Ok, so this is my first post on this site and it is long, so please bear with me. I am really looking forward to your responses and advice. Thanks. I'll start off by saying that i am a zombie duelist, 100%. I've been playing since the game came out, and i've run a zombie deck since metal raiders was released. That's right, i've always been zombie, sure i ran some other decks on the side, but where my best cards and main focus went, was completely to zombies. How you might ask, well it wasn't easy. I started with castle of dark illusions, comboed with Pumpking the king of ghost. I also used Shadow ghoul, he was a favorite back then. Without pyramid turtle, book of life, call of mummy, vampire lord, and even a decent attack monster like ryu kokki or regenerating mummy, it was hard. Now not to be offensive, but did any of you so-called-zombie duelists use the deck before those modern convieniences were availible. No. I didn't think so, i mean i was using dragon zombie and armored zombies as my 4 star beatsticks. I even used the 13th grave, due to lack of good tributes, and back then you couldn't easily special summon them from your deck or graveyard. Why did i use them, because i love zombies, pure and simple. I used a deck with the monsters i loved, so i was happy, did it win? More than you would belive, i just used violet crystals, wastelands, and castles to boost them. 1 full castle's effect increases the zombie by 1000 points(if you think i'm wrong then look it up and check it out. When it's flipped it increases 200 on the spot, then for 4 more turns as well. So that comes out to 800, plus the 200 upon the initial flip) All aside, i've tried many and just about every zombie strategy since they were ever playable. I eventually ditched the pumpking and shadow ghoul, to just use castles in combination with my basic non-tributes. Since the dragon zombie, armored zombie, and 13th grave were the strongest basic zombies, and all 3 stars, i developed a gravity bind zombie boosting deck. Holding off my opponent while my monsters became very powerful. It was a well thought out strategy for back in the day, but pre-ban, the dark hole, raigeki, mystical space typhoons, heavy storms, and giant trunades would clear the field of turns worth the powered up zombies, so it was very hard to stay loyal to the undead. I stuck with them though. Anyway, now that you've had a little history lesson, you'll see that i need a near-perfect zombie deck(no deck is perfect, but a 9/10 would be nice). I am an advanced duelist, i don't play traditional because it kills originalty in decks, and i like to enter the OFFICIAL tournaments, so keep that in mind when rating and suggesting. My deck is built based off the new ban list. I can explain the thought and strategy to just about every card in it(I think long and hard when coming to formualte a zombie deck) My deck has so far proven very successful. My defeat was to a friend who beat an upper deck duelist (the employees who travel with the tournaments and duel against anyone who thinks they can take em) in the past. However I checked his rulings after on upper deck on some of the cards he used(because they sounded funny), and he had cheated or used a card's effect improperly more than once. Also i allowed my cockiness to get the better of me, because i saw him switch my life points with his halfway into the duel and i didn't say anything because i guessed i was gonna win anyways. All that aside, i need a deck that will win all the time(or at least all the matches) and is based off the new ban list/limited list. I have seen some metamorphisis zombie strategies out there, however whether you play traditional or advanced, metamorphises is limited to 1 now, so that strategy is pretty much shot to hell. I need an actual strategy that can be used or advice on how to improve my own. My strategy is the most successful zombie strategy out there; swarm. That is zombies power, the ability to swarm. Whether it's from the deck or from the graveyard. Here is my deck:

Monsters:(20)

Vampire lord(3)
Ryu kokki(2)
Despair from the dark
Pyramid turtle(3)
Spirit reaper(2)
Giant rat(2)
Decayed commander(2)
Tiger zombie(2)
exiled force
magician of faith
Morphing jar

Spell:(19)

Book of life(3)
Call of mummy(2)
Pre-mature
Lighting vortex
tribute of the Doomed
Nobleman of crossout
Dark hole
Wastelands
Creature swap
Brain control
Snatch steal
Swords of revealing light
Scapegoat
Heavy storm
Mystical space typhoon
Giant trunade

Trap:(2)

Call of the haunted
Torrential tribute

.... Well, I never noticed untill just now that I have only 2 traps and thinking on it I can't really find any more to put in that would help my strategy, my this is where you'll help. Now I'll explain a little. Zombies power lies in the graveyard and the ability to control it. Lighting vortex and tributes put high powered zombies in the graveyard. The books of life come in here along with the pre-mature and call of the haunted. Books of life also remove a monster from your opponent's graveyard, thus the books increase our control over the entire graveyard. So here's how it works, giant rat brings out pyramid turtle, decayed commander, zombie tiger, exiled force, and itself. Pyramid turtle brings out vlord, ryu kokki, spirit reaper, decayed commander, zombie tiger, and itself. With pot of greed and graceful gone, we'll need a way to speed up our decks, thus the turtle and rat. Creature swap to give turtle or rat to enemy and kill it for effect. Brain control and snatch steal to take opponet's monsters, i mean with alot of 1 tributes, this is helpful. Call of mummy helps to bring out high powered monsters easier and if i don't need it, it sure makes a great discard card for vortex and tibute to the doomed. Heavy storm, mystical space, and giant trunade help clear field for a deadly blow. Giant trunade also works in combo with pre-mature burial, because if you pre-mature a monster then play trunade; the monster won't die, thus allowing us a second pre-mature in the same move, followed by a clear magic/trap zone(oh the possiblities!) and it also grants us the power of rebirth from the grave, which helps the over all strategy. If you've ever seen the show, then you saw the episode when Joey dueld Bones. The show tells us that when zombies are brought back from the graveyard, they get a power boost. Now even though Call of the haunted doesn't have that effect in the real game and neither do zombies, konami has tried to show us that their strength truly lies in the graveyard. Fusioh Richie was the first attempt to show us and vampire genesis was the other attempt. Even if we don't use these cards, they still tell us the message from upper deck, that 3 books of life is a must in any zombie deck, and I'll Stand by that. Thats why it is unlimited, so we can have the true power of the zombie deck. Also, Card of safe return makes a great addition to a zombie deck, while others fail without the pot and graceful, we have been given the power to rule. With the turtles and rats, combined with Card of safe return and our incredible recursion power, we have the ability eat through our decks and get our ace cards early on, while other have to wait. Ex: Just imagine you have card of safe return active and you and your opponent are top decking. With 3 vlords, you should have 1 out pretty much the whole duel. Let's say they draw a fissure(hammer shot, smashing ground, etc.) and they kill vlord. You've got no cards. Your turn, with 3 BOOKS OF LIFE, your bound to get one when topdecking. Lets say you draw 1, vlord returns, you get another with Safe return. Play book of life, you get another, point is you had none and were top decking, and now you have 2 cards in your hand and 2 strong monsters on the field and a strategy reforming again. Point being, book of life is great card early on for boosted damage or for combos with the many you have availible and it's great for top decking later when life points are low, pre-mature won't help, but the book is free of cost. Also it plays to the whole strategy as well, with card of safe return it helps you make up for the loss of pot and graceful.
However, now you have an idea of my strategy of swarm. So i would like some suggestions on how to improve it and a rating as well please. Also, please base your suggestions off the new ban list and explaining them would be nice so I could see why you suggest the cards you do and how they coinherse with my deck.
Also F.Y.I: my side deck is the deckout zombie strategy. With 3 soul absorbing bone towers, 2 mystic tomatoes to help get the towers out quicker, robbin zombie, gravekeeper's servant, cyber jar, 3 needle worms, card destruction, Morphing jar, and 2 messengers of peace. Take the 3 soul absorbing bone towers, which are fairly easy to get out. That at least adds up 6 cards off their deck; with vlord's recurison, book of life, pyramid turtle, mystic tomato, and when they are special summoned to the field via turtle or tomato, their effect effects each other as well, so thats at least 2 out of the 6 cards i stated(most likely much more than 6 will be lost). Ok so 6 for the towers, 6 cards for open hand, 5 for the morphing jar, 5 for the cyber jar, 15 for the 3needle worms, at least 3 for robbin zombie, at least 3 for gravekeeper servant, at least 2 from the deck with vlord's effect(not to mention i have 3 vlords)= a grand total of 45 cards from the deck, not to mention cards drawn from turns and cards drawn from card destruction. It comes out to over 50 cards, now you tell me how many serious tournement decks have over 50 cards. All in all it's a good strategy as well, and i can switch between the 2, just in case one fails. But that's enough about me and my extra strategies, lets here what you all have to say. So thanks for reading this whole thing and please give me a productive response. Thank you Very Much:)

Wow, what a detailed excerpt of your zombie deck. I didn't read any of it (seeing as how I am a bit tired and not very good at helping decks), but it seems like you know a lot.

Anyhow, if you want to post you deck for people to help it I suggest you go here:

http://www.yugiohrealms.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=18

You know, just like everyone else (I noticed you commented on someone's deck, so please try to post your non-Japanese decks there please...).

Sorry if I seem hostile, that is not my intention.

Welcome here and hope you can find your way around here good enough, if not private message (PM) either me or someone else you find helpful to you.

If you are not sure about what to post where then look at what people are posting in the different forums and reading the headline on the top of each forum helps out too.

If you are going to post in General Discussion or Another Realm please make sure that you talk about stuff people can actively talk about (in other words don't talk about your local card shop having a 50% sale on newly banned cards, we don't live near you area (or at least the majority of us, you have to post stuff that the majority of the people here can discuss...) and it just takes up the space of a post that the majority of the people here can participate in).

Laters.