While the parochial Standard base was mourning the loss of yet another Simic debacle, Magic's most hopeful format continued its ascent! (Quick related recommendation you might like.)

Card Kingdom put on a Gladiator event, Ben Wheeler bless them. Let's take a look at the format and see if we can figure out some fundamental tent pole theory on how to engage with this format when building decks.

Lesson 1: Planeswalkers are Bananas

Planeswalkers are like Mulldrifters except they also necessarily cast Fog a lot. Hav-ing an abundance of cards that guarantee multiple effects and modalities per turn is a great way to make sure you're competitive in most Gladiator games. By the same token, the removal for most of them is unreliable in a singleton format, not to mention terrible on tempo.

U/W Control | Gladiator | EricZhou

• Creatures (9)
• 1 Baneslayer Angel
• 1 Brazen Borrower
• 1 Cavalier of Dawn
• 1 Cavalier of Gales
• 1 Dream Trawler
• 1 Gadwick, the Wizened
• 1 God-Eternal Kefnet
• 1 Realm-Cloaked Giant
• 1 Voracious Greatshark

• Planeswalkers (9)
• 1 Elspeth, Sun's Nemesis
• 1 Gideon of the Trials
• 1 Jace, Mirror Mage
• 1 Karn, Scion of Urza
• 1 Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer
• 1 Narset, Parter of Veils
• 1 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
• 1 Teferi, Master of Time
• 1 Teferi, Time Raveler

• Instants (24)
• 1 Absorb
• 1 Anticipate
• 1 Blink of an Eye
• 1 Censor
• 1 Chemister's Insight
• 1 Commit // Memory
• 1 Dovin's Veto
• 1 Essence Scatter
• 1 Farm // Market
• 1 Forsake the Worldly
• 1 Neutralize
• 1 Opt
• 1 Precognitive Perception
• 1 Settle the Wreckage
• 1 Silundi Vision
• 1 Sinister Sabotage
• 1 Sphinx's Revelation
• 1 Sublime Epiphany
• 1 Summary Judgment
• 1 Supreme Will
• 1 Swift Response
• 1 Syncopate
• 1 Thirst for Meaning
• 1 Warrant // Warden

• Sorceries (8)
• 1 Cleansing Nova
• 1 Emeria's Call
• 1 Entrancing Melody
• 1 Finale of Glory
• 1 Sea Gate Restoration
• 1 Shatter the Sky
• 1 Time Wipe
• 1 Wrath of God

• Enchantments (10)
• 1 Baffling End
• 1 Banishing Light
• 1 Cast Out
• 1 Elspeth Conquers Death
• 1 Omen of the Sea
• 1 Prison Realm
• 1 Seal Away
• 1 Search for Azcanta
• 1 Shark Typhoon
• 1 The Birth of Meletis

• Artifacts (2)
• 1 Glass Casket
• 1 Mind Stone

• Lands (38)
• 12 Island
• 8 Plains
• 1 Azorius Guildgate
• 1 Blast Zone
• 1 Castle Ardenvale
• 1 Castle Vantress
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Fabled Passage
• 1 Field of Ruin
• 1 Glacial Fortress
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Irrigated Farmland
• 1 Lonely Sandbar
• 1 Meandering River
• 1 Memorial to Genius
• 1 Mystic Sanctuary
• 1 Raugrin Triome
• 1 Secluded Steppe
• 1 Temple of Enlightenment
• 1 Tranquil Cove

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Check out how our Gladiatorial Champion here*, our Magic Arena Russell Crowe himself, EricZhou, has ensured his Planeswalkers get on the battlefield; not only does he feature nine of them but other than Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, they all cost three and four mana.

*(Elle Morrow and Jake Madson also had undefeated records. I'm posting their decklists at the bottom of this article.)

Lesson 2: Don't Try To Expect the Unexpected. It's All Unexpected.

There are a few decks in my personal stable that have a resemblance to some of the top finishing archetypes. The closest may be this very competitive deck from Justin Burdett:

Izzet Control | Gladiator | Justin Burdett

• Creatures (7)
• 1 Bonecrusher Giant
• 1 Brazen Borrower
• 1 Crackling Drake
• 1 God-Eternal Kefnet
• 1 Lutri, the Spellchaser
• 1 Magmatic Channeler
• 1 Niv-Mizzet, Parun

• Planeswalkers (8)
• 1 Chandra, Awakened Inferno
• 1 Chandra, Pyromaster
• 1 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
• 1 Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer
• 1 Narset, Parter of Veils
• 1 Ral, Izzet Viceroy
• 1 Teferi, Master of Time
• 1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

• Instants (30)
• 1 Abrade
• 1 Anticipate
• 1 Blink of an Eye
• 1 Censor
• 1 Chemister's Insight
• 1 Commence the Endgame
• 1 Deliberate
• 1 Disdainful Stroke
• 1 Expansion // Explosion
• 1 Fire Prophecy
• 1 Flame Sweep
• 1 Hieroglyphic Illumination
• 1 Hypothesizzle
• 1 Into the Roil
• 1 Ionize
• 1 Jwari Disruption
• 1 Lightning Strike
• 1 Mystical Dispute
• 1 Negate
• 1 Neutralize
• 1 Opt
• 1 Ral's Outburst
• 1 Scorching Dragonfire
• 1 Shivan Fire
• 1 Shock
• 1 Silundi Vision
• 1 Sinister Sabotage
• 1 Supreme Will
• 1 Syncopate
• 1 Thassa's Intervention

• Sorceries (11)
• 1 Anger of the Gods
• 1 Experimental Overload
• 1 Fight with Fire
• 1 Hour of Devastation
• 1 Lava Coil
• 1 Pillar of Flame
• 1 Roil Eruption
• 1 Shatterskull Smashing
• 1 Storm's Wrath
• 1 Sweltering Suns
• 1 Thundering Rebuke

• Enchantments (3)
• 1 Omen of the Sea
• 1 Search for Azcanta
• 1 Shark Typhoon

• Lands (41)
• 10 Mountain
• 14 Island
• 1 Blast Zone
• 1 Castle Vantress
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Fabled Passage
• 1 Field of Ruin
• 1 Forgotten Cave
• 1 Ketria Triome
• 1 Labyrinth of Skophos
• 1 Lonely Sandbar
• 1 Memorial to Genius
• 1 Mystic Sanctuary
• 1 Riverglide Pathway
• 1 Raugrin Triome
• 1 Steam Vents
• 1 Sulfur Falls
• 1 Temple of Epiphany
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse

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Naturally, I began to compare my build with this one.

Which decklist is better for optimizing Niv Mizzet, Parun? Should I put Lava Coil back in my version after cutting it weeks ago? Maybe I should consider the adventure cards again?

Then I realized something.

This is Gladiator, my dude. Lighten up.

Don't try to beat everything all the time. Just make sure your deck is good at functioning.

Even the meta in this format isn't a real meta! Man, that's meta.

Lesson 3: Orange is the New Gold

I don't know what you thought the mythic rarity was originally supposed to be, but here's what it is now: how you get things done in Gladiator.

I've talked about this before, but it can't be overstated: When you're going to go several games without see-ing certain copies of cards, due to the singleton nature of Gladiator, you need as much raw, redundant effi-ciency as you can get. You want cards that, on average, can pocket game wins on their own. You want Grave Titans, not Kuldotha Forgemasters.

Synergy is great and all, but game to game, there's just no accounting for the nukes. In a strange way, the building principles for Gladiator feel a bit like Sealed Deck, of all things.

Lesson 4: Lands, Still

Even the lowest of the low in this format are still running over 30 lands. There are sightings of low 30s in spe-cialized decks, but the general rule seems to be 37+, trending toward 40. Assuming the ancient wisdom that players generally don't play enough lands is still going strong, make sure you're not fooling yourself on your resource allocation. Even Gladiator isn't fun if you keep yourself stuck on two or three lands game after game (like I do).

This will also make your X spells more relevant, more often.

Lesson 5: You Can Play Aggro If You Want

You don't get as many slots to screw around with bombs, but be warned: 20 life is all a reasonable curve needs to eat you alive. It's a format where you can be creative and surprise opponents, but it's still restricted to competently built decklists that can survive the onslaught of efficient creatures that can come from aggro decks on early turns.

Glad They Played!

Though there are a few minor (and obvious) expected trends from this event, the general lesson is clear: If you'll be reasonable about playing enough bombs and you respect your mana, with a little creativity and re-spect for the format's fastest vectors, you can do whatever you want. It's a format so great, even Uro is wel-come!

Gruuuuuuuuuuuu.

Here are the previously promised decklists. Congratulations to everyone involved in that event. I'm thrilled I'm not the only one in love with this way of play.

Sultai | Gladiator | Elle Morrow

• Creatures (47)
• 1 Agent of Treachery
• 1 Atris, Oracle of Half-Truths
• 1 Barrin, Tolarian Archmage
• 1 Body Double
• 1 Cavalier of Thorns
• 1 Champion of Wits
• 1 Craterhoof Behemoth
• 1 Elder Gargaroth
• 1 End-Raze Forerunners
• 1 Fauna Shaman
• 1 Fiend Artisan
• 1 Fierce Empath
• 1 Gilded Goose
• 1 Glasspool Mimic
• 1 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
• 1 Gyruda, Doom of Depths
• 1 Hornet Queen
• 1 Hostage Taker
• 1 Hydroid Krasis
• 1 Ilysian Caryatid
• 1 Incubation Druid
• 1 Jadelight Ranger
• 1 Kogla, the Titan Ape
• 1 Llanowar Elves
• 1 Llanowar Visionary
• 1 Lotus Cobra
• 1 Manglehorn
• 1 Massacre Wurm
• 1 Meteor Golem
• 1 Murderous Rider
• 1 Paradise Druid
• 1 Plaguecrafter
• 1 Prime Speaker Vannifar
• 1 Questing Beast
• 1 Ravenous Chupacabra
• 1 Scavenging Ooze
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Spark Double
• 1 Tangled Florahedron
• 1 Thassa, Deep-Dwelling
• 1 The Scarab God
• 1 Thorn Mammoth
• 1 Thragtusk
• 1 Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath
• 1 Vizier of Many Faces
• 1 Wall of Blossoms
• 1 Yarok, the Desecrated

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 1 Nissa, Who Shakes the World
• 1 Vivien, Monsters' Advocate

• Instants (8)
• 1 Eliminate
• 1 Essence Flux
• 1 Growth Spiral
• 1 Heartless Act
• 1 Heroic Intervention
• 1 Malakir Rebirth
• 1 Negate
• 1 Once Upon a Time

• Sorceries (5)
• 1 Agadeem's Awakening
• 1 Cultivate
• 1 Neoform
• 1 Thoughtseize
• 1 Turntimber Symbiosis

• Artifacts (1)
• 1 The Great Henge

• Lands (37)
• 4 Swamp
• 6 Island
• 8 Forest
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Clearwater Pathway
• 1 Drowned Catacomb
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Fabled Passage
• 1 Fetid Pools
• 1 Hinterland Harbor
• 1 Jungle Hollow
• 1 Overgrown Tomb
• 1 Temple of Malady
• 1 Temple of Mystery
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse
• 1 Thornwood Falls
• 1 Thriving Grove
• 1 Thriving Isle
• 1 Thriving Moor
• 1 Watery Grave
• 1 Woodland Cemetery
• 1 Zagoth Triome

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Mono-Green Hoof | Gladiator | Jake Madson

• Creatures (49)
• 1 Allosaurus Shepherd
• 1 Ashaya, Soul of the Wild
• 1 Beanstalk Giant
• 1 Beast Whisperer
• 1 Biogenic Ooze
• 1 Carnage Tyrant
• 1 Cavalier of Thorns
• 1 Craterhoof Behemoth
• 1 Drover of the Mighty
• 1 Druid of the Cowl
• 1 Elder Gargaroth
• 1 Elvish Rejuvenator
• 1 End-Raze Forerunners
• 1 Fauna Shaman
• 1 Fiend Artisan
• 1 Fierce Empath
• 1 Garruk's Harbinger
• 1 Gemrazer
• 1 Ghalta, Primal Hunger
• 1 Gilded Goose
• 1 God-Eternal Rhonas
• 1 Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma
• 1 Humble Naturalist
• 1 Ilysian Caryatid
• 1 Jadelight Ranger
• 1 Kogla, the Titan Ape
• 1 Kraul Harpooner
• 1 Leaf Gilder
• 1 Leafkin Druid
• 1 Llanowar Elves
• 1 Llanowar Visionary
• 1 Lovestruck Beast
• 1 Nylea, Keen-Eyed
• 1 Paradise Druid
• 1 Prowling Serpopard
• 1 Questing Beast
• 1 Reclamation Sage
• 1 Rhonas the Indomitable
• 1 Scavenging Ooze
• 1 Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
• 1 Shifting Ceratops
• 1 Soul of the Harvest
• 1 Steel Leaf Champion
• 1 Stonecoil Serpent
• 1 Tangled Florahedron
• 1 Tendershoot Dryad
• 1 Verdant Force
• 1 Voracious Hydra
• 1 Wildborn Preserver

• Planeswalkers (5)
• 1 Garruk, Unleashed
• 1 Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner
• 1 Nissa, Who Shakes the World
• 1 Ugin, the Ineffable
• 1 Vivien, Monsters' Advocate

• Instants (4)
• 1 Heroic Intervention
• 1 Once Upon a Time
• 1 Return of the Wildspeaker
• 1 Shared Summons

• Sorceries (3)
• 1 Finale of Devastation
• 1 Primal Might
• 1 Turntimber Symbiosis

• Enchantments (2)
• 1 Leyline of Abundance
• 1 Wolfwillow Haven

• Artifacts (1)
• 1 The Great Henge

• Lands (36)
• 30 Forest
• 1 Bonders' Enclave
• 1 Castle Garenbrig
• 1 Cryptic Caves
• 1 Field of Ruin
• 1 Hashep Oasis
• 1 Tranquil Thicket

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And lastly, feel free to stop by my stream on Thursday morning at 10am EST if you're looking for a few hours of Gladiator games! My subs are currently going toward animal welfare, as there are a lot of organizations in my vicinity struggling as badly with 2020 as most of the rest of us. Let's convert some Magic games into good will for the puppers and kits out there!

(~_^)

The Rascal

The Indestructible Danny West