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Top 8 Master
I - An Introduction to the Gladiator Beasts
II - The Gladiator Beasts Theme
III – The Gladiator Beasts Monsters
IV – Non Gladiator Best Support:
V – Gladiator Beast Support Spells/Traps
VI – Outside Gladiator Beast Support:
VII – Gladiator Beast variants
VIII – Gladiator Beast Historical References:
-Gladiator Beast History
IX - Closing and Copyright
X - Credit
I - An Introduction to the Gladiator Beasts
As a Gladiator beast player since Gladiator assault I felt seeing many new faces this format interested in Gladiator beast, and wanting to give the deck a try that it would be a good time to make a guide for the new gladiator beast players.
The purpose of this guide is to bring to light the deep intricacies of the Gladiator Beasts, their numerous monsters and support, possible deck variants and other topics. This guide will provide you the knowledge that you will need to build your Gladiator beast, and knock out the current decks of the meta-game.
II - The Gladiator Beasts Theme
The main draw of the Gladiator Beast is their unique “Tag” system. And no this is not the childhood game but more along the lines of Professional (?) wrestling, by which a team member tags a partner in to assist them in battle. Besides Heraklinos and Torax, all Gladiator Beast share this common ability by this universal line: “At the end of the Battle Phase, if this card attacked or was attacked, you can return it to the Deck…” What this means is that after every battle phase (not battle step), yours or your opponents, you are allowed the OPTION to choose a Gladiator beast that battled this turn to return to your deck in order to special summon another Gladiator beast from your deck to take its place. There are a few rules to follow though if you are using this effect:
1) The monster that you are choosing to return to your deck must still be alive on the field under your control at the end of the battle phase. Any Gladiator Beast that that did not survive cannot tag out.
2) Returning the “Gladiator Beast” monster to the Deck is a cost to activate the effect.
3) You cannot activate the effect if your deck contains no eligible monsters to summon.
4) If you have two or more Gladiator Beast ready to activate their effects at the end of the battle phase, you choose which order in which to activate and resolve them. You activate the effect of one of your Gladiator Beast, and then resolve that effect. After this, you can choose a second Gladiator Beast and activate its effect, then resolve it. They are not combined into the same chain.
5) If a surviving Gladiator Beast is flipped face down before the end of the battle phase in which they attacked, they cannot activate their tag effect.
6) You only get the special summon effect if it is summoned by the tag effect of another Gladiator Beast or by a card effect that allows you to bypass this tag effect.
7) When multiple Gladiator Beast are summoned at the same time by Gladiator Beast Secutor, Gaiodiaz or Gladiator Beast Gyzarus they form a chain, and effects like Stardust Dragon will miss the chance to activate. Example:
1. Normal Summon a Gladiator Beast.
2. Special Summon Test Tiger from your hand.
3. Tribute Test Tiger to activate his effect. Then return the Gladiator Beast to the deck to special summons Gladiator Beast Secutor.
4. Set Waboku and end your turn.
5. If Secutor is attacked, activate Waboku so it won't be destroyed by the battle.
6. At the end of the batte phase, activate Secutor's effect. Then special summon Murmillo and another Gladiator Beast from the deck that has an effect that activates like Equeste.
7. Murmillo and Equeste will form a chain together since their trigger effects want to activate at the same time. Both monsters have mandatory effects so you can arrange their effects on the chain in an order of your choosing since they activate at the same time.
Place Murmillo at Chain Link 1, Place Equeste at Chain Link 2.
Monsters like Stardust Dragon that have to chain their effect directly to the effect that they wants to negate, because Equeste's effect is at Chain Link 2, Stardust cannot chain his effect directly to Murmillo, so Stardust's effect cannot be activated since its optional and cannot chain directly to Gladiator Murmillo who is chain link 1 (and is destroying a card on the field).
Murmillo can destroy Stardust in that scenario. You can even do this with a Murmillo and a Gladiator beast that has an optional trigger effect. Murmillo's mandatory effect will be Link 1, the optional Gladiator Beast(like Gladiator Beast Darius) effect will be Link 2
Do note that if you special summon Murmillo, and another Gladiator Beast with a destruction effect like Gladiator Beast Octavius/ bestiary Stardust Dragon will be able to use its effect because if murmillo is chain link 1, and Gladiator Beast Bestiari is chain link 2 Stardust can still chain to Gladiator Beast Bestiari’s destruction since its chaining directly to the destruction effect, and if this happens since Stardust is no longer on field Murmillo’s mandatory effect will force him to blow himself up since he will be the only monster on field, so be careful how you use this technique.
You can get a more detailed version of these rules from the former UDE rulings located here: http://www.yu-judges.com/cat337_p2.htm.
So what benefit does this convoluted and confusing effect give to the Gladiator Beast? Numerous actually, despite all the limitations to the tag system. It is important to note that aside from the aforementioned limits, a Gladiator Beast can tag out so long as they survive the battle phase and have successfully attacked something(monster or direct) or have been attacked. This means that the Gladiator Beast player has numerous choices to make in terms of attacking, not attacking, and choosing whether or not to tag out or not.
Playing the Gladiator Beast allows a player to appreciate the complex battle system of Yugioh as they thoroughly cover all possible aspects of the battle within their theme and force the user to learn these many intricacies in order to successfully use them. Like how the Cloudians teach players about fore planning, prioritizing, and a lot of arithmetic, the Gladiator Beast teach players the intricate art of the battle phase, who/what/when to attack, and the prioritizing your monsters.
In terms of strategy, the tag system essentially provides any able Gladiator Beast with their own, built in Reinforcements to the Army effect, activated by fulfilling a specific scenario. The glory of the Warrior Toolbox deck was its immense versatility against numerous decks and more critically, the speed at which they were able to respond to any situation by way of Reinforcements of The Army and The Warrior Returning Alive. The Gladiator Beast essentially use their tag option in the same way, searching out the right Gladiator Beast effect after every battle phase.
This gives the theme a large amount of versatility and reaction speed when played. The “tag in” effects are very broad and allow for numerous plays including: draw, Spell/Trap destruction, spell protection, spell tutor, monster destruction, multi attack, ATK boost, DEF boost, swarm, grave removal, hand advantage, and much more. This makes the Gladiator Beast play a control-oriented offense, focused on grinding opponents into the dust through these various effects and constant battling.
Like any deck though, there are weaknesses. For the Gladiator Beast, it is any card that removes the Battle Phase as an option every turn. For without the battle phase, the Gladiator Beast greatest effects and plays cannot be activated and leaves them no different than normal monsters. Any card that prevents or negates attacks is deadly for Gladiator Beast, including Gravity Bind, Battle Fader, Threatening Roar, and the like.
Any battle defense cards such as Dimensional Prison and Compulsory Evacuation Device also prevents the Gladiator Beast from tagging out. One final major weakness is ironically high ATK monsters. As the Gladiator Beast need to survive the battle phase every turn, attacking into a stronger monster is not the way to go and if the Gladiator Beast cannot overcome the threat, they are stagnant until they can.
Obviously the Gladiator Beast theme is not the most perfect theme ever created. In fact, it doesn’t try to be. The Gladiator Beast are a deck type that provides one of the broadest effect pools in the game, unique deck search ability, and the capacity to fully utilize and exploit the battle phase. Are the Gladiator Beast a competitive deck type capable of sweeping tournaments? Yes. Are they a versatile deck type with an open book of potential to exploit for the innovative deck maker? Yes. Are they worth it as a theme? Definitely.
III – The Gladiator Beasts Monsters
The Gladiator Beast are as various as their numerous effects. They cover all 6 attributes and range from Winged Beasts, Beat Warrior, Beasts, Dinosaurs, Fish, Reptiles, Aqua, and Rock. They also have three non- Gladiator Beast support monsters to help their deck. Their general ATK and DEF stats also range from really weak to very high. So with their diversity, it is hard to unify them under any category besides their names. This certainly hurts their splash ability but also reinforces their strategies.
Gladiator Beast Octavius
LIGHT/Winged-Beast - Effect/7/2500/1200
When this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "Gladiator Beast" monster, destroy 1 face-down Spell or Trap Card. At the end of your Battle Phase, if this card attacked or was attacked, return this card to the Deck unless you discard 1 card.
The first Gladiator beast we look at is one of the Gladiators Assault TCG exclusive cards. No doubt many of you traded this card from the Sneak Preview for Six Samuria support. But for those keeping their copy and are dead set on building a Gladiator Beast deck, I congratulate you on keeping one of the more powerful Gladiator Beast in the theme. In terms of stats, Octavius is no slouch. 2500 ATK allows it smash Monarchs, Jinzo’s, and can go head to head with Mist Wurm, Stardust Dragon, and the like.
Its level 7 status may seem like a weakness, as most commonly seen Gladiator Beast decks run only the level 4 or lower Gladiator Beast, but you should NEVER be tribute summoning this card. That is what the Tag System allows you to do, summon a free 2500 beater with an on summon effect to abuse, and if you draw him almost all Gladiator Beast decks run Gladiator beast Respite allowing you to easily put him back in deck, and make him live again. Also this card can be tagged in by any Gladiator Beast, giving him a wide opportunity space, and making him easily more abuse able then Gladiator Beast Alexander, and Sparticus.
His on summon is not as dramatic as his ATK but is handy nonetheless. It allows him to blow up any facedown Spell/Trap card your opponent is hiding from your Gladiator Beast which is very hand this format since many deck like Infernitys set allot of Back row cards these matches are where Octavius shine the most destroying the bluff putting huge pressure on your opponent by leaving them not only top decking, but with no field to work with either.
And with Gladiator Beast Bestiari now limited I felt it was time to Bring Gladiator Beast Octavius back to the army line up, so if your opponent keeps on trying to bluff, you always have Octavius to call in, and not risk your one and only copy of Gladiator Beast Bestiari who grants you one of your most Powerful Fusions Gladiator Beast Gyzarus.
Since Gladiator Beast Gyzarus only destroys up to two cards, and Starlight Roads all over the meta many situations you will only destroy one card, so you won’t risk the opponent activating Starlight Road, but that will leave the opponent with 1 face down card left that may help him recover next turn( and Gladiator Beast Gyzarus, can’t tag into Gladiator Beast Bestiari) this is another great moment were Octavius shines since gyzarus can tag him onto the field, and take out that last backrow card. Even with gladiator beast decks running Dust Tornado’s it never hurts to have more ways to destroy Back row since its one of they keys that will determine if your Gladiator Beast will survive the battle phase, or not that turn.
Now you see what I mean about how Gladiator Beast bring in the deepest complexities of the Yugioh battle system into play. All aspects of the battle must be examined before the fight to better your position and weaken your opponents. Bluffs, tempo, size, timing, replays, and targets are all factors that must be taken into account. I can guarantee that a dedicated user of Gladiator Beast will come out of the experience more experienced about battling.
Back on topic, Gladiator Beast Octavius has one last effect, more to his detriment than benefit. Whenever he battles during YOUR battle phase, you have to discard a card in order to keep him on the field. If not, he returns back to your deck. Even worse, you can’t tag in another Gladiator beast to replace him. This severely limits his brutal ATK score, limiting its uses on the field, but If you can cover his discard cost though you can swing for big damage, and many duels his not replacing himself actually helped rather than hurt specially when using Gladiator Beast Secutor, and Gyzarus on the field, and running out of field space so having to send Gladiator Beast to the grave to, because no room on field, for there (mandatory effect of special summoning Two Gladiator beast monsters) meaning they have to summon two if you don't have space for the last monster it goes to the graveyard.
He still acts as a strong ATK wall and can defend your life points with those beefy arms. And he still has 2500 ATK.
I think that this complex analysis of a single Gladiator Beast out of fifteen shows you how incredibly deep the theme is in terms of its mechanics and potential.
Gladiator Beast Alexander
LIGHT/Beast - Effect/6/2400/600
this card cannot be Special Summoned except by the effect of "Gladiator Beast Dimacari". If this card was Special Summoned, it is unaffected by the effects of Spell Cards. At the end of the Battle Phase, if this card attacked or was attacked, you can return it to the Deck to Special Summon 1 "Gladiator Beast" monster from your Deck, except "Gladiator Beast Alexander".
This Gladiator Beast is also noteworthy in several aspects. He sports a powerful 2400 ATK, on par with the monarchs and Jinzo. This allows him to be a powerful force on the field and a certifiable threat, especially if you tagged him in while using Ancient Forest, or deck using many One for One spell removal like Smashing Ground, and Fissure’s.
Alexander is noteworthy because he has a summoning restriction in terms of the tag system, making Gladiator Beast Dimacari the only Gladiator beast that can tag this beast in. Of course this does not stop you from normal summoning him with a tribute. His on summon effect takes a note from Horus Lv.6, making him immune to all spell cards so long as he is on the field.
This is a valuable effect as monster removal is slowly taking the form of spells more than traps. This makes Alexander an even more difficult Gladiator beast to deal with, and alongside Royal Decree on the field, he becomes virtually unstoppable. For all his trouble, here is one Gladiator beast you should hesitate to tag out, and should not use in Gladiator beast variants other then forest gladiator Beast, and other builds that can fully abuse its ability to your advantage.
Gladiator Beast Spartacus
EARTH/Dinosaur - Effect/5/2200/1600
this card cannot be Special Summoned except by the effect of "Gladiator Beast Hoplomus". When this card is Special Summoned, add 1 "Gladiator Beast" Equip Spell Card from your deck to your hand. At the end of the Battle Phase, if this card attacked or was attacked, you can return it to the Deck to Special Summon 1 "Gladiator Beast" monster from your Deck, except "Gladiator Beast Spartacus".
Another Gladiator Beast with a conditional tag effect, Spartacus can only activate his summon effect after being tagged in by Hoplomos, a very easy task really. He packs a powerful 2200 ATK, enough to beat Cyber Dragons, but fails in the face of monarchs, so be careful.
His on summon effect can be handy depending on how much you are planning to really on the Armament cards. IMO, only one of the Equip cards is worth playing in a Gladiator beast deck, but it is up to you really. Regardless though, searching your deck and getting a free spell card is still a +1, so he is not totally worthless. Heck, you can use the spell to pay for Octavius’s discard cost. Use as needed most will just combo him with Elemental Hero Prisma to fuse for Gladiator Beast Gaiodiaz allot easier allowing them to actually abuse all three of their fusions, and not just two.
Gladiator Beast Murmillo
WATER/Fish - Effect/3/800/400
when this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "Gladiator Beast" monster, destroy 1 face-up monster. At the end of the Battle Phase, if this card attacked or was attacked, you can return it to the Deck to Special Summon 1 "Gladiator Beast" monster from your Deck, except "Gladiator Beast Murmillo".
The first regular Gladiator beast, Murmillo is one of the key Gladiator beast in the theme as he provides a powerful tag in effect that aids the battle process. He can be tagged in by any Gladiator Beast, giving him more versatility in terms of summon timing. Being Level 3 is handy for slipping under Gravity Bind, etc giving much more flexibility in attacking. Unfortunately, his low ATK score prevents him from being able to tag out by battling monsters. He also is difficult to keep alive during your opponent’s turn after you tag this guy in. Direct attacks are the way to go with this guy.
His on-summon effect is really handy for the Gladiator beast as it simplifies the field, enabling more of your Gladiator Beast to get attacks through then tag out. In fact, if you use his effect skillfully, you can tag him in; destroy a monster, direct attack, and then tag out to a beefier Gladiator Beast.
Unfortunately, you cannot destroy facedown monsters and if you are the only one with face-up monsters when this card is tagged in, it is one of your monsters that die. Despite his limitations, Murmillo’s monster destruction is too good to ignore and when well used, can turn into plenty of +1s and tempo control.
Gladiator Beast Retiari
Water/Aqua/Effect-/3/1200/800
When this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a " Gladiator Beast" monster, you can remove from play 1 card from your opponent's Graveyard. At the end of the Battle Phase, if this card attacked or was attacked, you can return this card to your Deck to Special Summon 1 “Gladiator Beast" monster from your Deck except "Gladiator Beast Retiari".
A new addition to the Gladiator Beast family. It did not receive the love it wanted at first. However, it became very useful in time against all sorts of decks, and is a staple in Gladiator Beast adding another effective tool to their army to use against the Meta, but only one is needed, because you want to keep it in the deck to tag into it as much as possible.
Gladiator beast Retiari allows you to interrupt key cards that graveyard dependent decks rely on lightsworn’s, Infernitys, X-Sabers are just a few of the Meta decks that this card shines against, because while all of them are very powerful at swarming, and taking over the field their power fullest cards rely on the Graveyard Infernity Launcher, XX-Saber Faultroll, and Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner , are just icing on the cake when seeing the paralyzing positions Gladiator Beast Retiari can leave these decks in, and how useless he makes these cards when used correctly.
Gladiator Beast Bestari
WIND/Winged-Beast - Effect/4/1500/800
When this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "Gladiator Beast" monster, destroy 1 Spell or Trap Card. At the end of the Battle Phase, if this card attacked or was attacked, you can return it to the Deck to Special Summon 1 "Gladiator Beast" monster from your Deck, except "Gladiator Beast Bestiari".
This is a very handy Gladiator Beast and one of the most useful which is why it’s now limited. 1500 ATK is not too bad of ATK, allowing him to beat down on recruiters and other weenies. His tag in effect is why he really shines as he can destroy any spell or trap card on the field. This greatly allows the Gladiator beast to own the Battle Field and when combined with Octavius, and keep your opponent’s back row clear for the majority of the duel. This makes him essential for covering the numerous weaknesses of the Gladiator Beast theme.
Of course he’s a little risky summoning now at 1 copy, because of Bottomless Trap Hole, with Elemental Hero Prisma in deck able to Substitute, as him when needed, and Bestiari still being the key to make Gladiator Beast Gyzarus to grant Gladiator Beast even greater field dominance here plays should be well thought out looking at every consequence that could occur based on the opponents field before you plan to summon it .
Gladiator Beast Laquari
FIRE/Beast-Warrior - Effect/4/1800/400
If this card was Special Summoned by the effect of a "Gladiator Beast" monster, its original ATK is 2100. At the end of the Battle Phase, if this card attacked or was attacked, you can return it to the Deck to Special Summon 1 "Gladiator Beast" monster from your Deck, except "Gladiator Beast Laquari".
This is a handy Gladiator beast for tagging in other Gladiator due to his useable ATK score. At base, 1800 is nothing to scoff at, as most decks are polarized between having really strong tributes with weak non-tributes. This makes him handy with or without being tagged in.
If he was tagged in though, he gains an additional 300 ATK, putting him in the class of Cyber Dragon. This makes it even easier for him to survive a battle in order to tag in another Gladiator Beast. This card is also necessary if you are trying to summon the almighty Gladiator Beast Heraklinos. Handy indeed in Gladiator Beast decks.
Gladiator Beast Hoplomus
EARTH/Rock - Effect/4/700/2100
If this card was Special Summoned by the effect of a "Gladiator Beast" monster, its original DEF is 2400. At the end of the Battle Phase, if this card attacked or was attacked, you can return it to the Deck to Special Summon 1 "Gladiator Beast" monster from your Deck, except "Gladiator Beast Hoplomus".
[This is a definite addition to any Gladiator Beast deck as Hoplomus has the DEF stat to survive most battles. An initial 2100 DEF is powerful enough to stop that barrier busting Cyber Dragon in its tracks. This makes him a great card to set, as after he is attacked, he will most likely still be alive to tag in another Gladiator Beast.
If this guy was tagged in himself, he gets a DEF boost to 2400, stopping the monarchs in their tracks. Of course as a DEF wall, your opponent can easily attack around him. Of course, this allows you to manipulate the attacks yourself. A steady wall and a reliable tag partner, Hoplomus is a good standard in Gladiator Beast decks.
Even though he doesn’t seem that Useful this format with, so many deck out their swarming, and synchro’s all around he is still a great tool that’s usable at all times when the other tools aren’t, and is still one of Gladiator Beast best monsters when starting off the duel.
Gladiator Beast Samnite
Earth/3/Beast/Effect-1600/1200
If this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "Gladiator Beast" monster, when this card destroys your opponent's monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard, you can add 1 "Gladiator Beast" card from your Deck to your hand. At the end of the Battle Phase, if this card attacked or was attacked, you can return this card to your Deck to Special Summon 1 :Gladiator Beast" monster from your Deck except "Gladiator Beast Samnite".
Gladiator Beast Samnite by himself makes Rescue Cat explosive. he is a Level 3 Beast-type monster that can be Special Summoned via the effect of Rescue Cat. Seeing as you can bring two to the field, it is an automatic +1 to the player. If Special summoned with its effect, you can use cards like Book of Moon and Indomitable Gladiator Beast to switch bigger monster to DEF for easy battles with Samnite. This can result to Gladiator Beast Respite or Gladiator Beast War Chariot searches allowing you to get those cards into play as early as possible.
Gladiator Beast Dimacari
EARTH/Beast - Effect/4/1600/1200
If this card was Special Summoned by the effect of a "Gladiator Beast" monster, it can attack twice during each Battle Phase. At the end of the Battle Phase, if this card attacked or was attacked, you can return it to the Deck to Special Summon 1 "Gladiator Beast" monster from your Deck, except "Gladiator Beast Dimacari".
Another handy Gladiator Beast for tagging purposes, Dimacari sports a workable 1600 ATK on the battle field. This makes it battle useable against many of your opponent’s weak-middle monsters. If it got tagged in, it sports a powerful Double Attack effect, increasing his chances of getting a successful battle in. Note that you don’t need to attack in a row with his effect.
A direct attack from this guy means a painful 3200 LP of damage. He defiantly shines in those duel versus X-saber’s, Dandy-Warrior, and the works that abuse many Searchers/ monster when replace themselves (Danylion) allowing him to clear up more of their resources instead of having to use Gladiator Beast Murmillo/ Gyzarus to clear the last of their cards it also makes them use up their searchers allowing you to kill the monster that they were stalling to get like versus X-sabers they may summon 1-2 XX-Saber Emmersblade before they actually summon XX-Saber Fulhelmknight just to stall and keep field presence for XX-Saber Faultroll next turn, but by taking out two of them with one monster it allows you to save your other attacking Gladiator beast to finish off their field making it harder for those deck to recover.
Gladiator Beast Secutor
WIND/ Reptile - Effect/4/400/300
If this card was Special Summoned by the effect of a "Gladiator Beast" monster, at the end of any Battle Phase, if this card attacked or was attacked, Special Summon 2 "Gladiator Beast" monsters from your Deck, except "Gladiator Beast Secutor".
Now here is a scary Gladiator Beast. Its stats don’t give its deadliness away as they are the weakest among the Gladiator beast. So like Gladiator Beast Murmillo, this guy is only good for direct attacks. If you are able to tag this guy in and he survives the Battle Phase of the turn, you are allowed to summon two Gladiator beasts from your deck.
You must however have at least two Gladiator beasts in your deck to use this effect. Obviously there is a lot of set up needed to utilize this card, but the rewards are certainly worth it. He makes summoning the great Gladiator Beast Heraklinos allot easier, this card is your gateway to him. A must in Gladiator Beast decks, as he also provides Gladiator beast with a tool for swarming the field making maintaining field presence for Gladiator Beast War Chariot all easier, and for those who use Gladiator Beast Octavius he surly makes up for the fact that Gladiator Beast Octavius won’t replace himself.
Gladiator Beast Equeste
Wind/Winged-Beast/4/Effect1600/1200
When this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "Gladiator Beast" monster, select 1 "Gladiator Beast" card in your Graveyard and add it to your hand. If this card battles, by returning it to the Deck at the end of the Battle Phase, Special Summon 1 "Gladiator Beast" monster except "Gladiator Beast Equeste" from your Deck.
Gladiator Beast Equeste is one of my favorites the tool that he brought to the Gladiator Beast army is so amazing allowing us to recycle any Monsters, spells, or Traps that have “Gladiator Beast” in its name to our Hand allowing Gladiator Beast massive hand advantage over the opponent, and is one of the key reasons Gladiator Beast War Chariot see’s so much play, and is effective.
If Gladiator Beast War Chariot couldn’t be recycled then it wouldn’t see as much play as it has over the formats same with Gladiator beast respite staple in all Gladiator beast decks, and one of your most used tools out of all of them.
Gladiator Beast Gaiodiaz
DARK/Dinosaur - Fusion - Effect/7/2600/1500
"Gladiator Beast Spartacus" + 1 "Gladiator Beast" monster
]This card can only be Special Summoned from your Fusion Deck, by returning the above cards you control to the Deck. (You do not use "Polymerization".) When this card destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard, inflict damage to your opponent equal to the DEF of the destroyed monster. At the end of the Battle Phase, if this card attacked or was attacked, you can return it to the Fusion Deck to Special Summon 2 "Gladiator Beast" monsters from your Deck except "Gladiator Beast Spartacus".
The first of the Gladiator Beast Contact Fusions, Gaiodiaz can only be initially special summoned by returning Spartacus and one other Gladiator Beast from your field to your deck. This monster can be difficult to summon as Spartacus requires you to either tribute for him or summon via Gladiator Beast Hoplomus beforehand Elemental Hero Prisma being able to substitute as Gladiator Beast Sparticus is a big help when trying to summon him.
The good thing though is that if he is destroyed on the field, you can use general revival cards to bring him back. However, if you can get him out, he becomes quite a beast on the battle field 2600 ATK will automatically make him the strongest monster in most cases. He also sports a Sphinx Teleia esque effect, where as whenever he destroys a monster in battle, you deal effect damage equal to the DEF of the destroyed monster.
This defiantly makes him a huge threat for your opponent’s life points. His last effect is allows him to tag out to tag in two other Gladiator Beast. Of course having to remove this powerful monster may not be the best choice at times.
Gladiator Beast Gyzarus
Dark/Winged-Beast/6/Fusion/Effect/2400/1500
"Gladiator Beast Bestiari" + 1 "Gladiator Beast" monsterThis card can only be Special Summoned from your Fusion Deck by returning the above cards you control to the Deck (You do not use "Polymerization"). When this card is successfully Special Summoned, you can destroy up to 2 cards on the field. At the end of the Battle Phase, if this card attacked or was attacked, you can return this card to the Fusion Deck to Special Summon 2 "Gladiator Beast" monsters from your Deck, except "Gladiator Beast Bestiari".
Gyzarus is definitely the work horse of the entire Gladiator Beast monsters, if not the "Monarch". He destroys up to two cards on the field once he is Special Summoned, and if he's in the graveyard after being successfully summoned the first time, you can revive him from grave with Call Of The Haunted and activate his effect again, because it activates when ever its “ Special summoned”.
His tag-out effect is the best part. He is the reason why Heraklinos is summoned the way he is being able to tag-into two Gladiator Beasts, and one of them could be a Darius to grab a Gladiator Beast in the graveyard gives Gladiator beast another effective way to swarm the field, and abuse multiple tools from their Tool box at once.
Gladiator Beast Heraklinos
FIRE/Beast-Warrior - Fusion - Effect/8/3000/2800
"Gladiator Beast Laquari" + 1 "Gladiator Beast" monster + 1 "Gladiator Beast" monster
This card can only be Special Summoned from your Fusion Deck, by returning the above cards you control to the Deck. (You do not use "Polymerization".) While this card is face-up on the field, by discarding 1 card from your hand, negate the activation and effect of a Spell or Trap Card, and destroy it.
Here is the ultimate Gladiator Beast of them all. He is the third Gladiator Beast contact fusion and is their version of the Neo-Spacian Triple Contact Fusion. In this case, one needs Laquari and two other Gladiator Beast on the field. Laquari is in itself a good monster so one simply needs to activate the effect of Gladiator Beast Secutor . Gaiodiaz, or Gyzarus to get the other two.
If you can successfully summon this card, you are rewarded with one of the most devastating monsters in the game. First, he packs a huge ATK and DEF stat, making him a definite king on the battle field. Of course, you’re playing him for his effect, a built in Dark Bribe effect for the simple cost of one discard.
This card can effectively lock down your opponent spells and traps indefinitely, and unless your opponent is packing monster effects to destroy him, he essentially remains invincible especially if you add Gladiator Beast War Chariot to the mix. Basically, this card = Win much in the same way Faultroll is for X-Saber decks. Your opponent will try everything to stop this beast though by keeping your monsters off the field.
IV – Non Gladiator Beast Support:
Though these monsters do not bear the Gladiator Beast name, they are nonetheless extremely helpful for their battle ready superiors and are willing to fight alongside them for victory:
Test Tiger
EARTH/Beast - Effect/3/600/600
If you control a "Gladiator Beast" monster, you can special summon this card. You can tribute this card to return 1 "Gladiator Beast" monster you control to the deck, and Special Summon 1 "Gladiator Beast" from your deck. The Special Summoned monster is treated as if it was Special Summoned by the effect of a "Gladiator Beast".
This is what Grandmaster of the Six Samurai did for the Six Samurai deck. Again, this is another TCG exclusive card promo, so you lucky peoples get a great boost in Gladiator beast playability. Why a great boost? Because Test Tiger solves the major problem of the Gladiator Beast is that they NEED to battle in order to activate their effects. Let’s take a closer look shall we?
Its stats are nothing to write home about, unlike the Grandmaster. This means that we must focus more on the effects.His first effect is simple enough. If you control a Gladiator Beast on the field, you are allowed to special summon this card from your hand. This allows for quick activation of his next effect.
By tributing this card and tagging out one Gladiator Beast on your side of the field, Test Tiger allows you the simulation of tagging out and tagging in Gladiator Beast without having to enter the battle phase. The tagged in Gladiator Beast is treated as if it were summoned via a Gladiator Beast so you can activate its effect.
This applies most strongly to all Gladiator Beast, notably Octavius, Beastari, and Secutor. This card also opens new avenues of how and when to incorporate the Gladiator beast tag system during the battle phase, as you can “Tag Summon” a Dimacari, Double Attack, and then switch out to a powerful Alexander. The only downsides to this card is that it is hard to search for when you need it and its effect only happens once, making it hard to abuse. But still a definite three in any Gladiator Beast deck.
V – Gladiator Beast Support Spells/Traps
The spell and trap support of the Gladiator Beast reflects their no-nonsense, direct approach to things. Their effects are simple but are very direct in terms of purposes.
Colosseum - Cage of the Gladiator Beast
Field Spell Card
Place 1 Counter on this card each time a monster is Special Summoned from either player's Deck. All "Gladiator Beast" monsters gain 100 ATK and DEF for each of these counters on this card. If this card would be destroyed by a card effect, you can discard 1 "Colosseum - Cage of the Gladiator Beasts" to prevent this card from being destroyed.
Here we have the Gladiator beast theme Field Spell, and it’s a doozy of a card with two effects. First off, whenever a monster is special summoned from a player’s deck, this card receives a unique counter on it. For every counter on this card, all your Gladiator Beast gain an extra 100 ATK and DEF.
With all the tagging in of the Gladiator beast, and the massive amount of Substitoad, and Koa’ki Meiru Urknight abuse the meta is seeing this card can easily provide a 500+ boost in no time. This greatly overcomes some of the battle weaknesses of some of your Gladiator beast like Murmillo, Beastari, and Dimacari along with Making Monster like Gladiator Beast Samnite more effective. If left on the field long enough, no monster your opponent summons will be able to match the strength of your Gladiator Beast, and if you are consistently pulling off their tag in effects, victory will come easy.
Of course, for this reason alone, your opponent will attempt to destroy this card before it becomes a major issue. This is where its second effect comes in. if you discard another Coliseum card from your hand, you can prevent the destruction of this card once. This does not prevent the effects of Giant Trunade, nor will it destroy the card attempting to destroy this card. Also, unless you are running Terra forming, you have no way of searching for another copy except Gladiator Beast Samnite. Needless to say, this Field Spell is handy for the Gladiator Beast, but not essential.
Gladiator Beast's Battle Halberd
Equipment Spell Card
Equip only to a "Gladiator Beast" monster. When it attacks, destroy 1 Spell or Trap Card at the end of the Damage Step. When the equipped monster is returned from your side of the field to the Deck and this card is sent to the Graveyard, return this card to your hand.
This is the first of the Armament cards for the Gladiator Beast. What these cards share in terms of effects are that they can only be equipped to a Gladiator beast and if that Gladiator Beast tags out by its effect, you can return the equipped card back to your hand. The first effect is not difficult to attain as Gladiator beast decks run plenty of monsters. The second effect allows you to essentially pass away each Armament card to their incoming partner for use and so on, so forth. These cards can be searched by Spartacus, or Samnite from your deck for easier usage as well.
Halberd here acts as the Gladiator Beast version of Cyclone Blade. Again this card is riddled with the Octavius paradox, as the card you are attempting to destroy is often going to activate before you can use Halberd. This is very handy though for Gladiator Beast when facing cards like Corridor of Agony, or Royal Oppression you can blow them and send in your beefier Gladiator Beast for the kill. So this card is certainly with its (limited) uses in a Gladiator beast deck, but most will stick to more flexible cards Dust Tornado, and Mystical Space Typhoon.
Gladiator Beast’s Battle Gladius
Equipment Spell Card
Equip only to a "Gladiator Beast" monster. It gains 300 ATK. When the equipped monster is returned from your side of the field to the Deck and this card is sent to the Graveyard, return this card to your hand.
This Armament card provides your GBs with a nominal 300 ATK boost. Simple and thoroughly not too handy. The only Gladiator beast that could exploit this card is Spartacus to overcome monarchs. Other than that the other Gladiator Beast are either strong enough, or too weak to really benefit from this card. At least the Coliseum provided an ATK boost for all your GBs.
Gladiator Beast’s Battle Manica
Equipment Spell Card
Equip only to a "Gladiator Beast" monster. It cannot be destroyed by battle (Damage calculation is applied normally). When the equipped monster is returned from your side of the field to the Deck and this card is sent to the Graveyard, return this card to your hand.
Here is the most important of the Armament spells. With this card, any Gladiator Beast can attain Marshmellon invincibility. This is extremely helpful for helping your Gladiator Beast survive battles in order to tag out. For one thing, on your turn, you can ram a weaker Gladiator beast into a strong monster, and then tag out to a Murmillo who can destroy said monster for you.
Equip this card back onto Murmillo to help him survive your opponent’s turn in order to tag out again. This and Test Tiger really come up to answer the Gladiator beast main weaknesses and when used right can greatly up the playability of your Gladiator Beast. Even at its worst, it turns all your Gladiator Beast into an invincible wall for your opponents to handle.
Gladiator Beast's Archfiend Shield
Equip Spell
Equip only to a "Gladiator Beast" monster. If the equipped monster would be destroyed, destroy this card instead. If the equipped monster is returned to the Deck, and this card is sent to the Graveyard as a result, you may return this card to your hand.
The only equip worth running its effect is similar to Gladiator Beast's Battle Manica, but unlike Manica it protects from spell, Trap, and monster effect destruction also and not just battle making it allot more versatile then Gladiator beast Battle Manica. Another welcome addition to the theme and a help against decks with heavy removal, such as Gadgets.
Gives decks using Spartacus more of a purpose, and allows Gladiator beast away to protect Gladiator Beast Heraklinos while Ancient Forest is in play. A great main deck card in anything with a high Gladiator Beast count and Spartacus. Another piece of solid support overall, and gives the theme enthusiast who wants a nearly pure Gladiator Deck to do well a great tool to work with.
Indomitable Gladiator Beast
Quick-Play Spell
Target face-up "Gladiator Beast" monster you control gains 500 ATK until the End Phase. While this card is in your Graveyard, you can
return 2 "Gladiator Beast" monsters from your Graveyard to the Deck to return this card to your hand.
Indomitable Gladiator Beast Text Errata
Correct text
Target face-up "Gladiator Beast" monster you control gains 500 ATK until the End Phase. While this card is in yourGraveyard, you can return 2 "Gladiator Beast"cardsfrom your Graveyard to the Deck to return this card to your hand
This card is great in so many ways. It helps Gladiator Beasts battle successfully over current Level 4 monsters with 1800-2100 ATK (Thunder King Rai-Oh or Doomcaliber Knight), and it can be returned to your hand in more ways the 1. You can use it's graveyard effect to return it to your hand, thus making it a +1, or retrieve it via Gladiator Beast Equeste, which is also +1, and it really make Gladiator Beast Samnite effect shine allowing him to easily run over monsters, to search the deck, and allows you to save your Gladiator Beast Equeste.
Rather then tagging in to get your Gladiator Beast Secutor, or fusions back to use again just use Indomitable Gladiator Beast to send them back to deck, and tag into them. It also makes Gladiator beast respite more active since it can bounce itself to the hand anytime, and has Gladiator Beast in his name.
Gladiator Beast's Respite
Spell Card
Return 2 "Gladiator Beast" cards from your hand to the Deck, and then draw 3 cards.
The first of the Gladiator Beast recharge cards. This acts as their personal theme draw card. It essentially works like a bigger Destiny Draw, requiring you to have at least two Gladiator Beast card’s in your hand to activate. This card does not bring the same benefits of Destiny Draw though.
The fact that the Gladiator Beast are sent to your deck, not the graveyard means that there is a good chance that you will draw the same Gladiator Beast that you put in. It does nothing to thin the deck down. It is handy for putting copies of Gladiator beast back into your deck to tag in later, but really, if you are using multiples of the Gladiator beasts this rarely becomes a factor.
What is really unique about this card though is that you can shuffle back ANY card with Gladiator Beast in its name. Besides the Gladiator Beast themselves, this includes all equip cards, as well as Respite itself. This is really handy for sending cards away that you don’t need yet and really increases the activation timing of this card, especially copys of Gladiator Beast War chariots when you have no monsters. This is a tricky draw card to use as it acts more like Magical Mallet than Pot of Greed. But one cannot really deny the deck manipulation and 3 card draw power that this card can bring to the Gladiator Beast deck.
Gladiator Proving Ground
Normal Spell
Add 1 Level 4 or lower "Gladiator Beast" monster from your Deck to your hand.
This is a simply a Reinforcement of the Army for Gladiator Beasts. It's mostly used in Aggressive Gladiator Beast build than most to grab the more powerful Gladiator Beasts like Laquari and Bestiari allowing you to fuse easily.
Defensive Tactics
Trap Card
Activate only if you control a "Gladiator Beast" monster. Monsters you control cannot be destroyed by battle this turn, and any Battle Damage you take is reduced to 0. Put this card on the bottom of your Deck.
The final support card for the Gladiator Beast is also their last US exclusive card. Defensive Tactics acts as a Gladiator Beast Waboku with a few differences. First off, it requires you to have at least 1 GB on the field to activate. This prevents it from defending your life points from a direct attack, but it must be noted that it only needs the Gladiator Beast to activate, not resolve.
So chaining it to a destruction card protects you for the turn ala Waboku. It is handy for activating numerous tag effects in a turn though. The second difference is that when this card is used, it is placed at the bottom of your deck. This effect is slightly helpful for later use, and your deck gets shuffled very well throughout the duel. Beware of dead draws though.
Gladiator Beast War Chariot
Counter Trap
Activate only if you control a face-up "Gladiator Beast" monster. Negate the activation and effect of an Effect Monster and destroy it.
A free Divine Wrath, what more can you ask for? You need a Gladiator Beast on the field to activate it which can be difficult this format since many deck use Compulsory Evacuation Device, Mist Wurm, Soul Exchange, and the sort to make sure you have no gladiator Beast on field to use its War Chariot, but with Respite you can easily make use of dead chariots, and with the swarm power Gladiator Beast are capable of in the right hand this should be no problem
VI – Outside Gladiator Beast Support:
Though the Gladiator beast are a tight band of fighters, they are not foolish enough to deny help from outsiders. Here are a few such allies that may not be a Gladiator, but are nonetheless valuable as partners in arms to aid them in their strategies.
Summoner Monk
DARK/4/Spellcaster/Effect/800/1600
This card cannot be Tributed. If this monster is Normal Summoned or Flip Summoned, switch it to Defense Position. Once per turn, by discarding a Spell Card from your hand, search your Deck for a Level 4 monster and Special Summon it. That monster cannot attack this turn
Summoner Monk has great synergy with this deck being so much like a toolbox. You can discard Gladiator Beast Spell cards to Special Summon Level 4 monsters from your deck. It can result in large amounts of card advantage with Equeste. You can Special Summon almost every Glad Beast monster with his effect, even Elemental Hero Prisma, or Rescue Cat! This card will see tons of play in the future.
Elemental Hero Prisma
Light/Warrior/4/Effect 1700/1100 Once per turn, you can reveal 1 Fusion Monster from your Fusion Deck and send 1 Fusion Material Monster listed on that card from your Deck to the Graveyard. Until the End Phase this card's name is treated as the sent monster's name.
Gold Series 3 errata on Prisma:
Once per turn, you can activate this card's effect by revealing 1 Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck and sending 1 of the Fusion Material Monsters listed on that card from your Main Deck to the Graveyard. Until the End Phase, this card's name becomes the name of the monster you sent to the Graveyard.
Revealing the fusion monster and sending the card from the deck are now worded as a cost (like the OCG) Use its effect to reveal either a Gladiator Beast Gaiodiaz, Gyzarus or Heraklinos, and send a Gladiator Beast Sparticus, Bestiari, or Laquari from your deck to your graveyard, thus changing its name to either sparticus, Bestiari, or Laquari. At first you don't understand the concept, but then you realize that once it becomes a "Gladiator Beast" monster.
You can abuse your fusions more easily, or Special Summon Test Tiger, thus tributing it to send Prisma back to the deck for a Gladiator Beast monster. The most likely one will be Darius to fetch the dumped Bestiari/ Laquari thus fusing for Gladiator Beast Gyzarus or Heraklinos. The next best option would be Secutor, but ONLY if your opponent has a open field, or your shure you can keep him alive/ make use of him after the battle phase.
Rescue Cat
EARTH/ Beast - Effect/4/300/100
By sending this face-up card to the Graveyard, Special Summon 2 Level 3 or lower Beast-Type monsters from your Deck. The monsters Special Summoned this way are destroyed at the end of this turn.
What can this adorable little kitty possibly do for your masculine Gladiator Beast? With the ability to fetch Test Tigers or Samnites, Rescue Cat gives the Gladiator Beast archetype some much needed speed. Seriously, this card acts like a second Gladiator Beast Secutor.
You can fetch two Samnites, then Special Summon Test Tiger to swap one for Bestiari, then go for a Gyzarus play, or Samnite + Test Tiger, and go into Gladiator Beast Secutor himself to gain massive field presence. A powerful combo to exploit
Cold Wave
Normal Spell
This card can only be activated at the start of Main Phase 1. Until your next turn, neither you nor your opponent can play or Set any Spell or Trap Cards.
This card essentially gives your Gladiator Beast a free turn to do big damage and tag in as many Gladiator Beast during your turn without fear. What’s best is that your opponent is still frozen during their turn, restricting their counterattack via spell/trap negation, and if you can clear their field they are left with nothing but monsters on your next turn allowing easy advantage. Combined with Giant Trunade, Gladiator Beast can score a lot of easy tags during the duel.
Trap Stun
Normal Trap
Negate the effects of all other Trap cards on the field until the end of the turn.
Trap Stun works just as good as Cold Wave. You can activate it during your own turn as if it is a Cold Wave. It will either force a Solemn/Infernity Barrier/Waboku, or their backrow will be locked. You can follow up with Heavy Storm or a Gyzarus play without fail. Plus, it is good to chain to the following cards like:
Dimensional prison
Waboku
Icarus Attack
Dust Tornado
Mirror Force
Torrential Tribute
Bottomless Trap Hole
Starlight Road
Royal Oppression
Dimensional Fissure
Continuous Spell
Any monster sent to the Graveyard is removed from play instead.
Dimensional Fissure is very popular in Gladiator Beasts. It provides control early-mid game against Lightsworn, infernitys, and Cat Synchro. A first turn Dimensional Fissure can be a great play in your favor, removing key monsters from play when they are sent to the graveyard.
Some key examples would be Malicious, Necro Gardna, Wulf, Darius in mirror matches becomes less playable, slows down DAD and JD summons, searchers like Sangan, Cherry Inmato , XX-Saber Emmerseblade, Plague spreader zombie, and more, but is very vulnerable this format with Dust Tornado in all competitive decks.
Enemy Controller
Quick-Play Spell
Select and activate 1 of these effects:
● Change the Battle Position of 1 face-up monster your opponent controls.
● Tribute 1 monster. Select 1 face-up monster your opponent controls. Take control of it until the End Phase.
Now this, my friends is what we call versatility. It can block an attack and making it easier to tag in and out, especially for Gladiator Beast Secutor. You can also tribute a weaker Gladiator Beast to take control of one of their monsters and usually swing for game, or gain a tag in the mirror match.
Thunder King Rai-Oh
Light/Thunder/4/1900/800
Neither player can add cards from their deck to their Hand except by drawing them. You can send thisface-up card to the Graveyard to negate the Special Summon of 1 of your opponent monsters, and destroy it.
A very powerful card that cripples nearly all of the meta. It stops the usage of popular cards such as "Infernity Archfiend", "XX-Saber Dark soul", and "Charge of the Light Brigade". It also negates synchro summons, which is very useful against top-tier decks such as Blackwings and X-Sabers.
Rai-Oh's effect shouldn't harm you since you shouldn't be using "Gladiator Proving Ground" or "Gladiator Beast Samnite when Rai-Oh is on the field anyways.
Dust Tornado
Trap
Destroy 1 Spell, or Trap Card your opponent controls You can then Set 1 or Trap Card from your hand.
One of the main cards that wreck Gladiator Beasts that is commonly used today is "Royal Oppression Dust Tornado can help remedy that problem, and it also destroys other cards such as Black Whirlwind" and Mirror of Oaths.The second effect is neat if you want to set a Gladiator Beast War Chariot from your hand and want to activate it from your hand.
Anti-Spell Fragrance
Continuous Trap
Both players mut set Spell cards before activating them, and cannot activate them until their next turn.
One of the most underrated cards to be teched into Gladiator Beast decks. Most standard Gladiator Beast builds run less than 10 Spells, with half of them being Quick-Play. Therefore, Anti-Spell becomes VERY effective against most Tier-1 decks this format Infernitys, Mass Driver frogs, DAD Variants, and Lightsworn).
It slows down your opponent by forcing them to set their Spell cards. However, seeing as most may be Spells, you can blow them up with Bestiari and Gyzarus plays for more advantage, and makes Gladiator Beast Octavius more deadly as he only destroys facedown cards. However, there are times where it can be bad. It is best when drawn within the first 3 turns. Any time later than that could be bad, as well as drawing into one while another is active on the field, thus making it a dead draw.
Icarus Attack
Normal Trap
Tribute 1 Winged-Beast Type monster. Destroy 2 cards on the field.
This card is very splash able in Gladiator Beasts. It's a 2 for 2 exchange in card count advantage, and you can simply tribute either Equeste, Octavius, or Bestiari for the cost. However, Bestiari, or Octavius would be the best choice, because it can be revived via Darius giving you gyzarus, or a free 2500 attacker with no draw back.
Sending Equeste to the graveyard can be a big risk, because you always want to keep it either on the field or deck to be able to retrieve War Chariots, but never the less a great card that should be ran in Anti-Spell Fragrance variants.
Book of Moon
Quick-Play Spell
Flip 1 face-up monster on the field into face-down Defense Position.
Book of Moon is really good for several reasons. It can block out an attack and you can attack that monster afterwards with a Gladiator Beast for a tagout or protect a Gladiator beast from destruction such Smashing Ground, Lightning Vortex, Bottomless Trap Hole etc.
Do note that if you use Book of Moon on a Gladiator beast and it is flipped again afterwards, it will "reset" itself. In other words, if you use it on Laquari or Hoplomus, it will lose the stat increase.
AncientForest
Field card
When you activate this card, change any Defense Position monster(s) to face-Attack Position.Flip Effects are not activated at this time. If a monster attacks destroy it at the end of that turn's Battle Phase.
You can attack and return your monster without the effect of the destruction, while the monsters your opponent attacks with will be destroyed at the end of the battle phase. This is because AncientForest's effect is Chain Link One, while the Gladiator beast effect is chain link two. (AncientForest's effect is mandatory, while the Gladiator beast effect is optional.)
Shrink
Quick play Spell
Select 1 face-up monster on the field. The original ATK of that monster is halved until the end of this turn.
Another handy battle support card, Shrink's versatility cannot be understated in any deck. This card is the best damage step assist card for the Gladiator Beast, surprising your opponents as your Gladiator Beast comes out of a scrap unfazed and ready to tag out to a partner. Powerful support card for any Gladiator Beast variant.
Half Shut
Quick-play
Select 1 face-up monster on the field. That monster cannot be destroyed by battle this turn, and its ATK is halved until the End Phase of this turn.
Similar to "Shrink" this card is a Quick-Play Spell Card. However unlike "Shrink" this card halves the ATK, not the Original Attack. Also, it gives the added effect of making the monster immune to destruction by battle. Both cards have pros and cons depending on how you intend to use it. Both cards can be used to save your own monster from cards such as "Bottomless Trap Hole" however in this case "Half Shut" is superior to "Shrink" as you can attack with your now weakened monster in order to tag out compared to "Shrink" where you would realize your monster is too weak to attack safely.
"Half Shut" can also be used to halve and 'protect' one monster on the opponent's side of the field, that way you can safely attack that one monster repeatedly with all your monsters while avoiding any other strong monster your opponent may control, afterwards you can tag them all out and destroy those strong monsters with "Gladiator Beast Murmillo" and "Gladiator Beast Gyzarus".
Hedge Guard
EARTH Plant/3/Effect0/2100
During damage calculation, you can send this card from your hand to the Graveyard to prevent a monster you control from being destroyed by this battle, but that monster's ATK is halved until the End Phase.
Along with the above 2 cards, this can can also be used with Gladiator Beasts. Pros include that this card can be used directly from your hand during damage calculation this allows you to counter cards such as "Honest" or "Kalut". However, it also halves your own monsters ATK and your monster won't be destroyed from that one battle only. An alternate method to using this card is to set your Gladiator Beast, that way the ATK decrease won't matter
Waboku
Normal Trap
You take no Battle Damage this turn. Your monsters cannot be destroyed as a result of battle this turn.
A standard support trap, Waboku is the gold standard in defense cards and has extra significance in Gladiator beast decks. Like Defensive Tactics, this card will keep your Gladiator Beast alive while battling, allowing them to survive to tag out. Waboku also goes the extra distance by protecting from direct attacks and does not require a Gladiator Beast to activate like Defensive Tactics does.
It’s only con is that in a fast format full of swarm decks, even though we survive to get our tag on our turn we will still have to deal with the opponents swarm of monsters, so its best to side them out for more removal when facing decks like X-Sabers, lightsworns, Infernitys, and the sort that can drop 4-5 monsters in a single turn.
VII – Gladiator Beast Variants
BUILDS CREATED BY: Leeskiowns
Monsters (18)
3 Thunder King Rai-Oh
2 Gladiator Beast Laquari
2 Gladiator Beast Equeste
2 Gladiator Beast Samnite
1 Gladiator Beast Darius
1 Gladiator Beast Retiari
1 Gladiator Beast Bestiari
1 Gladiator Beast Murmillo
1 Gladiator Beast Secutor
1 Rescue Cat
3 Test Tiger
Spells (6)
3 Book of Moon
1 Cold Wave
1 Heavy Storm
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
Traps (16)
2 Dimensional Prison
1 Mind Crush
2 Dust Tornado
2 Starlight Road
1 Trap Dust shoot
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
2 Compulsory Evacuation Device
3 Gladiator Beast War Chariot
1 Solemn Judgment
Icarus Attack Gladiator Beasts
Monsters (17)
3 Gladiator Beast Laquari
2 Gladiator Beast Darius
2 Gladiator Beast Equeste
1 Gladiator Beast Retiari
1 Gladiator Beast Bestiari
1 Gladiator Beast Murmillo
1 Gladiator Beast Hoplomus
2 Mist Valley Soldier
1 Blackwing-Gale the Whirlwind
3 Test Tiger
Spells (11)
2 Book of Moon
2 Glad Beast's Respite
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Brain Control
1 Gladiator Proving Ground
1 Cold Wave
1 Smashing Ground
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Heavy Storm
Traps (14)
1 Solemn Judgment
2 Icarus Attack
3 Waboku
1 Mirror Force
1 Dust Tornado
1 Call Of The Haunted
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
3 Gladiator Beast War Chariot
Anti-Spell Fragrance Gladiator Beasts
Monsters (15)
3 Gladiator Beast Laquari
2 Gladiator Beast Equeste
2 Gladiator Beast Samnite
1 Gladiator Beast Retiari
1 Gladiator Beast Bestiari
1 Gladiator Beast Murmillo
1 Gladiator Beast Hoplomus
1 Rescue Cat
3 Test Tiger
Spells (8)
3 Book of Moon
3 Gladiator Proving Ground
1 MST
1 Smashing Ground
Traps (17)
3 Waboku
2 Anti-Spell Fragrance
1 Magic Drain
1 Mirror Force
1 Dust Tornado
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Torrential Tribute
2 Dimensional Prison
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
3 Gladiator Beast War Chariot
BUILDS CREATED BY: Hamon
Monsters (19)
2 Gladiator Beast Samnite
2 Gladiator Beast
2 Laquari
1 Gladiator Beast Darius
1 Gladiator Beast Bestiari
2 Gladiator Beast Equeste
1 Gladiator Beast Murmillo
1 Gladiator Beast Hoplomus
1 Rescue Cat
1 Gladiator Beast Retiari
1 Elemental Hero Prisma
1 Gladiator Beast Octavius
1 Gladiator Beast Andal
1 Gladiator Beast secutor
3 Test Tiger
Spells (10)
3 Book of Moon
1 Bait doll
2 Gladiator Beast Respite
1 Cold Wave
1 Indomitable Gladiator Beast
1 Mystical space typhoon
1 Smashing Ground
Traps (11)
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Call of the Haunted
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Dust tornado
1 Starlight Road
2 Compulsory Evacuation Device
3 Gladiator Beast War Chariot
Ancient Forest Gladiator Beast
Monsters (18)
2 Gladiator Beast Samnite
2 Gladiator Beast Laquari
1 Gladiator Beast Darius
1 Gladiator Beast Bestiari
2 Gladiator Beast Equeste
1 Gladiator Beast Murmilo
2 Gladiator Beast Dimicari
1 Rescue Cat
1 Gladiator Beast Retiari
1 Gladiator Beast Octavius
1 Gladiator Beast secutor
1 Gladiator Beast Alexander
3 Test Tiger
Spells (12)
2 Book of Moon
1 Heavy Storm
3 AncientForest
3 Gladiator Beast Respite
2 Gladiator Beast Archfiend Shield
2 Indomitable Gladiator Beast
Traps (11)
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Dust Tornado
1 Starlight Road
3 Trap Stun
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
3 Gladiator Beast War Chariot
VIII – Gladiator Beast Historical References: A Brief History of the Gladiator Beasts
Surprisingly, Konami really pulled out all the stops in terms of card origins for the Gladiator Beast. Nearly every Gladiator Beast, and their support has a historical reference to it relating it back to the Greco-Roman period in history. Allow me to say though that any one that uses Gladiator beast are making a Gladiator beast history of their own.
Gladiator beast were released in Gladiators assault, and got further supported exploding onto the tournament scene To the shock the world Paul Levitin created Team Overdose who pilot the first Gladiator Beast SJC win.
Then Steven Harris used a build of Gladiator Beasts, without Elemental Hero Prisma to take his own title, and another for Gladiator Beasts. That led up to the United States National Championship, where both finalists, Shane Scurry and eventual Winner Chris Bowling took their Gladiator Beast deck builds all the way to a worlds qualification making history with Gladiator beast, and with the knowledge you have gained from this guide your history is just now unfolding as you begin your own journey with Gladiator Beast creating a history of your own.
Here are some historical references for the Gladiator Beasts.
[QUOTE]
Gladiator Beast Octavius:
Octavius stems from either Gaius Octavius Thurinus or more likely, his celebrated son, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, better known by his self taken name, Augustus Caesar. Julius Caesar also happened to be his Great Uncle from his mother’s side. After the Ides of March incident, young Octavius discovered that Caesar had named him his legitimate heir (due to a lack of children) in his will as well as 2/3 of his estate.
This news hurt his friend, Marc Anthony, and jealousy emerged. Despite an alliance during the Second Triumvirate in 43 BC, Marc Anthony eventually rebelled against Octavius and fled to Egypt to his lover, Cleopatra. Octavius defeated both in the Battle of Actium and claimed the title of Roman Emperor in 30 BC, changing his name to Augustus Caesar. Up until his death, he created Rome to be the world power it is fabled for up until his death in AD 14. He was declared a Roman god by the Senate and had the month August officially named after him.
Gladiator Beast Alexander
There are numerous historical Alexanders but I believe this card takes inspiration from the famous Alexander the Great (356 BC-323 BC), famous conqueror of the ancient world. As a boy, he had two famous tutors: Leonides of Spartan fame and the wise Aristotle. After the assassination of his father, Alexander (age 20) was crowned King of Macedon. After this he led many military campaigns against enemies of Greek, notably the Persian Empire and went as far east as India, never losing a single battle in his entire career. He died at the age of 33 due to debated reasons. He contributed to much of the modernity of the ancient world and always promoted a policy of integration rather than genocide over his conquered subjects.
Gladiator Beast Hoplomus
A hoplomachus (pl. hoplomachi) (Greek: ὁπλομάχος) (hoplon meaning "shield" in greek) was a type of gladiator in ancient Rome, armed to resemble a Greek hoplite (soldier with heavy armor and helmet,a round shield, a spear and a sword). The hoplomachus would wear a bronze helmet, a manica on his right arm, loincloth , heavy padding on his legs, and a pair of high greaves reaching to mid-thigh. His weapons were the spear and a short sword.
He was often pitted against the murmillo (armed like a Roman soldier), perhaps as a re-enactment of Rome's wars in Greece and the Hellenistic East. The name hoplomachus means 'armored fighter'. The small, round shield was as much a weapon as a sword or spear, not unlike the original hoplites (who carried a larger shield), who used it primarily for defensive purposes, but also employed it in their charges, using it to ram their opponents at the onset of a fight. His usual opponent was the murmillo but he might fight the thraex in exceptional cases
Gladiator Beast Spartacus
This card’s historical reference stems from the famous figure of Spartacus (120 BC-70 BC). He is a native Thracian and was enslaved by the Romans to fight in the Gladiator Coliseums of old. He led a slave revolt in 73 BC with initially 70 followers. This soon increased as he traveled the countryside and gaining more support from other slaves, growing to 12000 in numbers. As he traveled around the empire, he defeated many Roman legions and many of their best generals. He was eventually cornered in Lucania, where he was supposedly killed in battle. He was famed for his tactical and military genius and has since been glorified in numerous modern works.
Gladiator Beast Samnite
A Samnite (Latin Samnis, plural Samnites) was a gladiator who fought with equipment styled on that of a warrior from Samnium: a short sword (gladius), a rectangular shield (scutum), a greave (ocrea), and a helmet. Warriors armed in such a way were the earliest gladiators in the Roman games. They appeared in Rome shortly after the defeat of Samnium in the 4th century BC, apparently adopted from the victory celebrations of Rome's allies in Cpaniaam
Gladiator Beast Bestiari
The Bestiarri were another gladiator rank that specialized in fighting beasts in Coliseum fights. The group was divided into two groups: the one that fought the beasts by choice for glory or those that fought beasts as a form of execution. The former were highly glorified and the honor to kill a lion in the Coliseum was much sought after. The latter were often sent in nude and with minimal arms against the beast. If they survive, then more beasts are sent into replace the dead and this continues until the bestiarri is dead.
Gladiator Beast Laquari
The Laquerarii (Lasso Fighter) was a gladiator type that specialized in using lassos to hinder opposing gladiators while they or their teammates take care of the hindered. They were required to be highly speedy and accurate with their lasso as if they missed a throw, it left them wide open for counterattack.
Gladiator Beast Dimacari
The Dimachaeri (Bearing Two Knives) were a gladiator type that went into battle bearing two gladius to use. This forced them into strict close combat fighting, forcing them to rely on their agility and dexterity as they lacked any source of physical protection.
Gladiator Beast Torax
The Thraex was a gladiator type that carried a small shield and a distinct curved short sword. The sword was to be used against the opponents generally unarmored back in close combat. They were often pitted against Hoplomachus and Murmillos.
Gladiator Beast Gaiodiaz
This monster is derived from Gordias, the name of a line of kings of Phrygia. It is said that he was once a humble farmer that unwittingly fulfilled the prophecy of an oracle claiming that the new king of Phrygia would be the first man who rode into the temple in an ox cart. As the story goes, Gordias was that man, and his ox cart is still the centerpiece of the temple. He ruled a successful empire until the arrival of Alexander the Great( aka in yugioh known as Gladiator Beast Alexander).
Gladiator beast Retiari
A retiarius (plural retiarii; literally, "net-man" or "net-fighter" in (Latin) was a Roman gladiator who fought with equipment styled on that of a fisherman: a weighted net (rete, hence the name), a three-pointed trident (fuscina or tridens), and a dagger (pugio). The retiarius was lightly armoured, wearing an arm guard (manica) and a shoulder guard (galerus). Typically, his clothing consisted only of a loincloth (subligaculum) held in place by a wide belt, or of a short tunic with light padding. He wore no head protection or footwear.
Gladiator Beast Murmillo
The myrmillo (also sometimes spelled mirmillo or murmillo, pl. myrmillonis) was a type of gladiator during the Roman Imperial age. The myrmillo-class gladiator was adopted in the early Imperial period to replace the earlier Gallus, named after the warriors of Gaul. As the Gauls inhabiting Italy had become well-integrated with the Romans by the time of the reign of Augustus, it became politically incorrect to portray them as enemy outsiders; the Gallus-class gladiator thus had to be retired.
The distinguishing feature of the myrmillo was the high crest of his helmet which, together with its broad rim, was shaped somewhat like a fish. The myrmillo took his name from this fish-shaped helmet; the word comes from the Greek word for a type of saltwater fish.
Otherwise, he wore a loincloth (subligaculum), belt (cintus), very thick wrappings on the lower part of his left leg (designed to protect the top of his feet from attack and from his own shield), a gaiter on his right leg, a linen arm guard (manica) to protect his right arm, and the curved rectangular shield (scutum) of the Roman legionary. He also carried the legionary's short, straight-blade sword, or gladius, from which gladiators derived their name.
The myrmillo usually fought the thraex or hoplomachus, with whom he shared some of the equipment (notably arm guards and all-enclosing helmet, and the dangerous short sword). A number of ancient authors, including Valerius Maximus and Quintillian, assert that he also regularly fought the retiarius.
Gladiator Beast Secutor
A Secutor (pl. Secutores) was a class of gladiator in ancient Rome.
Thought to have originated around 50 AD, the Secutor ("chaser") was armed similarly to the Murmillogladiator, usually with a short sword, a gladius, or a dagger. The Secutor was specially trained to fight a Retiarius, a type of gladiator who had a trident and a net.
The very distinctive helmet of the Secutor had only two small eye-holes, in order to prevent a Retiarius's trident from being thrust through the face, as well as a rounded top, so as not to get caught in a net. The flanges protecting his neck were smooth and shaped like fish fins for this purpose. Because of the weight and lack of space in the helmet, the secutor had to win quickly, lest he fall to exhaustion or faint due to breath constrictions.
The secutor wore a loincloth, and a wide belt (much like that of the retiarius). On his right arm, he wore a manica (a heavy linen or metal wrapping tied with leather thongs), and on his left leg, he wore an ocrea (a greave made of boiled leather or metal). He also carried a scutum (a curved rectangular shield) to protect himself.
Gladiator Beast Heraklinos
Heraklinos is derived from the legendary Greek Hero, Hercules (In Rome and the modern West, he is known as Heracles, or Herakles ,), the son of Zeus and Alceme. Hercules is the Roman name for the Greek demigod Heracles, son of Jupiter (the Roman equivalent of (Zeus), and the mortal Alcmena. Early that the imported Greek hero supplanted a mythic Italic shepherd called Roman sources suggest "Recaranus" or "Garanus", famous for his strength, who dedicated the Ara Maxima that became associated with the earliest Roman cult of Hercules.
While adopting much of the Greek Heracles' iconography and mythology as his own, Hercules adopted a number of myths and characteristics that were distinctly Roman. With the spread of Roman hegemony, Zeus’s wife was extremely jealous of Zeus’s many love affairs and had a personal hatred for Heracles. Unfortunately, he had inherited the strength that can rival a god’s. Hera made Heracles go crazy and kill his family. In order to atone for his sin, he embarked to complete twelve extremely challenging labors using both his great strength and his cunning mind. He was killed when his new wife, Deianeira, was tricked to give Heracles a poisoned robe to wear. Zeus carried the body of his son and made him a constellation in the sky
IX-. Closing and Copyright
In closing I would like to thank you the reader, for reading my guide and I hope that you use the information that I have given you to its fullest. I also hope you have seen the true power of Gladiator Beast and start playing with them. they are a very versatile set of cards, sporting crazy deck manipulation techniques and powerful swarm and lock strategies.
I hope that this guide has opened your eyes to the potential that this theme contains. I encourage all players to try the Gladiator Beast out. You will certainly learn a thing or two about battling and have an original and powerful team of Gladiators ready to tear down whatever your opponent feebly attempts to defend themselves. Gladiator Beast will never die and will evolve each and every format, so it’s a great deck to play over all that is extremely flexible when it comes to Ban list.
X- Credit
Credit goes to wiki for translations on the Roman Gladiator history.
Credit goes to Yugioh Wiki for the Gladiator beast page.
Credit to Leeskiowns and Dasher for the ruling help and decks.
Credit to Doctor K (from Pojo) for the inspiration for the guide, and making me want to make GB years ago.
Credit goes to the reader of this guide who took time out of their lives to read this.
Please if you want to use this guide on another forum keep my name on it. I took a week out of my life to write it, I want my recognition thank you.
© James Johnson 2010
Happy Readings!
Last edited by BigStinkin'Ape; 07-01-2010 at 09:48 PM.
Reason: Double Post
The gusto discussion: click the T
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Power Player
A large amount of this is repeated text.
The monster section is repeated once/twice, the support section the same, and the history was repeated as well.
PM me about joining Team Frost
 Originally Posted by MeHenceMyself
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Power Player
Originally Posted by hamon
Proving ground, and Defensive Tactics were originally in the guide, But i had to remove them to make it smaller this guide already took up 5 separate post, and with proving ground, and the other cards I removed would have been allot longer, so I tried to remove cards I felt were simple, and needed no explanations.
well, because the site auto-links card names, I don't think that you really need the effects listed as well. Deleting those could save you a lot of space, as well as editing out the repeated text (sorry if I keep bringing it up, but it makes the already huge wall of text larger)
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Radiant Harbinger
I enjoyed reading this, well done.
You just need to fix this tiny underlined bit...
Do note that if you special summon Murmillo, and another Gladiator Beast with a destruction effect like Gladiator Beast Octavius/ bestiary Stardust Dragon will be able to use its effect because if murmillo is chain link 1, and Gladiator Beast Bestiari is chain link 2 Stardust can still chain to Gladiator Beast Bestiari’s destruction since its chaining directly to the destruction effect, and if this happens since Stardust is no longer on field Murmillo’s mandatory effect will force him to blow himself up since he will be the only monster on field, so be careful how you use this technique.
Note that the effect of Gladiator Beast Murmillo that destroys a face-up monster 'targets'. So you would choose which monster to destroy when his effect activated. This means that if the targeted monster (Stardust Dragon) left the field before Murmillo's effect resolved, the effect would just disappear, you wouldn't have to destroy a different face-up monster instead. So you would pick the target at activation of the effect, this would be before Stardust's effect could be chained.
 "Thou Shalt Not Carbon Date The Herculoids"
Originally Posted by Somebody Smart
Even though there are 3 Harpie Lady Sisters, Harpie Lady Sisters is 1 monster and gains only 500 ATK from Cyber Shield.
Originally Posted by BurnForGame
Ninja do not use guns... period. All violators of this rule shall be shot.
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