Best Gladiator decks in Marvel Snap: Shuri & Surfer

Gladiator storms into Marvel Snap with a disruptive new ability that’s sure to surprise and frustrate many opponents. Here’s our complete guide to the best Gladiator decks in Marvel Snap.

Gladiator will be introduced to Marvel Snap during the Higher, Further, Faster season that’s focused around Ms. Marvel.

The card will immediately be available via Spotlight Cache rewards and the Token Shop before rotating through each of these methods in the future.

Read on as we explore the best Gladiator decks in Marvel Snap, including the best synergies and counters.

Gladiator’s ability in Marvel Snap

Second Dinner

Gladiator enters Marvel Snap as a 3-cost, 7-power card with an On Reveal ability: “Add a card from your opponent’s deck to their side of this location. If it has less Power, destroy it.”

Gladiator will have powerful, immediate synergy with the likes of Silver Surfer, Shang-Chi, and Cosmo, among others. By increasing Gladiator’s power, Silver Surfer enhances the likelihood of successfully destroying the opponent’s card. Meanwhile, Shang-Chi can handle those cards that slip past Gladiator’s power threshold.

However, Gladiator’s ability is a double-edged sword. The randomness of the card added from the opponent’s deck introduces an element of unpredictability. This can sometimes backfire, especially if the card has beneficial On-Reveal effects or Ongoing abilities. Therefore, players will need to be especially wary of their opponent’s likely remaining cards, learning from experience in Ranked or Conquest mode.

Despite the challenges, Gladiator enters the game as a fascinating, high-power, disruptive card set to profoundly impact gameplay with the combination of both surprise and aggression.

Best Gladiator decks in Marvel Snap

With Gladiator’s high power and unique disruptive ability, the card offers the opportunity for some exciting new deck types. But right now, two strategies seem the best way forward for Gladiator players: Shuri and Surfer.

Gladiator Shuri

• Zero
• Ebony Maw
• Lizard
• Gladiator
• Sauron
• Shuri
• Enchantress
• Typhoid Mary
• Taskmaster
• Vision
• Red Skull
• America Chavez

Of all the cards in Marvel Snap that could synergize with Gladiator, Shuri might be one of the best. We briefly mentioned earlier that while Gladiator’s ability could work in your favor, there are also times it may work against you.

But in the case that you’re able to play Shuri before Gladiator, you’ll be able to double Gladiator’s power from 7 to 14 and, therefore, destroy the vast majority of cards in the game. The only cards you won’t be able to destroy include unusually high power cards such as Infinaut and Giganto or cards with special abilities like Colossus or Armor.

Shuri remains one of the best decks in Marvel Snap right now, regardless of whether Gladiator is in the deck, so this inclusion will likely add some spice to an otherwise already powerful deck.

Gladiator Surfer

• Forge
• Mister Sinister
• Patriot
• Brood
• Gladiator
• Silver Surfer
• Absorbing Man
• Iron Lad
• Iron Man
• Shang-Chi
• Blue Marvel
• America Chavez

Gladiator has immediate synergy with Silver Surfer as a 3-cost card that can benefit from the +2 buff that Surfer provides. With Surfer on the board, Gladiator moves up to a 9-power option and can, therefore, destroy an overwhelming majority of cards that could end up being brought into play.

We’ll use Shang-Chi in the deck here just in case things don’t go as planned. Absorbing Man and Iron Lad both allow players the potential to activate Gladiator’s ability more than once in a game, as well.

See our other best deck guides for recent Marvel Snap cards here: Ms. Marvel | Werewolf By Night | Black Knight | Man-Thing | Elsa Bloodstone | Mobius M. Mobius |  Ravonna Renslayer | Alioth | Loki | Silver Samurai |  X-23 | Daken | Mirage | Legion | Echo | Jean Grey | Phoenix Force