The world of Yu-Gi-Oh has a wide variety of types, around 25 to be more precise. Each type groups specific monsters and their support cards together. Though one might have guessed it only deals with literal zombies, the archetype that will be discussed in this article is actually meant to encapsulate all forms of undead.
That means literal zombies, skeletons, and mummies, even ghosts and vampires. As a result, with Zombie archetypes, it’s never clear what you’re getting. It could be a collection of cute kids feigning at being monsters, an undead clan of samurai, or even a collection of vampires inspired directly by Castlevania. This list looks at all the best Zombie archetypes in the game.
9 BURNING SKULL
One of the least supported Zombie archetypes, this deck was introduced in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s and belonged to Mukuro Enjo, the first opponent defeated by Jack Atlas. The deck consists of three monsters: Skull Flame, Burning Skull Head, and lastly Supersonic Skull Flame.
Burning Skull Head is the key card of the deck, as it enables the summoning of both the other monsters. Burning Skull Head also has the nifty ability to inflict 1000 damage to the opponent - a fairly hefty chunk of life points. Though undersupported now, Konami could easily make this deck terrifying by adding only a few pieces.
8 DARK MUMMY
Introduced during Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS, Dark Mummy is still an anime-only archetype, though it’s doubtful it’ll remain such very long considering the next anime will be playing by an entirely different set of rules. This relatively tiny archetype is based around monsters that are designed after medical equipment.
The main goal is to get Dark Mummy Surgical Forceps on the field, a Link-3 Monster that can destroy a monster that’s summoned to a zone the opponent’s Link Monsters point to. A devastating effect in the current game, Dark Mummy will become a pretty dangerous card for Link decks when it releases.
7 GHOSTRICK
The Ghostrick is sneakily one of the best decks and archetypes on this list, especially with the rule change to stop requiring Link Monsters for Synchro and Xyz Monsters. Ghostricks were particularly well-supported when they first released, and are receiving a new card in the form of Ghostrick Fairy (strangely enough, one of the few monsters that isn’t a Zombie in the deck), a monster that can force an opponent’s monsters face-down based on how many set cards the player controls.
Combining stall and alternate win conditions, Ghostrick will remain one of the more amusing decks in the game for years to come.
6 WIGHT
The Wight deck started out as a joke, as Skull Servant was a monster with just 300 ATK and DEF and no effects, making it one of the weakest monsters in the game. But eventually, they added more to this skeleton army, including Wightmare, Wightprince, Wightprincess, and most importantly, King of the Skull Servants.
As each monster would become a “Skull Servant” once they went to the graveyard, King of the Skull Servants would become an effective one turn kill tool, as it would gain attack equal to the combined number of Skull Servants and King of the Skull Servants in the grave times one thousand, often placing it in the 7000-1000 ATK range.
5 GHOST GIRL
This isn’t (and can’t) be a deck, but it does succeed in being an archetype. The Ghost Girls are a selection of hand traps Konami has introduced to the game, all of them being monsters that can be discarded during either player’s turn to disrupt the opposing player.
The best of these cards is Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, which stops the opponent from searching the deck by most means. More recently, they’ve introduced Evening Crescent & Autumn Shower, which can negate a special summoned monster’s effects and inflict damage equal to its ATK if it leaves the field.
4 VENDREAD
A TCG-only archetype introduced in 2017's Code of the Duelist set, Vendread refers to a collection of monsters patterned after Resident Evil zombies. The deck centers around Ritual Summoning, which one might think would be more common when in an archetype revolving around the undead.
In any case, the Vendread can special summon themselves from the graveyard, but often banish themselves when leaving the field. One of their better cards is Vendread Battlelord, a boss monster that lets the player banish a Vendread from their graveyard and declare either a monster, spell, or trap card. Furthermore, this card makes the opponent unable to activate cards of that type for the next turn. That’s the kind of thing that makes players happy zombies usually have 0 DEF.
3 VAMPIRE
Of course, eventually, the literal undead would have to make an appearance on here. The Vampires are an archetype Yu-Gi-Oh’s supported off and on over the years, first in 2013 with the Shadow Specters Booster Pack then again in 2018 with Dark Saviors.
Much like the vampires in films, this deck centers around destroying the opponent’s monsters and reviving them as their own. One of their key cards is the Link Monster Vampire Sucker, which lets players Tribute zombie monsters their opponent controls - easily satisfied by the field spell Zombie World.
2 SHIRANUI
For anyone looking for a more noble type of zombie, we have the Shiranui. This deck is a group of Fire Zombies based on an undead clan of samurai. Their main deck monsters all have two different effects: Their own effect that activates on the field and ones which trigger once they’re banished.
The big trick with Shiranui involves summoning their synchro boss monsters, like Shiranui Sunsaga, which can return any number of Zombie-Type Synchro Monsters from the graveyard or banish zone to the extra deck, then destroy cards the opponent controls equal to the number returned. A consistent and quick deck, Shiranui is a great budget option for any player looking to flirt with the undead.
1 MAYAKASHI
First shown in the 2018 booster set Hidden Summoners, Mayakashi is a zombie deck that focuses on the yokai from Asian folklore. The deck centers around Synchro Summoning as much as possible, easily going from level 3 synchros to level 11.
When the higher-level Synchros are destroyed, they can ladder back down, banishing other zombie monsters from the grave to bring themselves back. Once special summoned from the grave in this fashion, the Synchros gain a variety of effects, ranging from destroying monsters or spells to becoming unaffected by other card effects for the turn.