Name: Gravekeeper’s Descendant

Attribute: Dark

Level: 4

Type: Spellcaster/Effect

ATK: 1500

DEF: 1200

 

If you haven’t seen this card’s artwork, we see a suspiciously familiar looking blonde Gravekeeper.  Gravekeeper’s Descendant thankfully falls into the classical Gravekeeper mold.  He is Dark, opening up a wide world of support.  He is a Level 4 Monster, so he’s easy to drop into play.  He is a Spellcaster, adding some decent tricks to get him into play.  He has 1500 ATK, which means just about every major search card tied into his stats works: Sangan, Mystic Tomato, Gravekeeper’s Spy, Magician’s Circle, etc.  The 1200 DEF is passable: at least it takes something more than a Krebon to take him out in battle.  You can boost his stats with Necrovalley and/or Gravekeeper’s Priestess, which easily ups him into beatstick territory.

 

Gravekeeper’s Descendant has a simple but useful effect: sacrifice another Gravekeeper monster to destroy 1 card your opponent controls.  Obviously the major restriction is what you have to sacrifice: no pulling an Exiled Force and sacrificing itself, or using Scapegoat the turn before so you can trade it for four of your opponent’s cards.  It is hardly a problem, but you should note that you can’t destroy something you control.  Pretty rare that you’d want to do that, but it does happen.

 

Gravekeeper’s decks had a minor amount of monster removal in the past from Gravekeeper’s Guard, but it was only bounce.  Now they have actual destruction and can hit the backfield.  Spent copies of Gravekeeper’s Spy and Gravekeeper’s Guard are more useful than ever now.  The notorious Gravekeeper capacity for swarming can now be used to clear the field

 

As you can tell I like this card.  I’ve always been fond of Gravekeeper’s decks, and have experimented with them, including the less seen burn variant.  Here this card makes it easier to maintain control, and creates a good partner for Gravekeeper’s Cannonholder:  Use Inferno Reckless Summon on a Special Summoned Gravekeeper’s Curse in triplicate.  Normally, you’d then launch all of them with Cannonholder for a total of 3600 points of burn damage.  Now you can alternatively settle for 1500 points of burn, then at worst kill off the two monsters your opponent got off of Inferno Reckless Summon and the original.  If your opponent didn’t get any Monsters out of Inferno Reckless Summon, you can generate a lot of advantage.

 

Ratings

 

Traditional: 3/5 – Thanks to Necrovalley being anti-meta and yesterday’s card being so hard to kill, Gravekeeper’s Descendant has a home in Traditional.

 

Advanced: 4/5 – Clearly a rating for use in Gravekeeper’s decks, where you should have at least one copy in your main deck, probably two so you have a back-up.  Three is overkill, though mostly because you need room for other great Gravekeeper’s monsters and support.

 

Summary

 

Marik… I mean Gravekeeper’s Descendant is a great card for any Gravekeeper’s deck: beatdown, control, burn, or any combination will still value the ability to destroy opposing Monsters, Spells, and Traps.  With Necrovalley to boost his stats and deny your opponent access to most Graveyard effects, he’ll even be able to whack them upside the head for good measure.