Gladiator Beast

Gladiator Beast is an archetype 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. The types consist of Beasts, Beast-Warriors, Winged-Beast, Dinosaurs, one Rock, one Aqua, two Fish and one Reptile. With a few exceptions, all non-Fusion "Gladiator Beasts" but "Gladiator Beast Secutor", "Gladiator Beast Tygerius" and "Gladiator Beast Andal" have an effect to return to the Deck during the end of a Battle Phase when it battled, and then to Special Summon another "Gladiator Beast" Monster to replace it (this is also known as Tagging Out). The newly Special Summoned "Gladiator Beast" monsters usually gain another effect when Special Summoned in this way.

In addition to "tagging out" "Gladiator Beasts", "Gladiator Beasts" have four Fusion Monsters, three of which require a specific "Gladiator Beast" monster and either one or two other "Gladiator Beast" monsters on the field (depending on the Fusion monster being summoned), at which point the "Gladiator Beast" monsters can be returned to the Main Deck to Special Summon the appropriate "Gladiator Beast" Fusion Monster. The monsters used for the Special Summoning of these "Gladiator Beast" monsters ("Gladiator Beast Gaiodiaz", "Gladiator Beast Heraklinos", "Gladiator Beast Essedarii" and "Gladiator Beast Gyzarus") can be used as Fusion Material monsters while Face-up or Face-down on the field, and with the exception of "Gladiator Beast Heraklinos" and "Gladiator Beast Essedarii", the "Gladiator Beast" Fusion monsters can be returned to the deck in the same way as normal "Gladiator Beast" monsters after they've battled (although they cannot summon the specific "Gladiator Beast" monster required for their summoning). "Gladiator Beast" Fusion monsters, because they do not require a Spell card to Special Summon them, are considered Contact Fusion Monsters.

Also, nearly every card in the archetype is capable of being returned to the Hand, Field, or Deck from the Graveyard, whether using the "Gladiator Beast" monsters themselves or using their support cards. The "Gladiator Beast" deck includes a mix of destruction, aggro, and toolbox cards and tactics. It is this versatility which landed this deck as one of the top decks in the Shonen Jump Circuit.

The September 2010 Banlist caused "Gladiators Beasts" to become more popular, especially with cards like "Heavy Storm" getting banned and "Royal Oppression" Limited, both of which were a threat to the "Gladiator Beast" strategy.

Due to the March 2011 Banlist, "Gladiator Beasts" became able to pull off more plays with "Test Tiger", due to the limiting "Book of Moon", which was the reason that "Test Tiger" was unpopular during the September format.

{| class="wikitable" ! Gladiator Beast ! Effect upon tagging out
 * Alexander
 * It is unaffected by the effects of Spell Cards
 * Andal
 * Bestiari
 * Destroy one spell or trap on the field
 * Darius
 * Special summon one Gladiator Beast monster from the graveyard to the field but its effects are negated, when this card leaves the field send the special summoned monster to the graveyard
 * Dimacari
 * This monster can attack twice during the battle phase
 * Equeste
 * Add one Gladiator Beast card from the graveyard to your hand
 * Hoplomus
 * This monsters original DEF becomes 2400
 * Lanista
 * Target 1 "Gladiator Beast" monster from your Graveyard; banish that target, and this card's name becomes the target's name until the End Phase.
 * Laquari
 * This monsters original ATK becomes 2100
 * Murmillo
 * Destroy one faceup monster on the field
 * Octavius
 * Destroy one facedown spell or trap card on the field
 * Retiari
 * Remove from play one monster from your opponents graveyard
 * Samnite
 * When attacks or is attacked, add one Gladiator Beast card from your deck to the hand
 * Secutor
 * When attacks or is attacked, special summon 2 Gladiator Beast monsters from the deck
 * Spartacus
 * Add 1 "Gladiator Beast" Equip Spell Card from your Deck to your hand
 * Tygerius
 * You can discard one Gladiator Beast card to add one Gladiator Beast monster from your deck to your hand
 * Torax
 * At the end of any Battle Phase that this card attacked or was attacked, you can return it to the Deck to draw 1 card
 * Retiari
 * Remove from play one monster from your opponents graveyard
 * Samnite
 * When attacks or is attacked, add one Gladiator Beast card from your deck to the hand
 * Secutor
 * When attacks or is attacked, special summon 2 Gladiator Beast monsters from the deck
 * Spartacus
 * Add 1 "Gladiator Beast" Equip Spell Card from your Deck to your hand
 * Tygerius
 * You can discard one Gladiator Beast card to add one Gladiator Beast monster from your deck to your hand
 * Torax
 * At the end of any Battle Phase that this card attacked or was attacked, you can return it to the Deck to draw 1 card
 * Tygerius
 * You can discard one Gladiator Beast card to add one Gladiator Beast monster from your deck to your hand
 * Torax
 * At the end of any Battle Phase that this card attacked or was attacked, you can return it to the Deck to draw 1 card
 * Torax
 * At the end of any Battle Phase that this card attacked or was attacked, you can return it to the Deck to draw 1 card

Gladiator Beast (without "Test Tiger" or "Elemental HERO Prisma")
After the March 1st, 2011 Ban list hit, many people created an alternate version of Gladiator Beast that do not revolve around "Elemental HERO Prisma" or "Test Tiger" but rather the speed and draw power of the deck by using mostly Gladiator Beast Cards and "Gladiator Proving Ground", "Gladiator Beast's Respite", and even "Reborn Tengu" for added speed and stability.

Using such cards as "Gladiator Beast Equeste", "Gladiator Proving Ground", and "Gladiator Beast's Respite" easily form a drawing loop in which you can keep drawing cards while maintaining a good diversity of Gladiator Beast in your deck.

Monster Cards

 * Gladiator Beast Bestiari
 * Gladiator Beast Murmillo
 * Gladiator Beast Retiari
 * Gladiator Beast Darius
 * Gladiator Beast Equeste
 * Gladiator Beast Hoplomus
 * Gladiator Beast Laquari
 * Thunder King Rai-Oh
 * Neo-Spacian Grand Mole
 * Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind

Spells

 * Gladiator Proving Ground
 * Forbidden Lance
 * Shrink (If not Using Forbidden Lance)
 * Gladiator Beast's Respite
 * Gladiator Beast's Battle Archfiend Shield

Traps

 * Horn of the Phantom Beast
 * Trap Stun
 * Double Tag Team
 * Gladiator Beast War Chariot (Good For Using Anti-Meta)

Prisma Gladiator Beasts
Also known as "Prismadiators" or "Prisma Glads", this deck is variation of the basic "Gladiator Beast" Deck that uses "Elemental HERO Stratos" to add "Elemental HERO Prisma" to your hand. Then you use "Elemental HERO Prisma" to act as "Gladiator Beast Bestiari". Then it is used to summon "Gladiator Beast Gyzarus" and destroy cards on your opponent's side of the field. After attacking you can return "Gladiator Beast Gyzarus" to the Extra Deck to summon "Gladiator Beast Darius" and another "Gladiator Beast". Use "Gladiator Beast Darius" to summon "Gladiator Beast Bestiari" to summon "Gladiator Beast Gyzarus" again and destroy more cards. Then "Gladiator Beast Bestiari" is back in the Deck and the process can be repeated.

One of the best combos of the Deck is to start with a hand consisting of "Elemental HERO Prisma" (it can be also a "Reinforcement of the Army" or "E - Emergency Call" to search for him), and "Test Tiger".

Normal Summon "Prisma" and activate his effect to send "Bestiari" to the Graveyard. Next, Special Summon "Test Tiger" and tribute him to send "Prisma" back to the deck and Special Summon "Darius", activate his effect and Special Summon "Bestiari". Contact Fusion both monsters and Special Summon "Gyzarus" to destroy up to 2 cards on the field. Next, attack with "Gyzarus" and tag-out for another 2 "Gladiator Beasts" monsters. If you have "Laquari" in your Graveyard then tag-out for "Darius" and another "Gladiator Beast", then Special Summon "Laquari" by the effect of "Darius" and Contact Fuse for "Heraklinos".

Alternatively, if you already have a "Gladiator Beast" monster on the field, you can summon "Prisma" and take "Bestiari's" name to contact fuse the two. After you tag out with "Gladiator Beast Gyzarus", summon "Darius" as one of the two and use him to retrieve "Bestiari" from the grave. If you wish, you may either contact out for "Gyzarus" a second time (totaling 4 destructions from "Gyzarus'" effect alone), or proceed to summon "Gladiator Beast Heraklinos" if your second choice happens to be "Laquari".

Monster Cards

 * Elemental Hero Prisma
 * Elemental Hero Stratos
 * Test Tiger
 * Thunder King Rai-Oh
 * Gladiator Beast Bestiari
 * Gladiator Beast Murmillo
 * Gladiator Beast Retiari
 * Gladiator Beast Darius
 * Gladiator Beast Equeste
 * Gladiator Beast Laquari

Spells

 * Book of Moon
 * My Body as a Shield
 * Reinforcement of the Army or E - Emergency Call (RotA is better due to the flexibility of teching in a D.D. Warrior Lady)
 * Smashing Ground
 * A Hero Lives
 * Infected Mail

Traps

 * Dimensional Prison
 * Starlight Road
 * Trap Stun
 * Waboku

Extra Deck

 * Stardust Dragon

Rescue Gladiator Beasts
Previous incarnations of this Deck used "Rescue Cat" to summon monsters such as "Gladiator Beast Samnite" and "Test Tiger" to make big plays, though after it was banned, the Deck was unusable. However, with the release of the "Rescue Rabbit", the new version of the Deck uses "Rescue Rabbit" to Summon "Gladiator Beast Andal", usually to allow for the Summon of "Gladiator Beast Essedarii" or "Gladiator Beast Heraklinos".

Monster Cards

 * Rescue Rabbit
 * Test Tiger
 * Thunder King Rai-Oh
 * Gladiator Beast Bestiari
 * Gladiator Beast Murmillo
 * Gladiator Beast Retiari
 * Gladiator Beast Darius
 * Gladiator Beast Equeste
 * Gladiator Beast Laquari
 * Gladiator Beast Andal

Spells

 * Book of Moon
 * My Body as a Shield
 * Smashing Ground
 * Infected Mail

Traps

 * Dimensional Prison
 * Starlight Road
 * Trap Stun
 * Waboku

Extra Deck

 * Leviair the Sea Dragon
 * Stardust Dragon

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


 * 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", "Solemn Warning", "Archlord Kristya", "Cactus Bouncer", "Corridor of Agony" and others all prevent "Gladiator Beasts" from tagging out or performing Contact Fusion, paralyzing the deck. "Jowgen the Spiritualist" and "Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo" also have the ability to destroy any Special Summoned monster already on the field in addition to preventing Special Summoning.


 * Counter-Destruction -- Often, it is the "Gladiator Beasts" with the effect to destroy cards that are the most troublesome, but there are a few good cards that specifically prevent that in use. "Destruction Jammer", "Prime Material Dragon", "Stardust Dragon", and "Divine Wrath" all work well. "Divine Wrath" also works well against "Gladiator Beast Heraklinos" when it activates its effect to negate and destroy a Spell or Trap.


 * Monster Effects - Since "Gladiator Beasts" must battle to gain their effects, Monster Card Effects that trigger during battle are highly effective. Note, however, that "Gladiator Beasts" have access to "Gladiator Beast War Chariot", so be prepared with something like "Trap Jammer" or "Counter Counter" to negate it. Here are some good monster card effects:
 * Monsters that destroy the monsters that attacked them - "Snowman Eater", "Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter"
 * Monsters that return the cards that attacked them - "Penguin Soldier", "Legendary Jujitsu Master", "Neo-Spacian Grand Mole" : These cards are even better than the destroyers above, since the "Gladiator Beasts" cannot be brought back with "Gladiator Beast Darius".
 * Monsters that banish the cards when Gladiator Beast attacked them - "D.D. Warrior", "D.D. Warrior Lady" - 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 banished cards.
 * Trump-card monsters with mass-destruction effects - Cards like these can destroy the "Gladiator Beasts" by effect, preventing their battle-swap from activating, or they can destroy the support cards that prevent the Gladiator Beasts from being destroyed by battle. A few can even do both. Some of these include: "Judgment Dragon", "Dark Armed Dragon", "Demise, King of Armageddon". "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.
 * Destroy on Summoning - Cards such as "Trap Hole", "Bottomless Trap Hole", and especially "Mirror of Oaths", that destroy the monsters when are Special Summoned from the Deck are great against "Gladiator Beasts".
 * Effect Canceling - Cards such as "Skill Drain","Chivalry","Effect Veiler" or "Angel 07" can prevent your monsters from tagging out or negate the effects of the ones that are Summoned leaving your monsters defenseless against some of the more powerful ATK monsters.


 * Attack Negation/Prevention - You can only "tag out" a "Gladiator Beast" for another if the first "Gladiator Beast" "attacked or was attacked". Unlike most card effects with a similar activation requirement, the battle must "go through", i.e. instead of just declaring an attack or being targeted as the target of an attack, the battle has to go into and apply "Damage Calculation" (even if the damage for that battle would be 0). Therefore, any Spell, Trap, or Monster Effect that lets you negate a monster attack would prevent the opponent from tagging out their "Gladiator Beasts".