Deck Intros: Gravekeepers

So this is something of a confession. I have anxiety dreams in which I play a Necrovalley, but it doesn't work. Now these dreams makes no sense to me or anyone else, but it does set us up for a new section, Deck Intros, in which we take a look at a deck type, talk about some pros and cons, and tell you how to go about trying it out.

Now, for Gravekeepers, the first thing you need to be acquainted with is their associated field spell, as it is one of the best weapons in your deck: Necrovalley

This card is, your deck staple. A Necrovalley deck without Necrovalley is like dehydrated water. Let's take a look at the text:

All "Gravekeeper's" monsters gain 500 ATK and DEF. Cards in either player's Graveyard cannot be removed from play. Cards in either player's Graveyard cannot be affected by card effects, except for their own effects.

In addition to giving all of your Gravekeeper monsters a boost in both attack and defense, Necrovalley ensures that once something hits the graveyard, it stays there. Now, this card isn't perfect, but it does two things: it prevents your opponent from special summoning from the graveyard (for the most part) by stopping cards like Monster Reborn or Call of the Haunted. Actually, on reflection, this card really messes up gemini decks, which rely on graveyard summons for some of their more impressive monsters. Necrovalley can even be searched out of your deck by the effect of Gravekeeper's Commandant, so be sure to keep a few of those handy.

Gravekeeper's Spy

Yet another great searcher card. By allowing you to search another Gravekeeper monster from your deck, you can quicken your field advantage by a little bit more. Specifically, you want to search out Gravekeeper's Descendant so that you can tribute the spy to destroy something on the field.

Now, for your trump card: Gravekeeper's Visionary

Now, I don't really like having one specific trump card in a deck, but this guy is most definitely a win condition. Here's his text:

You can Normal Summon this card by Tributing 1 "Gravekeeper's" monster. This card gains 200 ATK for each "Gravekeeper's" monster in your Graveyard. If this face-up card on the field would be destroyed, you can discard 1 "Gravekeeper's" monster instead.

Sure he's an 8 star 2000 attacker, but you can get him out for one tribute (or no tributes, if another Gravekeeper monster attacks first and you activate Magician's circle) but he's 2500 if Necrovalley is on the field, with an additional 200 attack for every Gravekeeper in your graveyard. I'll tangent here for a momentarily explanation. In my experiences, Gravekeepers are a late-game deck, which means that you may have some trouble with faster decks, but if you can keep them at bay for a little while, you can overtake them.

Final point, if you have a Gravekeeper monster in your hand, Visionary is unbeatable. After you've got a secure Necrovalley on the field, Commandant becomes sort of a dead draw, so keep him in your hand and be ready to drop him if your opponent destroys him. By the way, this includes battle damage. Play conservatively and your Visionary can stomp all over your opponent's life points and lead you to victory.

Interested? Go take a look at the Marik Structure deck for access to these monsters.