With the release of the new Premium Pack 2, the Zombie archetype has exploded. They’ve got new options in their arsenal and some great potential to overrun your opponents. The best part about Zombies now is their ability to draw through the deck: their search engine rivals those of Dark Armed Return and Gladiator Beasts. The point of the modern Zombie deck is to load the field with as many as five completely disposable monsters—monsters that have, in some way, replaced themselves with another card. This way, you can continually load the field until your opponent runs out of answers.
The entire concept of Zombie decks has changed. Card of Safe Return used to be absolutely key to the deck’s success, but there weren’t enough monster recursion cards to justify it at all times. Usually, it took an amazing hand for Zombies to carry their weight. Now, we’ve been given another three cards that return monsters to the field. D.D. Crow has been the Zombie deck’s worst enemy since Team Overdose made Zombies popular at Shonen Jump Championship Washington in 2007. Burial from a Different Dimension is a great tech card against Crow, but it was always a dead card if your opponent didn’t happen to play Crow yet. Now, with the introduction of Mezuki, it isn’t just justified as a tech card. It’s a ridiculous engine that’s going to drive your opponents insane!
The Monsters
The monster lineup is surprisingly small for a swarm deck. However, notice that the ability to search for more monsters is a consistent theme throughout. Since its 
release, Goblin Zombie has been a powerhouse that allows Zombie decks to thin their monster lineup. Don’t forget, it’s also a Dark: you can use it with Allure of Darkness to get extra draw power.
Between three copies of both Pyramid Turtle and Goblin Zombie, we have six monsters that will be recruiting more monsters when they’re destroyed. Even if you overload the field and your opponent plays Dark Armed Dragon to clear you completely, your Goblin Zombie cards will let you continue the aggression on the following turn. This is where Zombies are going to get their power. No matter what your opponent does, he or she has to take away all of your life points to slow you down! We’ll also be abusing Pyramid Turtle with our spell lineup, making a good card into a great one.
The Spells
Perhaps the most notable spell in the deck is Hand Destruction, which mitigates the problems created by the relatively new ruling regarding Zombie Master (the one that requires you to have a Zombie in the graveyard before activating the Master’s effect). It also lets you get to copies of Card of Safe Return, which are integral to 
the deck’s function. You’ll only open with the important card about 39 percent of the time, but that number rises with every card draw effect you play.
In the move from Traditional to the Advanced format, you can easily replace the present card-drawing engines with three copies of Upstart Goblin, or perhaps Reckless Greed. They may not seem like much at first glance, but they’re incredible in helping you rifle through your deck for the cards you need to generate a quick lead.
The two copies of Creature Swap are pretty incredible (and necessary) in this deck. Zombies have been forced to run Lightning Vortex in the past because of their inability to easily clear the field. Now that Monarchs are seeing heavier play, you’ll need a way to get rid of them. Otherwise, if your opponent plays a Monarch, you’ll stare at it in disbelief and won’t have an answer. Creature Swap allows you to overcome big monsters and it makes for huge turns, too. Even if all your opponent has is Elemental Hero Stratos, you’ll be able to take him, attack your own Pyramid Turtle, and then attack directly with Spirit Reaper! You’ll be able to make off with big, powerful monsters like Dark Armed Dragon in many scenarios as well.
The two copies of Burial from a Different Dimension allow you to reuse your three copies of Mezuki. This will give you huge turns once you get your Mezuki engine going. That also means that your opponent’s copies of D.D. Crow don’t hurt nearly as much.
The Traps
The trap lineup is rather small, but incredibly strong. The one copy of Crush Card Virus can cripple your opponent and win the game outright.
The benefit of running Dust Tornado lies in its ability to take care of Royal Oppression, which is main decked in many Monarch variants. It also takes care of pesky surprises, such as Waboku or Mirror Force. After clearing the way, you can simply attack your opponent’s monsters and clear his or her field. This generates an aggressive force against your opponent, as well as damage and monster destruction!
Zombies are one of the most aggressively paced decks in the game. They can swarm the field over and over in an attempt to overwhelm your opponent. If you have trouble playing aggressively, it’s a good idea to do some testing with this deck. Moving it into the Advanced format shouldn’t be too difficult, though you may want to include copies of Threatening Roar to help you establish your infrastructure.
—Ryan Murphy