Differences between TCG and OCG - Zombie Synchro

Zombie Synchro. It's become more popular now that Brionac has been released in the TCG. There are some key differences which may make the TCG builds more of a hassle to deal with.

OCG builds usually just wait until they draw into their OTK, then proceed to win. There's not much else to discuss with that.

As opposed to the OCG, though, many Zombie Synchro decks I've seen have the Destiny Draw engine in them. That gives them more draw power.

The use of Malicious allows for easy access to Stardust Dragon, which allows them to protect their big plays. Since many people are conservative about their back row (or just don't have enough cards to deal with a Stardust and a flurry of Synchro Summons), it seems to be quite an effective strategy.

What I'm looking at to combat TCG Zombie Synchro decks is either making your big plays first or having a way to deal with Stardust Dragon and an established field, if you survive the turn.

Making your big plays first can be very possible with Lightsworn decks. Blackwing decks have the potential to do this, but it seems that recent builds have become control decks that rely on Black Whirlwind for their Monsters.

For Gladiator Beasts, they'll have to make preemptive plays. If they can draw into a bunch of control cards and a Gladiator Beast to control the game, it seems simple. However, Gladiator Beasts lose card advantage quite quickly, the way they're being played.

In a mirror match, it's whoever can take control of the game first. If you've got your Stardust Dragon, Dark Armed Dragon, and Solemn Judgment down, you've basically won. Hmm, maybe that's why Solemn Judgment was Limited...

So, how can you mess up a Zombie Synchro player's well-established field? I can't think of anything realistic for most decks. There's always the double Judgment Dragon thing for Lightsworn, but not much else for other decks.

The thing is that that was how it was BEFORE Brionac. Newer builds may change to be more OTK-oriented now that Brionac has been released. By the way, word is that Brionac isn't going to be Limited right away, unlike Gorz.

So, it appears to me that Zombie Synchro might become the dominant deck of the new meta. It seems to be pretty consistent, too. For those of you rich enough to blow hundreds of dollars on a Zombie Synchro deck, feel free to do so. For those of you, like me, who aren't, let's wait for the next ban list.

Now that I think about it, Mezuki getting Limited (again) may not have that much of an impact on TCG Zombie Synchro decks. It may, if TCG builds become more OTK-oriented and reliant on Mezuki. Only time (and maybe the upcoming Shonen Jump Championship) will tell...