Table of Contents
- Tier Explanation
- Tier 1
- Black Teach
- Blue Doflamingo
- Tier 2
- Purple Luffy
- Black Yellow Luffy
- Black Rob Lucci
- Red Shanks
- Green Bonney
- Tier 3
- Yellow Enel
- Purple Black Luffy
- Red Purple Luffy
- Blue Nami
- Yellow Katakuri
- Black Smoker
- Tier 4:
- Purple Blue Reiju
- Yellow Kalgara
- Blue Buggy
- Purple Yellow Nico Robin
- Purple Yellow Pudding
- Green Yellow Yamato
- Red Blue Marco
- Blue Boa
Welcome to our One Piece Card Game Meta Tier List for OP09! In this meta report, we will look at the best decks of the One Piece Card Game metagame. We will separate the archetypes into four tiers in order of their relevance, from top to bottom in each tier.
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Tier Explanation
To create this Meta Tier list, I used data from tournaments, online ranked play, and my expertise and opinions of respected players. This tier list will hold meta-staple decks that you'll likely encounter in tournament play and will be updated as the meta changes up.
The decklists shared here have found success in tournament events but can be tweaked depending on meta shifts or players' preferences.
Tier 1: The top performers and most represented decks in the meta. They have good matchups in the current meta and can adapt to different game scenarios. Expect to encounter these decks frequently in tournaments, with players strategizing specifically to counter them.
Tier 2: Popular Meta decks that have solid matchup tables. Tier 2 decks can rival Tier 1 decks in performance, but may have weaknesses and less representation, holding them back from joining Tier 1.
Tier 3: Comprising less popular decks or those experiencing a decline in performance, Tier 3 includes options that may still yield respectable results in tournaments. However, they often struggle against certain prevalent matchups. Additionally, this tier encompasses decks with limited data, making it challenging to accurately assess their placement in higher tiers.
Tier 4: The less popular off-meta decks or have fallen out of the meta. They might still show up in tournament top cuts but are less likely to perform against the top meta decks.
Tier 1
Black Teach
OP09-081-marshalldteach is a Black Leader that makes use of control cards to keep the opponent's side of the field under check. However, OP09-081-marshalldteach changes the rules of the game, preventing you from activating On Play effects, so you'll have to build the deck with that in mind. Additionally, you can share those rules with the opponent, disrupting specific turns where they rely on On Play effects in their strategies.
EB01-051-finger-pistol, OP09-098-black-hole, and OP08-084-jack are control cards to KO opponent's Characters and prevent them from posing a threat. The list has a couple of cost-reduction cards like OP09-083-van-augur that synergize with your removal cards, enabling you to target higher-cost threats.
OP09-093-marshalldteach is the strongest late-game play, negating the effects of one of the opponent's Characters and their Leader. He'll also stick on the board as a high-power blocker, preventing one of the opponent's attacks from connecting with your Leader.
Blue Doflamingo
The Blue OP01-060-donquixote-doflamingo is a dominant deck in OP09 meta, capable of going wide on the field and generating value so it doesn't run out of steam.
This deck uses the Leader effect to cheat out a {The Seven Warlords of the Sea} type Character like EB01-023-edward-weevil and OP02-054-gecko-moria from the top of the deck. This effect is developing on the board for less Don, at the same time, you're not using up resources from your hand. On top of that, OP07-045-jinbe adds to the going wide plan, creating the multiple attack threat.
ST17-004-boa-hancock is one of your strongest plays in the mid-game, synergizing with the Leader effect by placing the card you need on the top of the deck to cheat out. ST17-004-boa-hancock gives a rested Don to your Leader means you can play her on Don 6 and cheat out another Character through the Leader effect.
Blue has control Events like OP06-058-gravity-blade-raging-tiger to remove opponents' Characters from play, slowing down their aggression.
Good Against: Black Teach, Blue Nami, RP Luffy, Black Smoker, Purple Luffy, Green Bonney.
Bad Against: Yellow Enel, Black Yellow Luffy, Black Rob Lucci, Blue Purple Reiju.
Tier 2
Purple Luffy
OP05-060-monkeydluffy gained new tools in OP08.5 and OP09 expansions, giving the deck a boost in performance to hold up against the popular tournament choices. The built-in Ramp effect from OP05-060-monkeydluffy allows this deck to play bigger threats on earlier turns. OP05-060-monkeydluffy will self-damage himself whenever he ramps up, so be mindful of your Life cards as you don't want to fall too low and risk getting aggroed down.
4-cost cards are the go-to plays on turn 2 if you're going first, so cards like /ST18-004-zoro-juurou and EB01-061-mr2bonkurei-bentham fit perfectly. If you're going second, you can play 5-cost cards on turn 2 like OP05-074-eustasscaptainkid and ST18-003-san-gorou. To go wide on the board, ST18-005-luffy-tarou is your best choice, letting you cheat out a 5-cost or less {Straw Hay Crew} type Character.
The late game has OP09-119-monkeydluffy and OP08-069-charlotte-linlin, both having powerful effects that can shift the game in your favor. OP08-069-charlotte-linlin is the best choice to remove one of the opponent's Characters from play and at the same time you'll gain a Life card, forcing opponents to commit more attacks to win the game.
Black Yellow Luffy
Black Yellow ST13-003-monkeydluffy is a tough deck to master fully, but this deck can crush matchups in the right hands. This Leader wants to take hits from the opponent as its main goal is to fall to 0 Life cards to activate the Leader effect. You can place two of the adult brothers like ST13-015-monkeydluffy and OP04-083-sabo and cheat them on the field through their kid brothers versions. This not only creates a more threatening board presence but also boosts your Leader's power. Each kid brother will give your Leader a +2,000 Power boost that will stick during your defensive turn, making it difficult for opponents to get their attacks through.
On Don 10, OP06-086-gecko-moria is the strongest play in this deck, cheating out two of the kid brothers from the trash and developing their adult brother versions. We're doing two things when playing OP06-086-gecko-moria, developing multiple characters to threaten a more aggressive upcoming turn and giving ST13-003-monkeydluffy a +4,000 Power boost, making it exceptionally difficult for opponents to get an attack through especially if we have a blocker in play.
This list has cost reduction cards like OP02-096-kuzan that synergize with OP07-109-monkeydluffy's KO effect.
Black Rob Lucci
Black Rob Lucci is one of the best control decks in OP09 meta, capable of KOing threats before they get the chance to attack. This deck has been a popular tournament choice since Rob Lucci's release in OP07.
Using OP05-093-rob-lucci as the primary removal tool in this deck, opponents will struggle to keep threats on the field, especially with this deck's capabilities to bring back OP05-093-rob-lucci through cards like EB01-043-spandine and OP06-086-gecko-moria. OP08-084-jack is another reliable removal tool that sticks on the field and can reactivate its effect at every turn. It can be challenging for most decks to deal with it.
Cost reduction cards such as OP07-096-tempest-kick and OP02-117-ice-age are crucial to drop the cost of your opponent's Characters in range for your removal cards.
Red Shanks
OP09-001-shanks is one of the new OP09 Leaders that quickly rose in popularity in OP09 meta and has become a top contender in tournaments. This Leader takes the Red archetype to another level, favoring a control game plan thanks to his Power reduction effect, weakening the opponent's aggression and buying you time to take things to the late game.
The Red Shanks list has multiple Characters with removal effects like OP09-015-luckyroux, ST15-002-edwardnewgate, OP09-009-bennbeckman, and OP08-118-silvers-rayleigh. These cards can remove threats and weaken the opponent's aggression, so combined with the Leader effect's Power reduction, you'll need less Counter cards to protect OP09-001-shanks or rested Characters from attacks.
OP09-004-shanks is the strongest play in this deck, giving all your opponent's Characters a -1,000 Power reduction, making it even harder for them to protect their Characters or even pose an offensive threat with them. Additionally, OP09-004-shanks has the Rush keyword, so he can attack on the turn he's played, immediately putting the 12,000 Power to use.
Green Bonney
Green OP07-019-jewelry-bonney is one of the strongest choices for a defensive game plan that can be frustrating for opponents trying to aggro you down. Using the Leader effect, you can rest one of the opponent's attackers, shutting it down from posing a threat and saving up Counter resources. This does require you to use up 1 Don to activate, so in a lot of cases, you'll have to keep that in mind when making plays. However, the list has EB01-012-cavendish which offers additional Don, making it easier for you to bank Don. OP08-023-carrot also plays into the stall game plan, and will force opponents to remove her as early as possible to prevent her from reactivating her effect.
This list has the Fortress strategy with OP01-051-eustasscaptainkid-701 and OP05-030-donquixote-rosinante to shut off opponents from attacking your Leader or rested Characters. There is another Bonney list that cuts out the Fortress strategy, favoring cards like OP07-026-jewelry-bonney, OP04-119-donquixote-rosinante, and OP06-118-roronoa-zoro.
ST16-004-shanks and OP04-031-donquixote-doflamingo are strong late-game plays to help slow down the opponent's aggression, further enabling the stall game plan until you can set up the winning turn.
Tier 3
Yellow Enel
Yellow OP05-098-enel is an old archetype in the One Piece card game, known for its troublesome Leader effect, giving players an extra Life card every time they fall to 0 Life cards. This makes it difficult for opponents to set up the winning turn, and will likely have to change up their strategy to create an explosive turn and overwhelm the Enel play.
The list has control tools like OP08-106-nami, OP07-109-monkeydluffy, and EB01-059-kingdom-come to KO opponent's Characters and weaken their aggression. The plan here is to make sure the opponent doesn't have multiple attackers that can pose enough threat to aggro you down, eventually running out of steam and allowing you to take over the game.
Late game Characters OP04-112-yamato and OP07-119-portgasdace whine the most when you're at 1 or 0 Life cards, giving you an extra Life card while helping you maintain control through their effects. OP04-112-yamato can KO one of the opponent's Characters with a cost equal to the total number of Life cards in the game. As for OP07-119-portgasdace, his Rush keyword is useful to attack a rested Character or go for the Leader to take a Life card.
Purple Black Luffy
Leader OP09-061-monkeydluffy gives you back two Dons whenever you deramp 2 or more Dons. This lets you include cards with costly effects that require you to deramp more than 1 Don without falling behind your opponent's Don.
OP05-067-zoro-juurou and OP09-076-roronoa-zoro offer an early ramp, setting you up to play higher-cost Characters on earlier turns. OP06-086-gecko-moria is a value Character, playing two Characters from the trash, a 4-cost like OP09-072-franky and ST18-004-zoro-juurou and a two cost or less like OP09-069-trafalgar-law.
9-cost plays like OP09-119-monkeydluffy and OP08-079-kaido create immediate value on the turn they're played. OP09-119-monkeydluffy draws a card and goes for a rush attack, whereas OP08-079-kaido can trash one of the opponent's Characters.
Other late-game options can be added to this list like ST04-003-kaido-400, OP08-069-charlotte-linlin, and OP08-119-kaido-linlin.
Red Purple Luffy
Red Purple ST10-002-monkeydluffy is a ramp Leader, only activating his effect when you have 0 or 8 Don on your field. This means it relies on other cards like OP05-067-zoro-juurou, OP09-076-roronoa-zoro, and EB01-061-mr2bonkurei-bentham to speed up its game plan and start dropping high-cost plays.
Blue Nami
Blue OP03-040-nami plays the game differently than other decks, wanting to prolong the game for as long as possible as it mills itself. Leader OP03-040-nami changes your win condition from attacking the opponent's Leader to milling your deck until 0 cards are left. Once at 0 cards in your deck, you'll automatically win the game, so opponents will usually try to aggro you down before you fulfill Leader OP03-040-nami's condition.
The list is packed with cards to protect your leader and to draw or trash cards from your deck, pushing you further to the 0 cards win condition.
Yellow Katakuri
The Yellow Katakuri deck heavily relies on trigger cards to shift the game in its favor. Trigger cards can develop more on the board, remove opponent's Characters, or give you additional Life cards, all useful depending on the scenario of the game. Using OP03-099-charlotte-katakuri effect, you can move cards in your Life Area, increasing the odds of getting those trigger cards at the right time. Additionally, giving 1 Don to Leader OP03-099-charlotte-katakuri will boost his Power by +1,000. allowing you to attack for 7,000 Power, forcing more Counter resources.
This deck has ST07-010-charlotte-linlin and OP03-114-charlotte-linlin as two of its strongest plays. 7-cost ST07-010-charlotte-linlin puts opponents in an awkward spot, forced to decide on whether to give you an additional Life card or trash a Life card of their own. On the other hand, 10-cost OP03-114-charlotte-linlin grants you both options, giving you a Life card and trashing a Life card from the opponent and sticking in play as a high-power attacker that hits hard.
Black Smoker
Black OP02-093-smoker is a control deck with a built-in cost reduction effect in its Leader. This list has multiple KO Characters like OP02-098-koby, EB01-046-brook, and ST19-003-tashigi. ST19-003-tashigi can work on her own, having a -4-cost reduction effect, and can trash one of the opponent's Characters with a cost of 0. However, if we're looking to remove higher-cost Characters, then cost-reducers are a crucial part of this deck. Cards like ST06-008-hina and P02-117-ice-age help us put the opponent's Characters in range for our removal cards.
OP06-086-gecko-moria is the strongest value play in this deck, playing two Characters from the trash to go wide on the field. OP05-091-rebecca is the usual 4-cost Character you want to play through OP06-086-gecko-moria since OP05-091-rebecca can cheat out KO Characters OP02-098-koby or EB01-046-brook. OP05-091-rebecca can also play ST06-008-hina which can be useful if you're trying to lower the cost of a certain Character.
