Chris has some great things going on here. He’s maxed out on his key monsters, so if we’re going to help him with his accessibility problem, we won’t be doing so by adding more copies of Skull Servant or Lady in Wight. The use of Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter to load the graveyard and pave the way for big attacks is a great idea, and the basic skeleton of three Zombie Master cards with three copies of Book of Life is a proven combination.

At the same time though, Chris has mentioned that getting the deck to go off has been difficult. We need to speed things up. Beyond that, I’ve got my own issues—this deck can command a menagerie of tricks that your opponent will never see coming, and yet none of them are represented here. I’m going to change that, and help the deck play to strengths that Chris may not have even been aware of. Let’s start dropping some cards to make room!

First up, I’m cutting Crush Card Virus. Sure, setting it and tributing one of this deck’s many small Dark monsters would be great, but honestly, Chris is probably the only person reading this column who’d be willing to commit a $250 card to his or her Skull Servant deck. I want to make sure this ridiculously entertaining (and surprisingly deadly) deck is accessible to everybody, and frankly it’s just a great opportunity to create a budget build. If you want to play Crush, I’m sure you can fit it in, but I’m not going to include it myself.

My next drop is one Pyramid Turtle. The Turtle is definitely useful, but I think it's risky to run three with Murmillo still seeing such heavy play. I’ll leave two copies, and I'll be adding a couple cards that make this strategy better in the face of Gladiator Beasts, but I need to clear one card slot and that means giving up a Turtle. Both copies of D.D. Crow will bite the dust as well. With Crush Card Virus gone, they’re less important, and they can always be sided in for matchups where they’re relevant. I’m going to be making this deck more resilient in the face of stuff like Gladiator Beast Gyzarus and Dark Armed Dragon, so I can afford to ditch the Crows for a more focused monster spread.

Moving along, I really can’t explain just how much I loath Allure of Darkness in Zombies. Sure, getting to your key cards is always good, but doing so at the cost of monsters you literally must have in your graveyard is incredibly poor. Add to that the fact that there are more synergetic alternatives, and there’s simply no reason to play the card in any Zombie variant—especially one that really wants to pack in those Skull Servant cards.

The lockdown engine really won’t be needed by the time I’m finished, and I frankly thought it just got in the way of Chris’s previous build. I think this was an attempt by Chris to get to his big cards more reliably, but it really just ends up being contradictory: stopping Zombie Master from joining your undead beatdowns. Gravity Bind, Level Limit - Area B, and Swords of Revealing Light will all be dropped. I mean, really: since when did necromantic hordes hide behind stuff anyway?

Lastly, I’ll drop the single Dust Tornado and both copies of Limit Reverse. I’m not sure if Chris was trying to use Limit Reverse with King of the Skull Servants, but he can’t, since the King’s ATK isn’t printed as a number: it’s a question mark. That makes it incompatible with Reverse. If he was aware of that, then his only remaining targets were stuff like The Lady in Wight and Skull Servant. Special summoning Skull Servant is beyond shoddy, and bringing up The Lady with no chance of turning her to defense mode is almost as bad. Card Trooper is a wonderful target, but playing two copies of Limit Reverse for one monster isn’t the best of plans.

So, we’ve got twelve card slots to fill. I want to make the deck faster and more reliable, and I want to add in some sweet plays to really push it to its limits. Let’s start with the basics and work our way up to the more eccentric stuff.

Two copies of Goblin Zombie are a must. As Zombies, they’ll benefit from Zombie Master and Book of Life, and they help you make big presses without actually putting your neck on the line. They can search out Zombie Master as they would in any Zombie variant, but they can also search out Skull Servant or King of the Skull Servants. Goblin Zombie searches out monsters based on DEF, not ATK, so the King is fair game. This is going to make the deck way faster, and Chris’s task of playing huge Kings is going to be a lot easier.

Three copies of Card of Safe Return will speed this deck along, taking advantage of the three Zombie Master cards, the three Book of Life cards, and Monster Reborn. There’s no reason not to use them—this deck has even more ways to special summon monsters from the grave than a regular Zombie build, since if King of the Skull Servants is ever run over in battle, he can special summon himself and get you a draw in the process. With Card of Safe Return in, Premature Burial becomes even more of a no-brainer. We’ll add that too, and it’ll help us get The Lady in Wight into play.

Remember when I said there were viable alternatives to Allure of Darkness? I’m adding a full three copies of Hand Destruction to this deck to replace the Allures. Yeah, sure, you come out one card down every time you play Hand Destruction, but that doesn’t really matter when you’re working your way toward the Card of Safe Return draw engine and burying copies of Skull Servant along the way. You can even set Hand Destruction and draw out stuff like Gladiator Beast Bestiari pretty easily, making your opponent waste moves (if not actual cards like Mystical Space Typhoon or Heavy Storm). An early game Hand Destruction can bring all of your low-utility cards online on turn 1, and that just can’t be ignored.

I promised big, unique plays other decks can’t do, and I plan to deliver. I’m going to add two copies of Creature Swap. Yes, I know—that certainly doesn’t look any different from any other Zombie deck. You can trade cards like Pyramid Turtle and Goblin Zombie to your opponent, attack them, and then get the swapped monster’s effect while keeping your opponent’s monster. Nothing new here, right?

Wrong! How about using Creature Swap to pass your opponent King of the Skull Servants? No matter how many Skull Servant cards are in your graveyard, the King will count the number in your opponent’s graveyard as soon as he shifts sides. Barring the world’s first-ever Skull Servant mirror match, that means that the King will drop to 0 ATK. Once you attack over him to hammer home some damage, the King will go to your graveyard, and since he knows he was destroyed by battle, you’ll get to special summon him for the low, low price of just a single Skull Servant. Easy damage, a stolen card, and you get to follow-up with a swing from a monster that can reach 8000 ATK all on its own. Pretty nuts!

Lastly, I want to borrow a gem from Julia Hedberg’s tech playbook: Heart of Clear Water. Throw it on a defense-position The Lady in Wight and you’ve got a nigh-invincible wall that then protects all your other little Zombies from battle and the effects of spell and trap cards. If your opponent wants to break your lock, he or she will have to take the Lady down first, and since Heart of Clear Water protects her from battle as well as any targeted effects, the only way to do so is to play a non-targeted removal card like Lightning Vortex or Torrential Tribute. When the opponent does so, the rest of your Zombies will still be protected by the Lady. Dark Armed Dragon, Gladiator Beast Gyzarus, Exiled Force, and a lot of other commonly played cards won’t be able to lay a finger on you. Even if you can’t make the ideal play of attaching the Heart to the Lady, you can always just slap it on Skull Servant and watch your opponent try to find a way through it. Hilarious stuff.

Finally, I’m a big fan of the "just in case" Fusion deck philosophy that’s been going around lately, and what do you know: if you happen to play Monster Reborn to swipe your opponent’s Elemental Hero Prisma, there is indeed a Fusion monster you’ll want to have. I’m going to add two copies of the old-as-time Flame Ghost to Chris’s Fusion deck. One of its Fusion materials happens to be Skull Servant, so if you nab Prisma you can activate it to kick a Servant to the yard and buff up future copies of the King. Thanks to Chris and AJ Tachella for showing me that little trick.

That completes my additions, so let’s recap the changes I’ve made.

-2 D.D. Crow
-1 Pyramid Turtle
-2 Allure of Darkness
-1 Level Limit - Area B
-1 Swords of Revealing Light
-1 Gravity Bind
-1 Dust Tornado
-2 Limit Reverse
-1 Crush Card Virus

+1 Premature Burial
+2 Goblin Zombie
+3 Hand Destruction
+2 Creature Swap
+3 Card of Safe Return
+1 Heart of Clear Water

+2 Flame Ghost

The final decklist is as follows . . .

Monsters: 20
3 King of the Skull Servants
3 The Lady in Wight
3 Skull Servant
2 Pyramid Turtle
2 Goblin Zombie
2 Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter
1 Spirit Reaper
1 Card Trooper
3 Zombie Master

This deck now has a much stronger opening, with seven monsters that make for an ideal turn 1 play. Set Pyramid Turtle, Goblin Zombie, or Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter to force your opponent into a deadly guessing game. If your opponent attacks to try and eliminate Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter and force you to destroy a monster with its effect, he or she risks hitting Pyramid Turtle or Goblin Zombie instead. But if he or she does not attack, then Ryko could wipe the spell and trap zone next turn and leave your opponent defenseless. Card Trooper is a viable face-up play too, especially if it’s reinforced by Torrential Tribute or Bottomless Trap Hole.

From turn 1 onward, your main priority is loading your graveyard and getting to two target cards—Card of Safe Return and King of the Skull Servants. Each represents the payoff for committing to this bizarre strategy, the first rewarding you with incredible draw power, the second with a fast, huge, renewable attacker that can’t be stopped by anything short of D.D. Crow. Those cards are key, so don’t hesitate to play Hand Destruction to get to them.

Hand Destruction is actually one of the more skilled cards in this deck, as it can be tricky to play properly. Ideally, you’d activate it early on and ditch two Skull Servant cards, but lady luck is not always so kind as to give you that option. If there isn’t an obvious Hand Destruction play in your hand when you draw it, you have one of two options. The first is to set it and try to draw out removal from your opponent. If he or she falls for your bluff, chain the Destruction whenever the opportunity arises. If not, you can at least play it in your draw phase next turn after you’ve seen one more card.

The other option, usually the most awkward, is to just hold Hand Destruction for another turn. That keeps it safe from an opponent who may be able to chain against it to empty his or her hand and stop Hand Destruction’s effect. It also keeps you from drawing out Heavy Storm when you don’t want to see it—for instance, you may not want to give your opponent another reason to play Heavy when you have Card of Safe Return active. But remember that if you choose to go this route, you’ll lose the ability to play Hand Destruction if your opponent suddenly drops below two cards in hand. This is probably the most difficult call to make with this deck, and it’ll take a little practice.

The early game is where you want to make your strongest control plays if possible, simplifying the duel into a favorable situation with aggressive monster trades, as well as Ryko, Lightning Vortex, and Creature Swap. If you can make those plays in the first four turns, you should, because they help prep the duel for King of the Skull Servants. When the King touches down into your monster zones, you want to make the most of his presence, which means clearing a path for him as quickly as possible in the early game. The mid-game is where you want to be making those big attacks, so don’t feel obligated to make them early on.

If the duel proceeds to a late game of topdecking, you’re actually in an amazing position. Zombie Master or any five of your recursive special summoning cards will give you instant access to King of the Skull Servants, while you can always draw remaining copies or search them out through Goblin Zombie if you didn’t play through them earlier. The late game is your friend, though you’ll hopefully win before you ever reach that point.

This deck is a blast to play, it can hang tight with some of the best strategies in the format, and it’s cheap to build! With Card Trooper and Goblin Zombie only clocking in at about 20 bucks each these days, and the rest of the deck being non-foils or inexpensive super rares, virtually anyone can build it. The reward for such a small investment is great—you won’t just win your share of games, but you’ll incite shock and awe from bystanders and opponents alike.

After all, what’s the point in winning if you aren’t winning with style?

Try it out yourself—I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, and anyone who knows Zombies can see that the deck is rooted in a solid, well-documented infrastructure. Hopefully Chris likes it, and some of you reading this will give it a shot as well!

—Jason Grabher-Meyer