For the last couple of months, Gladiator Beasts have been the top deck in major competition. Since the release of Gladiator Beast Gyzarus the deck has been so consistent at winning championships that eventually nearly every player wanted to run it. The Gladiators could overcome decks designed to beat them specifically in addition to breezing through the rest of the crowd. Sure, Lightsworn and Little City can beat Gladiator Beasts half the time in playtesting, but in a major tournament Gladiator Beasts always rose to the top.

Then The Duelist Genesis was released and the game was broken wide open once more. Lightsworn got a much-needed deck-thinning boost in Charge of the Light Brigade, and Dark Armed Dragon decks were introduced to Synchro monsters. Together these strategies presented a large case for the downfall of Gladiator Beasts. After Day 1 competition at Shonen Jump Championship Baltimore only five Gladiator players remained. Outnumbered by Dark Armed players on Day 2, many expected a new deck to take the championship.

Jermol Jupiter begged to differ. Clearly prepared for Baltimore, Jupiter adjusted his deck just enough to combat Teleport Dark Armed decks as well as the Gladiator mirror. Those were clearly the two biggest problems he would face on Day 1, and Jupiter’s 8-1 performance reflects his accurate preparation. Here’s what he ran:

Monsters: 21

2 Gladiator Beast Laquari
1 Elemental Hero Stratos
2 Gladiator Beast Darius
2 Gladiator Beast Bestiari
1 Gladiator Beast Murmillo
2 Gladiator Beast Hoplomus
2 Elemental Hero Prisma
3 Test Tiger
2 D.D. Crow
1 Sangan
1 Spirit Reaper
1 Gladiator Beast Equeste
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior

What we have here is a Gladiator Beast deck that’s equipped for the long haul. As the last format progressed, Gladiator mirror matches kept getting shorter and shorter. Previously, the player who drew Cold Wave and used Gladiator Beast Gyzarus to crush the opponent and set up two copies of Gladiator Beast Laquari usually won the game. Solemn Judgment kept your opponent from having monsters. As such there wasn’t much use for cards like Dimensional Prison and Bottomless Trap Hole.

These days, games against a Dark Armed deck can often run for many turns. In fact, as a Gladiator player, that’s exactly what you want to happen. Short duels usually mean Dark Armed Dragon making a big impact early, amplifying the weight of Synchros and causing Solemn Judgment to backfire. Long games mean your opponent gets too many Darks in the graveyard to play Dark Armed Dragon, and draws extra copies of Destiny Draw and Dark Grepher. Gladiator Beasts suffer nothing moving into the late game. All discarded copies of Gladiators are retrievable thanks to Gladiator Beast Darius and Gladiator Beast Equeste. Attacks are also much more likely to be successful in the late game, allowing the Gladiator player to thrive off monster effects.

Jermol’s trap line-up supports a strong late game. Two copies each of Dimensional Prison and Bottomless Trap Hole have been included for extra defense against the Synchro monsters. Dimensional Prison can take out Stardust Dragon, Bottomless can rid the field of Thought Ruler Archfiend, and either one can take down the other various threats Synchro monsters produce. The best part is they do so after the Synchro monster has hit the field, meaning your opponent has already used the cards for the Synchro summon. Playing Phoenix Wing Wind Blast on Destiny Hero - Malicious after your opponent summons Krebons doesn’t stop him or her from using that Krebons a turn or two down the road. If you don’t use the Wing Blast and the opponent trades up into Thought Ruler Archfiend you’re stuck with a dead defensive card.

It’s for this reason that Jupiter doesn’t play those mainstream trap cards. Mirror Force, Torrential Tribute, and Phoenix Wing Wind Blast are the cards every competitor takes into account when making his or her decisions. Duelists will attempt to play around them by playing conservatively, summoning one monster and attacking. That’s when Jupiter’s off-beat trap cards come into play and hurt the opponent more than usual.

From that point his opponents are forced to make big commitments, having wasted their simple response plays. At worst, Jupiter will have Gladiator Beast Laquari, and at best, Gladiator Beast Heraklinos. The opponent is going to have to use cards like Test Tiger, Dark Armed Dragon, or Caius the Shadow Monarch at this point to attempt to win the game. Now Jupiter gets to use his copies of Solemn and Gladiator Beast War Chariot as trump cards, shutting down any chance the opponent had of getting back into the game.

Jupiter has dropped the Cold Wave count and added Mystical Space Typhoon to reflect the fact that games are going to go longer. Cold Wave is meant to end duels quickly, or win games when the opponent commits heavily to the field. Since games are longer and many players don’t use Solemn Judgment, there are often fewer cards committed to the field. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Cold Wave reduced to one or even zero per deck as the format goes on.

His monster line-up is clearly not geared for the Gladiator mirror match. Two copies of Gladiator Beast Hoplomus are great against Dark Armed players but less optimal in the mirror. Of course, War Chariot works nicely with Hoplomus, giving you a face-up Gladiator Beast when your opponent wants to trigger his or her Gladiator’s effect. Jupiter also doesn’t play any copies of Reinforcement of the Army, which are usually critical in the mirror match. Again, this is to cope with a longer game. If you draw too far into the deck Reinforcement of the Army is a dead card. Dead draws lead to missed battle phases and, for the Gladiator Beast player, defeat.

D.D. Crow is still popular, even without Premature Burial, Destiny Hero - Disk Commander, and Dark Magician of Chaos going nuts. Every matchup has a use for the Crow, and it can be a decision-maker in each one. Spirit Reaper and Sangan round out the Crush Card Virus targets, which Jupiter obviously still plays. Crush, along with Cold Wave, Trap Dustshoot, and Solemn Judgment, are the exceptions to Jupiter’s long-game approach. Drawing these cards can allow for quick victories over almost any deck. Each card helps in the long run too, which is why they’re played.

Breaker the Magical Warrior is another card many questioned for the Gladiator Beast deck. With Gladiator Beast Bestiari and Gyzarus so readily available many believed Breaker to be obsolete. Nothing could be further from the truth. Players devote their entire trap line-ups to making sure they can take these monsters down. Of course Breaker falls into the same trap, but that’s exactly what you want to happen. Use Breaker to force out your opponent’s Torrential Tribute so that next turn your Test Tiger combo is completely untouched and you can begin the process of winning the game.

This is the perfect example of a deck that can drag out a duel as long as it wants to in order to win. Thanks to some very subtle decisions in construction, the strengths of its draws allowed Jupiter to control all his opponents on the way to victory in Baltimore.

—Matt Peddle