Table of Contents
Heya everyone! With OP07 releasing in the West, it's time to learn how to play the new Leaders! This will be my first guide on OP07 meta, and I'm kicking it off with Blue Boa Hancock, a Leader who isn't afraid to play out a lot of her resources thanks to her built-in card draw mechanic.
This guide will help you understand how the deck operates, share general game tips, and how to approach different matchups. Let's get started!
Gameplan
Once per turn, OP07-038-boa-hancock can draw you a card, offering that draw value to have a powerful late-game. However, two conditions need to be met for the draw effect to activate. The first is that you need to have 5 cards or less for the effect to activate. To facilitate that, we can use Counter cards more often to ensure we're at 5 cards. The second condition is to remove a Character from the field through an effect. So we have to build the deck around that condition, including cards like OP07-051-boa-hancock and OP06-058-gravity-blade-raging-tiger to activate the effect.
The Blue OP07-038-boa-hancock has access to a lot of card draws, which means we want things to go to the late game and start outvaluing the opponent. Board control is essential to prevent the other player from taking over the game, a lot of our cards are high-cost, so it can be a struggle to catch up if we fall behind. This is where OP04-056-gum-gum-red-roc and OP06-058-gravity-blade-raging-tiger come to use, controlling the board and drawing you a card through Leader effect.
The plan is to stall the game as much as possible until your high-cost characters join the field, creating those heavy hits that can be difficult to Counter. OP05-118-kaido is this deck's strongest play, which you're aiming to play immediately at 10 Don. The draw and high-power attacks can be too difficult for opponents to keep up with as the game stretches out.
Early Turns
OP07-046-sengoku is an early searcher we'll play to find {The Seven Warlords of the Sea} type Character.
OP01-073-donquixote-doflamingo valuable {The Seven Warlords of the Sea} blocker to protect your Leader or key characters. The ability to reorder cards at the top of the deck help you shape up your futue plays and find the right cards for the upcoming turn.
ST12-012-charlotte-pudding is a +2,000 Counter, but she can also be used to draw a card. With her effect to return to your hand, you can play her on the board, return her to hand, activate Leader draw effect, and still use ST12-012-charlotte-pudding as a Counter card.
OP07-045-jinbe is a premuim card in this deck, synergizing with {The Seven Warlords of the Sea} type Characters. We get to play a Character on the board through OP07-045-jinbe. Developing two Characters in the early turns puts you ahead in field presence, forcing the opponent to switch to a defensive playstyle.
ST03-004-gecko-moria and EB01-023-edward-weevil are the best Character to play through OP07-045-jinbe. ST03-004-gecko-moria lets us draw a card from the Trash, but it needs to be a {The Seven Warlords of the Sea} type Character. We're usually drawing a +2,000 Counter that we can take advantage of later in the game.
As for EB01-023-edward-weevil, he's drawing us a card on play and presents a higher threat with his 6,000 Power. While rested, he's more of a challenge for the opponent to attack and KO.
They'll mostly be used as +2,000 Counter cards but are still valuable when played on the board. For instance, they're all {The Seven Warlords of the Sea} type Characters, which means OP07-045-jinbe can play them.
Through OP07-040-crocodile and OP07-047-trafalgar-law's effects, you can trigger OP07-038-boa-hancock's draw effect. OP07-047-trafalgar-law can cut resources from the opponent's hand if they have 6 cards, forcing them to put one card at the bottom of the deck.
Board Control
The list runs multiple cards that can interact with the opponent's field to disrupt their game plan. We want to make sure they don't feel too comfortable with their board presence, and make it as difficult as possible for them to attack our Leader freely. All our control cards synergize with Leader OP07-038-boa-hancock, activating her ability and drawing us a card.
OP07-051-boa-hancock is a valuable 6-cost Character, shutting down one of the opponent's Characters from attacking and putting a 1-cost Character at the bottom of the opponent's deck. Both effects are great for our deck, we're first rendering one of their Characters useless for a whole turn, slowing down the opponent's aggression, and by removing the 1-cost from play, we're triggering Leader OP07-038-boa-hancock's effect and drawing a card. OP07-051-boa-hancock isn't limited to removing the opponent's 1-cost Characters, but can also remove your own Characters. This means we can remove OP07-046-sengoku from play and get a card draw in return.
We want to have OP07-051-boa-hancock in play by Don 6/7 to quickly make use of her 8,000 Power. She's difficult for the opponent to remove through brute force since we have a lot of Counter power, and will likely need to rely on removal effects.
OP04-056-gum-gum-red-roc is suited for high-cost targets that are presenting a threat. So we'll likely won't play it until turn 5/6. If we're at 10 Don, we can play OP04-056-gum-gum-red-roc to remove a threat and still have enough Don to play one of our 4-cost Characters like OP07-045-jinbe, ST03-004-gecko-moria, or EB01-023-edward-weevil.
You're relying on OP06-058-gravity-blade-raging-tiger to remove two 6-cost or less Characters. So you're usually playing it at Don 7 or 8 if there are targets to remove. We're usually prioritizing targets that are Active and attacking rested Characters. Since OP06-058-gravity-blade-raging-tiger costs 7 Don, it stops us from developing any characters on the turn it's played. If we're playing it on 10 Don, we can still play OP01-073-donquixote-doflamingo as a follow-up play to protect Leader.
Heavy Hitter
OP05-118-kaido is the strongest play in this deck, which we'll play immediately on Don 10 if possible. He doesn't affect the state of the field when he joins the battle, nor does he offer any offensive power on the turn he's played. However, the 4 cards he draws are great value for future turns and can be used to Counter the opponent's upcoming attacks.
Think of OP05-118-kaido as an investment, the longer he sticks on the board, the more attacks he goes for, putting the opponent at risk of losing the board or even losing the game.
Gameplay Video
Techs and Options
OP04-044-kaido-326: A field control card capable of removing an 8-cost and a 3-cost. He synergizes with Leader OP07-038-boa-hancock, triggering her draw effect. The downside is that the opponent still gets to keep the cards in their hand.
OP02-068-gum-gum-rain: A defensive Event to protect your Leader or key Characters. You'll have to Trash a card from hand, but it should be an easy choice with many draws you'll get in a game.
ST03-009-donquixote-doflamingo-675: Returns a 7-cost or less Character to the owner's hand. Synergizes with Leader OP07-038-boa-hancock's draw effect. The downside is that they still get to keep the card.
OP01-070-dracule-mihawk: Puts a 7-cost or less Character at the bottom of the opponent's deck. Synergizes with Leader OP07-038-boa-hancock's draw effect.
General Tips
- We want to take advantage of OP07-038-boa-hancock's draw effect as much as possible. This means we want to Counter their attacks and drop our hand size to 5 cards.
- We want to preserve our Life Cards for the Kaido turn so we don't end up aggroed down. So having at least 3 Life Cards should help us feel safe when we develop Kaido.
- Focus on controlling the field. We're not an aggressive deck, we're more focused on outvaluing the opponent and winning the late game.
Important Matchups
Red Purple Law
- Prioritize attacking their rested Characters and weakening their field.
- OP06-058-gravity-blade-raging-tiger is important in this matchup to remove two of their threats. Focus Characters that give them Don like ST10-012-bepo and OP05-074-eustasscaptainkid.
- With the card draw power, you should be able to Counter out of their low-power attacks and preserve 2 Life Cards.
- Keep in mind that they can rush attack with EB01-003-kid-killer[card].
- If possible, protect your rested Characters. This puts you ahead on the board and can attack back any of their rested Characters, or even go on the offense.
- Most lists are on [card]ST10-010-trafalgar-law, so avoid holding 7+ cards in hand so you don't end up losing resources.
Black Yellow Luffy
- Avoid attacking their Leader early into the game, we want to prolong their ability to active Leader effect.
- We should be able to outvalue them in the long run, especially since we can bottom deck their Characters.
- OP04-056-gum-gum-red-roc and OP06-058-gravity-blade-raging-tiger are great to remove their Adult Characters. Placing them at the bottom of their deck instead of KOing them means they won't be able to put them in their Life Area with Leader effect.
- Sabos are usually the cards we want to remove, losing Blockers makes it difficult for them to Counter a Kaido attack on their 0 Life Cards Leader.
- They'll likely be holding a lot of cards in hand, so OP06-047-charlotte-pudding can ruin their resources.
- Blockers are bothersome for B/Y Luffy, so OP01-073-donquixote-doflamingo can protect your Leader from an incoming attack.
Black Rob Lucci
- We're up against a deck that can remove our characters and control the board. They have a lot of value, so games will stretch out.
- Heavily reliant on OP06-047-charlotte-pudding to cut their resources and put you ahead.
- You're betting that they eventually don't have the removal power to deal with your Kaidos and rely on him to carry the game.
Yellow Enel
- This is a matchup of patience, we're trying to take things to the late game and rely on Kaido to carry us.
- Opponent Enel will have a lot of cards in hand, so finding OP06-047-charlotte-pudding and cutting those resources is an important part of the game plan. We can use OP01-073-donquixote-doflamingo to help us find OP06-047-charlotte-pudding and draw her earlier.
- EB01-059-kingdom-come is their only reliable way to remove Kaido, this is why we'd rather hold off our attack on their Leader, and keep them at least 2 Life cards, forcing them to Trash a card if they play the Event.
- Try to drop at 3 health and stay there if possible. We don't want OP04-112-yamato KOing a OP07-051-boa-hancock for free.
- Once we have a board of multiple attackers, we can try to unleash a barrage of attacks and close out the game.
Closing Words
Blue Boa Hancock is a fun control deck that aims to take things to the late game. With the value resource your Leader creates, you're more comfortable playing out your Counter cards and drawing more in the process.
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