DBZ CCG Guide Part 2

Part 2: Card Explanations

Here's a quick list of the different kinds:
Personality, Mastery, Physical Attacks, Energy Attacks, Combat, Non-Combat, Dragonballs, Drills, and Allies.

I know that seems like a lot, and it kind of is lol. If you've played other CCG's or TCG's before this should be easier for me. Personally I play Yugioh, so certain aspects of the game were easier to pick up. Anyways, I'll give an example of each kind of card, and hopefully explain them in a way that's easy to understand.

Personality: http://client-cdn.crystalcommerce.com/photo/socalgaming/file/ecc408d8df2cba6939a3269da4fed069/large/161-31.jpg

Personality cards commonly start with the characters name, followed by some arbitrary title. The number at the top left is your current level of personality. So this is Frieza's first personality.

The numbers on the right are called Power Stages. There are 10 total power stages, 11 if you include 0. Generally, the higher power stage you are, the stronger you are, and the better off you are during a duel. And yes, stonger characters have bigger numbers, and therefore can do more damage with certain kinds of attacks.

Look a little below the middle of the card: I believe the big number you see yet again relates to the personality level, but it's not super relevant. Pay attention to the text: every personality card has a specific Personality Power. Power stages are not the sole thing you want to pay attention to. Whatever that special power is can determine what kind of strategy you want to use for your deck, and how well you can do in a duel.

So for Frieza specifically, his first personality allows him to do a little more damage with all energy attacks. It's not exactly wrong to think that higher levels of personalities have better effects, but you'll see that certain kinds of effects are much better than others. For example, Guldo's personality power is a physical attack, that if successful, can add physical attacks he's already used back to his hand! (I'll explain this in a more technical way later.)

Mastery: http://client-cdn.crystalcommerce.com/photo/socalgaming/file/6e8173d9b5089970b6257319c2d90844/large/Red-Style-Mastery-Foil-Limited1.jpg

In the DBZ CCG, many of the cards are associated with a certain color class, or species. There are 6 different styles to choose from: Red, Blue, Orange, Black, Saiyan, and Namekian. A card with any of these styles as the first word of its name is a part of that style.

Similar to your personality cards, any Mastery cards you have are put into play at the very start of a duel. They aren't required to play the game really, but all Masteries give you a specfic strategy to aim for. You can play only 1 type of Mastery in any given deck.

To have a Mastery, you must declare what's called a Tokui Waza. It's actually not important to remember that name really, but you must follow this rule: you can only have 1 style of card in a deck to play a mastery. So if you wanted to play Red Style Mastery, you cannot play any cards that start with the name of any of the other 5 styles. Also, you must play at least 1 card of that style: for example, in your 50 card deck, you can play 49 cards that belong to no style at all, but at least 1 out of the 50 must be a Red card.

Again, Mastery cards aren't required, but they certainly give you an advantage. For the example above, you can gain at least 1 anger each turn! I guess the only drawback is, to maximize the strength of your Mastery card, you need to play many copies of cards of your style. So if I wanted to ensure that I get the most anger every turn, I would run plenty of Red style cards in my Red Mastery deck.

Some masteries have effects that just apply to any cards of their style, but for our example, it must be played during Combat. Well then, let's tackle this mystery, and get into the Combat cards!

Physical Attacks:  http://www.danlaufer.com/DBZ/Saiyan/007.jpg

Notice the name at the top: it's just a random attack name... and not even from the show! Just random words honestly lol. Also, the picture is of Raditz's face; the aesthetic of the cards rarely serve much of a purpose. But look in the very middle of the card: that tells you exactly what type of card it is. Additionally, the lower half of the card is what's really, really important. Reading cards carefully is the only way to play this game properly.

All physical attacks do what's called "power stages of damage". In the real life game, you're given what's known as the Physical Attack Table, which when followed properly, should determine the way to inflict power stages of damage to your opponent. I believe it's programmed automatically in the video game; I have no idea how accurate it is.

When you or your opponent reach a power stage of 0, any additional inflicted power stages of damages will turn into life cards of damage. So if your card would do 5 power stages of damage, and your opponent only has 4, then they'll lose all 4 power stages, and additionally lose 1 life card.

It's important to maintain your power stages as much as possible, because it both determines the damage of your physical attacks, as well as how well you can take your opponent's physical attacks. As stated when I described Personality cards, the higher power stages you have, the stronger and better off you are in a duel. In this game, it comes to a point where if the difference between your power stages and the opponent's is large enough, one of you won't inflict any regular damage with physical attacks at all.

It can feel a bit unfair at times honestly, but makes sense. If you're at 2 power stages, and your opponent has 10, you probably aren't strong enough to damage them very much, if at all. To bring this concept further, weaker characters can't do much regular damage against stronger ones; take for example, Guldo vs. Goku:

Guldo: http://www.oocities.org/torontomapleleafs2/dragonball/personality/villians/guldo1.jpg
Goku: http://assets.catawiki.nl/assets/4/9/d/6/9d6c0fe0-13e0-012d-c5d4-0050569439b1.jpg

Guldo's max power stage is 50,000, while Goku's max is 1,000,000! So since Goku has high power stages, someone like Guldo can't really hurt Goku with any regular physical attack, just because Goku is so much stronger.

So how would Guldo damage Goku at all? In terms of inflicted damage, it's important to note the effect of whatever card you're using. In addition to what the Physical Attack Table would determine, a card will commonly state how many power stages of damage it can do. With the above example, the text says: "Physical Attack doing +3 power stages of damage if successful."

The only way a Guldo could really do damage to a Goku, is if he lowers Goku's power stages to about 0. So for a Guldo, or any weaker characters, it's important to read the effect of a physical attack, and see how many additional power stages it can inflict on an opponent. Having 0 power stages is pretty bad actually, as you can inflict no regular damage on an opponent! So if your physical attack doesn't state that it does any set power stages of damage, your attack will basically have "no effect". If both you and the opponent have 0 power stages, than you'll each do 1 life card of damage with any physical attack, on top of whatever set amount of damage that specific card has.

Going back to our example, the "+3 power stages" part means that you do 3 additional stages of damage, along with the natural damage determined by the Physical Attack Table. I'm sure the "if successful" part might be puzzling, but basically, if your opponent doesn't play any effect in response to your attack, you then can inflict damage. Hopefully this doesn't sound too strange if you've played another CCG or TCG before.

To finally wrap up this explanation of just one card lol, the last part of the text says "Raise card user's anger by 1 level." Regardless if the attack is successful, or does any damage, you gain 1 anger level from this card; I'll explain the anger mechanic when we get to the breakdown of a duel. But again, carefully read your card's effect to determine how it works.

This has been a super long explanation of physical attacks, but it's important to understand them, as they should be the majority of the type of cards you should run in your deck. They are certainly the easiest cards to play, and lead to winning a duel in the easiest fashion. Whew... let's finally move on to a different card.

Energy Combat: http://chameleonsden.com/products/items/dragon_ball_z_ccg_game_card_red_energy_blast/Dragon_Ball_Z_CCG_Card_Red_Energy_Blast.jpg

Unlike physical attacks, energy attacks will always do 4 life cards of damage, unless stated otherwise. Many energy attacks will state a specific number of life cards: for example, they may say "Energy attack doing 'X' life cards of damage"; the attack won't do any additional damage than the stated amount.

As well as doing only life cards of damage, energy attacks also cost 2 power stages to perform. This means that, every time you use an energy attack, you lessen your power stages. If you have 1 or 0 power stages, you cannot activate an energy attack. This rule is a big reason why you should have far more physical attacks than energy, as the latter are generally harder to play.

Going back to our example, this card's first sentence simply says "Energy attack.". So this card will only do 4 life cards of damage, if not blocked by some effect. What makes this card interesting is the rest of its text. On activation, before the attack would do any damage, you would remove an ally card, or drill card from the game. These types of cards will be explained in a bit. Also with this card, you get to raise your anger by 1. Fun card right? Let's move on to Combat cards:

I'll show 2 different Combat cards, as there are various kinds. They aren't as straightforward as Physical or Energy attacks, so it's important to read their effects.

1st: http://client-cdn.crystalcommerce.com/photo/socalgaming/file/bc7617d464902b0b505e6713d09e3955/large/090-7.jpg

Combat cards are, by definition, played during the Combat phase. For some, you would use them similarly to how you would use a physical or energy attack, except that they don't do any damage. Generally though, you simply apply their effects, based on the text of the card.

For the first example, it says that you can stop a physical or energy attack. You wouldn't use this card like an attack, but rather, choose to use this when your opponent would use an attack to inflict damage. This is one of the cards that I said can "block" attacks earlier. So if an attack has some effect that says "if successful", then cards like these can stop that effect from happening.

The last sentence says "discard from the game after use". I'll cover it more later, but I'm sure you're wondering, "Where do these 'life cards' go when you inflict damage?", or "Where do my cards go after I've used them?". The answer is the Discard Pile. So as you use your attacks, when all their effects have applied, and you've inflicted damage, you put them in the discard pile. And yes, all life cards of damage would go to the discard pile too. So if you win by survival victory, you've probably sent the majority of your opponent's cards to the discard pile.

Now then, the "discard from the game" means that this specific card does not go to the discard pile. Sounds confusing I know, I'll explain! It basically gets removed from the game. As you play, you'll see that various effects apply to the discard pile. Remember when I mentioned Guldo, in that he can get back cards he's already used? To be more specific, if his attack isn't blocked somehow, he'll be able to add 2 cards from his discard pile to his hand... scary! You might want to hold on to something like Mother's Touch if you go against him. To add on to the "removed from the game" mechanic, it's basically a clause that prevents cards from being abused in such a manner. So something like Mother's Touch won't hit the discard pile if played in Combat (it will go to the discard pile if sent straight from the life deck via damage some attack).

2nd:  http://client-cdn.crystalcommerce.com/photo/socalgaming/file/9099988602043c23c2067904dd07cdee/large/203.jpg

This card should be simple to understand, and is also much more powerful. You play this card during combat, like a regular attack. But instead of damage, you basically end combat immediately, or basically end the current turn and move on to the next one, where both players draw 3 cards and start all over again. I'll go into more detail on the "hold extra cards" part of the effect later on.

Next are Non-Combats, fun! :(

Non-Combat: http://www.danlaufer.com/DBZ/Saiyan/023.jpg

For these types of cards, and every other type I'll cover from here on, you want to put them play them during the Non-Combat Phase. You see, after you draw your 3 cards for the turn, if you are the turn player, you have a phase where you can put any Non-Combat cards in the Non-Combat zone. It's a straightforward prompt you'll see in game. If it's not your turn, or if these types of cards are not already played into a Non-Combat zone from previous turns, then you cannot activate their effects. This goes the same for Dragonballs, Drills, and Ally cards, which all have their own specified zones. Basically, if you draw these cards on the opponent's turn, they serve no real use to you :( Just to note, the turn player gets to play the first card during combat.

In place for being a bit more difficult to play than all other types of cards introduced before, Non-Combats have a variety of powerful effects. If played in a Non-Combat zone in the appropriate phase, you can activate their effects just like you would an attack or regular combat card. So for the above example, if played in a zone, you can activate it during Combat to raise your anger by 2, move cards from your discard pile to your life deck, and then finally remove it from the game.

It's best to not run a ton of Non-Combats, or many of the following types cards I'll mention. Although their effects may be helpful, the fact that drawing too many at once can be detrimental on the opponent's turn make them risky. Let's move on:

Dragonballs: http://retrodbzccg.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Earth-Dragon-Ball-4-Alt-Art.jpg
(This card is gonna look a little different in the video game, but its name and effect are the exact same.)

Yep, the individual Dragonball cards all have their own effects you can use. Most of them are actually quite powerful; a game rule is that you can have up to 1 copy of each Dragonball card in your deck. Yet another reason why the Dragonball victory is so unlikely lol. Also, only 1 copy of each Dragonball card can be played between both players. So let's say both you and your opponent play the same Dragonball cards, and they play a specific one first. If you later draw that same one, it can't be played at all :(

Unlike regular Non-Combats, a lot of the Dragonball cards have certain effects that activate immediately when played during the Non-Combat phase. So for the above example, once put into play, you will immediately gain 2 anger levels. Regardless, you can only activate any of the various effects of a Dragonball card one time. Dragonball cards always stay in play as well; most other cards go to the Discard pile at some point, but the Dragonballs are the exception (as well as your personality and Mastery cards).

An interesting rule with Dragonball cards is that, if you inflict 5 or more life cards of damage, you can take a Dragonball card from your opponent's side, and place it on your own side. I guess this was made to make the Dragonball victory more likely, but it's only relevant for a few of them. For the above example specifically, if it's played on your side, it can skip your opponent's Combat phase! So it would be nice to have this on your side before your opponent can use its effect lmao. (Quick note: if its effect is used, and you later steal it, you won't be able to use its effect, since it's already been used before during the game.)

Drills: http://retrodbzccg.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/151-Orange-Joint-Restraint-Drill.jpg

Drill cards usually serve as boosters of some kind; their effects are more to give you some type of advantage. Most often, rather than being cards you play in Combat like an attack, Drill cards' effects just kind of apply when needed. So whenever the condition is met to use their effects, you're able to use them at the appropriate time of play. So for this example, every single physical attack you use will do 4 more power stages of damage. Drills can be very strong!

What's important to note for Drills is that they are sent to the discard pile when you gain a personality level. So if you have an anger based strategy, you want to be careful in how you plays these types of cards.

Allies: http://client-cdn.crystalcommerce.com/photo/socalgaming/file/564dd309b4e1ed8371857cce27f7ba00/large/173-31.jpg

Yep, you can have other DBZ characters in your deck as well! Ally cards are simply personality cards that aren't your own. Heroes can only play with other heroes, and villains with other villains. So you can't have Goku in your deck if your main personality is Frieza; they wouldn't get along too well (yeah I'm that corny :)) What's interesting is that both Piccolo & Vegeta can count as either side, so anyone can have those 2 as an ally. Quick note: While playing the game, when you duel against these 2, they'll be the opposite side of your personality. So if you're playing as Frieza, both Piccolo and Vegeta will be heroes.

You can only play personalities up to 2 levels lower than your highest personality level: so since your highest level is 3 among any of the characters you start with in game, your allies can only be level 1 personalities. You can play any number of ally cards you like.

Two interesting mechanics with allies are:
1. You can have your Ally's personality take power stages of damage instead of your own.
2. You can "tag out" to your ally card(s) during combat if your power stages are 2 above zero or below.

The first one is pretty nice, in that if you want to preserve your main personality's power stages, you can simply choose to inflict damage on your allies. However, if you allies power stages go to 0, you would still take life cards of damage from attacks. Or, if you would prefer to have your allies' power stages be higher, you can simply take damage yourself, then choose to tag out during your move to use their power stages.

Also with tagging out, you would be allowed to use any personality power your allies have. So if your ally's power is an attack, once you tag out to them, you would be able to use that attack as your own. Honestly... I think this is one of the cooler ideas of the card game. I dunno, playing as Goku, and having your allies in Gohan and Krillin, taking on your opponent playing as Frieza, with maybe Captain Ginyu and Zarbon as allies sounds pretty sweet in theory lol. But I'll say this now: it's not planned to ever run an ally in your deck. They just aren't all that helpful; it's nice to know how they work though if you see them used by your opponents in-game.

And with that, that's about all I have to say about the different cards in the game! Took a long damn time, I know. In the next part, I'll try to breakdown how a duel goes in the DBZ CCG.