Stats: Gravekeeper’s Assailant is one of the two key Gravekeeper’s for the preferred beatdown version of the deck (as the burn version jus doesn’t seem too potent enough).  What makes this card so potent?  Not really his stats: like most other useful Gravekeepers, the Assailant is a Level 4 Dark/Spellcaster.  Again, this is a very good mixture-Dark Monsters have some solid support, and can off course be used as Chaos Food.  Spellcasters have few “anti-type” cards, but multiple specific bonus cards.  That is, there are things that give them goodies, but nothing that expressly smacks them down.  Moving on, we see a 1500 ATK and a 1500 DEF.  On their own, these would be somewhat weak stats, though at least a monster that can be searched and brought out of your deck into hand by both Sangan and Witch of the Black Fore, or searched out from your deck and Special Summoned by Mystic Tomato and Gravekeeper’s Spy.  Now consider that with Necrovalley in play, this card becomes a 2000/2000 monster that is good at keeping up the attack or holding the defensive line.  Plus, there is a limited, but beneficial effect.

Effect(s): The bad news is that this monster’s effect can only be used when Necrovalley is on the field.  Also, the trigger to the effect is when you declare an attack, which can also be a problem (if you can’t attack, you can’t use the effect).  The effect is pretty sweet though: when you do declare an attack, you may choose an opponent’s face up monster and change it’s battle position-either from ATK to DEF mode or vice versa.  This is part of what allows a Gravekeeper deck to maintain control; make sure you opponent’s monsters are put in the worst position possible.  Most beatsticks are high ATK, low DEF.  This let’s you walk all over them.  Jinzo on the field?  Attack, shift it to DEF mode, and mow it down.  Opponent activates Scape Goat when you attacked?  No worries-that would trigger a re-play (since the number of monsters on the opponent’s side of the field changed).  That means Assailant gets to redo his attack, meaning he gets to use his effect.  That means you can shift a Sheep Token into ATK position to make it act like it wasn’t even there.

Uses/Combinations: This card works best with tomorrow’ card, by maximizing the ways you can abuse your opponent’s monsters’ battle positions. As is, it’s just a great, all around monster with Necrovalley on the field.  There is one good combo for it though-Ceasefire.  Gravekeeper’s decks run almost pure Gravekeeper’s Monsters.  Gravekeeper’s decks also tend to excel at swarming.  Now toss in a Ceasefire, and you have some easy burn.  That also means that all of your opponent’s monsters will be face-up, and legal to change their positions, like most weak, supporting effect monsters (Sangan, Cyber Jar, Spirit Reaper, etc.).  It let’s you get good burn while setting up for the beatdown.

Ratings

Just a quick reminder, these scores are for use in an actual Necrovalley deck.  Again, this goes against how I used to rate cards, or else I wouldn’t even mention it.

Casual: 4/5, 4.25/5 with bans, 4.5/5 with October 1^st bans.  This card can just dominate the competition, unless they have exceptional ATK and DEF scores.  As I stated earlier, as long as you can maintain your Necrovalley on the field, the monsters that are normally favored (high ATK/low DEF) for their ability to be easily searched out now become liabilities.  The current ban list helps since it makes it a touch easier to keep both monster and Field Spell in play.  The October 1^st bans make this pretty sick, allowing you to deal with a lot of threats the following turn.

Tournament: 3.75/5, 4/5 with bans, 4.25/5 with October 1^st bans.  As usual, just a little off since the competition is much more refined here.

Limited: 3/5-Without Necrovalley, it’s just a solid Monster that happens to be a Gravekeeper.  Yes, here 1500/1500 on a Level 4 is solid.

Summary

If its effect didn’t need Necrovalley, this would be the equal of tomorrow’s Gravekeeper and surpass Gravekeeper’s Chief.