Goblin Zombie dropped from Semi-Limited to Unlimited.  Why?  In part because it’s best partners in crime are all still on the list: Dark Armed Dragon and Plaguespreader Zombie are still restricted to one copy per deck, and the Zombie enabler that was Card of Safe Return is still Forbidden.  This keeps it from being as easily abused as it was for a time, in Dark, Zombie, and of course Dark/Zombie decks.

 

Now, some of you are probably thinking “Goblin Zombie may not be so great for general Dark decks now, but it is still great for Zombie and even some non-Zombie decks.  Its tiny 1100 ATK and 1050 DEF are backed by one okay effect and one fantastic effect!”  Those effects, of course, are discarding the top card of your opponent’s deck when Goblin Zombie inflicts Battle Damage and how you can search your deck and add one Zombie-Type monster with 1200 or less DEF from your deck to your hand when Goblin Zombie is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, respectively.  To those people I say… good eye!  Goblin Zombie is a team player supreme, and while it works best in decks that focus on Dark/Zombies or at least Zombies, it meets that important “self-replacing” requirement when it’s popped by an effect or slain in battle.  Factor in that when used as Synchro or Tribute fodder it basically pays for itself and you have a card waiting to pile on advantage for its user.  This is one of those cards that might be balanced on its own but needs just a minimal boost to become too much.  However it’s probably going to stay Unlimited for a bit just because so many more high profile cards are hogging the spotlight and deck slots.

 

I somewhat question what exactly makes this card a “Goblin”: it looks more like an alien than your standard fantasy Goblin, even with Yu-Gi-Oh’s eccentric monster selection.  The art is pretty good unless it was supposed to look like a zombified Goblin monster.  I wondered if perhaps the effect is why it’s thought of as a Goblin, but then I remembered it is Robbin’ Zombie that discards from the deck so I still find the name to be “cool sounding but adequate”.

 

Ratings

 

Traditional: 2/5 

Advanced: 3/5 

Aesthetic: 3/5

 

I am still selling my former collectables on eBay.  I’ve had a lot of hobbies over the years, so at various times I’ll have comic books, manga, action figures, and video games on the auction block.  You can take a look at what’s up for bids here.  Just a reminder, Pojo is in no way responsible for any transactions and was merely kind enough to let me mention the auctions here. ;)