Dragon Ball Super is a card game that was released in 2017. It features characters from the entire history of Dragon Ball. From the original story with Son Goku as a child, to Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT and the more recent but unknown Dragon Ball Heroes, there are various characters that can be used by the player to relive the great fights from the Dragon Ball universe!

In this blog you will learn all about the game itself, how you can get started and what options you have if you would like to take part in tournaments for the game!

The basics

Since June 5, 2020, a Dragon Ball deck consists of 50-60 cards + a so-called Leader. The Leader gives the deck its “identity”. Decks are usually built around the Leader’s abilities.

Leader Karten

As already mentioned, Leader Cards are the core of the deck. They are already on the field at the start of a game and do not leave it. Another important difference is the fact that Leader Karten are double-sided. At a certain point in the game, the card can be flipped over to become even stronger! But more on that later.

Battle cards

This type of card is the one that is mainly used to fight against each other. They are essential to win a game!

Extra cards

These are types of additional support cards. They function in a similar way to spell and trap cards from Yu-Gi-Oh! or Instant Spells from Magic.

Unison cards

These are the newest card type. They work almost the same as Planeswalkers in Magic. They play a supporting role alongside the Leader and have different mechanics to the regular Battle cards!

Combo Power

Combo Power is the number on the left-hand side of a Battle card. With a combo you can give the card currently in battle a Booster to win the battle. The Combo Power of Battle cards is normally between 5000-10000 Power. To make a combo, however, you sometimes have to pay energy. You can see this well in this example. The Vegeta on the left costs 1 and gives 10,000 Energy (1 + 10,000). The Gotenks on the right, on the other hand, can be used as a combo for free, but only gives a push of 5000 (0 + 5,000).

Colors

As with Magic, the colors are decisive when it comes to building a deck. There are five colors in total:

• Red: as in Magic, it’s more of an aggro color, meaning head-through-the-wall full offense
• Blue: Blue is the color that deals with energy manipulation. Playing additional energies to bring stronger battle cards onto the field more quickly or to “restand” used energies, i.e. to be able to use them again
• Green: The main theme of Green is hand destruction. Many effects are aimed at decimating the opponent’s hand. In a game like Dragon Ball where hand cards are much more important than in other card games, this is a very strong mechanic
• Black: deals a lot with discard pile manipulation. Big monsters can be played very early with the so-called “Overrealm” skill, but they disappear again at the end of the turn.
• Yellow: Yellow is the control color of the game. Tabbing opposing cards, i.e. turning them horizontally so that they can no longer be used, prevents the opponent from following his game plan.

Many cards also require the Leader to be a certain color for them to work. This is one of the reasons why thoughtful deck building is so important in this game.

The playing field

The playing field (with cards in hand) has a total of 9 “zones”. Here is a brief explanation of the individual zones. How the different cards work is explained in detail below.

Deck Zone

Here is your deck, which must contain 50-60 cards before the game begins.

Drop Area

All cards that were somehow used or defeated in battle end up here.

Hand cards

At the start of the game, each player draws 6 cards. Hand cards are very important in the Dragon Ball Super card game because they mean more options.

Life zone (8 cards on the far left)

These are placed from the deck at the start of the game. The aim of the game is to reduce the opponent’s lives to zero by attacking the Leader.

Leader Zone

The Leader is placed here at the start of the game. The Leader remains in this zone at all times and never leaves the playing field.

Unison Zone

This is where the Unison cards are played. Only one Unison card can be on your side of the field at any one time. If you want to play a new Unison card, the previous one is placed on the discard pile.

Battle Zone

This is where the Battle cards are played. The main battles are fought with these cards (in addition to the Leader).

Energy zone

Energies work in a similar way to the land cards in Magic. The important difference here is that every card can be played as an energy! This means that you can’t have too many or too few energies to play your cards!

Combo Zone

In the combo zone, the cards that are currently being used as combo material are placed to the side. Any battle card that is active on the field or in your hand can be used as a combo. After the battle, these cards are then placed on the discard pile.

The course of the game

Preparation

• The Leader is placed face up on the playing field in the Leader Zone. The deck is shuffled and placed face down in the deck zone.
• A dice is thrown to decide who starts. The winner must start, he does not have the choice!
• Draw 6 cards from the deck
• You now have the opportunity to perform a so-called mulligan. You can put back as many cards as you like, reshuffle the deck and draw the same number of cards again
• Now place the top 8 cards of your deck face down in the life zone
• The game begins

Sequence of a train

A turn consists of three different phases. The players take turns.

Loading phase

1. All cards that are in idle mode (rotated sideways) are switched to active mode (vertical to the player)
2. Draw a card from the deck (there is no hand card limit in the Dragon Ball Super card game)
3. Place a card from your hand in active mode in the energy zone (vertically away from the player)

Main Phase

All steps in this phase can be carried out in any order

• Battle cards and Unsion cards can be played from the hand if the corresponding energy costs can be paid (more on this later)
• Card effects can be used
• The Leader can “awaken”. Once all the requirements have been met, the Leader can be turned over to its back, where it is even stronger
• Fighting
• Entering the final phase

End phase

The opposing player’s turn

The game in detail

The first part has already explained the basics of the game. We will now take a closer look at some of the details of the game.

Leader Karten explained in more detail

As mentioned at the beginning, the Leader is the linchpin of a deck. But what exactly makes a Leader Karten?

We’re covering the whole Frieza // Mecha Frieza, Resurrected Monarch Leader thing.

Color

First of all, the color of the Leader is central. As already mentioned, many cards require a certain color of Leader in order to be played.

Combat power and the fight

The combat power is the most essential number in the game. Leader cards have 10,000 Power on the front and 15,000 Power on the back as standard. The aim of the game is also to attack the opposing Leader. If the Leader loses a battle, the owner must take one of his life cards into his hand. If the last life card is taken, the player has lost the game.

The battle proceeds as follows:

• The turn player declares an attack with his Leader, a Unison Karten or a Battle by “tabbing” it (turning it horizontally)
• The defending player now has the option to activate a Counter: Attack. These often negate the attack.
• If the attack has not been negated, a fight ensues
• The attacking player enters the offensive phase first. During the battle, he can now activate extra cards that have “Activate:Battle” or other abilities such as “Cars”. He can also decide in this phase how much combo he wants to add in the battle.
• The defending player now takes his turn. He now also has the option of activating Battle cards or making combos.
• The defending player’s combat power + combo must be ABOVE the attacking player’s combat power + combo. Otherwise, the Battle Card is destroyed, the Unsion Card loses a marker or, if the Leader Karten was attacked, a life must be taken
• Calculation example: the opposing Leader attacks your Leader. He is awakened

Effects