Gravekeeper's



The Gravekeeper's are a series of monsters based on ancient Egyptians who guarded the Pharaoh's tomb. The Gravekeeper's Deck usually activates "Necrovalley" and gains power from it, while using loopholes to avoid being affected by its drawbacks. This Deck tends to prevent the opponent from affecting cards placed in the Graveyard, as well as keeping field control with its ability to swarm. They were introduced in Pharaonic Guardian as one of the first true Archetypes. The Gravekeeper's have powerful effects for level four monsters, but more importantly, when the Gravekeeper's have "Necrovalley" on the field (which is ideal and very likely) most of the monsters will have 1700-2100 attack.

The Gravekeeper's Chief and Assailant were present in the anime. He duels against Jaden Yuki, giving the duelist a hard time, but eventually Jaden manages to beat him. After the defeat, he gave Jaden one half of the Shadow Charm pendant, telling him that another person (Atticus Rhodes) has the other half.



A themed Deck revolves around monsters that have "Gravekeeper's" in their card name. All "Gravekeeper's" are Spellcaster-Type and DARK monsters, except Gravekeeper's Commandant who is EARTH.

The key card to the "Gravekeeper's" Deck is "Necrovalley", a Field Spell Card that increases ATK and DEF of "Gravekeeper's" monsters by 500. "Necrovalley" also stops spells, traps, and monsters effects from affecting cards in the Graveyard, like "Monster Reborn", "Magician of Faith" and "Call of the Haunted" and prevents either player from removing from play from their Graveyards with cards like "Soul Release" or Dark Counterparts. However, "Necrovalley" does not prevent effects that activate in the Graveyard, so cards like "Mystic Tomato" and "Pyramid Turtle" still activate.

Because of the effects of "Necrovalley", this Deck tends to be somewhat anti-meta, countering Lightsworns, Zombies, and to a certain extent Gladiator Beasts and the new Psychic monsters, therefore making it desirable to use anti-meta style cards. Because the most of the "Gravekeeper's" monsters are DARK they can also use "Allure of Darkness", and other DARK attribute supports.

Although "Necrovalley" stops most Graveyard related effects, "Gravekeeper's" have their own support that are unaffected by Necrovalley", namely "Rite of Spirit" and "Gravekeeper's Stele".

The newest addition to the "Gravekeeper's" family is the "Gravekeeper's Recruiter". This monster acts like a "Gravekeeper's" exclusive "Witch of the Black Forest", allowing the player to add a "Gravekeeper's" monster with 1500 or less defense from the Deck to the hand. The multiple combinations possible with this creature to generate advantage and thin the Deck adds much needed consistency to the "Gravekeeper's" archetype.

Monsters

 * Gravekeeper's Visionary
 * Gravekeeper's Commandant
 * Gravekeeper's Descendant
 * Gravekeeper's Spy
 * Gravekeeper's Assailant
 * Gravekeeper's Recruiter
 * Gravekeeper's Chief
 * Caius the Shadow Monarch
 * Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind
 * Meklord Army of Skiel
 * Ancient Gear Golem

Spells

 * Necrovalley
 * Gravekeeper's Stele
 * Royal Tribute
 * Wonder Wand
 * Allure of Darkness
 * Pot of Duality

Traps

 * Dimensional Prison
 * Starlight Road
 * Bottomless Trap Hole
 * Seven Tools of the Bandit
 * Compulsory Evacuation Device
 * Rite of Spirit

Extra Deck

 * Stardust Dragon
 * Cyber End Dragon

Side Deck

 * Malefic Stardust Dragon
 * Malefic Cyber End Dragon

Monsters

 * Gravekeeper's Descendant (x3)
 * Gravekeeper's Spy (x3)
 * Gravekeeper's Recruiter (x2)
 * Gravekeeper's Commandant (x3)
 * Ancient Gear Golem (x2)
 * Meklord Army of Skiel

Spells

 * Royal Tribute (x2)
 * Gravekeeper's Stele (x3)
 * Allure of Darkness
 * Necrovalley (x3)
 * Pot of Duality (x2)
 * Dark Hole
 * Book of Moon
 * Heavy Storm
 * Mystical Space Typhoon (x2)

Traps

 * Seven Tools of the Bandit (x2)
 * Dark Bribe (x3)
 * Starlight Road (x2)
 * Compulsory Evacuation Device (x3)
 * Bottomless Trap Hole
 * Torrential Tribute
 * Mirror Force

Extra Deck

 * Stardust Dragon (x2)
 * Number 39: Utopia (x3)
 * Number 17: Leviathan Dragon
 * Grenosaurus
 * Steelswarm Roach (x2)
 * Wind-Up Zenmaister (x3)
 * Leviair the Sea Dragon
 * Submersible Carrier Aero Shark
 * Number 34: Terror-Byte

Side Deck

 * Burial from a Different Dimension (x3)
 * Foolish Return (x3)
 * Soul Release (x2)
 * Nobleman of Extermination (x3)
 * Malevolent Catastrophe
 * Gravekeeper's Guard (x2)
 * Gravekeeper's Visionary

Strengths and weaknesses
The use of "Necrovalley" in this Archetype prevents the opponent from using the Graveyard as a resource. A very large number of opposing strategies, therefore, will be at a severe disadvantage while this card is on the field (Zombies, Infernities, X-Sabers, Dragons, Blackwings etc).

They also have excellent search capabilities, as exemplified by "Gravekeeper's Spy" and "Gravekeeper's Recruiter". "Recruiter" is especially useful in this respect, creating fantastic combinations with "Gravekeeper's Descendant".

Their intense reliance upon "Necrovalley" makes them very vulnerable to opponents who enjoy using Spell and Trap destroying effects, so cards to protect it (such as "Malefic Stardust Dragon") and traps that can help the player maintain a field and hand advantage over a stronger opponent are highly recommended. A good way to counteract Necrovalley is to play Closed Forest, which prevents the activation of other field spells, or Field Barrier which will stop it from being destroyed as well as not let the opponent activate another field spell.

"Nobleman of Crossout" can be an absolute killer against Gravekeeper's decks. It lets its controller destroy and remove from play face-down defense position monsters their opponent controls and, if it was a flip-effect monster such as "Gravekeeper's Spy" or "Gravekeeper's Guard", all copies of that flip-effect monster are removed from the deck and also removed from play. This would be a good excuse to add Burial from a Different Dimension to your Gravekeeper's deck.

"Consecrated Light" is another weakness of this deck because it is almost entirely made up of DARK monsters. The only good thing is that it still allows you to Set DARK monsters. Luckily, it is only found in the Side Deck of most Decks and cards like "Cyber Dragon" and "Fissure" can be sided to eliminate it. Also, "Gravekeeper's Commandant" can destroy it by battle and you can flip "Gravekeeper's Descendant" and activate its effect.

"Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror" can also be very troublesome for Gravekeeper's Decks as it stops the effects of all Gravekeeper's monsters other than "Gravekeeper's Commandant" from being used. "Last Day of Witch" and other anti-Spellcaster cards can also cause problems for Gravekeeper's, since all of them are Spellcaster-Type.

Keep in mind that cards in the Graveyard that have an ability that Special Summons them to the field will not be negated by "Necrovalley". Cards that Special Summon them, like "Monster Reborn", will be negated, but cards that Special Summon themselves, such as "Treeborn Frog", can still activate.

Optional support

 * Malefic Stardust Dragon -- A strong alternative to "Field Barrier" to protect "Necrovalley". It can be Special Summoned easily, protects "Necrovalley", and has a good attack stat. While it may not have a place in a Gravekeeper's Deck, it surely belongs in the side.
 * Gravekeeper's Guard -- With the current metagame, Gravekeeper's Guard serves as a counter to various Synchro's or Xyzs and also help to get rid of annoying monsters such as "Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En" or "Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth"
 * Wonder Wand -- this card proves very useful in Gravekeeper strategies, as it serves as an attack boost to already boosted Gravekeepers and combos well with Gravekeeper's Recruiter since you would get 2 additional cards by tributing it, which would get you an additional Gravekeeper from your deck making the combo an effective +1.