He has the Armored 1 trait, and his ability redirects all damage that is supposed to go to the zombie hero to him. This ability persists until all Planetary Gladiators are removed from the field. His closest plant counterpart is Soul Patch.
Origins
He is based on a gladiator, an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals.
Ability: If your Hero would get hurt, this gets hurt instead.
Set - Rarity: Galactic - Super-Rare
Card description
He's still not sure if he should defend Pluto or not.
Update history
Update 1.16.10
Added to the game.
Update 1.22.12
▲ Tribe added: Professional
Strategies
With
Planetary Gladiator is an excellent zombie to have early in the game, especially for his great value for 1 brain. You can play him on the first turn, and you are almost always guaranteed to live through the turn unscathed. Even a small health boost allows him to survive all the damage from Power Pummel at 3 ground lanes. While not as efficient as he is early-game, he still has value late-game, as he is cheap and can absorb a hit or two before being destroyed.
If you are playing as Rustbolt or Z-Mech and get lucky, you will be able to play Rock Wall on the following turn, increasing his health even further and making him more of a nuisance to your opponent. The Smash can boost him with things such as Vitamin Z. This lets him hit harder and possibly overwhelm your opponent so that he is virtually indestructible to fighters.
Additionally, he is a sports zombie, so you can boost him with Team Mascot so that he lasts longer, and protect him with Zombie Coach so that neither he nor you can take damage for a turn, very similar to Uncrackable. Escape through Time is another card that works well with him, being able to shield him like Zombie Coach can. Zombot Battlecruiser 5000 is also another option, although it is much more expensive.
For professional synergy, he synergizes well with both Jurassic Fossilhead and Zombie Middle Manager. Planetary Gladiator can be played on turn 1 to Evolve Jurassic Fossilhead on turn 2. While there are also Zombie Middle Manager and Zombology Teacher in the list of 1-brain professional zombies, Planetary Gladiator is the safest option out of the three due to his high health and the Armored 1 trait. Barring Jurassic Fossilhead, Zombie Middle Manager will boost himself every time a plant tries to hurt you due to Planetary Gladiator's ability.
Against
If your opponent plays this on the first turn, it will take you a bit to get rid of him due to his 3 health and Armored 1 trait. There are very few cards that could get rid of him on turn 1. In fact, the only superpowers that can destroy him on turn 1 are Power Pummel, Precision Blast, Devour, and Tater Toss. Haunted Pumpking could also suffice, as he has 4 strength, and if Planetary Gladiator is played first, there's nothing the Zombie Hero could do to remove him.
Fortunately, he only has 1 strength, so he will not bother you much offensively, and can also be easily destroyed by various tricks that reduce his stats like Water Balloons or Weed Whack, or destroy him outright Whack-a-Zombie, Chomper, and Toadstool, although it may be better to save them for more dangerous zombies, if any, unless your opponent boosts him or if you create enough pressure to discourage the opponent from boosting him. If he does get protected or his stats grow out of hand, a viable response is to Bounce him, removing his boosts and preventing him from protecting your opponent. If your opponent chose not to boost him and you don't think they'll play Jurassic Fossilhead, you can keep him alive deliberately so he could charge your super-block meter.
Using plants with Strikethrough trait against this zombie may also be useful in any case, should the plant in question have 2 or more strength and if he isn't shielded. As long as they get to attack, the plant will damage him and any zombies in its way. If the plant instead attacks in the same lane and has sufficient strength, it will either defeat Planetary Gladiator and hit the opponent, or force him to absorb its damage twice, which is usually enough to destroy him as well.
Hearty class. He costs 1
to play and has 1
/3
.
Armored 1 trait, and his ability redirects all damage that is supposed to go to the zombie hero to him. This ability persists until all Planetary Gladiators are removed from the field. His closest plant counterpart is Soul Patch.
Frenzy trait
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Brainy
Crazy
Hearty
Sneaky