Dragon Ball Super Card Game: from Masters to Fusion World

"Dragon Ball Super Card Game" can mean two different things. The original game, launched by Bandai in 2017 and now called Masters, is still running. Next to it, since 2024, Bandai publishes Fusion World, a new and incompatible game with a simpler design and a digital version. This article covers both: where they came from, the sets worth knowing and what their collecting market looks like.

The original game (2017)

Bandai's Card Business Department announced the Dragon Ball Super Card Game in February 2017, with a launch set for July of that year. As ICv2 reported at the time, the first products were starter decks of 50 cards plus a Leader card at $11.99, and 12-card booster packs at $3.99. Early cards drew on the then-new Dragon Ball Super anime, with forms such as Super Saiyan God and Golden Frieza next to classic characters like Vegeta, Piccolo and Broly.

The Leader card was the game's signature: each deck is built around one double-sided leader, the character the whole deck supports. Fusion World later kept that idea.

Growth and the Zenkai Series

Over the following years the game released booster series after booster series, adding mechanics and rarities as it went. In September 2022 Bandai opened what it called a whole new era: the Zenkai Series, starting with the booster Dawn of the Z-Legends (DBS-B18) on 16 September 2022. It introduced Z-Leader and Z-Battle cards, new card types with their own rules.

That same announcement contains a detail many fans outside the West do not know: at that point, the Dragon Ball Super Card Game was available primarily in North America and Europe, and not in Japan.

The split: Masters and Fusion World

On 4 August 2023 Bandai announced that the Dragon Ball Super Card Game would launch a new title, Fusion World, in 2024, on both physical cards and a digital platform. The existing game was renamed Masters and would continue the Zenkai Series.

The two games share a franchise, a colour-coded keyword style and double-sided leaders, but they are not compatible. Card Gamer describes Masters as the more complex game, with mechanics built up over its first seven years, and Fusion World as a cleaner design with less text on each card, aimed partly at players who are new to card games.

Fusion World (2024)

Fusion World launched in Japan on 16 February 2024 with four starter decks — Son Goku, Vegeta, Broly and Frieza — and the first booster, 覚醒の鼓動 (Awakened Pulse). Every Japanese product included a code for the digital version. In English, the starter decks arrived on 16 February and the booster Awakened Pulse (FB01) on 23 February 2024, in 12-card packs, each with a digital code.

Awakened Pulse set the template for what followed: 140 card types, including 8 Leaders, 12 Super Rares and 2 Secret Rares, plus 23 alternate-art versions. Its leaders included Son Goku, Beerus, Goku Black, Android 17 and Cooler.

Iconic Fusion World sets

Manga Booster 01 (SB01)

Released in English on 27 June 2025, Manga Booster 01 commemorated the 40th anniversary of Dragon Ball. Its alternate-art cards use manga artwork by Akira Toriyama, including pieces from the 1990 art book Akira Toriyama The World and original serialisation covers. Every card in the set has a foil finish, and it introduced a new rarity to Fusion World, the Ultra Alt-Art. For many collectors, it is the set that connects the card game most directly to the original manga.

Cross Force (FB10)

Cross Force, the tenth Fusion World booster set, was released in English on 12 June 2026. It shows how far the rarity ladder has grown since the first set: its Secret Rares — Vegito, Son Gohan: Childhood and Cell — come in both Alt-Art and Super Alt-Art versions, and all five Leaders have alternate-art versions too.

Masters today

Masters has not stopped. Its official site lists the Ultra Bout series of boosters, including Three Glorious Fighters (DBS-B30) and Impact Beyond Dimensions (DBS-B31), and its 2025–2026 organised play season leads into the Fifth World Championship. Collectors of the original game therefore have a line of cards that runs, with changes of name and series, from 2017 to today.

What the collecting market looks like

Because there are two games, the first question for any Dragon Ball card is which one it belongs to. Masters and Fusion World cards look alike at a glance but have separate card pools, set codes and communities.

• Fusion World uses a compact rarity ladder — Leader, Common, Uncommon, Rare, Super Rare and Secret Rare — and adds alternate-art versions on top, from standard Alt-Art to Super Alt-Art and Ultra Alt-Art. Collector interest tends to focus on those versions and on the most popular characters.
• Masters has a broader rarity structure built up since 2017, and Card Gamer notes that it suits collectors who seek rare variants.
• Special sets such as Manga Booster 01, tied to anniversaries or to Toriyama's own art, draw attention from Dragon Ball fans who do not play the game.

As in any card game, prices react to new sets, reprints, tournament results and interest in the anime and manga. Treat a single price as a snapshot and look at how it has moved over time. You can follow prices from the Dragon Ball page, track a collection with the portfolio tracker and read how our indices work.