Let’s build modern Gladiator Beast and make the most of new support cards!

Reintroduction to the Contact Fusion Archetype:

Sample Decklist:

Click here to view the decklist in the Official Card Database.

Monsters: 21
|| Gladiator Beast Attorix
|| Gladiator Beast Augustus
| Gladiator Beast Bestiari
| Gladiator Beast Darius
| Gladiator Beast Equeste
| Gladiator Beast Sagittarii
| Gladiator Beast Vespasius
||| Gladiator Beast Andal
|| Test Tiger
|| Rescue Rabbit
|| Tenyi Spirit – Vishuda
|| Tenyi Spirit – Adhara
| Barrier Statue of the Stormwinds

Spells: 19
||| Called by the Grave
||| Gladiator Beast Comeback
||| Gladiator Proving Ground
||| Gladiator Rejection
| Monster Reborn
| Pot of Avarice
| Sky Striker Mecha – Hornet Drones
||| Unexpected Dai
| World Legacy Succession

Extra Deck:
| Gladiator Beast Domitanus
| Gladiator Beast Gyzarus
| Gladiator Beast Heraklinos
|| Gladiator Beast Tamer Editor
| Naturia Beast
| Apollousa, Bow of the Goddess
| Cross-Sheep
| Draco Masters of the Tenyi
| Link Spider
| Monk of the Tenyi
| Simorgh, Bird of Sovereignty
| Sky Striker Ace – Kagari
|| Test Panther

Options for your First Turn Board:

As you may have noticed, the build I prepared for today’s article is entirely focused around going 1st. As noted earlier, Gladiator Beasts love the Battle Phase, but Panther’s ability to trigger their effects without needing to do battle truly ties the theme together in a nice bow. So, the goal for a going-first Gladiator Beast build is to throw as many negations onto the board as possible to slow the opponent’s progress. Let’s talk about each option that this specific build can put on the board.

Combine your Tenyi tuner with either Darius or Andal to make Naturia Beast, a fearsome foe for any deck reliant on their spell cards. This option is especially good when you can pair it with a Domitanus to negate a stray monster-based removal option, or when combined with the next ‘you can’t play’ option! The last major consideration is that this has a near-infinite number of negations per turn, unlike many other negation options that can only negate 1 card. This is why I prefer this to the Titanic Galaxy endboard, as that can only negate 1 Spell during the opponent’s turn.

This new link monster recently brought to the TCG in DUOV is quite a powerhouse for many reasons for this deck. First, it is easily accessible with so many Winged Beast monsters in both your Extra Deck and Main Deck. Just combine Panther with a Bestiari or even a Gyzarus, and you can arrive on Sovereignty. Second, its effects are amazing. During the End Phase, you can summon 1 Winged Beast from your hand or Deck with a Level equal to or Lower than the number of open Spell or Trap zones on the field. While the primary combo gaining attention right now is the Mist Valley endless negation board, you can also rely upon your sole copy of Barrier Statue of the Stormwinds to lock your opponent out of Special Summoning most of their monsters!

Your last option when setting up an opening board is to rely upon your Gladiator Beast Fusions. Domitanius and Heraklinos can be an efficient pair at locking down your opponent’s options, and Editor can summon both for free! Also, remember that Editor has no hard once per turn restriction, so if you can keep getting it on and off the field, you can continue to summon more Gladiator Fusions from your Extra Deck! This is the primary reason why I run so many copies of recovery options, like Monster Reborn, World Legacy Succession, and Gladiator Beast Comeback. With the right hand, you very well could recycle Editor 2 or 3 times, getting you all 3 of your other Fusions off of the effect of just one super powerful monster.

Options when Breaking Boards:

Now this was just my approach to building going first Glad Beast – there is an entirely separate variant that can be just as effective and tuned specifically to break troublesome boards. There are a number of great options you can run, so here’s a couple if you want to take Gladiator Beasts in that direction instead.

These hidden gems support the theme so well, similar to how effective both have been over the past couple formats. Basically Mind Control is a great way to force your opponent to negate it, otherwise you get to disrupt their end board. If they do not have any monsters offering negation, then you just got your second monster for Test Panther for free! On the Instant Fusion side of the house, you do the same by just threatening to summon Thousand-Eyes Restrict. While both of these cards are now limited by the recent F/L list in the TCG, there is definitely some potential to make the most of them!

Similar to the above options, as Pankratops is Limited, but this serves a slightly lesser role since it can be either a removal option or the second monster for Panther. The other benefit here is that Pankratops has 2600 ATK and can use that to its advantage to attack over a threat, giving you the potential to remove multiple cards from your opponents board before breaking out the Gladiator Beasts.

Dark Ruler No More:

This spell card remains as powerful as ever when going second, but you have to be smart about using it. In short, you have to be certain that you can get rid of all your opponents monsters before going for it, as well as setup a board that will be difficult for your opponent to respond to on their next turn. Since Gladiator Beasts have great mass-removal options in Gyzarus and great negation boards, you can definitely take advantage of Ruler without worrying about the limitation that your opponent still gets another turn to play the duel!

Lightning Storm:

Worried about choosing to run cards to destroy backrow or monsters? Storm has both covered, but at the cost that destruction just isn’t as strong as it used to be. That said, Gladiator Beasts rely almost exclusively upon destruction by card effects or battle for their monster removal, so this is adding a bit more the same thing. It’s definitely something to consider though!

Additional Tech Options:

As those callouts should indicate – this deck is highly adaptable to how you want to play the duel. That is probably the coolest part about Gladiator Beast now – your playstyle can play a role in how you build and then play the deck. Heck, if you really wanted, you could use your side deck to be able to smokescreen between the two variants during a match, switching back and forth depending on if you were going first or second. This versatility gives the deck much more options than I could possibly list, so note that this list is not comprehensive.

Conclusion:

At the end of the day, the cage match will continue with or without you – the Gladiator Beast archetype has been quite the fan favorite ever since its release. While I doubt we will ever return to the times where duelists would turn to Gladiator Beasts in every new format, the deck can certainly compete with the best of them in the new format defined by the rise of the non-Link and Pendulum Extra Deck Summoning card types. For now, the battle must rage on in the coliseum. Catch you next time when we take to the Stage…

Reminder, I also take suggestions for future CDS articles! I really want to see some input from you! If you wish to see a CDS article about the archetype, theme, or strategy you love, feel free to private message me on the YGOrg Discord server, the YGOrganization Forums, or just post a comment in response to this article on our Facebook page with your ideas to keep under consideration! On most YGO-related communities my username is Quincymccoy, so feel free to reach out. As of now, I have a couple of outstanding requests that I am looking at: Cyberse, Generaider, HERO, Mecha Phantom Beast, Shaddoll, Speedroid, Vehicroid.