Hello all and welcome back to Preview Season, where the cards never stop rolling in and the jank is overflowing. Today we have the Draft Box Yellow Cards. As you can see in the title, the theme is the usual for generic Yellow and it’s a bunch of resting. Can Bandai finally make this playstyle a real thing outside of outlier cards? Here’s hoping…

Great Apre Bardock, Raider’s Warcry

We start right off with a Super Rare. A new Ape Bardock that also has the fun Bardock’s Crew clause…which would be great if the good majority of Bardock’s Crew support weren’t in Blue and we still lack good generic U/Y Dual Color support. Now he can be used generically which is also great…but he requires a Yellow Leader which is annoying to say the least. The goal is to obviously use him with the Yellow Bardock Leaders that love, you guessed it, resting things.

His actual ability is pretty good in a vacuum. A 2 Cost Combo card is extremely rare, but he’s essentially an “upgraded” Bodyguard. Instead of getting a vanilla 15K, you get a 20K Double Strike with upside which is pretty good. Considering the growing defensive nature of the game, this seems like it’d be a good fit. The main issue would be that…Bodyguards had already been seeing less play, and then Arrival came about and really blew Bodyguards out of the water with what they could do. Still, U/Y does lack a generic Arrival card (Champa/Vados is technically generic…but you also need to make your deck almost entirely U6 Veggies to make it worthwhile) and this could help fill the gap. Idk, this is a tough one to call but I don’t think he makes the cut in Constructed unless King Vegeta gets much easier to put on board in which case Bardock is absurd. Maybe a return of an Apes deck?

In Limited he should be an all-star. Just easy and fantastic value for 2 Energy.

Gine, the Kind Saiyan

Speaking of good value, here’s some more. The goal of Gine is really to make it so you’re adding an Energy to a 2 Drop play in order to get a 15K Blocker to come along, or another 15K Body in general. I think 1 Drop 15Ks would absolutely see play and she’s pretty easy to trigger. From first glance she doesn’t seem to do anything particularly busted, you’re paying extra to get a 2 Drop from hand so it’s all about the extra value body. In Limited, pretty good. In Constructed…I won’t completely rule her out, but she’d need a pretty specific deck. Maybe help out the desecrated corpse of Storm with more value bodies?

Son Goku, Saiyan Reborn

I haven’t looked at reactions to the previews but it wouldn’t surprise me if some people end up overlooking this card. I think it’s actually REALLY good. 1 Drop removal is nothing to scoff at. 1 Drop Removal that either gets you a body or can be used at instant speed? Even better! Now yes, he will cost you an extra card from your hand but considering the power level that’s fine. I don’t think he’ll be format defining or anything, but I think he’ll definitely have a place in certain decks or at least in Sideboards since he’s very good at stemming an aggro tide. Obviously absurd in Limited, 30Ks are no longer safe on the swing.

Great Ape Son Goku, Saiyan Instincts

This card is hilarious as a SR in the sense that theoretically this should never actually be played on the board. Its only use is in the Drop Area so uh…hurray shiny art that will barely be seen? Anyway, this seems to be adding to Bandai really starting to push on effects that you can use in the Drop Area. Divination effects (or Pot of Greed Effects…not that anyone knows what that card does) are always dicey in DBS because it’s hard to say whether the card advantage is worth not directly impacting the board in some way. 2 Energy to not affect the board may actually be too much. On the other hand this card is an actual +2, especially in Burst decks.

I think this is as close to a Divination that we’ll get that could be playable. At 1 Energy or less this card would be way too busted. But 2 Energy is legitimately on the razor’s edge of playable (shows how much just a single cost can change everything in this game). I think it’ll be tried for certain. Even in Limited idk how I feel about him, especially since there are no Burst Leaders so getting him in the Drop is more dubious. Sure you can combo him off but obviously the value is lessened. This card definitely needs testing to determine its worth.

Pan, Natural Fighter

One of the more interesting cards of the set. Now we’re no stranger to cards giving Battle Cards abilities through comboing, but Pan is certainly unique in her regard. She only does it on Vanillas which is pretty niche (though in a Draft set not the hardest criteria to meet in the world). She either gives Blocker, or turns a 10K Vanilla into a 15K Crit (on top of the Combo power itself). Now the Blocker is definitely weird, you pretty much have to do it on an earlier swing to set up defense later and it’s admittedly hard to not telegraph this coming. If you’re not swinging with your beefy Vanillas the opponent is gonna suspect something immediately…assuming they know this card exists which they should in Limited at the very least. There may be a couple of times depending on game state you can get one over on the opponent, but it’s definitely not something reliable.

The other ability gives new credence to those 10Ks I poo-poo on a lot (outside of Kid Goku because he got specific support). Yes it does cost an extra card to get a Crit compared to the usual suite of 1 Drop Crit attackers, but that’s a lot of pressure to put on early. If you have filler 10Ks in your Draft, Pan becomes much better and in Constructed the Red Variant gets a new toy. She’s fun design, I like her a lot.

King Vegeta, the Majestic Ruler

Attention, calling Skill Drain to the station. Once again, calling Skill Drain to the station. But much better depending on deck. This card is easy to evaluate in a vacuum. He hits the board and the entire game stops for him (unless you have a Leader with built in removal). All Battle Cards losing their effects is MASSIVE. Keep in mind, this isn’t just Battle Cards on board, it’s Battle Cards period. In Hand, Drop Area, Deck, doesn’t matter. If it has an ability, it doesn’t have it anymore unless it explicitly says its abilities cannot be negated. Aggression slows to a crawl, explosion all but dead. I honestly think there’s a deck that focuses on turboing King Vegeta out. He basically self-protects due to the extremely limited amount of Battle Card removal that doesn’t come from other Battle Cards, and most of it doesn’t hit something as big as him. Pair him with a strong Leader, preferably someone with a good card advantage engine and you have a winner. Or just a strict Ramp Leader (maybe a new GB/Zamasu variant).

I absolutely think he’s a build around card, and I do expect people to at least attempt to make him work and I would not be surprised at all if he becomes a true Top Tier threat simply because of how focused the game is around Battle Card interaction with other Battle Cards.

Ironically enough though I don’t think he’s fantastic in Limited, if only because again, Turn 6 is a LONG time to wait and if you don’t have the board when you play him you can just still die to single strikes. Much better in Constructed where you can build a deck so he doesn’t just die.

EDIT: Well Bandai has spoken and King Vegeta specifically only negates Battle Cards in the Battle Area. This does weaken him somewhat as abilities in the Drop or Combo Area are still quite usable so things like Super Combos still work. I still believe King Vegeta is quite powerful, but not as all-consuming as he could be.

Vegeta, the King’s Son

You thought we were done with the resting? You thought wrong! Honestly he’s probably the best of them all, he’s very generically strong (at least for a Rest card). Tapping two things down on 3 Energy is a solid rate for this sort of ability and preventing an untap of a threat is a pretty big push. Nothing too Constructed playable I imagine, but a great mid pick in Limited to help push damage through while diluting the opponent’s threats.

Tights, Sister of a Genius

More Vanilla support (it seems Bandai is all in on Yellow being the premier color for it and it is everyone’s preferred color for the archetype). This card probably isn’t Constructed playable, better things you want to be doing for 2 Energy in the archetype. In Limited though she’s pretty good. Brings more pressure, gives you a cantrip, combo body later. If you have a few Vanillas in the color she’s a very easy add.

Chiaotzu, Gallant Pupil

Another character that blows himself up gets a Blocker Revenge card. Well…gotta love the flavor at least. Fantastic Limited card, he essentially acts as a 20K Blocker which is pretty resilient in general and with Revenge makes swinging supremely tough. Not Constructed playable, 3 Energy is too much for this effect otherwise we’d still be playing Android 16 who could potentially kill an entire board.

Oracle Fish

This is a fish. Draft 20 of them. 21 if you have Pan.

Tora

Kinda skip, but he has a relevant name and relevant traits. Being a Saiyan is pretty big for the Vanilla archetype in Constructed. Being Tora and Bardock’s Crew is relevant for other potential synergies.

Fasha, Deluge of Power

You know…would’ve loved if this card was, you know, Blue for obvious reasons. But she’s not so…just meh like most of the cycle.

Shugesh, Raider’s Warcry

Shugesh is still paying for his previous sins by collecting another bad card. Draft filler, and I mean filler, only use this if you got nothing else.

Borgos, Raider’s Warcry

This card is definitely for Limited. Use it to find the SR Bardock, maybe Tora if you’ve got a couple. Until U/Y gets more generic cards, not a help for the actual BC archetype.

Chilled, the Cruel

Random note, why does this card have a comma and Vegeta the Cruel doesn’t? Anyway…the time has finally come. We have some goddamn payoff for resting things. Yes, I do consider a free 25K Double Striker to be satisfactory payoff. Certainly won’t make those cards Tier 1 or anything but geez it’s just nice to see. Absolutely hilarious in Constructed with any Leader that can tap at will, and there’s a few because Bandai adores that effect for some reason. Pretty damn solid in Limited as well, especially off Kid Vegeta. Ton of tempo and pressure out of nowhere. If you got even a couple Rest Cards you consider playing this. Last note, this card does not require it to be either your turn or even your effect to be put in play. I don’t expect that to come up much but when it does…well let me know when it happens so I can laugh my way to the bank.

Frieza, Cry of the Sovereign

First thing I’ll say, I think King Vegeta should’ve been the SR over this if only because of flashiness. This card…idk how I feel about it. At a glance, it strikes very similar to Godstrike Beerus. Yes Frieza negates everything, but the design is similar. Combo with it, pay 2 (in this case 2 Yellow) to negate something for the turn. Ironically enough though, the main reason Beerus is ever used (and it’s very sparingly at that) can’t be replicated by Frieza. He can negate Barrier, Frieza cannot (Beerus can target Keywords specifically and not the actual card, Frieza goes after the actual card) and honestly that’s a massive deal.

Technically Frieza does have advantages over Beerus. Again, he can negate an entire effect or at least non-Keyword effects as well which can be very helpful. He also can be used as combo fodder when you don’t have or want to use the Energy to negate something which can definitely help in a tight spot. The question is if those advantages are enough to offset the more restrictive cost and the lost of Barrier Negation on a card that didn’t see much play to begin with. Considering the state of the game where having Put in Play effects is still pretty king, and most relevant effects otherwise can go off without attacking…my gut response as if now is no, it’s not enough to offset. I don’t think this gets played in Constructed and honestly in Limited it feels like a hard sell. Feel like this card is a miss, but I would love to hear any opinions contrary to this.

Ginyu, Ultimate Transformation

Now THIS card on the other hand I feel is an absolute hit and will find a place somewhere. Let’s say what this card is 99% of the time. 3 Drop 20K Dual Attack Double Strike that gains information on the opponent and can even hose things like Janemba chains. Extremely relevant traits, hell a relevant name if the Force makes a comeback. Really the only downside to this card is…it can miss, which can suck but at the same time he can keep trying every turn as long as he’s on board. But most decks run a max of 10-12 Extra Cards, though a lot settle around 6-8. That’s a very high percentage that you’re landing with this. …just don’t use it much at all against Frieza Prison for obvious reasons. But the card in my opinion is quite absurd, especially in Limited where the opponent is likely running a deck with 95%+ Battle Cards. I would be shocked if this doesn’t get a deck in Constructed as well, though he will need a home. Maybe the Ginyu Force makes a comeback, or he helps make a new Aggro deck for Yellow. But he’s getting something, I’m nigh sure of it. That’s just too much strong tempo for his Energy cost.

Mercenary Tao, the Master

Come on Tao, we literally have a 3 Drop 20K Dual Attack Double Strike right above you and you’re trying to make us pay 1 Energy a turn for 20K Dual Attack and nothing more? Another desperation, need something to take the last slots of a deck, pick in Limited.

Final Spirit Cannon

Darkness Eye Beam and Death Razor didn’t seen much play? Let’s just mash them together a bit while weakening them, that’ll work! Well for Limited it really will work, good versatile card to use and is nice to have in the environment. Constructed…no. Weakening two effects to have them as a Choose One Card only works if the two stronger effects were worth it in the first place…and they weren’t. If people aren’t paying 2 Energy to tap everything down or kill any rested card with impunity, they aren’t doing it for this.

Paternal Bonds

The final card for Yellow and of course a Negate. It’s fine, the ability to tap two things down is always strong. Again, good to have for Limited.

Final Thoughts:

This preview seemed a bit all over the place. Some absurdity, some solid, some okay draft, some outright bad. I do think there’s potential here though, even some of the cards I kind of crapped on (not you though Shugesh…not you). If nothing else this is shaping up to be a very fun Draft format that I’m interested in playing with.