarm type deck..you will see a healthy dose of both of these cards. Lucky for them too that they will have wonderful synergy with the coming structure deck below.




1. Red Eye's Zombie Dragon
2. Zombie World
3. Malevolent Mech- Goku En
4. Paladin of the Cursed Dragon



This is where IMO zombies began to meld into what they should be and be played like they should. I personally couldn't wait for this to come out when I saw it.
..If zombies continue to base their effects around how this structure deck was built to work..I'll definitely make zombies my favorite creature type hands down.

What this structure deck offered the most though, is builds beyond just zombies..since with the field card..you can turn anything into zombies...so the amount of cards you could then make use of with zombie world and the previous zombie support made for some interesting decks.




1. Bone Crusher
2. DoomKasier Dragon// Assault Mode



Basically a addition to the doomkaiser synchro, and finally a zombie that can offer some kind of backrow destruction. Unfortunately though..to TRIGGER that backrow destruction..it requires he be special summoned by a monster effect from the grave...which sounds nice in theory..but that does limit it his quite a lot...




1. Immortal Ruler



Your basic ( Least now it seems to be.. ) Monster field searcher to get out Zombie World; Difference is though..it gets zombie world back from the graveyard...not retrieve it from the deck.

What I don't like about the card though..is two things...

One is he's earth..which sucks...but to compound that...you can't pitch him from your hand like a normal searcher and you have to actually summon him.

Though he is at LEAST 1800 attack..so if you do have to summon him..he won't get killed right away....*Sigh..* just wish you could pitch him from your hand..






1. Mesuki



A very key card in zombie decks to increase the revival rate of your monsters, as well as swarm the field. If you use this in conjunction with book of life, and other cards like Ill bud..the revival you have at your disposal is just insane...Is just a shame though it got limited recently..




1. Kasha
2. Koa'ki Meiru Ghoulungulate
3. Archfiend Zombie Skull



Kasha I find to be a real solid card and very useful in a Zombie world deck where you can return a potential higher amount of cards and set up a potential OTK if played right.

As for the K-Meiru Monster...I was VERY disappointed. I was expecting something alot better to help zombies with...but oh well..can't get greedy I suppose...

As for the last card..this is more less ideally supposed to be used in a Skull Servant deck..as getting it out otherwise would be pretty hard due to its level and needing 3 monsters total to synchro summon...




1. Shutendoji



A start at helping give Zombie's some kind of draw power. hopefully more draw cards for zombies come out in the future, but for now this card can due...if used right.




1. Skull Conductor



A related card to the set below...but its real use would be debatable IMO. It's only use would be to special summon Burning Skull Head...about it..




1. Burning Skull Head
2. Skull Flame
3. Supersonic Skull flame



Now these three cards are going to be the next set of Zombie monsters coming out very soon, and I find them to be pretty nice; if you build a deck around them. Basically, You can search out Skull Flame ( 2400/2000 ) with pyramid turtle..then if he hits the grave..you can remove him from play to special summon Supersonic Skull Flame. From there..you can summon burning skull and remove him from play to return Skull Flame back to your grave. So..When supersonic dies..skull flame is special summoned back to the field.

Well..it don't stop there..if you run Shutendoji in your deck..you can summon him and use his effect to return burning skull to the top of your deck; so of skull flame dies again..and you special summon another supersonic..you have burning skull in your hand to return skull flame to your grave again and continue the mini loop of sorts.

Overall its a interesting set of cards that packs alittle more punch at 2600 atk for being able to be pulled with pyramid turtle.




1. Miracle Pyramid



Face-up Zombie-Type monsters you control gain 200 ATK for each monster your opponent controls. When 1 face-up Zombie-Type monster you control would be destroyed, you can send this face-up card to the Graveyard instead.

A pretty nice card...would be debatable as to whether this would be of more use over solidarity if you really wanted to run support cards to boost atk with. I would be willing to try it out...but im 50/50 on it. The second effect of the card is whats tempting..



~Zombie Strengths~

Now that we covered most of the cards relevant to zombies; We can begin on talking about them some.

One of the key strengths zombies have always had is monster revival. The next closest to matching zombies is plants I would think. Either or..Aside from simple revival; Swarming is another threat zombies can force on your opponent. The amount of swarming does partially depend on how you play the deck, but it usually isn't overly difficult to manage some form of swarming power no matter the zombie build you use.

In most cases you should be able to out swarm your opponent..unless your going against some of the stronger swarming decks like say Blackwing. However the monster revival that is possible may give you a slight edge against another swarming deck.



~Zombie Weakness's~

Despite the strengths a zombie deck may possess..they have some pretty glaring weakness's as well. One key one is your graveyard. A zombie deck needs a graveyard almost in every case to function properly and well function at all. If you get stuck against a removal deck..chances are your going to be slowed down alot..if not just incapable of making a comeback unless you can get rid of the removal source your opponent is using.

A slightly lesser worry, but still a worry is cards that slow down special summoning. A zombie deck doesn't NEED special summoning to be able to win...but without it...your chances do drop rather drastically.

If you can avoid those two main threats..then you should be able to deal with any other issues without too much problems. Just remember like any deck To cover all your bases.




~Zombie Engine~

This is normally where I would list hybrids for Zombies..but IMO...Zombies are used more as a self-searchable Synchro engine..rather than what I would consider a real hybrid.

Generally a Deck that has synchro potential or a synchro oriented theme will run cards like Pyramid Turtle, Goblin zombie, Zombie Master, Plaguespreader zombie, and Mesuki.

What quantity and selection of those cards used will depend on the deck. In most cases..those cards will be used simply as synchro targets since you can in most ways get your fair share of re-use out of the cards.

As it stands currently..this is about the only use people get out of zombies is use them as engines in various decks..and actual zombie themed decks have gone by the wayside.



~Future of Zombie Monsters~

I see them continuing to be a strong creature type and used in various ways in decks outside of purely zombies. I believe it will take a solid Zombie Archetype to ever make zombies run purely again. The closest to pure zombie decks in recent memory, was when the zombie world structure deck first came out...before certain cards became limited...

If just one solid Zombie Archetype comes out in the future...then the current support system already available can give them that last push to make them a highly competitive deck.



~Conclusion~

Well..for the most part...zombies have alot to offer and alot of ways to be used. I still consider zombies to be one of my favorite creature types...and probably always will. My hope is they can take that last step and become a Tier one deck one day in the future ( Closest it got to that was before alot of the main zombie cards got hit in the ban-list, and zombie world was popular and seeing real use ).

As usual though, I want to thank everyone for taking the time to read my article, or just taking the time to take a glance at it. I may take a break for abit from doing articles to relax some, but the next time I do one; I hope to cover something fairly popular..but also interesting. Idea's won't hurt either ( Hint_Hint)

So Peace

OMG are you serious, you did a Zombie Article and you didnt asked me for help Hater !!!

Well, the article is realy nice, you covered the zombie archtype from how they wer played 4 years ago to how they are played right now and the new zombie skull deck that we can see a litle in Yugioh 5Ds anime. BTW i dont zombies to come back at the top of yugioh -.- i like them how they are right now . If they come back to at the top, everybody will take them and zombies will be consider a no brain deck like they used to be 2-3 years ago when card of safe return was not even limited but now that they slow down, if you win with against the top decks with a zombie deck they consider you like a god


ZOMBIES !!!!!! FTW !!!!!!

Haha

Well I hope they expand upon zombies with something new. Maybe make a virus archetype for them or something. Personally though I liked that time when zombie world came out and being able to control both sides of the field like you could with Zombie Master, Ill Bud and Doomkaiser was possible. Now the game is alittle to fast for that, but is still fun to mess around with.

I like the skull flame series though; may be willing to give them a try when they come out. They are in the WC 2010 game though on DS, so I can tinker with them for fun if i wanted

I Still cant believe you leaved me out of this article Jalice

well, zombies and gadgets are my favorite archtypes and i think everybody knows that . Zombies are the best archtype in yugioh tho because of their crazy engine and capacity of being splshed in hybrids, their engine dont need lot of cards and is the most effective engine ever

2 tomatos
2 yramid Turtles ( Optional )
2 goblin Zombies
1 Zombie Master
1 PSZ
1 Mezuki
1 Spirit Reaper ( Optinal )

Right there u have the zombie engine, now how many hybrids u can creattw with that i cant even named them all they are so many. I even found a way to play it with Jinzo so that is to say how splashable this engine is.

But if you want to talk about old school zombies. i will post the old engine, maybe we can remake a competitivve zombie control deck

2 Giant Rats
2 Pyramid turtles
1 Neo-spatian Grand Mole
1 Il Blud
2 Ryu Koky ( useless now we can think about someting to replace him )
2 Goblin zombies
1 Mezuki
1 PSZ
1 Zombie Master

Now u can see why this engine is not played no more. if you compare both, the new one needs less cards and the old one is too big and too slow but still, its really fun to play and i think it will be cool if we find something to do with it. the engine may be slow for our format ( if only card of safe return wasnt baned ) but im sure we can do something with it, we just need to think hard and mole its still one of the best cards in the new format

nice post i do say i love zombies too but u wont see me play them much really unless its in my kotss deck in which i used the zombies engine cards like mezuki speader turtle and zombie master too syncro for def while i await to build up grave yard but now am trying somthing new with lightsworn and kotss deck for faster mill BTW nice job keep up the great work man !! REPPP!!!!

Heh...I still remember the old school days when you still had cards like Mirage of nightmare to draw through your deck, so ye

Like I said though...zombies are better used as a engine,than used as a deck type at the moment. Was a small time where the zombie world variant before the ban-list hits..where it was plausable, but dunno...

Really gonna have to see what new zombie cards come out that will determine what route they go. At the moment..fusions are going to get support...blackwings again...thunder types, naturia < Negate crazy archetype..as annoying as counter fairies >, then amazoness....so no zombie's coming up in the near future other than skull flame in the new wii game as promotional cards.

hey theres nothing wrong with fairys lol

Once perfect Herald comes out to support counter fairies..their going to be as negate heavy as naturia are; only difference is naturia focus's on negating monster summoning as well..not just magic traps.

well then i cant wait about time counter fairys got lil more support lol

Well i still remember those old school moments when zombies where the just unbeatable. and i still can remenber i made a zombie world mill deck one day to prove the superiority of zombies in my card shop tournament. they were more than 40 players and really good players where playing at it. i made that zombie world mill deck with Mystical knight of Jackal and Draklord zerato when card of safe return was still at 1 and we used to play 3 Zombie masters 1 Il BLud and 3 Books of life with 1 call of premature dont remember well wich one was the limited one at that time :p

I won the tournament with that deck and i was like " now do anyone have someting bad to say about zombies " i beated 3 Tele-DAD in a rown with it and Tele-DAD wa sthe best deck in that time if old scholl players can remember how strong was TELE-DAD when Dark Armed Dragon and Malicious were at 3. It was OTK almost all the duels. But they were no match for my zombies

Like I Said Before

ZOMBIES !!!!! FTW !!!!!!

my friends likes fairys a lot because how broken they are right now, I like plants the best though

Well for present; Salvo DAD is pretty popular again,lol..

As for fairies..I find more practical use with kristya control decks..since you don't have to comprise the entire deck out of fairies and have some room to mess around with.

One great way to speed up a kristya control deck i found is using 2-3 kristya..1-2 hecatrice, some mudora's, and also some orange heralds. Then lastly throw in a few valhalla's and thetys to help draw power + add either jar of greeds or something to use with thetys eff, since it activates when you draw a fairy; even outside of your draw phase.

Plants are pretty cool though...Heard quickdraw plants topped at SCJ NJ recently. At the moment though there isn't a SOLID build for them as people are still experimenting with it..but the general build of the deck is solid..have new respect for drill warrior outside of a quickdraw turbo deck or w/e they call tuningware decks now