In an industry dominated by Pokémon, Magic the Gathering, and Yu-Gi-Oh!, it's tough to make headway in the trading card world. Many have tried and failed to draw any sort of attention away from this "big three." Trading card games that have managed to keep their footing still find themselves struggling to build up anything more than a niche, although passionate, following.
One game that has been on the rise in recent years is Bandai's Dragon Ball Super Card Game. DBSCG explores any and all eras of the Dragon Ball franchise from the original Dragon Ball to Dragon Ball FighterZ. For avid card players and DB fans who are interested in DBSCG, or are learning about it for the first time, here's a rundown on the basics of DBSCG.
10 When Did The Dragon Ball Super Card Game Launch, And What Is The Latest Set?
DBSCG launched in 2017 with the first set titled, "Galactic Battle." "Galactic Battle" covers the Battle of the Gods, Resurrection 'F,' the Tournament of Destroyers, the Frieza Saga, and the original Broly movie trilogy. "Galactic Battle" is followed by 15 main sets as well as numerous side sets.
The latest and 16th main set is titled, "Realm of the Gods." "Realm of the Gods" covers eras including the Universal Survival Saga and the Future Trunks Saga. The next main set is titled, "Ultimate Squad," and is set to release in June 2022. "Ultimate Squad" provides a heavy dose of Androids including the first cards that tie into the upcoming Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero film.
9 What Are The Different Rarities?
DBSCG cards come in numerous rarities. While there have been occasional unique rarities, the primary rarities are Common (C), Uncommon (UC), Rare (R), Super Rare (SR), Special Rare (SPR), and Secret Rare (SCR). These rarity designations can be seen on the bottom right of a card. SPRs are always fancier alternate arts of lower rarity cards. Players are only allowed to play one SCR in their deck, which is signified by the "Ultimate" Keyword skill.
In recent years, the DBSCG has piqued the interest of many card collectors not only for the gorgeous artwork but also for the iconic DB I.P. "Realm of the Gods" introduced the first God Rare (GDR), which is a hotly pursued chase card.
8 How Does One Build A Deck?
A deck can have anywhere from 50 to 60 cards plus the required leader card. Unless otherwise stated, players can have a maximum of four of each individual card in a deck. Leader cards are the central pillar of any deck, as an entire deck is centered around them. Leader cards have two sides: the weaker front side, which will be the Leader's position at the start of the game, and the more powerful flip side. Upon fulfilling a specific requirement, players can flip their leader card at any point on either turn.
There are three types of leader cards currently. Awaken leaders are the most basic and abundant leader cards. Awaken Surge are the only leaders that are dual-colored and use effects similar to XYZ cards in YGO. Wish leaders require players to amass seven Dragon Ball cards in their Drop Area to activate the Leader's powerful effects.
7 How Do Colors And Energy Work?
There are five colors in DBSCG: Black (B), Blue (U), Green (G), Red (R), and Yellow (Y). Each of these colors takes on a different playing style. Red, for example, are more aggressive cards, while Green often focuses on hand destruction. There are also multicolor cards that count for two colors in all areas.
DBSCG utilizes a Mana-like energy system. At the start of every turn, the turn player can set down any card as energy. The cost to play a card is the number on the top left. The color dot(s) by the cost is the "specific cost" meaning of that overall cost, a certain amount of energy spent must be of that color.
6 What Are Unison And Battle Cards?
Unison cards act similarly to Planeswalkers in MTG. Unison cards receive markers for the amount of energy spent to play them. Each of their abilities requires a cost of markers. If a Unison card is hit in battle, they lose a marker.
While Leaders and Unisons can attack, Battle cards will be where most of the action takes place. Unless otherwise noted, Battle cards can only be attacked if they are in rest mode. Cards are switched horizontally to rest mode upon attacking and don't switch back to vertical active mode until that player's next turn (cards cannot attack when they are in rest mode). Whether an attack goes through is determined by power levels seen on the bottom left of the card.
5 What Are Extra Cards?
Extra cards come in many shapes and sizes. They can allow the player to perform actions such as drawing cards as well as searching out cards from the deck. Some Extra cards negate activations such as attacks or playing cards. Extra cards are only played during the turn player's Main Phase unless otherwise noted (such as Counter cards).
One specific type of Extra card are Field cards. Field cards are placed in the Battle Area and remain on the board to provide continual effects. Field cards are typically archetype-specific and cannot be attacked. Field cards can only be removed by specific card effects.
4 What Is There To Know About The Game Board?
A DBSCG board has nine zones: Leader, Unison, Battle, Warp, Life, Combo, Deck, Energy, and Drop. Warp acts similarly to the Banished zone in YGO. The Drop is the discard zone. When a card attacks, both players can add to their card's power by combining it with Battle cards, which are played in the Combo Area. Each Battle card has a combo power seen on the left side of the card. Any battle card on the field in active mode or in the hand can be used to combo.
The objective of DBSCG is to clear out an opponent's Life. At the start of each game, players set aside eight Life cards unless a leader card specifies otherwise. This is similar to Prize cards in Pokémon, but unlike Pokémon, players take a card from their Life when their Leader card takes damage.
3 What Are Keyword Skills?
Many cards come with what are called "Keywords" that take the form of red boxes within a card's skills. Cards with the "Barrier" Keyword skill, for example, cannot be targeted. Cards with the "Double Strike" Keyword skill that successfully land an attack on an opponent's Leader card forces the opponent to take two Life cards instead of one.
Not all cards have Keywords. In fact, not all cards have skills in general. Battle cards without any Keyword or skills are referred to as "skill-less Battle cards." There are many archetypes built around skill-less Battle cards.
2 What Are The In-Game Phases During A Turn?
Every turn begins with the Charge Phase where players are required to draw, set any of their cards that are in rest mode into active mode, and have the option to place a single energy. From there, the players enter the Main Phase where the turn player can spend whatever energy they have to play cards, or use the abilities of their cards on the field.
During the Main Phase, the turn player can attack at any point so long as they have cards that can attack. Unlike YGO, there isn't a set Battle Phase. A player can attack, then play another Battle card, attack again, and so on if they so choose.
1 Where Does One Start?
While the DBSCG doesn't have an official digital game similar to Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel, Bandai does have a tutorial app that can walk players through the flow of the game. For ideas on how to build a deck, sites such as DBS-DeckPlanet.com can give new and existing players a deep look at what decks other players are building.
As for purchases, the latest set or pre-made deck are the perfect places to start. Even though sets and decks contain most of the cards necessary for specific archetypes, there are still powerful staple cards that would provide a significant boost to any deck. Releases such as the "Mythic Booster" set and the yearly "Anniversary" sets will provide many of these staples.