Block Formats: The Future of Panini America’s Dragon Ball Z CCG?

I know that the first set of Panini America’s Dragon Ball Z isn’t even out yet, but how it’s shaping up at the moment there are definitely some directions that they are taking that I really like. However, since this is not the first time this game has been released, it’s definitely easy to compare the old game’s path to the new one and state what I definitely don’t want to see happen.

Already we can see compatibility issues between this game and the old version, which honestly is to be expected and something I don’t mind too much. It would be dang near impossible to release the new game while taking into consideration the thousands of cards that already exist, something we struggled with when we were only releasing about 30 virtual cards in a year. I would much rather see the same game with a fresh start, than one shackled to the past. But where does the game go from here?

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The question as to where the game should go has been something I’ve been asking about on the Retro DBZ Facebook Discussion Board (we accept all member requests), and getting a little bit of feedback on different ideas. One of the first places I went was with the idea of “Block Formats”.

For those unfamiliar with the idea, a Block Format generally refers to a specific range of sets from a CCG (typically a starter and two expansions) that form the legal card pool for organized play. The idea of block formats in CCGs has been used in Magic the Gathering tournaments for years, and has its pros and cons. Those pros and cons have been exhaustively debated for decades, with the pro side being that every year or so the game receives a “blank slate”, problem cards are cycled out and it’s easy for new players to jump in, and the cons being that your old cards become unusable, they lose all value and stores may get stuck with some product they can’t move.

Block formats were never really a thing in the old game. The cards you bought from the Saiyan Saga were still usable in Kid Buu Saga. However, since the game was based on a Shonen title, power creep was inevitable and as early as the Frieza Saga the initial cast of characters were already outclassed by new characters with chart breaking power levels and much stronger attacks. Even if the older characters weren’t cycled out by a format shift, they were certainly cycled out by sheer power creep. Yet, since all the cards were still legal, they still impacted how future sets could be designed. It was like combining many of the cons of having a block format, with none of the pros.

166 Gohan LV3

 

What I would like to see for the game going forward is something halfway to a block format. In the previous game, You would typically get a starter set then a booster set then a starter set and then a booster set so on. In just about every set, the power of the characters in it were ramped up, either via a new power chart or preemptively getting a boost in power levels. What I would like to do is slow that process down. I would like the pattern to start being starter-booster-booster.

Unlike the previous iteration of the game, the character and image pool from this first set covers all the way up to the Trunks Saga. In that era we already know that there are plenty of characters not getting a personality set already: Tien, Yamcha, Dodoria, Nail, Zarbon, Garlic Jr., most of the Ginyu Force, Nappa, Raditz, King Cold, etc… That’s a lot of characters to skip over. Are they just going to jump into the Androids-Cell Saga next? Are we just going to keep getting new iterations of Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Trunks and Piccolo? With the new rule about named cards (all named cards can only be used by the named personality), are these characters just going to keep building a bigger and bigger arsenal?

What I would like is for the next set to stay in the Saiyan-Trunks Saga time frame. No new power charts for now, or anything like that. Use the next two sets to flesh out the styles, rather than the existing characters, and keep releasing new personality sets geared towards these archetypes. Patch up holes in where a style is struggling, not by releasing silver bullets and “counters to counters” like in the old game. The existing characters shouldn’t get more support or additional personalities unless they need it. Keep the flow of the first set through the next two.

Finally when it comes time to release a new starter set, that’s when we should see a new power chart, new masteries and some of the old characters coming back with different and stronger versions. The old blocks shouldn’t be “rotated out” per se, but more of a de facto rotation. Keep the new archetypes/styles with the masteries tight, and seeing reprints of cards already in Panini America releases could be forgiven in the name of holding on to a more balanced environment. Obviously the ability to rotate into a completely new block would be there for tournament organizers, but the combined blocks should fit much better than combined Retro PanZ format.

That’s just my conjecture on how I would like to see the game play out. I’m sure many of you have your own ideas. Feel free to sound them off here, or on our Facebook Discussion Group.

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Later, BroZ

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