Hey everybody, DBM here and today I’ll be giving you my top 10 picks from the Frieza Saga. Just like with the Saiyan Saga, the cards on this list are in no particular order. These cards are the ones that, in my opinion, had the biggest splash on the tournament scene over the life of the game. Some of them are even staples today. You might not agree with all my picks, and that’s okay! Make sure you sound off in the comments section below.
The reason Flavor Flav always carries a clock.
10. Time Is A Warrior’s Tool
What can I say about the card that has been more of a staple than any other card in the game? Even if a rookie was untrained in the art of Trunks Energy Sphere, they would still run this card. And you can’t ignore one simple, awesome fact – It’s a common.
9. Vegeta’s Jolting Slash
I remember abusing the crap out of this card for a very long time. I ran 3x at Worlds 2001 in Piccolo The Trained Orange, and then it found its way into PTT Namekian in 2003. I see people still running it today. Yes, it only helps villains, but still, combining a non-styled attack and a stop-all is quite awesome.
8. Trunks Level 1 HT
Originally I had Straining Energy Move here, and while I still remember that card’s insane brokenness pre-errata, Trunks HT has definitely had more staying power on the tournament scene. He was the reason so many people started running Piccolo The Trained in the first place; and easily had the most dominating Level 1 power released in the game at this time. Even his redemption counterpart Vinegar was bested by him, and his unique wording even got around cards like Krillin’s Heat Seeking Blast. He single-handily brought Dragon Ball decks back to life in the Trunks Saga.
Technically, this would be Namekian Planet Explosion. Errata coming soon.
7. Saiyan Planet Explosion
This card sort of told people that Saiyan Style’s identity was going to be “Energy Attacks? We don’t like your stinkin’ Energy Attacks!” Definitely a major card that helped shape what one of the most popular decktypes would come to be.
The least significant member of the Ginyu Force, more useful than Frieza.
6. Guldo Level 1
Ah Guldo. He’s the man. Not only does this power grant you amazing card advantage, but if used as an Ally, Guldo qualifies for the Ally Dragon Ball Capture rule! I used this in top cut of Worlds 2002 to draw 5 cards in a single strike by capturing an opponent’s Dende Dragon Ball 3. If you’re using him as a main personality, you can bet your opponent is going to save whatever block he has to stop your power. Attack away! Bonus – Remember how beefy his power rating was back when he was released?
5. Red Blocking Hand
Yeah, it’s a promo, but it still counts. No other promo card was more sought out during the early years of the game (except maybe Confrontation). When Red Anger was dominating, this card was one of the major reasons. When you can block an attack, gain 2 anger, and then immediately use your Mastery to gain another 2, odds are you were leveling up.
4. Yamcha’s Skillful Defense/Goku’s Super Saiyan Blast!
Both of these cards were popular for a long time. Goku’s Super Saiyan Blast! still sees play in some Goku Freestyle decks. Focused Attacks took away a lot of their power, but these non-styled blockers were used in a wide variety of decks at the first two Worlds.
Ah, the anti-Orange card that pretty much ANY color but Orange needed.
3. Orange Destruction Drill
Every Orange player absolutely loves this card. In fact, most Orange vs. Orange matchups boil down to “who can get Orange Destruction Drill out first”. Personally, I find it impressive that this was restricted on the printed card text and didn’t require an errata like so many other cards in the first couple of sets.
2. Kami Fades
Who didn’t jump for joy when this was released? Maybe cheesy Dragon Ball deck players, but anyone who wanted a little more action in their DBZ CCG was really happy to see this card. Dragon Ball decks basically disappeared for a brief time until the Trunks personality set was released to support the amazing Trunks HT.
Frog-Face? Looks more like a cobra. Let's call him Commander Cobra!
1. Powerful Followers
A fancier card than most of the ones on the list, this card became a unique follow-up to Saiyan Saga’s “Teaching the Unteachable Forces Observation”. They were a major part of any Dragon Ball/Combat Control deck, and helped Phil McGrath beat me (and many other players) on his way to the 2004 Expanded World championship.
Honestly, I would put Krillin’s Concentration and Krillin’s Power Tap on the list before any personality, styled card or Kami Fades.
I absolutely thought about Krillin’s Concentration, and looking over my notes it was a last minute cut. I probably thought about it after restriction with that funky GT errata. KPT is an amazing card but was definitely not what I would call ‘prevalent’ on the tournament scene, especially through the majority of the game, at least through my lens.
I have a very distinct memory of my local metagame from around this time, moreso than almost any other set. Definitely what shaped some of my picks.
Towards the end of the game, as Orange became prevalent so too did Power Tap. I would agree that before that, the card only saw sporadic use.
Addendum: Out of all the cards on this list, the only one that I never used at any point and would not consider using now (with current Sensei Deck rules) is Kami Fades.
I might use Kami Fades now if I was going with Piccolo Sensei. It probably would depend on the deck I used and what other things I felt was needed for my Sensei, but as long as you have something SD/SDO that can go into the life deck every game then you can put Kami Fades main deck and sensei it out whenever it’s not needed.