Dark
Paladin |
Gladiator Beast Bestiari...not the strongest
Gladiator Beast, but a good part of the Deck most
certainly. Wind, Winged Beast, Level 4, with
1500 attack and 800 defense. Now down to 3
being able to be used, as Gladiator Beasts, much
like Lightsworn, just don't quite cut it presently.
So if Special Summoned via a Gladiator Beast effect,
you can target a Magic/Trap card, yours or your
opponent's, face-up or down, and destroy it.
Plus the standard Gladiator Beast text afterward.
Honestly, I think two is plenty, but even one can be
enough you know. Personal preference I
suppose.
Rating: 3.75/5
Art: 4.5/5
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Misdreavus
"Mean and Evil" |
"Poor Bestiari has sat on the Limited List for a
long time. Not because of what he does, but because
he’s a component of Gladiator Beast Gyzarus. We’d
like to give Gladiator Beasts a boost at the
tournament level. But de-limiting Bestiari doesn’t
give Gladiator Beasts a boost. It just gives the
Gyzarus spam deck a boost. Which isn’t what we want
to do. So we’re still pondering this conundrum."
(Tewart, 2012)
It was in april of 2015, almost three years after Kevin
Tewart shared those comforting words with a
delusional playerbase demanding Gladiator Beast
Bestiary's return, that it looked like the game was
saved again: both Skill Drain and Vanity's Emptiness
were from now on limited to one copy per deck,
clearing the path to player interaction once more,
and spokesmen of Konami of America were not afraid
to admit that limiting Snatch Steal had had a larger
impact on play than they had hoped - such a card
should not be playable after all, they decided.
Oh, the hypocrisy! As many will already have
experienced after the first weekend of the format,
Snatch Steal made place for a card even more
meta-defining, even more polarizing, even more
game-breaking: Gladiator Beast Bestiary became
unlimited, with Gladiator Beast Gyzarus reigning the
game once more as an inevitable consequence.
"Gladiator Beast" made itself known as a deck that
simply wouldn't wither: with the first components
released as early as (the end of) 2007 in the TCG,
the theme would somehow always find a way to the
"top tables" in tournament, and remained popular for
many years, whenever a void needed to be filled
after a powerful deck was rendered unplayable by the
limited/forbidden card list - even after Gladiator
Beast Bestiary was limited itself starting march
2009. As Kevin Tewart's quote above shows, Gladiator
Beast Bestiary's power was all but forgotten about
three years later, and fear still struck the heart
of the players when they thought of the "Gladiator
Beast" deck in its prime. Some say that Gladiator
Beast Gyzarus was the real problem, with an effect
comparable to that of other cards widely considered
overpowered, like Madolche Queen Tiaramisu, but I
believe that, as often is the case with cards that
end up being too powerful for their own good, the
true problem is not a single card, but rather a
combination of cards.
Admittedly Gladiator Beast Gyzarus' effect was
overwhelming to say the least, destroying two
opponent's cards, but what made the card truly
horrifying is that Gladiator Beast Bestiary would
have sniped one's possible responses just before
Gladiator Beast Gyzarus was brought out. Gladiator
Beast Gyzarus by itself wasn't so difficult to stop;
Gladiator Beast Bestiary comfortably destroying that
Solemn Judgment beforehand made it so. For this
reason Konami decided to be rid of the real problem
card, by ensuring that a single Bottomless Trap Hole
would stop Gladiator Beast Gyzarus from ever seeing
the light of day, and all was well, until that
cursed day - the 1st of april 2015 fittingly - when
results would quickly start showing us that
destroying multiple opponent's cards by giving up
field presence after the battle phase in a deck that
has difficulty keeping this in the first place, is
still far from outmoded.
All we can do now is seek comfort in our sided copies
of G.B. Hunter, hoping that Konami of America will
make the right choice when july comes, and give us
back Royal Oppression to combat the "Gladiator
Beast" deck's onslaught at least - please note that
Gladiator Beast Gyzarus' summon is not treated as a
fusion summon, which means that even Non-Fusion Area
(obviously accompanied by Imperial Custom) won't
stop it.
I think that in the end we may conclude that sometimes
history has to repeat itself for people to remember
the horrors that past events or presences have
brought, and furthermore that I was rather
disappointed to miss my chance to write a review on
april 1st - if you know what I mean...
Traditional: 4/5. The first turn is of great importance
in this format, and since it lacks a battle phase,
Gladiator Beast Bestiary fails to truly shine when
it counts most. This is reflected by a slightly
lower score than Gladiator Beast Bestiary does on
first thought deserve - not that anyone actually
plays this format and could be in a position to
prove me wrong, but well...
Advanced: 7/5. April is when we stop complaining about
"Nekroz", and bow to our new ruler, being "Gladiator
Beast" sporting two copies of Gladiator Beast
Bestiary ("Gladiator Beast" decks prefer a lower
monster count, and Gladiator Beast Bestiary is not
the best card to draw with its low stats, so using
the full three copies is not advised).
Art: The True Green Giant/5.
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