Table of Contents
Red/Purple Trafalgar Law is a challenging yet rewarding deck to master. It balances aggression and board control to create threatening attacks and close out games with an onslaught on the opponent's Leader. It has been holding up well in the OP06 meta, consistently showing up in tournament top cuts.
Gameplan
Trafalgar Law is a 4 health leader, meaning you're more vulnerable to aggressive attacks if you're unable to keep pace with board development. Law's ability allows you to return 3 Don!!! from the field to your Don!!! deck to place an opponent's character with 3000 or less Power at the bottom of their deck. Additionally, you're able to play a 4-cost or less character from your hand.
This ability is a game-changer, tilting the board in your favor and establishing a formidable presence that can be challenging for opponents to deal with. The Don!!! you return can be rested or attached to one of your Characters or Leader, so you get to take advantage of them before returning them. Obviously, returning 3 Don!!! can be brutal on your upcoming turn, having less Don!!! to work with, so you have to use Law's ability wisely.
This R/P Law deck focuses on board control while building a threatening force capable of forcing resources out of the opponent and eventually closing out games. Your Leader's low health means you don't want to give opponents the luxury of freely attacking your Leader head-on, so keeping up the pressure and forcing them to deal with your board would keep you safe.
Power Reducers
Otama and Gordon are your low-cost Characters with a Power reduction ability. Otama's -2000 Power ability can put 5000 Power Characters in Leader Law's range to remove off the board. Gordon and Raise Max go the extra mile, reducing a Character's Power by -3000 and putting 6000 Power Characters like Rob Lucci in Law's removal range.
You could drop Godron and Raise Max on turn 1 and leave them there for whenever you want to activate their effects. This saves you up Don especially if you're going first, getting to play OP05-074-eustasscaptainkid on turn 3 and removing one of the opponent's characters at the same time. However, the matchup you're going against will dictate whether you want to take that risk since some decks can remove Gordon or Raise Max, shutting down the cost-reduction play.
Although Trafalgar Law is a bit costly to set up, the -2000 Power ability and still remaining on the board as a threatening attacker is worth it. However, you can't sequence its effect with your Leaders. For example. you can't play Trafalgar Law through Leader Law's effect, activate the Power reduction, and then remove the character with your Leader ability. You'll always have to use 4 Don!!! to drop Trafalgar Law first, activate its effect, and then use Law's ability.
Don!!! Management
Trafalgar Law's ability uses up a lot of Don!!!, so you can't feasibly play it every turn without repercussions. This will slow you down on future turns, affecting board development and attacking pressure.
Luckily, we have access to cards that give us back Don!!!, helping us maintain an acceptable number of Don!!! for future turns.
Bepo and Eustass"Captain"Kid offer you a Don!!! back for as long as they're on the board. Bepo has to attack to give you back 1 rested Don!!!, whereas Eustass"Captain"Kid just needs to see you return a Don!!! back to your Don!!! deck to add back 1 active Don!!!.
Eustass"Captain"Kid is adding back an active Don!!!, so you get to use that Don!!! to either set up a stronger attack or even play a Character.
EB01-061-mr2bonkurei-bentham is one of the strongest Purple cards in EB01. On play, EB01-061-mr2bonkurei-bentham gives you an extra active Don, which you can use to either boost your attack or set up another character. EB01-061-mr2bonkurei-bentham can copy the power of one of the opponent's characters when going for the attack. If they have a 5,000+ Power character, then you can find use attacking with EB01-061-mr2bonkurei-bentham.
Ain and Shachi Penguin are play effects, immediately adding a Don!!!. Ain is relatively easy to set up since there are no requirements attached to her. Whereas Shachi Penguin needs you to have 3 or less Don!!! on your field to add 2 Don!!! cards. Since Shachi Penguin has a +2000 Counter, there are scenarios where you'll prefer using it for its counter effect.
ST10-008-shachi-penguin can be easier to set up by playing them through Leader Law's ability in the early game. You'll get to drop down to 3 or less total Don, giving you back 2 rested Don.
Value Resource
The Law deck doesn't have much reach when it comes to card draw engines, so we heavily rely on Vinsmoke Reiju to get that draw two cards and ensure we have options open for future turns.
Then there's Queen, who will return a Don!!!, but will give you two new cards and let you trash on. Not a bad trade-off, if you're trashing a card you don't see yourself playing on the upcoming turns.
Blockers
Given Trafalgar Law only has 4 Life Cards and we're pretty much trying to create a threatening board and close out games fast, your opponents will likely try to focus on striking your Leader at any chance possible.
Shuraiya is a low-cost blocker to have in dire situations. This could make the opponent's attacks awkward and could be enough to protect your Leader. Additionally, Shuraiya gets to match the opponent Leader's Power, so you're still able to find use for it offensively.
We talked about how Esutass"Captain"Kid and Queen's effects play out in the Law game plan, but they are valuable blockers with their 6000 Power. It can be challenging for opponents to go through them, and might force out Don!!! attachments from the opponent.
Pressure Attack
The whole idea with the R/P Law Deck is to lay down two Characters with Law's help and then unleash a flurry of attacks your opponent can't handle.
If we're looking to pile up the pressure in the game's later stages, EB01-003-kid-killer and OP01-025-roronoa-zoro your guys. With their Rush ability, you can drop them on the board through Trafalgar Law's ability and attack immediately. This also means you can use up Don!!! aggressively before dropping them for an additional attack.
EB01-003-kid-killer is the carry of this deck, threatening 7,000 Power attacks when opponent is down to 2 Life Cards. Opponents will prioritize KOing EB01-003-kid-killer, as they don't want to deal with the 7,000 Power attacker on the upcoming turn.
This forces more resources out of the opponent and can be too much for them to deal with, ultimately losing the game on the spot.
Gameplay Video
Techs and Options
OP01-013-sanji: This is a tech card against Yellow decks like Enel that try to keep you at 4 health. This deprives you of Life Card resources and puts your 4-cost characters at the threat of getting KO'd by Gedatsu. OP01-013-sanji's self-damage shuts down the plan. It can also shut down a late-game Yamato from KOing a 4-cost Character.
OP01-029-radical-beam A counter-defensive card that you'll likely get the +4000 Power out of. It can shut down your opponent from winning the game on a specific turn, giving you an additional attack turn to close out the game.
ST10-010-trafalgar-law: A blocker that can be played through Leader Law's ability. This is useful against players holding 7 or more cards in hand. The ability to trash two of those cards can be a huge blow to their resources, potentially costing them their win condition.
OP02-013-portgasdace: Ace is a late-game threat, capable of dropping the Power of two characters, making it easier for you to attack and KO them or put them in range for Leader Law to remove them off the board.
General Tips
- Don't overuse Trafalgar Law at every turn. You want to be able to play your higher-cost characters like OP05-074-eustasscaptainkid and get the Don!!! value.
- Don't use active Don!!! to activate Trafalgar Law's ability. You want to make the most out of your Don!!!, so ensure you play out your Character or attach Don!!! and strengthen your attacks before returning them to your Don!!! deck.
- Try playing cards that give you Don!!! as early as possible to ensure better upcoming turns. So prioritize playing cards like ST10-012-bepo, ST05-002-ain, OP05-074-eustasscaptainkid.
- When setting up your winning turn, you can focus on using your Dons aggressively to ensure your attacks go through and use Law's ability to put a Rush attacker on the board for an additional attack.
Mulligan Tips
- EB01-061-mr2bonkurei-bentham, ST10-012-bepo, and ST05-002-ain are important cards to have early in the game as they provide you with that extra Don!!!.
- OP05-074-eustasscaptainkid is also a solid card to have in your hand, dropping it as early as possible gives you an additional protection layer while also adding Don!!! cards.
- P-017-trafalgar-law, P-013-gordon, or OP01-006-otama find use if you want to remove opponent's characters off the board.
Matchups
Black Gecko Moria
- They have the tools to keep your board in check. It's crucial to develop two characters on the board as much as possible to present a threat.
- Aim to place Absolam and Rob Lucci at the bottom of the opponent's deck with your Leader ability. If you avoid Koing them and removing them using Trafalgar Law, your opponent won't get to bring them back on the board from Trash.
- Borsalino and Sabo are bothersome blockers with their 6000 Power. They're difficult to put in range for your Leader Law to remove unless you have Gordon or Raise Max.
- They'll drop Gecko Moria as soon as possible for the value plan. It can be challenging to keep up with that, especially if they play a second one. From there, the plan is to prioritize attacking their Leader and closing the game as soon as possible.
Yellow Enel
- They'll avoid attacking your Leader to keep your 4-cost characters in range for OP05-102-gedatsu to KO.
- Use your attacks first before activating Leader Law's ability. You could trigger one of their cards and allow them to develop something on the board. You'll want to be able to play a cost reducer + Leader law ability to remove it.
- OP05-074-eustasscaptainkid can be troublesome for them and will rely on Reject to remove him on the spot.
- We want to drop Enel down to 2 health and hold off our attacks. The plan here is to start building up the board, creating one powerful turn to potentially close out the game. Keeping them at 2 Life Cards means they won't get value out of Yamato.
However, if you're down to two Life Cards, then it's worth going for a Leader attack on their Leader, dropping them to 1 Life Card. The reason for that is so that Yamato doesn't get to KO one of your 4-cost characters. - If they're playing extremely passively and just focusing on KOing your rested characters, use your Counter cards to protect your attackers. Only do this if you're over-committing to save a character (they only have 1 or 2 attacks).
Yellow Katakuri
- You can remove the majority of their mid-game such OP03-113-charlotte-perospero and OP04-104-sanji threats with Leader Law's ability. You'll need to save up Gordon for 6000 Power Characters such as OP05-102-gedatsu and OP06-104-kikunojo.
- Putting OP06-104-kikunojo at the bottom of the deck with Leader Law's ability means the Katakuri players won't gain an additional Life card.
- You'd rather trash a Life card when they play 7c Charlotte Linlin. Giving them an additional Life Card will make it difficult for you to close out the game as soon as possible.
- They can remove your last Life card with cards like OP03-114-charlotte-linlin and OP06-116-reject.
- Blockers are important in the late game to keep your Leader safe. OP05-115-two-hundred-million-volts-amaru can only rest Shuraiya but is useless against Queen and Eustass"Captain"Kid.
Blue Purple Reiju Vinsmoke
- Return Don!!! to your Don!!! deck as early as possible to shut down the Reiju players from activating their Vinsmoke characters' abilities.
They'll likely sneak in one Vinsmoke in the early game, and will later be unable to activate any of their Vinsmokes as long as you have less Don!! than them. - This an extremely favored matchup for you, and your opponent will rely more on dropping on a Vinsmoke Judge to salvage the game.
Green/Yellow Yamato
- If you're up against the Skypiea version, you'll both find yourself trying to close out games quickly.
- O-Nami + Big Yamato swing can be brutal, try to counter out of it if possible.
- Blockers are valuable in this game to shut down Yamato Double Attack.
- The Fortress version will set up a wall with OP01-051-eustasscaptainkid-701 and a bunch of blockers, making it impossible for you to go through. You'll be forced to remove him with Leader Law's ability + (Gordon + Otama/Trafalgar Law -5000 Power reduction.)
Closing Words
Red/Purple Law is a solid deck in OP06 meta, and it got a boost with the new EB01 cards. It's important to learn the ins and outs of this deck even if you're not planning to pick it up competitively. You'll likely go up against it a lot, and knowing what your opponent is planning to do can be helpful in setting up your game plan.
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