Every TCG Has a Story: Dragon Ball Super

Since launching in 2020, CGC Trading Cards® has expanded from grading just two trading card games to grading nearly all non-sports TCGs. In 2021, CGC Trading Cards announced that it would begin grading the growing Dragon Ball Super Card Game. Produced by Bandai, the Dragon Ball Super Card Game uses characters, abilities, settings and events from the popular manga and anime by Akira Toriyama.

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Dragon Ball Super is a continuation of one of the world’s most popular anime series, Dragon Ball Z, which is itself a sequel to Toriyama’s original work, Dragon Ball. The Dragon Ball series is one of the most popular Japanese anime of all time and is widely recognized in Eastern and Western countries alike. Altogether, the Dragon Ball series has over 550 episodes, dozens of movies and over 50 manga volumes. The manga has sold in over 40 countries, with over 350 million copies sold worldwide!

Readers of Weekly Shonen Jump — the same magazine that later published One Piece — were introduced to the world of Dragon Ball in 1984. In the first chapter, they meet Son Goku, a little boy with a monkey tail and a sense for adventure. Together with a teenage girl named Bulma, they decide to search for the seven magical Dragon Balls — a set of mystical spheres that, when brought together, are said to grant any wish. Along the way, they meet several allies and battle dozens of villains, and Goku trains in martial arts.

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Goku and the rest of the cast grow up as the series goes on; Dragon Ball Z focuses on Goku as a young adult and father, while Dragon Ball Super takes place ten years after the end of Dragon Ball Z. In Dragon Ball Super, Goku and his friends must face down their toughest opponents yet, including gods of destruction and even opponents from different universes! The Dragon Ball Super TCG showcases each character and event in the form of Leader, Battle, Extra and Unison Cards.

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Of course, it wouldn’t be a Shonen manga unless the characters had special powers or abilities. From the start, Toriyama made it obvious that Goku was special in some way. It turns out that Goku and certain recurring characters, including Vegeta, are from a race of alien warriors called the Saiyans! Saiyans have enhanced strength and the ability to use Ki to manifest special attacks, or even transform themselves into supernatural beings. Other characters in the series also use Ki to launch their own special attacks, which are reflected in the TCG’s artwork.

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The Dragon Ball Super TCG was released in 2017, when it re-joined the trading card game franchise after the Dragon Ball Z Collectible Card Game ended in 2009. Bandai has released 20 sets, 14 expansions and several reprints, draft boxes, theme sets and promotional cards... and it's still going! Following its release in Japan and the US, Dragon Ball Super has become a widely recognized TCG in both collecting and competitive scenes.

Are you ready to power up with the Dragon Ball Super Trading Card Game? CGC Trading Cards is here to help! The company has already certified over 11,500 Dragon Ball Super submissions, showing its dedication to the third-party grading of new and established TCGs alike. Learn how to submit by clicking here.