This article is going to be a little bit different than my other Gauntlet articles. It’s not going to be just an article about the deck; it’ll also be a tourney report. This is going to probably be the largest Goat Format article I’ve ever written (and probably the longest article I’ve written ever), but I really like Gravekeepers and I think that with some tweaking the deck can definitely be relevant in the format especially with the way that people play Goat Format today.
I enjoy taking bad decks and trying to make them good. It’s fun and it’s a great challenge especially in a static format such as Goat Format. Gravekeeper’s aren’t as rogue as some other decks, but they’re definitely underwhelming especially since the only deck that topped back in 2005 (or ever) was built entirely for an older meta that has decidedly shifted. But since that’s the only Gravekeeper deck that topped, it’s usually where everyone – including myself – goes for inspiration.
I’m speaking, of course, about Daryl Gessler’s build from Shonen Jump Indianapolis in 2005 (just use Ctrl+F to search “Gessler” on that list and you’ll find it). Daryl, I think, really built a solid deck to counter the metagame he was going up against, but the meta has shifted, and this requires us to take a new approach to account for new card choices and newer theory – and also newer decks.
Before I get to my build, I want to start with some things that I liked and also did not like about Daryl’s build.
Likes:
Book of Moon at three
This is, I think, an underrated decision (and a great one). Its main synergy with Gravekeeper’s Spy is quite obvious, and considering you have multiple targets for Spy to summon, reusing Spy via Book of Moon or Tsukuyomi is viable. More importantly, an attack position Spy is not a liability with Book of Moon; instead, if your opponent attacks it, Book turns Spy into a 2500 DEF wall with Necrovalley up and nets you another Gravekeeper monster while also dealing damage. This is a great move in the deck even if Necrovalley is not active, as there are few non-tribute monsters that can get over Spy’s 2000 DEF. Book of Moon is also one of the best counters to Thousand-Eyes Restrict that the deck has outside of Tsukuyomi. This is perhaps the biggest reason for Book at 3.
Forty-two card main deck
This is something that is almost unheard of now, but back in 2005 going over 40 was sometimes deemed necessary considering how many power cards were available for use. Fitting all those into an archetype-based deck like Gravekeepers is a challenge in and of itself, and Daryl took to playing two more cards in his main deck as opposed to cutting something else out. This is a feature that we may need to look at when constructing modern Goat Format Gravekeepers, if for no other reason than “it worked once, why not twice.” While it’s usually best to keep your deck at 40 cards, sometimes going over can work if the cards you put in are worth it.
Morphing Jar
I’m not as big a proponent of this card as some others, but it does have its uses, and in a deck that struggles to maintain numerical advantage, Morphing Jar can be a lifesaver. Its best use is arguably when you have the initiative to take control of the field (of if you already have control of it), because you can flip it, reset your hand, and turn the momentum you establish into damage and maintain it via continual pressure. It can also act as good bait for Nobleman if you’ve already shown you’re playing Gravekeepers. Protecting Spy is more important than protecting Jar 90% of the time in Gravekeepers, I feel, so it can be good bait and help protect your Spies from getting banished. I’ll talk about this more in subsequent sections.
No Sakuretsu Armor
The deck simply doesn’t need Saku since it has triple Book of Moon and triple Spy. Not playing it in 2005 isn’t surprising, but even today I feel that no Sakuretsu Armor is the right call in Gravekeepers as there are many other defensive options at our disposal, and the deck doesn’t want to play defense any more than it has to anyway.
Dislikes:
All the one-of’s. Let’s go point by point:
Tsukuyomi
I can kind of see only using one because you have triple Book of Moon, but I’d rather have two Tsukuyomi and triple Book of Moon since the deck is heavily reliant on field control. Tsuk is a reusable way of dealing with TER and reusing Spy. This makes it invaluable. Book of Moon is a better option on the opponent’s turn, but Tsuk is better in most every other instance.
Mystic Tomato
I’m going to go on the record and say that I think recruiters are overrated in Goat Format. If you’re playing recruiters you’re almost required to play Creature Swap and multiple recruiters. One Tomato in Gravekeeper’s just isn’t enough I found. He is most powerful at three where he can dig for your Gravekeeper beaters after Necrovalley is out, but most good players simply won’t let that happen. This renders Tomato as an inferior option in a deck that has multiple ways of putting monsters on the field.
Sinister Serpent
I feel this card isn’t necessary in the deck. While card advantage is important, it does not warrant cutting other cards out of the deck simply to try to run Serpent. Plus, cutting Serpent often means being able to cut Tribe-Infecting Virus, which I also do not think is useful in the deck. Delinquent Duo does hurt more without Serpent, but on the whole Serpent doesn’t contribute much to field presence and without Metamorphosis he loses even more utility.
Lightning Vortex
With triple Spear Soldier this card is almost unnecessary. Vortex’s main use was to clear Scapegoats and problem monsters while also putting pressure on the opponent’s Life Points., but there are still better ways of dealing with your opponent’s monsters than a card that forces you to discard for cost. The main discard was Sinister Serpent, and if we don’t play Serpent, Vortex can likely be cut as well considering we have no other good cards to discard.
Swords of Revealing Light
I don’t like Swords but I can understand why it was used here. Being able to stall until you can draw the cards you need to grab the initiative is useful, but if you’re in a position where you have to stall with Swords you’re likely on the losing side of the duel, and Swords likely won’t help you overcome that advantage gap. Being more aggressive should help more in that regard.
Lack of aggression
When I tested Gessler’s build I found that it had to play passively until it found an opening. Oftentimes the deck had to set Gravekeeper’s Spy to try to get the engine going even with the threat of Nobleman of Crossout still in the air. Without any other major power plays, flipping Spy to get another Gravekeeper is the go-to play, and in this build losing Spy often meant losing the game. Something to keep in mind with Gravekeepers is the fact that the deck has to opt not to play certain good cards to fit the engine. Cards such as Delinquent Duo, Airknight Parshath, and Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning simply do not work in Gravekeepers. This means that we have to make up for that loss, and to be fair those are big, big cuts for the deck to overcome.
The problem with playing passively with Gravekeepers is the fact that this is what the opponent expects. Without power cards such as Metamorphosis, threats such as Thousand-Eyes Restrict are not a threat at all. Without Airknight, opponents only have to deal with a 2000 ATK beater at worse, and all they need to do to get past that is to destroy Necrovalley. A smart player will use Necrovalley to their advantage if they can and destroy it once they can firmly establish momentum; therefore, playing passively and trying to stop them from doing it simply isn’t an option. Gravekeepers just don’t have the powerful swing cards at their disposal. With a more aggressive approach – which I discuss below – the deck should be able to maintain board presence enough to make up its lack of numerical advantage generators.
No My Body as a Shield
I’m going to explain more about this card when I talk about my Gravekeeper deck, but let me just say that if you’re not playing My Body in Gravekeeper’s you’re doing it wrong. I can’t speak for Daryl Gessler’s decision to not include it in his build, but I’ve found that My Body is easily the MVP Spell of Gravekeepers after Necrovalley.
Too focused on “staple” Spells
Daryl played Delinquent Duo which in testing I found to be horrible in the deck. This runs counter to over a decade of established theory about the format, but we must keep in mind that Gravekeepers have never been a legitimate threat in Goat Format to begin with. Clearly, “established” theory is not helping this deck win. This gives us some flexibility when it comes to the inclusion – or exclusion – of so-called staples, because what’s going to happen, we make the deck worse? Regarding Duo, when I tested the Gessler build I found that there was never a time I actually wanted to play it because I felt that it simply didn’t do enough. It’s not enough to simply try to discard potential threats; we have to play through them in an effort to to establish the tempo we want to play at while also being able to react to threats as they arise. In this way we force the opponent to play by our rules.
Lack of flexibility
Ultimately the biggest problem with Gessler’s build is the overall lack of flexibility. Many players know how to deal with Gravekeepers instinctively because it’s one of the oldest archetypes in the game and because the archetype itself is rather linear in its style. In Goat Control it’s even more linear in that you only have three archetype monsters that are actually viable in a competitive environment. Therefore, aside from dealing with the rest of the deck – which any Goat player should be intimately familiar with – they only have to focus on four cards: the three Gravekeeper monsters and Necrovalley. With how much the game has changed, approaching the deck with the same old theory just isn’t going to cut it, and after testing with Gessler’s build I came to the conclusion that there had to be another approach, a way to still play those Gravekeeper monsters and Necrovalley and be able to capitalize on them without having to play too linear a game.
This has been my focus – finding a different way to play the deck. In theory, the following decklist covers all the deck’s weaknesses and gives it quite a few new tricks to help overcome the inevitable loss of card advantage. Note that I say in theory. In theory, the deck wants to establish its own unique tempo early and disrupt the opponent’s timing. This is important; tempo contributes greatly to field presence, and if you can play at the tempo you want instead of having to continually wrest it from your opponent, you’ll stand a better chance of winning the game. It’s vital to keep momentum and initiative on your side through setting the tempo early. As such, I wanted to move away from the slow, reactionary style the deck has traditionally promoted and take a more aggressive, proactive approach.
The following list is the decklist that I took to a tournament this past weekend. I managed second place with it, which – when you consider that the entire deck is built around theory, and I had rather limited time to test it, isn’t bad. Of course, one locals isn’t really enough data to say that the deck is solved, and I’m certainly not making that claim here. In fact, there are some changes I would make to the deck and I will highlight them as I go along and then post an updated version below. So, if you just want the most up-to-date build of mine, scroll down near the bottom. But for now, here’s the deck I had constructed and decided to play in the most recent Goat Format tournament in my area.
Anteaus’ Gravekeeper’s (Pre-Tourney)
Monsters: 18
2x D.D. Assailant
1x D.D. Warrior Lady
2x Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive
3x Gravekeeper’s Assailant
1x Gravekeeper’s Guard
2x Gravekeeper’s Spear Soldier
3x Gravekeeper’s Spy
1x Morphing Jar
1x Mystic Swordsman LV2
2x Tsukuyomi
Spells: 15
3x Book of Moon
1x Graceful Charity
1x Heavy Storm
3x My Body as a Shield
1x Mystical Space Typhoon
3x Necrovalley
1x Pot of Greed
1x Reinforcement of the Army
1x Terraforming
Traps: 7
1x Mirror Force
1x Ring of Destruction
2x Rite of Spirit
2x Solemn Judgment
1x Torrential Tribute
Side deck: 15
3x Mobius the Frost Monarch
1x Tribe-Infecting Virus
1x Sinister Serpent
3x Metamorphosis
2x Bottomless Trap Hole
3x Royal Decree
2x Threatening Roar
Anteaus’ (Pre-Tourney) Gravekeeper’s Explained
Okay, so first thing’s first, we have to talk about the monsters, notably the Gravekeeper ratios, the inclusion of the Warrior Toolbox, and several of the cards we have excluded.
Let’s start with the Gravekeeper monsters and then move on to the support. Gessler’s build ran a 3-3-3 ratio of Spy/Assailant/Spear Soldier, but I’ve dropped a Spear Soldier in favor of a Guard. The reason why is the fact that the deck runs five cards that can flip monsters face-down, so having another Gravekeeper that Spy can pull into defense position is invaluable. In today’s format, Gravekeeper’s Guard can be a powerful way to clear the board of problem monsters, notably tributes such as Airknight Parshath and Jinzo.
Also, after testing a 3-2-1 ratio of Spy/Assailant/Spear Soldier, I learned that there simply weren’t enough targets to reuse Spy effectively, and flooding the field became a lot harder. However, with a 3/3/3 ratio, I find my hands tend to be flooded with Gravekeeper monsters, which is a problem because Spy can’t summon them from hand. As such, I want them in the deck more than in my hand.
I originally thought that Spear Soldier would be best at one because of how easy he was to get out. With Spy to fetch him and Rite of Spirit to get him back, I assumed he would often be on the field. Instead, I found that one copy made Spy less powerful and forced a reliance on Gravekeeper’s Assailant, which is just a 1500 ATK monster without Necrovalley. Spear Soldier can pierce if Necrovalley isn’t on the field, which is a huge advantage in modern Goat Format. It’s really one of the best monsters that Gravekeepers have in Goat Format.
Moving on to the support, Dekoichi is a really good card in the deck that I originally overlooked. I learned, however, that he’s too good in the deck to not include. For starters, he can suck up an opponent’s Nobleman of Crossout, thus protecting your main Flip monster, Gravekeeper’s Spy. This is also decent deck thinning, and that was a reason I originally thought of using him at three. However, Dekoichi at three makes the deck play too passive, in my opinion. I’d rather have his effect go off rather than have him hit by a Nobleman, but it’s not the end of the world if he gets banished. As such, he’s a solid opening set because if his effect does go off, you get to draw a card, and if not, that’s one Nobleman down so you can usually set Spy relatively safely. He’s also solid at 1400 ATK and can poke for incremental damage if your opponent can’t get rid of it right away. But the fact that he nets a plus if destroyed by battle is a really strong play in a deck that doesn’t have many resource generators to begin with, especially since we have to eschew cards like Airknight Parshath and Delinquent Duo.
The Warrior Toolbox is also a great addition because Gravekeeper’s thrive on field presence and the toolbox oozes presence. This is seen very well in D.D. Assailant – I’ve discussed why I like it so much in other places, and you should definitely take a minute and read about it if you haven’t. Essentially, D.D. Assailant serves as a solid normal summon that can get rid of threats that aren’t named Thousand-Eyes Restrict, notably Airknight Parshath and sub-1900 ATK beaters like Kycoo and Enraged Battle Ox.
While I usually don’t like D.D. Warrior Lady, she is more versatile in this build than Exiled Force, another card I considered using, because we can’t run Premature Burial or Call of the Haunted. Those two cards give Exiled Force a lot of extra power since you can get rid of problem monsters at any time if Exiled Force is in the grave, but since Necrovalley renders those cards useless, Exiled becomes inaccessible once he’s in the grave. As such, I’ve found that allocating that normal summon to D.D. Warrior Lady gives you an out to monsters that D.D. Assailant does not, notably Sangan, Sinister Serpent, and the various recruiter cards such as Mystic Tomato. She can also act as a wall in ways that Exiled can’t. In this way she is more versatile than Exiled Force and a worthy addition to the deck.
A card that I was really debating not playing was Mystic Swordsman LV2, but after extensive theory and testing I realized that it’s something the deck needs because we don’t have room for Nobleman of Crossout (and we don’t really want to run it anyway with Spy being a common side deck card). While Swordsman is a situational card, as its power is greatest against specific matchups, notably Burn, Tsuk Lock and Empty Jar, it gains a lot of power against Standard Goats thanks to Necrovalley. This is why we don’t have to play Nobleman – we have Mystic Swordsman. Swordsman also contributes to field presence and it makes your opponent unable to set against him until they clear him off the board. And the way they do that is by attacking him, leaving their own monster vulnerable to any counterattack you can make. In this way, Mystic Swordsman LV2 helps us maintain a steady tempo by forcing the opponent to attack it and thus putting themselves in a disadvantageous position while also clearing up two slots in our deck by rendering Nobleman of Crossout unnecessary.
The deck, however, needs two copies. I originally thought one would be enough because of Reinforcement of the Army; however, Swordsman definitely puts in work. At one, he often goes to grave quickly, and once he’s in grave he becomes inaccessible. As such, I really feel that two is the better option.
Now then, Morphing Jar. I really, really hate Morphing Jar. I originally thought that it would act as a great trump card and that he would definitely fit in Gravekeepers well. However, I found that games often devolved into a top deck war as the opponent has to spend vital resources outing your monsters. My thinking was that it can not only bait out Nobleman, which is great for protecting Spy, but it can also reset the game in terms of numerical advantage. But, like always, I found I rarely if ever wanted to use it for either. Opponents with big hands in the mid game often are sitting on useless cards, so pitching them just gives them five new options. If you’re sitting pretty in board presence and your hand count is low, but they’re locked out, why flip Jar? It made no sense. In the tourney I often regretted playing him as he often either sat dead in hand because I was in a good spot or he was outed.
The two copies of Tsukuyomi are included for reusing Spy and also because he can take care of problem monsters. Most big beaters have high ATK and low DEF, which plays well to Gravekeeper’s strengths if you can put them face-down. Note too that Tsukuyomi is a one-card out to Thousand-Eyes Restrict. Having two is rarely a problem and, at worst, you can set it to bait out a Nobleman.
In terms of Spells, the lineup is fairly simple. Three copies of Necrovalley are a must, of course. However, I found that two copies of Terraforming was actually not that great. I often found myself holding Terraforming and Necrovalley, and after a point that second Terraforming ended up being just another useless card. Useless cards are bad in Goat Format. After extensive testing I’ve realized that it really is best at just one copy.
Moving on. I originally had two copies of Reinforcement of the Army in here, but one is really all the deck needs. It gives you quite a number of options for a variety of situations and can act as a pseudo Nobleman of Crossout since it can fetch Mystic Swordsman LV2. I rarely wished I ran a second copy, though right now I’m still on the fence about it. Really, you could play two especially since I think that two copies of Swordsman is the way to go.
Pot of Greed and Graceful Charity are staples. Graceful loses a bit of power since you don’t have a Sinister Serpent to combo it with, but two copies of Rite of Spirit in the Trap lineup help make Gravekeeper monsters in your hand accessible in grave. As such, it’s still included. Delinquent Duo is absent from the build mostly because you’re not going to find yourself in many situations where it will help. Unlike in Standard Goats, Gravekeeper’s cannot hope to win the numerical advantage war, so Duo becomes less powerful. Instead, the focus shifts to controlling the field and not the hand. We want the opponent to commit resources to the board, preferably at inopportune times. In this way we maintain the tempo we need to win and force the opponent to play the game the way we want to play it.
Heavy Storm is included for backrow removal. Unlike Giant Trunade Heavy Storm destroys backrow, and while it may seem counterintuitive considering the deck needs Necrovalley, running what is essentially four copies of our field spell allows us to use Heavy Storm, so long as we play it right. Those copies of Necrovalley can actually make Heavy Storm more potent more often, because opponents will often set more backrow knowing that a Gravekeeper player wants to protect Necrovalley. In this way you can catch your opponent committing too many resources to the board and punish them for assuming their backrow was safe.
This brings us to Book of Moon and My Body as a Shield. I touted Book of Moon at three when I was talking about the Gessler Build and I stand by what I said. I think that three copies of Book of Moon and two copies of Tsukuyomi are the way to go considering we don’t run any battle traps except for Mirror Force and we have few answers to big threats like Thousand-Eyes Restrict.
My Body as a Shield is a perfect counter to Nobleman of Crossout and one of the main cards you want to see alongside a flip effect monster. I was originally playing two copies, but I found myself always wishing for a third, even with its high LP cost. Most of the time your opponent won’t be dealing you much battle damage, and since My Body as a Shield has so many uses three copies is absolutely perfect. In addition to stopping Nobleman, MBaaS can stop Mystic Swordsman LV2, Lightning Vortex, Smashing Ground, as well as traps like Mirror Force, Sakuretsu Armor, Torrential Tribute and Ring of Destruction. It puts in most work against Mirror Force, which is perhaps the most powerful card it can counter. This allows us to both summon with monsters already on board and attack with a full board without fear. I feel that it is simply too good not to run at three.
The traps are pretty standard. Rite of Spirit is the go-to recursion card. Space concerns demand that we leave it at two, as it is often dead in the early game but is a great trump card in the mid game. When I first tested it at three I often found I would open it early, as it’s definitely best reserved for mid-to-late-game pushes. However, in practice, especially with six Gravekeeper monsters now, the card is definitely more versatile than I originally thought. Three is probably the way to go, and dropping something like Solemn Judgment down to one is probably the way to go.
Dust Tornado is a card I initially had at two, but with My Body as a Shield (as well as double Solemn Judgment) I found it was almost always easier to just attack through backrow and negate it than to blow it up at End Phase. In this way we catch the trap cards we want to catch, not just blindly blow up backrow. We don’t want to waste our cards, which is why Mystical Space Typhoon and Breaker the Magical Warrior are excluded as well – I’d rather stop specific threats by negating them once they get flipped.
Solemn Judgment is incredibly important not nearly as important as I thought. While Solemn can stop the destruction of Necrovalley and help protect your monsters, notably Spy, from your opponent’s battle traps, I found it rarely was used for that purpose. My thinking was that since Gravekeeper’s can’t win the numbers war, they have to secure the field, and it’s established that Solemn is one of the best ways to do that. However, the LP cost is tremendously high and I often found myself not wanting to activate it. At two I saw it too often I felt, and I’m starting to think that one copy is the way to go. However, one copy only stops one card, and it will often be left for the late game or to protect backrow from Heavy Storm. I think another good option would be to drop Solemn entirely and simply run an extra copy of Reinforcement of the Army and a third Rite of Spirit.
Now, the side deck.
Ugh, I hated this side deck (sorry, Cam). In theory it would help against specific matchups and give me outs to plenty of threats. Mobius went in against a lot of things and it did help, so I don’t recommend cutting it completely. But three was too many.
Metamorphosis is freaking useless in the deck, even in the side. So was Tribe and Serpent. Screw those cards in Gravekeepers, they aren’t useful enough to warrant playing when space is so tight and the main is built as it is.
Bottomless Trap Hole saw use and I like it in the side. Same with Threatening Roar, which is best against DFT.
All that said, Royal Decree saw no use. I side it for alt decks and I definitely think it’s good enough to play, but at three is debatable. I’ve since changed the side which you can see below.
Ultimately, the build wants to win by establishing its own unique tempo and maintaining it. This should give us the momentum and the initiative on every turn. The deck is not afraid to commit to the board and is unfazed by the normal counters that Gravekeepers come up against. By rendering known threats obsolete, the deck is able to maintain its edge on the field and secure victory ultimately by building a big board incrementally while your opponent flounders in their attempts to stop it.
Excluded Cards
We really should take a minute to look at some of the cards that the deck does not run. Many could be put in the side deck against specific matchups, and I’ll be discussing side deck construction and options further on. For now, though, let’s look at some of the glaring holes in this decklist and I’ll explain my reasoning behind my choices.
Airknight Parshath
You’d think that a deck that can’t keep up in terms of numerical advantage would love Airknight, but ultimately it just doesn’t do enough. You have piercing with Spear Soldier and Parshath contributes to brick hands, which when you consider that Terraforming and Necrovalley are necessary but also contribute to brick hands, it’s a risky proposition throwing Airknight into the mix. Besides, it’s almost always better to pitch Airknight and revive it with Premature Burial or Call of the Haunted. Because we can’t do that, we have to tribute for her, and any tributing we do loses us board presence. I’d rather be able to summon another monster alongside those that I have on the field already rather than simply replace one with another.
Gravekeeper’s Chief
Chief is one of my favorite Gravekeeper cards, but sadly his effect doesn’t really help much. If he had 100 more ATK I think he would be worth it, especially with his effect, but as it stands he loses out to powerful monsters and while he doesn’t cost anything to tribute summon, thanks to his effect, he still has to be tribute summoned. He may be an interesting one-of, but ultimately I don’t think he does enough to really make it worth playing him.
Jinzo
For the same reasons as Airknight we exclude Jinzo. His effect is powerful but simply shutting down traps is detrimental in a deck that plays Solemn Judgment. As such, there’s just no room for the big android. However, cutting Judgment would put the deck at five traps, and at that point Jinzo can really become a factor.
Magician of Faith
This should be somewhat obvious given its lack of synergy with Necrovalley, but I’ve seen some Gravekeeper decks try to squeeze her in. Ultimately I feel that Magician of Faith just isn’t necessary because she’s going to be dead more than live and does not contribute to board presence.
Magical Merchant
Though you can use him when Necrovalley is on the field, Gravekeepers need their cards, and without any Chaos monsters, filling the grave becomes counter-intuitive. Digging for Necrovalley is nice, but that’s what Terraforming is used for, and space is tight as-is. Besides, we don’t run Metamorphosis either, which is another reason to exclude both Merchant and Magician of Faith.
Mystic Tomato
I’m going to write an article on why I don’t like recruiters in many decks eventually. But ultimately, while Tomato is a great searcher – and the best recruiter outside of Pyramid Turtle – he just does what Spy does but on death instead of on flip. He also doesn’t synergize with the limited Warrior Toolbox the deck runs, as they are all non-DARK monsters. So you’re only going to be pulling out Gravekeeper monsters especially since the deck doesn’t run Sangan, which we’ll talk about in a minute. Tomato also does not contribute to board presence other than as a bluff, and I return to my thinking regarding tribute monsters in this regard. I would rather keep my monsters on board rather than lose one to replace it with another. Ultimately if you play Mystic Tomato it’s best to include three as well as two copies of Creature Swap. But, since we don’t run Creature Swap (nor have room for triple Tomato), we exclude them entirely.
Delinquent Duo
I’ve already talked about why Duo isn’t used here in previous paragraphs, but I will say that a copy of Duo might come in handy depending on the decks you tend to face. I don’t like it in Gravekeeper’s because it’s just not going to net you a whole lot since you’re not looking to win the advantage war, you’re looking to force your opponent to play your game at your pace and waste resources outing your cards.
Metamorphosis
Again, space is tight. Ultimately we don’t have any good tribute fodder for any fusion monsters. If we wanted to play Thousand-Eyes Restrict we would have to include other cards on this list, notably Scapegoat, Magician of Faith and Magical Merchant. One could argue that Dark Mimic LV1 might be a good option, but that would require a complete re-tooling of the deck if we wanted to use it. Ultimately, without any good tribute fodder, Metamorphosis is extraneous.
Nobleman of Crossout
I don’t like it. If your meta doesn’t play Spy at all then maybe it’ll be useful, but Swordsman tends to be better. You can hit Magician of Faith with it, but that’s just going to thin your opponent’s deck and besides, Necrovalley shuts her down anyway. Spy is also a popular side option and many people will side in Spy against Gravekeepers because it’s a hell of a counter. In that case you want to hit their Spies with Zaborg or Mystic Swordsman, not Nobleman. As such, Nobleman in this deck is a meta call. If you know you aren’t likely to face many Spies, either in main or side, you could probably use it to great effect.
Sangan
Again we flout standard Goat theory, this time by excluding Sangan. Ultimately the only cards you’re going to be searching are Tsukuyomi and the Gravekeeper monsters. He can pull Spy, which is nice, but the deck wants to be able to do more than just rely on Spy, so getting it to hand isn’t as necessary. Early game should be about establishing firm control of the board and the swarming power of the Gravekeepers. While one could argue that Sangan can get that going, the deck is built to survive even without many Gravekeeper monsters to begin with. Cards such as D.D. Assailant and Dekoichi are great because they allow you to control the field in other ways. Sangan’s only goal is to die and hit grave for the search, which means that it does not contribute to board presence the way we want it to, much like Mystic Tomato. We don’t want to lose our monsters, even if they replace themselves – we want to increase our monster count via Spy and additional normal summons alongside Spy.
Scapegoat
In a swarm deck Scapegoat is entirely counterproductive. We don’t want to logjam our board with useless tokens, especially without Metamorphosis. While other decks may need the stall, Gravekeeper’s don’t have to rely on tokens to stop attacks; we have Gravekeeper’s Spy and other cards for that. It just isn’t necessary.
Snatch Steal
I really wanted to play this card especially with three copies of Book of Moon and double Tsukuyomi, but at the end of the day I never really found myself wanting to actually take anything with it, or if I have the opportunity I don’t have a way to flip the monster or otherwise get rid of the Snatch Steal. This deck doesn’t want to give the opponent anything, and that includes Life Points. As such, the card ultimately felt extraneous.
Swords of Revealing Light
Since this build is more aggressive Swords just holds us back. It makes the opponent turtle up and while it can be useful if you don’t have control of the field, it’s ultimately not going to do enough to help you overcome that. If you can’t establish board presence early the deck has a hard time winning the game, and Swords, while it might buy you some turns, ultimately hinders more than helps. You could make the argument that Swords forcing the opponent to turtle is a good thing since we play Mystic Swordsman LV2, and that’s definitely a valid one. However, I personally feel that a defensive card in a deck designed to be aggressive is simply counterproductive.
Call of the Haunted
I really feel like I don’t have to explain this card, but I’ve seen a lot of people try to shoehorn Call into other decks. Personally I think Call is a great card but in Gravekeepers it’s very situational. It requires you to not have Necrovalley, which isn’t a good position to be in to begin with and anything you can bring back likely won’t be worth the effort. If you wanted to play this alongside a tribute monster or two, that’s up to you. But I’ve found that it’s simply subpar and far less useful in a deck that revolves around keeping Necrovalley on the field, especially since we already have recursion in Rite of Spirit.
Compulsory Evacuation Device
I had considered adding this card for several reasons. One, it can save Gravekeeper’s Spy from a Nobleman of Crossout. Two, it can return problematic cards to the hand. Three, it can return an opponent’s set monster to their hand and clear the way for your beaters. But ultimately I found it subpar, as it’s a strict -1 and only sets your opponent back unless you’re going for a kill shot. Thorough testing proved that Compulsory was better off replaced by cards like My Body as a Shield.
Dust Tornado
I would probably throw these in the side deck, personally, because it’s a very valuable card. In fact, one could argue to play them in the main, considering how they can preempt backrow activation aimed at stopping your attacks. But ultimately space is a concern, and since the deck plays Solemn Judgment to counter a variety of threats in a number of situations, I feel that Dust Tornado is simply not as versatile considering what the deck is trying to accomplish..
Sakuretsu Armor
Again, defensive cards are counterproductive. We don’t need to stop attacks with traps because we have big beaters that form walls even if they’re in attack position. Standard goat theory says we should play it but it’s a reactionary card that relies on your opponent attacking. Considering that we don’t want to give our opponent many chances to attack, Sakuretsu Armor just goes against the theory of the deck.
Anteaus’ (Post-Tourney) Gravekeeper’s (and mini tourney report)
So, to start, the deck saw little testing until the tournament. Come tournament time, I was surprised by how ably it performed against most all threats. In round 1 I played against Tsuk Lock and was able to pretty much do what I wanted to do. Necrovalley shut down the loops hard. Game 2 was kind of a wash because while I opened well my opponent drew literally every single out to my strategy in his opening hand and I was not able to do anything. It’s hard to play effectively when they’re able to play through not one but two My Body as a Shield and also a Solemn Judgment to get a NoC through on my Spy. I chalk that up to great draws more so than skill. But game 3 went the same game 1 and I was able to win round 1.
Round 2 I went up against Zombies and I was really surprised to see them. Honestly I had a hard time overcoming them for several reasons. Pyramid Turtle puts in work and Vampire Lord can get over many things in the format. Plus Zombies are rogue and play rogue strategies, while Gravekeeper’s are built more to handle standard, established theories. This is really where my side deck came into play, but unfortunately the one I played came up short. Cards such as Enemy Controller, Smashing Ground and Zaborg the Thunder Monarch would have been well-placed to counter Zombies. But we’ll come back to this in a minute.
Round 3 I played Standard Goat and the match was over quickly (sorry, Chris). He drew bad, I drew well, and I was able to stop most everything he did while exerting pressure. Round 3 was the last in Swiss because nine people and I felt confident going into Top 4.
My top 4 match put me up against the Zombie player from Round 2. This time around I fared a lot better. It did help that game 2 he opened double Vampire Lord, Creature Swap and Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys (which in my opinion was an odd choice, but it did win him game 3 in Swiss). Game 1 was tougher and more of a grind, but ultimately Necrovalley shut down his recursion and I was able to more effectively play around Vampire Lord thanks to Guard. Again, my side deck would have come in handy, but Game game 2 was kind of a wash because of a bad draw.
In the finals I played Standard Goat playing the Spy engine. It was really frustrating because the last time I was in the finals of one of these tourneys (instead of just splitting the prize payout) I ran into the same issue. Both times I lost mostly because I didn’t have Zaborg the Thunder Monarch in my side deck. Zaborg is one of the absolute best counters to Spy.
This match was also the reason why I feel that 2x Mystic Swordsman LV2 is the way to go. Again, because of Spy. But really you could sub Spy for any high-DEF (or ATK) monster. Anything that can wall up against Gravekeepers is a problem, and the deck needs outs to them.
Oh, I also had a crazy idea to get over Spy and unfortunately it cost me the game because I only had 1500 LP (a reason why I’m now debating no Judgment). I had Mobius on the field and he was walled up behind Spy with my Necrovalley giving it a DEF boost. So I couldn’t get over his Spy. It was face-down because I had flipped it with Tsukuyomi. I had no outs to it in my deck.
What I did was I Morphed my Mobius into a Ryu Senshi to bait out the Mirror Force and then negate it. Then I could Rite of Spirit my Gravekeeper’s Assailant, use Senshi to smash into Spy and flip it face-up and then use Assailant to kill it and deal game damage (he was at 600 LP). But…I only had 1500 LP and I screwed up the math. I was tired, it happens. Happened the last time I lost in the finals too. Oh well. Anyway, I ended up dealing myself game damage (1000 LP from the Senshi pay on the Mirror Force and 500 from the attack into Spy). Stupid, stupid, stupid.
So I lost. But I showed that Gravekeeper’s can stand up to a variety of threats and there’s not a lot that people play to out them. With a better side, which I’ll explain below, the deck would have had additional outs to one of the only things that can shut it down, opposing Gravekeeper monsters.
All that said, here’s the decklist that I think makes Gravekeepers competitive barring a few tweaks for your locals:
Anteaus’ Gravekeepers v1.1
Monsters: 18
2x D.D. Assailant
1x D.D. Warrior Lady
2x Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive
3x Gravekeeper’s Assailant
1x Gravekeeper’s Guard
2x Gravekeeper’s Spear Soldier
3x Gravekeeper’s Spy
2x Mystic Swordsman LV2
2x Tsukuyomi
Spells: 15
3x Book of Moon
1x Graceful Charity
1x Heavy Storm
3x My Body as a Shield
1x Mystical Space Typhoon
3x Necrovalley
1x Pot of Greed
1x Reinforcement of the Army
1x Terraforming
Traps: 7
1x Mirror Force
1x Ring of Destruction
2x Rite of Spirit
2x Solemn Judgment
1x Torrential Tribute
Side deck: 15
2x Mobius the Frost Monarch
2x Zaborg the Thunder Monarch
2x Enemy Controller
2x Smashing Ground
2x Bottomless Trap Hole
3x Royal Decree
2x Threatening Roar
This is the most current version of the build. It’s not tested, but I think that with everything I learned from the tournament this is really the way to go. Note the double Judgment still; despite what I said earlier, it’s hard to cut it from the final build because of how versatile it is. Care needs to be taken to play it properly, and like I said earlier there may be other cards that will be better. The side deck is better in this version as well, and definitely built to stop opposing Spies and other high-DEF walls. It’s built to help you get around threats that stop you from advancing your plays.
After months of working on this, I think I can say that this is one of the better Goat Format Gravekeeper decks I’ve played. It’s able to stand up to a variety of different decks and while I have yet to run a full gauntlet with it I’ve found that it works well against most standard goat decks and their various techs. Go ahead and do your own testing with it – the deck might surprise you.
Anyway, that’s it for this time. As always you can contact me anytime at anteausonyugioh@gmail.com. Don’t forget to stop by the official Pojo Goat Format Thread and check out the Goat Format Discord server as well to continue the Goat Format discussion.
