TAK Games > Panini Dragon Ball Z Constructed | TAK Games, Brisbane, QLD | Tournament Report

Panini Dragon Ball Z Constructed | TAK Games, Brisbane, QLD | Tournament Report

Saturday the 17th of January was the day Brisbane took its turn to show what it has to offer the constructed environment and by all accounts no one was left disappointed. We had a great time with 12 players enjoying

The Brisbane crew turn out to see the Meta
The Brisbane crew turn out to see the Meta

another round of Panini DBZ. It is safe to say a lot of the Brisbane players are sticking close to the Meta at this time, with Blue Ginyu’s and Namekian Piccolo’s running around in decent numbers.

Our own Trent Betts took some time to work out some of the kinks in his Blue God Goku Dragon Ball deck with some mixed results, just to show that there can be some variety in competitive builds even at this early stage. There is great potential out there as was shown in Melbourne, for something to come out of left field and throw itself into the mix.

Winners were;

1st – David M. (Blue Ginyu)
2nd – Luke R. (Piccolo Namekian)
3rd – Michael L. (Piccolo Namekian)

David M. and Michael L. tough it out over a close match
David M. and Michael L. tough it out over a close match

Lucky Door Prizes

SDCC Playmat – Brenden P.
SDCC Promos – Russell A.
Confrontation Promo – Jono C.

Don’t forget to keep in touch with us via Facebook and Twitter to make sure you get all the latest news on events held all around Australia in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. Regular events are now in swing, with the second set just around the corner in early March.

Brisbane’s own Luke Hill also added his point of view to the event to give people a more hands on account of how it went;

 

With Panini’s return of the Dragon Ball Z TCG I thought I would take the time to write up a first hand account of the first Constructed event in Brisbane. TAK Games has given us the chance to have the game in an Organised Play setting for us to enjoy and this was how the day played out for me.

Some people got a little excited during the day
Some people got a little excited during the day

12 Players running a mixed variety of decks

1 Vegeta (Red)
2 Piccolo (Namekian)
1 Gohan (Namekian)
1 Krillin (Black)
1 Trunks (Saiyan)
2 Captain Ginyu (Blue)
3 Goku (Blue)

If you can see a recurring theme here, it’s that Blue and Namekian are heavily supported.

I personally love a good control deck, so I played Red Vegeta. Yes, I know what you’re thinking, Red Vegeta has no control, and yes, you are correct. I didn’t want to play control so I played something highly aggressive which is capable of quick games in either a win or a loss. It’s not the most stable deck, but it’s one of the more enjoyable decks in the format right now. In the moments before the event, I decided to add 3x Red Jump Kicks for an experiment to see how it holds up, and considering how much fun I had with it, I do not regret it. I did not expect to win any games given the massive amount of Blue and Namekian around including one of the hardest decks for Red to deal with… Black.

Round 1 : Blue God Goku “Brickwall Bob” (Brendan)

Great, Round 1 and I get a good friend and a Blue deck, and of all of them God Goku. I know his deck, and I know it has a very high chance of thumping me into the ground. So straight off the line I was on the back foot.

Unfortunately, it did not go well for Blue Goku. 3 Consecutive combats I draw amazing hands for dealing with Blue Goku (One hand was double Staredown to pick all the cards I needed gone). Eventually I draw into a hand of Red Shoulder Grab, Red Double Strike, Red Heel Kick and Red Static Shot and just went for it. His luck really hit a rock bottom, upon drawing a hand of setups and dragon balls leaving him helpless as I made it up to level 3 and start unleashing damage consistently in small doses, eventually piling up to end the game with him conceding defeat at that point. Our decks were polar opposites, and the match up favoured him heavily, but it just did not work with him that day and unfortunately, the rest of the event. His deck was REALLY solid and I have had much trouble in the past with it, but that is how the cards a dealt. Dev Blows picked off all the combo cards he required to win and just kept on attacking.

Red Vegeta 1-0

Having surprised many people with a Red deck beating a Blue Goku, we moved onto round 2.

Round 2 : Blue Ginyu “Ultratarantula” (Russell)

(Insert More Sarcasm) Great, yet another match up which I despise. Red does have critical hits, but the allies are notorious for coming back over and over again so I had very low hopes for this game.

Going first, I draw a hand of Red Shoulder Grab, Red Energy Blast and Red Double Strike. So, I go for broke and enter combat with Shoulder Grab which he immediately blocks. Ginyu’s power which I take for Guldo which I shortly after Red Energy Blast away and it set a mood for the next few combats. Every combat, an ally dies when it entered play until I ran out of luck and starting to stop drawing the cards to deal with the problems.

Eventually Blue Ginyu started levelling up, and I had no real way of slowing him down. He was missing 3 Ginyu force allies which kept him stuck at level 2 for several turns, but it was to no avail and eventually I was destroyed by head knocks and other big attacks. It came down to the final combat I had to option if being able to do, and well, yeah. Didn’t get much in the way of answers for Ginyu and was beaten back by his power for the game. I did get Blue Ginyu down to less than 10 life cards, and kept him from getting his allies out. So I can take a very positive feeling from being able to give the deck a very hard time.

Red Vegeta 1-1

Round 3 : Piccolo Namekian “Dressel” (Lawsy)

So, more challenging fun for me. Lawsy’s Namekian deck is really solid and it was always going to be a hard fought battle, if I was able to get the upper hand. Let’s make this one short, I didn’t. Go wrecked and well… yeah. He got to level 4, never got a Red Jump Kick to hit. None of my major attacks were ever drawn. Just a plain and simple train wreck of a game.

Red Vegeta 1-2

Round 4 : Gohan Namekian “Rad Brad” (I would assume Brad)

Another Namekian which made me roll my eyes back into my skull and slide down my spine. However, this was the standout game of the event for me. The Deck finally pulled off some major combo work to basically go off properly and give people something to worry about, including other matches who saw what was being done.

Red Jump Kick became the key to this match. Vegeta Level 1’s power to keep the anger flowing, and then pop back down with a well-timed Red Jump Kick to get some more cards. Yes, I know Vegeta’s power level is something to be desired, but when I was able to do a stupidly large amount of damage in small bites, it’s something I personally wanted to see happen. He has Dragon Ball 2 and ?? in play, not 100% on the second one now)

Red Shoulder Grab from 3 anger, to 4 and then Vegeta’s level 1 to 5 anger. Get to Vegeta level 2, Red Mastery to turf a random junk card and keep the Red Jump Kick. Vegeta’s level 2 power hits (1 anger from Shoulder grab previously). Red Jump Kick back to level 1. Draw a card. Red Heel Kick (2 anger to 0 anger, and 2 more from power and critical) to Red Static Shot to get 4 anger to ping a level. Draw and Discard. As the critical hit, steal DB2 to level myself down and draw a card. Red Double Strike to level again….

It may have only been small pieces of damage, but it all added up. It was nice to see a small chain of events fall into place in the deck.

Red Vegeta 2-2

In the end, I didn’t place very well, due to the players I beat, did even worse than I did. But for a first time in a constructed event, it was fun to play something left field because I am not 100% happy with the current game meta with Captain Ginyu and Blue keeping their eyes on all the top places. I had a heap of fun running Red Vegeta and for me that is what counts in the game.

Pros:
Trent and TAK Games for bringing the game here, and organising the events for us here in Australia
Red Jump Kick : It just worked
Minsey for winning
Not having to play against Black.

Cons:
Not getting a lucky door prize….. again…..
Blue for being Blue

 

Game On!

– Trent (@TAKGames_Trent)

Panini Dragon Ball Z Sealed | Good Games Burwood, NSW | Tournament Report

Today we welcome guest writer Kenny Phuong Nguyen to the TAK Games blog. Kenny will report to us regularly from Sydney on the state of the game in New South Wales.

As a 90s kid, I grew up with Dragon Ball Z. At 8.00am every weekday morning, I’d either record the magnificence of Dragon Ball Z on my video player or be late for school watching it (both viable options). It introduced me to teenager-oriented anime and it captured my imagination, as I’m sure it did many, and I’ve always fondly remembered it. Now that I’ve probably made everyone feel a bit older, I’m here today to write about my experiences with the revamped, remastered Dragon Ball Z trading card game by Panini.

My mate Michael and I had been looking forward to the sealed tournament held at Good Games Burwood from the moment it was announced. Neither of us had played the original card game by Score, so we were going in with fresh eyes. We have, however, played many a card game, so don’t think this is a newbie perspective.

When we arrived, we secured two boxes of boosters and got cracking, attempting to familiarise ourselves (well, I was at least) with the cards and the general flow of the game. As one can imagine, this bore no fruit, as without actually playing the game, one cannot actually understand how good particular cards are (I had actually played a few games on octgn beforehand; my tag is blinkkite, add me if you use it, I’m up for games pretty much whenever I’m online).

After going through the crackfest, the tournament finally began with 11 players (it may have been 12, but I swear there was a bye). Hoping to crack Frieza (the only personality from the Starters I am missing), I ended up opening Vegeta with Saiyan Mastery. I had read online that Saiyan Mastery is considered fairly weak in Sealed, yet couldn’t work out for the life of me why that was.

Until I actually read the Mastery properly.

My 3 booster packs yielded me with a Confrontation (Hooray for Heroes only. To be fair, I was pretty happy about opening it regardless), Red Observation [Woots sarcastically], and finally…

Namekian Knowledge Mastery

This was gonna be a long day.

Aside from the lack of awesome flashy rares, villainous allies, Dragon Balls and other general cool gear, I ended up with what I thought was a pretty solid deck. Plenty of awesome blocks (I ended up playing around 18 blocks), a reasonably sizable amount of anger raising attacks (in addition to around 11 Saiyan attacks, which was pretty good), topped off with a solid amount of endurance around. Suddenly I didn’t feel so bad.

Dragon Ball Z TCG at Good Games Burwood
Happy campers at Good Games Burwood. Photo credit: Jake C.

I was pretty confident entering round one.

Round 1 vs Josh

Josh is a good friend of mine, and he had played the original Score game for most of its life, so I was even more ready to lose. Josh had offered me a game 5 minutes before the round started, and I had refused. Coincidentally, we ended up paired up in round one. Josh was playing Black Krillin, and with the awesome power of his printed attack combined with the insanity that is Black Mastery, I expected that Vegeta would promptly be lying dead in a gutter somewhere whilst the little bald man danced circles around my broken, battered body.

I got off to a good start, with a bunch of anger gains from both Vegeta and my mastery (I drew so many Saiyan cards). Feeling pretty happy upon hitting level 2 on my second turn, I was incredibly dismayed when Josh, smirking, dropped a Namekian Dragon Ball 2 onto the table, sending Vegeta back to his angry level one state. In the meantime, Krillin was hammering away at me with both his critical damage discard ability lowering my anger and keeping me in check, as well as eating at my life deck. A big turn came for me not long after. I had just hit level two again, and Josh had drawn a dud hand full of nothing. Leading off with Vegeta Level 2’s ability, I got Krillin to 0 stages and pumped up all of my attacks for the turn. A follow up Saiyan Energy Toss, Saiyan Multi-Blast, Saiyan Face Stomp (which levelled me), Namekian Side Kick and another Face Stomp obliterated most of Josh’s life deck, and soon a very crippled Krillin succumbed to the onslaught from the angry Saiyan prince.

Something about Vegeta belting Krillin in anger just sat so well with me. The double face stomp imagery was also incredibly satisfying.

1-0

Round 2 vs Joel

Joel had just beaten up Michael in the first round with Namekian Piccolo. Promising vengeance for my fallen comrade, and feeling pretty invigorated from face stomping Krillin into the dust, I entered Round 2 ready to rip the green man to shreds.

I left the game a broken man.

Throughout the course of the game, not only did Piccolo manage to outpace my anger gains (He hit level 4 before I hit level 3), he managed to have the block every time I tried to make a play. As I sat there trying to get Vegeta mad and unleash all the rage in a big turn, Piccolo was busy bashing his skull in, all the while rejuvenating what little damage I had managed to get through. The end game was a little closer than I had imagined, but to say I ever felt like I was winning that game would be a lie.

Vengeance would have to wait for another time.

1-1

Round 3 vs Michael

Kenny: “Hey Michael, I’m writing an article based on the Saturday tournament.”

Michael: “Oh cool, where are you up to?”

K: “Just finished round 1”

M: “Make sure when you write about my defeat, you be kind haha”

Michael was fielding Red Gohan, and tried some early aggression, destroying his own life deck just to get a piece of the Saiyan prince. Whilst Gohan put up a valiant effort, the Saiyan prince was having none of it, and turn after turn pummelled the kid into the ground and on the fourth turn, Vegeta, with a hand full of anger gaining cards, was at level 3.

Gohan really needs to learn to dodge.

I did learn an important thing about DBZ from this game though; power level REALLY matters. Keeping someone in check at the lowest of their power stages hampers their play in a huge way. Michael’s poor draws resulted in him mostly passing during our combats; energy attacks aren’t so good when you don’t have the power to use them, and physical attacks can hurt a lot more than energy ones when you run out of power and don’t draw blocks.

2-1

Round 4 vs Shane

Black Krillin yet again. The earlier stomping of Josh’s Krillin gave me hope here, leading me to believe that once again an angry Saiyan prince would be stomping a bald man into the ground.

How wrong I was.

Lacking the energy blocks necessary to hold back Krillin, and with my endurance cards always coming up on the final card, I was constantly critically damaged and found myself angerless and stuck on level 1 for ages. By the time I reached the awesome level 2, I was far behind, and despite making some progress in getting back into the game, the power of Black Mastery and the now level 2 Krillin took its toll, and Vegeta never found the opportunity to for a crazy all in wombo combo of anger attacks, and soon it was he laying on the ground, face being stomped upon by the bald man and his gracious commander Sean.

Conclusion

Despite winning only 50% of my games, I had an excellent day. Whether it was simply hanging and chatting with people, or smashing face (or getting my face smashed in), the first sealed event for Panini’s DBZ Card Game at Good Games Burwood was a roaring success. Not a frown was seen in the room, and most everyone present had an excellent time. I walked home with some new gear and a bunch of cards in hand, and proceeded to build decks and have another bazillion games with Michael at my house.

As I sit here writing this report, I am also currently flicking through Michael and I’s collection of cards and working out which rares we are missing, and thinking of tracking them down, whilst also wondering whether to build a Saiyan Vegeta or Blue Frieza deck, whilst trying to theorise on the benefits of playing Black with many of the personalities in the game.

I’m about to get on OCTGN and play some games with my Namekian Gohan deck, which so far has had a 0-5 record(I swear guys, I know what I’m doing). If all of that is not enough to convince you of how awesome this game is, go watch some Dragon Ball Z and play some more of this game.

Then you’ll probably end up where I am now.

Australian Dragon Ball Z TCG Organised Play Summer Season Launch

TAK Games are pleased to announce the first season of organised play for DragonBall Z TCG within Australia. Our aim is simple – create rewards for players; no matter what your results, in events that are held by TAK Games and affiliated stores. Participation in local tournaments is critical to the success of any game and Dragon Ball Z is no exception.

The inaugural Summer Season incorporates events from December 1st, 2014 through to March 31st, 2015. Players accumulate championship and participation points with cool prizes on offer to all participants and our leading top tier players. This is just the beginning! The more these events are supported, the bigger the prize pool will grow. We hope to keep seeing you all at our events, and look forward to creating an organised play program that you will enjoy.

Visit http://www.tak-games.com.au/organised-play/ for more information on the program.

Game on!
– Trent (@TAKGames_Trent) and Kyp (@justkyp).

Panini DragonBall Z Sealed | Good Games Box Hill, VIC | Tournament Report

Decisions, decisions! Time to work out what's best for this sealed event...
Decisions, decisions! Time to work out what’s best for this sealed event…

It’s 2015  – and that means more chances to play sealed at different locations around Melbourne. Good Games Box Hill was the first to kick off the new year with an event on the 3rd January. Ten Z Warriors braved the 41 degree Celsius heat to battle it out.

The results from the event are:

1st – Jason S., 4-0 with Black Krillin.
2nd – Kyp, 3-1 with Red Vegeta.
3rd – Kuan L., 3-1 with Black Ginyu.
4th – Daniel P., 2-2 with Blue Frieza.

Pre-event banter was focused on which personality and mastery combination would prove strongest in this sealed event. I had my fingers crossed for Krillin with Black Style Mastery or Piccolo with Namekian, but was foiled when I pulled Vegeta Saiyan out of my starter. Saiyan seems significantly weaker than other masteries in sealed, so I was actually relieved (for once) to see Red Style Mastery appear as one of my booster pack rares.

Returning Z Warrior John C gets ready for the first round.
Returning Z Warrior John C gets ready for the first round.

With an Angry Vegeta Red Style build completed, it was time to see how it would run…

Round 1 – Kuan with Black Ginyu – 1-0
Marvelling at the good luck that allowed Quan to pull a complete Ginyu set, it got even worse for Vegeta with Ginyu’s friends making an appearance. Some lucky draws saw me discarding three Allies in one combat thanks to critical effects and managing to banish them before they could be retrieved. Beatdown victory with perhaps 8 cards to spare – a very lucky escape!

Round 2 – Daniel with Blue Frieza – 2-0

Had to play aggressively to get any damage through multiple layers of protection that Daniel had packed in, including general blocks, drills that stopped attacks and the Blue Mastery. Managed to complete the game just as time was called with Daniel decking himself out on the additional turn provided. Another close one!

Round 3 – Al with Namekian Piccolo – 3-0

Prepping decks for the first round.
Reworking decks with other players offering advice.

After an envious gaze at Piccolo (Al was seated next to me in deck construction – missed it by that much!), we settled in to battle. Piccolo rejuvenated, hit, and rejuvenated some more. Again, aggression paid off with two combat declarations resulting in Al drawing mostly unusable cards. Unfortunately for Al (but happily for me) that coincided with reaching Vegeta Level 3 and holding four attacks that gained anger in hand… another narrow beatdown victory!

Round 4 – Jason with Black Krillin 3-1

So close and yet so far! Krillin’s critical effect on Level 1 certainly slowed down Angry Vegeta. It was my turn to have a combat with unusable cards, and it was a tough road back from there. Despite that, I managed to get to Level 4 Vegeta and almost stole victory from the jaws of defeat. Alas, it was not to be…

A solid performance though from the angry Saiyan – it fared better against the Namekian and Black decks than I would have anticipated. The next round of tournaments will be constructed events, so check out http://store.tak-games.com.au/ if you need any singles or email us a wishlist. We’ll hunt down anything and everything Panini DBZ-related you need!

Game on,

-Kyp (@justkyp)