FighterZ and Sparking! ZERO are very different games, but both nicely convey the essence of explosive Dragon Ball fights. Esports pros perform miracles in them.
A massive esports event takes place in Los Angeles, California, on March 15 and 16. The tag-team game Dragon Ball FighterZ (DBFZ) has the World Tour 2024-2025 Finals event. The arena fighter Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO invites fans to the Grand Finals of its Dramatic Showdown, which is also the official global competitive circuit.
The Finals were originally planned for Jan. 2025, but the events were postponed due to the Los Angeles wildfires. With some changes in the competitive format, we can finally witness fighting matches of the best DBFZ and Sparking! ZERO players on the planet.
With all the excitement about these tournaments, they come with a portion of sadness. The fighting games community (FGC) clearly expects this to be the end of the official support for DBFZ esports. The competitive future of Sparking! ZERO is doubtful due to the very nature of this game. However, we still can get some big and wonderful announcements.
The Dragon Ball players are ready to create exciting memories at the Battle Hour 2025! Join the party with this article on esports.gg — it explains everything you need to know about the DBFZ and Sparking! ZERO World Finals.
![Arc World Tour 2024: Games, events, format [Finals participants added] preview image](https://admin.esports.gg/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Arc-World-Tour-2024-poster-640x360.jpg)
Where to watch the Sparking! ZERO and DBFZ World Finals 2024-2025?
Bandai Namco Entertainment is behind both of these Dragon Ball games. The company uses two different YouTube channels to broadcast DBFZ and DBSZ esports World Tour Finals.
- Bandai Namco Esports — For Dragon Ball FighterZ World Tour Finals 2024-2025.
- Bandai Namco Entertainment America — For the Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO Dramatic Showdown Grand Finals.
You can watch the DBFZ World Tour Finals 2024-2025 right here, as the stream is embedded below.
Schedule
DBFZ World Tour Finals 2024-2025 and Sparking! ZERO Dramatic Showdown Grand Finals happen on March 15 and 16. A detailed schedule of the Dragon Ball Games Battle Hour 2025 is below.
- The DBFZ matches start on March 15 and March 16 at 9 a.m. PT, which is 12 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. CET.
- The DBSZ stream starts on March 16 at 2 p.m. PT, which is 5 p.m. ET / 10 p.m. CET.
Format and participants
These tournaments conclude official esports circuits. After quite a few qualifiers, the top DBFZ and Sparking! ZERO players advanced to the Finals brackets.
Dragon Ball FighterZ
The 15 top players from the DBFZ global leaderboard and one Evo 2024 winner got their spots in the final brackets.
The original plan of having the Last Chance Qualifier got canceled, so competitors from regional leaderboards (online tournaments) lost their chance to try and play at the Finals.
The tournament started with the Group stage. The top 2 players from four groups advance to the top 8 brackets. Here is the stream of the Group stage matches.
The groups at the DBFZ World Tour 2024-2025 finals and the general results are shown in the table below. Thee players finished this stage with no losses: INZEM, Yasha, and Hikari. Xanxus is #1 in Group B with one loss.
Group A, W-L, games diff | Group B, W-L, games diff | Group C, W-L, games diff | Group D, W-L, games diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| INZEM: 3-0, +5 | Xanxus: 4-1, +4 | Yasha: 3-0, +4 | Hikari: 3-0, +6 |
| Namul: 2-1, +3 | Zane: 3-2, +2 | LegendaryyMuffin: 2-1, +2 | HookGangGod: 2-1, +1 |
| Noka: 1-2, -2 | WADE: 2-3, 0 | Maddo: 1-2, -1 | Ikoan: 1-2, -2 |
| Novix: 0-3, -5 | plug: 0-3, -6 | Lucar: 0-3, -5 | OBAssassin: 0-3, -5 |
Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO
The DBSZ Dramatic Showdown changed significantly in the middle of the circuit. Some events were canceled, and therefore only eight players participate in the Grand Finals.
A unique rule for this tournament is to have a preset character for each competitor. However, players can select one additional character from a 40-fighter pool.
Results
The results of both Dragon Ball World Tour Finals are in this section. Discover who won DBFZ World Tour 2024-2025 Finals and Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO Dramatic Showdown Grand Finals.
Related articles
DBFZ World Tour 2024-2025 Finals, top 8
After the Group stage, the top 8 Dragon Ball FighterZ players advanced to the final brackets.
Two of the strongest DBFZ competitors in the world face each other in the winners semi: the battle INZEM vs Yasha is going to be spectacular! Hikari is the DBFZ Champion at Evo 2023 and the World Tour 2023-2024 winner.
Hikari defeated INZEM in the grand final and claimed his second title of a DBFZ World Tour Final Champion.
Winners semis | Winners final | Grand final |
|---|---|---|
| INZEM 0:2 Yasha | Yasha 0:3 Hikari | Hikari 3:2 INZEM |
| Xanxus 0:2 Hikari |
Losers round 1 | Losers Quarterfinals | Losers semi | Losers final |
|---|---|---|---|
| LegendaryyMuffin 2:0 Namul | LegendaryyMuffin 1:2 Xanxus | INZEM 2:1 Xanxus | INZEM 3:1 Yasha |
| HookGangGod 1:2 Zane | Zane 0:2 INZEM |
Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO Dramatic Showdown Grand Finals, top 8
This tournament starts directly from the top 8 brackets. It's the first such tournament for DBSZ, so the esports history starts here.
The final brackets of the Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO Dramatic Showdown Grand Finals are shown on the image below.
In the grand final, DrasteSparking defeated Blendian 27, 2:1, and became the champion of the DBSZ Dramatic Showdown.
Senzu Bean for Dragon Ball FighterZ
After the success of the Marvel vs. Capcom series in the tag-team sub-genre, Dragon Ball FighterZ took that formula and adapted it for the universe of Super Saiyans. For a few years, DBFZ was one of the most exciting titles in fighting game esports. However, even good things come to an end.
The latest patch made the meta even more frustrating for the serious competitors. The DBFZ Evo 2024 Champion, INZEM, decided to quit the competition. He published a video explaining his reasons. And this guy is certainly not the only one.
Dragon Ball FighterZ is still extremely popular in France — to the level of being in the main lineup of Evo France 2024.
What could really be a senzu bean for DBFZ is a big announcement at the World Tour 2024 Finals. It would be pretty naive to expect a DLC, but who knows? A much more realistic assumption is the reveal of Dragon Ball FighterZ 2, a new revision of the great tag-team formula. A man can dream, right?
Dragon Ball Sparking! ZERO — Casual future or more?
In a way, Sparking! ZERO conveys the fighting spirit of the Dragon Ball anime even better. Super Saiyans certainly battle in a 3D space, not in a flat dimension. And some characters are substantially stronger: Krillin has no chance against Blue Vegito! Bringing these patterns to a game creates a wonderful arena fighter. It is certainly not a recipe for a competitive title.
We added Dragon Ball Sparking! ZERO to our list of the most frustrating fighting games metas in 2024 specifically for this reason. It’s an awesome casual title, but DBSZ clearly has issues in the competitive dimension.
The organizers of the DBSZ Dramatic Showdown Grand Finals try to solve the esports imbalance by restricting the character selection. Can it be a solution or is the game meant to be casual? The Sparking! ZERO tournament at the Dragon Ball Battle Hour 2025 should answer this.
The next competitive season starts at Evo Japan 2025, from May 9 to May 11 — for most fighting games. Meanwhile Mortal Kombat 1 already has its Pro Kompetition 2025 qualifiers up and running, with MK1 viennality 2k25 being the first Demi God tournament.
For all fighting games news and updates, stick around on esports.gg!
