Table of Contents
Welcome to our Dragon Ball Super Card Game Fusion World Meta Tier List! In this meta report, we will look at the best Leaders and decks of the Awakened Pulse (FB01) Season 1 metagame.
Meta Overview
We are past the halfway point of the Awakened Pulse metagame, and Fusion World is pretty dynamic for a game with only one expansion available. Indeed, there isn't so much to unravel in the metagame synergy wise, most of those being figured out early after the game released. However, the relationships between each deck, and how one deck rising impacts the performance of other decks is the big emphasis of the current environment.
For example, FS04-01 is currently the top dog in the game, thanks to its ability to dominate the trades early in the match, while using the Ginyu Force package to pressure all leaders with 20,000 base power. In this scenario, FS03-01 has been doing great, as it is the only leader with 25,000 power when awakened, becoming the top green leader in place of FB01-071 FB01-002 as well, gained a lot of momentum, emerging as a difficult matchup for Frieza. Together, the trio has led a rather control oriented metagame, mostly focused on running its opponent out of cards rather than aggressively trying to get them to 0 health.
Naturally, this means the aggressive strategies have been struggling more lately compared to a month ago, when Ginyu was terrorizing a tournament metagame dominated by Son Gohan. FB01-001 adapted pretty well to the environment, able to reach the important 25,000 threshold thanks to its leader ability. However, Ginyu has lost a ton of momentum in the process, and feels like an all-in deck when the other two yellow leaders allow for more flexibility.
In this mix, we are still waiting for blue to make a big splash. Goku Black and Vegeta have progressed for sure, and slowly gained more trust across the community. Yet, blue overall lack of defensive tools once the opponent build an early lead still has to be solved for the color to really feel equal to the others.
Overall, the metagame feels like it shouldn't move too much until the Blazing Aura expansion comes around in May. There is a possibility Broly and Beerus could take over Frieza, which could start a new cycle with Cooler, potentially Vegeta gaining some momentum in the process. Yet, the yellow villain feels too flexible to dethrone, at least when it comes to the open environment of the digital client. In tournament, the less aggressive strategies will exist because Frieza shuts them down, and the more likely Broly will be the best pick to take home the win.
Overall, the situation could be sum up as Frieza beats most, Beerus beats Frieza but is weaker to green, Broly beats both Frieza and Beerus, but is much more likely to be taken down by a Universe 7, Goku Black, Vegeta or Son Gohan deck. Really, the tiebreaker is your anticipation of the metagame for the tournament you will attend, and you ability to pilot your deck against a difficult match-up when the title is on the line.
Happy Meta Tier List everyone!
DBS Fusion World Meta Tier List
Disclaimer and Tier Explanations
Tier 1: Decks shaping up the metagame and looking dominant in tournaments and digital play so far. Their synergies are either solid overall, or match very well against other very popular opponents. Typically, other decks might think about including some sort of tech cards to edge out against these builds.
Tier 2: Good decks, able to compete with the right build, but lacking a little something compared to the tier above. It can be a difficult matchup holding them back, a lack of raw power to dominate most opponents, or simply some play-patterns they can't answer efficiently.
Tier 3: Absent from competitive play for a lack of confidence from the player base, or posting poor results so far. Decks in this last tier either haven't found their right list, or simply don't present the same upside as the other leaders in their color.
There aren't any deck trackers or official data being released about the DBS Card Game Fusion World online client so far. As such, this report is crafted based on scanning social media, looking at tournament results, and testing the lists posted by those who achieved the God rank already.
This report isn't perfect, but we are working to better it with each release. Hopefully, it can still help elevate your knowledge about the game.
Tier 1
Frieza
Ruler of the early game and packing a solid punch later in the match thanks to the Ginyu Force synergy, Frieza has slowly become the most influential leader in the metagame. Plus, the yellow leader could also boast about being the most flexible one when it comes to adapting your game plan to your opponent.
The power level isn't so far above the rest, and Beerus or Broly, two other powerhouses of the current environment, are able to beat Frieza consistently. Yet, when we look at a large sample size with every leader involved, Frieza punishes a lot of opponents who struggle with falling behind early on. Plus, the iconic villain has access to a lot of draw through FB01-107, a key element in the green match-up, considered the hardest one to go against.
Particularly, leaders with 20,000 base power know they can never rest, as the possibility of three to five battle cards being deployed at once is a lot of pressure. Broly naturally is the most resilient to this onslaught with its 25,000 power, while red leaders have access to FB01-025 to block part of it, or FB01-023 for a clear. However, blue and other green leaders are kind of helpless, except if they can absorb all those hits coming their way. The same can also be said for Cooler and Ginyu, but they have access to the same tools, it just so happens Frieza has a better deck, or leader ability around it.
Through this ability to routinely emerge on top of the early battle for board dominance, alongside a knack for pushing a lot of damage suddenly. Frieza more than deserves to be ranked on top of the DBFW competitive hierarchy.
Broly
Crazy how big of a difference 5,000 power can make, as it single-handedly makes Broly the best green leader to run in the current metagame. We just discussed in the Frieza paragraph how important it is to be able to tank multiple 20,000 power hits in a turn, an upside also against the Goku Universe 7 deck.
Compared to Gohan, ranked a little lower in this tier, this is about the only reason to run Broly currently, as both leaders have been running the same list for a while now. Yet, even if the Legendary Sayan has more upsides currently, this ability to pick either Son Gohan or Broly is a big part of green still being widely regarded as the top color in the game.
Compared to the leaders from other colors, Broly is great as long as you can control the pace of the match. Indeed, the leader's extra power comes at the cost of not drawing once awakened, meaning Broly can run out of cards quicker than most once it fears for its life. However, if you can keep FB01-087 on board to trigger your leader ability every turn, or simply aren't in a precarious situation, Broly is on top of the world.
In the digital client, where there are many more aggressive strategies, Broly tends to struggle a little more, as you are constantly forced to play defense, and you better do it right. However, tournament play features more midrange, balanced kind of strategies, which plays to Broly's strengths. Proof is, Broly is the leader with the most tournament wins in March.
Beerus
If Frieza didn't have such an impact on the current metagame, I doubt Beerus would be the best red leader, or even in tier one. Yet, thanks to being the best leader in the game against Yellow, Beerus is riding a nice wave of momentum lately, feeling like the true control build in the game right now.
On the back of its ton of abilities which can take out opposing cards without attacking, Beerus naturally plays around the yellow signature synergy, something the Universe 7 deck can't do, hence why it is ranked in the next slot.
Some players are already calling Beerus to be the best in the game, but I don't think we are there yet. If you anticipate a metagame ruled by yellow decks, or with a lot of Goku, then Beerus has all the tools to take it home. However, even if we have FB01-012 to buff our leader and push some damage, the deck clearly made the choice to be great at handling battle cards to edge against yellow opponent. Then, Its difficult face-off against green leaders, or the limited amount of combo cards the deck can pack prevents the God of Destruction from being the top dog in Fusion World.
If a list able to go against both yellow and green opponents consistently would emerge, Beerus could very well end the Awakened Pulse metagame as the best leader.
Son Goku (Universe 7)
If this was a report about the best deck to rank up to the god rank as efficiently as possible, Goku 7 would be second at worst. Indeed, the deck's ability to bring the heat with cheap cards is unparalleled, as FB01-001 makes even a 1-cost vanilla such as FS01-010 a threat for the opponent.
As time passes, the build focuses more around those cheap cards, looking to open various patterns to pressure the opponent. Thanks to a low curve capped off by FS01-08, the deck can bring a big double hitter, several 20,000 power cheap cards, or a couple of 30,000 power shots with the 3-cost cards.
Unfortunately for the Universe 7 synergy, Frieza really is a difficult opponent, which can completely kill your early set-up, often the key portion of the match for Goku. Plus, FB01-113 is a nightmare to deal with.
Then, this ranking doesn't reflect the strength of the deck as much as the metagame not being ideal for it. Green leaders are great to see on the other side of the battlefield, and they remain popular enough to make it worth running the aggressive red deck. Yet, you need to be able to sneak in those wins against a Beerus or a Frieza if you want to take home a tournament win with Goku 7.
Son Gohan : Childhood
Son Gohan was one of the first refined leaders in DBFW, as it gained a ton of momentum early on in Awakened Pulse. As such, there isn't so much change to report about the green leader, other than the metagame now relies on bringing lots of pressure with 20,000 power cards, especially in yellow decks. Logically, Broly took over as the go-to leader for ramp aficionados as a result, thanks to a better ability to sustain the hits.
In this context, I doubt Son Gohan will be able to progress much until the arrival of Blazing Aura in May, except if the metagame changes once again. For example, if Beerus and Broly were to take over the game, limiting how much of FB01-001, FS04-01 and FB01-104 Son Gohan had to against, I could see the Saiyan return to the top of the competitive pyramid.
Otherwise, Son Gohan should remain a great leader, with a couple of difficult match-ups to overcome, which Broly just seems better equipped to handle, until the Blazing Aura expansion comes around.
Tier 2
Cooler
Just like Toriyama made it in the original story, Cooler lives in his brother's shadow in Fusion World as well, rocking a very similar list, but unfortunately a weaker ability. The inclusion of FB01-127 in the deck tells you everything you need to know: Cooler has some upsides, such as swinging twice with FB01-129, but it wants to do what Frieza does naturally.
Then, I could see Cooler be a stronger leader in a control oriented metagame, as it does possess a better closing ability thanks to attacking twice with a 30,000 or 40,000 power card. However, its weaker match-up into every aggressive build, and even against Frieza himself limits how high I can rank Cooler at the moment.
This is kind of a similar situation as Son Gohan, who also would benefit a ton from Beerus and Broly to keep gaining momentum, as these two are much better opponents to go against. We are still a month away from Blazing Aura releasing, so who knows if the metagame doesn't have another shift in it by then.
Goku Black
Off to a super slow start compared to the other three colors, Blue slowly pieced the puzzle together, and is starting to post some good results, both in store tournaments or the digital client.
Currently, the color has two big synergies it can rely on, FB01-039 for late game pressure with high power cards, and FS02-03 to have enough cards to use as combo supplies. It just so happens that both mix perfectly together, and are doing their best work in the Goku Black deck. In that deck, playing FB01-039 two turns earlier makes a ton of difference pressure wise, while getting a free FS02-03 ensure we aren't running out of gas.
This forces the deck to play at least 8 copies of Zamasu, with a lot of players preferring to get closer to 10 in their list, which can quickly eat up a lot of space in the deck. Yet, even if this means Goku Black can't really afford a plan B, and focuses solely on getting it's big 6-cost out as early as possible, the deck has only progressed lately.
We aren't there yet in terms of power level if we were to compare the best blue leader with Frieza, Beerus or Broly, particularly when it comes to the deck's comeback ability. However, even if one might regret not having one or two copies of FS02-13 in the deck for extra finishing ability, the deck really shines when ahead and able to pressure. Indeed, with FS02-03 and FB01-056 to feed you combo cards, Goku Black positions itself as one of the best heavy hitter in the game.
Ginyu
Ginyu has been one of the most influential leaders in the metagame early in the Awakened Pulse era, but has been relegated to a one dimensional, too predictable build since Frieza and Cooler started including FB01-109 and FB01-132 in their decks.
Since that point, Ginyu has stopped posting the same great results, as the whole metagame was ready for the flurry of 20,000 power cards coming their way. Broly became the most popular green leader, FB01-025 turned into a staple in red decks, while Frieza and Cooler could do the same thing but also be more flexible while doing it.
In that mix, only blue was left as a color Ginyu could punish routinely, which isn't enough to make Ginyu the threat it was a month ago. Since then, the red Universe 7 deck has become the go-to aggressive deck, meaning there isn't much Ginyu can call himself the best at.
If the metagame was to shift, I'm sure the yellow leader could make a huge comeback in no time. For example, we discussed the possibility of Son Gohan and Cooler gaining momentum if Broly and Beerus managed to kick Frieza out of the top spot. This would be a much better situation for Ginyu to perform.
Until this happens though, Ginyu is good at what it does, but what it does isn't good in the current environment.
Vegeta
Vegeta might be the best leader in the game when ahead and able to repeatedly hit the opponent for 35,000 turn after turn. The problem is, Vegeta might be one of the worst in the opposite position, when it has to mount a comeback and protect its health. In this context with red and yellow being almost as popular as green, the early stage of a match is much more contested, playing into Vegeta's weakness too often for the leader to find success.
This is the main reason Goku Black is ranked a little higher in this tier, as it can develop pressure earlier through its ability. Vegeta cannot cheat energy to summon a big card, as he often is the big card himself.
Just like we saw it for green with Broly and Son Gohan, or yellow through Frieza and Cooler, the two best leaders for blue also look awfully similar. Really, Vegeta has more space as it does not care about the Zamasu synergy, even if I saw some list run FB01-042 while doing research. But it is likely the Saiyan would rather have the ability to bring the heat earlier in the match instead, as not leveraging a dominant position by turn three or four often equals a uphill battle for Vegeta.
When you are the weaker color, you would rather have more high roll potential, which Goku Black possess, rather than being reliable, which is more of Vegeta's strong suit amongst blue leaders currently.
Tier 3
Son Goku (Super Saiyan)
It pains me to rank FS01-01 this low, but there is just nothing the leader does better than others. Don't get me wrong, Goku wouldn't be last in any category either, but the game is about finding what makes you special, not who can do everything at an average level.
Then, even if red is a great color for a balanced leader, as it is the color with the most strong standalone cards available, the starter needs an identity it is cruelly lacking. Indeed, while FB01-002 focuses on reactivity and FB01-001 is the aggressive one, FS01-01 could be defined as the tempo oriented one.
Unfortunately, the current metagame is already rule by another tempo king: Frieza. Then, even if we have plenty of strong cards to rely on with FB01-015, FB01-139 or FB01-021 for example, what we lack is the ability to enforce the situation we want to play those in, something Frieza can do.
I could definitely understand if someone would heavily disagree with this ranking, simply based on the average quality of the red cards, enough to get any leader in tier two. However, we aren't just ranking the sheer power of a deck in this report, but also the upsides to running it in the current metagame.
Then, once we look at it from the angle of "Why would I run FS01-01 right now ?", there isn't anything you couldn't do, probably better, with at least another leader.
Android 17/Android 18
Similarly to the red starter above, the Android has barely any reason to see play compared to Broly or Son Gohan. Indeed, its bonus 10,000 power when awakened is only useful if you are in a position to pressure your opponent, which isn't how green operates most of the time.
The ability will be useful against other green leaders, as those matchups quickly turn into a ramp competition until both leader start sending big cards at each other. However, this doesn't really make Android 17 super favored in that matchup, and there are three other color you need to account as well. Against those, the ability to sustain more hits, like Broly naturally does with its base 25,000 power, or Son Gohan with the possibility to grow to 35,000 once a turn, is much stronger than the ability to attack for 30,000 power once at 6 energy.
Compared to our previous report, the Androids found more of an identity, as the build now looks much more unique compared to the other two green leaders. It has not lead to a lot more success so far, especially in tournament play, but it could represent a future foundation for the leader, as playing the same list as Broly and Son Gohan didn't work out so far.
Trunks : Future
Trunks potentially has one of the most interesting synergy to explore, and access to certain play patterns no other leader can explore. When playtesting it to understand why are the results so poor, as Trunks is the only leader to have never won a tournament, at least from every source I could check, it feels like Trunks simply does not play the way Fusion World wants you to.
Basically, the game right now is about building pressure to force combo card out of your opponent's hand to stay alive, slowly running them out of resources until the hits finally land. Or fighting back against said pressure until we can play cards the opponent cannot afford to deal with, eventually leading to a situation they have no answer for.
In this mix, Trunks would fall in the first category, as blue has limited defensive tools, but access to a lot of draw or ways to get cards back in hand from their drop, so does fairly well in an attrition war. Unfortunately for Trunks, even if the leader's ability has a lot of synergies, it doesn't deal with card. Rather, it forces the opponent to use them as combo unless they want to repay the energy cost. Then, outside typically falling behind early on because blue doesn't have access to 2-costs with 20,000 power and a strong ability like red or yellow possesses, Trunks never really runs its opponent out of resources. Instead, it slows it down while focusing on their leader health. Problem is, focusing on their health gives them even more cards, therefor more agency to protect themselves, or pressure us back.
In order to be truly effective, Trunks would need some closing ability like Goku Back has through summoning FB01-039 for four energy, or Vegeta with its 35,000 power hits. Here, we need to use FB01-054 to buff our leader, or FB01-049 for a cheap big hit, but still need to bounce it in our hand afterwards to reuse it later.
Overall, while the synergies are great to explore, they also feel much more complicated than a Goku Black or Cooler for example. Trunks is forced to take extra steps when others simply have access to this closing power with a simple synergy they can build their whole game plan around.
Closing Words
I don't want to rule out the possibility of Frieza possibly losing some popularity as Broly keeps taking home tournament wins, in favor of FB01-001 or a blue leader packing much more pressure. However, with only Broly as a base 25.000 power leader available right now, we probably would always go back to Frieza being the best leader any time Broly isn't the most popular one.
Constant shifts from Frieza to Broly, sometimes Beerus, mixed in with stints from aggressive strategies could be good already to keep us occupied until Blazing Aura releases. Yet, with Regional tournaments announced for after the new expansion drops, there might not be enough incentives for the community to actively try to shake up the metagame. Instead, the mood seems to be about deckbuilding, and exploring strategies we didn't have a chance to play with yet. The competitive fire will start in due time, when serial Goku cards will be on the line.
I hope this breakdown was helpful to your understanding of the game, feel free to reach out if you have any question. Easiest way to get in touch is through my Twitter page.
Good Game Everyone!
