YCML Deck Profile: Marcos Gogogo Zombies

The Swiss rounds in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Card Maker Legends Series are coming to an end and we were looking around for any interesting decks to feature. We ran into Marcos (BlindMonkey on DN and Mugendramon on YCM) who is using his Gogogo Zombie deck and is going 4-0 with only 1 Round to go meaning he will be in the top 8 and will be in the chance to win the whole tournament!

Monster Cards 19

2 Dododo Buster
2 Goblin Zombie
2 Gogogo Ghost
3 Gogogo Giant
2 Gogogo Golem
2 Kagetokage
2 Masked Chameleon
2 Mezuki
2 Zombie Master

Spell Cards 14
2 Book of Life
1 Dark Hole
1 Foolish Burial
2 Forbidden Lance
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Onomatopaira
2 Pot of Duality
2 Rank-Up Magic Limited Barian's Force

Trap Cards 7
1 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Compulsory Evacuation Device
2 Fiendish Chain
1 Solemn Warning
1 Torrential Tribute

Extra Deck 15
1 Crimson Blader
1 Jeweled Red Dragon Archfiend
1 Stardust Spark Dragon
1 Diamond Dire Wolf
2 Evilswarm Exciton Knight
1 Evilswarm Ouroboros
1 Gagaga Cowboy
1 King of the Feral Imps
1 Lavalval Chain
1 Number 101: Silent Honor ARK
1 Number 104: Masquerade
Number C101: Silent Honor DARK
1 Number C104: Umbral Horror Masquerade
1 Number 69: Heraldry Crest of Horror

Side Deck 15
2 Effect Veiler
2 Marionette Mite
2 Deck Lockdown
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 System Down
2 Debunk
2 Light-Imprisoning Mirror
2 Vanty's Emptiness


Note: This deck was made before the format and at this point it would have a good amount of changes.

Gogogo Zombies aren't a popular deck, so not a lot of players know how to use the deck or how it works, so we asked Marcos,

 "How does the deck work, and what are your main combos?"

 "It’s a really straight forward Deck for the most part. It’s all about getting "Gogogo Ghost" to the grave and bringing him back for Xyz plays with every other card. Ghost is a really synergic card– a DARK Zombie-Type with 0 DEF allows a great range of cards to interact with it. The most obvious combo is with "Gogogo Giant"; even without a "Gogogo Golem" to work with it allows the player to Normal Summon a Rank 4. With "Gogogo Golem" in the Graveyard as well, it becomes all the better: it gives the player access to 1-card 3-material Rank 4 Xyz, like "Evilswarm Ouroboros" and "Number 104: Masquerade Magician". "Zombie Master" can do this too, albeit less effectively.

But "Gogogo Ghost" can do fine without "Gogogo Giant", and 3 cards in the Deck –ran in multiples of course– make "Gogogo Ghost" and "Gogogo Golem" into a Rank 4 spitting engine. These three would be "Call of the Haunted" (with the added bonus of reviving ANYTHING, even Xyz to use Rank-Up-Magic "Limited Barian's Force"); "Book of Life", for added disruption; and the special guest of the format, "Mezuki", which is a blatant +1 Xyz once the Grave is set for it.

And that’s a very relevant point –setup. Without "Gogogo Ghost" in grave, the potential the Deck has to make plays is greatly reduced. But it also has ways to set up for plays in later turns. The most prominent is a recently introduced LVAL card, "Onomatopaira". By ditching a card (such as a dead "Gogogo Golem" or "Gogogo Ghost" in hand) it allows the player to search for either a Giant for a quick play, or a "Gogogo Ghost" or "Gogogo Golem" you didn’t have to set up for good. And then the player gets to add another, rather important card to boot: "Dododo Buster". An effective Level 4 "Cyber Dragon", it’s the perfect means of dropping two Level 4s to make a "Lavalval Chain" and get the ball rolling. For the same reason the Deck runs "Kagetokage", marginally less useful but with the searchability of "King of the Feral Imps".

When all is said and done, the Deck packs yet another trick: "Masked Chameleon". Searchable by the aforementioned "King of Feral Imps", it gives access to not only the Rank 4s "Gogogo Giant" can also make, but also to Level 8 Synchros like "Jeweled Red Dragon" (hereby dubbed The Raigeki), "Stardust Spark Dragon" (who packs neat plays with "Diamond Dire Wolf"), and "Crimson Blader". It has plenty of targets too, as "Gogogo Giant" also has 0 DEF, and "Zombie Master" can also be revived.

"Evilswarm Exciton Knight" is stupid, and this kind of easy access to it is just as stupid."

Interesting deck and strategy! But while the deck seems fun, the deck has to be able stand up against the meta, but it seems as it has stood up against the YCML Meta.

My next question was,

"Why did you choose this deck for this event?"

 "Several reasons. First of all, I have a soft spot for Zombies. I normally play the "Blue-Blooded Oni" variant, but a friend brought to my attention how ridiculous "Gogogo Ghost" can be. The Deck went well for me and after a lot of testing I took it in as a personal favourite. I didn’t make any sort of format call for it, and I realize it’s not up to par with some of the other Decks in the event– though that’s not to say it’s a casual Deck I expected to lose with. Zombies are a real thing now with "Mezuki" at 3 (though I don’t actually play 3 funnily enough), and the Deck itself is very strong. Also I didn’t have a better deck I was familiar with as to play instead. I could’ve gone for Bujin or something but I haven’t played them much. This on the other hand I’m more than used to."

After looking at the deck some card choices felt a bit weird to me such as the use of only 2 "Onomatopaira", it may have been a personal choice or testing had showed that using 2 was better, so we asked,

"Do you feel confident with the deck list and card choices you have made, and at this point would there be anything you would change, add or remove?"

"The tournament started something of a month ago, and since then I’ve done some more testing. If anything, I regret not having 3 Dododo Buster"" instead of running "Kagetokage", and just as much I wish I had maxed out "Onomatopaira". Other than that I feel the main deck is fine. "Forbidden Lance" has earned its place for example, and its saved me more than once.

It’s the side that I was building basically in the dark. I really wish I had, for example, thrown in a few "Swift Scarecrow" because while the Deck is somewhat reactive and can put walls on the field, most of the time it’s relatively vulnerable during the opponent’s turn. Also a better side for Fire Fist."

Well hopefully this won't affect your performance for the rest of the tournament, but it seems to have been great for you so far!

By now the deck seems as it Special Summons a lot, and one of the choices we saw was "Pot of Duality", so my next question was, 

"How have the Pot of Dualities been doing for the deck and have they been conflicting with the decks main focus "Special Summoning"?"

"Pot of Duality" has always been a consistency tool. In this Deck a lot of cards work stand-alone, and being able to choose what to add from the top three cards of the Deck is and has always been amazing. The Deck tends to start out sluggishly anyway, so using Duality and following with a set "Goblin Zombie" or "Gogogo Golem"; or hell, Normal Summoning a "Gogogo Ghost", is a very solid way to get the ball rolling. Even if I do end up not wanting to use it at all, there’s always the option to ditch it for "Onomatopaira". So it’s not as detrimental as it is helpful, and topdecking it to fetch a trap in a pinch is always nice.

Consistency can always be an issue and "Pot of Duality" can help you with it, so even though it can Special Summons, it can set up your next turn plays!

Another interesting card I saw was "Rank-Up-Magic Limited Barian's Force" a card that has yet to have seen play in the current meta, but still an interesting choice so I asked,

You seem to be running an interesting tech in the deck, "Rank-Up-Magic Limited Barian's Force", how has it been working out for you and what CXyz's have you been summoning out the most from it?

Well, there are only 3 targets that I run in the Deck. "Rank-Up-Magic Limited Barian’s Force", while only restricted to summoning Number Cs, allows me to make a completely passive play (such as searching with "King of Feral Imps" or milling with "Lavalval Chain"), and then turn it into an offensive move with either a 3000 MST –Number C104, the one which gets summoned the most; a 2800 monster removal that is C101; or the ridiculously huge 4000 body that is the newly introduced Number C69: Heraldry Crest of Horror –which is on top of that an attack lock for some reason.

The card itself serves as bait if nothing else, and is live whenever I can make an Xyz, read almost anytime. The fact that in practical terms the card is either S/T or monster removal at will makes it a very versatile card once you get past the apparent -1.

And the deck can spam out Rank 4's without losing advantage which can makes the card much better overall!

And to finish our deck profile,

Finally, what do you think of Gogogo Zombies and what would you think of them being used for more competitive tournaments such as ARG's and YCS's. Could you see the deck topping any of them?

In short, no way. The Deck is very potent and can snowball on the opponent really fast as a toolbox, but without decent setup it’s bound to lose to anything that can kill it before it settles. I chose the deck out of personal feelings for it and loads of testing indicating it as a good choice –and of course the existence of Exciton. It’s incredibly easy to side against too, unfortunately. But the problem is simply that it relies in topdecking your 1-card plays almost entirely. Failing to do so without some sort of failsafe is really likely to kill you. And a competent player will see right through the way the deck plays, as it’s relatively straightforward.

So no, the Deck has little to no competitive niche whatsoever. Perhaps as a rogue deck.

It may not be as good for IRL play, but it sure did well in the YCML Tournament!

And that is all for this deck profile, we also took a picture of Marcos with his 3 combo cards from the deck, "Gogogo Giant", "Dododo Buster" and "Onomatopaira", who all combo together to start off the decks combos!

(Marcos with "Gogogo Giant", "Dododo Buster" and "Onomatopaira")