Last week, I went over my thoughts on the BT31 ban list, discussing what Bandai got right and where they missed the mark. This week, I want to go over the newly spoiled “Locals” promos for July - September 2026 while also looking back on the previous iterations we have seen this year.

(source: https://www.dbs-cardgame.com/us-en/event/tournament/zenkai-series-tournament/)

For Volume 1 at the start of the year, the promos were exclusively reprints. While I didn’t mind the idea, the reprints were hit and miss. There were definitely some bangers: Successor Gogeta, Son Gohan U7 Challenger, and the four DBR Z-Unisons were all welcome reprints. Others missed the mark for me, especially in hindsight, with Borgos, Bardock’s Crewmate being reprinted even though Dimension Magic is now banned. While reprints during the “off-season” are fine, I wish there wasn’t an extended break in the competitive schedule to begin with. 

In April, we got a fresh set of promos all centered on legacy support. This trend started in July of last year; the first two rounds last year had a few support cards for newly released decks and also included the “Counter” cards for side decks.  As we look back on April’s Vol. 2 pack, let's review the decks that got support: 

(source: https://www.dbs-cardgame.com/us-en/event/tournament/zenkai-series-tournament/) 

• Son Goku & Android 18, Unexpected Tag Team

• Vegeta & Nappa, Saiyan Invasion

• SSB Gogeta, Mighty Fusion Warrior

• Cheelai and Lemo, the Kindhearted

• Nucleus of Evil Meta-Cooler Core Returns

• SS Son Goku, Fearless Fighter

• Majin Buu, One with Nothingness

• SS4 Vegito, Sparking Potara Warrior

    Not every aging deck needs support that pushes it into Tier 1. However, many decks are only a card or two away from relevance. Using promo slots on strategies with virtually no chance of becoming competitive feels like a missed opportunity. In Vol. 2, Yellow Meta-Cooler, Black Buu, and Vegeta & Nappa are the decks that feel like they are taking up valuable real estate. I know Black Buu is a fan favorite, but the no hand gimmick isn’t going to fly in 2026. I am not sure how to categorize the Cheelai and Lemo support. It reads well, but we haven’t seen it put into practice yet in any competitive event, so I won’t rush to judgment here. 

    Before I get to the support that they did get right, I want to discuss the “Drip-ku” support. These were the cards I was most excited to test out, but they are fundamentally flawed. “SS Son Goku, Stockpiled Power” reduces the specified costs of yellow unisons by one yellow energy for the turn, which sounds great, essentially making the one cost unisons free. That would be awesome if they continued to function as intended, but all of the one cost unisons in the deck have on-play autos that trigger when they are played with three markers. They have Empower 2, but if they are being played for free with the new cost reduction, they only come into play with two markers, losing most of the benefit from cycling through them. I am not sure if this was intentional or an oversight, but the result is the same. The support isn’t enough to make the deck worth playing, which is a real shame because it is a fan favorite from the Set 17 era and could have legs if the real problem was addressed: the inability to combo with unison cards. It makes me question the level of quality control and playtesting involved, especially since many players identified this flaw immediately after the cards were revealed. We'll have to see if they improve in this area moving forward if they are going to continue to print this type of support. 

    The support for the three remaining decks is strong. Sometimes, decks just need a card or two to increase the power level to an appropriate level. Other times, decks have a fatal flaw that needs to be addressed in order to be able to express its power. For the former, I think Son Goku & Android 18, Unexpected Tag Team got two cards that just increase the power level of the deck and make it much stronger. Both have strong abilities that push a deck that was already close up a level. Favorable Situation acts as a great enabler for other red extras in the deck and Impulses of Sadness and Rage turns Android 18, Deadly Combat Settled into an early tempo play and potential board clear later in the game. Great support for an overlooked deck. 

    The two fusion decks left on the list fall into the second category. Blue Gogeta BR has always felt like a deck with a high ceiling but with an energy curve that was too compact. It was trying to do much, too early, with not enough energy to do all that and survive on defense. SSG Son Goku & SSG Vegeta, Realm of Triumph addresses that issue nicely, reducing the energy cost curve of the Z-Extra by one and also giving additional benefits of being a dual name target and a filter piece to get fusion pieces into the drop. SS Gogeta, Overflowing Fighting Spirit isn’t as strong, but it is an additional Gogeta to play (for free), enabling the leader re-stand and draw while also adding a layer of protection for the next fusion played. The Dimension Magic ban really hurts, but you can bring this deck to a regional and hope to do well. 

    Black Vegito Xeno also got two new fusion pieces, but I am not sure they address the core problems of the deck. A deck designed around a two cost, two z-energy unison is difficult to facilitate when strong players know to avoid the combat step early or side in z-energy interruption. The other flaw this deck has isn’t its own fault, its power creep. The deck hinges upon its ability to keep a six cost barrier blocker in play, and unfortunately barrier removal or skill negation is at an all-time high. SS4 Son Goku, Battling Across Time and Space is a nice consistency piece that will enable the six cost to be played from the warp if it isn’t drawn early, but I don’t think it's controversial to say that Beyond All Limits did this better. SS4 Vegeta, Battling Across Time and Space adds utility in that it acts like a yellow Zarbon to re-stand your barrier blocker on defense, but if barrier removal gets there first, this doesn’t do much. A new Z-Unison that didn’t cost two Z-Energy or a new six cost Vegito Xeno blocker that had protection similar to the eight costs in Aegis Gogeta would’ve been the way to go, but at least they tried. Strong cards weren't what this deck was missing; it needed solutions to its problems and didn't get them. 

    With that reflection out of the way, let's take a look at the leaders being supported in the current round of promos, starting in July 2026: 

• Bulma, Familial Bonds

• SS4 Vegeta, Ultimate Evolution

• Saiyan Power Baby

• Powerthirst Black Masked Saiyan

• Turles, Corps Commander

• SS Trunks, Tournament Battle to the Death

• Son Goku, Another World Fighter

• All White Decks? 

When these were revealed, I was excited to see SS4 Vegeta on the list of decks getting support. That was the first deck I played when joining the game during Set 11. I say that to provide the background knowledge that some of these decks are before my time. It is hard to provide analysis on a deck that I have never played or played against during the six years I've been involved with the game. That also applies to decks that were so underpowered on release that they never saw play (sorry Turles). So, I will have extended takes for some of these while having little to say about others. I will share some links at the end of the article to videos from other awesome DBS content creators that have opinions on these promos. 

Bulma, Familial Bonds

    I was not excited to see this leader on the list. This deck is an all-time favorite of my teammate Raymond (Randoms) and he has bullied me (us, possibly you) with this deck for years. Since Red Kidku got Bulma Bunny Girl banned, we haven’t seen much of this deck on the competitive scene. It is a slow, plodding deck that wants to force its opponent to over-extend before capitalizing with cards like Golden Cooler SCR to seal the game. 

With that in mind, on first read I am not sure this support is exactly what the doctor ordered, but it has potential. SS2 Vegeta, Relentless Defiance has a nice stat line for an early play, but two energy is steep on any turn besides the awaken turn. It can also play the other new card, Bulma, A Turbulent Birthday, which plays another card from hand and aids in self-awakening. This generates three bodies for two energy, helps Bulma awaken, and provides some pressure with the Vegeta gaining double strike. Unfortunately, the Vegeta only gains barrier if a red Earthling is removed from the field. Since the Vegeta doesn’t have barrier, it will always be the target of the first removal ability played, so I don’t see it gaining that protection often. 

This might be good. Bulma also gets better with Set 31 and SS Gogeta, Ultimate Warrior being a strong three cost unison for a red deck that wants to stall anyway. Couple that with other red generic support we’ve been seeing and maybe it will have a bit more potent offense. Red non-Saiyans finally have a strong in-color SCR option with SS Broly, Cutthroat Warfare, so maybe I am looking at it from the wrong perspective. It is possible Bulma evolves from just a stall deck to a deck that turns on the heat a little earlier with all the tools at its disposal. If that is the case, maybe this is the perfect support for the deck to get flipped over early and start turning up the heat. I hope that is the case. I don’t want to get Toppo’d three or four turns in a row anymore. 

Saiyan Power Baby

    I would be lying if I said I had any real opinions on this support. I have never played or played against this deck. I have never even heard this deck discussed as an old classic that the community wanted support for, so we'll have to see  whoever filled out that survey and picked this leader is thrilled with this support. An in-archetype Defeating the Demon that draws a card sounds cool to me, so hopefully  it works out. I’ll leave this one to folks smarter than me to review. 

Powerthirst Black Masked Saiyan

    Of all the black leaders that need some support thrown its way, I was surprised to see Masked Saiyan be the chosen one. It has received a few random pieces of support through the years, so there must be a contingent of the community that really likes this leader. It does offer something most black leaders do not: an untap two energy awaken ability. This can help push aggression in the early turns, but it hasn’t been revisited on the competitive scene for years. 

Both Black Masked Saiyan, The Power of Darkness and Demigra, Dark Magic read strong enough, but in tandem it is a three energy play in a color that wants (and needs, basically) to do everything for free or one energy. If the chain works out perfectly, the Demigra comes out, swings, plays another 19k body (with potential life burn effects) that gets to swing, goes into the new BMS for one energy, swings 25k double strike crit, warps their board and one from hand, and then plays another six drop body that swings for 25k. That is a strong sequence of 5 swings, including leader, but is susceptible to interruption from a variety of counterplays. I’m not saying it will never work, but I don’t know if I would put it on the tier of Pan, Maidens, or Black U7 yet. 

Son Goku, Another World Fighter

    Halo-ku is one of those decks that never got to shine in its own time because the red decks of the day were so strong (Syn, SS4) and the blue counters to those decks were more flexible (Crimson, mostly). This deck got two cards of support in an Anniversary Box a few years ago that might have helped, but didn’t increase the relevancy of the deck at all. To me, it feels like we’re in the same spot here. North Kai, Reunion After 300 Years reads like it will help generate Z-energy efficiently and put the Halos in the drop early, but is that enough? SS Son Goku, Unwavering Ambition is a nice one energy play that can apply pressure and potentially help with blue’s barrier removal problem. I just don’t know what we’re building towards here. What is the payoff for all of the thought required to pilot the deck properly? 

Turles, Corps Commander

    Remember earlier when I said there were content creators with stronger opinions on some of these decks than me? Demian from the Lookout chose to spotlight this deck first from the promo reveals, so check out his video here from The Lookout: https://youtu.be/7CN8iShfLYI. I don’t ever remember seeing a card with an effect similar to Amond, Tough Physique, so I am curious to see what the most number of cards someone can draw with his effect will be. Turles, Dangerous Invader seems like a strong consistency piece to help facilitate cards like Amond, so there's reason for optimism it turns out to be very strong. Outside of Daima, Yellow could really use a boost. 

SS Trunks, Tournament Battle to the Death

     This is a deck that so many in the community want to make work. For the fairly low representation it has seen at top tables in tournaments, it feels like a deck that many players have built and are always tinkering with. I have not played the deck personally, so I am not the most educated on the issues the deck faces. From the outside looking in, it seems like the major flaw of the deck is with the awaken condition. While the SS Vegeta, Rescuing a Son one cost Z-Battle card has deflect, it doesn’t have barrier, making it susceptible to a number of counterplays that can hit it before it attacks. It feels similar to the clunkiness of Blue Gogeta BR with its Z-Extra and Z-Unison; that bottleneck needs to be resolved to unlock the deck. Giving the deck a new Z-Battle Vegeta with deflect and barrier might have been the best case support scenario. It also would’ve helped to have a more efficient way for the Z-Extra to hit the field. 

    All that aside, both of these cards are strong in their own right. The deck gets four cost or less barrier removal with SS Trunks, Kind-Hearted Warrior. While SS Vegeta, Renewed Fighting Spirit is also a strong card, I am curious to see if it will see more play in Red Vegeta if those players end up pivoting the deck to a red/green build in light of the recent ban list. This falls into the same trap as previous support; printing strong cards instead of printing solutions. 

White Decks

Both of the cards printed for White seem generic enough that they would fit into multiple decks. It seems like the intended purpose of Piccolo, Strategy Meeting is to give the U7 Goku leader a really tall Critical swing, which is nice for a deck that probably needs much more than that. It is also just a 15k cantrip, self-awakener in any White deck and has the “God” tag, giving it the versatility to be played in Belmod and Beerus. 

Bergamo, Smooth-Talker is also generic for any white deck. It is a tricky card to play because you have to have exactly three cards in hidden mode. I guess that fits the “trio” theme of Bergamo. If you can get it out, it is a nice pressure piece that also enables untapping of hidden energy on both players’ turns. Opponents not being able to activate blocker is also a nice tool to have. I don't know if either of these cards solve any of White's problems, but at this point White just needs more cards in the card pool to compete. 

SS4 Vegeta, Ultimate Evolution

    Finally, my favorite leader is getting support. Now, in the wake of the Dimension Magic ban, this feels like salt in the wound, but I still want to try and see the best in it. One of the leader’s main issues was its awaken condition, which does get addressed by Bulma, Faith in Her Husband. When I first read this card, I thought “Wow. Okay. We get to flip over before four life. We’ve got something here.” Unfortunately, we lose the leader draw we get from awakening, and we had to Z-Charge to even play this card. That means our hand size is going to suffer big time. The other effect, which helps enable the leader’s ability to ramp, will be helpful on those turns where we don’t have Ultra Instinct Goku's Kamehameha to push a damage. In a way, it buys back the one card you combo’d to get her on the board, but it has to be on board to take advantage of that second auto. 

    The other card, SS4 Vegeta, Fierce Crimson Flash, is a big seven drop Triple Striker that draws two, bottom decks ignoring barrier, and restands six energy. The restriction on what can be played for the rest of the turn reads a bit confusing, but I believe you can continue to play Saiyans or Earthlings, just not any other battle cards for the turn. Once you re-stand those six energy, my mind drifts towards two plays: SS4 Vegeta, Rise of the Super Warrior or SS Rose Goku Black, Justice of Destruction. Either ramping four more energy (or drawing four) or Counter:Countering a Triple Strike swing seem very strong. Whether the deck has the ability to get to this point in the game is another question entirely, but I appreciate the effort in supporting one of my favorite decks. As optimistic as I want to be about it, I can’t help but wonder how this deck will bridge to the late game without D-Magic.

    I hope you enjoyed that look at the TP promos from 2026! I’d love to hear your opinion on what you think about these cards, so please make sure to drop a comment below. If there are any decks you’d like to see us profile on YouTube from this round of support, please let us know and we’ll do our best to make it happen. As promised, here are some links to other creators sharing their thoughts on the new promos: 

• More GREAT Legacy Support! | July 2026 TP's Support Report - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrnOzQWFb9k 

• New Q3 TPs! Black Masked Saiyan! Rampgeta! And more! | DBSCG Masters - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYDKv5ePoHg 

• NEW INSANE DBSCG TOURNAMENT PROMOS ARE HERE! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYDMnyKRMR8 

• [JLZ] - Wave 3 TPs for 2026! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32JJSN8YMRU 

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