Meta Overview

Fusion World's digital online client has impacted everyone's opinion quite a bit over the last week, as the grindy aspect of an open ladder has pushed different decks to shine compared to tournament play.

Green remains the top, or second-best color at worst so far, with Son Gohan : Childhood and Broly still looking like powerhouses. Android 17 is ranked quite low due to its signature synergy being worse than both of the Saiyan's ability to abuse Son Goku. Then, it still appears there is little reason to pick the Android synergy right now, apart for enjoying that specific synergy.

Yellow is the second color one could consider at the top, with Frieza making quite an impression once a refined build was found. Now, all three Leaders are using some pieces of the Ginyu Force arsenal, except Frieza and Cooler are more flexible in how they operate, hence their better ranking compared to Ginyu.

Red is kind of the middle color, with Son Goku Blue getting closer to a tier one spot as time passes. Ginyu was adapted against by many, such as Frost in several red builds, or Broly gaining some popularity over Son Gohan, which opened the door for the Universe 7 deck to become the aggressive reference. The other two leaders are solid, but lack that one thing they excel at, it seems. Compared to Frieza and Cooler for example, Goku and Beerus are missing this little explosion (the Ginyu package) which can make the difference in contested matches. Then, they are solid when it comes to fighting a resources based battle, but can struggle once they fall behind in a match, or have to turn on the jets to finish a green opponent.

Lastly, we have Blue, which is still struggling overall, although we are starting to see some packages of cards emerge, and be used across all three leaders. Considering Goku Black is the glue to making those synergies work, you'll understand why Goku Black is one tier above the other two in this report. We aren't there yet when it comes to comparing to Yellow or Green, but Vegeta, Goku Black and Trunks : Future are slowly gaining momentum, in particular thanks to their ability to rush a green opponent efficiently.

Overall, the online client allowed many, many more games to be played, but the results have not been so different from what tournaments taught us at the end of February. Yellow feels like the most improved so far, and definitely the high-profile color currently. However, Green is still looking crazy good, while Red and Blue have not reached their peak yet.

Happy Meta Tier List everyone!

DBS Fusion World Meta Tier List

Disclaimer and Tier Explanations

There aren't any deck trackers or official data being released about the DBS Card Game Fusion World online client so far. As such, this report is crafted based on scanning social media, looking at tournament results, and testing the lists posted by those who achieved the God rank already.

This report isn't perfect, but we are working to better it with each release. Hopefully, it can still help elevate your knowledge about the game.

Tier 1

Son Gohan : Childhood

Broly and Frieza also make a compelling case for the #1 spot, but I feel like the perfect Gohan draw is the strongest thing possible in Fusion World right now. Son Goku is way too strong in this deck, and with Son Gohan : Childhood to find it plus Trunks : Future to give a second ramp tool to the deck, the card comes down too soon and too often.

One could raise an eyebrow at the lack of Son Gohan : Childhood in the deck, especially with Yellow making a push right now. You could definitely play the card instead of Son Gohan : Childhood and some extra cards. Yet, unless you are unless a lot of pressure, playing Son Goku and just holding the fort until the big cards get you in the clear looks to be slightly stronger overall.

Amongst those big cards, Son Gohan : Childhood is the most flexible one, as apart from a very aggressive yellow opponent, you shouldn't have that much too clear. Plus, Android 17/Android 18 helps push for lethal with its double strike ability.

Overall, Son Gohan isn't the leader to beat anymore, and we are seeing much more diversity, especially with more of Yellow around. Yet, when the draws align, Son Gohan : Childhood remains the leader able to get out of almost any kind of situation, be it an imposing sea of battle cards, or one huge hit coming its way.

Frieza

Frieza was discussed as a sleeper pick early in the tournament meta, and the online mode has revealed how strong the leader could be. Particularly since the Ginyu package was added to the deck (Ginyu, Ginyu and a third card from the Ginyu Force, this one varying from a leader to another), Frieza has been a menace.

Based on its very high tempo play style, the yellow villain looks dominant against every other leader based on entering a value war. Indeed, once awakened, Frieza is able to get so much value out of its battle cards, it typically will be able to function with less than most leaders. Plus, it also has one of the best early games with tons of 20,000 cards to rely on (Neiz, Frieza) in addition to being able to dictate the trades with Frieza.

While green has the simpler game plan to understand and develop, yellow, and Frieza in particular is emerging as the most flexible, and more importantly, tempo oriented synergies to explore.

Broly

Certainly the most played leader currently, and the best one to reach the God rank on a free to play challenge, Broly is playing almost the same deck as Son Gohan, but has a slightly weaker awakening. The 25,000 base power were great against Ginyu, and Broly is regarded as stronger against yellow in general compared to Son Gohan. However, when it comes to their head to head, or even containing the red or blue leaders, Broly feels a bit weaker, hence why it only comes in third.

If we were to compare the two green powerhouse from a gameplay standpoint. I would say Son Gohan is a little more flexible, and more resilient to the big hits your opponent typically goes for to close the match. Broly on the other end, is stronger during the course of the match, but can't put up with as much punishment when the game is on the line. Then, the legendary Saiyan requires a bit more creativity during the whole course of the match, making it a little harder to pilot overall.

Cooler

Cooler and Frieza have a very similar relationship to Broly and Son Gohan, in the sense that Cooler will play almost the same deck, but do things have different upsides. Basically, Cooler is a stronger attacker, which has its upsides against green leaders, but doesn't have the same ability to outvalue its opponent against the rest.

Then, while Cooler was on its way to beat his brother in the green dominated metagame. The emergence of the aggressive builds, Ginyu first, then Frieza and now Goku Blue isn't that good for Cooler.

It still is a great leader overall, but it might need to find its own thing in order to become the best Yellow leader.

Tier 2

Son Goku (Universe 7)

If you don't have four copies of Son Goku, you can include more of Beerus if you see a lot of Broly. Cards which help to Awaken fast are never bad, while Vegeta, Son Goku or Son Gohan : Adolescence have their merit in other matchups. You could replace with Son Gohan : Adolescence if you wanted a 4-cost card.

We are getting really close to a Red leader making it into Tier 1, as the Universe 7 synergy is reporting very solid results from the digital client. Indeed, while Ginyu was the first aggressive build to shake up the metagame, it was quickly adapted against, with more of Broly and Frost seeing play in red decks.

Even if it packs less explosive ability to develop on the board compared to its Yellow counterpart, Goku Blue is unmatched when it comes to harassing the opponent constantly with 20,000 or 25,000 power cards. Son Goku is a great card for sure, but the real star for the deck is Son Goku as it truly embodies what the deck is all about: Awaken fast, limit opposing development, keep the pressure on.

This last part is really what red is all about, and Goku Blue being the best of the three leader at pressuring its opponent, the reason it is ranked higher. The goal isn't necessarily to end the game quickly, even if you might want to hurry a bit against a green opponent. Instead, the important game mechanic to control is initiative, as this is what drives the card advantage battle. If your opponent is forced to constantly use combo cards to stay afloat, you will eventually win even if they still have most of their health.

Similarly, if they accept the hits to draw some cards, you are getting them closer to being forced to protect against every single attack you throw their way. Plus, it is fairly easy to protect your cards from their attacks, as they can't combo on offense as they are need the power to defend themselves.

Beerus and the two green cards (Son Gohan : Childhood, Android 17/Android 18) really are the only things to have to worry about. They are very punishing, but if you get a good start, you can play around those, and refill with several cards on the next turn.

Ginyu

Ginyu got many players to the god rank in the digital client already, and might be the easier deck to pick up and grind the ranks with. However, contrary to a Son Gohan, Broly or Frieza, Ginyu doesn't have the flexibility to adapt when the metagame tries to counter it. Golden Death Beam was a nice way to play around Frost in the red decks, but more of Broly really did Ginyu dirty, even with a few Golden Frieza to help close the deal.

Depending on where the metagame is headed, I could see Ginyu be a great pick to punish greedy opponent, or take advantage of a lot of Son Gohan in a tournament. As for ladder play, the yellow leader definitely fits of mold of great decks to grind, featuring a fast-paced gameplay, repeatable from a game to another. Yet, it is important be mindful of its environment to truly get the most out of Ginyu right now.

Son Goku (Super Saiyan)

Frost is a tech card for the Universe 7 and Ginyu decks. If you aren't seeing too many of those, you can either throw Frost as energy or use as combo, replace it with Android 17 to help awaken or another match-up based card.

The Red Starter Deck leader is compared to the Universe 7 build by a few, claiming its flexible awakened ability has more upsides. While this would be true if there was more of blue or red opponents on the ladder, this green and yellow environment really rewards an aggressive playstyle, not looking to drag the game for too long.

Unfortunately with this deck, you will often build a nice card advantage compared to your opponent, as this most of what this deck is about. Unfortunately, you can't do much against certain cards, such as Son Gohan : Childhood, Android 17/Android 18 or just match Frieza's ability once it gets going. Then, Super Saiyan Goku needs to be play as a two-speed deck. First, build card advantage while awakening and limiting your opponent development. Then, go for the kill and act like you are an aggressive build, looking to harass their opponent with multiple hits per turn, leveraging that card advantage you build previously.

I have no doubt a balanced metagame, with a little bit of everything would see the red starter shine. Unfortunately, this isn't the environment we live in for now.

Beerus

This might be the most debatable ranking on the list, as I know many hold Beerus in high esteem. To be fair, if Frieza keeps gaining momentum the way it does, Beerus might be much stronger soon, as it is one of the few leaders able to take out active battle cards reliably. Unfortunately for Beerus, the story is quite different when there is a green leader on the other side of the table, as Broly is difficult to rush down once awakened.

Plus, Beerus isn't that good against aggressive decks, the deck packing strong abilities rather than a ton of high combo power cards. the 20,000 power helps a bit to attack battle cards early on in the match, but not drawing feels like too big of a draw back for the extra 5,000 thousand power, which can often be found through Whis 5,000 and Whis 10,000 anyway.

Inside the red color then, we have three leaders which are all looking to dominate the card advantage battle. Goku Blue does it through constant pressure, Super Saiyan Goku is the flexible one, trying to adapt to its opponent, and Beerus is on the control side of things, leveraging power afflictions to build its advantage. Depending on the structure of the metagame, I could any of the three be on top, yet, the current environment seems to favor those with an ability to close the game, rather than kill an extra few battle cards.

Goku Black

Blue isn't in a great spot right now, mostly because throwing cards back in your opponent's hand isn't as good as just taking them out. Indeed, the fact they can't play them as combo later on is one hurdle, but the fact blue doesn't have a lot of cards with solid power for their cost is the bigger problem.

Goku Black is kind of the exception to that rule, as it often leads to a 40,000 power alongside a 25,000 or 30,000 power one. Then, while Vegeta and Trunks have started to use the same trick, only the real Goku Black is able to get it done by turn four, and bring a massive amount of pressure onto their opponent.

It is a bit of an all-in kind of strategy, but this is the best Blue has to offer right now. All three leaders are based on being explosive right off the bat, and then stopping their opponent from developing as they keep throwing their cards back to their hand. This only works if you have enough pressure on the table to close the match before you run out of cards. Goku Black is simply the best at bringing that necessary pressure through difficult to remove battle cards.

Tier 3

Vegeta

Vegeta is more flexible than Goku Black, as it doesn't have to run an army of Zamasu for the deck to function properly. Yet, it's development onto the board is also weaker, as there aren't any cards with more than 15,000 power in the first two turns. This means, any time you want to attack the opposing leader, which is something at least Son Goten wants to do to trigger its ability, you know they will be targeted by a leader hit on the following turn.

Blue has access to a lot of combo cards thanks to Pilaf and Gotenks fetching them back from your drop. It is the latter card which makes Goku Black a worthy inclusion by the way.

Yet, even if you can stay below seven cards while not running out for a while, Vegeta needs to close the deal sooner rather than later. Indeed, the deck cannot interact with a card with cost superior to five, kind of an obstacle with green being the most popular color. Indeed, once Android 17/Android 18 start double striking you every turn, you can quickly grow tired of it.

Overall, I would consider blue as a whole a work in progress. The way to bring more pressure has been identified, leading to Vegeta greatly improving its match-up into green leaders. Plus, the mechanic of returning cards back in hand can also work against Frieza, as a play-around to not being able to attack into their cards.

The puzzle is slowly assembling, and Vegeta being able to hit for 35,000 every turn could be the biggest beneficiary of a metagame rewarding the Blue playstyle. If the synergies around [card]FB01-039 show they can work even when we have to wait until turn six to play it, blue could pull an amazing comeback before the next expansion comes around.

Android 17/Android 18

As said in the introduction, Android 17 isn't necessarily a bad leader to run, but has no upsides compared to the other two in Green. Then, if we are discussing about which leaders have the most upsides in the current metagame, the androids simply have nothing that Broly or Gohan can't do better.

As such, unless you enjoy the synergies around the Androids, or have a particular love for those characters, it is hard to recommend the third green leader in the current set of things.

Trunks : Future

I don't think I have faced one Trunks on the digital client yet, nor have seen anyone talk about it while scanning the various communities around the game. Same for tournament play, the only result I could find about Trunks is a second place at a Celebration Event in the USA. Otherwise, whenever the blue leader is listed in a tournament, it does not appear in the top cut.

It's not like Goku Black and Vegeta are demolishing the competition either but they at least have won a few shop tournaments each, and you can face either while playing online.

Then, Trunks naturally falls to the last place on the list, because there is barely a thing to discuss about the leader. He is widely regarded as the one you should not play with so far, and honestly is only included because we are ranking all twelve leaders for now.

Closing Words

If Blue still has a long way to go, Red is positioning itself to play spoiler in the Green against Yellow war. So far, even if Frieza is the hot leader in the game, Green still keeps the top spot in my opinion thanks to having two of the top three leaders in the game.

I am not sure exactly when the next report will be, as I don't plan to making those on a specifically scheduled basis. Rather, a new one will be crafted when the situation calls for it, or there are new cards or a ban list affecting the metagame. Then, if you are reading this days after it was published, keep in mind the game is still very young, and we are never safe from someone finding a genius idea which would change the fate of a leader, or a color.

So far, the fact that tournament, physical play are showing the same strong leader compared to the online game isn't a good sign for the ability of the Blue leaders to make a comeback. Yet, the synergy around Goku Black outside of Goku Black is brand new, so who knows where it'll take the Blue team. Same for Red, which appear to be a flexible color, and one most suited to adapt to various situations. Maybe the Universe 7 deck will be enough to make Green decrease in popularity, and be the start of a grand shift in the established forces.

When that happens, I will make sure to once again scan all the possible sources of information, and report it on this very website. Until then, feel free to join me on Twitter if you are interested in my free to play experience on the game, or simply would like to get in touch, and remember to have some fun.

Good Game Everyone!

The post DBS Fusion World Meta Tier List – Best Leaders and Decks (Season 1) appeared first on DotGG.

Meta Overview

Dragon Ball Super Fusion World is now available worldwide, and only the online mode is left to release on February 29. Tournaments have already started in Japan, with a weekend packed with events, as several 64 players brackets were played.

So far, the color balance is fairly obvious. Green is on top, while blue holds the bottom spot. Yellow and Red are very close right now, with Ginyu looking like the best leader to take against a green opponent. Yet, because red has access to Frost for the match-up into Ginyu, it is able to annoy Yellow very efficiently.

Inside each color, apart from Ginyu taking the lead in the yellow race thanks to its ability to pressure Son Gohan, there usually are two leaders separating themselves from the third. Son Gohan is ranked higher than Broly in green thanks to winning their head to head, mostly on the back of a stronger leader ability. Android 17 is unfortunately useless to run if you have access to another green leader so far, the synergies around it feeling weaker.

Red has the Goku starter deck struggling a bit. It is the most balanced of the three red leaders, but we aren't particularly looking for balance right now. On the other hand, Goku Universe 7 can pressure a green leader pretty well with its ability, while Beerus is Ginyu's worst matchup so far.

As for the blue crew, Goku Black has a better closing ability, which places it on top of the color. Trunks isn't far behind, but feels like it needs a hot start to compete. Vegeta is a solid starter, but blue in general doesn't look good once deck building restrictions are lifted.

One big question remains regarding the current metagame: Are all leaders as simple to build around?

Indeed, while we knew what to do with green as soon as we saw the cards, which is ramp and play powerful cards. Blue feels like a more difficult color to master, while yellow, except for Ginyu, requires knowing which are the important cards for us and our opponent to know which ones to target or protect.
Then, one could wonder if the hot start taken by the ramp and aggressive strategies is due to their real strengths, or because they were the simplest to figure out.

We'll only figure this out in the future. Until then, let's take a look at the first ever Dragon Ball Super Card Game Fusion World Meta Tier List!

DBS Fusion World Meta Tier List

Disclaimer and Tier Explanations

The data available to craft those reports will be much easier to gather, and use, once the online mode will release. Until then, I am using the information available online, streams of tournaments and the opinion of veteran players I respect, or they share on social media.

Plus, only Japan has organized big tournaments so far, as the western world just got their products delivered.

As such, see this first in depth report of the Fusion World metagame as a glance of what it will be in the future, when the information will be easier to access.

Tier 0

Son Gohan : Childhood

Green is widely regarded as the best color so far, with Son Gohan largely ahead of every other leader when it came to popularity in the first week of organized play in Japan. So much so, it led to Ginyu rising early to punish the green leader, and winning a tournament in the process.

Broly isn't so far behind, but Son Gohan is looking favored in their head to head for now, thanks to its ability to grow to 35.000 power when attacking, while retaining the ability to draw once awakened.

Since then, the builds around Son Gohan have gotten less greedy to be less vulnerable against early aggression, which helped already. Then, Broly, and red leaders also gained popularity as they feel solid into Ginyu, providing Gohan with better match-ups to go against.

Son Gohan is the leader shaping the early metagame, and still the one to beat for now, hence its special inclusion in Tier 0.

Tier 1

Broly

Thanks to being a 25,000 power awakened leader, Broly is a little more resistant to Ginyu than Son Gohan, which allows the Legendary Saiyan to have its upside in the metagame.

If one would find a way for Broly to balance the match-up against Son Gohan, as being hit by 35,000 power and losing the ability to draw once awakened are two big obstacles. Broly could be unstoppable soon.

The Android 17/Android 18 card looks to be a strong one in that particular match-up, hitting Son Gohan for 40.000 power and Double Strike. Unfortunately, the fact it cannot contribute as a combo makes it hard to run in four copies, as it isn't as good against other leaders, especially the faster ones.

Ginyu

With green dominating the popularity contest, Ginyu has emerged as the troublemaker early in tournament play. While some people could have ranked it even higher on this list, the yellow leader still needs to solve a couple of issues before it can truly be called dominant:

• Broly awakened requires a lot of card to finish off, as you need to use a combo card for almost every attack.
• Red has a lot of ways to limit Ginyu's development on the field, and the idea to start playing Frost is also spreading around the community.

Every leader will have good and bad match-ups in a metagame, and the balance seems to be decent for Ginyu right now. However, if Son Gohan was to be a little less popular in the future, then Ginyu could lose a lot of its current upside.

For example, either Goku (Universe 7) or Beerus finding a way to be favorable into green leaders could be a disaster for Ginyu.

Goku (Universe 7)

As the red leader with the best aggressive potential, Goku (Universe 7) is doing fairly well into the green leaders, packing enough of a punch to potentially finish the game before they can stabilize. Plus, the rarest cards for red are proving to be worthy of their status, tilting the balance in favor of red against leaders looking to expand on the board.

In a sense, you could regard Goku (Universe 7) as weaker Ginyu against green, but with more flexibility against the rest of the field. Then, in this green dominated metagame, Ginyu gets the nod for best agressive build, but Goku should develop really well into a more diverse environment.

Tier 2

Beerus

If it wasn't for a surge in aggressive decks to benefit from Son Gohan dominance, Beerus would have ranked much further down the list. However, thanks to being a great leader when it comes to controling the opponent's battle cards in the mid game, Beerus managed to sneak into the top half of the rankings.

The other thing Beerus does really well is abusing the Critical key word. While I've read good feedback from several players about it so far, it probably is too early to say whether this is a foundation of the deck, or just a good key word to have if it doesn't cost your deck.

Then, compared to Son Goku (Universe 7), Beerus feels like it relies much more on which are the dominant leaders at the time. I wouldn't be surprised to see Beerus' ranking go from a tier to another on a weekly basis, based on who were the most popular leaders during that week. If green survive the aggressive decks coming for Son Gohan and Broly, Beerus might have a hard time finding good match-ups to abuse. However, if Son Goku (Universe 7) or Ginyu keep gaining ground, Beerus could be a great leader to play.

An important info about Beerus, the leader really feels like the "play strong standalone cards" kind of deck right now. As such, the God of Destruction kind of pushes for playing the rarest cards, making it a pretty expensive leader to play.

Cooler

Cooler has a better closing ability compared to Frieza thanks to that potential extra attack once awakened, which helps to finish off a green opponent, or clear more of Ginyu's battle cards.

The discard part of the ability can be difficult to leverage, and you definitely don't want to use for too long. Once you start using it every turn, you should have the finish line in mind, as you might quickly end up behind your opponent in the card department.

Frieza

Frieza is ranked last in its color, but one should really look at yellow as a solid color so far. Unfortunately for Frieza, it's control oriented ability doesn't match well with the current metagame. Indeed, you will very often end up playing against a green opponent, which is stronger than you late in the match, or an aggressive one, which will focus on your leader rather than your battle cards.

As such, Frieza shines when it manages to install sort of a stalemate, which was much easier to do in the starter decks metagame. Without any restrictions, decks are faster, more reliable in their strategy, and stronger cards are being played, which makes it difficult for Frieza to use its off-tempo play style.

Goku Black

I believe down the line, Trunks will emerge to be the best blue leader. Yet, Goku Black has posted better results, and looked easier to play in this first week of competitive play.

Particularly against green, which you have to approach with an aggressive mindset, Goku Black feels like it has a better closing ability through its leader ability.

It still isn't enough to make blue look good overall, but at least, there is something we can try to build towards.

Tier 3

Tier 3 has two leaders which could be ranked higher, Trunks and Android 17, but unfortunately did not take off so far.

I would attribute most of Trunks' early struggles to being one of the most difficult leaders to learn, and green being the color your leader ability has the least impact against. Once we figure out how to pack some more punch in a blue deck, Trunks has the ability to be tier two.

As for Android 17, the ranking is mostly due to the leader having absolutely no reason to be played when Son Gohan and Broly are available in the same color. The game is still young, and we'll get more cards dedicated to a leader in the future. Currently, the synergy around the Android special trait simply doesn't compare to what the other leaders can do. Maybe if Broly becomes the one to beat, having a leader constantly at 30.000 power during our turn could have its upsides.

As for Vegeta and Goku (SS), they filled their role as starter really well, but once we were allowed to use all the cards, their generic ability didn't really help push a specific strategy. Instead, the other leaders allowed to give our deck a more precise direction, which seems to be the way to go right now. Simply put, Vegeta feels like a bad Trunks, while Goku (SS) feels like a bad Beerus. You could argue red is stronger than blue right now, but the three leaders ranked in the bottom represent the one with little reason to see play inside their color.

Trunks : Future

Android 17/Android 18

Vegeta

Son Goku (Super Saiyan)

Closing Words

For this first week of organized play, I feel we are left with two big questions:

• How much is the current power level of Son Gohan, Broly or Ginyu due to being fairly simple to figure out?
• How much can tech cards impact the balance of the metagame ? I'm thinking of Frost for red leaders in particular, which could single-handedly win a match against Ginyu.

Depending on the answer to those question, the metagame can go in a lot of different directions. We could already have an idea of the power balance for this first expansion, and consider green to be the dominant color for the next few months. Yet, we could just as well end up with carousel of leader countering each others, with yellow pressuring green, while red packs some anti-yellow cards. Lastly, maybe we simply have not found the right way to play the blue leaders, and one of them is poised to breakthrough in the coming weeks.

I don't think anyone has a definite answer to which scenario will happen, and I love it this way. Wouldn't it be boring if we already knew what to expect from the game for the next two months?

Soon, thousands of players will get their hands on the online mode, which will generate a ton more data than what we have available so far. No doubt, this early metagame in Japan will impact the game in some way, but we are bound for some surprises as well.

I hope this report helped you get a better grasp of what Dragon Ball Super Fusion World infancy stage looks like. If you had the chance of finding a celebration event near you, I'm very jealous but hope you had a great time.

If you'd like to reach out, feel free to do so on my Twitter page.

Good Game Everyone.

The post DBS Fusion World Meta Tier List – Best Leaders and Decks (Digital Release) appeared first on DotGG.

A little disclaimer before we dive in all the data I manage to find. First, we don't really know the skills of each player at this point, meaning a veteran TCG player could have entered a tournament and crushed everyone simply on the back its piloting skills, rather than because their leader is a great one to play. We could argue a veteran TCG player probably knows how to assess the power of each leader and pick one suited for the metagame they expect and their own play style, but it felt important to note nonetheless.

Second, most of the tournaments we will discuss were featured pre-release events, meaning they were exclusively played with the starter decks, with no changes allowed to those. Then, the power of a starter deck could drastically change once we can include booster cards, or have 4 copies of all the good cards. We went in-depth on each starter deck in their own dedicated breakdown, if you're interested in those.
Japan did organize some tournaments.

• Broly Guide
• Frieza Guide
• Goku Guide
• Vegeta Guide

Alright, we're done with the boring warnings, let's talk about the first organized play sessions for Dragon Ball Fusion World!

Frieza Dominates the Starter Metagame, While Broly, Cooler, Shine in Open Play

From the early reports we got in both the east or the western stores, Frieza seems to have won the most pre-release events so far, when only starter decks were allowed. In this particular metagame, Frieza's worst enemy, Broly, doesn't really have a strong deck, as most of its important cards are only in two copies. Then, with its worst matchup weakened by these rules, Frieza has been the best performing leader, edging Vegeta, which also posted nice results in those events.

Once the limitation was lifted, however, Broly looked like a different beast, and put up much better results, with four wins out of fourteen reported events, the most for any leader so far. Trailing the Saiyan is Cooler with three wins, and Vegeta with two, while everyone except Ginyu, Son Goku (The starter one, not the Universe 7) and Trunks got a win.

If we were to look at the performance for each color, green got six wins, yellow four and blue got three. Red is looking to be the struggling color so far, with only one win, alongside being the only color with two leaders with no wins.

Here's the latest deck Cooler won a Shop Battle with:

Son Gohan Is a Dominant Front Runner in the Popularity Contest

Twenty-two out of fifty-seven players in the biggest tournament in Japan picked Son Gohan as their starting leader. This is about 38% of the whole tournament and thirteen more entries than Goku Universe 7. Another mind-boggling statistic is that Son Gohan was more popular than any color, as blue totaled seven decks while red and yellow had eleven.

The other difficult information to process is how Son Gohan didn't win this tournament. More than a third of the field was Son Gohan, this is such a huge advantage to claim the victory as a leader. So we have to ask ourselves why didn't Son Gohan win that tournament?

Looking at the list which was shared online for Son Gohan, I was a little perplexed by certain cards not being included in the deck. In particular, Son Goku (5), a card which looks like it was printed to be played in Son Gohan deck, as it makes your leader's ability free to use. Considering green's only goal is to stay alive until the later stages, having a card which combines both a ramping ability, and enable your leader to basically protect himself from an attack every turn, I felt that omission was pretty big.

The other card I was curious about being left out is Trunks: Future (3), a card with "If your Leader is <Son Gohan: Childhood>" written on it. I've read the argument that we don't get the KO's ability if the card is reduced to 0 power by a red opponent. Alright, but then it still leaves three colors against which Trunks is solid, while you can always toss it as an energy card against red, if you think your opponent is playing a red deck with loss of power affliction.

The other problem I had with the deck was the very low amount of 10,000 combo power cards included. Especially in a deck based on protecting its leader for a large part of a match, only two cards with 10,000 power felt a bit lackluster.

These two in particular, felt like they would perfectly fit the deck considering the cards already included in there. One could also have considered some vanilla cards at expected important thresholds, like the cheap ones at one or two energy to help with removing opposing battle cards early on, as they all possess the maximum combo power.

For reference, here is another Son Gohan list which won a shop battle in Japan, and I like the list a lot more:

Aggressive Strategies Lead the Way in Ramp Dominated Metagame

Ginyu didn't get a store win yet, at least not according to the information available online, it did win the biggest tournament to date, with 57 players involved and no restriction when it came to deck building. In that tournament with half the field playing green, Ginyu's super aggressive mindset punished those who thought they could ramp in piece. That tournament also had nine players on Son Goku (Universe Seven), which is supposed to be a much tougher opponent for Ginyu, but that didn't seem to stop the deck from winning it all.

Looking at the list, there are a couple of observations we can make:

• As expected, the Ginyu deck looks like a fairly simple one to build, at least the core, as there are nine cards with the "Ginyu Force" special trait in this deck, representing 27 cards total. There are more you could add to the deck, but Body Change doesn't really fit a swarm deck, and the pilot decided to include cheap draw options rather than play the 3-cost Ginyu card. The end result if a super aggressive deck, with four copies of Frieza (2) added, arguably one of the strongest cards in Yellow if you are a proactive deck looking to quickly awaken.
• The average cost for a card is extremely cheap, a logical consequence of the awakened ability requiring three energy to be activated. Then, Ginyu felt like it was best played as a low cost swarm deck, looking to abuse its Leader ability to close out the game. The two copies of Frieza (2) enabling to play a 1-cost card for free is another example of the deck's direction.
• Having no real heavy hitter doesn't seem to be a problem for Ginyu, relying instead on a multitude of attacks. Plus, with the swarm ability this deck possesses, I wouldn't be surprised if Bonds of the Ginyu Force would represent a bonus 25,000 power on average.

Early in a metagame, it is totally normal to see such strategies post great results. Not only was the tournament populated with green decks, arguably the color Ginyu wants to go against, its super aggressive play style must have caught a few opponent's off guard too. Indeed, if you aren't an experienced player, these smash-mouth types of deck can be difficult to contain. You see them develop and can't come up with a plan to stop them without actually practicing the match-up ahead of the tournament.

Overall, I wouldn't be surprised to see Ginyu amongst the best performers early on, especially if the trend of green being the most popular color goes on. Once players had more time to practice against it, or refined decks will emerge, Ginyu might struggle a little more to develop its game plan.

Closing Words

During beta and even looking at analysis of the game, yellow was regarded as the potentially weaker color, especially as it had the worst match-up into green, which was expected to be very popular. Green has been very popular, yet, every yellow leader managed to win a tournament so far, all in different environments.

Obviously, this is still the early stages of the game, and most of the data available concerns store tournaments, with players maybe getting their hands on the cards for the first time. Still, even I believe yellow might suffer a bit from the fact you can use your card as soon as they hit the playing field, which limited the upside of the "put your opponent's card to rest mode" identity of yellow. I can only admit the early results, particularly Cooler's three wins in unrestricted play, are showing I was wrong, and maybe yellow has much more upsides than I saw at first.

I hope you enjoyed this first metagame report. Diving into the data from the first tournament was the closest I got to playing the game, as I unfortunately could get find a card reseller in my city so far. Then, expect more report from what is happening with Dragon Ball Super Fusion World around the world. This report was mostly about Japanese tournaments, as they had access to the cards and organized play a little earlier than the rest of the world. Soon enough, we should see what is happening in the American or European region as well.

If you needed to get in touch, you can do so through my Twitter page, or simply leave a comment below.

Good Game Everyone.

The post DBS Fusion World Meta Report: Early Tournament Metagame, Deck Lists, and What We Learned appeared first on DotGG.

Meta Overview

The Open Beta of Dragon Ball Super Card Game Fusion World gave us a great opportunity to test the various Starter Decks, and there are already several articles discussing those on this very website. However, figuring out precisely how powerful are each of the leaders you can grab from booster packs is much more difficult.

Then, I'd like to start this article saying the decks we are going to discuss are theorycrafts more than battle-tested builds. I did consult other veteran players in order to come up with each of them, same for the power rankings we'll discuss in the first section of this article. As such, consider this article to be the brainchild of a group of players with experience on various CCGs, be it One Piece Card Game, Hearthstone, Legends of Runeterra or Marvel Snap, to name a few. We all love theorycrafting, and have spent a good amount of time preparing for the official release of Dragon Ball Fusion World.

In this article, we'll share our conclusions regarding which decks we think are worth trying to craft, as they look promising. Also, we tried to build without including all the Super Rare, Secret Rare or Promo cards in every deck. These do look like the best ones in the game, but unless you intend to spend a significant amount of money, four copies of those shouldn't be that easy to obtain. As such, we included the rarer cards which felt key to the deck's strategy, while the ones which could be disposable are in the potential addition section.

Now that we are clear, let's talk about the eight leaders we can find in the boosters of the very first expansion for Fusion World.

Son Goku Universe 7 - Red Rush

Super Rare Cards or Potential Additions:

Early in a card game's existence, basic decks with a simple and effective concept, tend to do extremely well. Then, while the Universe 7 theme might be too simple once future expansion will give support to the more intricate synergies, we expect this one to be very solid for the time being.

With this deck, we are looking to dictate the trades with power manipulation to build the lead while awakening our leader, and leverage AoE abilities to allow focusing on the enemy leader. Four of Son Gohan : Adolescence (4) could be too much, but considering the amount of super rare cards the red color has access to, there are plenty of other cards to consider if we are lucky enough to get them.

Amongst all those powerhouses, Beerus (5) looks to be the most important one, as the On Play ability could just win a game on its own, and kind of the reason Son Gohan : Adolescence (4) can be removed as we get more copies of Beerus (5).

Apart from solid effects to control our opponent's card, we also have access to solid support tools. Master Roshi will help with using our spells for free, one of those being a tutored draw, perfect to make sure our deck develops as intended. Also, paired with Krillin (2), we have eight cards to help us awaken, a key part of the deck's strategy.

If you face a lot of green decks, which aren't attacking your leader at all, you could play more cards to help you lose health. The super rare Son Goku (3) is a perfect candidate in that regard, but red has cards at lower rarities as well if needed.

Son Gohan : Childhood - Green Ramp

Super Rare Cards or Potential Additions:

Green looks like the strongest color when everything goes according to plan, as it possesses the most difficult to deal with cards in the entire game. While we ranked the Androids much lower on the list, Son Gohan is looking great, as the awakened ability is enough to make our leader very difficult to finish off. Sure, it will cost us some energy, but once we got Broly : SR (8) in play, we don't really mind losing energy anymore. Then, considering the most needed super rare can be found in the Broly Starter deck, there is a chance green dominates the early days of the game, before we get our hands on the rarest cards available in the boosters.

Even then, while I would say red probably is the best color with a full collection, as it has more super rares to play with, both the secret rare Son Gohan: Childhood and Android 18 (2) look like staples in any green deck.

Gameplay wise, green could be the simplest one to understand, but requires accepting we play from behind a lot. Ideally, we just want to drag the game to a time we have banked enough energy, and start playing big enough cards our opponent simply can't deal with them. Along the way, we can use multiple ability to control our opponent's battle cards, and the secret rare above could easily cause an instant concede.

Then, green looks both a fairly accessible color thanks to both super rares in the starter deck transferring well to any green leader, but also has the ability to scale into a juggernaut once you collect the rarer cards. Its only downside is giving our opponent a shot at rushing us down early in the match, but Son Gohan's ability once awakened is a great remedy to that problem. Yet, once we get four copies of Trunks: Future (3), Son Gohan : Childhood (6) and Android 16 (6), we should be good to go.

Beerus - Red Control

Super Rare Cards or Potential Additions:

Beerus isn't really pushing for any particular synergy as a leader. It looks good both before or after it awakened, and doesn't have cards it specifically wants to synergize with. Instead, it just looks to focus on the key elements of the game: dominate the battle phase with power manipulation, and build some card advantage with the critical keyword. Then, we could look at Beerus as the strong standalone leader, which you will be looking to play good cards alongside, no matter their special traits.

This can be both a good and bad news. The good is, whenever you get a strong new red card, you know you should be able to find a spot for it in your Beerus deck. Plus, we already have some nice ones in the starter deck when it comes to the super rares, so we can build a decent deck without any other super rare needed. For example, I really like Botamo or Fuwa alongside Beerus, as they embody pretty well what the deck is about: card advantage through efficient cards in a variety of situations. Plus, this ability to just play strong cards means more adaptability to potentially counter another deck, if one happens to be particularly popular. Indeed, as you don't have precise synergies to respect, removing a card is much less likely to throw off the balance of your deck.

The bad news is, Dragon Ball Fusion World clearly made the most powerful cards the most difficult to acquire as well. Then, while you should be able to play any super rare you get in your Beerus deck, you probably require those super rare cards to make the best version possible of a Beerus deck. As such, when another leader will be looking to build around its synergies, and should be set whenever it gets the one, maybe two super rares it needs to get the deck to the next level.

Beerus on the other hand, will only progress when you get a card which is clearly stronger than one you already have, which will almost only happen when you get a new super rare. Plus, this feeling to always need new cards could be intensified when we will want to adapt to a popular opponent. Indeed, not every leader is weak to the same cards.

Therefore, while a synergistic deck can always push its own agenda against a variety of opponent, Beerus might require a big collection of cards to be able to adapt when the metagame changes. Because of this, Beerus could be the most expensive leader to build the ideal deck for, a potential turn-off for many casual players.

Ginyu Force - Yellow Zoo

I could see Ginyu be much stronger than tier two rank depending on which leaders are popular, especially if green or blue are sitting at the top. However, I cannot ignore how the red color has some AoE abilities which look absolutely catastrophic for this deck. Then, don't see this ranking as a jab to Ginyu's potential as a leader. I believe There are a lot of good cards in the deck, especially enough draw to support this explosive playstyle, also, the leader ability is scary as well. Yet, kind of what we discussed about Trunks in the previous entry, it is hard to figure if the deck will be able to close the deal consistently. Rather, if the opponent will let it happen, as just knowing Ginyu is your opponent is enough to know precisely what is coming.

First, Ginyu will likely need to awaken on its own, as I don't see any non critical leader damage it. Even if there were no battle cards in rest mode, there is a chance not taking the card might be better than giving Ginyu a card and getting him closer to four health. Plus, if we awaken while Ginyu isn't, their leader can't freely attack ours. This is why I feel Frieza (2) will be so important to this deck, as it should help awaken as fast as possible, Recoome not feeling like enough in that regard.

Then, I'm a bit afraid of the match-up against red leader, as Beerus (5) could wipe out our entire board, while other cards should routinely be a two for one. Green and blue should be weaker to this aggressive play style, but they have access to solid blockers, and once awakened, any leader is able to challenge one of our rest card per turn without investing a combo.

I might be too dramatic about Ginyu, and maybe the deck will be fast enough to outpace its opponent before they can stabilize. Still, in the limited playing time we got, it felt like it wasn't so difficult to defend well against super aggressive leaders. Therefor, apart from the OTK potential Ginyu has with its awakened ability, it is hard to picture it as a dominant leader for now.

Goku Black - Blue Tempo

Super Rare Cards or Potential Additions:

The addition of Trunks : Future will mostly depend on how easily we get our Goku Black (6) in play. Then, while we have a Vanilla Goku Black (4) that looks like a staple for the deck, we could add a few Trunks to have more targets for Goku Black (6) ability when attacking.

This is really all this deck is about, getting that big 40,000 power in play and push for the kill using it and the 4-costs it summons. The way to get to deal the first damages to our opponent also looks fairly clear, as our leader possesses the critical keyword, perfect to push for damage before awakening. Defense wise, we can send opposing cards back to their hand in order to limit their development, and we have Bulma (1) to discount our spells for extra support. On paper, the strategy is there, and it makes sense. Then, the real question about this deck is how fast can we create the right situation, which is where the deck might struggle a bit.

Indeed, blue revolves around sending opposing cards back to their hand, a very strong identity in such a fast-paced game, as you don't have so much energy to work with for a large part of a match. Yet, sending cards back in your opponent's hand could also mean giving them more cards to combo with in battle. This really is the key point to determine how strong this deck can be, as we really only have our big cards to threaten an awakened hero, or take care of a big battle card.

Then, Goku Black will need to consistently be able to play its signature 6-cost before turn 6, ideally on turn four, so the game doesn't drag out, especially against a green leader. We have Son Goten (2) to help us awaken, but if we needed more help in that department, then the deck would likely have to get the other super rare blue card (Mai: Future) in order to feel viable. The card makes a lot of sense to play in the deck, and overall looks super strong, but would make the deck much more expensive to complete.

This is the reason this deck is ranked in Tier 2 rather than Tier 1. If the basic build doesn't work out, we might be stuck chasing super cards as the only way to make it stronger, when we already needed one of those super rare cards specifically for this deck in the first place.

Trunks : Future - Blue Tempo

Super Rare Cards or Potential Additions:

As a leader, I think Trunks might be my favorite of the bunch, as it packs a unique and very powerful looking ability. However, in addition to looking like one of the most technical leaders to play, Trunks also lacks a real finisher like Goku Black has. Sure, we have the super rare Vegeta (5) from the starter deck, but it feels like the real win condition for this deck will be generating so much tempo the opponent cannot keep up with it. It might happen, and a couple of Mai: Future early on would Awaken us on turn two, and immediately put us in a commanding lead as we could start throwing everything the opponent plays back to their hand.

In that regard, I'm not doubting Trunk's potential when everything goes according to play. Rather, I'm questioning the reliability of that plan, particularly against a green opponent, as we can only throw back in hand cards worth 5 or less at most. Then, whenever we aren't hitting the super fast start and build a gigantic lead, I'm a little afraid of Trunks ability to scale into the lategame.

Also, I'm a little curious as to how good this play style could be against a red leader, as the power affliction a lot of their cards use could be enough to slow Trunks down. Then, not only bouncing those cards could be detrimental, we also wouldn't be able to build tempo if we did, as just their "On Play" ability would be a pain for our strategy.

I really love this leader's gameplay, so I will very likely go after it early on if I can. Yet, the reason why Goku Black is ranked higher is due to that stronger closing ability with a dedicated card in the deck. Then, while Goku Black will be fine with a contested early game, as it can scale into a great mid-game and bring on the heat with it's signature 6-cost card, Trunks might be force to play very aggressively from the get-go, and take a lot of risks to awaken as fast as possible.

Both blue decks are ranked in the same tier, and just one after another, showing we believe both are good. However, the more demanding deck to play, and the riskier approach Trunks seems to push for might make this one much more difficult to perform with.

Android 17 / Android 18 - Green Ramp

Super Rare Cards or Potential Additions:

Cooler Frieza Clan - Yellow Control

Apart from the fact I really think Critical is better than drawing one for the base version of a Leader, I have a hard time seeing Cooler as anything else but a weaker Freezer. Both leaders share similar synergies, and their decks might end up being fairly close in the end. Yet, while Cooler can attack twice with a 4 or less cost card, which is a shame when I really want to use this ability with Golden Frieza (5), I see Freezer's ability to switch back two cards to active mode as superior. Plus, I don't have to discard in order to activate it.

The one big upside is the ability to get two trades with a 4-cost card the turn I play it. Cooler (4) and King Cold (4), both at 30,000 power look great in that regard. However, I'm a bit worried how fast my hand will melt when I have to discard one per turn, plus maybe use combo cards in order to challenge the 35,000 power cards, the expected threshold for all the 5-cost we get in the starter decks.

Apart from Ginyu, which is doing its own thing, yellow looks like a control synergy, able to force some cards into rest mode, or protect its own from being vulnerable. In that regard, I would look at yellow as a slower red, both looking to dominate the battle phase, but in a different way. First, let me start by saying I find the power affliction synergy in red more appealing than the ability to switch cards to rest mode yellow has.

More importantly, red looks much more flexible, as we can use power affliction in different ways, and especially can get the kill when dropping a card to 0 power. Yellow on the other hand, really can only turn cards in rest mode to set up their trades, but needs to have battle cards to attack still, which looks much slower overall. Frieza at least, can protect two cards per turn with its awakened ability, which should allow for long term planning as we are likely to keep these two cards alive over multiple turns.

In a game as fast-paced as Dragon Ball Fusion World, where cards can attack as soon as they are in play, and plenty have either "On Play" or "When Attacking" abilities. I feel many will be in rest mode already at the end of our opponent's turn, hence why I think the real strength of yellow is to be able to turn its own cards back to active mode, which Freezer does best. Cooler can push an extra attack per turn with a big card, which could serve to dominate the late game through trading high power cards efficiently. Unfortunately, if I want a leader to dominate the late part of the match, I think I'll turn to a green deck, not a yellow one.

Overall, I will say Cooler looks like a balanced leader, with an ability it can use to push for the win, or control opposing cards, and we already have some nice targets for it. Yet, it isn't clicking for me, and I believe a leader with a more committed game plan should do better.

As for the cards themselves, the quality seems to be there, although the super rares seem more necessary for a yellow leader due to more groups existing in this color. With Ginyu Force and Cooler's Armored Squadron in the special traits, yellow has less depth when it comes to replacing a card with another strong standalone one.

Closing Words

Judging the non-starter leaders is probably the hardest part of this new Dragon Ball game, as the beta made it almost impossible to assemble a full deck around one of them. Plus, as we tried to keep it collection friendly, we tried to limit how many the super rare cards were included in each deck.

Overall, while I'm most excited about both Blue leaders, as I really find their mechanic appealing from a gameplay standpoint. Most players in our group agreed the best colors should be red and green, as there have both strong leader abilities, and a clear direction to follow. Blue and yellow on the other hand, look more difficult to master due to their mechanics based on also accounting for your opponent's strategy. In a game where every card can be used as soon as it is played, reactive abilities could struggle a little more compared to more proactive synergies, and our ranking was affected by this sentiment.

I hope this article helped to pick which leader you wanted to go after when the game finally releases. Keep in mind this tier list isn't based on actual tournament data or thousand of games played. Then, if you had a favorite leader, and we ranked it in the lower tier, I would gladly be proven wrong and see a strong deck pop around Android 17 or Cooler.

Feel free to share your ideas, or if your had any question, in the comment section or through my Twitter page.

Good Game Everyone!

The post DBS Fusion World Meta Tier List – Best Leaders and Decks (Open Beta) appeared first on DotGG.

We tried to rank the cards inside each color, but there isn't a ranking from a color to another. They all look cool if you ask me, and reward very different play styles. Another disclaimer, the rarity seems to have quite the impact on the power of a card, and most Super Rare, Secret Rare or even Promos are looking strong at the very least. Then, if you open any of those, they should either make no sense to play in your deck, but this has nothing to do with the power of the power, or very likely deserves a spot. As such, we decided to focus on the other rarities (Common, Uncommon, Rare) to highlight potential gems most players could have access to.

Down the line, or if people were to invest to prepare for a tournament, decks will very likely want four copies of several of the rarest cards in the set. However, we can all figure out that the rarest cards are likely to be the most powerful ones, and represent the cornerstone of a leader's strategy, or maybe multiple decks inside a color. Consequently, let's instead focus on the card every one will have, and which probably serve as tiebreakers when two decks with all the rarest cards face off.

Which are the hidden gems of this first expansion? Let's explore!

Best Red Cards

Son Gohan : Adolescence (FB01-016)

Three energy is still relatively early in a match, a moment when both players are fighting to gain control of the battlefield. Whether you are against an aggressive opponent, which started to attack your leader already with early game cards, or a slower deck you might have to rush so they can't get set, Son Gohan : Adolescence looks like an asset in both situations.

10,000 power might not KO any cards if there isn't a 1-cost card left, but should set up all rest mode cards for easy trades. Plus, as a 20,000 power card, Son Gohan : Adolescence can always just attack the opposing leader, even if awakened.

The only downside of the card, which also possess three different special traits, is its 5,000 power for combos. However, one could argue you aren't playing this card to combo it anyway.

Fuwa (FB01-026)

In Fusion World, you can combo card on the board as long as they are not in rest mode. Then, Fuwa looks like a very simple card to use: pay two energy, KO a card at 15,000 power or set up a great trade on a midrange or big card in rest mode, then simply use Fuwa to power up one of your cards.

It is really simple, but this should be effective against a ton of decks, as the 15,000 power affliction should kill a large variety of 2-costs on the spot, making Fuwa great to seize the early card advantage.

Android 17 (FB01-013)

Early in the match, controlling the trades is key to seize the initiative, and limit your opponent's ability to get set on the table. Android 17 won't be very good at taking out opposing cards, but should be a great protective tool for any of yours in charge of that duty. Particularly if you have cards with "When attacking" or in need of being switch to rest mode to activate their ability.

Another great upside of the card is the bonus not being just for the battle, but the entire turn. Then, once Android 17 blocked one, it becomes a 25,000 power card for anything your opponent might do for the rest of their turn.

Botamo (FB01-026)

I love Botamo so much, I probably would have ranked it first if it was only my biased opinion being reflected here. First, Botamo is one of the few cards you can attack with every turn, either into a rested card, or your opponent's leader, without fearing to open a good trade for your opponent. In a game where building card advantage is so important, a card allowing to be a little careless with your attacks is always welcomed.

Then, Botamo still has 20,000 power, which is the vanilla statistic for the cost, meaning it can trade most other 2-cost cards, even pressure an awakened hero. Sure, the card lost 5,000 of its power for combos, but everything else about Botamo screams a great 2-cost card in any kind of red deck.

Master Roshi (FB01-005)

I tend to give a lot of value to cards which help you awaken, as some leaders are looking to get to four health as fast as possible. Master Roshi is excellent in that regard, as it doesn't need to enter rest mode to trigger its ability and deal that damage to your leader. Then, you also get to use an Extra card for free with that ability, a big help in a game where you don't have so much energy to work with early on. I'd say, until turn four or five, you will find a lot of value in this ability.

Once that phase is over, you can simply use Master Roshi for its 10,000 power in combos, something available at all times, considering you don't have to enter it in rest mode for the ability.

Frost (FB01-25)

This card has a chance to just turn off an entire strategy, as 20,000 means almost every card at one or two energy, and some with abilities at three. If Frost was a Universe 7 card, I would have ranked it even higher, as it would look like a staple in that archetype.

Unfortunately, Frost will have to settle with Beerus or the other Son Goku leader for the time being, and be a solid disruptive card against decks relying on lots of cheap cards they aim to buff with combo cards once they attacked. For example, I could see Frost being an absolute pain for a Ginyu deck.

Best Blue Cards

Trunks : Future (FB01-036)

When looking at the blue cards, there are a lot which seem to be tailor-made for this Leader, such as the super rare Mai : Future for example. Then, I wanted to include Trunks : Future first of the blue cards to note how much I think this leader has potential if we can collect all the cards for his deck. I know it won't be easy as most of the build will have to come out of booster packs. Yet, a lot of things seem to click, and it might be one of the best leader of the expansion once in experienced hands.

Bulma (FB01-057)

The Blue color has Galick Gun, which becomes a free +15,000 power and draw a card with this ability. This is a prime example of how this Bulma can make a blue deck develop even more tempo early on in a match through strong extra cards, which seems to be exactly what Vegeta or Trunks want to do.

The power and combo ability is on the weak side, but as we don't have to get this card in rest mode to use the ability, one trigger and a +5,000 power should be good enough.

Pilaf (FB01-056)

The amount of solid 1 cost cards with the Earthling special trait in blue is way too high not to include Pilaf on this list. Plus, the worst case for this case is to be a one energy, +20,000 power combo as you will just fetch another +10,000 with the ability.

I have a hard time not seeing this become a staple card in several blue decks, considering how important it is to have combo cards available at all times to dictate the battle phase.

Vegeta (FB01-058)

This card might only be played with the leader Vegeta, but it still deserves a spot on the list. At 25,000 power, this is a perfect number to pressure awakened leaders turn after turn, and force the opponent to spend resources into dealing with it, which can open the door for your bigger 5-cost to close the game more reliably.

It isn't a shiny card, but one of the best uncommon cards in the game, especially in a color looking to force the opponent into a fast-paced battle.

Son Goku (FB01-047)

25,000 power for a two cost will almost always force the opponent to expend a combo card to trade into it. Particularly when you are the second player, using your extra energy on turn one for a strong 2-cost with an ability, into this to protect it, should be a great start to a match. I don't know if it will see play if one would have all cards available, but it should be a great inclusion for someone with a limited collection and looking to protect their early cards.

Best Green Cards

Son Goku (FB01-087)

This Son Goku is just everything green wants, at least Son Gohan and Broly as awakened leader. In the beta, this was the best card to find to boost the Broly starter deck, and most players I discussed with said this was the best green card to find in booster. As such, I have a hard time not envisioning this card become a staple in most green decks soon after the game launches.

Trunks : Future (FB01-092)

This card only works with Son Gohan as your leader, but it is difficult not playing it when that's the case. Indeed, if Destructive Strength is considered a strong card for Broly, this is basically a slower version with a 20,000 power blocker attached to it. Sure, the opponent could ignore it and stop attacking for a while, so you don't get the energy, but I doubt anyone, except maybe another green deck, will look forward to playing it slow against Son Gohan.

With that in mind, this Trunks: Future, looks pretty sweet.

Son Gohan : Childhood (FB01-090)

It isn't clear how much we need more health in green, although it's proven to be good against Vegeta in the beta already, but this card also has an Android 16 to synergize with to be replayed from your drop. As such, I could easily see Gohan and Android 16 be slotted in a green deck to be able to counter agressive strategies, while remaining a great synergy against another color hoping to win a late game battle.

There are a lot of expensive cards in green, and we won't be able to play them all in our deck. Still, this one feels like a good one to have at our disposal, especially until we find the super rare ones.

Son Gohan : Childhood (FB01-089)

Five is a very important cost for green, as we usually will look to ramp on turn three, meaning our 5-cost card is in charge of helping stabilize the situation before it gets out of hand. Turless and Son Goku (5) higher on this list should be able to trade a rested card, but likely will still leave at least a card behind them. This Son Gohan: Childhood doesn't give you extra energy, but will deal with the opponent's pressure much better. It probably is weaker against another green deck, but likely a great addition to help against blue or red leaders.

Android 16 (FB01-073)

We know green wants to slow down the pace of the game, and reach the late game as safely as possible. It has been confirmed the super rare card Android 17 / Android 18 being in your energy is enough to make this a 30,000 power blocker, and that card should be simple to slot in most green decks. Then, if Trunks: Future (3) we saw a few spots higher should be stronger with Son Gohan as you leader, this Android 16 likely is your pick when you are playing Broly or Android 17 / Android 18.

Best Yellow Cards

Ginyu (FB01-108)

The Ginyu synergy caught the eyes of many players I discussed with during the card reveals, and that deck probably needs this card the most. Indeed, as an all out aggressive deck looking to swarm the board before it just attacks its opponent on repeat, a 20,000 power, draw a card, 2-cost card is just great value/

Another hint at this card's power, this is one of the very few cheap cards in the game with no combo power attached to it. Most of the time, this treatment is reserved to super rare cards, with an impactful ability.

Bonds of the Ginyu Force (FB01-133)

I thought about including only one card for the Ginyu deck and just say there are plenty of tools indicating there is a reason to believe it can be a thing. Yet, it just felt wrong to keep a card able to give stupid amount of power for just one energy.

Extra cards aren't so simple to leverage in the game, as energy is quickly spent to summon battle cards. This is why we have a red and blue card highlighted as great for their color in this article. Yellow doesn't have a way to make this card free, but the Ginyu deck could very well turn this into a 30,000 power buff, more than enough to justify the one energy paid for it.

Banan (FB01-127)

Frieza's awakened ability is regarded as an extremely strong one when used in the right situation, as controling the trades is key to winning a game in Fusion World. Well, Banan has that same ability, except it needs to target a Frieza's Army card.

Fortunately, this a special trait it possess so it can always use the ability on itself, making it a card which can switch back to active mode at the end of each turn if it attacked. Otherwise, Yellow has a few cards with strong "When Attacking" abilities, such as Golden Frieza, so I have no doubt Banan should find a way to contribute to a Frieza deck just well.

Chilled (FB01-121)

Simiarly to Banan, there seems to be more than enough cards with the Frieza Clan special trait for Chilled to be a good inclusion somewhere. It is hard to figure out whether these power buffs are better during yours or your opponent's turn, especially as the Leader Frieza has to ability to switch cards back to active mode. Still, if one manages to get several Chilled in play, the board could quickly become too big to be traded without the opponent using combo cards in every battle they enter.

Mecha Frieza (FB01-130)

There are two King Cold versions this card can summon, a vanilla with 30,000 power, or a blocker with 25,000 power and a strong ability, meaning there are eight possible targets that should be in your deck. Not only this provides a great duo to take out opposing cards in rest mode, or pressure the opposing leader, it also synergizes with the leader Frieza as you can switch both back to active mode at the end of the turn. Paired with Golden Frieza from the Starter Deck, this should represent a great alternate play on turn five for a yellow leader to use atop its curve.

Sui (FB01-120)

Frieza looks to be a leader with a knack for building card advantage over time, abusing its ability to get much more value from its battle cards. In that sense, the critical keyword seems to make a lot of sense to pressure the opposing leader without giving them cards in the process.

Plus, Sui is a 30,000 power card during your opponent's turn, so it isn't so simple to take out, meaning you don't have to use your leader's ability on it. In that sense, Sui feels like a great standalone card to push the health of your opponent's leader while you can keep abusing the synergies of your other cards.

Closing Words

To be honest, it is pretty amazing how many cards look promising for this first expansion. Already, the Starter Decks looked very decent, particularly if you pick two and get the included super rares in four copies. Then, even if the other super rare cards look very powerful, I think there are some fun decks to be made with the easier cards to acquire. Frieza in particular, has a chance at being a very solid leader with a few of the cards listed in the yellow section. A good news for the color which would otherwise have to wait for a full Ginyu deck, probably a much more expensive acquisition. Speaking of leaders worth taking a look at outside of the starters, Trunks in blue, is a leader I have high hope for, but probably one of the most technical leaders to use properly.

I am extremely curious as to what the game will look like once the card restrictions are lifted, and the first refined decks emerge. So far, it feels like decks might share a lot of the rarer cards early on, and then fill with utility tools based on the leader ability. Still, considering the game heavily rewards the ability to control the battle phase through card advantage transferring into having more combo cards available, this early part of the match based on the cheaper cards could be very diverse from a leader to another.

We have one more article planned to close the beta season, with a theorycraft of a deck for each leader, alongside my own ranking of where I see each leader going into this first set of Dragon Ball Super Fusion World. Until this one comes out, I hope you are as excited as I am for its official release in February. Feel free to reach out for any question you might have, in the comment section or through my Twitter page.

Good Game Everyone!

The post DBS Fusion World Best Cards – Awakened Pulse (FB01) appeared first on DotGG.

Hearthstone Standard Meta Overview

With significant nerfs to Druid, Rogue, and Paladin, the latest patch has crowned Warlock as the new metagame king, dominating most ranks with its Sludge archetype. So far, although Death Knight is showing a lot of promises around the Plague or Rainbow archetypes, Gul'dan has posted a win rate at least 2% above every one else. As such, it feels right to rank the deck alone in Tier 1 after the patch, even if there are several decks potentially able to join it there in the future.

Naturally, having a dominant deck has impacted the metagame, making the decks able to compete with it more likely to do well. Plague Warlock, thanks to shuffling the opponent's deck when plagues are added to it, which messes up the position of the Sludge barrels in the deck. Control Warrior, which has the potential to take enough damage to the face and stay alive. Or Dragon Druide and Mining Paladin, able to develop minions which can sustain those hits, logically follow Gul'dan in the rankings.

The last two in Tier 2 are explosive, combo archetypes able to go off early in the match and outpace their opponent. So far, neither is showing particularly good match-ups to abuse, but their high rolls are looking high enough to post a decent win rate. This is why Demon Hunter and Priest are ranked in the second tier, while Totem Shaman and Wishing Well Rogue, also archetypes hoping for a specific draw, end up in tier three, their consistency costing them.

This return to more high rolls from several decks is due to the metagame being faster since the last update. Plus, Sludge Warlock also punishes many defensive strategies, as you often end up getting blasted by numerous sludge barrels in your hero if you don't seize the board fast enough. Then, apart from Control Warrior, able to build enough armor to stay alive, all the other classes see their faster, or damage oriented archetypes perform best so far. Considering the more value, midrange oriented Druid and Rogue just got nerfed, and the best deck in the format is able to OTK you if they have enough sludge barrels at the bottom of their deck, this is a pretty logical follow-up to the changes in Patch 28.4.1.

Overall, the trend right now should be to quickly get set on the board, and dictate the trades, or when the damage race starts. A few classes are unable to do so, and instead rely on explosive patterns to turn the situation around in one swing, such as Aggro Naga Demon Hunter. Yet, unless you have the ability to remove the opposing board, develop yours, and almost threaten lethal at the same time, this early passivity will often lead to nothing good. Then, except if you are excellent at playing from behind, and able to anticipate a comeback a couple turns ahead, I would stay away from those explosive strategies, focusing on a steady development instead, with a couple of power turns early in the match.

Of course, if you can find a deck able to consistently beat Warlock, you should be able to cruise to Legend. Unfortunately, the best deck against it right now is only 53% favored.

Best Hearthstone Deck for Every Class - Delve into Deepholm - Patch 28.4.1

Impactful, Second Best Decks - Delve into Deepholm - Patch 28.2.3

Disclaimer and Tier Explanations

There are a variety of ways to be informed about the Hearthstone metagame, a logical trait of a 10 years old game. In order to craft this tier list, den, a veteran coach and competitor on Hearthstone, has combined the data available on the popular deck trackers, the opinion of top ranked players about the dominant decks, and its own expertise. He also tested all the archetypes on this list on its way to the legend rank, or once he reached it.

This list should represent the Diamond and Legend ranks pretty well, with the very top of the ladder being excluded. Indeed, once you reach the top of the Legend rank, the game changes and focuses much more on combo and explosive patterns, which require a lot of time to master completely. Then, you will typically see different decks perform at those ranks, or archetypes be built to specifically match the environment of these ranks.

As for the ranks before Diamond, those tend to be more about game fundamentals rather than precise archetypes. One should be able to reach Diamond with any deck on the rankings, as long as they understand the basics of crafting a game plan, seizing initiative, and building momentum to pressure the opponent.

The lists aren't set in stone, particularly the reactive decks, which need to be tailored to your most popular opponent. Often, a proactive deck will focus on its own strengths, leading to a decklist which isn't very flexible once we found the right balance. On the other end, a reactive deck is designed to answer other decks, or trends of the metagame, meaning they have to be adapted to your own environment.

Conclusion

For any question about the rankings, or a deck in particular, feel free to reach out on Twitter. I mostly share Marvel Snap decks lately, but I still love and play Hearthstone daily, I promise.

Good game everyone!

The post Hearthstone Standard Meta Tier List – Delve Into Deepholm – Patch 28.4.1 appeared first on DotGG.

Then, Frieza isn't very flashy as a leader to play compared to Vegeta, Goku or Broly. The vilain doesn't rely on big numbers like Vegeta can, or has the biggest card in the game like Broly. Instead, it relies on an off-tempo type of strategy, which might not be very enjoyable for a novice playing Dragon Ball Super World Fusion for the first time, as it is the most technical of the starter decks.

I have no doubt Frieza will end up being a fine leader to play, and there are plenty of synergies to take advantage of in the starter deck already. It should be a nice pick for players looking for a reactive play style, where you look to deny your opponent's development so they can't get set, and slowly build an advantage as a result.

I'm not sure this type of strategy fits the way they have promoted this "super-aggressive card game", but Frieza remains a leader with a unique ability nonetheless, and could become extremely annoying to face once mastered. It might take longer to become popular compared to the three Saiyans in the other starter decks, but Frieza for sure offers a different way to play the game.

Ready to dive in the most complex starter deck, led by the Yellow leader?

Base Deck and Immediate Improvements

The good thing with Frieza is that a big part of the deck's strength lies in awakening your leader, so you can switch two cards back to active mode per turn. This allows to dictate the trades, and keep your important battle cards away from trouble much more efficiently than any other leader currently. Without this unique ability, I would have quickly dismissed Frieza to be honest, as the other mechanic the deck is built around is to put your opponent's card in rest mode so you can attack them.

Unfortunately, most of your strongest cards to do so are limited to two copies in the deck. As such, Frieza feels like a leader you really want to get two decks for, so you can get all of these cards to four copies, and make your deck much, much more reliable.

Note that there are plenty of strong yellow cards in the booster packs as well, but for the price of a deck, you are unlikely to get eight cards worthy of adding to your deck out of the 32 you will open.

Build With Two Starter Decks

With a more reliable build, Frieza is immediately more annoying, and capable of dominating the early part of a match. In particular, Zarbon and Frieza (2) are clutch with their 20,000 power and their role in awakening your leader. Thanks to a beefier early game, and the ability to unlock your most important ability, your Frieza deck is now a threat against other starter decks.

Your goal doesn't change with more of the good cards, you are still aiming to dominate early in the match, and then be super efficient thanks to switching two cards back to active mode. However, you should create a favorable situation more often, and be able to turn on the heat onto the opposing leader earlier in the match.

Great Booster Pack Cards to Strengthen the Deck

FB01-106 Appule

This is a solid ability to abuse once we are awakened and able to switch it back to active mode after drawing a Frieza's army card. In the end, the game is a lot about card advantage, especially in a disruptive deck.

FB01-127 Banan

The whole point of the deck is to abuse your leader's awakened ability. This card is half of it, and can work on itself if you have no other target.

FB01-136 Supernova

A solid spell to support your push to finish the match. It will both represent a big boost for a trade or a leader hit, while also making sure a card you didn't want to deal with won't act next turn.

FB01-124 Neiz

This is Zarbon (2) except you get 5,000 power more for your combos but can't turn down the On Play ability. It opens playing more cards to help your awaken or just replacing Zabon as you get Neiz.

FB01-121 Chilled

Several copies of this card could push you to play a deck with more "Frieza Clan" cards in your deck, a special trait you already have plenty of in your starter deck. There are a lot to grab in the uncommon cards from the boosters.

FB01-120 Sui

The Critical keyword is a good one for a deck aiming to control the pace of the game. Plus, this card being a 30,000 power during your opponent's turn makes it very resilient until the bigger cards come around turn 5.

Game Plan

I would say Broly is a difficult opponent for Frieza, as their scaling ability is difficult to stop long term. Even in rest mode, their big cards aren't simple to KO so we are very reliant on finding Golden Frieza to stop those from switching back to active mode. However, against decks aiming to dominate through trading your cards in battle, Frieza will quickly be a pain to deal with. Indeed, even if other leaders have access to buffs or debuffs to leverage their trades, Frieza can turn opposing cards into rest mode, or its own back to active mode.

Ideally, Frieza will fight for the lead early on, focusing on the opponent's battle cards first and foremost. Except against a green deck, there doesn't seem to be that much value in attacking their leader except to get a card with our own leader's attack when we have no target available. The goal in this early phase is to gain initiative on the board, so we can start removing opposing cards in rest mode, or have enough tempo to get them in rest mode ourselves. Theoretically, we should take a few hits from our opponent if against a blue or a red deck, so awakening shouldn't be too hard. With two starter decks, our four copies of Zarbon and Frieza (2) will be clutch in that early phase, contributing to both dominating the board, and making sure we awaken by turn four or five.

Once the lead is secured, Frieza appears to be a "shut the door" kind of leader. The villain isn't looking to race the opponent, and would much rather cover every possibility, only attacking with disposable cards, or the two it plans to switch back to active mode at the end of the turn. Then, unless you have a reason to focus the enemy leader, such as beating Vegeta before the repeated 35,000 power attacks gets you down, your focus should remain on their battle cards if possible, keeping your opponent to the bare minimum when it comes to flexibility. As time passes, and you keep abusing your leader's ability, you should see the cards available to both players clearly tilt in your favor. Then, you can rely on Golden Frieza to close the deal, pushing for lethal with its Double Strike keyword.

If you can't find your power card, you probably want to try to maintain that status quo, attacking the opposing leader with enough to set up for the kill, or keep milking them of their combo cards. Except if your opponent is Broly, you don't need high power cards to do so. Indeed, as you aren't in a rush, even attacking with 20,000 power cards will either land a hit, or draw a combo card from your opponent's hand, widening the card advantage gap.

Just make sure you are safe from a potential push from your opponent, which could play a Double Strike of their own, or multiple 2 or 3 costs cards to attack multiple times in a turn. Yet, your deck has many blockers, and the lead in cards available should allow you to just guard against a big hit if necessary.

Closing Words

Frieza can look like a bad leader at first, as you realize the opponent cards can attack immediately after being played, meaning the ability to switch cards to rest mode can often be useless. However, Frieza's ability as an awakened leader might be the strongest when it comes to building your card advantage. Basically, you could see it as having two extra actions per turn, and constantly denying your opponent the ability to pick their trades.

Sure, it isn't as simple to picture as Vegeta just hitting for 35,000 power repeatedly or Broly being the sole 25,000 power leader. However, a more intricate ability typically means a more flexible one, and it precisely where Frieza's strength resides. The ability can be used with Blockers, "When Attacking" abilities or those requiring you to switch the card to rest mode, in addition to simply protecting a card from being a potential target for your opponent.

Then, even if I wouldn't recommend Frieza as your first leader, especially if you have little card game experience, I believe the yellow starter has tons of potential later on, in the hands of a more experienced player. As such, you could see Frieza as a challenge to learn more complex strategies, with a lot more decisions to make during a turn. I'm sure the early losses due to making mistakes will be worthwhile down the line.

I hope this guide was a nice first look at the yellow starter deck. We will have similar pieces for every leader in the game, so you can make an educated choice on which you want to invest into before spending money, or in game currency. I wish you a lot of fun on Dragon Ball Super Fusion World, and feel free to reach out for any question you might have, in the comment section or through my Twitter page.

Good Game Everyone!

The post Dragon Ball Super Card Game Fusion World Frieza Guide: Put Your Opponent to Rest! appeared first on DotGG.

If you aren't familiar with this type of fast-paced card games, where building an early lead is crucial to your success, I think Son Goku will be a great entry point. With this starter, you will be forced to work on card advantage and efficient trading, perfect to hone your skills before getting serious about the game.

Ready to dive into the Red Starter Deck?

Base Deck and Immediate Improvements

Goku has some promising cards in its started deck, unfortunately, it is mostly cards we get in two copies. Indeed, if both Son Goku (5) and Son Gohan (4) possess both a nice key word and a debuff ability, the rest of the deck tends to lack in overall power. It is normal considering the deck's synergy is based around afflicting opposing cards with negative power and buffing ours to dominate the battle phase, but can often be difficult to leverage if we aren't in the lead, and our opponent can pick its battles.

Then, I believe Goku is a great starter deck to understand one of the keys of Dragon Ball Super World Fusion: building card advantage early in the match to dominate battles later on. However, this deck really wants to be improved with a second starter deck, so it can get rid of some fillers, and instead focus on manipulating the power on the table.

Build With Two Starter Decks

With four copies of both super rare cards, Beerus and Krilin to help you awaken faster, Goku's deck immediately feels like it has much more gas to dominate its opponent. Indeed, considering the deck relies on building card advantage through the various buffs and debuffs it applies, having most of the cards with a related ability only as two offs felt awkward.

In this improved deck, Goku mainly gains the ability to really control the board with power manipulation. As such, you can be much more aggressive in the way you control your opponent's development early, with the intent to completely take over when your 4 and 5 costs come around. The extra two copies of Son Gohan (4) and Beerus (3) in particular, are great to bring the pressure onto the opposing leader with their Critical keyword while impacting the battle cards on both sides in the process.

Overall, I would say Goku is worth it if you intend to invest into a second red started deck.

Great Booster Pack Cards to Strengthen the Deck

FB01-001 Son Goku

Changing for other Son Goku leader makes sense if you get it. You should already have plenty of Universe 7 cards from your starter deck and the ability seems easier to leverage as a global buff rather than a once per turn.

FB01-016 Son Gohan : Adolescence

This on play ability is simply too good to pass on. It will KO a lot of cheap cards in the game you didn't take care of previously, and give you great trading ability into the other cards.

FB01-005 Master Roshi

This card will help you awaken really fast, which is something you want to do, no matter the Goku leader you are playing with.

FB01-004 Whis

Basically the on play ability of the Whis in the starter deck, but this once can be used every turn. Plus, you have a stronger trading ability, at the cost of less combo power.

FB01-013 Android 17

Very solid blocker with a good combo power in case you wouldn't need it. There isn't much to criticize about this card apart from the base power.

FB01-032 Tournament of Power Arena

This card is basically the starter Goku awakened ability for two energy. Play it early and you get a free 5,000 power up every turn for the remainder of the game.

FB01-026 Botamo

20,000 power which can't be removed in battle can represent a ton of value through the course of the match.

Game Plan

Goku doesn't really have a preferred style going into each and every game, and will adapt to its opponent. Against a Vegeta, which is faster and more focused on damaging your Leader, Goku will adopt a defensive play style, and look to remove their battle cards first and foremost, to limit how many hits you have to defend against every turn. On the other hand, Goku doesn't want to enter a long battle against Broly, as the power debuffs won't be effective enough when the big cards come around.

The cards used in each match will be the same, but depending on your opponent, you might use those for aggressive purposes. Against some, Son Gohan : Adolescence (4) and Son Goku (5) will have their ability used to open more opportunities to target the opposing leader and limit how much trading the opponent can do during their turns. If the opponent is faster than you, you will focus on their Battle Cards, using debuffs to leverage your trades, and build a commanding lead on the board before you start focusing on their leader.

Speaking on the opposing leader, Son Goku has access to a decent amount of battle cards with the Critical keyword, which is another to control the pace of the game. Ideally, you would want to attack the opposing leader with those, while the others are on trading duty. This isn't a hard rule, but card advantage is key in Dragon Ball Super World Fusion, so you should definitely try to leverage everything in your power to limit how many your opponent has access to, except if you know the late game won't favor you even with more cards available.

Closing Worlds

I really like Goku as a starter, especially if you don't have much card game experience, because the mechanics in that deck emphasize on trading efficiently, knowing how power thresholds work, and identifying the right targets to focus. Then, although I believe Goku might not be on the same level as a Broly or Vegeta, at least until you collect certain cards from boosters, I consider it the best to get started in Dragon Ball Super World Fusion for someone without prior card game experience.

Overall, I would say Goku is a bit more difficult to play compared to some other starter, but it also has more flexibility to it, especially when it comes to the battle phase. As such, if you like the play style and are ready to invest a bit to upgrade the deck, you should have a good time playing the red leader.

I hope this guide was a nice first look at the red starter deck. We will have similar pieces for every leader in the game, so you can make an educated choice on which you want to invest into before spending money, or in game currency. I wish you a lot of fun on Dragon Ball Super Fusion World, and feel free to reach out for any question you might have, in the comment section or through my Twitter page.

Good Game Everyone!

The post Dragon Ball Super Card Game Fusion World Goku Guide: Ideal for Beginner’s Development! appeared first on DotGG.

So far in the Dragon Ball Super Card Game Fusion World Open Beta, it seems like Vegeta is a bit of a problem for Broly, as it represents that early, smash-mouth strategy you would want to avoid. However, the other two starters, Goku and Frieza, don't look anywhere near fast enough to prevent Broly from getting to its late game cards. Especially once you play with a deck made of four copies of the best cards from the starter deck, Broly feels like a well-rounded machine, with three different synergies clicking perfectly together.

Early on, you will use Paragus and the Shamoian cards to block damage coming in from your opponent, and safely gain energy on turns three and four. Once you are past your most vulnerable time, the fun can begin. You will be slamming cards with so much power, the opponent will often be forced to ignore them, and just rush your leader in hope to end the game soon.

If you enjoy a midrange play style, a few synergistic combos and slamming the biggest numbers the game has to offer, you have picked the right starter in Broly.

Base Deck and Immediate Improvements

Broly pushes for a specific gameplay, aimed at delaying the match until it can reach enough energy to simply take over and dominate with cards too strong for the opponent to handle. Broly : BR in particular, can be considered the best standalone card in the game at this point, and will regularly win the game if you manage to stay afloat until you can play it.

Unfortunately, this kind of strategy is looking for a very reliable deck, which the starting list doesn't necessarily provide. Then, buying a second Broly starter deck will make a ton of difference already.

Build With Two Starter Decks

Once you have four copies of every card, the deck becomes much stronger at the two things it aims to do: gain energy and slow down the match. Indeed, with four copies of each Paragus, you are already in a much more comfortable situation to slow down the early portion of the match through summoning plenty of Shamoian. Then, you are also incredibly more reliable when it comes to finding Turles and Broly : BR, both cards in charge of turning the match around after your ramp phase. In particular, this will make the choice of which card to place in your Energy area, a key part of this deck, less of a headache. Indeed, with four copies of each of your most powerful cards, you can use one for energy early on without fearing your late-game might be ruined as you won't find the other copy.

The only debate here would be whether to use only two Raditz, the card being used to fill the last two slots, or balance it with Moah, to have a stronger trading power early on. I could definitely see both cards played three times, or even reverse their split if you face a lot of aggressive decks and want a 15,000 power card to threaten your opponent's early development. Also, Raditz has a 10,000 combo power when Moah only provides 5,000, so both cards have their upsides.

Great Booster Pack Cards to Strengthen the Deck

FB01-087 Son Goku

With this card in play, Broly's awakened ability has no downside, and you have a free 30,000 power hit every turn with your leader. Plus, it fits the intended curve of playing Destructive Strength into a 5-cost card.

FB01-082 Android 19

I really like Angol as the Critical ability denies cards from the opponent when their leader gets hit. Yet, Broly wants to focus on battle cards first and foremost, so finding a card which can scale into the later part of the match makes more sense.

FB01-093 Trunks : Future

Exactly the same idea we covered with Android 19 except we have a great card to attack rested Battle cards early, but won't be able to pressure an awakened leader late in the match.

FB01-090 Son Gohan : Childhood

Broly's only concern in the game is to lose before it can get set. Extra life can always help in that regard. There is a whole synergy around Son Gohan : Childhood and the Androids but it felt like too many cards to collect to include here. Still, this could be a nice standalone to round out the deck.

FB01-089 Son Ghan : Childhood

Another solid 5-cost to consider in the deck, but to control the field rather than ramp this time. The great upside of this card is that you will play it on turn four if you used Destructive Strength, meaning you could destroy the 4-cost your opponent just played.

Game Plan

Broly is all about dominating the late game with bigger cards than its opponent, which can attack without fearing to be in Rest mode during your opponent's turn. Plus, with a 25,000 power awakened leader, Broly is a little bigger than everyone else, representing another advantage late in a match.

The most important part of Broly's game plan is to figure out how to safely get to a time when you can slam Broly : BR and such cards, which your opponent will get tired of really quickly. Most of the time, when you start playing your big bombs, the only way out for them is to target your leader and try to finish the match as soon as possible. Then, in order to get ready for this last offensive, we need to have a couple of key points in mind through the whole match:

• Awakening is a significant part of Dragon Ball Fusion World, except for Broly, who loses the ability to draw a card in exchange for the added power. You could awaken for the extra energy you get from it, but slowing the game down will also get you that energy naturally. Keep in mind that Double Strike exists, and some colors have access to battle cards with 25,000 power for just two energy, so they could play several in the same turn late in the match. Then, awakening can be more of a detriment rather than a benefit with broly, a leader looking to just get into the late game.
  Ideally, you want to awaken and then be in a position to stop your opponent from freely attacking your hero anymore. Aiming to awaken around the time you will play your 5-cost card seems like a good balance, this will get you immediately to eight energy (Turles adds an energy, awakening is another one, plus the energy phase next turn). Until you are comfortable balancing your leader's health and your need to draw cards, I would recommend adopting a defensive mindset early in a match.

• In addition to awakening your leader, Broly also has no benefit helping the opponent awakening theirs. As such, unless you only have their leader to attack, and really want that extra card from your hero attack, I would suggest you refrain from dealing damage to your opponent's leader until you have the game under control. Basically, you aren't really trying to beat them, just create a situation they have no possibility of winning because you have more cards, bigger battle cards, and more energy to work with.

You might have guessed it by now, the green starter is all about keeping the opposing battle cards in check, building its own side of the field, and protecting Broly himself from the few lethal attempts from its opponent. Then, although you can play Broly as a basic ramp deck, gaining energy to race up to five, and then eight for your big bomb. The next step would be to know how much power the opponent is likely to attack you with, or how many attacks are on their way when they are coming for the kill, and prepare adequately.

Amongst the four starters, I would say Vegeta definitely is the hardest one to contain, as their leader will hit you for 35,000 power every turn once they awaken. However, Frieza should be much easier to go against, as it also focus on a defensive strategy, which you can safely ramp against early on.

Closing Words

Broly represents an archetype we all know, from Druid in Hearthstone, to Electro in Marvel Snap, or Elves in Magic the Gathering, ramping to slam big cards on the table is a basic of the card game genre. While it isn't necessarily my favorite way to play the game, I do see a lot of upsides to starting your Dragon Ball journey with Broly.

First, this leader has a clear goal of outlasting its opponent to make the match about who gets the bigger cards, a fairly simple way of playing the game, perfect for a beginner. Plus, Broly also relies on a key mechanic of the game: card advantage. Indeed, as you aren't trying to kill your opponent anytime soon, you will focus on the cards they can play and how to protect yours. Then, playing Broly will teach you how to manage your different resources efficiently to reach your goal, from your leader's health, to removing an opposing card, or using your combos at the right time.

Overall, Broly is neck and neck with Vegeta to be the best starter you could pick early in Dragon Ball Super World Fusion. Considering both have a very different play style, you can pick entirely based on your own preferences.

I hope this guide was a nice first look at the green starter deck. We will have similar pieces for every leader in the game, so you can make an educated choice on which you want to invest into before spending money, or in game currency. I wish you a lot of fun on Dragon Ball Super Fusion World, and feel free to reach out for any question you might have, in the comment section or through my Twitter page.

Good Game Everyone!

The post Dragon Ball Super Card Game Fusion World Broly Guide: The Late Game Machine! appeared first on DotGG.

During the first few days of the beta, Vegeta has been my favorite leader to play with, and the deck felt great as soon as I got two of the starter deck to get four copies of the important cards. From that point on, even if there were some rarer cards I wish I had, I was able to play a cohesive, well-rounded deck, focused on awakening fast and pressuring the opponent constantly.

In this presentation, I'll try to give all the tips I learned for the starting blue leader, and help you understand how to build, improve and play a Vegeta deck.

Base Deck and Immediate Improvements

Vegeta's Starter Deck easily is one of the best ones to start with, as you already have four copies of an excellent card: Son Goten (2). However, if the deck can benefit from the limits of the other starter decks to rush them down early, it is a different story once they have access to stronger cards early in the match.

As such, I would highly recommend purchasing a second copy of the Vegeta Starter Deck, so you can have four copies of the other important cards, Vegeta (5), Gotenks (4), Trunks: Youth (2) and Galick Gun.

Build With Two Starter Decks

With four copies of all cards available, the deck already packs a much bigger punch, and will be able to focus on two types of cards:

1. Those aimed at beating down the opposing leader, which is really what this deck aims to do. Both Son Goten do an amazing job until they awaken, as the 15,000 power threshold is enough to win the tie, or force some combo cards out of their hand.

Once awakened, we want to switch to cards such as Trunks: Youth (2), Son Gohan: Adolescence and cards at 25,000 power or more in general. Vegeta (5) will be our finisher, which we can drop and massively buff once the opponent has two health points remaining.

2. Cards with a 10,000 combo power, to make sure we can control the battle phase, the core of this deck's strategy. Here, Gotenks (4) is key to grab Son Goten and Trunks back in hand, providing 15,000 to 20,000 power worth of combos when played. Galick Gun will also shine in that phase, as the card can be used during both player's turns, and once we have four or five energy, it is pretty simple to keep one up, unless we went for the kill with Vegeta (5).

This is also why we have four copies of Gotenks (3) and only two of Son Goku (4), as 25,000 is often enough to pressure an awakened leader, and the saved energy can be a Galick Gun later on. If you look at the deck, the only cards with 5,000 power as combo is Trunks: Youth (1) which helps with draws plus functions with Gotenks (4), and Son Gohan Adolescence, a 35,000 power attacker for three energy. Also, that second card will typically be one of our first cuts once we collect cards from boosters to keep improving the deck.

Great Booster Pack Cards to Strengthen the Deck

FB01-047 Son Goku

25,000 power and the Blocker ability is massive to protect our cards with attacking or "Your Turn" abilities, such as Son Goten (2), Trunks: Youth (2) or Son Gohan: Adolescence. Plus, we can also use it to protect our leader in matches against another aggressive deck. The only downside is the 5,000 combo power.

FB01-052 Trunks : Youth

Another Trunks: Youth we can use alongside Gotenks, and it helps us awaken as well. This card should be a great replacement to Bulma in the deck, or to Trunks: Youth (1) if you don't feel like you need the draw and would rather awaken faster or get a 10,000 combo card instead.

FB01-067 Black Kamehameha

A good way to protect your important cards for cheap late in the match, while also scanning your deck to find the perfect card for the coming turn.

FB01-060 Vegeta

Critical is a nice ability to have in a deck looking to beat the opposing leader quickly. The combo power is lower than the vanilla Son Goku (4), but the ability should be worth it.

FB01-056 Pilaf

A cheap Gotenks (4) if you will, as it allows you to get Trunks: Youth (1) or Son Goten (1) back in hand to get more card to use for combos. Pilaf also works very well with Bulma so you have a blocker every turn to annoy your opponent, great to buy yourself time while trying to focus on the opposing leader to end the match.

Late in the match, just play this before attacking, and use it as combo to boost your card once you got the draw, or consider this a 20,000 combo card as you can just pick up another 10,000 power with it.

FB01-058 Vegeta

An aggressive deck doesn't like having its cards taken out while they rest. Well, this one solves the problem, and has enough power to pressure an awakened leader as well. Definitely would play it instead of Son Goku: Adolescence.

Game Plan

When playing with Vegeta as your leader, your goal should be to end the game around turn six to eight, with an even more aggressive mindset against a leader like Broly, with a great late game potential. Most of the time, you should aim to be pushing for the win with a Vegeta (5) on turn five or six if things went well, a turn later otherwise. Thanks to the double hit, you only have to set your opponent's leader to two health before you can go for the kill, denying them to draw one of their health cards in the process.

Energy wise, we are aiming to get to five, possibly six if we want to have a spare energy for Galick Gun or another cheap spell. Above that number, you need a specific reason, such as completely dominating your opponent in the card advantage battle, and setting up to play lots of 2 and 3-costs to push with next turn. As for cards, you should use as energy, I tend to throw Vegeta (5) early as we definitely don't need the four copies to close a game. The spells which aren't Galick Gun if I can't picture using them in the near future, or intend to save energy for spells in that match-up, can also go. Past this logic, you should drop cards you don't see as important in the match for energy. If you got to a hot start and should easily deal the early damage to your opponent, sacrifice cards will less than 20,000 or 25,000 power, which can't pressure an awakened hero. If you are still early in the match, and plan to win going wide on the board rather than having a few high power cards, then prioritize your high cost battle cards, preferably those with 5,000 combo power for energy.

Timing wise, you are trying to deal damage in chunks, rather than give your opponent cards regularly. If they don't have any Battle cards for you to attack with your leader, I like to think drawing and dealing one damage is better than the card you give them, and they might use a combo card to save the health, meaning you got a card and they lost one. Otherwise, we are trying to give them the smallest possible window with their leader awakened. Then, while it is fine to get them down to 5 health, you want to directly aim to set them at 2 past that number. This gets them in range of your Vegeta (5) or to try two big attacks with your leader and another card.

Speaking of your leader, you want to awaken as fast as possible with this deck, as Vegeta hits like a truck once flipped. Then, abuse Son Goten (2) and Trunks; Youth (2) to get your life down to four early, and let your opponent hits get through if that can help as well. Plus, you get cards to use as Combo, or to keep gaining energy.

If you manage to end the game by turn seven on average, you will have drawn around 18 cards from your starting hand, natural draw, and leader attacks. These extra four to six cards you can get from loosing health are immense to support your momentum and make sure you don't run out of steam. Don't worry about the requirement of having 7 or fewer cards in hand, you can also use cards as combo to protect your important battle cards to get cards out of your hand, or just attack with more power.

Closing Words

I would recommend Vegeta for most players with little or no card game experience, or those who enjoy a fast-paced strategy, and bringing the heat onto their opponent. On average, my games with Vegeta have ended around turn six or seven. The key revolves around taking the lead in the first three turns, pushing your opponent to use their combo cards in order to build some card advantage, and then aggressively go for the win before they can leverage their awakened leader for too long.

In that sense, Vegeta the leader feels very true to the manga character, as it tries to dominate, constantly push its opponent to be on the defensive, and capitalizes on any little mistake they could make.

I hope this guide was a nice first look at the blue starter deck. We will have similar pieces for every leader in the game, so you can make an educated choice on which you want to invest into before spending money, or in game currency. I wish you a lot of fun on Dragon Ball Super Fusion World, and feel free to reach out for any question you might have, in the comment section or through my Twitter page.

Good Game Everyone

The post Dragon Ball Super Card Game Fusion World Vegeta Guide: The Best Starter Deck! appeared first on DotGG.

In this first Open Beta, we are only playing to test the waters, as no progress made there will transfer to our account when the full game releases in February 2024. However, it is great to have a feel of the game mechanics, both to know if we’ll enjoy it, but also to be able to get further in the learning curve once we’ll play for real.

In order to help you with this process of learning the game, I compiled some advice I think everyone should know to play the game for real. In other pieces, we’ll talk about the various starter decks, which cards are the most important for each colour, or even the game economy. There is also a friendlier piece for card game beginners on this very website, in case Dragon Ball World Fusion would be your first card game.

Yet, until we dive into more intricate topics, let’s focus on the game fundamentals, and the little tricks you need to know to have a great start to your Dragon Ball World Fusion journey !

Games are very short-lived

When you start a match and see each leader have eight cards representing their health, you could believe this is going to take a bit before any side is put in a precarious situation. You probably want to reconsider that thought.

First, you will almost always want your Leader to awaken in a match, meaning you’re almost happy to lose the first four of your life points. Also, it gives you extra cards to play with, so really, it’s almost like you want to play in the danger zone rather than stay at a high health total. There are cards with the ability to draw a card from your life, that should tell you how flexible that resource can be considered.

Moreover, because the tie goes to the attacker, it is often better to just take a hit than use cards to dodge one attack, especially early in the match. Plus, most leaders have the same thresholds of power, meaning, when you attack the opposing leader to get the “draw one when attacking” ability triggered, they won’t block it early on, especially if they aren’t awakened yet.

Lastly, your cards have nothing to fear when attacking, as a bigger defender will just block, but not damage your card. With all those upsides to being the attacker rather than defending yourself, a game of Dragon Ball Fusion World will typically see both players use their cards proactively, and fight for the right to decide how cards can be used. Once a player is in the lead, the game can end in just a couple of turns.

As such, I would encourage you to see a game of Dragon Ball World Fusion through the spectrum of having 4 health only, and a couple of turns to set up early in the match. Indeed, you would much rather awaken fast, and get some extra cards to use to keep your momentum going, rather than run out of resources and still have your Leader at full health.

To give some perspective, even when playing against a Frieza or Broly, two leaders with long term synergies attached to them, I still have to see a game go past the eighth turn playing the beta. In particular, leaders ability when awakened will push for the game to speed up and make it impossible to defend against everything. This game is built to be a race, with an aggressive mindset being rewarded as long as you have cards to support it.

Cards are the key to everything

I feel like I already touched on this point in the previous section, and it's probably obvious in a card game, but let’s make sure we are all on the same page: You really want cards more than anything else in Dragon Ball Fusion World.

Not only are cards the warriors you summon to attack your opponent, you also have to place some in your energy zone, while using others to buff the ones in battle. Then, even if the game gives you two cards per turn through your draw and your leader attack, you can quickly run out of steam if you use them carelessly.

In the first part, we already touched to how awakening early can be beneficial, as it represents a way to power up your leader, and get extra cards to work with in the process. In this section, I would like to extend this concept to looking at the game from a card management standpoint.

If you pressure your opponent with constant attacks, they will have to spend cards for combos or accept losing the ones you target. If you use cards with the “Critical” ability, they won’t draw when you damage their leader. If you clear their battle cards rather than attacking their leader, you remove their choice to take the hit and draw a card. If you are going to awaken the opposing Leader, make sure you planned to transfer to 20,000 power cards, otherwise you won't be able to pressure anymore, and just gave them four additional cards to work with. There are plenty of areas where you can get an extra card, prevent your opponent from getting one, or pushing them to use some. Leveraging those through the course of the match will often be how you build your advantage, and get to dictate the pace, and the result of that game.

This logic also works if your opponent tries to finish the game quickly. Having more cards available means being more flexible on defense. You would then be able to combo cards to protect your Leader if you feel the game can end soon, or the important battle cards you built your strategy around. In the long run, this card advantage will transfer to having more cards available to use for combo, meaning you can dictate the results of the important battles, both on offense or defense.

Some decks will focus on aggressively targeting the opposing Leader, but I would likely wait until you get to collect more cards, and build a well-rounded list before you focus on just your opponent's leader. Until we can stop playing with improved starter decks, it seems that you really want to focus on winning the card battle early in the match. Once in the lead, you will have plenty of opportunities to switch to a more aggressive mindset and push for the win. However, even if you have six health on your Leader when the opponent has only four, I guarantee you the amount of cards in hands and on the board is a much better metric to know who is in the lead.

Know the important power thresholds

Dragon Ball World Fusion gives the tiebreaker to the attacker, meaning if two cards with similar power are in battle, the one who declared the attack takes out the other. Knowing this, You can force your opponent to pick either to lose a battle card, take a hit on their leader, or spend a combo card from their hand with a card of similar power as your target.

Early on, this creates some important power thresholds which one should be aware of:

• 15,000 is the power of most leaders before they awaken. Then, you can pressure the early phase of the match with 1-cost battle cards, tying with the opposing leader. However, this also means any leader can attack those cards while they are in rest mode.
• 20,000 is the power of most leaders once they awakened. This represents the power of a 2-cost vanilla card, meaning you don't have to play super expensive cards to force a response from your opponent. Same as with the previous point, this also means the leader will be able to attack those cards while in rest mode.
• Vanilla cards start at 15,000 power for a 1-cost and get 5,000 per extra energy they require. Most abilities will be paid with a decrease of 5,000 power to the card.
• Combos cards can grant 5,000 or 10,000 power. This means you force at least two cards from your opponent if you attack with 10,000 more power than your target, as you would win the tie if they only used one +10,000 power. The only exception to this rule are Super Combo cards, worth 20,000 power on defense.

Depending on your strategy, you could build your deck to match the expected power of the opposing leader, which is pretty low compared to most cards at three or more energies. Then you probably would have an aggressive deck, with low cost cards constantly looking to harass the opponent leader, and require them to use combo cards to stay alive. Otherwise, you could build a deck with the intent to dominate the battle area, meaning you would need to have cards your opponent can't take out easily, while you can attack theirs when they are in rest mode without investing too many combo cards every time.

Sequence your turns properly

Sequencing your turn, and your attacks in particular, is absolutely key to building that so important card advantage. Indeed, through the tresholds we just discussed, and the abilities of various cards, or the impact of certain keywords (double strike, critical...), different sequences of attacks will have completely different results. Also, as you can mix your attacks and when to play your cards during your turn, you can often start with an attack, check how your opponent reacts to it, and then decide which card to play next.

Another finesse of the game if the fact ties in battle go to the attacker. Then, you can force the opponent to use combo cards early on,

For example, if you attack the opposing leader before their rested battle cards, you potentially give them a chance to draw a card, which they can use to protect themselves from your next attack.
In the same idea, a double strike, or a critical attack to your opponent's leader won't have the same impact as one without either keyword involved.

A prime example of a missed opportunity would be to attack with your 20,000 power battle card first, and awaken the opposing hero in the process. Then all your cards with 15,000 power have no shot at dealing a damage, or forcing a reaction from your opponent unless you invest a combo card first.
If you attacked with your 15,000 power card first, you would have the flexibility of picking what to do with your 20,000 power afterwards:

• If the opponent defends against your hit and stays at 5 health. You could decide not to awaken them at all, and target a rested battle card, or keep your card active so it can't be attacked during your opponent's turn.
• If the opponent decides to take the hit, then you can try to get them to 3 health immediately, as they are awakened anyway, so might as well keep the pressure on.
• Doing so, you also get the information of whether the opponent wants to awaken or not, which might impact your decision as to which cards you will play during your turn.
• Once they awakened, the opponent will care less about your 15,000 power cards, as they can't tie with their leader. As such, having your 20,000 power card in rest mode rather than your 15,000 power one can be beneficial to them, as this is the card they might want to take out.

Combo power is extremely important to gauge a card

A card has four important areas you need to look at in order to assess its usefulness. Three of them should be easy to understand if you have ever played another card game, the energy cost, the power, and the ability. We discussed the power threshold in the previous section, so unless the ability brings some substantial value to your deck, you should know which power to expect based on the cost of the card. As for knowing whether the ability itself is a good one, this is entirely based on your strategy, and your popular opponents.

Already, I could understand how being able to throw opposing cards back in hand, in their deck, or switch to rest mode could be valuable, as it messes with how the opponent uses their energy. In a game as fast as Dragon Ball Fusion World, denying the opponent a couple of energy already can create quite the gap for the rest of the match. Blocker, Critical and Double Strike are also good keywords, particularly as the game progresses, and it can force the opponent to overreact to a unit with one of those attached.

However, a part of a card I overlooked at first is their combo power, as this will heavily impact the value of the card outside of being played. For example, spells are very cheap in this game, and tend to be super effective in the right situation. Unfortunately, because they hold no combo power, you can also be stuck with a bunch of spells in hand and watch one of your important battle cards be removed as you couldn't defend it. On the other hand, a mere 1-cost which has no point being played late in the match, could be worth a ton if it becomes a bonus 10,000 power to save another card, or push for a Leader hit.

In that sense, Dragon Ball World Fusion pushes us to look at cards not only from the perspective of their usefulness when they are in play, but also when they aren't. How flexible is a card if the situation I envision for it doesn't exist ? Sure, you can always throw it in your energy area to pay for other cards. Yet, there must be a reason why we are only allowed to have four super combo cards in our deck. My logic is: because they are pretty good at what they do. Then, once you are looking for the best finishing touches to your deck, and look for cards you will not often play as battle cards, pay close attention to which combo power it holds as 0, 5,000 or 10,000 can make a world of difference to save the cards you are confident you want as the core of your strategy.

Know when to stop placing cards in your Energy Area

As a follow-up to the importance of the Combo power we just discussed, and looking at the game as a card management battle first and foremost, the energy area is an important mechanic. Indeed, while you are forced to sacrifice cards to build your energy bank early on, the late-game is a completely different story. Then, a card you place in that area is one you won't play, or more importantly, use to power up another one. As such, it is crucial to know how much energy does your deck need to function, as each one extra could have been a bonus 5,000 or 10,000 power down the line, saving a card or pushing an attack.

Once again, this aspect of managing your cards gains importance as the amount of cards we have reduces. Then, building an early lead can tilt the balance in our favor, push the opponent to invest more into staying afloat, ultimately leading to them not being able to place cards in their energy area while we can still afford it.

Because cards can have different functions in this game compared to those where you energy builds itself turn after turn, you can use the energy area as another component of your strategy. Some decks will aim for a specific energy number and then stop no matter what the situation is, while other will have more expensive cards, and their importance in that specific match will dictate how much energy is necessary.

Closing Words

Dragon Ball World Fusion is still super young, but has a lot of players with solid card game experience giving it a try. In that context, I hope this article can help a few people get a better grasp of which mechanics to focus on early in their experience.

In case this piece felt a bit too complicated, or Dragon Ball was your first card game, I have another piece in the work with some beginner friendly advices and play-patterns you can rely on.

Until then, I hope you're having fun on this new game. Feel free to let us know which topics you would like us to cover in the future, or ask any question you might have in the comment section.

Good Game Everyone!

The post Dragon Ball Super Card Game Fusion World Strategy Guide and Basics You Need to Know! appeared first on DotGG.

In this article, I'll do my best to guide you through the basics of the new Dragon Ball Super Card Game Fusion World (currently in Open Beta). We'll go from covering how the game works, to the proper way of building a turn, or touch the important mechanics specific to this card game. Lastly, we'll also discuss how to use your gems in the store to get started during the Open Beta, so you quickly have a solid playable deck.

So, you have been in love with the Dragon Ball franchise for years, and this led you to test this new game, but you can't figure out its intricacies? You're in the right place.

Game Rules

Also, if you haven't yet, check the game's official introduction and rules page which is full of important information.

Your Goal in the Match

A match starts with each leader at eight health, and the goal being to get your opponent to zero before you get there. Then, we could sum up Dragon Ball Super Card Game Fusion World as a race where each player's finish line is the opposing leader being out of health. Here are a few rules to have in mind regarding that race:

• The game starts with each leader already in play, and each player draws six cards, which they can decide to keep or change once at the start of the match.

• A player can use two types of cards in their deck. Battle cards are characters you will send into battle, while Extra cards are spells and other support cards, mostly used to impact the characters on the field. Your Leader can be considered a Battle card, as it can attack or be attacked just like any other character on your side of the field.

• To use their cards, each player needs to pay some energy. You can add one card, any you like, to your energy Area per turn, in order to pay the cost of your other cards during the first phase of your turn. There is no limit to how cards can be used in a turn, as long as one can pay the energy cost for them.

• A card is available to use as soon as it is in play. Then, once you paid its cost, you can immediately attack with a character or trigger its ability if you wish to do so.

• After you have utilized a card, it will go into "rest" mode, meaning you cannot use it for the rest of the turn. Also, it makes it vulnerable to an opposing attack while it is in rest mode. The leader is always a valid target for an attack, you could consider it permanently in rest mode.

• In order to damage the opposing leader, or take out a character in rest mode, you need to attack it with more or equal power than it has.

• When you attack a target, you can boost the power of your card using the "combo" value of your other cards, typically 5,000 or 10,000 power, during your offense phase. The opponent will be allowed to do the same boosting of their card during their defense phase. Boosts will disappear after the battle has happened. If the same card is attacked twice during the same turn, it will have to be boosted again.

• When an attack succeeds on a battle card in rest mode, that card is KO'd and taken to the drop zone, which you can consider the game's graveyard. When an attack succeeds against the opposing leader, they lose one health point and draw the card which represented it.

• Leaders will get stronger once they reach 4 health, as they unlock their "awaken" form. They will get a new ability, and have a higher base power from this point on.

In that race, you have several ways to emerge victorious, as you don't have to see it as a sprint to the finish line. That is a possibility, represented by aggressive decks, which will aim at attacking the opposing leader most of the time, looking to pressure the opponent, and keep the game short, as their late game potential is limited.

However, you could also build a deck based on controlling the field, and look to take out any character your opponent gets in play, while you protect your leader from their attacks.
In the end, your goal is to get to the finish line before your opponent, whether you do it because you are very fast, or make them very slow, is up to you.

Phases in a Turn

There are three main phases to a turn in Dragon Ball Super Card Game Fusion World: Charge, Main, and Offense.

• The Charge Phase happens at the start of each turn, you are allowed to place one card in your Energy area. You can place any card there, and it immediately represents one extra energy available. You can decide to not place any card, but cannot place two during the same Charge Phase. Looking at the current impactful cards in the game, it seems like aiming for at least five energy is the minimum for most decks. Above that number, each strategy is different based on the cards they wish to play.

• The Main Phase is your turn, which you can organize as you wish. You can attack, play a card, trigger an ability in any order you like. For example, if your leader draws you a card upon attacking, you could start your turn with a leader attack, so you would see what that extra card is to decide what to play next. On the other end, you are also free to use all your energy immediately and then proceed to attacking your opponent's cards.

• The Battle, or Offense Phase starts whenever you declare an attack against an opposing character or leader. Then, the game will ask you about specific "When Attacking" abilities and if you want to power up your card before locking in your attack.
  During your opponent's turn, you will get a Defense phase, which starts once the Offense one is completed, where you can power up your card if you want to save it from the attack.

One of the key points in this game when it comes to building a turn is to abuse the flexibility you have to attack at any point during your Main phase. This means you can attack with a card already in play, and then spend energy depending on how your opponent reacted to your offense. You can sequence your attacks various ways, depending on if you want to lead with your big card, to push your opponent to spend cards on defense immediately, or start small, and maybe get them to use a card they would have needed for your bigger threat.

At first, it is completely fine to focus on the basics, and just follow a basic pattern of dropping a card for energy, summoning new characters for battle, attacking your opponent. As you get more comfortable, feel free to throw a few twists in and there, just to see how your opponent reacts to them.

Building a Deck

The last thing you need to know in card game, is how to build a deck. Don't worry, we aren't going to go into all the intricacies of deck building and the little details of refining a deck over several days of testing. Instead, let's just discuss the key points, which are good to know even if you end up copying a deck online:

• A deck shall have 51 to 61 cards in Dragon Ball Fusion World, made of your Leader and 50 to 60 Battle and Extra cards. For consistency purposes, I recommend always running 51 unless you have a specific reason to do otherwise. It will improve your odds of finding the cards at the core of your strategy.

• Your Leader will determine the color of your deck, and the cards you should include in it. Down the line, I wouldn't be surprised to see multicolored decks emerging. For now, let's just stick to playing cards sharing the same color as our Leader.

• You can play up to four copies of the same card in your deck. Here is an easy-to-understand rule to know how many copies of a card you might want in your deck:
  • 4 copies = Want to find it every game, important to your deck's strategy, or easy to recycle for another one.
  • 3 copies = Want to find it in most games, solid card in your deck's strategy.
  • 2 copies = Good utility card, or specific help for a popular opponent.
  • 1 copy = Situational card or specific help for a popular opponent.

• Consider the fact a card can have multiple uses. It can be played for its cost, placed in the energy area, or used as a power up to combo with another card in battle. Then, you could include very situational, or expensive cards in your deck, even in multiple copies, as they can be disposed of easily if their effect isn't useful at the time.

• When in doubt in between two battle cards, the Combo power is a good tiebreaker. Indeed, a 10,000 power bonus will always be a better support compared to a 5,000 one.

• Spells are cheap, but cannot be used as Combo to buff other cards for free. Then, you should always have more battle cards than spells in your deck, as these are more flexible to use. Plus, Battle cards have abilities, which can often replace spells while providing a character to use in battle.

• You will draw quite a lot during a match, then, finding a card you included in three or four copies should be quite routine.

Just like the gameplay, feel free to test various things.

Awakening Your Leader

One of the biggest mechanics in this new Dragon Ball game is the ability to awaken your leader, exactly the same as Goku transforming into its Super Saiyan form.

When your leader reaches four health, you will unlock the ability to "flip" it, meaning turn the card to its other side. Typically, this means a stronger card, with both more power and an improved, or different ability compared to its base form.

While you might think this awakening is a synonym of being in trouble, as you already lost half your available life points, you should quickly realize it actually is a win condition for most decks. Indeed, not only did you get four cards for the four hits you took to awaken, you now have a stronger leader and an ability worth building your entire strategy around. Then, you might actually be fine if your opponent attacks your leader early in the match, and you will find yourself playing cards with the ability to damage your own leader as well.

If we take this Son Goku for example, awakening your leader provides a boost of 5,000 power to all your cards with "Universe 7" in their traits during your turn, powering up your offensive power a ton. As such, a lot of decks in Dragon Ball World Fusion aim at awakening their leader quickly, and then pressuring the opponent with the unlocked potential. The important part of that plan is being able to protect your leader from this point on.

Drawing Cards

As we just explained, awakening your leader is very powerful, and typically propels the game into the real part of the race for the win. At that moment, both decks have reached they full power, and losing several life points in a turn is entirely possible, especially if you lack some combo cards, or defensive spells.
With that in mind, it is important to control our card usage, and income during the match, especially during the first part, while both players are still early in their development.

Then, you should focus on what is called "card advantage", meaning you are looking to build a bigger reserve of cards than our opponent. In order to do so, we can draw more cards than they do, hence why we are fine taking a few hits on our leader to awaken it, as we also get some cards in the process. We can also remove the cards they have in play, as this will be less to deal with later on, when we'll push for the win, or push the opponent to use combo cards early in the match to protect themselves from our attacks, which again, they won't have when we'll push for real later on.

The ultimate goal here is to control who is ahead when it comes to the ability to buff cards during the battle phase. Indeed, considering you can give a bonus 5,000 or 10,000 power for the cost of a card, but no energy, the more card a player has in hand, and the more potential bonuses they are holding. Then, if you manage to create a big card differential during the early stage of the match, you should be in a prime position to dominate the Battle phase when it really matters, once leaders are awakened, and both players are going for the kill.

With more cards, you will attack for higher totals, and have the ability to buff your leader or important battle cards when they are targeted by an attack as well.

Mastering this part of the game will elevate you from being a beginner to a good player in no time.

Spending Gems in the Store

Alright, we have covered the important topics when it comes to playing Dragon Ball Super Card Game Fusion World, so let's discuss how to quickly get enough cards for a playable deck. There is a simple way to do so: buying the same starter deck twice. Let me explain.

When you start the game, you will get a ticket for a starter deck of your choice amongst the basic four and a stack of gems to use in the store. While you could use these gems to purchase boosters, where you will get various cards, and some really cool ones you can't get in starter decks, the ideal deal is to use 400 gems on the same starter deck you already used your ticket on. Doing so, you will have four copies of all cards in that deck, and can build a solid deck immediately, as the best ones only come in two copies.

Here are two cards you might want four copies of in the Vegeta blue deck for example, but will only get twice in the starter deck.

This 5-cost Vegeta will be your finisher with its Double Strike ability. Considering it already has 15,000 power more than most awakened leaders, you can easily buff it out of range and hit like a truck to finish the match.

Gotenks is great to get cheap cards back, which we can use as combos to power up our cards in play. Together, Son Goten and Trunks: Youth represents a bonus of 15,000 to 20,000 power to any of our offense or defense, perfect to be sustainable in the most contested part of the match.

The risk with this strategy is to invest into a leader you don't enjoy playing with. Then I would encourage you check out some content, or read about each starter deck's strengths and weaknesses before committing most of your early days resources. During the beta, One could easily purchase four starter decks in the first two or three days, meaning you could get two leaders with solid decks almost immediately.

If the same mission and login rewards are offered when the game launches for real, I have no doubt this should be the best way to quickly be able to craft an enjoyable, kind of competitive deck until you find the rarer cards in a booster pack.

Closing Words

Dragon Ball Fusion World shares some game mechanics with One Piece TCG or even its ancestor, Dragon Ball Super Card Game. However, if you haven't played any of these two games, or possess an extensive card game background, I completely understand how the first few hours on the game can feel like a complicated riddle. I hope this little guide could help you get started with the game, and contribute to making the experience as fun as possible.

If you would need any help, feel free to drop your question below, and we'll do our best to help out. If you wanted more advanced tips about the game, we also have an article about those, and plenty more are being worked on as well.

Good Game Everyone.

The post Dragon Ball Super Card Game Fusion World Beginner’s Guide and How to Play appeared first on DotGG.

Hearthstone Standard Meta Overview

The Mini-Set didn't bring a lot of new archetypes, rather support to several doing well already, which looks like it widened the gap between the top and the bottom classes. Paladin and Druid in particular, have looked absolutely insane early after the mini-set, using the mining package for Uther, while Malfurion is happily abusing Pendant of Earth and Shattered Reflection in various archetypes.

However, if these two heroes already were dominant before the mini-set, and only got stronger with the new cards, Warlock and Warrior look significantly better now. For Gul'dan, we could explain this through getting two new direct damage tools in the mini-set, Trogg Gemtosser and Chaos Creation. With these additions, the deck can play much more aggressively, knowing it can close the match even if the board is lost, a much more difficult task to accomplish before the Mini-Set.

As for Garrosh, it is the only class using a new archetype, Highlander Warrior, pushed by the new Brann, expected to be a powerhouse when revealed, and living up to the hype so far. The deck looks like a control build, but becomes a very midrange-y kind of deck once it triggers every battle cry twice for the rest of the game.

So far, these four really are the dominant ones if we look at Hearthstone from a general standpoint, but combo-oriented archetypes are able to compete when checking the top of the Legend ranks specifically. Then, even if ranked in Tier 2, Mining Rogue and Aggro Naga Demon Hunter seem to have the most potential to join Tier 1 in the near future. As for Plague Death Knight, the deck isn't including any new card, and often feels outpaced by its opponent whenever it can get a great start into a match. Then, even if the deck still holds a decent place in the metagame, the archetype might be on the downfall as we speak.

In the tier below, Hunter and Shaman are also suffering from the new tools they got not making much of an impact. While we could expect this for Hunter, which saw the Arcane build overtake the Highlander deck, Thrall received several promising cards, but doesn't seem able to incorporate them well into its signature archetype. As it stands, the Highlander Shaman deck looks fairly similar to what it was before the mini-set came out, except various other decks have progressed, and are now faster off the gate, or able to pressure almost indefinitely thanks to cards like Topior or Brann providing an insane amount of value. If Thrall was to find a list able to compete, I have no doubt Highlander Shaman could reach the tier above, but the list able to do that is still up in the air as we speak.

In the last group, Mage and Priest simply look like the mini-set had no impact on them, with both classes struggling to make an impact as a result. Mage was decent as long as Shaman was around to provide a good match-up. In this different metagame, Jaina doesn't really have that opponent it can counter, and it immediately shows on its overall performance. As for Anduin, Naga Priest was solid into Druid before the mini-set and might still be, but that is about the only upside currently for Priest. Then, the class logically went back to its aggressive archetype in Undead Priest. Note that Automaton Priest wasn't so far behind, even if both archetype were below the 50% win rate threshold at all ranks.

Best Hearthstone Deck for Every Class - Delve into Deepholm - Patch 28.4

Impactful, Second Best Decks - Delve into Deepholm - Patch 28.4

Disclaimer and Tier Explanations

There are a variety of ways to be informed about the Hearthstone metagame, a logical trait of a 10 years old game. In order to craft this tier list, den, a veteran coach and competitor on Hearthstone, has combined the data available on the popular deck trackers, the opinion of top ranked players about the dominant decks, and its own expertise plus tested of the archetypes on this list.

This list should represent the Diamond and Legend ranks pretty well, with the very top of the ladder being excluded. Indeed, once you reach the top of the Legend rank, the game changes and focuses much more on combo and explosive patterns, which require a lot of time to master completely. Then, you will typically see different decks perform at those ranks, or archetypes be built to specifically match the environment of these ranks.

As for the ranks before Diamond, those tend to be more about game fundamentals rather than precise archetypes. One should be able to reach Diamond with any deck on the rankings, as long as they understand the basics of crafting a game plan, seizing initiative, and building momentum to pressure the opponent.

The lists aren't set in stone, particularly the reactive decks, which need to be tailored to your most popular opponent. Often, a proactive deck will focus on its own strengths, leading to a decklist which isn't very flexible once we found the right balance. On the other end, a reactive deck is designed to answer other decks, or trends of the metagame, meaning they have to be adapted to your own environment.

Conclusion

For any question about the rankings, or a deck in particular, feel free to reach out on Twitter. I mostly share Marvel Snap decks lately, but I still love and play Hearthstone daily, I promise.

Good game everyone!

The post Hearthstone Standard Meta Tier List – Delve Into Deepholm – Patch 28.4 appeared first on DotGG.

Hearthstone Standard Meta Overview

After a patch which aimed at reducing how strong Paladin was, a class which had three different archetypes with very similar concepts amongst the best in the game, the Hearthstone metagame feels a little more open lately. The road to legend remains dominated primarily but proactive, tempo oriented decks, as Treant Druid took over Paladin, but the Aggro build remains very solid nonetheless. Also, both classes have other builds well positioned as well, with Dragon Druid and Earthen Paladin, both stronger if you see a lot of defensive decks, looking to run you out of resources.

The most interesting part of the metagame concerns Tier 2 decks, with seven classes, and a lot of different synergies being featured. Most of them are building towards tempo, and trying to control the board to limit what the opponent is able to develop, but the key element is the engine of all those decks which are totally different.

Atop Tier 2 are Highlander Hunter and Naga Priest, two decks with the ability to deal a lot of damage out of nowhere if you give them a little too much room to play with. Hunter will be particularly effective against slow to develop archetypes, particularly if they don't have a lot of healing at their disposal. While Naga Priest on the other end, could be considered a midrange killer, as the deck will punish any build unable to deal with a big minion. Druid, in particular, is kept in check by this deck.

Behind them is a trio of control oriented decks with Highlander Shaman, Plague Death Knight and Rainbow Mage, all three based around stopping the opponent's momentum, and taking over as the game progresses. Shaman could be regarded as the control deck of the metagame, looking to slowly take over the game while the opponent cannot close the game and runs out of cards to pressure with. Death knight is the counter to the Highlander synergy through the Plagues you shuffle in the opponent decks. Last, Mage is more of the all-around reactive build with an OTK to close out the game, but the nerf to Inquisitive Creation has hurt the deck's momentum earlier in the month.

Closing Tier 2 are Rogue and Warrior, both classes rocking decks with great highs but devastating lows. Then, depending on the quality of your draw, you might be playing one of the best decks in the game, or one struggling to do anything for the first four turns. If you enjoy combo, or very synergistic builds, however, you should have a blast piloting these two archetypes.

Amongst the struggling classes, we have Demon Hunter and Warlock, which are mixing aggressive and high synergy concepts, but fail to impose their will on most opponents. Indeed, whenever they fall behind early in the match, they have to spend their damage into the opponent's board, which limits their ability to close out the match afterwards. They aren't necessarily far behind the other nine, which is a great sign for the overall balance of the Hearthstone metagame right now, but consistency seems to be the key to be considered a great deck right now.

With that crucial requirement in mind, it seems logic to see aggressive, low curve decks dominate soon after the patch, as they are much more likely to get what they need early in the match. Once in a dominant position, they put the responsibility on their opponent to find a way out of being bullied by a flurry of Treants in Druid, or divine shield units in Paladin. However, if any of the decks in Tier 2 manages to stop these two in their tracks early in the match, they can then impose their rhythm, and typically out value their aggressive opponent quite easily. Then, it feels like the difference between a Tier 1 and Tier 2 deck is mostly based on being reliable over large sample sizes of games.

Overall, it seems like most classes have a shot in the current environment, but all of them need to work towards quickly establishing themselves, or preventing the opponent from doing so. Then, once in control of initiative, there will be many more opportunities to leverage your synergies and force your opponent to play around what you could do, instead of the other way around. This is particularly important considering there aren't any specific tech card to edge against a variety of match ups so far, as the diversity of archetypes reduces the impact of these cards. As such, strong fundamentals are your best ally in order to perform in Hearthstone right now.

Best Hearthstone Deck for Every Class - Showdown in the Badlands - Patch 28.2.3

Impactful, Second Best Decks - Showdown in the Badlands - Patch 28.2.3

Disclaimer and Tier Explanations

There are a variety of ways to be informed about the Hearthstone metagame, a logical trait of a 10 years old game. In order to craft this tier list, den, a veteran coach and competitor on Hearthstone, has combined the data available on the popular deck trackers, the opinion of top ranked players about the dominant decks, and its own expertise plus tested of the archetypes on this list.

This list should represent the Diamond and Legend ranks pretty well, with the very top of the ladder being excluded. Indeed, once you reach the top of the Legend rank, the game changes and focuses much more on combo and explosive patterns, which require a lot of time to master completely. Then, you will typically see different decks perform at those ranks, or archetypes be built to specifically match the environment of these ranks.

As for the ranks before Diamond, those tend to be more about game fundamentals rather than precise archetypes. One should be able to reach Diamond with any deck on the rankings, as long as they understand the basics of crafting a game plan, seizing initiative, and building momentum to pressure the opponent.

The lists aren't set in stone, particularly the reactive decks, which need to be tailored to your most popular opponent. Often, a proactive deck will focus on its own strengths, leading to a decklist which isn't very flexible once we found the right balance. On the other end, a reactive deck is designed to answer other decks, or trends of the metagame, meaning they have to be adapted to your own environment.

Conclusion

For any question about the rankings, or a deck in particular, feel free to reach out on Twitter. I mostly share Marvel Snap decks lately, but I still love and play Hearthstone daily, I promise.

Good game everyone!

The post Hearthstone Standard Meta Tier List – Showdown in the Badlands – Patch 28.2.3 appeared first on DotGG.