Midweek Magic || Gladiator Showcase

Welcome to Gladiator! Whether you’re a format veteran or you’re taking a look for the first time, we’re very excited to have you playing one of the most fun formats on Magic Arena.

What is Gladiator?

First of all, a quick overview for anyone who’s checking out Gladiator for the first time:

Decks must contain a minimum of 100 cards.
Like other highlander variants, Gladiator is a singleton format.
- Each nonland card must have a unique English name, with the exception of basic lands.
- However, cards with rules text that set their own deckbuilding rules like Persistent Petitioners or Seven Dwarves are an exception to this rule.
Matches are played in best-of-three games - though for this Midweek Magic showcase event, best-of-one will be in play.
Starting life total is 20 life.
There are no sideboards, and so no sideboarding between games.
- No sideboards means that creatures cannot be chosen as your Companion (e.g., Lurrus of the Dream-Den, Jegantha, the Wellspring) Cards with the Companion ability are still legal in the format.
- Spells and abilities that reference “outside the game” like Fae of Wishes and Mastermind’s Acquisition have no targets and are functionless. You may still include these cards in your deck.
Gladiator is not a Commander format, and does not include a Commander or any color requirements for deckbuilding.
- Spells and abilities that reference “your commander” like Command Tower and Tome of Legends will not have a commander to reference, and those parts of the card will not function. You may still include these cards in your deck.
The available card pool features every card available on MTG Arena, with the exception of the banlist.
- This includes Alchemy cards and other digital-only cards.
- Cards rebalanced for Arena play that share the exact English name of a paper card are not legal. These cards are distinguished by an Arena “A” symbol in the top left corner.

The Banned List

What are we playing today?

This week’s Midweek Magic event features a 10-deck showcase of the Gladiator format. These lists have been assembled from tournament-winning performances and community-favorite lists, and are all constructed by members of the Gladiator communtiy.

(note: these decklists were finalized before the release of Tarkir Dragonstorm)

We hope everyone enjoys trying out the full spectrum of what Gladiator has to offer. If you enjoyed this week’s event, head on over to our Discord to find our looking-for-games queue, scheduled tournament events, collaborative deck brewing, and one of the most inclusive communities in Magic. We hope to see you there!