Beginner's guide
How to Play Dragon Ball Super Card Game Fusion World
A plain-English guide to Fusion World, the newer of Bandai's two Dragon Ball Super card games. Setup, turns, combos and deck rules, with the Masters differences at the end.
- Players
- 2
- Deck
- 50 to 60 cards + 1 Leader
- Game length
- About 30 minutes
- Ages
- See packaging
- To learn
- Moderate
- You win by
- Take your opponent's 8 life cards to zero
The short version
Dragon Ball Super Card Game Fusion World is a two-player game from Bandai. You pick a Leader, such as Goku or Vegeta, and build a deck of 50 to 60 cards around it. Each player starts with 8 face-down life cards. Take your opponent's life to zero and you win. On your turn you ready your cards, draw one, add a card to your energy if you want, then spend energy to play fighters and attack. When someone attacks, both players can throw cards from hand into the fight as combos to boost power.
Fusion World or Masters: which game is this?
This trips up nearly everyone: Bandai prints two different Dragon Ball Super card games, and both are still going in English in 2026.
Fusion World is the newer one, launched in English in February 2024, with its own cards, card backs and a free Windows PC version that uses the same rules. Masters is the original Dragon Ball Super Card Game from 2017, renamed once Fusion World arrived. It still gets boosters, but its last starter deck was in September 2023.
The cards don't mix. A Fusion World card can't go in a Masters deck, or the other way round, and each game has its own rules and ban list.
This guide teaches Fusion World, because that's where Bandai sends new players and it's where the current starter decks are. If your mates already play Masters, skip to how Masters differs once you've got the basics. Most of the core ideas carry over.
What you need to play Fusion World
- A Leader card. Exactly one. It sits in its own spot and never leaves play.
- A deck of 50 to 60 cards. Not exactly 50, as some older guides say.
- At least one energy marker. The player going second starts with one. Starter decks come with a set, and you can buy the Energy Marker Pack 01 separately.
- An opponent. It's strictly a two-player game. There are no official rules for three or more.
You don't need dice, counters or a playmat, though Bandai's free printable playsheet is worth having for your first few games. Sleeves are only compulsory at tournaments, where they must be opaque and identical.
Honestly, the easiest start is two starter decks, one for you and one for whoever you're teaching. A current Fusion World starter holds a ready-to-play 51-card deck (that's the Leader plus 50 cards), an energy marker set, a playsheet and rule manual, and a bonus pack. The newest on shelves are FS11 The Phase of Evolution and FS12 The Beat of Ki, released in March 2026, and Bandai has announced FS13 and FS14 with dates to follow. The original Son Goku and Vegeta decks are still great for teaching if you can find them. Ask us which ones we can get hold of, and browse our Fusion World cards for boosters.
How you win (and the two ways to lose)
You can lose in two ways, so there are two ways to win:
- Your life hits zero. You start with 8 life cards. Every time your Leader takes damage, you lose one. The moment you have none left, the game ends. There's no "final blow" to land after that. Zero means over.
- Your deck runs out. You lose as soon as your deck has no cards in it. You don't have to try to draw from an empty deck first.
If both players hit a losing condition at the same moment, it's a draw.
Damage in this game isn't all bad. When your Leader is hit, the top life card goes into your hand. So the player who's losing gets more cards to fight back with. It keeps games close, and it's why a player on 2 life isn't beaten yet.
The three card types, and how to read one
Fusion World has just three card types. Masters has eight, going by Bandai's Masters rules page.
LeaderDouble-sided, starts face up in play, attacks, and flips to a stronger side when it Awakens. 
Battle CardYour fighters. Pay the cost to play them, then attack with them or throw them in as combos. 
Extra CardA one-off special move. Pay, it goes to the Drop Area, and its skill happens. 
[Field] ExtraThe exception: it stays in your Battle Area until you play another [Field].
Your Leader
Your Leader is who you're playing as. It goes in the Leader Area front side up and stays there all game. Nothing can remove it. It can attack, and it's what your opponent is trying to hit.
Leaders have an [Awaken] skill. Once its condition is met, you can use it to flip the Leader to its back side, usually stronger. The Son Goku Leader from the FS01 starter goes from 15000 to 20000 power when it awakens, at 4 life or less.
Don't assume every Leader works that way, though. Gogeta : BR (FB09-001) awakens at 5 life or less, and the Cross Force Son Goku (FB10-001) needs 2 or more [Ki] in your Battle Area instead. Read the card.
How to read a Fusion World card
Here's Android 17 from the Son Goku starter deck. He's a good one to learn from because he shows nearly every part a card can have.
- Cost: how many energy you rest to play it.
- Specified cost: the coloured orb. That much of the cost must be paid with energy of that colour.
- Power: its strength in a fight. Leaders and Battle Cards have it; Extras don't.
- Combo power: what it adds to a fight when you use it as a combo. Only Battle Cards have it.
- Card type: Leader, Battle or Extra.
- Skills: what the card does, with keywords in coloured boxes.
- Card name: the character.
- Special traits: groups such as Saiyan or Android that other cards can refer to.
- Colour: the pentagon symbol with a letter: R red, U blue, G green, Y yellow, B black.
- Card number: FS01-06. The 4-copy limit counts by this number, not by name.
Rarity and the small print don't affect play. Combo cost, Era and Character Name are Masters card parts; Fusion World cards don't have them.
The play area, zone by zone
Each player has eight areas. Seven are on the table and one is your hand. Bandai's playsheet lays them out like this:
| Area | What goes there |
|---|---|
| Leader Area | Your Leader. It never leaves. |
| Battle Area | Battle Cards you've played, plus any [Field] Extra. No limit on how many. |
| Combo Area | Cards used as combos in the current fight. They all go to the Drop Area when the fight ends. |
| Energy Area | Your energy: cards placed face up and upside down, plus energy markers. No limit. |
| Life Area | Your life cards, face down and spread so both players can count them. Nobody looks at or reorders them. |
| Deck Area | Your deck, face down. No peeking, no reordering. |
| Drop Area | Your face-up discard pile: KO'd Battle Cards, used Extras and finished combos. |
| Hand | Secret to your opponent. There's no hand size limit. |
Cards are either in Active Mode (upright) or Rest Mode (sideways). Energy sits upside down, which counts as Active, and turns sideways when you pay with it.
How to set up a game of Fusion World
- Leaders out Both players place their Leader front side up in the Leader Area.
- Pick who goes first Do it randomly. Rock, paper, scissors is fine. Whoever wins chooses to go first or second.
- Shuffle Shuffle your deck and put it face down in your Deck Area.
- Draw 6 Take the top six cards as your opening hand.
- Redraw if you want Once only, first player decides first. If you redraw, all six go back, you shuffle and draw six new cards. You can't keep some and swap the rest.
- Set your life Put the top 8 cards of your deck face down in your Life Area, one at a time, and spread them so the count is visible. Don't look at them.
- Energy marker for player two The player going second puts one energy marker in their Energy Area.
- Go The first player starts their turn.
Since 1 July 2024, the player going first does draw a card on their first turn. Bandai changed it to close a win-rate gap between going first and second. The first player still can't attack that turn. The second player can attack straight away, and has the energy marker as a head start.
How a turn works
Three phases, and no separate draw phase. You draw inside the first one.
- Charge PhaseSwitch all your rested cards back to Active, draw 1 card, then you may put 1 card from hand into your Energy Area.
- Main PhasePlay Battle Cards, use Extras and skills, and attack, in whatever order you like.
- End PhaseEnd-of-turn skills happen, "for the turn" effects wear off, and play passes over.
Charge Phase: where your energy comes from
Readying your cards and drawing aren't optional. Charging is. Put any card from your hand, Extras included, face up and upside down in your Energy Area. It's energy from now on.
That's the first real decision of every turn, because a card in energy is a card you won't play. Early on, charge nearly every turn. A hand of 5-cost cards and 2 energy does nothing.
Paying costs
To pay a cost of 3, turn three Active energy sideways. Each coloured orb must be covered by energy of that colour, so Android 17 (cost 3, one red orb) needs three energy, one of them red.
The energy marker is a spare point of energy. When paying, you can remove it from the game instead of resting one energy, and it counts as your Leader's colour. Once it's used, it's gone.
Main Phase: play, then fight
There's no limit on how many Battle Cards you play. They come in Active and can attack the turn they're played. No waiting a turn.
Extra Cards go to the Drop Area as soon as you use them, then their skill happens. Ones marked [Activate Battle], like Kamehameha, are used during a fight instead.
You can also [Awaken] your Leader here once its condition is met, or during a fight, including your Defense Step on your opponent's turn. A rested Leader stays rested when it flips, and one that awakens mid-attack doesn't get its new [When Attacking] skill for that attack.
How combat and combos work
Attacking is where the game lives.
Declaring an attack
Turn an Active Leader or Battle Card sideways and pick a target. You can attack:
- your opponent's Leader, or
- one of their Battle Cards that's in Rest Mode.
You can't attack an Active Battle Card. So a card your opponent attacked with last turn and is still sideways is fair game; one they held back isn't. Attacking rests the card, so each card normally gets one attack a turn.
Any "when attacking" skills happen now, before combos. So does [Blocker]: the defender can rest a Blocker to make it the new target. Only one Blocker per fight, and it has to be now. Once combos start, it's too late.
Combos: one round each
- Offense Step. The attacker adds combos one card at a time, as many as they like: Battle Cards from hand, or Active Battle Cards in play other than the attacker. Each adds its combo power. [Activate Battle] skills like Kamehameha go here too.
- Defense Step. Now the defender does the same for the card being attacked. They can also [Awaken] here.
- Damage Step. Add everything up and compare. If the attacker's power is equal to or higher, the attacker wins. Ties go to the attacker.
There's no back and forth. Once the attacker says they're done, they can't add anything more, whatever the defender does. Combos cost no energy at all in Fusion World, and only Battle Cards can be combos, because you need combo power to go in the Combo Area.
Who wins the fight, and what it costs
- Attacker beats a Leader: 1 damage. The defender moves the top card of their life to their hand. You don't get to pick which.
- Attacker beats a Battle Card: it's KO'd and goes to the Drop Area.
- Attacker loses: nothing happens. The attacker isn't KO'd.
Then every card in both Combo Areas goes to its owner's Drop Area, whoever won. That's the real price of a combo.
Worked example
- It's Player A's second turn. Their Leader is Son Goku (FS01-01), front side, 15000 power. Player B's Leader is Vegeta (FS02-01), also 15000.
- A rests Son Goku and attacks Vegeta. Goku's [When Attacking] skill draws A a card.
- Offense Step: A combos Krillin (FS01-04) and Android 17 (FS01-06) from hand, 10000 combo power each. Goku is at 35000.
- Defense Step: B combos Videl (FS02-10). Her combo power is 10000, and she gets another +10000 when combo'd from hand on the opponent's turn. Vegeta is at 35000. But 35000 against 35000 is a tie, and ties go to the attacker, so B adds Son Goten (FS02-05) for another 10000. Vegeta is at 45000.
- A can't respond. Their Offense Step is over.
- Damage Step: 35000 is less than 45000. The attack fails and nothing happens to either Leader.
- Battle end: Krillin, Android 17, Videl and Goten all go to their owners' Drop Areas.
If B had let it through, B would have dropped to 7 life and put that life card in hand. Was spending two cards to stop one damage worth it? Sometimes. You'll ask yourself that every fight.
Fusion World keywords you'll meet first
- [Awaken]Leader only. When the printed condition is met, do what it says and flip the Leader to its back side.
- [Blocker]When another of your cards is attacked, rest this card to make it the new target. One Blocker per fight.
- [Double Strike]Deals 2 damage instead of 1 when it hits a Leader. [Triple Strike] deals 3.
- [Critical]Life cards taken by this card's attack go to the Drop Area instead of your opponent's hand.
- [Field]An Extra that stays in your Battle Area until you play another [Field].
- [Evolve]Pay the skill cost to play this from hand on top of a matching Battle Card. It keeps that card's position and power changes.
- [Fusion Evolve]Like [Evolve], but on top of two matching Battle Cards. This is how fusions work in Fusion World.
- [Super Combo]You can only have 4 cards with this keyword in your whole deck.
- [Dragon Ball]Up to 7 of these in a deck in total, even copies of the same card number.
- [Ki]An energy marker placed under a card by a skill. It can't pay costs, and it's lost if that Battle Card leaves play.
- [Permanent], [Your Turn], [Opponent's Turn]Always on, or only on that player's turn. [Once per turn] means what it says.
- [Activate Main] / [Activate Battle]Skills you choose to use, in your Main Phase or during a fight. [On Play] and [When Attacking] skills happen by themselves.
Gogeta : BR (FB09-006) shows how [Fusion Evolve] looks on a real card. You play him on top of Son Goku : BR and Vegeta : BR in your Battle Area, as long as they have equal power of 20000 or more. His skill cost is 0, so the fusion itself is free.
Two more that catch people out. A card whose power drops to 0 goes to the Drop, but that isn't a KO, so [When KO'd] skills don't trigger. And adding a life card to hand with a skill, like Krillin's [On Play], isn't damage.
Fusion World deck building rules
- 1 Leader and 50 to 60 other cards.
- Colours must match your Leader. If your Leader doesn't have a colour, no card of that colour can go in the deck. This one's strict, and there's no "splash".
- Up to 4 copies per card number. Not per name. You could play four of FS01-08 Son Goku and four of a different Son Goku card as well.
- [Super Combo]: 4 in total. [Dragon Ball]: 7 in total.
How we'd build your first deck
Play a starter deck as it comes for ten games or so. You'll learn which cards you always want and which sit in your hand doing nothing. Then swap a few at a time.
Our opinion, not a rule: cards with 10000 combo power are your defence, so don't cut too many for flashy high-cost cards. Keep plenty of cheap Battle Cards for the first few turns, when you'll only have two or three energy. And stick close to 50 cards, so you draw your best ones more often.
When you buy boosters to improve it, check the pack says Fusion World.
Mistakes everyone makes once
- Buying the wrong game. Masters packs and Fusion World packs sit next to each other on shelves. They won't work together.
- Waiting for a finishing blow. The game ends the instant life hits zero.
- Letting the first player skip their draw. That was the old Fusion World rule. It changed on 1 July 2024. They do draw; they just can't attack.
- Forgetting the energy marker. The second player gets one, and it matters on turn one.
- Adding a combo after the defender's gone. The attacker's chance is over the moment they pass. Put everything in first, or not at all.
- Splashing a colour your Leader doesn't have. Illegal, however tempting that one card is.
And be kind to yourself: the first two or three games take a lot longer than the 35 minutes a tournament game gets. That's normal.
How Masters differs from Fusion World
Masters is the older, bigger game. The core is the same (a Leader, a 50 to 60 card deck, attacks, combos, awakening), but it's grown extra systems since 2017 and several basic rules work the other way round.
This is the Leader from Masters' last starter deck, SD23 Final Radiance (September 2023). New boosters are still coming, with B31 Impact Beyond Dimensions out in July 2026 and B32 Chromatic Ascension due on 27 November 2026. You'll find the recent sets in our Masters collection.
| Rule | Fusion World | Masters |
|---|---|---|
| Deck colours | Only your Leader's colours | No colour restriction when building (coloured costs still need matching energy) |
| First player's first turn | Draws, can't attack | Doesn't draw, can't attack |
| Combos | Free | Have a combo cost you pay with energy |
| Taking damage | Top life card, fixed order | You choose which life card to take |
| Extra deck | None | Optional Z-Deck of Z-Cards |
| Play areas | 8 | 12, adding the Warp, Unison Area, Z-Deck Area and Z-Energy Area |
| Interrupting | No counter skills | [Counter] skills can respond to plays and attacks |
Z-Energy is the big extra. After each fight, each player may move one combo card to their Z-Energy Area instead of the Drop. Z-Cards cost normal energy and Z-Energy, which you pay by sending Z-Energy cards to the Drop. Unison Cards sit in their own Unison Area, one at a time, and can be attacked.
Masters has its own banned and limited list, and the latest changes took effect on 3 July 2026. Bandai's Masters documents also disagree on a couple of details, such as the opening redraw and the Z-Deck size, so check with the organiser before an event.
Which should you learn? Starting from nothing, Fusion World: it's simpler, the starter decks are current, and there's a free digital version to practise on. But if your friends play Masters, learn Masters. The best game is the one you can get a game of.
Formats, tournaments and the ban list
At tournaments you can also bring a side deck of up to 15 cards. Bandai's bigger Professional-level events run Swiss rounds as best of one, 35 minutes on the clock, then a best-of-three top cut. Local events may differ.
Fusion World has a banned and restricted list. The current one runs from March 2026: Pilaf (FB01-056), Master Roshi (FB01-005) and Ribrianne (FB02-031) are banned, and five cards are restricted to one copy, including Babidi (FB04-085) and Cell (SB01-011). It can change at any time, so check the official list before an event.
There are also Sealed and Draft events, where you build from packs opened on the day (a Draft deck is exactly 50 cards plus a Leader), and a team format called Team Wars.
We haven't found any rotation announcement for Fusion World on Bandai's site as of September 2026. After a few games, Bandai's official Fusion World rule manual is the best next read.
Questions people ask
What's the difference between Dragon Ball Super Fusion World and Masters?
They're two separate games from Bandai. Masters is the original Dragon Ball Super Card Game from 2017. Fusion World launched in English in February 2024 with simpler rules and its own cards. The cards can't be mixed, and each game has its own rules and ban list. Fusion World has current starter decks, while Masters' last one came out in September 2023.
How many cards are in a Fusion World deck?
One Leader plus 50 to 60 other cards. Starter decks come with 51 cards: the Leader and 50 more. In Draft events the deck is exactly 50 plus a Leader.
How many copies of a card can you play in Fusion World?
Up to 4 of each card number. Cards with the same name but different numbers count separately, so you can play several different versions of Son Goku. Cards with [Super Combo] are capped at 4 in total and [Dragon Ball] cards at 7 in total.
Does the player going first draw a card in Fusion World?
Yes. Bandai changed the rule on 1 July 2024, so the first player now draws on turn one. They still can't attack that turn. In Masters, the first player doesn't draw or attack on their first turn.
Can you mix colours in a Fusion World deck?
Only colours your Leader has. A single-colour Leader means a single-colour deck. Masters has no colour restriction when building a deck.
Do combos cost energy in Fusion World?
No. Using a Battle Card as a combo is free in Fusion World, and there's no limit on how many you use in a fight. Combo cost only exists in Masters.
What are energy markers for?
The player going second starts with one in their Energy Area. When paying a cost, you can remove it from the game instead of resting one energy, and it counts as your Leader's colour. Some newer cards also place markers under cards as [Ki], which can't be spent on costs.
Do you lose straight away when your life reaches 0?
Yes. No final attack is needed. The moment a player has no life cards left, they lose. The same goes for running out of cards in your deck.
Can I play Dragon Ball Super Fusion World online?
Yes. Bandai has a free digital version of Fusion World for Windows PC, and it uses the same rules as the card game. Some starter decks include a code for the digital version.
Is the Dragon Ball Super Card Game still going?
Yes, both versions are. Fusion World's FB11 Brightness of Hope is due on 16 October 2026, and Masters' B32 Chromatic Ascension is due on 27 November 2026.
Where to start
The easiest ways in. Prices and stock on this list are live.
Where these rules come from
Checked against Bandai's full Fusion World Rule Manual ver.1.08 (last updated 12 September 2026), the Official Rule Manual ver.1.20 and the official FAQ. Masters points checked against the Masters Official Rule Manual ver.4.00 and Game Q&A.
- Dragon Ball Super Card Game Fusion World Rule Manual ver.1.08, full rules (Bandai)
- Fusion World Official Rule Manual ver.1.20 (Bandai)
- Fusion World Playsheet (Bandai)
- Fusion World official FAQ (Bandai)
- Fusion World rule change: first player draws from 1 July 2024 (Bandai)
- Fusion World Banned/Restricted Cards from March 2026 (Bandai)
- Fusion World Tournament Rules Manual (Bandai)
- Fusion World official card list (Bandai)
- Dragon Ball Super Card Game Masters Official Rule Manual ver.4.00 (Bandai)
- Masters Game Q&A (Bandai)
- Masters Banned/Limited Cards (Bandai)
