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The OP07 meta for One Piece has largely been diverse, with various decks making it into the top cut in Regional tournaments. However, the scene is still dominated by a few standout decks like Black Rob Lucci, Black Yellow Luffy, Red Purple Law, and Yellow Enel. Exploring less popular Leaders can be a refreshing way to test your skills under different circumstances and gain insight into other archetypes, especially with the new card bans coming up in September 6, 2024.
In this article, I'll highlight several underplayed Leaders with unique effects that offer both fun and competitive gameplay.
Green Hody Jones
The OP06 Leader OP06-020-hody-jones has had a slow start since its release, with little success initially. However, players have continued to experiment with him, and this deck list managed to break into the top 64 in a 1000+ player Regional tournament—no small feat for Hody Jones enthusiasts.
This deck utilizes cards like P-062-hody-hyouzou, OP06-024-ikaros-much, and OP06-035-hody-jones, which have powerful effects but inflict self-damage on your Leader. Repeated self-damage can leave you vulnerable, as opponents can exploit your low Life cards to switch to an aggressive strategy.
This is where OP06-020-hody-jones’s Leader effect shines—you can rest a 3-cost or lower Character or one of your opponent’s Don to prevent self-damage effects, preserving your Leader’s health while still activating your Characters' powerful effects. The drawback is that you must rest your Leader to use this effect, preventing him from attacking. There are scenarios where you’ll need to attack with your Leader, so self-damaging might be the better option to get that additional attack in.
Cards like ST12-003-dracule-mihawk and OP06-024-ikaros-much allow you to widen your board, setting up a threatening upcoming turn. OP06-029-daruma and OP06-118-roronoa-zoro serve as aggressive options, applying significant pressure with multiple attacks. Finally, OP06-035-hody-jones’s ability to rest two Characters can clear the way for your attackers to target the opponent’s Leader or clear out the field.
Blue Yellow Ace
The Blue Yellow Ace deck takes advantage of the Kid Brother mechanic much earlier than the BY Luffy variant. This Leader lets you look at the top 5 cards of your deck and place a 5-cost Character face-up at the top of your Life Area, enabling you to cheat out powerful Characters like ST13-015-monkeydluffy or ST13-011-portgasdace with the help of the 2-cost Kid Brothers. We want to make use of that card in our Life area before we end our turn.
This strategy gives you a stronger field presence while boosting your Leader’s Power for heavier attacks and adding an extra layer of defense, forcing your opponent to commit more Don to their attacks.
When you don’t have a Kid Brother to capitalize on the top card of your deck, you can use EB01-056-charlotte-flampe or OP06-106-kouzuki-hiyori to put that card into your hand instead.
The list has control options like OP03-057-three-thousand-worlds and OP04-056-gum-gum-red-roc to weaken the opponent’s side of the field.
Red Blue Vivi
The Red Blue Vivi deck blends control and draw value as its primary strategy. For 2 Don, OP04-001-nefeltari-vivi draws you a card and grants one of your Characters Rush. By timing your plays correctly, you can maximize your draw power while using your Characters as Rush attackers to either KO a rested Character or strike at the opponent’s Leader. The downside? OP04-001-nefeltari-vivi can’t attack herself, which can be restrictive, especially when a rested Character is on the field.
The deck includes OP03-013-marco and EB01-008-littleoars-jr, which are difficult for opponents to remove. The list also features a variety of Events, providing reliable trash options to keep those two Characters on the field. We don’t want to fall behind on field development, so any chance we get to keep Characters in play, we should take it.
OP05-051-borsalino, OP06-007-shanks, and OP06-058-gravity-blade-raging-tiger serve as your control options, weakening the opponent’s field and slowing down their aggression. This buys you time to draw more cards and deploy your high-cost Characters to take over the game.
We usually want to give Rush to Characters like OP05-051-borsalino and OP07-051-boa-hancock. Their high power threats massive attacks that can be difficult for opponent to protect themselves from.
Yellow Vegapunk
The Yellow OP07-097-vegapunk is one of my favorite decks to play, having a unique playstyle that uses Eggheads and Life cards to make things awkward for the opponent. You want to activate Leader effect every turn, placing one of your Egghead Characters at the top of your Life Area. This gives your two-health Leader extra protection, forcing more attacks from the opponent. Additionally, those egghead Characters all have trigger effects, allowing you to draw more cards, KO Characters, or cheat them out on the field.
This deck can drag games to the late stages, relying on OP04-112-yamato for that additional Life card value and potentially its KO mechanic, depending on the total Life cards in the game. Other heavy threats are ST07-010-charlotte-linlin and OP03-123-charlotte-katakuri having powerful effects that synergize with your deck's game plan and can be troublesome to KO.
In OP08 meta, players have access to OP08-106-nami, giving players an additional control tool alongside OP07-109-monkeydluffy and EB01-059-kingdom-come to keep opponent from going wide on the field.
Red Purple Luffy
Red Purple Luffy doesn’t see much play in the current meta, but it remains a powerful option. The Ramp ST10-002-monkeydluffy Leader’s 6,000 Power enables heavy attacks that drain your opponent’s Counter cards.
With OP05-067-zoro-juurou and EB01-061-mr2bonkurei-bentham providing ramp alongside the Leader effect, you can start playing high-cost Characters earlier. ST10-013-eustasscaptainkid and OP02-004-edwardnewgate-511 boost your Leader’s Power during defensive turns, forcing the opponent to attach more Don to break through.
Although cards like ST10-010-trafalgar-law, ST04-005-queen, and ST10-013-eustasscaptainkid can deramp, the Leader’s ability to ramp at 8 Don allows for late-game plays like OP02-004-edwardnewgate-511 or OP05-119-monkeydluffy.
Speaking of OP05-119-monkeydluffy, he’s the deck’s strongest play. After attacking with all your Characters, you can activate OP05-119-monkeydluffy’s effect, removing all your other Characters from play and going -10 Don to gain an extra turn.
You’ll be left with 0 Don and only OP05-119-monkeydluffy on the field, but you can activate the Leader’s Ramp effect to gain 1 Active Don, then use OP05-119-monkeydluffy’s ramp effect to add more Don. With 4 Don on your new turn, you can launch additional attacks with the Leader and OP05-119-monkeydluffy to close out the game.
Purple Yellow Crocodile
This is a deramp and ramp deck, making use of OP04-058-crocodile's effect. When you deramp during the opponent's turn, OP04-058-crocodile's effect activates, ramping you back up.
EB01-034-ms-wednesday is crucial to this strategy, as her effect synergizes perfectly with your Leader. During your opponent’s turn, she can return 1 Don and then add an Active Don. This might not seem fruitful on its own, but alongside OP04-058-crocodile, you can trigger his effect, ramping you up for stronger upcoming turns.
As we ramp up, the goal is to play out high-cost Characters and start dominating the field. OP04-060-crocodile, OP04-112-yamato, and OP07-119-portgasdace are all key cards, each providing an extra Life card when played. These high-power attackers can be tough for most decks to handle.
Each of these key cards offers unique effects: OP04-060-crocodile lets you draw and trash a card during your opponent’s turn, OP04-112-yamato can KO a Character, and OP07-119-portgasdace has Rush for an immediate attack.
Red Yellow Belo Betty
Known for its aggressive "glass cannon" style, this deck focuses heavily on offense, even at the cost of taking early Leader hits. The deck features key Trigger cards like OP06-104-kikunojo and OP03-108-charlotte-cracker, which allow you to cheat them onto the field without spending Don. This fits perfectly with the deck’s aggressive strategy. The list runs a majority of {Revolutionary Army} Characters, which synergize with your Leader and Ivankov Characters.
Using OP05-004-emporioivankov and OP06-003-emporioivankov, this deck can go wider on the field with {Revolutionary Army} Characters, enabling a stronger OP05-002-belo-betty Power boost effect. The +3,000 Power boost turns low-power attackers into threats, bleeding resources and eventually finding the winning line.
OP07-015-monkeyddragon is a late-game carry, attaching 2 rested Don to one of your attackers, and with his Rush, he can immediately go for the attack and threaten a 9,000 Power strike.
Closing Words
Sticking to only meta decks can burn you out, and the One Piece card game offers a wide range of Leaders with different strategies to experiment with. It can be a refreshing experience, testing out Leaders you're uncomfortable with and figuring out how to best build and pilot their decks.
