Starter Deck Review: Saiyan Saga

The Saiyan Saga starter decks were the first starter decks in Dragon Ball Z Collectible Card Game by Score. There is a Hero deck and a Villain deck based on the saga’s most important characters. Starter Decks include 60 cards, 4 Personality cards including one high tech Personality card, a playmat, Scouter, and Warrior Sword. Gohan, Goku, Krillin, and Piccolo are the Hero Personalities, and Nappa, Raditz, and Vegeta are the Villain Personalities. This was the beginning of one of the most popular trading card games.

Random Main Personality

Starter decks include one random Main Personality, and this became a trend in the game. There are many cons with this setup. The cons are very obvious which are getting the same character multiple times, never getting specific characters, and spending a lot of money searching for a character. Score obliviously randomized starter decks to entice players to buy multiple starter decks and even starter deck box sets to get every Main Personality. A lot of kids and their parents spent a lot of money buying the same starter deck in hopes of getting the desired Main Personality

I would prefer for starter decks to be labeled with specific characters instead of being a game of chance. As a kid I was very frustrated with always getting the same characters from starter deck. I got Raditz in my latest Saiyan Stage starter deck, and it took me 14 years to finally get Raditz’s main personality set instead of Nappa who I always got from the Saiyan Sage Villain starter deck.

Why are there Hero Allies in a Villain starter deck? 

One would expect to allies from the same alliance as the starter deck’s Main Personality to be included in the starter deck. However, that was not the case as shown in the video above. I got three Hero Personalities in a Villain starter deck and this makes the deck unplayable because its an illegal deck. The Saiyan Saga set did not have many options for Allies. Nappa, Raditz, Saibamen, and Vegeta were the only villains and the three Saiyans’ level one and level two cards are only available in the starter decks. Adding one or two copies of a level one Saibaman would be the most logical choice, but Score failed to think before they acted.

Vanilla Game Plan

The deck’s strategy is crippled by the randomness and having illegal cards in a Villain deck. My deck’s strategy would have some idea if I bought a Hero starter deck. The Villain deck requires both players to agree to make minor rule changes just to practice with the Hero allies.

The best option is to use the deck to learn basics. It’s the only positive highlight from the starter deck. It’s as vanilla as a starter deck from any trading card game can become.  A new player will eventually become accustom to the game’s rules and start to play at a faster pace. The basics will help a player get an idea on how he or she wants to create a legitimate deck.

The Final Word

In conclusion, the Saiyan Saga starter deck created basic the foundation for future starter decks. Random Main Personalities and accessories were staples in Score’s era and they continue to be staples in Panini America’s era. However, Saiyan Saga starter deck as a whole is very unimpressive. Card games do not start with perfection, but the horrific errors are inexcusable. There are definitely problems with this starter deck. Why add Hero Allies in a Villain starter deck? This is totally illogical because Villains cannot have Hero Allies. The starter deck is now unplayable because it is an illegal deck. Starter decks are for players to be able to play right away with a basic deck. Players should not be forced to buy booster packs to fix an illegal deck.

I do not recommend players to buy this starter deck if they are interested in playing the game. This deck is only a collector’s item. Don’t waste your money on this deck unless you really want it in your DBZ CCG collection.

Rating: 0 out of 5

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