Gladiator is the leader of the Shi’ar Imperial Guard and he means business in this Marvel: Crisis Protocol preview!
As a kid my first real impression of Gladiator came from the 90’s X-Men cartoon. The image of those two red fists flying from space, over the water, and then the encounter with Juggernaut. If you know, you know.
He’s presented as an unstoppable force. And, if you know his lore, then you know that’s true…to a degree. Now, Gladiator is coming to Marvel: Crisis Protocol and he’s kicking off the War of Kings!
Today’s From Panel to Play starts with a wedding between Ronan the Accuser and the Inhuman, Crystal. As the ceremony begins, the Shi’ar teleport in, led by the mighty warrior Gladiator and the Imperial Guard! As the leader of the Imperial Guard, Gladiator’s surprise attack heralds the beginning of the War of Kings, a cosmos-consuming conflict led by the Inhumans and Kree against the Shi’ar!
Gladiator in Marvel: Crisis Protocol
Let’s just get this out of the way first: This guy is a BEAST. Stat-wise, he’s terrifying. But he should be as Gladiator is a Threat Level of 6. Defensively, he’s 4/5/4 and 9 stamina on both sides of his cards. That’s not going to be an easy 18 stamina to chew through. He’s size 2 with a medium move, but he’s got the innate power Flight so getting around the board won’t be super hard.
Furthermore, he’s got Alpha Strontian Physiology which nets him an additional power during the Power Phase. Normally, I’d get into his attacks next, but I think it’s important we understand what really makes Gladiator tick. And that’s The Majestor’s Bravado:
Anytime he does damage with a Praetor Punch, he gains a Confidence token. When he takes damage he loses 1 Confidence token. Gladiator can have a max of five of these tokens as well. Anytime he makes an attack you get to add 1 dice to the attack per Confidence token! And yes, that means he could have +5 to all his attacks — which are all pretty gnarly to begin with!
Praetor Punch is Gladiator’s bread and butter builder. It’s range 3 and 6 dice base. He also can trigger suppressive for each wild in the result! When this attack get’s rolling and he’s tossing out 11 dice swings…watch out! Following that up, his first spender is Eye Beam. This is B4 that costs 2 energy. It’s base is 5 dice and can trigger incinerate with wilds. Again, don’t forget about those Confidence tokens…
His third attack is Majestor’s Might. This is the BIG hitter for 5 energy. It’s range 3 and it’s a base of 10 dice! On wilds he can trigger Stagger and a Throw! And notice there’s no size limits on that throw, either. Speaking of throws, he’s also got the Super Power Imperial Authority. For 3 Energy he can throw terrain size 4 or less within range 2 long.
The last Super Power is a special one. For the Empress and Empire! also costs 3 energy and it’s an Action. It allows Gladiator to make a move action followed by a Praetor Punch. And if that attack causes damage, he gets ANOTHER Confidence token. AMG did confirm that it is indeed a way to generate 2 Confidence tokens.
Gladiator strikes me as an energy hungry brawler. But, once he gets going he’s going to be really tough to stop! If you can keep his Confidence tokens up he’s going to really smash through targets. However, I think he’s going to be weak against folks who can just plink him for 1 damage. Any of those abilities that just do 1 point are going to really help keep his Confidence token pool in check.
Team Tactic Cards
Surprisingly, Gladiator really does have a nice Team Tactic card that showcases his ability to work with a team. It costs him 4 energy but in turn, you can give 2 energy to allied characters based on the number of Confidence Tokens he has. You’re breaking even with 2 tokens and (if you have the bodies) you could generate a total of 10 energy! That’s quite the swing.
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Gladiator also has an “out of sequence” attack with Protector of the Empire. It cost 3, but depending on when you pull this out, you could end up generating that back with interest. A medium move with his base size plus the range 3 on the Praetor Punch is quite a bit of distance! Oh, and then he can gain a Confidence token on top of all that, too!
Gladiator is going to be a straight-up beat stick. He’s not very subtle and he doesn’t need to be. I can’t wait to bust him out for the War of Kings!
You can pre-order him now with the War of Kings pack. He’s slated to release on March 14, 2025.
Wait, the giant purple guy with a Mohawk isn’t subtle?! NO. You don’t say…
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Writer, Editor, Texas Native, and now Tex-Pat, Adam covers all things Tabletop Gaming. Which includes Warhammer 40,000, Age of Sigmar, D&D, Board Games and everything else that involves dice, boards, cards and a table.
A hobbyist, player, and collector of miniatures and games, Adam’s current obsession are his Death and Chaos Armies for Age of Sigmar, his Blood Angels and Tyranids for 40k, an expanding collection of Marvel: Crisis Protocol minis, and his ever growing Arkham Horror: The Card Game Collection.
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