Gladiator Beast Support (5/?)

[Battle-Beast]

Hello everyone! This thread will be used to showcase and discuss my current and future ideas for Gladiator Beast support. The aim is to give the archetype a much-needed boost so that they can perform better in today’s meta-game.

Gladiator Beast Cestus
EARTH | Level 3 | Beast-Warrior/Effect | ATK/1200 DEF/600

If you control no monsters, you can Special Summon this card (from your hand). You can shuffle this card you control into the Deck; Special Summon 1 “Gladiator Beast” monster from your Deck. You can only use this effect of “Gladiator Beast Cestus” once per turn.

 

[spoiler=Explanation]Test Tiger has evolved to become the new playmaker for the GBs. Cestus’ summoning condition allows you to put a GB monster onto the field without using up your normal summon, and this fixes a problem - exacerbated by Master Rule 4 – the archetype inherently suffers from, which is, getting that crucial second GB monster onto the field to make a strong first turn play. Thus, the need to rely solely on card combinations like A Hero Lives and Elemental Hero Prisma (to achieve the same result), is no longer required.

More importantly this allows for quick activation of his ignition effect which enables you to trigger the tag-in effect(s) of that GB. This is extremely powerful because you can now utilize the clunkier GB tag-in effects when they would be more useful before the battle phase - such as Secutor and Samnite – very easily; subsequently, this also indirectly strengthens all the other GBs in your deck. He adds an unprecedented level of speed and versatility to the archetype and honestly, I cannot begin to cover all the possibilities this card brings to the theme but, here’s one example of a combo you can do that only requires 2 cards in your hand:

Gladiator Proving Ground + Cestus = Dragacius or Gyzarus

1. Activate Gladiator Proving Ground; add Bestiari to your hand from your deck.
2. Special Summon Cestus from your hand.
3. Cestus’ effect; summon Augustus from your deck.
4. Augustus’ effect; summon Bestiari from your hand.
5. Bestiari’s effect; destroy 1 Spell/Trap on the field.

Option A:
6. Send Augustus + Bestiari to the GY; summon Dragacius from your extra deck.

Option B:
6. Shuffle Augustus + Bestiari into the deck; summon Gyzarus from your extra deck.
7. Gyzarus’ effect; destroy up to 2 cards on the field.

[spoiler=Image]

[spoiler=Credit for artwork]"Lion Fighter" by Yakun Wang - Featured in "Sparrow Volume 8: Glenn Barr" (Art Book)

Ludus Magnus – Fort of the Gladiator Beasts
Spell | Field

All “Gladiator Beast” monsters you control gain 300 ATK and DEF. Monsters your opponent controls cannot target face-up “Gladiator Beast” monsters you control for attacks, except the “Gladiator Beast” monster you control with the highest ATK (either, if tied). Once per turn: You can discard 1 “Gladiator Beast” card; add 1 “Gladiator Beast” Spell/Trap from your Deck to your hand.

 

[spoiler=Explanation]A field spell to surpass Colosseum. Ludus Magnus provides a welcomed boost to help your GBs in battle whether they’re on the offense or defense; while also making the process of leaving GBs on the field indefinitely – like Secutor – easier to do.

The last effect is designed to bolster the sort of strategies the GB player can make and thus, improve the deck’s consistency: Do you need to recharge your hand? add Respite; do you need protection from your opponent’s monster effects? add War Chariot. The cost to activate this effect is beneficial for you because you can always add back whatever you discarded via Equeste; or better yet, discard Indomitable GB to fulfil the cost, that way – and if you have at least 2 other GB cards in your GY – you can use its secondary effect to return itself back to your hand!

[spoiler=Image]

[spoiler=Credit for artwork]http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/File:GladiatorBeastsAssaultFort-JP-Anime-AV.png

Gladiator's Assault
Spell | Normal

Shuffle into the Deck, from your hand, field and/or GY, the Fusion Materials that are listed on a “Gladiator Beast” Fusion Monster, then Special Summon that Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, ignoring its Summoning conditions. If a “Gladiator Beast” monster(s) you control would be destroyed by battle or card effect, you can banish this card from your GY instead.

 

[spoiler=Explanation]GBs' very own supercharged Miracle Contact. Assault works wonders if you use it after summoning Dragacius, this is because you get to make the link materials you used to summon him available to be tool-boxed again, instantly; while simultaneously summoning a GB like Essedarii to one of the zones he points to. If you used 2 level 5 or higher GBs to summon Dragacius, then you can summon Tamer Editor with this card instead and then use his first effect to summon any other GB – such as Heraklinos – from your extra deck to the remaining zone!

Simply put, this card’s power and versatility cannot be underestimated and its secondary effect is the icing on the cake.

[spoiler=Image]

[spoiler=Credit for artwork]https://www.zerochan.net/2036525

Gladiator's Revolt
Spell | Quick-Play

Special Summon 1 “Gladiator Beast” monster from your Deck in Defense Position to your opponent’s side of the field, also, after that, draw 1 card.

 

[spoiler=Explanation]The spiritual successor to Trojan GB. Revolt’s effect may sound like a bad deal at first glance for some, but this card opens several possibilities for the GB player which they can then exploit to their full advantage. By default, this card gives you the chance to conduct a successful battle and tag-out with one of your GBs by attacking the one you gave to your opponent. This is especially helpful in a scenario where your opponent controls a monster that is stronger than your GB.

Assuming you were able to destroy your opponent’s GB through that battle: It is then ready for Equeste to add it back to your hand or Darius to special summon it, from your GY. This becomes even more robust because you were able to choose the GB that you gave to your opponent beforehand. Revolt becomes incredibly powerful when used in tandem with Gladiator Taming and its secondary effect, because in doing so you're able to special summon a GB of your choice from your deck to your side of the field; essentially, for free.

[spoiler=Image]

[spoiler=Credit for artwork]http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/File:GladiatorBeastsValor-JP-Anime-AV.png

Demonstration of the above cards in action via YGOPRO
[spoiler=Video]

*** UPDATE (25th May 2018): New Gladiator Beast support added below ***

Gladiator Beast Praegenarii
EARTH | Level 2 | Beast-Warrior/Effect | ATK/1400 DEF/600

If this card is destroyed by battle or card effect: You can Special Summon 1 “Gladiator Beast” monster from your Deck, except “Gladiator Beast Praegenarii”. You can banish this card from your GY; add 1 Level 5 or higher “Gladiator Beast” monster from your Deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of “Gladiator Beast Praegenarii” once per turn.

 

[spoiler=Explanation]Test Ape has evolved to become the counterpart to Cestus. Praegenarii’s trigger effect allows you to maintain card presence whenever it’s destroyed, and its versatility gives the GB player numerous ways to use it offensively and defensively.

Struggling to get rid of your opponent’s stronger monster, during your battle phase? ram into it with Praegenarii - destroying itself - then use its effect to summon Murmillo and then use his effect to destroy that monster. Need a big wall to protect yourself from a second attack? use Praegenarii’s effect to summon Hoplomus in defense mode.

If Praegenarii is in your GY: He is then ready for you to activate his ignition effect, which enables you to add to your hand GBs like Noxious - which can’t be searched by Gladiator Proving Ground - for even more protection and set-ups.

For the GB player, the notion of setting monsters has never been so viable.

[spoiler=Image]

[spoiler=Credit for artwork]https://i.pinimg.com/736x/70/a1/27/70a127a92a6eb449d5b4f56ec994764b--gorilla-tattoo-animal-portraits.jpg

*** UPDATE (5th June 2018): New video added below ***

Demonstration of Praegenarii in action via YGOPRO
[spoiler=Video]

Thank you for reading!

 

[Ultimagamer]

I'm not the most familiar with the gladiator beast cards, but let's give these a look 

 

( quick thing of note, your card arts are pretty sweet ) 

 

Cestus: It's effect is pretty good. It allows you to special summon any main deck monster to your field, giving more utility to to your monsters and making the higher level ones easier to summon ( Augustus mainly ). Effectively, it's a lonefire blossom for the archetype, and a much better form of test tiger. Shuffling as a cost is interesting, given that if your opponent negates it you still have to shuffle it into the deck. A hard once per turn works very good to prevent you from using it too much. A good card all around. 

 

Field Spell: Gladiator Beasts do already have their own field spell, but it's absolutely awful so any replacement is welcome. Attack boosting is always welcome since this is a battle-focused archetype. The attack changing effect is interesting, as you showed in your replays, as you can summon Nerokius and prevent your opponent from effectively attacking you ( given his armades effect ). The searching is pretty good. It allows you to play war chariot over solemn strike ( since it's now searchable ) and gives more utility to the other gladiator beasts spells and traps, since they are searchable. Another good card. 

 

Fusion Spell: Essentially this is a miracle fusion for the archetype. It's a surprise that the archetype doesn't already have something like this, given that Neos got one. It works pretty well for this archetype. It gives your monsters great recoverability, allowing you to go into a late game Gyzarus and destroy 2 cards with his effect. As you showed in your replays you can go into Tamer Editor easier, and that card has some great utility. The protection effect is like that of Return of the Dragon Lords, which is pretty nice, given that if you summon Gyzarus off of this effect you turn him into a Dragon Spirit of White ( getting rid of back row and protecting himself even if your opponent has a solemn strike ). A great card for this archetype. 

 

Gladiator's Revolt: A trojan retrain effectively. Always nice, since that card ( much like the original field spell ) is completely awful. It takes a monster from your deck instead of from your hand, allowing you to not go into a minus just to draw 1 card. It also sets up your plays if you run Taming, as showed in your replays, effectively a two card combo into any monster from your deck. You can tell how much synergy these cards are supposed to have with the older gladiator beast playstyle, and I can definitely appreciate that. A great card all around. 

 

As for the replays, that's a spectacular addition to your post. We all could speculate on what a card COULD do but you went ahead and showed us all just how they work in actual games. Well done, it's above and beyond anything I expected from a set of custom cards. It's pretty neat to see the cards in action, and it even taught me some things about cards I didn't know existed before reading. 

 

Overall, you did a pretty good job :D 

[Battle-Beast]

I'm not the most familiar with the gladiator beast cards, but let's give these a look 

 

( quick thing of note, your card arts are pretty sweet ) 

 

Cestus: It's effect is pretty good. It allows you to special summon any main deck monster to your field, giving more utility to to your monsters and making the higher level ones easier to summon ( Augustus mainly ). Effectively, it's a lonefire blossom for the archetype, and a much better form of test tiger. Shuffling as a cost is interesting, given that if your opponent negates it you still have to shuffle it into the deck. A hard once per turn works very good to prevent you from using it too much. A good card all around. 

 

Field Spell: Gladiator Beasts do already have their own field spell, but it's absolutely awful so any replacement is welcome. Attack boosting is always welcome since this is a battle-focused archetype. The attack changing effect is interesting, as you showed in your replays, as you can summon Nerokius and prevent your opponent from effectively attacking you ( given his armades effect ). The searching is pretty good. It allows you to play war chariot over solemn strike ( since it's now searchable ) and gives more utility to the other gladiator beasts spells and traps, since they are searchable. Another good card. 

 

Fusion Spell: Essentially this is a miracle fusion for the archetype. It's a surprise that the archetype doesn't already have something like this, given that Neos got one. It works pretty well for this archetype. It gives your monsters great recoverability, allowing you to go into a late game Gyzarus and destroy 2 cards with his effect. As you showed in your replays you can go into Tamer Editor easier, and that card has some great utility. The protection effect is like that of Return of the Dragon Lords, which is pretty nice, given that if you summon Gyzarus off of this effect you turn him into a Dragon Spirit of White ( getting rid of back row and protecting himself even if your opponent has a solemn strike ). A great card for this archetype. 

 

Gladiator's Revolt: A trojan retrain effectively. Always nice, since that card ( much like the original field spell ) is completely awful. It takes a monster from your deck instead of from your hand, allowing you to not go into a minus just to draw 1 card. It also sets up your plays if you run Taming, as showed in your replays, effectively a two card combo into any monster from your deck. You can tell how much synergy these cards are supposed to have with the older gladiator beast playstyle, and I can definitely appreciate that. A great card all around. 

 

As for the replays, that's a spectacular addition to your post. We all could speculate on what a card COULD do but you went ahead and showed us all just how they work in actual games. Well done, it's above and beyond anything I expected from a set of custom cards. It's pretty neat to see the cards in action, and it even taught me some things about cards I didn't know existed before reading. 

 

Overall, you did a pretty good job :D 

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post with such well-written, extensive and positive feedback; it is very much appreciated.

 

I'm also pleased to know that despite your admission of not being the most familiar with the archetype, you were able to understand and evaluate my ideas (along with the general mechanics of the theme), as if you were a veteran player of Gladiator Beasts.

 

10/10 for your response! :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Battle-Beast]

I've finished designing my latest support card and I've updated the thread to now include it.

[Battle-Beast]

I've finished coding my latest support card (Praegenarii), and I've updated the thread to now include a video demonstration of it in action.