Gladiator Beast

The Gladiator Beasts are a series of cards released in Gladiator's Assault, that look like futuristic versions of the ancient Roman Colosseum slave-warriors, and consist of many different Attributes and Types, (though Beasts, Beast-Warriors and Winged Beasts are the most prominent). 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(this is also known as Tagging Out), 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 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. Instead, the Fusion Material Monsters are returned from the Field to the Deck. For this reason, Fusion between Gladiator Beasts is considered a form of Contact Fusion (also called Fusion Tag). Also, nearly every card in the archetype is capable of being returned to the Hand, Field, or Deck from the Graveyard. Since nearly every card in this Archetype can be accessed at will by the user or recycled in some way, 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 acquiring 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. It is this versatility which landed this deck as one of the top decks in the Shonen Jump Circuit.

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 Gladiator Beasts, 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 - "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. (Divine Wrath is not needed because of Gladiator Beast War Chariot)


 * 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.


 * Wild Nature's Release - While there are many different equip cards for Gladiator Beasts, this card turn the tables on even the higher ATK based monsters, and better yet, won't destroy yours because they return to the deck at the end of the battle phase rather than have them destroyed at the end phase. "Gladiator Beast Dimacari", is a very good choice for this card because he has rounded ATK and DEF stats, plus the ability to attack twice, making him a very difficult enemy to deal with.


 * Minoan Centaur - This card is useful to get cards out like "Gladiator Beast Andal", and use them with "Gladiator Beast Laquari" or Gladiator Beast Bestiari, to Fusion Summon "Heraklinos" or "Gyzarus".


 * Ancient Forest - 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 Ancient Forest's effect is Chain Link One, while the GB's effect is chain link two. (Ancient Forest's effect is mandatory, while the GB's effect is optional.)


 * Icarus Attack - Although only 3 of the Gladiator Beasts are Winged Beasts, they can tag out for each other, making it easy to activate this card.


 * Thunder King Rai-Oh - A very powerful card that cripples nearly all of the meta. It stops the usage of popular cards such as Stratos, Goblin Zombie, and Charge of the Light Brigade. It also negates synchro summons, which is very useful against top-tier decks such as Blackwings and Destiny Hero Zombies. Rai-Oh's effect shouldn't harm you since you shouldn't be using Gladiator Proving Ground or Samnite when Rai-Oh is on the field anyways.


 * Dust Tornado - 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".


 * Dimensional Fissure - Your Gladiator Beasts won't be going to the grave very often and this can help stop Lightsworns from milling, Blackwings from using Shura and Vayu, and Zombies from using Mezuki and Plaguespreader Zombie. Be careful when using this card, however, because this card removes your "Test Tiger"s from play, you can't use Rescue Cat's effect, and it can conflict with "Gladiator Beast Darius"


 * Widespread Dud - This card can be very helpful in a Gladiator Beast deck as it can be used to its full power. By chaining this card to the summoning of your gyzarus or Bestiari you can destroy 2 of your opponents monsters by selecting this card as a target for destruction.


 * Shrink - Since this is a Quick-Play spell card, it can be used right when your opponent's monster is going to attack. Activate Shrink and most likely the attacking monster will be destroyed instead of your Gladiator Beast. And since it attacked your Gladiator Beast monster, it can tag out. In addition, the fact that is reduces the monster's original attack means that if there is Axe of Despair equiped to let's say Sangan, Sangan's ATK would be 500 instead of 1000 with Shrink in effect.


 * X-Saber Airbellum - Great strategy with this card is to Rescue Cat for X-Saber Airbellum and Gladiator Beast Samnite. Having two level 3 monsters on the field that are destroyed at the end of the turn the best thing u can do here is pull off a synchro.  Since X-Saber Airbellum is a tuner, synchro summon for Goyo Guardian or Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier.


 * After the Struggle - Similar to "Ancient Forest", it destroys any attacking monster, but unlike "Ancient Forest", it destroys any defending monsters as well. Because it activates during the End Step, Gladiator Beasts can tag out to prevent their destruction, while also destroying any remaining attack target. This can help set up various tags and clear the field of larger monsters, such as "Stardust Dragon".

Weaknesses and Counter-Strategies
RUN RUSH RECKLESSLY!! IT'S SO GOOD.

Monster Cards

 * Rescue Cat
 * Test Tiger
 * Sangan
 * X-Saber Airbellum
 * Elemental Hero Prisma
 * Cyber Dragon
 * Gorz the Emissary of Darkness

Spell Cards

 * Book of Moon
 * Enemy Controller
 * Shrink
 * Spiritual Forest
 * Ancient Forest
 * After the Struggle

Trap Cards

 * Waboku
 * Dimensional Prison