Last time, when I talked about Trunks Saga and its special place in the history of the game, I meant it. However, Androids Saga has a much more important place in my personal history with this game. I was fortunate enough to win my Androids Saga pre-release, and take home an entire box! Since this was a smaller expansion set, I was able to pull all the cards (minus the elusive The Hero Is Down and Trunks Guardian Drill) in my prize. Keep in mind; this was before the release of the actual product, so I felt super-cool. I went home and used my awesome mid-90’s flatbed scanner to upload images of each card to Fanatics’ message board. Oh boy, did I become popular. In fact, they made me a moderator, and I can easily say that this experience is what brought me into the DBZ CCG community.
On a non-personal note, this set rules. It has a great design, a bitchin’ foil pattern, and some of the most powerful cards that graced the first half of the game. In fact, some of them are still staples today. Unlike previous articles, I went ahead and put these in a real ‘top 10’ order, so be sure to comment if you think one card deserves to be higher (or lower) on the list!
10. Piccolo The Trained
Okay, so maybe good ol’ PTT hasn’t seen the same level of play he did in 2003, but he was truly a personality that ravaged the game for a long time. I first ran PTT at Worlds 2001, as a way to combat the ridiculous Trunks Level 1 HT. It’s a real shame that he became the best example of a ‘meta’ card in the game, where players ran him just because everyone else was running him. It didn’t make sense to run someone with a power if it would just get blanked! Fun fact about PTT: The only personality in the history of the game to receive multiple, different errata.
9. Straining Jump Kick Move
If Anger wasn’t so popular when Androids Saga came out (it did win Worlds 2001), more people would’ve run this card from the get-go. While it definitely peaked before the Trunks Effortless Drill nerfing, it’s still a very fun card with an amazing effect. It made for some epic Roshi vs. Roshi matchups in ’03, though.
8. Blue Terror
When Blue Terror debuted, it was generally regarded as an “aw, that’s cute!” moment for a style that really didn’t have anything going on. As time went on though, and the amazing Blue Style Mastery from the Cell Saga came to town, this card’s true ability to tutor ANYTHING other than a Dragon Ball from your deck started to really wear on people’s patience. A much-needed restriction was announced, and this card, while still powerful, has definitely diminished in usage as Blue fell by the wayside once again.
7. Winter Countryside
Androids Saga was the first set to really ‘address’ any balance issues in the game, and the thing they focused on was anger. There were numerous cards introduced to combat this powerful deck type, including Awful Abrasions and Cell’s Threatening Position. However, Winter Countryside was decidedly the best, because it had benefits that the creators didn’t even see coming. Need to protect your awesome Level 1 personality from Aura Clash? Need something that isn’t City In Turmoil, but you want to make sure it doesn’t hurt you, too? Winter Countryside’s got you covered. Heck, you could even use it in Dragon’s Victory.
6. Black Searching Technique
Black style got some really nice cards in AS – this isn’t the only one on the list. BST is so ridiculously powerful. Not only does it give you a chance to remove 2 cards in your opponent’s life deck from the game (without having to name them beforehand); but you get to look at your opponent’s ENTIRE deck and make mental notes. Oh, and it’s not even restricted.
5. Saiyan Destiny
Saiyan got some real power in this set; but the headlining act was definitely Saiyan Destiny. There was simply no other card in the game that could pump out so much damage in 1 card slot. Back when the Saiyan Style Mastery from the Trunks Saga was still the only game in town, this card was incredibly effective.
4. Orange Stare Down
For a second, I almost wanted to make this entry “Orange Stare Down/Blue Betrayal”, but let’s be honest with each other. When this card debuted, it was an energy attack costing 1 stage and doing 5 life cards, with an amazing secondary effect. Blue Betrayal, while it packs the same secondary effect, is a free physical attack likely doing no damage. They just aren’t the same, even though they are both very good. In Orange v. Orange matchups, this card is as much a deciding factor as Orange Destruction Drill.
3. Black Scout Maneuver
Let me be clear – I do not like that this card is Freestyle now. I was a big fan of this card in Black decks and ran 3 of them to much success at Worlds 2002. In fact, this card was THE deciding factor in the Top 4 match between Brian Valdez and me:
Game 1: I enter first turn, BSM 4x of his Android 18’s Stare Downs. I end up winning the game a few turns later.
Game 2: Now that I think about it, I don’t remember WHAT I BSM’ed, but all I remember was that it was a horribly poor decision and ended up costing me the game (and consequently the match) in an epic fashion. Thank you human brain for attempting to block a bad memory from my mind!
In short: Black Scout Maneuver is so good, it cost me $1500.
2. City In Turmoil
A close second in my eyes, as far as “best card” from Androids Saga is concerned. Disabling the entire field of Non-Combats & Drills, CIT is probably the most-run location/battleground in the game. In fact, I’m convinced that almost all of the Battleground removal introduced in the sets that followed was in response to this card.
What I really love, is that feeling your opponent has when you play CIT. It’s utter despair. They get to constantly look at their board full of Non-Combats and wonder “what if?”, as they hope and pray to draw into another Location or Battleground, or maybe that 1 copy of Land in Pain that they’re running. Pure joy to watch, especially if you’re an evil bastard like me.
1. Android 18’s Stare Down
I’m going to do something I haven’t done in any of my “Top 10’s” so far – declare a clear winner for ‘best card’. Android 18’s Stare Down wins on so many levels. It’s colorless, it’s a staple, it gives villains something to be proud of, and it even looks amazing in foil.
This card can ruin your day. If your opponent is packing discard pile removal, or even the rarely-seen Dying Planet, you will hate it even more. And the most ridiculous part? Android 18, arguably one of the most dominant personalities the game has even seen, can run 4 of them.
If you’re playing villain and not running this card, go ahead and book A Hospital Stay, because you’re going to get beat.
In game 1 of our Top 4 match at 02 Worlds I remember entering combat first turn and attempting to BSM all 3 of your Black Body Destructions (Which is a very controversial move). I remember you only removing 1 from the game. I immediately thought to myself,”I’m f*cked.”
Thank you for having a better memory than me. I remember that now, and yeah, that was completely brutal. I don’t disagree with your decision though, other than stare down or bsm itself, that was my favorite card in the deck.
Is this the same Brian Valdez that I bought your dbz cards about 10 years ago??
Best card expansion IMO. Android 18’s Staredown makes me smile every time I draw it.
I still remember the day we broke Effortless Drill, DBM. Orange Roshi Straining molested everything. Too bad we abused it before the major events lol
I also remember your first introduction to the Fanatics forums. You posted a quiz of impossible to answer DBZ questions when Google was still barely on the radar and you offered some insane prize for the winner. I remember one of the questions was like, “What’s Roshi’s turtle’s japanese name?” and immediately everyone felt inferior to the Dragon Ball Master lol
Great article Dave. One question though. You said PTT was the only personality with multiple different erattas. Didn’t Tapkar also have a few?
You are technically correct. The BEST KIND of correct.
Honestly I think StareDown is the best card in the game. It can counter just about any card in the game if timed right. One of the best cards to have when declaring combat.
Agreed, although I almost just as much love drawing it when defending in combat. If they Stare Down you, they will simply pick your stare down, unless they have a sphere (or even then).
If they enter with an attack of some kind, odds are it isn’t their biggest threat of the combat, which allows you to pluck that from their hand on your turn.
But yes, its simple nature and utter versatility can definitely put it in contention for ‘best card in the game’
You think one could argue that Trunks Guardian Drill should be on this list? The card itself breaks the rules of the game. Being able to play a Non-Combat during combat, and outside the non-combat step is awesome. Plus it could be one of the best looking cards in the whole game.
don’t disagree on the coolness and rule-breaking, but ultimately that card didn’t do much to the tournament scene. perhaps if it wasn’t a UR, that might have been different!
Yeah, i guess you are right about that.
First of all. cool read.
Second of all. if this was intended to be a list of cards for the AS environment, then disregard the rest of what I say
Third of all. I’d like to start a controversy over the greatness of Confrontation/Staredown. In my opinion, the best decks in KBS were the ones that were streamlined for maximum efficiency. [this applied to expanded, too, if you care (I know you don’t)]
A deck that cut the fat out of the deck drew and setup so incredibly well and consistently that they were instantly at a huge advantage above and beyond the shortened life span incurred by lowering your deck count. Decks like Broly 1-3, Orange OVABall, and Billy’s Red Piccy Anger deck all excelled at 50-65 cards and slowed down greatly if you attempted to fill them out to 85. How does this apply to Staredown? Staredown is one of those cards that is on the fringe of playability once you start culling the fat in decks. It doesn’t increase your hand advantage, and it doesn’t directly advance your position in the game. It’s great card for winning a single combat, but in these decks (all three I would consider tier one in normal KBS) they live and die by their own speed and efficiency. Broly Saiyan shouldn’t use it at all as a single lost attack card often means the difference between a turn one level 3 kill and a 3-4 turn stall out, not to mention the added risk of having it be your mastery discard. Piccy Red can’t afford a single slot in it’s deck to deviate from it’s gameplan of pure unbridled anger. Orange OVABall can fit it into the deck, but it’s right on the cusp of playability. In my case, I used one in the deck that won last year purely because it combos so well with Yajirobe/KCon/Watching From Afar, and it was close to being cut several times. It’s no coincidence that 2 of these decks made the finals last year. Speed wins games, and when you can fine tune your deck to be fast AND consistent, you’ll soon find you have a great deck on your hands. This is more of an expanded realization, but for many many decks, the speed and power of the game cause Staredown to became clutter. This applies much less to the KBS game, but it’s a good lesson to keep in mind, I think. It’s far from a staple in my mind, but still deserving a place in many decks.
Just some firewood for you all.
I more or less agree with this sentiment.
A good chunk of my decks still use those cards, but I absolutely would consider chopping them for a streamline build.
It starts to fall into the category of a “wouldn’t it be nice card” in that it has a great effect that “would be nice” to have in several situations, but as Kyle pointed out there is a hidden cost of robbing you of a card that would suit your overall goals better.
I don’t disagree — efficiency is so important in ‘concept’ decks.
However, these articles speak to not only the environment of said set, but the cards’ impact on the major event scene throughout focused z.
I consider running the minimum number of cards in a deck, in order to get insane draw consistancy, and blitz your opponent in the first few turns, to be a vicious exploit of a flaw in the game’s design.
A tournament full of fifty card speedball, and fifty card anger decks is a boring tournament. =/
“I consider running the minimum number of cards in a deck, in order to get insane draw consistancy, and blitz your opponent in the first few turns, to be a vicious exploit of a flaw in the game’s design.
A tournament full of fifty card speedball, and fifty card anger decks is a boring tournament. =/”
That’s what everyone assumed. Then 2001 Nats came and Blanchard’s 75-card Black Goku merc’d Valdez’s 50-card Speedball consecutively lol
I remember that match. During the entire tournament everybody was like “Who the hell is this guy? Black Goku? Seriously?” and then he goes on to win, and everybody knew his name in less than 2 weeks. =p Think he ended up winning that match 3-1.
Chippy
What sets were out when this happened? Was this the Goku deck that beat Roshi by getting to level 3 for a MPPV?
this was nats 2001 — should’ve just been ss-ts
Comparing SS-TS with what we play today is like comparing apples and oranges. A 75 card deck consistantly beating a 50 card deck back in TS is irrelevant to today’s game.