Over the weekend, my partner and I had the amazing opportunity to participate in a learn-to-play beta-test event for the new Dragon Ball Super Trading Card Game (DBSCG) series “Fusion World.” Hosted by Dragon Eye Gaming (DEG) at the Paramus Park Mall, we were given demo decks of 30 cards and a single-player playmat in order to start our journey into the game.
The demo decks feature alternative artwork from the cards that will be used when the game officially releases. While some were upset that they cannot use these alternative decks once the game releases, I saw it as a card collector’s dream to possess the beta-test version of the game.
So, real quick, you might be wondering what I’m talking about. With almost every trading card game, a deck of cards usually consists of 60 cards. However, for this specific event, we were given decks of only 30 cards so we’d merely be able to try out the gameplay. My partner picked a demo deck based around the prince of the Saiyans, Vegeta, and I picked the lovable, naive hero, Goku.
The goal of “Fusion World,” much like many other games, is to take your opponent’s life. Each player will start with eight “life cards.” Their mission is to use their leader, battle cards — supporting characters — and extra cards — special moves — to blast away all eight. Once you run out of life, you lose.
We were there for about an hour playing a couple rounds of the game, and it was exciting to see lovable characters thrown into battle. My joy only increased when I realized that my deck featured Android 17, my favorite Dragon Ball character. Unfortunately, I lost both rounds, but it was close both times with my partner and I being knocked down to our last couple of life cards.
It was a lot of fun, and once we finished, we were able to get another demo deck for filling out a survey, thus creating two whole decks of 60 cards to play with at home. However, who knows how long we will be playing with them as DBSCG “Fusion World” is releasing in just a couple weeks.
On Feb. 16, my birthday, DBSCG will be releasing four “Fusion World” starter decks simultaneously. People will be able to choose between Goku, Vegeta, Broly and Frieza, or they can just buy all of them like my partner and I are planning to do. In a way, it’s like a little gift for me.
Plus, the first booster pack “Awakened Pulse” will be released on Feb. 23. This will give players an opportunity to supplement their decks as they desire or potentially collect rare cards. Then, on top of both of those releases, the digital version of the card game will be released around the same time and feature animations of the characters performing special moves as people play with others from all around the world.
It felt so official being able to participate in the event and watch the process of a new game being released. Aside from the event, merely going to DEG was cool as I had never been before. The store had a bunch of banners and flags, some featuring other trading card games like “One Piece” and “Pokémon,” and a wall of shelves with various Pop figurines. My favorite feature, however, was the collection of eeveelutions, different forms of the Pokémon Eevee, standing on a high shelf behind the counter looking over the store.
I’m excited for the full game to be released and to finally destroy my partner… in game, that is. Especially with the characters being released. I’ve already heard really cool things about Broly’s deck and I personally find Frieza to be a funny character, so I’m curious to see what his deck is about.
This game is really compelling and fun, so I highly recommend that people give it a shot if they can, especially those who are already into trading card games. While most of my experience is with the Pokémon trading card game, I might have to add this one to the list.
pbortner@ramapo.edu
Featured photo submitted by Dante ReGelo
