Hey guys Lolman here yet again. (Bet you’re sick of seeing my name up here but all the same!)
Recently I was playing a lot of Graveyard and I faced a Golemyard deck. Not this exact deck, but improving that deck I built this deck and had some reasonable success with it winning a 100 player tournament I joined randomly.
When I started playing Graveyard, Golemyard was my first choice of decks and I believe this deck is viable in the current meta!
So now without blabbing on I will discuss the cards in the deck.
Golem Graveyard Deck
Golem
This is one of your win conditions albeit not your primary win cons.
Despite costing up to 8 Elixir, he is merely the largest tank in the game for your Graveyard.
There are times when you will rely on him but you for the most part will do majority of damage.
There are a lot of pros to this! Inferno Tower, Dragon, P.E.K.K.A will not bother you too much when playing this deck.
Woo hoo! Golem deck now isn’t absolutely hard countered by P.E.K.K.A.
Night Witch
Despite being killed off by Supercell, she is still a staple in almost every single beatdown deck.
Why? Despite her DPS taking a huge nerf, the Bats still stack!
The Golem’s incredibly high HP pool will allow her to have more time to spawn these Bats, which will DPS down defensive troops and kill most of coutnerpushes.
She synergizes well with Graveyard in general.
Mini P.E.K.K.A
I initially had Goblins here but I find despite the cost, Mini P.E.K.K.A functions really well! Especially with his relatively recent buff.
When you drop a Collector, having Mini P.E.K.K.A in cycle will help you far more than Goblins as Goblins can be Logged .
I would change Mini P.E.K.K.A to Goblins if I want a fast cycle however this is the version I played most matches with.
Elixir Collector
Like any other Golem deck, or most heavy beatdown. Elixir Collector is a must-have in these decks.
You will need the Elixir flowing for your ideal pushes.
In this case is something along the lines of, Golem+ Night Witch+ Graveyard+ Poison which is 21 elixir!
Play Pump if you can protect it. Don’t play it if your hand is something like Golem, Pump, Poison and Log with the next one is Mega Minion (can’t deal with Miner).
Mega Minion
With a rather good movement speed to be played in beatdown, unlike say a Baby Dragon, Mega Minion is a good and cheap support card.
Can be used to defend right after Pumping up due to the low cost.
Keep in mind that he doesn’t have a LOT of HP so try to get other troops like a Mini P.E.K.K.A, or Night Witch to tank for him.
Poison
Graveyard needs Poison!
Poison should also be used in other situations too like vs 3 Muskets or even Collectors!
Early on don’t punish rush with Graveyard Poison! You want this deck to be more of a beatdown deck, not like control.
Build your advantages, don’t worry too much about early towers.
The Log
Now I would not use Zap in this slot for the sole reason tower will retarget to Skeles.
You don’t want that.
The Log is mainly for Barrel as well. You can use Arrows but I would not recommend using Zap.
I use Log because of the 2 cost. Arrows can be advantageous in many situations.
I rely a lot on Golem death clearing most swarm cards for me and or Poison getting value as well.
Graveyard
There are pros and cons to the less randomness.
Just a quick tip if facing Valk is to make sure you place it at where the Skeles can spawn on both sides of the tower! Valks radius isn’t unlimited.
Knowing Valk was in his cycle, I placed Graveyard this so it was not going to be hard countered by her.
General Gameplay
Early game (3:00-2:00)
PUMP UP! I cannot stress this enough.
Within the first minutes, against a skilled opponent, you will not be able to get too much damage on your opponent’s tower.
Just repeatedly cycle Pumps.
If your opponent Pumps up with you, then slowly roll a Golem.
If they rush you, defend then once hit 10 elixir, start a Golem in the back of damaged tower.
Despite 1x elixir, don’t be afraid to start pushes. Just don’t commit to the extent you will in 1x elixir.
Knowing when to Golem is key! I will list out some conditions you should meet before doing so.
When you can play Golem
- You have a huge Elixir advantage.
- They perhaps just used their win condition, maybe Miner + Bandit and Gobs or Minion push, or even a Hog + something push.
Whichever, just make sure they cannot rush the other lane. - They used cards that require heavy tanking.
Say they rush you with like E-barbs Minions etc and you have Poison, Night Witch, Log, Golem? With maybe Collector next? I would definitely tank with Golem! - You are counterpushing. When you make a positive trade with a defensive play.
- You know that their counters are either out of rotation and or you can get rid of them.
Not only Golem, one thing I find with inexperienced players is they don’t know when to play cards like Graveyard either!
I will make it simple and list out some conditions when you can play Graveyard!
When you can play Graveyard
- Have enough Elixir for Poison: We don’t want to rekt just because of a simple Bats play. Unless you know that their only counter is out of rotation!
- If you know their counters and know you can counter their counters!
If Poison isn’t the 5th card, I would be hesitant to play Graveyard. At this point, try to change your rotation In the game so Graveyard and Poison are almost always beside each other in your cycle! - Their counter is out of cycle. Needless to explain.
- You either have a push or a counter push going.
- You are up in elixir! – Your opponent has to defend the Golem + support and the Graveyard. Having 4 elixir for the Valkyrie in Graveyard won’t stop the tower from going down so try to make sure you capitalize on your elixir advantages.
Here this little exchange is sort of an example of following both #3, 4 and 5
His play of the Wizard was the green light to my Graveyard. It paid off as that single counterpush lead to me getting the 1-0 lead!
TL;DR: During the early game, you want to Pump up and defend.
Playing Golem and Graveyard are fine if you have good conditions.
Mid game (2:00- 1:00)
Around this phase of the game, you will ideally have 1-2 Elixir Collectors up!
Get that elixir flowing and roll your Golems over.
I would say having 2-3 Golem pushes by the 1 minute mark would be excellent!
Provided you didn’t suffer massive damage. Try to get as much damage as you can because in the case of a hard counter deck.
For example, vs Exenado with Poison, you don’t want them having the Elixir flowing in 2x elixir to be able to pull that kinda combo off easily!
Just don’t give opponent value, get valuable Poisons and keep on Pumping!
Late game (1:00- end of OT)
Now is when your Pump advantage shines!
Going in with about 2 Elixir Collectors on the board means a guaranteed win for you!
Make smart plays with the surge in elixir and wipe their towers off the map!
Graveyard Poison should be the killer combo. Golem tanks, Night Witch Mega Minion, even Mini P.E.K.K.A behind the Golem will help you take the tower as well as defensive troops down.
I would avoid Pumping up from the moment it hits 1:00 as it takes time for the Pumps to net any real gain in elixir as you would have invested 6 in the Pump itself!
Similar to Miner Poisons in a way. The moment the Golem crosses the bridge, Graveyard Poison is your go-to combo! Take them towers!
Match-ups
Log bait
This was what I faced the most while testing this deck.
You will not have The Log in cycle all the time for the Barrel, that’s something you must note with because it will be very tough to really keep up with their cycle.
Night Witch and Mega Minion would be ideal to deal with Barrel.
One thing they usually do is to overcommit to protect the Princess. Feel free to predict this by not caring about their defense but Poisoning princess+ Tower.
Inferno Tower will almost always kill your Golem but that’s fine! Graveyard + Poison will wreck their towers.
In 2x elixir Log the Gang and they will almost always use Knight in the Graveyard.
It’s not a difficult match-up, just play smart early game and don’t ever Pump up behind the tower!
Also in 1-1 situations, you can use Night Witch in pocket to distract Inferno Tower! This works very well!
P.E.K.K.A Miner
Tough match-up, not going to lie.
However not undefeatable.
You want them to Poison your Pump, if Poison is out of cycle then you are fine. Even if your Golem dies.
You will have to rely on Night Witch to kill the P.E.K.K.A. Mini P.E.K.K.A will die to her really fast so Mini P.E.K.K.A behind a Golem!
Ideally, use Mini P.E.K.K.A on Miner and or Bandit, Log should be saved for Gobs etc, get good Poisons killing E-wiz if you can!
Lavaloon
Mega Minion should be used on the Balloon at all times.
Poisoning defensively is kinda needed if you are defending.
Get your Pumps up and you are bound to lose a tower! Just try to keep your Pump behind tower that won’t go down.
Once you get Elixir flowing, it’s an easy win. Poison will wreck their Graveyard defences. Log away the Tombstone and you are home free.
Also Golem same lane as Lava Hound, Golem will tank more plus kill Minions, Gang etc if they defend with them! Unlike the Hound.
Mega Knight
Mega Knight usage from what I can tell is going down! You can use Mini P.E.K.K.A to stop him with ease.
Night Witch works well too! Golem kite works really well too!
It’s not hard to distract him but if get rushed when Pumping up, one thing I must tell you is just don’t overdefend. Damage is inevitable. Try to rather make them pay for overcommitting like that!
Hog Rider
You have Mini P.E.K.K.A, Night Witch, Mega Minion. Not too hard of a match-up. Don’t let them take your tower early on!
They usually cycle really fast and will be able to shut you down.
Get good Poisons paired up with your Graveyard and you are gold! Easy win!
Just don’t Pump up unless you got solid defensive cards!
Conclusion
I think this wraps it all up guys, I had a lot of fun playing this deck and success too.
Hope you guys enjoy playing it and get those W’s in the Arena. Ciao.
