Table of Contents
Heya everyone! Today we're going to explore the Purple Yellow OP04-058-crocodile deck in the OP06/EB01 Meta! This deck is all about taking things to the late game, playing passively, and dropping big bodies to take over the game. The list runs a couple of cards that give you additional Life Cards, making it difficult for opponents to close out the game.
Gameplan
We can use Leader OP04-058-crocodile's ability during the opponent's turn. Once per turn, if we return a Don we get to add an Active Don. This ability lets us run powerful -X Don cards without dropping low on our overall Don thanks to our Leader ability. Basically, we're deramping and at the same turn ramping back. The active Don we gain during opponent's turn can be used to activate a Counter Event.
The Purple Yellow Crocodile deck does a bit of ramping and deramping but maintains its Don increase for the late-game heavy plays. Using EB01-034-ms-wednesday and EB01-061-mr2bonkurei-bentham, you're able to drop your heavy hitters earlier than usual.
This deck plays passively, prioritizing removing threats in the mid-game until the heavy hitters start dropping. The deck runs cards that gain you Life Cards, which protect you from losing the game while also creating more resources.
Mid-game Development + Ramp
Keeping up with the opponent's board development is important so they don't feel too comfortable swinging at your Leader. Having characters on the board allows you to either threaten to KO rested characters or push Leader damage.
OP06-104-kikunojo is one of the strongest yellow 4-cost Characters. She's threatening 6000 Power on attacks and if KO'd she'll give you additional Life Cards. Opponents will be in a dilemma, either they ignore OP06-104-kikunojo and allow another 6,000 Power attack, or give in and KO her, giving you a Life Card. They could still remove her off the board without KOing her, which will depend on the deck they're playing.
OP06-104-kikunojo is exceptionally strong in this deck since she synergizes with EB01-038-oh-come-my-way, which I'll talk more about in the Defensive Events section.
EB01-061-mr2bonkurei-bentham is one of the best EB01 cards that almost all Purple decks are running. On play, EB01-061-mr2bonkurei-bentham adds an Active Don, pushing you closer to those higher-cost plays. On attack, EB01-061-mr2bonkurei-bentham can copy the Power of one of the opponent's characters. However, during defensive turns, a rested EB01-061-mr2bonkurei-bentham is an easy target for opponents to KO, but it has served its purpose with the +1 Don and Attack.
EB01-034-ms-wednesday serves as a blocker and a ramp tool. She's quite strong because of her synergy with Leader ability. During your opponent's turn, you activate EB01-034-ms-wednesday's effect, letting you -1 Don and +1 Active Don. Technically we're turning one of our rested Dons to active. However, the fact that we're returning 1 Don activates our Leader ability and gives us another Active Don.
It's a bit complicated to explain, but basically with EB01-034-ms-wednesday and Leader ability activating at the same time, we're returning back 1 Don and getting 2 Active Don in return. This is not only good as a ramp tool, but also allows you to spend all your Don during your turn, and still have active Don during defensive turns to play out your Counter Events.
We want to keep EB01-034-ms-wednesday alive for a couple of turns so we can take advantage of her ability as much as possible.
Board Control
Gedatsu is your removal play on turn 3, letting you KO a character with a cost equal to the number of opponent's Life Cards. This means if we have Gedatsu in hand, we'll avoid attacking opponent's Leader recklessly. We want to keep them at 4 Life Cards so Gedatsu can KO a 4-cost threat, weakening opponent's board. We're not an aggressive deck, we're trying to push things to the late game, so any chance we get to KO an opponent's character with an effect, we want to take it.
EB01-059-kingdom-come is the strongest removal Event in the late-game, KOing any threat regardless of their cost or Power. You want to be down to 1 Life Card when going for EB01-059-kingdom-come play. It could find use if you activate its trigger effect, but this will be more situational.
OP06-116-reject is another powerful removal to keep the board in check. It can be used aggressively to damage an opponent at 1 Health. This sets you up to close out the game. Reject will be banned in June, so might as well take advantage of it for the time being.
Blockers
Blockers can take hits to protect our Leader or key Characters. It can make things dicey for the opponent when going for attacks and have to be mindful of a blocker taking the hit.
EB01-057-shirahoshi is a low-cost blocker that can be a pain for opponents. Opponents can't KO her though an effect since giving you a Life Card would be way worse than their attacker getting blocked.
ST04-005-queen is a heavy blocker that offers card value! The -1 Don can slow you down so be mindful of what you're looking to play on your upcoming turn.
2k Counters
OP05-105-satori and OP04-100-caponegangbege are played for their +2000 Counter effect. You never want to spend the Don to play them on the board. They both have a good trigger effect. Satori can be played on the board without the need to spend any Don, and you might have dead cards you can trash. As for OP04-100-caponegangbege, he's a defensive trigger effect that shuts down an attacker, disrupting the opponent's turn.
Heavy Hitters
All your Heavy Hitters are capable of giving you a Life Card. They're essential to add an extra protection layer, while also creating a threat on the board.
OP04-060-crocodile drops on the board and gives an additional Life Card. You will have to return 2 Don, so if you play him on 8 Don, you won't be able to play Yamato on the upcoming turn. It's best to hold off Crocodile until 9/10 Don, keeping you at enough Don to play Yamato on the upcoming turn.
During your opponent's turn, OP04-060-crocodile can return 1 Don to draw and trash a card. This comes in handy to filter out your hand, getting rid of any card you don't expect to play on upcoming turns. Activating OP04-060-crocodile's -1 Don effect also triggers your Leader, so you'll get back 1 Active Don that you could use to play a Counter Event.
OP03-123-charlotte-katakuri is a versatile card that can either give you an extra Life Card or remove a threat on the opponent's side of the board. The downside is that they'll gain a Life Card, but you're fine with that if you keep the board under your control. Your decision on the choice you make with Katakuri will come down to the game state. If you feel there's a threat on the opponent's side on the board that simply can't be ignored, then Katakuri is your answer.
Ideally, you want to be at 1 health when playing Yamato. If you leave your opponent at 3 Life Cards, you'll be able to KO a 4-cost character with Yamato's effect, swinging the board presence in your favor.
Defensive Events
EB01-038-oh-come-my-way is so amazingly good in this deck for its synergy with multiple cards in the list. You're able to divert one of the opponent's attacks to one of your Characters, getting to protect your Leader or key character. The -1 Don activates Leader ability, giving you that Don back.
You can divert an attack on one of your high Power characters that won't get KO'ed from the attack. However, EB01-038-oh-come-my-way doesn't only synergize with Leader ability but also with OP06-104-kikunojo. You can force your opponent to attack OP06-104-kikunojo, getting them to KO her and giving you an Extra Life Card. This can be a massive defensive play, getting rid of one of their attacks and forcing an extra attack out of them if they want to win the game.
EB01-038-oh-come-my-way's trigger effect is also pretty strong, offering 2 card draw, which ensures you don't run out of resources.
ST04-016-blast-breath is a powerful event to keep your Leader or a key character safe. The +4000 Power is insanely good for shutting down an attack, especially in the late game.
Gameplay Video
Techs and Options
You could go for a {Baroque Works} version of this deck.
OP04-066-missvalentine-mikita: A searcher you can play on turn 1 if you're going second. It can find you EB01-061-mr2bonkurei-bentham ensuring you get to ramp on turn 2.
OP05-073-miss-doublefinger-zala: Mostly for its +2,000 Counter effect. Its trigger card lets you drop it on the board without having to spend Don.
OP04-073-mr13-msfriday: This card is in the list only for its +2000 Counter effect. You never really want to play it on the board, the ramp effect is usually not worth it as it's tied with a condition.
OP07 Cards
OP07 expansion brings a bunch of new cards that give a boost to Yellow decks, which include Crocodile!
OP07-119-portgasdace: A powerful late-game play that gives you an additional Life Card. You're not just dropping a big body on the board, Ace can attack the same turn he's played with Rush, letting you pick off a rested Character or keep the pressure on the opponent's Leader.
OP07-107-franky: A +2000 Counter. Its trigger effect if you're down to 1 Life Card or less offers a card draw and lets you play it for free.
OP07-116-blaze-slice: This is an amazing event that can be used defensively or offensively. The +1000 Power boost isn't much, but getting to rest one of the opponent's attackers can slow down their aggression.
General Tips
- You're playing for the late game. Don't mindlessly attack opponent's Leader, instead be patient and try to get the most out of Gedatsu and Yamato's KO effects.
- Use your Don effectively to get the most value out of your Leader. For instance, if you have cards like EB01-034-ms-wednesday or OP04-060-crocodile on the board, you are guaranteed to have active Don on defensive turns. This means we can go all out with using Don during our attack turn. However, if we don't have any Leader trigger on the board, then we might have to save 1 Don if we're looking to play a Counter Event. 1 Active Don is enough to play two events since the first Event will trigger Leader ability, giving us an Active Don to use for our second Event.
- When Trashing cards with ST04-005-queen and OP04-060-crocodile's effects, pick a card you don't expect to play on the upcoming turns. You could trash dead cards that don't offer a counter-effect if you need defensive cards.
Mulligan Tips
- You want to see cards like OP06-104-kikunojo, EB01-034-ms-wednesday, EB01-061-mr2bonkurei-bentham, and OP05-102-gedatsu in your starter hand. They help you keep up with the opponent's mid-game development.
- OP04-060-crocodile is one of your strongest plays, so seeing one in early hand isn't too bad.
Important Matchups
Black Gecko Moria
- OP06-093-perona can be a nightmare for your card resources. Try to stay below 5 cards to shut down her effect activation, this means we'll have to use our Counter cards early on.
- Keeping up with their board development is important. This game might stretch out, so getting the most out of your removal card can help you out immensely. Gedatsu and Yamato are MVP cards in this matchup.
- Hold onto EB01-059-kingdom-come to remove OP06-086-gecko-moria.
Red Purple Law
- You're up against an aggressive deck that can drop two threats per turn.
- Avoid attacking their Leader and focus on picking off their rested characters. The plan is to keep them at 4 Life Cards so Gedatsu and Yamato can KO their characters. When depriving them of Life Cards, they'll run out of resources unless they have OP06-069-vinsmoke-reiju.
- OP05-074-eustasscaptainkid and ST10-012-bepo are key targets you want to remove off the board as soon as possible. They're generating Don for the opponent every turn, which creates a stronger future turn for them.
- EB01-057-shirahoshi won't find much use in this matchup since Leader Law can return her to the bottom of our deck.
Black Yellow Luffy
- We're playing the slow plan here. Avoid attacking opponent's Leader and focus on defensive play. The plan is to drop our heavy Characters and set up for one "big turn" to win the game.
- By starving them, they'll struggle to set up the Leader combo with the kid brothers. This slows down the threat they can impose and buys you enough time to develop multiple threats.
- Unless the opponent drops one of the kid brothers and leaves them there, Gedatsu won't find much use in this game. All the other threats are 5+ cost, whereas Leader Luffy is at 4 health.
Closing Words
Purple Yellow Crocodile got a couple of new cards in EB01 that give it a boost in performance. The deck has a unique game plan, where you're relying on the synergy of your cards with Leader Crocodile's ability to survive the mid-game and have your heavy hitters carry the match.
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