It’s no surprise: Zombie Decks are proving hugely popular in today’s field. With Stardust Overdrive, Hidden Arsenal, and the Warrior’s Strike Structure Deck all bringing new cards to the Zombie strategy, many Duelists are looking to take advantage of new combos and big opportunities that didn’t exist just one month ago.

The plan? Special Summon over and over, flooding the field with your mindless horde of zombies and unleash Synchro Summons by the fistful! “Shutendoji” from Stardust Overdrive brings this Deck extra draw power and some spectacular combos many Duelists may not see coming. “Hidden Armory” (from Warriors’ Strike) lets the Deck search for “D.D.R. – Different Dimension Reincarnation,” reusing the big monsters it removes from its Graveyard. And from Hidden Arsenal comes what may be the standout card of the weekend: “Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier.” Check out Anthony Kelly’s killer build:

If things are going Kelly’s way, his first few turns in any Duel will focus on setting up big plays with “Mystic Tomato” and “Goblin Zombie.” Kelly explains: “The Deck revolves around “Creature Swap,” and Tomato and Goblin. I can combo with those cards to take control of my opponent’s monsters, while gaining an advantage by destroying the Tomato or Goblin I send to my opponent.” Destroying his own Tomato after giving it to the opponent will let Kelly Special Summon monsters like “Plaguespreader Zombie,” “Krebons,” or even a companion “Goblin Zombie,” while the Goblin lets him search out key Zombie monsters like “Mezuki” and “Zombie Master.”

“After two to three turns of setup, I should be able to make plays with Plaguespreader, “D.D.R. – Different Dimension Reincarnation,” and “Mezuki.”” Once Kelly has gathered enough Zombies and cards that will let him Special Summon, he starts trading those cards up for Synchro Monsters. “Plaguespreader Zombie” and any Level 4 will let him bring out “Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier,” which is usually the starting point for this Deck’s craziness.

Brionac’s effect, which lets Kelly discard cards to bounce his opponent’s cards back to their hand, opens the doors in two ways. First, it gets cards that would interfere with his Summons and his attacks out of the way. Second, those discard costs help load the Graveyard with cards like “Mezuki” and “Plaguespreader Zombie.” Both monsters have powerful Special Summon effects, and both are valid targets for “Zombie Master’s” ability. Add in 3 copies of “Burial from a Different Dimension” to recycle his removed cards, and a “Goblin Zombie” or two to use as Synchro Material, and Kelly can turn just a few cards into a field packed with Synchros.

Imagine Kelly’s Graveyard has “Plaguespreader Zombie” and “Mezuki.” He removes “Mezuki” to Special Summon Plaguespreader, then Normal Summons “Goblin Zombie.” He tunes Plaguespreader to “Goblin Zombie” and Synchro Summons Brionac. Because “Goblin Zombie” went to the Graveyard, Kelly can search his Deck for another Zombie – his second “Mezuki”.

At this point Kelly has Summoned Brionac basically for free. He Special Summoned “Plaguespreader Zombie” with “Mezuki”s’ effect, and though he gave up “Goblin Zombie” as a Synchro Material, he searched out another card with Goblin’s ability. He can now discard the second “Mezuki” to pay for Brionac’s effect, removing something like a big monster or a threatening card in his opponent’s Spell & Trap Card Zone. With that “Mezuki” now in the Graveyard, he can remove it to bring back “Goblin Zombie,” then place a card on top of his Deck to Special Summon “Plaguespreader Zombie.” That lets him make another Level 6 Synchro Summon, and he’ll get to search for another monster with “Goblin Zombie.” Kelly’s made two Synchro Summons and replaced every card he used to do it.

From there, Kelly can use “Burial From a Different Dimension” to bring his “Mezukis” and “Plaguespreader Zombie” back to his Graveyard and make even more Special Summons. He runs “Armageddon Knight” too, giving him prime discard fodder for “Zombie Master” and Brionac while adding a defensive twist to his Burials. If he doesn’t have Burial at the ready, Kelly can Special Summon one of the monsters he removed via “D.D.R. – Different Dimension Reincarnation” – and he can pay for that card’s discard cost with the same combo cards he uses with Brionac and “Zombie Master.”

(Confused? That’s a lot of zombie madness going on. If you’re having trouble following, try putting together some of these cards and playing out the combos as practice.)

One of the Deck’s coolest combos comes from “Shutendoji.” Its first effect lets Kelly remove two Zombies from his Graveyard to draw a card. He can abuse that effect by removing monsters to draw, then sending them back to his Graveyard with “Burial From a Different Dimension.” But the real power of “Shutendoji” lies in its second effect, which can return a removed Zombie back to the top of the Deck. Kelly explained: “I decided to run “Shutendoji” because of his second effect. I can return “Mezuki” or “Plaguespreader Zombie” to the top of my Deck, then send it back to my Graveyard with “Hidden Armory.””

Take a moment and think about how well that works with “Mezuki.” Kelly can remove “Mezuki” for a Special Summon, send it back to his Deck with “Shutendoji,” send that “Mezuki” to his Graveyard with “Hidden Armory,” then remove “Mezuki” again for a second Special Summon. He’ll then net a third Special Summon as he brings “Mezuki” back with Dimension Reincarnation, and when “Mezuki” is eventually destroyed Kelly will get to use its effect a third time. It’s an awesome play that only needs “Mezuki” removed and “Hidden Armory” available. As far as Kelly’s hand is concerned it’s almost a 1-card combo.

The new cards from Stardust Overdrive, Hidden Arsenal, and Warriors’ Strike bring a ton of new tricks to Zombie Decks, and Duelists who have tested the strategy thoroughly are going to be pulling out a lot of cool combos other Duelists may not see coming. Zombies are one of the most explosive Decks in this tournament, and that power could take them to Day 2.