Heya everyone! With OP07 500 Years in the Future releasing soon in the West, we'll have access to 6 new Leaders! OP07-079-rob-lucci, OP07-038-boa-hancock, OP07-019-jewelry-bonney, OP07-097-vegapunk, OP07-001-monkeyddragon, and OP07-059-foxy are joining the game, each with their unique playstyles.
This article will serve as a starting point to understand each of the new Leaders and which ones will have an impact on the OP07 metas. I'm planning to write in-depth guides for each Leader in the near future!
Rob Lucci
Black Rob Lucci is the best choice to carry the torch with Sakazuki's ban. Similar to Sakazuki, OP07-079-rob-lucci can reduce the cost of one of the opponent's characters by -1, making it easier for you to KO it with the many Black removal cards this list runs.
EB01-046-brook, OP05-093-rob-lucci, and OP03-080-kaku are the cards this deck uses to control the board and with the many cost-reduction cards, you're able to set up combo plays to control the board.
This deck takes advantage of cards in the trash, using EB01-043-spandine, OP05-091-rebecca, and OP06-086-gecko-moria to play cards from the Trash and outvalue the opponent.
Rob Lucci is one of the best Leaders in the upcoming OP07 meta and has found success in the East meta. If you're looking to play at a highly competitive level, this is one of the top decks to master and learn how to play against. The only deck keeping it in its place is the popularity of Black Yellow ST13-003-monkeydluffy.
Boa Hancock
OP07-038-boa-hancock is the value queen, drawing a card once per turn when a Character is removed from the field through an effect. This means we want to build the deck with that in mind, including cards that can remove Characters through their effects.
So cards like OP07-051-boa-hancock, OP04-056-gum-gum-red-roc, and OP06-058-gravity-blade-raging-tiger are a must to control the board, slow the pace of the game, and draw a card through Leader effect. This also means we want to use more Counter plays to make sure we have 5 or less cards in hand so OP07-038-boa-hancock's effect activates.
OP07-045-jinbe's ability to develop a second Character along with him makes sure we put pressure in the mid-game until our higher-cost threats start joining the battlefield. OP05-118-kaido is the late-game carry, drawing 4 cards and presenting a threat every time he goes for the attack.
Jewelry Bonney
OP07-019-jewelry-bonney is a stall Leader, slowing down opponents' aggression and making it easier to set up the late game plan. Once per turn, during the opponent's turn, OP07-019-jewelry-bonney can rest one of their Active Characters or Leader, shutting it down from attacking.
This weakens the opponent's attack turn and can make them approach their turns differently, attacking with their highest power characters first to avoid having them rested.
You have to use an Active Don to activate OP07-019-jewelry-bonney's effect, which means we have to bank one Don in most of our turns. To make things easier we have cards like OP07-021-urouge and EB01-012-cavendish give extra Don, which removes the strains of banking Don to activate the Leader effect.
Since OP07-019-jewelry-bonney is good at stalling the game, we can get away with running high-cost Characters to carry the late-game. OP06-035-hody-jones, OP01-051-eustasscaptainkid-701, OP06-118-roronoa-zoro, and OP04-031-donquixote-doflamingo.
OP07-019-jewelry-bonney was a popular Leader in OP07 meta in the East, and it's definitely a solid choice to pick up!
Vegapunk
The downside of OP07-097-vegapunk is his inability to attack. He only has two health, which seems like you're extremely vulnerable, but the Leader effect compensates for the low health and the inability to attack.
For 1 Don, OP07-097-vegapunk's effect lets you select up to 1 {Egghead} type card with a cost of 5 or less from your hand and play it or add it to the top of your Life cards face-up.
The state of the game and which card we're choosing will dictate whether we want the {Egghead} Character in our Life cards or on the field. All the {Egghead} characters have a trigger effect, so you'll want to put them in your Life cards for when the opponent attacks your Leader and activate their triggers.
Cards like OP07-111-lilith and OP07-098-atlas can be played on the field for free through their trigger effect. This lets you develop multiple Characters on the board and create threatening attacks to win the game eventually.
OP07-119-portgasdace is one of the strongest cards in OP07 expansion, and since we're always low on Life cards, we'll easily take advantage of his Rush attack.
Monkey.D.Dragon
OP07-001-monkeyddragon fits in aggressive archetypes, looking to create powerful attack turns. His effect let you give one of your Characters 2 Dons that were attached to other cards.
Since he is a {Revolutionary Army} Leader, this list runs a couple of {Revolutionary Army} type Characters that can work well with his Don attachment effect. OP05-005-karasu and OP05-004-emporioivankov need to be at 7,000 Power for their effects to activate, so with Leader effect, we can take full advantage of their effects, while still maintaining field development.
OP05-004-emporioivankov and OP06-003-emporioivankov are for going wider on the board and presenting a multiple attack threat. OP05-005-karasu lowers the Power of the opponent's Leader, making it easier for your attacks to go through and forcing more Counter resources from the opponent.
OP07-015-monkeyddragon is the strongest late-game play, going for an attack on the turn he's played and can give 2 Don to your Leader or other Characters for another big swing.
Foxy
Leader OP07-059-foxy's effect synergizes with {Foxy Pirates} type Characters. To activate his effect, you'll need to have 3 {Foxy Pirates} Characters on the field, which means we'll need to run as many of them in the deck. His effect shuts down the opponent's Leader and one of their Characters from attacking on the opponent's upcoming turn. Granted, those targets need to be rested for the effect to go through, keeping them rested during your opponent's turn.
The list runs a lot of {Foxy Pirates} Characters, which can go wide on the board and start a barrage of attacks. Most of your cards have Don manipulation effects, you can either Ramp or de-Ramp with them.
OP07-072-porche is a solid inclusion in this list since most of our Characters are below 4,000 Power, which means we get to go wide on the field early into the game and start abusing Leader effect to slow down the opponent's pace. Remember that you are returning 3 Don when activating the effect, so use it wisely.
OP07-071-foxy is our strongest play, acting as a Don ramp generator and lowering the Power of all opponent's Characters by -1,000 during their turn. This weakens their attacks, forcing more Don attachments from them, and makes it easier for you to Counter attacks.
ST04-003-kaido-400 is a late Character, KOing a 6-cost or less Character and gaining Rush when his effect is activated. He immediately affects the field presence, shifting the game in your favor.
Closing Words
OP07 will shake up the meta, bringing many new cards into the mix. We'll have three OP07 Leaders Rob Lucci, Jewelry Bonney, and Boa Hancock at the top of the meta. The new cards will also push older archetypes to perform better, giving them more tools to up their consistency or strengthen their game plan.
