Throughout a game’s competitive life, various players will rise and put themselves into the conversation as “the best to ever pick up the sticks.” And, for DRAGON BALL FighterZ, Jo'siah "Hikari" Miller has put his name at the top of any list after winning a third straight global title at the DBFZ Masters Showdown.
While it wasn’t an exact match for the previous DRAGON BALL FighterZ World Tour Finals, which were tied to the larger competitive circuit that Bandai Namco hosted, the first ever Masters Showdown did bring together many of the best players in the world. That included current top talent like Hikari, Gropis, and WADE, along with legends of the game coming out to compete, some for the first time in years.
DRAGON BALL FighterZ Masters Showdown Final Results
Bandai Namco put together the Masters Showdown as a semi-replacement for the lack of World Tour Finals this year, using the moment to craft “a tournament to bring all the legendary fighters together!” This meant mixing the top talent from recent events together in even measure with former champions.
But even with so many legendary fighters stepping into the ring together, most eyes were on two names. Hikari and Gropis.
Hikari already had a solid claim to make for being the greatest DRAGON BALL FighterZ of all-time, having won the last two DRAGON BALL FighterZ World Tour Finals, Evo France 2025, and several other majors since breaking out in late 2022. That also includes winning Evo 2023, the last showing for DBFZ on the main stage at the Las Vegas event.
With two World Tour championship wins and multiple Evo titles, Hikari entered the Masters Showdown as a heavy favorite, despite needing to match up against other players who shared similar claims to the DBFZ throne. Meanwhile, Gropis was coming in on a hot streak, having previously returning to compete in the game at Evo France and nearly defeating Hikari multiple times, falling just short of the title in a grand finals reset.
"Hikari definitely not done yet."@dani_gras vs @HikariNYC in DRAGON BALL FighterZ at Evo France 2025. pic.twitter.com/fDxREKwN6r
— Evo (@Evo) April 20, 2026
Entering the swiss stage, Gropis looked in top form, taking 2-1 wins over both Hikari and Yasha, along with sweeping Goichi "GO1" Kishida to finish as the only 3-0 player and top seed heading into the finals bracket. Keyler "KJpixel" Heath also popped off early, winning the last chance qualifier, building off of his Frosty Faustings XVIII and Texas Showdown 2026 wins earlier this year.
We also got a classic matchup between GO1 and Sonicfox in the swiss stage too, marking the first time the two have played in a major DBFZ event against each other since Red Bull Spain 2019, with GO1 taking the series 2-0.
Gropis and Hikari made relatively quick work of KJpixel and GO1 respectively to reach the grand finals, setting up the Evo France rematch.
Gropis kept the series competitive through the middle sets, winning one on the back of a clutch Perfect Cell comeback, but inevitably fell to Hikari’s overwhelming might 3-1.
🏆 @HikariNYC is the DRAGON BALL Fighterz Masters Showdown Champion!
— Bandai Namco Esports (@BNEesports) April 19, 2026
🟣https://t.co/qgjKVbchH7
🔴https://t.co/n4bnEuuKik#DBFZ #DBGBH2026 pic.twitter.com/NKhob6ZlPh
Not only was this technically Hikari’s third straight year winning a version of Bandai’s most prestigious event, but he did it using the exact same team composition he has used to win essentially every tournament since his breakout. That means piloting the dynamic blue-sion duo of Vegito (SSGSS) and Gogeta (SSGSS,) and landing the winning blow with Android 17, Hikari once again claimed the title of Strongest Under the Heavens.
What comes next for DRAGON BALL FighterZ?
While the larger future of the competitive DRAGON BALL FighterZ scene is in flux post-World Tour era, the game just got a fresh update that will infuse some extra energy in the form of Goku’s Super Saiyan 4 form from Dragon Ball Daima.
The new DLC fighter, DBFZ’s first since Android 21 (Lab Coat) in February 2022, is available now as part of the DAIMA Pack. For $7.99 USD, players can grab Goku (SS4 DAIMA) with six alternate colors and a handful of other Daima themed cosmetics to use in the lobby or profile customizations.
There was also a small patch released with Goku (SS4 DAIMA), mostly used to address some bugs or other inconsistencies present in the previous version of the game. The biggest non-bug fix appears to be some damage reduction to Goku (GT)’s Super Ultra Spirit Bomb when used multiple times in the same combo. You can read the full 1.50 patch notes on the official Bandai Namco website.
