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On December 16, 2023, in Los Angeles, California, the Los Angeles Regional tournament took place, organized by CoreTCG. 498 players gathered to participate in the first major tournament since the release of the OP05 expansion on December 8, 2023.
During the tournament, players engaged in 9 preliminary rounds with Best-of-1 (BO1) format, where the winner of a game earned a victory point, and each round had a time limit of 35 minutes. Following these rounds, the top 16 players with the most points entered into elimination rounds with Best-of-3 (BO3) format until the final. From the TOP16 onwards, the time limit increased to 60 minutes.
In a 100% yellow final, player Justin Saenz emerged victorious over Jackie Moc in an undoubtedly thrilling Enel showdown.
This tournament held significance as it provided insights into the evolving meta at the beginning of the OP05 set, especially with the emergence of two dominant leaders in Japan, Sakazuki (blue/black) and Luffy (purple).
Tournament Metagame
Is Sakazuki (black/blue) the new Newgate (red)? This is a legitimate question considering the substantial number of players choosing this leader. Over 25% of competitors (139 out of 498) opted for the Admiral. As the second most played leader, we find Luffy (purple) with 85 players, closely followed by Enel (yellow) with 73 players.
Although Katakuri (yellow), the leader from OP04, was also well-represented (62 players), it seems that Los Angeles players were primarily interested in trying out the new leaders, with three OP05 leaders on the podium for the most played leaders during the tournament. Despite Sakazuki (black/blue) being the most prominent, there was still a nice variety among the different leaders played in the tournament.
Leaders in Top 16
- Sakazuki (OP05): 6
- Enel (OP05): 5
- Luffy (OP05): 2
- Katakuri (OP04): 1
- Newgate (OP01): 1
- Luffy (ST10): 1
The top 16 ultimately reflects the overall tournament, with the three most played leaders of the event making it to the final stages. However, two leaders stand out from their competitors: Sakazuki (black/blue) with 6 representatives in the top 16 and Enel (yellow) with 5 players (including the 2 finalists). In the case of Sakazuki (black/blue), this is not surprising given its dominance in tournaments in Asia (Asia, especially Japan, has an expansion ahead of Europe and America). The surprise comes with Enel (yellow). Although the character is very popular among One Piece fans, the leader did not shine as much as Sakazuki (black/blue) or even Luffy (purple), who appears only twice in the top 16.
The notable absentees from this top 16 are, of course, Law (green/red) and Zoro (red), both very dominant in the previous expansions. This clearly shows that the players in Los Angeles were able to adapt to the new cards and offer unique matchups on American soil.
It is also interesting to note that some leaders, despite being significant outsiders in OP04, such as Rebecca (black/blue) and Doflamingo (green/purple), seem to have simply disappeared from the meta.
Top 4 Decklists
1st - Justin Saenz: Enel (OP05)
2nd - Jackie Moc: Enel (OP05)
3rd - William Rodriguez: Luffy (ST10)
4th - Jonathan Salazar: Luffy (OP05)
It is noteworthy that the two finalists have very similar decklists with one key difference: one prefers to play Charlotte Cracker (OP03-108), while his opponent favors El Thor (OP05-114). These are two classic decklists for the Enel leader, played aggressively while also focusing on managing life points.
As for the Luffy (purple) deck, it is also an aggressive list, especially with the Ulti (ST04-002) combo that summons Page One (ST04-012) and Kaido (ST04-003), which clears the opponent's board and then attacks aggressively. This deck relies on managing DON!! resources, featuring cards that control this resource, such as the two Kid cards (Eustass "Captain" Kid (OP05-074) and Eustass "Captain" Kid (ST10-013)). Additionally, the list includes tools for hand control with X.Drake (OP01-114) and Trafalgar Law (ST10-010).
The Luffy ST10 (red/purple) benefits from the end of the banlist, allowing the re-inclusion of certain cards like Nami (OP01-016), Edward.Newgate (OP02-004), and Radical Beam!! (OP01-029). Effective management of DON!! will be crucial to quickly play powerful cards such as Newgate or Monkey.D.Luffy (OP05-119), which, if played strategically, can lead to victory.
Conclusion
For this first tournament of the OP05 set, the influence of previous results for certain leaders in Japan is undeniable. Indeed, Sakazuki (blue/black) has greatly dominated the Asian meta overall, and it's not surprising that the most dedicated players, those with the strongest desire to win, have kept themselves informed about what was happening where the meta had advanced.
While some are delighted that the color red is less prevalent than before (with an overrepresentation of Law, Zoro, and Newgate decks), others are concerned about the strong presence of the Sakazuki leader, widely played and with a very high win rate. In the previous banlist, it seemed evident that Bandai wanted to increase the diversity of leaders played in various tournaments (which is probably why this banlist was lifted with the release of OP05). However, it appears that the presence of the Admiral is having the opposite effect.
However, and this is a big "however," this tournament shows us that statistics aren't everything because, in the end, it wasn't Sakazuki who emerged victorious. Even worse, none of the four finalists played Sakazuki, and two Enel players (typically considered a bad matchup against Sakazuki) faced each other in the final. This demonstrates that, ultimately, while the meta and statistics provide an idea of what is strong, only the players have the keys to determine the present and future of the game. I'm eager to see what comes next.
