Posted in: Card Games, Games, Tabletop | Tagged: dragon ball, Dragon Ball Super, Dragon Ball Super Card Game

Opening A Dragon Ball Super: Supreme Rivalry Booster Box

The more packs I open of the Dragon Ball Super Card Game, the more interesting I find it to be. The latest set, Supreme Rivalry, was released on May 21st, 2021, so let's crack open a booster box and see what this series has to offer.

As a general note, this opening will be approached from a collector's point of view. There is a ton of great content out there for players, but this one is for the collectors who are in it for the artwork, the characters, making a binder, or just flat out Dragon Ball Super appreciation.

What do you get?

Dragon Ball Super: Supreme Rivaly booster boxes come with 24 packs that have twelve cards each. When cracking one of these open, you're generally going to get seven either Super Rare (SR) or Special Rare (SPR) pulls, with the spread usually being five SR and two SPR. The crowning achievement of a booster box, though, is getting a Secret Rare (SCR) which are quite hard to pull and pretty much always end up being valuable cards. Supreme Rivalry sweetens the pot a bit, though, as they offer a box topper: a sealed card that is either an SR or SPR from the set. I was lucky enough to get a Special Rare with this King Vegeta, Hidden Ambitions card.

I've opened boxes of Vicious Rejuvenation (the previous expansion) and World Martial Arts Tournament (a themed set, which features beautiful connecting cards), and I enjoyed it all. Opening Supreme Rivalry was the first time I cracked a box in its release week, though, so I was happy to go in not knowing much about the set. I got the expected five SRs and two SPRs (three with the box topper), and I find myself increasingly floored with the quality of the artwork. The best card I pulled is the stunning SS2 Son Gohan, Astonishing Strike SPR. The way the golden foil outlines Gohan as well as his blazing Super Saiyan 2 energy makes for a gorgeous card that I'd say, now that I've looked at the full set after opening the box, the best card in the set… even though the Gohanks Secret Rare is the most valuable.

The themes of Dragon Ball Super: Supreme Rivalry

Dragon Ball Super: Supreme Rivalry is laid out like most sets, with sections of cards focusing on different themes or parts of the story. This is best seen, in my opinion, when you put the cards in a binder in number order and can flip through. It feels in many ways like reliving Dragon Ball through the cards' artwork. The set begins by focusing on the Saiyans, with cards featuring Bardock, King Vegeta, Gine, Goku and his family, Vegeta and his family, and more. This section is largely inspired by Dragon Ball Super: Broly, but it casts a wide net thematically. Then, we move to the Boujack section where the above Gohan card is from, which is the strongest theme of Supreme Rivalry to me. The Astonishing StrikeSPR isn't the only awesome SS2 Gohan card. Even this uncommon double-sided card is stunning.

Other themes include the Frieza family ( with a specific focus on Chilled, an ancestor of Freiza, and his army), the Android Saga (with a specific focus on History of Trunks), and finally the demons from Dragon Ball Online/Xenoverse/Heroes.

One of the best things about this set is how the artwork of even the common and uncommon cards is gorgeous. Just look at this Super Saiyan Trunks card up there. It's a common, but the fact that any common can be pulled as a holo completely elevates this card for me. When I pulled this one, I felt almost the same feeling as pulling an SPR due to the stunning artwork.

Verdict: Get it!

If you haven't ever opened a box of Dragon Ball Super Card Game, Supreme Rivalry is a great place to start. The Super and Special Rares are stunning, the set's themes are strong, and the artwork throughout the common and uncommon cards is killer.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!