Hi sleevenocardbehind readers! If you are looking for a new card game to play and a fan of One Piece at the same time, then this article is for you!
Let’s start with the first four Starter Decks that were simultaneously released on December 2, 2022. The following decks also came with the Super Pre-Release Version that was released earlier, on September 30, 2022:
1. Starter Deck -Straw Hat Crew-
Color: Red
Gameplay: Aggro
Leader: Strawhat Luffy
This deck features the protagonist of the anime series, Monkey D. Luffy and the Strawhat Crew, and uses a lot of characters that have <Rush>, which makes the character able to attack when played.
If you are the type of player that plays straightforwardly and wants to finish matches as soon as possible, this One Piece starter deck is for you.
Additional info: You can rebuild this deck by replacing the Luffy Leader card with Zoro Leader card and its support cards from the booster sets for a different playstyle of aggro.
2. Starter Deck -Worst Generation-
Color: Green
Gameplay: Midrange
Leader: Eustass Kid
The second starter deck features the characters from the Worst Generation notably, Eustass Kid as the Leader with the ability to set as active again after it attacks. If you enjoy playing decks that build-up tempo, and focus on both attacking and defending, this deck is for you.
Additional info: You can rebuild this deck by replacing the Kid Leader card with Kinemon Leader card and its support cards from the booster sets for a different playstyle.
3. Starter Deck -The Seven Warlords of the Sea-
Color: Blue
Gameplay: Control
Leader: Crocodile
The third One Piece starter deck features the Seven Warlords of the Sea from the anime’s pre-time skip that focuses on returning the opponent’s characters back to their hand or deck. If you prefer controlling the game state and the tempo of the game, this deck suits you.
Additional info: You can rebuild this deck by replacing Crocodile with Doflamingo or Ivankov Leader cards and their support cards from the booster sets as it offers a different gameplay.
4. Starter Deck -Animal Kingdom Pirates-
Color: Purple
Gameplay: Ramp and Control
Leader: Kaido
The fourth start deck features characters from the Beast Pirates, led by none other than Kaido. It focuses on generating DON! cards immediately to use their strong characters earlier in the game, and returns DON! cards back to the DON! deck to use other card effects.
Additional info: You can rebuild this deck by replacing Kaido with dual-colored leaders such as Crocodile and a different Kaido gameplay.
5. Structure Deck: One Piece Film Edition (ST-05)
Color: Purple
Gameplay: Ramp and Aggro
Leader: Shanks
Release date: February 3, 2023
This starter deck features characters from the One Piece films notably Shanks, Uta, Z, and more. It is somehow similar to Kaido, but what makes it different is that it doesn’t have Onigashima-like stage card/s to help them generate DON! cards.
Additional info: Sadly, as a standalone deck, this one won’t work well, but the Uta cost 5 with <Blocker> can be used as support for purple decks, especially Kaido. Hence, if you are looking to upgrade your Kaido decklist, this starter deck is a good buy.
6. Structure Deck: Navy (ST-06)
Color: Black
Gameplay: Midrange and KO
Leader: Sakazuki
Release date: March 10, 2023
Newly released One Piece starter deck features the admirals from the Navy and some of its officers. It focuses on reducing the cost of your opponent’s characters and knocking them out by card effects at the cost of discarding your hand card/s.
Additional info: Since this one is a new starter deck, there might be little to no decklists where you can base your deck build. The fact that this deck lacks draw power, it might not suit the majority as it requires the player to efficiently manage the hand cards.
How To Choose A One Piece Starter Deck
Your playstyle – This one is the most crucial part as most of the players ended up switching to other decks due to the deck not fitting their play style. You can have an idea of what deck suits you by reading the effects of the cards, from there, you will be able to assess which deck suits you.
Your favorite character/s – Self-explanatory, you have just followed your heart since you are a fan of those character/s, and you really wanted to build a deck around them.
The metagame – This refers to the state of the game, wherein a deck is dominant in the tournaments, that determines what we call a Tier 0 or 1 deck. However, not all meta decks win as it also depends on the player using that deck.
Note: Keep in mind that all of the decks have their strengths and weaknesses. In addition, skill and luck are the factors to win every game.
This concludes the article! Have fun building your deck to play, and see you in the next article, nakamas!
Note: Nakama is a Japanese term for friend, colleague, comrade, and the like. It is widely used in the anime series and in the fandom.
