Gozuki

As opposed to yesterday’s card, Gozuki represents the release of a monster with higher potential than most cards ever have coming out of the gate. Meant to work in conjunction with Mezuki (which it does in spades), Gozuki is actually so much more than that.

Obviously the appeal at the moment is to use Gozuki in conjunction with the Shiranui monsters and provide some harmony between them and the rest of the good zombies, which generally aren’t fire types. And be assured, that’s exactly what Gozuki does. But since all of that is obvious, what I really want to point out is Gozuki’s amazing future potential. Off the top of your head, name the last level 7 or higher main-deck zombie that was released, excluding Erebus, who doesn’t really belong in a zombie deck. I’ll give you a minute to think about it.

…

You’re probably struggling. Why is that? Well, it’s because since the end of 2009, there has only been one! Vampire Vamp, last year along with Erebus, broke an immense gap in releases of high-level main-deck zombies. Doesn’t that make your head spin? And really, how long can that last? All monster types get revisited from time to time. It just so happens that zombies have been heavily beefed up by level 4 or lower monsters. And while there’s definitely benefit to special summoning one from the hand whenever Gozuki goes to the graveyard, there’s so much more potential to be had, if only Gozuki could get the real targets he craves. I love this card a lot and he should be a mainstay in zombie decks for at least a decade. But watch out when zombies finally get some real bosses. Gozuki could very well become an MVP.

Advanced: 4/5

Future Potential: 5/5

This is, I presume, a counterpart to Mezuki, although not as good.  It's a little bit like Armageddon Knight, but it has moderately better stats.  This card can dump non-DARK Zombies, but AK can dump non-Zombie DARK's.  The graveyard effect of this card is that you can summon a Zombie monster from your hand, but this doesn't give you card advantage at all.  It just gives you some extra field presence and life-point protection.  
 
It's a -1 unless you use its effect to dump Mezuki, but then again I can just use Foolish Burial to send whatever I want and not waste a summon.  Some Zombie players may want to run a copy if they really want to kickstart some graveyard combos, but without the incentive off card advantage, these combos will often be too elaborate to be worthwhile.
 
1.5

Gozuki

Todays card is A level 4 Earth Zombie, Mezuki's "brother", Gozuki. It has a respectable attack of 1700, and a solid pair of effects for a zombie deck.

Once per turn, you can send a zombie monster from your deck to the grave. And if Gozuki is sent to the grave for any reason, you can banish any zombie except Gozuki from the grave to special summon a zombie from your hand.

Straight away, it has synergy with itself and Mezuki. Being able to send a copy of itself to the grave for a special summon is great. And zombies love being in the grave.

But this monster really shines in Skull Servants. Send a Wightprince to the grave through Gozuki's first effect and then send a skull servant and lady in wight through prince's effect afterwards. It's a great set-up play for the King and thins the deck by 3 cards without any loss of advantage.

Advanced 5/5 in zombie decks. 2/5 in anything else