Let the Rage Flow Through You
by Shaun Mahar

Rage is a deadly ability native to gladiators that can turn a match from a sparring contest into a blood bath. As characters begin to rage difficult choices need to be made. Do you find a different target or awaken the sleeping giant?

What does Rage do?
When a gladiator has wounds equal to or greater than their Rage Value, they are Raging and can do the following:

1. Any unset raging gladiator who is attacked deals one rage damage (RDMG) back to the attacker.
2. Second any set raging Gladiator who is attacked unsets!
3. Certain abilities only work if a gladiator is raging/not raging.
4. Cards may refer to raging gladiators.

Strategies for attacking Raging Gladiators
There are many ways to go about attacking raging Gladiators, but here are three solid strategies to get you started:

1. Build up a big attack and hit the gladiator for enough damage to destroy it.
2. Target the gladiator with XDMG, which does not cause raging effects.
3. Leave your opponent nothing but Raging gladiators to attack and reverse the tables on them.

Manipulating Rage
Another important part of understanding Rage, is how to manipulate it during a game. Cards Like Tainted Yin and Tainted Yang can help you change a gladiators raging value, either preventing or helping them rage depending on your needs. Also, Demons tend to rage quickly while Spectrals and Constructs tend to rage only after taking a lot of damage.
Don't forget, some gladiators' abilities only work when not raging, so raising your own gladiators Rage Values can be the right strategy. On the other side, some gladiators can only unlock their abilities while raging. For instance, Freakshow's level 2 ability, Mad Rush is free, but he must be raging to use it. You can set up for that in the first wave by using him as a damage sponge until he is around his raging level.

A word of warning: Be careful with Rage. Although you will usually want as many of your gladiators to be raging as possible to take advantage of Rage effects, raging gladiators are also closer to dying.