WHAT IS UP SCRUB FAM!?
It wasn’t too long ago that Frisco Fahs, Richard Zapp, and myself ventured to Mesquite, Texas (Yeet) to reunite for some good times with friends while also playing some Dragon Ball! We competed in both events, Masters & Fusion World, and had a ton of fun – even managing to earn some high placements and get some SWEET prizing which even helped pay for the trip – dope.
It was wildly refreshing, especially since each of us had a much different approach this time than before: there was no mission other than trying to have as much fun as possible. That mantra carried through both our limited testing beforehand, as well as how we approached playing in the events themselves. There was no talk of metagaming or anything of the sort, just each of us playing a “good” deck we thought we’d enjoy.
Aside from the events being fun and INCREDIBLY well ran by PlayTCG!, we also spent a lot of time catching up with old friends, going out to dinners, trying new games, and most importantly – we were best friends, spending time together, all in one place. The weekend was amazing, and I know that we’re all jonesing to get out there and do it again… maybe we run it back in Dallas in September (Yeet)!
All of this is to say, hobbies are cool – especially hobbies that lead to awesome friendships. At the end of the day, we all love playing at Dragon Ball tournaments, but in reality they’re just an incredible excuse to travel somewhere with your best friends and escape from the “real world” for a bit. Winning is cool, but making memories is king.
Time to PIVOT!
It was literally the Wednesday before the Anniversary Box spoilers dropped on the website and I was working from home, and it hit me… “there are so many good cards now, why hasn’t anyone messed with Surgeku or Surge Broly?”
This then led to me brewing a Surgeku deck and a Surge Broly deck and playing some games with Frisco where he was trying out Gamma. Ricky (Richard Zapp) ended up hopping on to spectate and after playing with both decks, we were all quite impressed with how well they were keeping up with Gamma. Surge Broly even won a game!
Here is the updated Surge Broly R/G list:
Yea, I know… there was no Anniversary Box support, but man drawing cards from comboing is so good. Also, the leader’s awakened side is so powerful, giving you access to unconditional removal at instant speed, as well as giving you a boosted Furthering Destruction Champa that lets you reuse a Super Combo from your drop area – cracked.
With the new red cards from the Vegeta deck, Explosive Dance, Vegito negate, Cheers into Strength, and SS4/Omega 8 drop – the deck really does have it all. These cards really are just the beginning though and honestly, the leader and the fact there is no engine gives you so much room for creativity as evidenced by this deck below I just worked on yesterday, Dark Broly Surge:
Absolutely wild that you can play the Unlimited Potential package from Vegeta, the R/B Dual Land Dark Broly, Bardock, the Tenacious, Cumber 7, your powerful green cards, and Evil Saiyan SCR – all in the same deck.
Now… why you’re actually here
First off, let me just say that a LOT of my favorite gaming memories I have are when the boys and I get in the lab and we’re just spewing card recommendations, feedback, and neat ideas that we can all take and apply to whatever deck we’re building at the time. The level of encyclopedic knowledge and the creativity that Frisco and Ricky possess are incredible, and I am so blessed to have them for stuff like this.
Last Friday was an amazing day – new support was released for one of my favorite Leaders and trust me, the nostalgia was at an all-time high. Back when the Surge Expansion came out, followed by Draft Box 4 and Set 9, the space for creativity was infinite. To a lot of the community, that period was the pinnacle of Masters, and just having the ability to pour our love and creativity into that again in 2025 is awesome.
The best part about Surge decks are that there are so many choices to make and you will never actually know which are the most correct. For me, I tried to play a dual-color heavy build but ultimately hated not doing something of the first turn of the game, as well as playing cards that I would never realistically cast during a game.
Now, let me talk through some card choices:
Originally, I was playing a 1-cost Goku that searched the top 5 for a Yellow <Saiyan> cost 4 or less. This was due to me really wanting to play the 4-cost Majin Vegeta that gained Double Strike when you had a Yellow Son Goku in your Z-Energy. After playing some games, the Vegeta was hit or miss and often I just wanted to be playing something else. Not only that, but I was using a Goku Super Combo that was only active at 4 life to also support the Vegeta, and the one thing I did learn from dual-color builds was that being able to use the Beerus Super Combo above 4 life felt good.
Once I scrapped the 4-cost Vegeta, Frisco and I then spoke about how the best turn 2 play for the deck was Unison + Videl and Frisco wanted to try and make that happen more frequently. That is where he stumbled upon Son Gohan, Challenge from the Corps, which searches the top 5 for a Yellow <Saiyan> or <Earthling> cost 4 or less, or a Yellow Unison with a specified cost of 2 – perfection.
Going this route also allowed me to change my Super Combo to Lucifer, an Earthling, that you can search for and use once you have two Z-Energy. If you are trying to get your Super Combo online early with Z-Energy, you may as well commit to making Z-Energy a priority and play Bardock, Heritage of a Legend – also searchable via 1-cost Gohan. To also help with Z-Energy creation, be sure to play Android 17 & Hellfighter 17, Team of Hell – which can be played using any color and once in play gives you another card that replaces itself and gives combo value.
Another thing to bring up is the value of the <Saiyan> trait and the ability to harness that for free defense via SS Vegito, Power Release. The cost of this card is just deck building and honestly, it is worth it. For additional free defense, courtesy of Richard Zapp, be sure to play some Son Gohan, True Self Revealed to combo with your Son Goku, Unlimited Potential.
As for the Unison, big props to Dane with his list as it convinced me to go all-in on Prideful Transformation – also searchable via 1-cost Gohan. Playing the full 4 copies of the Unison is more than worth it, even if you just use it to fuel your Z-Unisons with Empower. Thank goodness we get to also take advantage of the Z-Unisons played in both the Yellow Broly deck, as well as the Red Jiren deck – OH THE CREATIVITY!
The last two things I will touch on are the SCR and Almighty Resistance. Originally, it was Gohan/Piccolo, then it was Gogeta, and then again Ricky popped in with his own list and he was playing SSB Vegito… absolutely genius. It costs just one red energy, gets back any red card from the drop, and has Triple Strike – which is huge for a deck that needs the closing power. The card also lets you have enough energy left over for Almighty Resistance, which you cannot even use with Gogeta SCR… as Ricky reminded me, haha.
As you can see… a lot of feedback, creativity thoughts, and unique ideas from different people went into this deck. At the end of the day, this is what makes Surge decks so friggin’ cool and I am so happy they are back.
#happytesting #scrubfamisbestfam #kthxbai
3xG Productions 