Card Game
Card of the Day
TCG Fan Tips
Top 10 Lists
Banned/Restricted List
Yu-Gi-Oh News
Tourney Reports
Duelist Interviews

Featured Writers
Baneful's Column
Anteaus on YGO
General Zorpa
Dark Paladin's Dimension
Retired Writers

Releases + Spoilers
Booster Sets (Original Series)
LOB | MRD | MRL | PSV
LON | LOD | PGD | MFC
DCR | IOC | AST | SOD
RDS | FET
Booster Sets (GX Series)
TLM | CRV | EEN | SOI
EOJ | POTD | CDIP | STON
FOTB | TAEV | GLAS | PTDN
LODT
Booster Sets (5D Series)
TDGS | CSOC | CRMS | RBGT
ANPR | SOVR | ABPF | TSHD
STBL | STOR | EXVC
Booster Sets (Zexal Series)
GENF | PHSW | ORCS | GAOV
REDU | ABYR | CBLZ | LTGY
NUMH | JOTL | SHSP | LVAL
PRIO

Starter Decks
Yugi | Kaiba
Joey | Pegasus
Yugi 2004 | Kaiba 2004
GX: 2006 | Jaden | Syrus
5D: 1 | 2 | Toolbox
Zexal: 2011 | 2012 | 2013
Yugi 2013 | Kaiba 2013

Structure Decks
Dragons Roar &
Zombie Madness
Blaze of Destruction &
Fury from the Deep
Warrior's Triumph
Spellcaster's Judgment
Lord of the Storm
Invincible Fortress
Dinosaurs Rage
Machine Revolt
Rise of Dragon Lords
Dark Emperor
Zombie World
Spellcaster Command
Warrior Strike
Machina Mayhem
Marik
Dragunity Legion
Lost Sanctuary
Underworld Gates
Samurai Warlord
Sea Emperor
Fire Kings
Saga of Blue-Eyes
Cyber Dragon

Promo Cards:
Promos Spoiler
Coll. Tins Spoiler
MP1 Spoiler
EP1 Spoiler

Tournament Packs:
TP1 / TP2 / TP3 / TP4
TP5 / TP6 / TP7 / TP8
Duelist Packs
Jaden | Chazz
Jaden #2 | Zane
Aster | Jaden #3
Jesse | Yusei
Yugi | Yusei #2
Kaiba | Yusei #3
Crow

Reprint Sets
Dark Beginnings
1 | 2
Dark Revelations
1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Gold Series
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Dark Legends
DLG1
Retro Pack
1 | 2
Champion Pack
1 | 2 | 3 | 4
5 | 6 | 7 | 8
Turbo Pack
1 | 2 | 3 | 4
5 | 6 | 7

Hidden Arsenal:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4
5 | 6 | 7

Checklists
Brawlermatrix 08
Evan T 08
X-Ref List
X-Ref List w/ Passcodes

Anime
Episode Guide
Character Bios
GX Character Bios

Video Games
Millennium Duels (2014)
Nighmare Troubadour (2005)
Destiny Board Traveler (2004)
Power of Chaos (2004)
Worldwide Edition (2003)
Dungeon Dice Monsters (2003)
Falsebound Kingdom (2003)
Eternal Duelist Soul (2002)
Forbidden Memories (2002)
Dark Duel Stories (2002)

Other
About Yu-Gi-Oh
Yu-Gi-Oh! Timeline
Pojo's YuGiOh Books
Apprentice Stuff
Life Point Calculators
DDM Starter Spoiler
DDM Dragonflame Spoiler
The DungeonMaster
Millennium Board Game

- Magic
- DBZ
- Gundam
- Pokemon
- Digimon 
- Harry Potter
- Anime

- Advertise on Pojo
- Our Sponsors
- Pojo Polls

 


Pojo's Yu-Gi-Oh Card of the Day

Necrovalley
Super Rare

As long as this card remains face-up on the field, all effects of Spell, Trap, and/or Effect Monster Cards that involve Graveyards are negated and neither player can remove cards in the Graveyards from play. In addition, increase the ATK and DEF of all monsters that includes “Gravekeeper’s” in their card name by 500 points.

Type - Field Spell
Card Number
- PGD-084

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale 1 being 
the worst.  3 ... average.  5 is the highest rating

Date Reviewed - 8.30.04

ExMinion OfDarkness Monday:
Necrovalley

Today we take another look at one of the better anti-Chaos cards out there, Necrovalley.

Field magics aren't broken in general, but this is the most broken of field magics. 500 ATK and DEF for Gravekeepers AND dual-sided Graveyard denial. Basically, a deck that runs this won't run Reborn, Call, or Premature...and the opponent won't be able to use their Reborn, Call, Premature, or Chaos monsters while this is out.

One of the beautiful things about this card is that it lets you get around that 1500 search rule, mainly because if you have this out, the Gravekeeper you bring out because it's 1500 or less won't be under 1500 anymore.

Gravekeeper decks get an automatic 5/5 for this (as I will give to all field magics regarding their respective deck)...only a 2/5 for non-pure-Gravekeeper though. It's anti-Chaos, but then again, so is Kycoo and he's a better candidate for the cookie-cutter or anti-cookie-cutter. 
Tranorix Necrovalley

We start the week off with Necrovalley, the card around which Gravekeeper decks revolve. It's a Field Spell, so it is vulnerable to removal; but that will certainly change with the coming of the new ban list. Basically, it has two effects. One is all that Graveyard nonsense and the other is a nice little power-up for Gravekeepers.

Necrovalley WILL negate things like Monster Reborn, Call of the Haunted, Premature Burial, Magician of Faith, and yes, the summoning of the Chaos monsters. That last reason has convinced quite a few players to try out Gravekeeper decks in hopes of overcoming the currently overplayed Chaos deck.

It won't negate cards such as Witch of the Black Forest, Mystic Tomato, Vampire Lord's recursion effect, or Sinister Serpent. Necrovalley can't stop cards whose effects activate in the Graveyard.

Then there's the power-up. What's not to like about that? It turns the Gravekeepers into formidable monsters and permits some of them to use effects they would otherwise be unable to use. It makes Necrovalley a staple for Gravekeeper decks, simple as that.

All in all, Necrovalley is an interesting card to base a deck around. If you want to play Gravekeepers, you should be playing Necrovalley; and it's not even a bad Side Deck choice for when you're going against Chaos, though I wouldn't really run this in a typical deck.

Typical tournament deck: 2/5
Gravekeeper deck: 5/5
OVERALL RATING: 3.5/5 
Otaku

Stats: Necrovalley is a Field Magic (or is that “Spell” now) card.  As we will see later in the Uses/Combinations section, this is for the best.  The only other appropriate forms that it could take would be a Normal or Quick-Play Spell that left an effect residing on the field (too potent and hard to control), or as a Permanent Spell or Trap (making you lose a normal a space in your Spell/Trap Zone).  Yes, it becomes a target for Spell/Trap Removal, but that is the nature of the game.

Effect(s): Two delicious effects.  In simplest terms, the first effect basically means that anything that reaches into the Graveyard from outside the Graveyard or that tries to remove cards from the Graveyard would be negated.  On the other hand, things that take place entirely in the Graveyard-such as the effect of Marie the Fallen One-or things when said card was already in the Graveyard, like Manticore of Darkness, Sinister Serpent, and Vampire Lord, work as normal.  This is a pretty nice effect-a lot of powerful cards are negated.  Things like any “remove X card(s) from your Graveyard to summon”, recursion cards and even Fiber Jar are blocked by its effect. 

Now take a peak at the second effect.  A whole, unique category of Monster, the Gravekeepers, will each gain a +500/+500 stat bonus while this card is active and on the Field.  As the main drawback of said monsters was being a tad under-powered, they go from teeny to titans when on their home turf.

Uses/Combinations: This is the backbone of every serious Gravekeeper deck, and as such most would label Gravekeeper decks a sub category of Necrovalley decks.  Not sure if there is any serious attempts at a deck that doesn’t run at least a few of both together as the main theme: maybe a depletion/removal deck?  Well, outside of this, there is good side-deck material.  In addition to shutting down the oh-so-broken Chaos decks, it makes Necrofear cry and just messes up the normal “drop, revive, and swarm” tactic that most decks at least use as a back up plan.  Some Magic Jammers/Drains can usually be easily found and help protect it.  If you have money or are good at trading, there are some stronger cards too.

If you play at a store using what I believe has been confirmed as the new Japanese ban list (where MST is limited to one-per deck and Harpie's Feather Duster is banned), I think the Necrovalley, as the cornerstone for Gravekeepers, could become quite potent.

Also note that Pharonic Guardian (the set that contained this card), featured multiple cards outside of the Gravekeepers, that got bonuses from it in some way or another, or required it.

Ratings

Casual: 4/5, 4.25/5 with bans.  Gravekeepers are a finely tuned machine with this on the field, and it can screw up a lot of other casual decks.  In fact, it’s almost too much for casual.

Tournament: 3.75/5, 4/5 with bans.  Alas, the Gravekeeper decks are just a hair to weak to be dominant here.  Still, Necrovalley itself is great to counter Chaos, and may very well fit into most side-decks.

Limited: 4/5-Dude, set revolves around the Gravekeepers.  It will probably be a shock to not pull at least a handful of related cards to it.

Summary

Great card that just needs those new bans to get a chance to shine… and maybe some Gravekeeper/Necrovalley specific S/T destruction. ;)

dawnyoshi Necrovalley was a field spell that was horribly overlooked upon release, and when people finally discovered how great Necrovalley and the Gravekeepers were, Magician's Force came out, people saw Breaker and Tribe-Infecting Virus, and everyone said "what's Necrovalley?". Tragic. Very tragic.

Necrovalley, at this current point in time, is nasty. This deck is counter-chaos, which is the most popular tournament deck right now. Protecting Necrovalley can be the hard part. Imperial Order negates your field, which needs to stay active, so I'd recommend Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell, Judgment of Anubis, Solemn Judgment, Magic Reflector, or a classic Magic Jammer. Cursed Seal will prove most useful in stopping MST and other fields, so I'd recommend that over all the others. 500 ATK for all of your gravekeepers is certainly game changing, since all of those monster have nifty effects. Assailant can destroy Spirit Reaper with ease, Spear Soldier is just downright painful, and Gravekeeper's Chief competes well with Jinzo. Oops, I almost forgot about your now 2500 defense Gravekeeper's Spy! Looks like Magical Scientist just paid for Dark Balter for no reason at all...sucks to be them. Don't forget that in most tournament decks, you'll be fighting harpie's feather duster, heavy storm, 3 MSTs, and Breaker. Keeping Necrovalley out may be difficult, and losing your Necrovalley is going to cause you to lose the game if you're running Gravekeepers.

Constructed- 4/5- a bit fragile, but it's the perfect counter to the metagame, which gives it a nice plus. Remember not to go staple-crazy with this deck, as you may prefer solid protection of your field spell...besides, this shuts down quite a few cards in your opponent's deck. That should be good enough.

Limited: 5/5- If you pull this in a draft, you better start drafting Gravekeepers. This is a first round pick that makes you unstoppable once out, and most gravekeepers are common. Lucky you. 
JAELOVE

Monday: Necrovalley

Rated For: Gravekeepers Deck

We kick off Gravekeeper’s week with the key card in the lineup, Necrovalley. This is a card that’s already been reviewed in my Gravekeeper article, reprinted in full! Nothing’s changed since then, so the insight should be valid.

Advantage F/H: Necrovalley single-handedly makes this deck run smoothly. Without it, all of your gravekeepers are 1200-1500 attack weaksticks. You can't limit your opponent's graveyard. With it, the deck transforms into a powerhouse. 9.5/10.

Best Draw for the Situation: Always a welcome sight in a Gravekeeper's deck. You just don't want to see two or three of them in hand at one time, or draw it when you're top-decking and don't have monsters. Take a few off for those drawbacks for 9/10.

Attributes/Effect: You can't have a Gravekeeper's deck without this card. It gets a perfect score for making a whole archetype effective. 10/10.

Dependability: Your opponent has many spell/trap removers that can get rid of it. You'll have some protection up there, but it's bound to be removed a few times when it's up there. That's why you'll run three copies of it.  7.5/10.

The Bottom Line: The score shows why you run 3 in a Gravekeepers deck.

A BAD Score: 36/40 =                                               90/100

Cards it functions with: Terraforming, Owl of Good Luck, Gravekeeper monsters, Magic Reflector, Magic Drain.

 

 Copyright 1998-2004 - Pojo.com 

This site is not associated with KAZUKI TAKAHASHI.  Yu-Gi-Oh is a registered trademarks of KAZUKI TAKAHASHI.
This is NOT an official site.  This is a fan site.