In the weeks leading up to the Shonen Jump Championship in St. Louis, players were buzzing about which deck would come out on top. Many players thought that Lightsworn would be unstoppable, and any player able to afford the deck would simply breeze through the competition. Most players figured some Dark Armed Return variant would emerge triumphant, and very few players were putting their money on Gladiator Beasts. With Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror a risky main-deck pick because of the unpredictable metagame, the general consensus was that Gladiator Beasts couldn’t stop Dark Armed Dragon consistently enough in game 1.

What those players didn’t think about was that Gladiator Beasts can now outpace Dark Armed Dragon decks. Without Dimension Fusion and multiple copies of Return from the Different Dimension, Dark Armed Return was reduced to a slow-paced control deck. Gladiator Beasts would still have trouble controlling the awesome power of Dark Armed Dragon, Light and Darkness Dragon, and Destiny Hero - Plasma, but instead of allowing the game to become a drawn-out control matchup like Gladiator Beasts did before, Gladiator duelists shifted their goal toward speedy removal and a quick setup.

Six out of the eight players who made the Top 8 in St. Louis were successful with this strategy, and of the six it was winner Steven Harris whose deck is perhaps the most consistent. Here’s what he ran:

Monsters: 21

1 Sangan
1 Gladiator Beast Secutor
1 Spirit Reaper
1 Morphing Jar
1 Neo-Spacian Grand Mole
2 D.D. Crow
3 Test Tiger
2 Elemental Hero Prisma
2 Gladiator Beast Darius
2 Gladiator Beast Laquari
2 Gladiator Beast Bestiari
2 Gladiator Beast Hoplomus
1 Gladiator Beast Murmillo

Traps: 10

The Fusion deck has been included with the decklist because it is the strongest part of the entire deck. This deck is completely centered on special summoning Gladiator Beast Gyzarus to clear the field and allow for more direct attacks. Ideally the end result will be a Gladiator Beast Heraklinos and a handful of cards to discard for its effect.

Gyzarus has an incredible effect. Being able to destroy any two cards on the field gives you versatility to solve the problems of any matchup, and with 2400 ATK to go along with what is likely a clear field, Gyzarus is going to hurt the opponent where it counts as well. Of course it’s the ability to special summon two Gladiator Beasts at the end of the battle phase that makes this card a game ender. If a Gladiator Beast monster exists in your graveyard, Gyzarus can trade itself for Gladiator Beast Darius and Gladiator Beast Laquari. Darius special summons the in-graveyard Gladiator Beast with its effect and all three are shuffled back to contact Fuse for Gladiator Beast Heraklinos.

The most incredible thing about this chain of events is how few cards it requires. One Gladiator Beast on the field, one Gladiator Beast in the graveyard, and a way to summon Gladiator Beast Bestiari to the field is all you need. In fact, Elemental Hero Prisma will do two of those things for you. Prisma’s effect can dump Gladiator Beast Bestiari into the graveyard and take its name. This means that if you already have a Gladiator Beast on the field or can special summon another one, you’ll have access to destruction of two of your opponent’s cards, 2400 damage, and finish with Gladiator Beast Heraklinos on the field.

You can see by looking at the monster line-up that the whole deck is meant to support the Fusion monsters. There aren’t too many monsters there that can handle big problems themselves. Test Tiger can trade for the effect of any Gladiator Beast when necessary, but for the most part it’s Test Tiger that’s going to make the Fusion monsters happen. Test Tiger + Elemental Hero Prisma means instant Gyzarus, and depending on how many Gladiator Beasts are in your graveyard, Heraklinos as well. Tiger does this by special summoning Darius and using Darius to get the Bestiari necessary to make Gyzarus. And, as always, Gladiator Beast Secutor threatens to call Heraklinos out to play by being special summoned by the Test Tiger.

exists in this deck for two reasons. The first is because of the metagame. Every major deck has some big dependency on the graveyard. Destiny Hero - Disk Commander and Dark Armed Dragon are at full flight, so being able to disrupt the opponent’s graveyard is just as useful as ever. Consider also that Judgment Dragon needs a graveyard requirement to be met and Gladiator Beast Darius is a big part of Fusion-making combos and you can see what makes the little guy so useful. The second reason is because it’s a Dark monster with less than 1000 ATK, which means that Crush Card Virus has an additional two targets. Flipping Crush Card is still almost the same thing as winning, so being able to pull the power card off as often as possible is a huge contribution toward winning Shonen Jumps.

Gladiator Proving Ground is one card most players didn’t think was necessary for Gladiator Beast decks. The reason is that every monster has its effect activated by being special summoned from the deck, so adding one to your hand wasn’t too useful. However remember that I said the more of Gladiator Beast Darius and Bestiari you have in the graveyard, the easier it is to special summon the big Fusions? Searching either of those out with Proving Ground and then having them sent to the graveyard (as a discard or by opposing destruction effects) gives the Gladiator Beast player a way to set up for an easy and explosive turn.

The trap line-up is one of the best-looking trap spreads I’ve ever seen. All three pre-negators, both power traps, and three copies of Solemn Judgment were a great call for a metagame where you could face anything. Waboku is a staple for Gladiator Beasts because it allows you to survive battles and enjoy the effects of trading one Gladiator Beast for another. With Gyzarus now in play, Waboku actually becomes an offensive removal option, protecting a Gladiator Beast so it can trade out for Gladiator Beast Darius and start the combo up.

If you don’t believe that Gyzarus has taken this deck to unbelievable heights, let me point out that there’s only one copy of Gladiator Beast Murmillo in the deck. That’s how easy it is to get Gyzarus out. You’ll never want to do anything except special summon another one.

—Matt Peddle