Fantasy card game becomes a way of life
Young man’s skill at Dragon Ball Z helped him get a dream job
By Nancy Churnin
The Dallas Morning News

ARLINGTON — It took a lot of anger for Aik Tongtharadol to win the Dragon Ball Z Championship of the World last year.

Anger cards, that is.

Dragon Ball Z decks can include anger, dragon ball, energy, hybrid, ally and physical beat-down cards. Players choose cards to build one of these types of decks along with cards that defend against various decks. Aik’s gamble, which paid off, was that the other players wouldn't have many anti-anger cards that year.

“You have to take the environment into account when you plan your deck,” said the 21-year-old fantasy card whiz. “The Dragon Ball decks were pretty popular that year, so I went for an anger deck,” he explains. “It was a strategy that worked.”

Aik won $5,000, a booster box of every Dragon Ball Z card produced at that time (766 cards) and a “foiled” version of the deck he used to win. Foiled cards are rare, shiny versions of regular Dragon Ball Z cards.

Less than a year later, he landed a dream job, advising the Arlington, Texas-based Dragon Ball Z card maker, Score Entertainment, on product development. He advises Score on the design of new cards and tests how they work in game situations. He also answers questions about the games on the company’s Web site.

It requires analytical skills and it’s fun. But it’s sure a long way from the University of Central Florida, where he was a junior majoring in molecular biology when he left to take the job at Score.

Aik, who was born in Thailand and raised in Florida, began playing fantasy card games eight years ago. He liked the “Dragon Ball Z” TV show and became interested in the card game at 18. Soon he started looking up tournaments on the Dragon Ball Z site (www.dbzcardgame.com). Then he heard about the world championship last August in Milwaukee.

“My parents said, ‘You’re going to Milwaukee to play a card game?’ They didn’t understand it. But now they’re really happy.”

One of his few frustrations with his job is that he can’t compete in the game anymore. But that doesn’t keep him from reliving the fun through other players as a judge for the world championship and smaller tournaments.

At the recent Dragon Ball Z tournament at Lone Star Comics in Arlington, where he was judging, he pointed out a match between Tommy Brachey, 13, and Travis Cox, 15. The boys liked the game so much they were playing for fun between official rounds.

“He’s going to use a physical attack deck,” Aik said, pointing at the two cards Tommy had turned over.

“Shhh!” said Tommy, pointing to Travis.

“Now I’m not so sure about him,” he added, pointing to Travis. “His cards could work for a few different decks.”

“I’m deliberately mysterious,” Travis said proudly.

“Do your worst!” Tommy told him.

And Travis did. He won. Tommy shrugged, smiled and gathered his cards for the next round in search of another game.

Finding other fans is one of the best parts of the experience, Aik said. “You can relate to the people who like to play these games,” he said, gesturing to the 28 players in the room.

At one table, a couple, Rebecca and Michael Storms of Tyler, ages 24 and 26, described how they courted and married over fantasy card games.

Now they have a 1-year-old daughter, Bayla, who will dress up as a Dragon Ball Z character, Cell, for Halloween this year.

“We share information, but we have our own secret decks,” Michael Storms said.

His wife nodded. “I’m very competitive,” she said.

For Aik, another cool part has been the way you can select cards that express feelings of power — or anger — that you would normally keep to yourself.

“It’s a way to express yourself without getting in trouble.”