Deck Profile: Kristen Black’s Gladiator Beast Deck
Kristen Black entered this weekend’s World Championship Qualifier with her Gladiator Beast Deck. She made room for a bunch of cards that other Gladiator Beast Duelists have trouble fitting in and loaded her Deck with some tech choices that she hopes will put her ahead of the competition. Take a look at Black’s Decklist.
Monsters:
1 Gladiator Beast Darius
1 Rescue Cat
1 Gladiator Beast Murmillo
1 Gladiator Beast Hoplomus
1 Gladiator Beast Secutor
1 Gladiator Beast Bestiari
1 Gladiator Beast Retiari
2 Gladiator Beast Equeste
1 Elemental Hero Prisma
2 Gladiator Beast Samnite
2 Gladiator Beast Laquari
3 Test Tiger
2 Thunder King Rai-oh
Spells:
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Cold Wave
1 Heavy Storm
3 Book of Moon
Traps:
1 Torrential Tribute
2 Starlight Road
1 Trap Stun
1 Mirror Force
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Magic Drain
2 Dust Tornado
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
2 Waboku
3 Gladiator Beast War Chariot
Black’s Gladiator Beast line-up is nothing out of the ordinary. She’s using Gladiator Beast Darius, Gladiator Beast Murmillo, Gladiator Beast Hoplomus, Gladiator Beast Secutor, Gladiator Beast Bestiari, Gladiator Beast Retiari, Gladiator Beast Equeste, and Gladiator Beast Laquari to take advantage of their variety of effects and manipulate the hand, field and Graveyard.
She’s also running Gladiator Beast Samnite, as well as Rescue Cat. Tributing Rescue Cat allows Black to Special Summon 2 copies of Samnite or a copy of Samnite and a Test Tiger from her Deck. Special Summoning 2 copies of Samnite brings her a total ATK power of 3200 and the potential to tag-in 2 new Gladiator Beasts in their place, while Special Summoning Samnite with Test Tiger lets her Tribute the Test Tiger to trade Samnite for any one of her Gladiator Beasts with its tagged-in effect. Bringing in a tagged-in Secutor to attack with and recruit 2 more Gladiator Beasts, or Special Summoning a tagged in Samnite that can destroy a monster to retrieve Gladiator Beast War Chariot from her Deck, can be game-winning. The versatility of Rescue Cat, which allows her to Special Summon Test Tiger and Tribute it to trigger any effect from her wide assortment of Gladiators, gives her Deck a consistency that rivals the consistency of Infernities and X-Sabers.
In addition to Rescue Cat, Black is also running Elemental Hero Prisma in her Main Deck, enabling quick and powerful plays involving Gladiator Beast Gyzarus. Black can use her Prisma to send Gladiator Beast Bestiari from her Deck to her Graveyard and then send Prisma back to her Deck with Test Tiger to Special Summon Gladiator Beast Darius in its place. Darius Special Summons Bestiari from the Graveyard when it’s tagged in, and the 2 Gladiator Beasts can be fused together to Summon Gladiator Beast Gyzarus and destroy 2 cards. Black uses Trap Stun and Cold Wave to protect this play. When Gyzarus battles and tags out, Black can trade it for 2 new Gladiator Beasts. Special Summoning Gladiator Beast Darius and Gladiator Beast Laquari in its place will often allow her to Fusion Summon Gladiator Beast Heraklinos in Main Phase 2.
Heraklinos is a strong card against many of the top Decks since it can negate all Spell and Trap Cards, but backed by Gladiator Beast War Chariot, she can counter just about anything her opponent throws at her. Black understands the importance of running Gladiator Beast War Chariot in the current format, and made it as accessible as she could by running a full set. Chariot can negate the effects of important monsters like Infernity Archfiend, Infernity Necromancer, XX-Saber Darksoul, XX-Saber Emmersblade, Rescue Cat, and Herald of Perfection. Since it can be recycled with Gladiator Beast Equeste, a successful activation of a War Chariot will often lead Black to a loop that will win her the game by locking her opponent out of the Duel.
Black also managed to include Thunder King Rai-Oh in her Deck. The value of Rai-Oh being able to stop players from searching their Decks for cards with the effects of XX-Saber Darksoul and Infernity Archfiend can’t be overstated.
“I love to Summon Thunder King Rai-Oh and Set multiple back rows on my first turn. This pretty much shuts everything else down. Infernities, Sabers, Gadgets, and Herald all can’t search,” she said. That’s why, even though Thunder King Rai-Oh isn’t a Gladiator Beast, Black made sure to include it in her Deck.
Black also managed to fit Starlight Road and Magic Drain in her Deck, to protect the Spell and Trap Cards in her back row. “When I don’t open with Thunder King Rai-Oh, playing Starlight Road and Magic Drain pretty much makes me fearless of Heavy Storm,” she said. Black can Set a bunch of cards to her back row and then watch her opponent struggle to get rid of them one at a time. “I have the aggression of a beatdown Deck and the defense of an anti-meta Deck,” she added.
Black isn’t the only Duelist here today running Gladiator Beasts. Many of today’s competitors have chosen to use Gladiator Beasts for the very same reason as Kristen Black – they have more versatility than any other Deck and can easily shift gears between defense and aggression. With so many Duelists like Black trusting in their Gladiator Beasts to win the tournament, we may see a bunch of Gladiator Beast Decks make it all the way to the top.