Zombies

What is Zombies?

Zombies in Yu-Gi-Oh!'s Goat Format is as aggressive deck that is traditionally distinguished its 6 or more zombie monsters, most commonly Spirit Reaper, Vampire Lord, and Pyramid Turtle (but sometimes also Ryu Kokki or Regenerating Mummy). Its biggest support card is Book of Life with both of its effects being highly relevant in Goat Format. Pyramid Turtle is a classic recruiter-style zombie monster, and the deck can also play Giant Rat or Mystic Tomato. Because of these monsters, it's also quite common to see Creature Swap as support, and sometimes Skill Drain as well.

How Does Zombies Work?

Pyramid Turtle is the card that gives Zombies a true edge. 1200 attack points is enough to put pressure on your opponent's life points, but Pyramid Turtle’s ability to summon a zombie monster  from your deck when destroyed by battle means you can really surprise your opponent when they attack into your set Pyramid Turtle. Typical options from the deck would be another Pyramid Turtle, Vampire Lord, or Spirit Reaper. Just having a face up Pyramid Turtle can deter your opponent from going on the offensive until they have a plan for dealing with the Special Summoned monster or removing the Pyramid Turtle without triggering the effect. One of the best Zombie combos derives from Pyramid Turtle’s interaction with Creature Swap. Stealing your opponent's monster then destroying your Pyramid Turtle on your opponent’s side of the field by battle means you can summon a Spirit Reaper or Vampire Lord from your deck during the battle phase. This can lead to Spirit Reaper getting a direct shot at your opponent’s life points and discarding a card from their hand, or Vampire Lord with his 2000 ATK points getting a nice chunk of your opponent’s life points and a card out of their deck.

Book of Life gives you even more access to your Pyramid Turtles, which makes it even more likely you will be able to pull off your Creature Swap combos. Along with reviving one of your monsters, Book of Life has the unique effect of banishing a monster from your opponent’s graveyard, which can mean banishing a Sinister Serpent or banishing a light or dark monster to hold off an opponent’s chaos monster. Vampire Lord’s effect of sending your choice of either monster, spell, or trap from the opponent’s deck to the graveyard when it inflicts battle damage can lead to a good combo with your Book of Life. If you call "monster" for this effect against an opponent without Sinister Serpent in their graveyard, they will likely send Sinister Serpent to the graveyard looking to capitalize on the situation. This allows you to follow up with Book of Life, getting rid of the newly discarded Sinister Serpent for the rest of the game and reviving one of your zombies at the same time.
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Zombies Example Decklist

​https://www.duelingbook.com/deck?id=3764558

Why Zombies is Viable

Zombies share some similarities to Chaos Recruiters, being a powerful aggressive deck that can be backed by Creature Swap and Trap Dustshoot. In the historical Goat Format played in 2005, Zombies were frequently at the top tables for major events, showing that the deck could compete with popular decks like Goat Control to a large extent. Vampire Lord can also be a tough threat for aggressive decks backed by Sakuretsu Armors to deal with, such as the popular Anti-Meta Warriors.
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You might also like...

These are aggressive decks that have a similar strategy to Zombies:

• Chaos Recruiter Deck Guide
• Beastdown Deck Guide

Do you have any questions about Zombies or want to share your own Zombies decklist? We’d love to hear from you in the comments. Want expert help to construct your own Beastdown deck? Then join our Discord server.

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Skully

Skully is a co-founder of GoatFormat.com, along with ACP. His Yu-Gi-Oh! career was long and prestigious; it started in 2005 and ended with a US Nationals and Shonen Jump Championship top8. Nowadays, rather than compete himself, he prefers to host Goat Format tournaments and make sure that everyone is having a good time.