Let’s bring the game’s original archetype up to speed for the modern game!

Primer to my Approach:

Before we dig into their tombs, let me give you a disclaimer up front – this is not just an article on bringing a standard control Gravekeeper deck to 2020 standards. With this article, I’m taking a unique approach to the deck, building them in a turbo fashion that only relies on Necrovalley as an additional disruption element rather than as the lynchpin for the strategy, reducing the over-reliance on a single field spell that has plagued the deck for years. My goal when approaching this request via Discord was to take a modern approach to a well-analyzed strategy, trying to leverage its unique capabilities into a successful rogue option. So please take that into account and provide feedback if you like this style – I’d be happy to do so again with another archetype if requested. With that, let’s dive into the tombs.

Keeping the Graveyard as a Permanent Burial Ground:

Magicians’ Souls again?

An Alternative Win Condition:

Proposed TCG Decklist:

Click to view the decklist in the Official Card Database

Ensuring a Lean, Mean Turbo Machine:

Long story short – few Gravekeeper decks builds have had this consistency to getting to the Royal Tribute combo turn 1, so you need to maximize that as your primary win condition. But your secondary win condition is OTKing through abusing all of your free summons from Chief, Headman, and Cross-Sheep. It makes it quite easy to go for a Borrelsword OTK over an opponent’s weakened board!

Alternate Tech Options:

Closing the Tomb:

I think Gravekeeper is a theme that people are sleeping right now – its ability to win the duel simply by resolving Royal Tribute is close to unparalleled by the current meta. The one major downside? So many Shaddoll monsters trigger when sent to the GY by a card effect. That is where Gravekeeper’s Shaman comes in for additional support, swooping in to truly lock down the GY beyond the abilities of Necrovalley. So get out there and try a build like this – you may find that a modern approach to an old theme is your style. Or you can just continue to abuse Souls in Spyral, Lunalight, or whatever else you can get your hands on, hoping to build an impressive turn 1 board that is impossible to break. I personally prefer removing the option of a comeback entirely by sealing away their monsters to the GY, rather than just letting them try to burst through a negation board. Hopefully my article will catch your eye next time whenever I dive into the Banished Zone… or is that just a Decoy for what’s to come?

Reminder, I also take suggestions for future CDS articles! I really want to see some input from you! If you wish to see a CDS article about the archetype, theme, or strategy you love, feel free to private message me on the YGOrg Discord server, the YGOrganization Forums, or just post a comment in response to this article on our Facebook page with your ideas to keep under consideration! On most YGO-related communities my username is Quincymccoy, so feel free to reach out. As of now, I have a couple of outstanding requests that I am looking at: Ballpark Insect/Battlewasp, Cyberse, Shaddoll, and Speedroid.