Gravekeepers: The Forgotten Deck Archetype???
 

Hey everyone! This week I’m here to discuss a personal favorite of mine; Gravekeepers. Since their debut in Pharonic Guardian, the keepers of the Pharaoh’s tomb have proven themselves not only to be versatile but extremely effective at what they do. Sadly, as effective as they are, they are hardly played as often, in the Advanced format, as Warriors and Burn deck are played. This phenomenon has perplexed me greatly and it brings two questions to my mind: Are Gravekeepers boring to play because they don’t necessarily change as the sets go by? Or Has the Gravekeeper deck lost its flare as sets go by? Read on and find out.


Strengths

Gravekeepers are adept at offense, defense, and they limit the use of the graveyard to boot. They boast amazing versatility with their monster effects and their specialized revival card; Rite of Spirit. Gravekeepers have also been known to have the toughest defense to break through since their defense stats are all augmented by Necrovalley and the limited use of the graveyard gives the opponent no hopes of recovering their lost resources. They are much like Warriors in terms of versatility, speed, offense, and defense. With Gravekeeper’s Spy they can search for any Gravekeeper that will best suit the current situation. The advantage to Spy’s effect is that her effect can also be used in the battle phase to effectively defend against your opponent’s offense. Reinforcement of the Army is only useable in the main phase which is useful in its own right but requires the Warrior player to do quite a bit of guess work when selecting a Warrior from the deck. Both means of search are quite efficient but they both have their weaknesses as well.

To further add to the flare of this deck, they are the kings of the swarming strategy. In fact, in the Traditional format, the Gravekeeper deck was the only deck that was able to recover from a failed over-extension the quickest. Plus, Necrovalley limited the intensity of the opponent’s counter attack and stifled the innate unpredictability of Chaos/Control. In those days, a Warrior deck could definitely dish out the pain with its beefy monsters but could only do so for so long until falling prey to Dark Hole, Raigeki, and Mirror Force. The main advantage Gravekeepers have over Warriors is that Gravekeepers can over-extend without consuming the hand. The field presence is the same when comparing the two decks but the hand management is in the favor of the Gravekeepers.

Their offensive and defensive capabilities are defined by their signature field card, Necrovalley. Necrovalley gives all Gravekeepers on both sides of the field 500 ATK and 500 DEF. Its other effect prevents both players from removing anything from the graveyard as well as negating any Spell, Trap, or Monster effect that involves the graveyard. This effect has been disputed since it was released and it only negates Spell, Trap, or Monster effects outside of the graveyard from taking anything out of the graveyard. So, effects that activate in the graveyard; for example: Night Assailant, any battle searcher, and the now-banned Witch and Sangan are NOT negated by Necrovalley. To add even more icing to the cake, mass s/t removal is nearly non existent.


The Gravekeepers

The monsters of the Gravekeeper deck are predominantly Gravekeepers, especially if you play the Beatdown version. Gravekeeper’s Chief is the strongest Gravekeeper in the Gravekeeper family. This 1900 5-star monster Special Summons another Grav1ekeeper from the graveyard when it is successfully Tribute Summoned. The greatest things about his effect are that it’s not affected by Necrovalley and you can Special Summon the monster you tributed to summon him in ATK or DEF position. When Necrovalley is active on the field you get the sweet ATK and DEF bonus giving him Tribute worthy stats of 2400/1700.

The next Gravekeeper is the most important of all the Gravekeepers; Gravekeeper’s Spy. Gravekeeper’s Spy is the linchpin card of the deck period. Its effect is a Flip effect and allows the player to search his/her deck for any Gravekeeper with 1500 ATK or less and Special Summon it to the field in ATK or DEF. This effect potentially leads to solid defense when attacked or an intense Gravekeeper swarm aimed towards the opponent. The 2000 DEF this particular Gravekeeper has is nothing to laugh at either and soars to 2500 when Necrovalley is active on the field. Be wary of Nobleman of Crossout when playing this card face-down. The increasing popularity of face-down monster hate emphasizes that strict timing with this card is key as well as protection from monster removal.

Gravekeeper’s Spear Soldier is the trampler of the bunch. His pitiful stats of 1500/1000 are skyrocketed to 2000/1500 with Necrovalley. The weak DEF of most control monsters and the overwhelming popularity of Scapegoats make this card that much more useful in major tournaments. His effect is also useful against those annoying Apprentice Magicians and Magicians of Faith that are running rampant in the format.

Gravekeeper’s Assailant is easily the deadliest Gravekeeper. Its effect can only be activated when Necrovalley is active and when it attacks. Its effect states that you can change the battle position of 1 face-up monster on the opponent’s side of the field when it attacks. As stated in my first article, one Gravekeeper’s Assailant can K.O. three Spirit Reapers or three Berserk Gorillas in the same battle phase and still be able to attack directly afterwards, when the field is clear. Its effect also turns most tribute monsters into minor threats during battle by switching them to defense when it attacks. Its stats of 1500/1500 are boosted to an impressive 2000/2000. These strong ATK and DEF values have a commanding field presence and will prevent the metagame breaking Berserk Gorillas from destroying them in battle. A player using Berserk Gorillas only has the option of suiciding into Assailant or Spear Soldier to get rid of them.

The next Gravekeeper is the least used because of its effect. Gravekeeper’s Guard’s effect allows the player to select one monster on the opponent’s side of the field and bounce it back to their hand. This lackluster effect isn’t nearly as useful as Spy’s effect but its boosted stats are pretty decent. (1500/2400)

Rite of Spirit is what adds to the advantage provided by Necrovalley when it is active. Rite of Spirit has no cost for activation and is not affected by Necrovalley either. Rite of Spirit allows the Gravekeeper player the Special Summon any Gravekeeper from his/her graveyard to the field in ATK or DEF position. This card accounts for many of the combat tricks the Gravekeeper deck can muster. Rite of Spirit is equally as useful on the defensive as well as the offensive. On the defensive the Gravekeeper player can Special Summon a Gravekeeper’s Spy in defense providing an annoying wall from your opponent’s attacks. On the offensive it can provide the Gravekeeper player with the finishing blow on his opponent by surprising him/her with another attacker. Rite of Spirit can also provide Tribute fodder for Jinzo or Gravekeeper’s Chief.


Weaknesses

The Gravekeeper deck is a deck that is heavily focused on its synergy. Its greatest weakness is related to the player’s skill level. Simply put the Gravekeeper deck is NOT for beginners. Proper protection of Necrovalley is also crucial to the success of this deck. Necrovalley provides the stat boost and graveyard lock that the Gravekeepers need to survive.

Nobleman of Crossout is the Achilles heel of the deck. Nobleman of Crossout obliterates the searchability of the Gravekeeper deck and eliminates all your Spies from the game. After the Spies have been destroyed, the Gravekeeper player will then have to resort to using a less reliable searcher, Mystic Tomato. Mystic Tomato will keep board presence, but it does not provide the monster advantage that Spy provides.

High ATK monsters are also a problem for this deck type. Berserk Gorilla, Mobius, Blade Knight, Goblin Attack Force, Jinzo, and BLS can be MAJOR nuisances for this deck when you are on the defensive. This usually means that the Gravekeeper player will have to carefully time the sudden offensive and defend for most of the game. While defense is an admirable quality of this deck, it is not what it is meant for. Being on the defensive in this deck will allow your opponent to gain card advantage over you while you stall. When your opponent gains card advantage over you it leads to the crumbling of your defenses and a quick defeat.

The insane speed of this deck also leads to rapid deck thinning which can be both good and bad depending on what your situation is. Gravekeeper players tend to lean more towards using a lower amount of monsters due to the fact that the Gravekeepers are extremely easy to get from the deck. So, those 12-15 Gravekeepers will be seen quite frequently if your opponent is able to keep a stable defense against your swarm. Moderation must be practiced in order not to deck out or run out of Gravekeepers to use because it is most certainly possible.

Now I’ll show all of you my own personal Gravekeeper deck list which I have used for competitive play many times and still continue to use on a regular basis. Do keep in mind that this is the Beatdown version of the Gravekeeper deck and it is NOT the only type of Gravekeeper deck out there.


Deck Total: 40

Monsters: 15

1x Jinzo
1x Gravekeeper’s Chief
3x Gravekeeper’s Spy
3x Gravekeeper’s Assailant
3x Gravekeeper’s Spear Soldier
2x Mystic Tomato
1x Breaker the Magical Warrior
1x Tribe-Infecting Virus

Spells: 17

3x Necrovalley
2x Nobleman of Crossout
2x Enemy Controller
2x Book of Moon
2x Terraforming
1x Pot of Greed
1x Mage Power
1x Heavy Storm
1x Mystical Space Typhoon
1x Snatch Steal
1x Change of Heart

Traps: 8

3x Rite of Spirit
2x Solemn Judgment or 2x Magic Jammer (Both have been tested)
2x Sakurestu Armor
1x Ring of Destruction


In closing, the Gravekeeper deck is one of the fastest decks in the format. It doesn’t seem logical that Gravekeepers haven’t seen as much play as Warriors. Warriors do have their amazing versatility but the Gravekeeper’s versatility is equally as amazing. I guess that it is all a matter of preference. The Gravekeeper deck is worth the effort to learn how to play it and how to win with it. Since the Gravekeeper deck’s stance in a game can fluctuate and conform like water, it’s not an easy deck to defend against or attack either. I encourage all you readers to tryout this deck list to see how it works for you and develop a strategy of your own that best fits your style of play. So remember, play hard, think about your moves, and most important of all; have fun playing the game.

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions email me at deathjester86@yahoo.com