The Tournament of Power is Dragon Ball Super’s finale arc and arguably one of the best arcs in the Dragon Ball franchise. Yet as the tournament progresses, we see so many crucial errors and mistakes coming from disastrous decisions.
Whether it’s trump cards being used too early or ganging up on a universe to have all your warriors eliminated, plenty of mistakes are made. Yet even within this abundance, we can clearly identify 10 disastrous decisions that outrank the rest.
Note: This article may contain spoilers and reflects the opinion of the writer.
Dragon Ball Super's high-stakes Tournament of Power creates desparation and leads to disastrous decisions by various warriors
1) Universe 9 ganging up on Goku and Vegeta
In the Tournament of Power’s opening moments, the Universe 9 warriors gang up on Goku and Vegeta as a form of revenge for the prior tournament. While they overwhelm the two Saiyans at times as a result of their conserving stamina, Goku and Vegeta eventually overpower the warriors.
As a result, nearly the entire team is eliminated in one fell swoop and Universe 9 is eliminated almost immediately after the Tournament of Power begins.
2) Jiren attacking the Universe 7 spectators
At the end of the Tournament of Power, Jiren is struggling against Mastered Ultra Instinct Goku. In frustration and after realizing why Goku is able to keep fighting, Jiren attacks his friends which he now views as the source of Goku’s power.
Goku easily deflects this attack, and becomes likely the most enraged we've ever seen him in the series. Goku then hits Jiren with a wicked punch before continuing a beatdown which eventually leads to Universe 7 winning the Tournament of Power.
3) Maji-Kayo attacks the Pride Troopers
After losing his grip on Goku, Maji-Kayo of Universe 3 attacks Jiren and the Pride Troopers. While the Pride Troopers only have three warriors left at this point, two of them are two of the strongest participants in the whole tournament. Considering Maji-Kayo goes right after Jiren to start and is eventually eliminated, this easily is one of the most disastrous decisions in the Tournament of Power.
4) Frost and Auta Magetta attack Roshi and Vegeta
While this may not seem like a particularly disastrous decision, the ramifications at the time of this action were quite large. The Zenos had just reviewed that Universes 6 and 7 have the most warriors left, giving these two the advantage. Roshi was also done for the fight, giving Universe 6 essentially a half warrior advantage in the Tournament of Power.
Even so, Frost and Auta Magetta both team up to attack Vegeta and Roshi. While Frost and Magetta did have Vegeta trapped and Roshi on the ropes, a last minute Ki blast deflection turns the tide. As a result, Auta Magetta ends up being disqualified and Roshi sacrifices himself in the end, eliminating Universe 6’s half warrior lead.
5) Frost trusts Frieza
Throughout the Tournament, Frost and Frieza have several interactions which eventually leads to a perceived alliance between the two. They gang up on Gohan and knock him unconscious before discussing the different forms their race has access to. Frieza offers to teach Frost, telling him the first lesson is to not trust anyone as Freiza knocks his multiversal counterpart out of the tournament.
6) Frost attacks Frieza from the sidelines
Immediately after being betrayed and eliminated by Frieza, Frost attempts to attack Frieza even though he’s no longer in the tournament. Making good on his bluffs thus far, Zeno erases Frost for attacking from the sidelines which is not allowed. The egregiousness of this act forces the Zenos to address Universe 6 as a whole, saying the entire group will be erased if it happens again.
7) Jiren deflects the Spirit Bomb
While this article isn’t ranking the blunders of Tournament of Power participants in any particular order, Jiren’s deflection of the Spirit Bomb certainly contends for championship condition. Initially, it seemed as though the Spirit Bomb’s deflection actually eliminated Goku from the Tournament of Power or even killed him.
However, it actually prompted Ultra Instinct Sign to appear in Goku. This eventually leads to Goku achieving Mastered Ultra Instinct, which played a significant role in Jiren’s defeat.
8) Universe 3 combines into one warrior
In the team’s closing moments, Universe 3’s warriors decide to first have three of their members transform into one fused state before having a fourth combine with said state.
While this does result in a being of immense power being brought out to the battlefield for Universe 3, the Universe 7 team is easily able to eliminate their ultimate form. As a result, all of Universe 3’s remaining warriors are stupidly eliminated from the Tournament of Power in one go and Universe 3 is erased.
9) Botamo underestimates Gohan
One of Universe 6’s warriors, Botamo has an incredibly confusing skill and move set, with him seeming invincible to physical attacks. Overestimating his power and underestimating how known this is, Botamo laughs as Gohan sinks punch after punch into him with no effect.
What Botamo doesn’t realize is that Gohan is slowly lifting Botamo off the ground, as Goku told Gohan physical attacks won’t work. Botamo is eventually tossed out of bounds by Gohan as a result and therefore eliminated from the Tournament of Power.
10) Kefla pushes Goku to his limits
The fusion of Caulifla and Kale, Kefla grabbed the attention of every fighter in the Tournament of Power when she debuted and began her fight against Goku. Before fusing, Caulifla and Kale wanted to fight Goku to get stronger, whereas Goku enabled the match to push himself further again during the Tournament of Power.
Caulifla and Kale fuse as an end to their means, but they didn’t count on pushing Goku to the point of Ultra Instinct. As a result, what could’ve been a fantastic trump card for the Tournament of Power ends up getting wasted on a great sparring match.