Todays COTD and this throwback thursday is Necrovalley, the perfect example of power creep. Recently reprinted and erratad in Duelist Saga, Necrovalley holds the title for being the only card that Konami can't decide on how it actually works.
 
The 7th time around however, Necrovalley sports 4 separate effects. Firstly, all Gravekeeper's gain 500 attack and defense. Second and Third, no cards can be banished from the graveyard and any effects that move a card in the grave elsewhere are negated. And lastly Necrovalley now negates any effect that changes types or attributes in the grave.
 
In the past, Necrovalley has always boosted Gravekeepers and prevented banishing cards from the graveyard, but the remainder of its effects are always in a state of flux, dependant on the state of the game at the time. Negating the change of types and attributes is new though, but still not quite the Necrovalley that the OCG is enjoying.
 
A solid boost for Gravekeeper decks, and splashable as counters for any decks that revolve around the graveyard. Paleozoics, Dark World and Infernoids all get hurt by this field spell. Easily searched through Terraforming and Gravekeeper's Commandant, it still suffers the same vulnerability that the majority of field spells do, it is very prone to destruction.
 
4/5 Not quite there just yet, but close. Maybe its 8th printing will give us the true Necrovalley.

Now, this is a true classic.  It's never been a bad card.  It was a defining card in many ways.  I think it's the beginning of what eventually made Konami change the field spell rule.  It was the first Field Spell Card to do more than just boost stats but also have a control-like effect.  A Legendary Ocean was first, but Necrovalley had a disruption-type effect, a focused archetype and a much larger stat boost.  Spy/Guard having 2400-2500 DEF and Spear/Assailant being 2000 ATK beaters was insane.  Although, Necrovalley was very vulnerable to spell/trap removal (and still is today).  Gravekeepers had their second prime a few years ago, but are now a rogue deck again.  Even as revival is more common than ever, Necrovalley is too predictable, very easy to stop, only counters against one form of play, prevents the player from tampering with their graveyard and limits the player to using an unstable stun build or the Gravekeeper archetype which is quite vulnerable.

2/5 (by today's standards, but it will always be a higher number in my heart)

Hello Pojo Fans,
 
Necrovalley remains a solid side deck option.
 
Gravekeeper's love it because of Royal Tribute and the 500ATK/DEF boost it gave their Spellcasters, everyone else loves it for the lock down it imposes on the graveyard.
 
No banishing from the grave, no Special Summoning from the grave, and no pulling stuff out of the grave, it is a literal undisturbed tomb. You can still activate cards that banish things from the field/hand like with Fairy Tail – Snow, but if you do not banish Necrovalley with her effect she will not be Special Summoned. However, certain monsters can pull themselves out of the “tomb”, like Infernoid Onuncu, as long as you banish from the hand. Paleozoics are stopped by this card, as well as any monster that tries to pull itself out of the grave like Glow-Up Bulb. No Soul Charge, no Call, no Miracle Fusion, etc. So many cards are stopped by Necrovalley, and with the amount of cards that try to pull from the grave or Special Summon make it a great card to use in the game.
 
If you can play around it, you should be using it in the side deck. If you have a deck that doesn't use stuff in the grave, you should probably main it. It is a Field Spell, so it can be searched, and, since it has to stay on the field it will be vulnerable to all destruction effects, but that doesn't take away from how good the card is. 
 
Advanced-4/5
Art-4/5
 
Until Next Time

Necrovalley has had so many text changes that I'm going to copy and paste from yugiohwikia It's a Field Spell. All "Gravekeeper's" monsters gain 500 ATK and DEF. Cards in the Graveyard cannot be banished. Negate any card effect that would move a card in the Graveyard to a different place. Negate any card effect that changes Types or Attributes in the Graveyard. So first thing to notice is that it costs nothing to activate. Gravekeeper monsters get a stat boost. Then things get interesting. No more grave banishing. Not for costs nor for effects. Then only effects get negated if they would move cards in the grave or change types or attributes in the grave. If I'm reading this correctly, monsters that need to go to the grave to activate their effects will still resolve properly. For instance, Shaddoll Falco won't work, but Shaddoll Beast should work. Gravekeeper decks have always been anti-meta, but this card is usually also a Side Deck staple on its own. Outright grave control for even one turn can severely cripple certain decks. As such, own 3 for when you play a deck that doesn't need the grave to surprise your opponent.   

Score: 4/5
Art: 4/5 Awesome right does to the name.  

-WarlockBlitz