Gladiator Beasts

Obviously this is not the era during which Gladiator Beasts reigned king over all. This is a format in which Rabbits are the Top Deck with Wind-Ups and Inzektors coming just short of first place.

Gladiators topped once last format and then weren't seen again. Why? The Deck wasn't that good. Yes, with HERO support it can be quite good but using Test Tiger just isn't worth it. It's inconsistent. It requires you to control another Gladiator Beast and this isn't always going to be usable.

However, after an analysis of the metagame and extensive Testing, I have found that Gladiator Beasts have the ability to become Tier 2 again, potentially Tier 1 if enough good players use good builds.

This is my current build. It's a work in progress but so far I have received excellent results. Going first is the best way to win and having ample backrow will allow you to win with ease. However, the main problem is consistency. This is largely because of DN - I continually get 4 Monster hands or no monsters for many turns. However, other than that, the Deck runs quite smoothly. I'm considering re-introducing Pot of Dualities or even Upstart Goblins in order to maximize my chances of getting War Chariot but currently space is an issue.

The first oddity is Tour Guide From the Underworld. Up until now this amazing card has seen use in almost every Deck. However, as of now, this card is useful in Gladiator Beasts all because of a monster known as M-X-Saber Invoker.

You may ask yourself: "why is this such a big deal?" The answer is field presence. Normally, after using A Hero Lives and making a Gladiator Beast Gyzarus, you are extremely vulnerable to Solemn Warning or Solemn Judgment: you have just payed half of your Life Points and if you lose Gyzarus you're also down a card. That's where Tour Guide comes in: instead of bringing out a Gladiator and losing it, you make Invoker, Special Summon Gladiator Beast Darius from your Deck and tag Elemental HERO Prisma with Darius to make Gyzarus - not only do you have a 1600 attacker but you also have protection if they negate the summon of Gyzarus.

Next is the ability to make Leviair the Sea Dragon.

Leviair is one of the most amazing monsters in this metagame. Unlike in previous eras, the Banished monsters rarely have to stay there: Trance Archfiend returns Banished monsters to its owner's hand (in Dark World) and Leviair can get back most Banished Monsters (except for Xyz and high Level monsters). So what does this monster do for this Deck? Well, along with all the cards that Banish monsters, there is one in particular that is just fantastic for this Deck: Gladiator Beast Retiari. Retiari lets you Banish monsters in your opponent's Graveyard. Later on you can get them back with a Leviair, allowing you to take monsters such as Thunder King Rai-Oh or Jurrac Guaiba.

Next is Wind-Up Zenmaines. It's amazing. Enough said.

So Tour Guide gives them an advantage - an already good Deck gets a huge boost from Tour Guide. But what else is so key to making them meta?

Gladiator Beast War Chariot, a card that is (or was) feared as the number on form of effect negation - it's a +0 that can be returned to your hand by Gladiator Beast Equeste over and over, allowing you to create soft locks quite easily. A first turn War Chariot backed by a Laquari and Starlight Road (plus one or two other cards) can be almost impossible to get over without a really good hand.

But that's not all. On the subject of Starlight Road, Gladiator Beasts now have even more protection. Last format I advocated using two Starlight Road. Most Decks either used one or none. However, as the T.G. Deck that topped YCS Atlanta proved, having two Starlight Roads makes your backrow many times safer. The card was already quite useful but now with the addition of a second Torrential Tribute and the fact that Mirror Force has made a comeback means that we have far great use of this amazing card. It's also great in the Gladiator Beast mirror match and against Lightsworn (think Judgment Dragon and Celestia, Lightsworn Angel).

But that's not all. Gladiator Beasts have one more superweapon: Gladiator Beast Heraklinos. This amazing monster is nothing to laugh at. Not only does it have 3000 ATK, a score which no commonly used monster can match (over than a Leviathan Dragon with both Xyz Materials detached or a Grapha) but it also can negate any number of Spells and Traps per turn by discarding a card. This means that having a Heraklinos + any other Gladiator + War Chariot and one or two cards in hand is almost always a game-winning position to be in.

If Heraklinos seems hard to make, then you should check out the strategy of this Deck: use A Hero Lives to Special Summon Prisma, use Prisma to copy Bestiari (or Laquari if you have Bestiari in hand), sending that monster from your Deck to your Graveyard. Set your Bestiari or Laquari, flip them face-up to reveal them as Gladiator Beasts, tag for Gyzarus, blow up two cards, attack, tag out, get Darius and Laquari (or something else if you have Laquari in Graveyard) and tag for Heraklinos. Sure, you pay half your life points but this combo is easy to pull off and has devastating results.

So let's get back to the metagame, a world dominated by Rabbits, Wind-Ups, and Inzektors.

First is the Rabbit matchup. Going second against Rabbits hurts but you have multiple outs to their plays in the form of extensive backrow and War Chariot - they're likely to negate your Normal Summon just to avoid dealing with a War Chariot, allowing you to use a Mirror Force or Dimensional Prison next turn. If you start, a War Chariot, Gladiator Beast, and Starlight Road is often enough to seal the game in your favor. In addition to that, the fact that you use Forbidden Lance means that you can surprise your opponent by using Lance to get over their big monsters in the same way they would use their own - suddenly their Lances are being countered by your own, allowing you to tag out and gain more advantage. Game 2 you can always side in King Tiger Wanghu and more backrow, protecting you and preventing your opponent from using Rescue Rabbit and Tour Guide

Against Wind-Ups getting your hand hit by the loop can be pretty devastating but the game is still recoverable - if you can push through their backrow and get a few hits with your Gladiator Beasts you can start your Deck's engine "running" and get in a position where you're in control. In addition to that, Tour Guide offers easy ways to get out of bad situations by pulling out a Wind-Up Zenmaines or another Rank 3 Xyz Monster. Like with Rabbits, if you start with a War Chariot you can stop their first play and control the game from there on. In game 2 you can side in your Maxx "C" and the amazing King Tiger Wanghu. A first turn Wanghu leaves your opponent with very few options - it's won me many games simply by being on the field.

Inzektors are both the most and least problematic. If you have any outs whatsoever you can easily win but if you lack them then you are in a terrible position - every turn they will gain a lot of advantage in a way that prevents you from starting. Game 2 is quite easy - all you need is Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror and you're golden. A Wanghu will help secure your victory but isn't strictly necessary.

Other matchups for the Deck include Lightsworn and HERO. HERO is the toughest matchup due to the abundance of beatsticks and the (almost) unstoppable Super Polymerization. The best thing to do in the HERO matchup is just to play around everything they have and prevent any summons so as to get around Super Poly. As for Lightsworn, you have an extremely good matchup as they're typically activating one or two effects per turn - you can just negate them with War Chariot. In addition to that, they run an abundance of low ATK monsters so a King Tiger Wanghu will kill them.

Currently, my build is not good enough to be Tier 1. Luckily there are many more options to explore:
* Horn of the Phantom Beast would allow me to make my Gladiator Beasts even stronger and use Wanghu to its fullest, even main Decking it.
* Thunder King Rai-Oh: if I could find room I would be main Decking this amazing monster. It will take a lot of experimentation but it may be possible to fit Rai-Oh in the Deck.

Gladiator Beasts aren't perfect but then again no Decks are. However, unlike many Decks, this Deck has huge potential for growth and could become Tier 1 at any time - a build totally different from my own could prove to be one of the best Decks of the format.