I like Gravekeepers, so I'm going to see what I can do to help you. : 3
*Note: This review will be divided into 5 sections, covering your Monsters, Spells, Traps, Side Deck, and Extra Deck. At the bottom of each section will be a list of your cards, alongside comments of what I think you should do with them. If you need any clarification, please ask. : 3
Let's start this review! Woot!
Monsters
You run the following:
x3 Gravekeeper's Commandant
x3 Gravekeeper's Spy
x3 Gravekeeper's Recruiter
x2 Gravekeeper's Descendant
x1 Gravekeeper's Ambusher
x1 Gravekeeper's Assailant
x1 Gravekeeper's Heretic
x1 Gravekeeper's Shaman
x1 Thunder King Rai-Oh
My recommendations:
-You kinda got the jist of Gravekeeper's but not quite.
-Gravekeeper's Heretic isn't a great card for the deck. Gravekeeper's should have one select card designed for really beating down the opponent, and the better choice, imo, is Gravekeeper's Assailant, as he can change the Battle Position of the opposing monster, which usually will get rid of it. Obviously, there are some people that tech Heretic over Assailant, as both require Necrovalley and Heretic has higher ATK. It's up to you which one you want to run, but only run one or the other, and run two of them.
-Ditch Gravekeeper's Shaman. Gravekeeper decks should NEVER run a monster that is over Level 4. Anything over that will clog up the deck and make it less consistent. Besides, Shaman's ATK/DEF are horrible for something that's over Level 4, and the effect isn't spectacular either. I would walk over that thing with most non-boss monsters in my decks.
-Ditch Thunder King. That card will not work in Gravekeeper decks. You're going to be relying on Pot of Duality to keep you as unclogged as you can get, and while Thunder King will stop your opponent from playing stuff like POD, it'll also stop you. Not worth it.
-Chuck in a couple Gravekeeper Nobleman. That card is great because it's like a second Gravekeeper's Spy. More of a bonus is the fact that it can Special Summon Spy in face-down defense position so that you can grab another monster out of your deck later. It'll help unclog the deck, and it's a great card for when you're being attacked, which is like, half the time.
In short, this is what I think should happen to your monsters:
x3 Gravekeeper's Commandant - Keep the same
x3 Gravekeeper's Spy - Keep the same
x3 Gravekeeper's Recruiter - Keep the same
x2 Gravekeeper's Descendant - Keep the same
x1 Gravekeeper's Ambusher - Keep the same
x1 Gravekeeper's Heretic - +1 if you remove Assailant. Remove all if you keep Assailant
x1 Gravekeeper's Assailant - +1 if you remove Heretic. Remove all if you keep Heretic
x1 Gravekeeper's Shaman - Remove All
x1 Thunder King Rai-Oh - Remove All
+2 Gravekeeper's Nobleman
Now to move forward! There's still more to go!
Onto spells.
You run:
x3 Necrovalley
x3 Pot of Duality
x2 Gravekeeper's Stele
x2 Mystical Space Typhoon
x1 Royal Tribute
x1 Book of Moon
x1 Dark Hole
My recommendations:
-While MST used to be a staple in most decks, it's falling out of style in the Main Deck because of HAT decks being EVERYWHERE! Besides that, Gravekeepers usually don't have to worry too much about traps, because they'll mostly just brush themselves off and attack again. Bump it up by one and throw it in the side deck.
-Dark Hole, as I've explained to others in the past, isn't really that great this format. Reason being is that there's so much that LOVE to get hit by Dark Hole. Lemmie give you some examples:
- Fire Kings - Get their effects activated by Dark Hole
- Shaddolls - Get their effects activated by Dark Hole
- Hands - Get their effects activated by Dark Hole
- Elemental HEROs - Get Miracle Fusion targets AND Elemental HERO Escuridao will have an attack boost
- Madolche - They will just recycle themselves back into the deck.
As you can see, it's kinda pointless to run Dark Hole. Ditch it. There's so much that can be run in it's place, you won't miss it.
-Where is Hidden Temple in this deck? O.o You need to run that card man. Basically it's a Gravekeeper's own version of Vanity's Emptiness! You can't run a Gravekeeper deck without it man. It'll stop EVERYONE ELSE from Special Summoning monsters, and leave you free to Special Summon as many fucking Gravekeeper's as your boat can still float with. It's crazy not to run it man. Throw in two.
So, in short, this is what I think should happen:
x3 Necrovalley - Keep the same
x3 Pot of Duality - Keep the same
x2 Gravekeeper's Stele - Keep the Same
x2 Mystical Space Typhoon - +1 and move to Side Deck
x1 Royal Tribute - Keep the same
x1 Book of Moon - Keep the same
x1 Dark Hole - Remove all
+2 Hidden Temples of Necrovalley
Let's move forward, shall we?
ONTO TRAPS! : D
You run:
x2 Rite of Spirit
x2 Imperial Tombs of Necrovalley
x2 Mirror Force
x2 Dimensional Prison
x2 Fiendish Chain
x1 Bottomless Trap Hole
x1 Compulsory Evacuation Device
x1 Solemn Warning
x1 Torrential Tribute
My recommendations:
-Close. Not quite
-Throw in another Imperial Tomb. This card is fantastic, as it's your own version of Solemn Judgment, which is BANNED. If your deck has it's own exclusive that's unlimited, which can perform the exact same stuff as Judgment, you NEED to run as many as you possibly can.
-Mirror Force isn't such a great card anymore. Used to be, but not anymore. There's so much stuff that can block Mirror Force or just plain get over it now that it's not even funny. Lemmie give you some examples:
Ex.
- Fire Kings - Activates their effects
- Elemental HEROs - Responds with Mask Change OR activates The Shining/Absolute Zero's effects
- Shaddolls - Activates their effects
- Sylvans - Basically replaces their whole field next turn
- HAT - Mirror Force has probably been destroyed by the time they attack.
So yeah... Not a great card. Dump it.
-Fiendish Chain is so frustrating. It was really good at the beginning of this format, but now it's not so great. It may stop your opponent from activating their effect, but then it'll sit there, and you've basically got one chance to blow up your opponent's monster before they Tune/Overlay/Fuse/Tribute it for something else, and then you've got a dead Trap sitting in your backrow with no way to get rid of it. Not fun.
-Black Horn of Heaven is a great card for any deck like this. Gravekeepers will stall and try to avoid the really heavy hitting monsters your opponent is bound to bring out. The great part about Black Horn of Heaven is that it'll negate the Special Summons of anything that big. It's your free Solemn Warning, just not as effective. But it'll work well enough against the meta of this day and age that you should run it anyways. You'd be crazy not to.
In short, this is what I think should happen:
x2 Rite of Spirit - Keep the same
x2 Imperial Tombs of Necrovalley - +1
x2 Mirror Force - Remove all
x2 Dimensional Prison - Keep the same
x2 Fiendish Chain - Remove all
x1 Torrential Tribute - Keep the same
x1 Solemn Warning - Keep the same
x1 Bottomless Trap Hole - Keep the same
x1 Compulsory Evacuation Device - Keep the same
+2 Black Horn of Heaven
This review will keep going now. Onto the side deck
You run:
Nothing
My recommendations:
-Let's assume you've got the 3 Mystical Space Typhoon in there that I told you to move earlier, so now your list looks like this:
You run:
3x Mystical Space Typhoon
Much better. Let's move from here.
-Throw in a couple of Secret Sanctuary of the Spellcasters. This card is a nice one, as it'll stop any freshly summoned monsters from activating their effects, as long as they're not Spellcasters. Lemmie give you some examples of what that helps against.
Ex.
- Elemental HEROs - Masked HERO Acid and Elemental HERO Shadow Mist's effects are negated for the turn.
- HAT - Artifact and Traptrix monsters cannot activate their effects that occur when they hit the field.
- Bujin - Beast-Warrior monster's effects that activate on the field are delayed for a turn.
- Madolche - Cards like Anjelly can't activate their effects the turn they're Summoned.
It's a nice card to side in when you're in a pinch.
-Throw in a couple Nobleman of Crossout. This card will allow you to effectively doge HAT decks with their Hand sets. It'll remove from play the Hand, which stops Fire Hand and Ice Hand from using their effects. It helps a lot.
-Throw in a couple Breakthrough Skills. The card will negate effects for a turn, and is a lot better than both Effect Veiler and Fiendish Chain in this format. It'll help you out a lot when you need to use it. Don't pass the card up.
-System Down helps against Geargia decks, which are a big player in this format.
-D.D. Crow will banish the really annoying stuff, like Madolches that hit the Graveyard. Don't pass this card up. It'll save you in a pinch.
-Mind Crush. Eventually you'll get good enough to be able to predict what most Meta deck players have in their hands. This card is great because the super predictable decks, like HAT and Madolche, will fall victim to this awesome trap card. Use it.
In short, this is what I think should happen:
x3 Mystical Space Typhoon - Keep the same
+2 Secret Sanctuary of the Spellcasters
+2 D.D. Crow
+2 Breakthrough Skill
+2 Mind Crush
+2 System Down
+2 Nobleman of Crossout
Lastly, looking at your Extra deck, it's not too shabby. There's nothing much I would change outside of chucking Crazy Box for a Downerd Magician and replacing Tempo Djinn with another Silent Honor ARK. So this is all I'll write. : 3
Hope this advice helped you, even if only a little
Gravekeeper deck helpSat Jul 12, 2014 1:40 am