Gladiator Beast

The Gladiator Beasts are a series of cards released in Gladiator's Assault, themed after the famed ancient Roman slave-warriors of the Coliseum. With few exceptions, the Gladiator Beasts all have the effect to return to the Deck during the end of a Battle Phase if it battled, and then Special Summon another Gladiator Beast Monster to replace it, with most gaining new effects when Summoned in this manner. Because of this, and the fact that many Gladiator Beast Monsters are fairly weak, most of their support cards are designed to either protect them during battle (thus ensuring they can return to the Deck to Special Summon another Gladiator Beast Monster) or return unwanted Gladiator Beast cards in the player's Hand or Graveyard to the Deck, where they can be brought out more readily by the battle effects of the others. To fuse Gladiator Beasts, the key monster and any other Gladiator Beasts must be on the field to Special Summon the monster. Fusions between Gladiator Beasts do not require Polymerization. Also, nearly every card in the archetype is capable of being returned to the hand or field. Because of this recycling feature, a Gladiator Beast Deck is probably the most flexible one can make, even more so than a Hero Deck, for while a Duelist may be able to fuse almost any combination of Heroes, he must still rely on aquiring a fusion card to conduct it. The Gladiator Beasts are a mix of destruction, aggro, and toolbox tactics, making them very aggressive, strategic and fast paced in a themed Deck.

Optional Support Cards

 * Waboku - This card is almost identical to Defensive Tactics, but unlike Defensive Tactics, it can be activated if you control no face-up monsters, or no monsters at all, so you can use it if you play a weak Gladiator Beast in face-down Defense Position, trigger it when the opponent declares an attack, then summon a Gladiator Beast afterwards.


 * My Body as a Shield, Divine Wrath, or Gladiator Beast War Chariot - Gladiator Beast Heraklinos can jam almost any Spell or Trap card your opponent uses, but it has no defense against monster effects, and there are two monsters in particular that are the greatest threat to Heraklinos - Judgment Dragon and Dark Armed Dragon, either of which can appear without warning and wipe you out. My Body as a Shield can also be used to stop destructive Spells or Traps if you don't have Heraklinos out.


 * Cold Wave - While a Gladiator Beast Deck relies heavily on its Spells and Traps, it can easily build up advantage using monsters only. When used at the right moment, this card can offer you the edge you need to win. It can prevent your opponent from using destructive cards like Mirror Force, Torrential Tribute, Bottomless Trap Hole and Lightning Vortex to destroy your Gladiator Beasts, while you keep gaining advantage with their effects. It is significantly less effective against other Effect Monster centered Decks, however, so be careful.


 * Shrink and Rush Recklessly - Instead of using Waboku or Defensive Tactics, these cards can turn the tables on an attacking opponent, letting you destroy their monster and/or summon another Gladiator Beast. They're also Spells, not Traps, so an opponent using Jinzo or Royal Decree won't be able to stop them.


 * Elemental Hero Prisma - You can reveal Gladiator Beast Gyzarus in your Extra Deck deck to send Gladiator Beast Bestiari to the Graveyard. Then special summon Test Tiger and Tribute it, send in Prisma in your Deck, Special Summon Gladiator Beast Darius and summon Bestiari from the Graveyard. Summon Gyzarus before the Battle Phase, destroy two cards, and then attack directly.


 * Behemoth the King of All Animals - Use this card to recycle your Gladiator Beasts. Although only Test Ape, Test Tiger, Gladiator Beast Dimacari and Gladiator Beast Alexander are recyclable its a great tactic to summon Alexander again, since you can't special summon him from the Graveyard. Beside this, Behemoth is also a good combination with Ultimate Offering. Summon Behemoth with one Tribute and get Gladiator Beast Alexander to your hand, then summon Gladiator Beast Dimacari by paying 500 points and summon Alexander in your next turn by Tributing Gladiator Beast Dimacari.

Weaknesses and Counter-Strategies
Gladiator Beasts are currently one of the most tournament-competitive deck types, due to their incredible flexibility, but they are not invincible. Some good ways to overcome a Gladiator Beast user follow:


 * Prevention of Special Summoning -- This is the big one, the one sure-fire way to shut down a Gladiator Beast deck. Vanity's Fiend, Vanity's Ruler, Deck Lockdown, Royal Oppression and similar cards will kill a Gladiator Beast user's ability to swap out monsters or use Contact Fusion, putting them at a huge disadvantage.  These cards (except Vanity's Ruler) also prevent you from Special Summoning, so make sure you can win with only Normal Summons.
 * Jowgen the Spiritualist and Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo deserve a special mention - they not only prevent Special Summoning but also destroy all Special Summoned monsters. If the Gladiator Beast user has already got an advantage over you, these cards can be lethal.


 * Effect Negation - Cards that negate an opponent's monster's effects, which will prevent them destroying your cards (or do other things) when they appear. The best choice is Divine Wrath, as a Negated Gladiator Beast can still return itself to the deck to summon another one (since returning it to the deck counts as a cost and cannot be negated), but Destiny Hero - Plasma and Skill Drain will still be able to prevent them from activating their on-field effects.


 * Counter-destruction - Cards that prevent card destruction are becoming more and more prevalent with current releases, and often, the Gladiator Beasts with the effect to destroy cards are the most troublesome. Destruction Jammer, Prime Material Dragon, Stardust Dragon and the aforementioned Divine Wrath all work well.  These also work against Gladiator Beast Heraklinos when it activates its effect to negate and destroy a Spell or Trap.


 * Monster Effects - Gladiator Beast Heraklinos is incredibly powerful, but lacks any kind of defense against monster card effects. Some very good Monster effects to ruin the day of a Gladiator Beast user include:
 * Monsters that destroy the monsters that attacked them - Newdoria, Man-Eater Bug, Old Vindictive Magician, Exploder Dragon, Adhesive Explosive, Blast Sphere
 * Monsters that return the cards that attacked them - Wall of Illusion, Hyper Hammerhead, Morphing Jar #2, Penguin Soldier, Legendary Jujitsu Master : These cards are even better than the destroyers above, since they can get around Gladiator Beast's Battle Archfiend Shield, and the Gladiator Beasts cannot be brought back with Gladiator Beast Darius.
 * Monsters that remove from play the cards that attacked them - D.D. Warrior, D.D. Warrior Lady, D.D. Assailant - Even worse for the opponent than the destroyers or returners, since though they have a heavy focus upon recycling or hand exchanging, Gladiator Beasts have no internal method of re-using removed-from-play cards.
 * Trump-card monsters with mass-destruction effects - XYZ-Dragon Cannon, Red Dragon Archfiend, Judgment Dragon, Dark Armed Dragon, Demise, King of Armageddon, Volcanic Doomfire. Judgment Dragon and Dark Armed Dragon, in particular, are great because they can appear suddenly without warning to wipe out most everything the opponent has. Yubel - Terror Incarnate is especially devastating, destroying the whole field at the end of your turn except for itself.


 * Destroy on Summoning - "Trap Hole" and especially "Bottomless Trap Hole" can take down the opponent's cards before they even have a chance to attack your own cards.


 * Trap Negation - "Jinzo" and "Royal Decree" both prevent the opponent from using Waboku or Defensive Tactics, the two greatest thorns in the side of anyone trying to destroy Gladiator Beasts by battle. The opponent might still be able to use a Gladiator Beast's Battle Manica, but you'll be able to see that beforehand.