Gravekeeper's Deck

A deck that revolves around monsters that have "Gravekeeper's" in their card name. All Gravekeeper's are Spellcaster-Type monsters, most have a DARK-Attribute, with the exception of Gravekeeper's Commandant that has an EARTH-Attribute.

The key card to the Gravekeeper deck is Necrovalley. Necrovalley is a field spell that will increase that attack and defense of Gravekeeper monsters by 500. Necrovalley also stops spells, traps, and monsters effects from targetting the Graveyard, like Monster Reborn, Magician of Faith and Call of the Haunted. Necrovalley also stops either player removing from play from their Graveyard for any reason with cards like Soul Release and Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End.

Because of the effect of their field spell Necrovalley this deck tends to be some-what a anti-meta deck since it countered chaos back when it was still legal and still has the ability to counter Teledad decks as well as Lightsworn, Zombie, and to a certain extent Gladiator Beasts. Because this deck tends to be anti-meta it is good to use anti-meta style cards such as Burden of the Mighty, Thunder King Rai-Oh, and many others.

Because the most of the Gravekeeper's are dark-attibute they can also use Allure of Darkness, and some more dark attribute support, however be aware when building your Gravekeeper's deck that Necrovalley will stop Monster Reborn, and many other effects that involve the use of the Graveyard.

A Trap known as Rite of Spirit will allow you to Special Summon any Gravekeeper monsters from the Graveyard, even if Necrovalley is on the field. The monster, Gravekeeper's Chief, will also unlock access to your Graveyard while Necrovalley is on the field. Gravekeeper's Chief also allows you to Special Summon a Gravekeeper monster from your Graveyard when you Tribute Summon it.

The best Gravekeeper monsters to use include: Gravekeeper's Assailant, Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier, Gravekeeper's Guard, Gravekeeper's Spy, Gravekeeper's Commandant, and Gravekeeper's Chief. The best supporting monsters are Mystic Tomato and Sangan.

Weaknesses
The Gravekeeper's 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's Deck is not for beginners. Proper protection of Necrovalley is also crucial to the success of this deck. Necrovalley provides the stat boost and the Graveyard lock that the Gravekeeper's need to survive. Without Necrovalley, the Deck is near-useless. Cards such as Solemn Judgment, Dark Bribe and Magic Drain are advised for such protection. Also, Gold Sarcophagus is a good card for bringing Necrovalley to your hand but may be too expensive, so Gravekeeper's Commandant will likely work better for the players on a budget.

Nobleman of Crossout and Shield Crush are the weak point of the Deck. Nobleman of Crossout can effectively obliterate the searchability of the Gravekeeper's Deck and can eliminate all your Gravekeeper's Spy's from play. After the Spies have been destroyed, the Gravekeeper player can then resort to using a less reliable searcher, Mystic Tomato, however this may not be necessary. Mystic Tomato will keep field presence, but it does not provide the monster advantage that Spy provides.

High ATK monsters are also a problem for this Deck. Berserk Gorilla, Mobius the Frost Monarch, Blade Knight, Goblin Attack Force, and Jinzo, can be MAJOR nuisances for this Deck when you are on the defensive. To prevent this the player can use Burden of the Mighty and Shrink. This usually means that the Gravekeeper's player will have to carefully time a counter-offensive, and defend for most of the game. While defense is an admirable quality of this deck, it is not what it is designed 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 often leads to the crumbling of your defenses and a quick defeat. Monster removal is well-advised, such as Smashing Ground, Fissure, Hammer Shot, and for some players, Torrential Tribute.

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's players tend to lean more towards using a lower amount of monsters due to the fact that the Gravekeeper's are extremely easy to get from the deck. So, those 12-15 Gravekeeper's 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 Gravekeeper's to use. When this happens you are likely done for. If Necrovalley is active there is practically no way to bring those monsters back.