Not all Dragon Ball fans like competitive dueling, meta games and minmaxing. Even in card games. Some are here just for the fun, to look at the gorgeous artwork, or to display their favorite characters. This article was created mainly for them.
I will rate the decks on the thematic level they possess. I can't hide the fact, that I'm a competitive player, so I will discuss the decks in the form they are actually played, so thematic, but unplayable cards are filtered out in my lens.
Here's my top 10:
10. Piccolo
This is the oldest deck on the list, and this was the first time I felt green ramping thematic. Piccolo is pretty defenseless throughout the whole game, he perfectly captures the charging of the attack, which is finished at 8, the old magic number of green. At this point from defenseless he transforms into a beast with huge attacks. It's also fitting, that he can attack twice per turn, because in the story he shot two special beam cannons at Raditz.
9. Nameku
This Goku demonstrates the kaioken. That technique is dangerous to use, but grants a temporary boost, which is exactly what this deck does. Every turn, when we want to use our ability and attack stronger an additional time, we must pay 1 life. That means, that we either defeat our opponent quick, while we can pay the cost of kaioken, or we die trying. Playing this deck we can truly feel the drawbacks of this technique, something the story wanted to emphasize, but usually not delivered.
8. Shenron
In this deck we definitely feel the urge of gathering the dragonballs, even though it's a random mechanic here. Bringing out our biggest card as a result is quite the wish as well, so the core concept and the leader itself is nailed here. It's a bit of a letdown, that some cards don't have to do a lot with finding the dragon balls though. Goku with kid Gohan on nimbus, or ssj god Goku is out of the place, just as many other characters. It's still more thematic though, than most other decks.
7. Turles
The fruit thing is quite well done, the deck will continuously "eat" fruit for a temporary boost. The tree is also there to provide us fruits, and it's a bit of a what if, that we can consume the fruits with other characters as well, not just Turles. For example we can buff Goku with it, which is really fun. What missing here is the other characters from his team. The deck builds heavily on Turles himself, not on his team, which is mostly excluded from the deck. The tree is also a nice to have card, but not a must have to produce fruits, which is a bit against the theme.
6. King Piccolo
This archetype builds on the eggs of Piccolo, which the leader itself will lay, and can hatch at the end of the turn. Out of the eggs the known demons will born, and provide different bonuses. Some of these demons have thematic effects, like Cymbal searches, Drum k.o-s a weak opponent and King Piccolo can't be removed as long as one other demon is there to protect him. The reason it's not higher on the list is that it's a bit flat. No deeper personality is shown in the deck beside the egg aspect.
5. Boujack
This one is not the deepest theme in the game, but it's one done well. Boujack swarms with his goons, which is correct, and he doesn't care about the life of his subordinates, which is also correct. Playing cards and sacrifice them in need just to achieve victory fits the image we have about Boujack. Also Zangya being the main meatshield, while Bujin does the freeze thing is a big plus. It sucks though big time, that Slug was forced into the deck and every card has Gohan in it.
4. Future Trunks
I really like the idea of the time chamber, and the implementation of it. It also creates a very fun what if scenario, where we can decide which of the 2 characters we want to send to train together. It could be so much higher, but it's being pulled back by two mistakes. First, Trunks as a leader and his ability is forced and mostly mechanical. Second, the evolve chains are not symmetrical, only a big Gohan and big Trunks are available, while Vegeta and Goku are support only. Also the abilities of the cards don't really mean anything thematically. But the time chamber stuff is so great, everything else is easier to forgive.
3. Red Cell
Among all Cells, this is the best. It's true to the concept. We start the game by playing A17, A18 and A16. Then to evolve our Cell, first we need to absorb A17, then A18 by our Cell in that order to reach its perfect form. The leader K.O and boost is also understandable, as Cell got stronger as he absorbed the androids. The huge hand size reflects on Cell's tenacity and the various techniques he can use. Cell Jr. cards are also very important here, ready to surprise the opponent.
2. Gotenks
In this deck almost only Gotenks, Goten and Trunks cards are present beside extras. The reason it's so high on my list isn't that though, because the devil is in the details. Gotenks is a really random character in the source material, and the deck delivers this perfectly. Our fusion attempts could go really wrong sometimes, while other times everything go smooth and we fusion and defusion like a pro. Gotenks also loved his invented techniques, which is the core concept of the deck. The only way to play is to have a Gotenks who fire off some fancy stuff of his. The only minor downside is, that Gohan (tenkaichi form) plays a role in the deck, while he had nothing to do with Gotenks, but I let that slide.
1. Genki Dama Goku
The most thematic deck in my eyes. The base concept is done exceptionally well, as we will mostly play earthlings who will gather ki for us supported by Vegeta and Hercule to create a huge genki-dama thrown into the face of our opponent as a finisher. Even that has pretty funny and thematic nuances on its own, like Vegeta being helpful somewhat, but not really, while Hercule being the absolute champ. My favourite card despite that is the 2c Goku SR, which absorbs the genki-dama. I find it really creative and thematic to include that card in this archetype as it creates an alternative use of our ki. For those, who are not familiar with this concept, I recommend movie 7.
