TAK Games > The State of the Game – a first look at Panini’s Dragon Ball Z TCG relaunch and Black Style decks

The State of the Game – a first look at Panini’s Dragon Ball Z TCG relaunch and Black Style decks

By now, most have had a chance to review Panini’s revision of the Dragon Ball Z TCG, which builds on the previous success and themes created by Score Entertainment back in 2000 – 2004. Over the next few days, we’ll review the playing styles found in the game and provide hints and tips to help you on your way with building your first constructed decks.

First, some background on the relaunch. The relaunch of Dragon Ball Z TCG by Panini is headed up by Brand Manager Aik Tongtharadol, the 2001 World Champion who also contributed design elements to Score’s previous game. The relaunch draws on the stronger elements created by Score, including Masteries and Endurance, and removes some elements to help those starting out and to speed up overall game play.

Secondly and most importantly, this game is meant to be fun. Enjoy the games you play and have a great time meeting up with new and returning players alike to become the ultimate Z fighter.

Today, we’re going to have a look at Black Style.

If you like to disrupt your opponent’s play by manipulating cards in their hand and their ability to work with their discard pile, while retaining the ability to pack a mean punch, this style is for you.

Black Searching Technique
Black Searching Technique – a key card for Black Style decks.

Black Style cards work to take away your opponent’s ability to achieve what they want to with their deck.

Black Style is entirely focused on the survival win condition, with few anger gain cards to achieve a Most Powerful Personality Victory and no specific Dragonball victory cards. How does it achieve a survival win? The Black Style Devious Mastery aims to help reduce your opponent’s hand size (and their available options), while cards likeĀ Black Searching Technique allow you to target key cards for your opponent. The key to piloting a Black Style deck well is knowing what cards best help your opponent, and those which represent the most danger to you.

Black also stands up for itself defensively. Black Defensive Burst and Black Energy Web take away your opponent’s ability to perform physical and energy attacks respectively. Black Style simply refuses to let your opponent dictate play.

This all sounds pretty good, but what about weaknesses? Black Style is particularly vulnerable to opponents who focus on gaining anger and achieving a Most Powerful Personality Victory.

Key cards

Strongest personalities

Game on!

– Trent (@TAKGames_Trent)

Welcome to TAK Games

All,

Welcome to what we hope will be a new chapter in DragonBall Z TCG support in Australia and New Zealand. Trent and myself have big plans with DBZ and beyond. I’ve attempted to answer a few of the frequently asked questions below. Please yell out if there’s anything I’ve missed.

When is Australia going to see stock?

We are working hard to secure stock right now. We will have options for retailers wanting to order organised play kits, for tournament organisers wanting to hold events elsewhere (think community halls, schools, etc) and for the general public. We’re hoping to design the tournament kits so that everything the organiser needs is included in an all-in-one kit.

What about constructed play?

We’ll be building support kits for constructed play as well, but our initial focus will be on sealed events.

Regionals / Nationals?

Ideally we’d love to support an unofficial premiere level events circuit comprising of state and national event championships. Our hope is to continually reinvest in organised play, and our dream would be to be able to support cash prizes for these events.

How can I get involved?

We would love to hear from anyone interested in running events. Feel free to get in contact with us via info@tak-games.com.au and we will forward all the details in due course.

What else do you guys have planned?

We’re working on a few projects together – look for more details on this very soon. We’re looking into publishing other games and providing other opportunities to young designers.

As gamers, we’ve all been involved at the top-level in competitive play, and all have had a hand in volunteering or event management. We know what it takes to run successful events and we’ll be working hard to make sure any event sponsored by TAK Games is an event that gamers love playing at and want to return to.

We are really humbled by all the support shown to us thus far by friends and previous players of the Score TCG. Thanks for your support and your trust. We won’t let you down!

Game on,
Kyp.