Table of Contents
Heya everyone, welcome to the OPTCG Ranked Meta Report! In this article, we'll review the top-performing decks on OPBounty's ranked ladder over the past week (Week 1 of OP08.5). We'll analyze the top-performing decks, their effectiveness against various matchups, and the key cards players are utilizing.
The decklists I’ll share from the SIM have high play and win rates (I'll usually pick a list from high-rank players), but they aren't necessarily the ones you should play. Your choice should depend on your preference, locals, and the shifting meta. I’ll highlight the different cards that players on the ladder are using.
Top-Played Decks
All Week 1 Stats
Blue Doflamingo
Blue OP01-060-donquixote-doflamingo play rate skyrockets in OP08.5 meta, becoming the most-played deck on the ranked ladder. The overall gameplan of Doffy changed up compared to OP08 meta, going for a more aggressive playstyle over the controlish late-game approach.
Overall Stats: Games: 18661 Win rate: 53.1%
The Blue Doffy deck heavily relies on Leader effect to cheat out {The Seven Warlords of the Sea} Characters. This uses up 1 less Don when playing a 4-cost, Character and you're still using two of those Dons to empower your Leader attacks, forcing more Counter cards from the opponent. Leader effect will help you go wider on the field and create more value, as the Character you'll play will be from the top of the deck. We also can't forget about OP07-045-jinbe, a premium card for your strategy, building up that wide board of attackers.
The plan is to develop multiple Characters and unleash a barrage of attacks, forcing opponents to use up their Counter cards to protect rested Characters or their Leader. If they fail to control the field, they'll end up overwhelmed with the multiple attacks each turn.
Blue Doflamingo has an amazing matchup table, beating all of the decks in the meta except for Yellow Enel. It's slightly unfavored against Green Bonney, and has a close matchup against the other 2 top decks, Black Rob Lucci and Black Yellow Luffy.
Good Against: Blue Nami, Purple Luffy, Yellow Katakuri, Black Smoker, Blue Purple Reiju, Red Blue Marco, Black Marco.
Close Matchup: Black Rob Lucci, Black Yellow Luffy.
Bad Against: Yellow Enel, Green Bonney.
Tech Cards
- Although this list isn't running OP06-058-gravity-blade-raging-tiger, it is a popular inclusion among players, at least two copies. Removing two 6-cost or less Characters from play can lower the opponent's aggression and put them behind on field presence.
- Not many lists are running OP04-056-gum-gum-red-roc. This removal tool is more suited for high-cost Characters that are difficult to deal with.
- OP05-118-kaido is a value option, drawing you 4 cards and remaining on the field as a high Power attacker.
Black Rob Lucci
Rob Lucci loses its throne as the most-played deck on the ladder to Doffy, but that doesn't mean it's ready to lose its title as the best OP08 deck. Although Rob Lucci isn't the most-played deck, it's one of the best choices to play, as it holds its own against the Doffy players and has a great matchup against the general meta field.
Overall Stats: Games: 9228 Win rate: 53.5%
Black Rob Lucci is the strongest deck at controlling the opponent's side of the board, the main objective is to KO threats before they get the chance to attack. The deck uses OP05-093-rob-lucci to KO two targets and replays OP05-093-rob-lucci from the trash with cards like EB01-043-spandine and OP06-086-gecko-moria. It has cost-reduction cards to put targets in range for your removal cards to deal with.
OP08-084-jack is the newest addition to Rob Lucci's control strategy. OP08-084-jack will usually be the play for his KO effect once every turn, removing the opponent's threats and forcing them to deal with OP08-084-jack if they want to continue building up a field.
Rob Lucci has a great matchup table, capable of beating most of the meta decks he goes up against. Other than Black Yellow Luffy and Nami, there aren't decks that pose much of a threat to Lucci players.
Good Against: Purple Luffy, Green Bonney, Black Smoker, Blue Red Marco, Black Luffy, Blue Purple Reiju.
Close Matchup: Yellow Enel, Yellow Katakuri, Blue Doflamingo.
Bad Against: Black Yellow Luffy, Blue Nami.
Tech Cards
- ST08-002-uta showed up in multiple lists this past week. She's a cost-reduction option that can activate her effect once per turn, forcing opponents to remove her as soon as possible.
- OP07-091-monkeydluffy finds use against decks with Sabo or Borsalino, capable of gaining a KO immunity. You can trash a Character with OP07-091-monkeydluffy instead of KO it, perfect against Black Yellow Luffy.
- EB01-051-finger-pistol is a 4-cost Event to KO a 5-cost or less Character. It's a powerful event that doesn't require you to commit too many cost-reduction plays and can be a game-changer if you activate its trigger effect.
- OP03-097-six-king-pistol is a defensive Event to protect your Leader. It can help prolong the game and trash a card you don't expect to play on future turns.
- OP08-079-kaido is a late-game Character that can trash one of the opponent's Characters, bypassing the KO immunity, and will force opponents to trash a card from hand. It's a perfect late-game card, especially against Sabo blocker.
Purple Luffy
At the end of the OP08 meta, we saw a rise in Purple Luffy's play rate, and with OP08.5's new ST18 cards, more players are picking up the old deck again. Although Purple Luffy is in the top 3 most-played decks, it has a low win rate of 47.1%, struggling to keep up with most of the top meta decks so far.
Overall Stats: Games: 8667 Win rate: 47.1%
This is a ramp deck where Leader OP05-060-monkeydluffy damages himself to gain an Active Don. This accelerates the deck's game plan, letting you play higher-cost Characters a turn earlier than other decks. This list can be aggressive with ST04-012-page-one and ST04-002-ulti going wide on the field. ST10-013-eustasscaptainkid gives your Leader a Power boost, empowering your attacks, and the Power increase sticks on your defensive turn, forcing opponents to attach more Don to threaten an attack.
ST04-003-kaido-400 is this deck's strongest play, KOing one of the opponent's 6-cost or less Characters and going for an immediate attack thanks to the Rush keyword he gains.
Purple Luffy is having a rough time, losing to the two most-played decks Blue Doflamingo and Black Rob Lucci. It is though beating the likes of Black Yellow Luffy and Blue Nami.
Good Against: Black Yellow Luffy, Blue Nami, Red Blue Marco, Blue Purple Reiju, Black Luffy.
Close Matchup: Black Smoker.
Bad Against: Blue Doflamingo, Black Rob Lucci, Green Bonney, Yellow Enel, Yellow Katakuri.
Tech Cards
- With the new Purple Luffy lists adding more {Straw Hat Crew} type Characters, OP05-066-jinbe made his way into a couple of lists on the ranked ladder. He's a 6,000 Power blocker that gains a +1,000 Power boost when you have 10 Don on your field.
- OP02-085-magellan-343 is an old card that still fits in this deck, slowing down the opponent's game plan by returning 1 Don from their field. If the opponent decides to KO it early on, they'll fall behind on Don, making it difficult for them to catch up.
- OP05-119-monkeydluffy is a late-game win condition, offering an extra turn to set up aggressive attacks. Lists that include OP05-119-monkeydluffy are usually on 1 copy only.
Black Yellow Luffy
Black Yellow Luffy remains a powerful deck in OP08.5 meta, holding a positive win rate on the ranked ladder (something we don't see enough). This is a tough deck to pilot correctly and in the right hands, Black Yellow Luffy can crush most of the meta decks he goes up against.
Overall Stats: Games: 6455 Win rate: 51.3%
A couple of lists add Ace back into their lists, but most are sticking to 1 or 2 copies of Kid and Adult Ace, while still keeping some control approach.
This deck wants to drop to 0 Life cards and start activating Leader effect to cheat out the Adult brothers on the field. Gecko Moria is a crucial part of Black Yellow Luffy's game plan, as you'll often need to cheat out the kid brothers from the Trash and develop multiple Characters per turn to threaten more aggression.
With Black Rob Lucci's popularity, Black Yellow Luffy is a great choice to bring to tournaments. By continuously playing OP04-083-sabo and shutting down Rob Lucci's KO effects, you'll force them into awkward plays where they'll rely on tech cards to have a chance at winning.
It's ability to hold its ground against Blue Doflamingo is a plus for the deck, keeping it a great consideration to bring to tournaments.
Good Against: Black Rob Lucci, Yellow Katakuri, Red Blue Marco, Blue Purple Reiju.
Close Matchup: Blue Doflamingo, Black Smoker.
Bad Against: Purple Luffy, Green Bonney, Yellow Enel, Blue Nami, Black Luffy.
Tech Cards
- First time in a while we're seeing ST14-006-nami in Black Yellow Luffy. She's a low-cost blocker to protect your Leader or rested Characters and can draw you a card if you have a Gecko Moria in play.
- ST13-008-sabo remains a solid consideration to add, allowing you to self damage in the early game and KO one of the opponent's Characters to slow them down.
Green Bonney
Green Bonney fell to the 5th most-played deck spot but continues to hold one of the highest win rates on the ranked ladder. Its ability to keep up with the Blue Doflamingo deck has kept its win rate pretty high.
Overall Stats: Games: 5901 Win rate: 54.9%
All the lists on the ranked ladder are on the Fortress game plan, using OP01-051-eustasscaptainkid-701 and OP05-030-donquixote-rosinante to shut down opponents from targeting your Leader or other rested Characters. Also, most lists have cut out OP07-021-urouge entirely, and those that kept him are at max two copies.
The Green Bonney deck excels at stalling the game using the Leader's rest effect, slowing down opponent aggression, and buying time to set up your late game.
OP06-035-hody-jones is the main aggressor, joining the field, resting two of the opponent's Characters, and creating an aggressive 8,000-power attack. OP04-031-donquixote-doflamingo adds to that defensive game plan, keeping three of the opponent's attackers from becoming Active on the upcoming turn and buying you more time to stabilize or even win the game.
ST16-004-shanks is the newest addition to the list, however, not all lists are running him. Some lists are sticking to two copies of ST16-004-shanks while some are cutting him out entirely.
Green Bonney struggles against Black Rob Lucci holding it back from taking over the meta. It has a great matchup table against the rest of the meta field, beating the likes of Black Yellow Luffy and Yellow Enel. Right now, Green Bonney is beating Blue Doffy players, mostly because the Doffy lists have moved to a more aggressive playstyle over the control removal playstyle.
Good Against: Blue Doflamingo, Purple Luffy, Black Yellow Luffy, Yellow Enel,
Close Matchup: Red Blue Marco, Blue Purple Reiju.
Bad Against: Black Rob Lucci, Yellow Katakuri, Black Smoker, Blue Nami, Black Luffy.
Tech Cards
- Mosts lists are now cutting out OP07-021-urouge entirely from the list. Some lists that still include him aren't going for more than two copies. When played early, he's extremely valuable for the extra Don he gives at the end of your turn, making it easier for you to rest one of the opponent's attackers with Leader Bonney.
- Only 1 list has OP03-025-krieg, but it seems to be working out for them since that list had a high win rate. It's a consideration to add if you're trying to combat the Blue Doffy decks, KOing two of their rested 4-cost Characters. On top of that, OP03-025-krieg can gain Double Attack, becoming a win condition if left unchecked.
- OP06-118-roronoa-zoro and OP04-119-donquixote-rosinante both lost a lot of their popularities in Green Bonney decks, but still exist as options to add.
Yellow Enel
Back in OP08 meta, Yellow Enel was kicked out of the top 10 decks and struggled to remain relevant. That all changed in OP08.5, as the deck saw a huge rise in popularity, becoming the 6th most-played deck. Yellow Enel's win rate isn't the only thing that saw an increase, its win rate jumped to 56%, the highest win rate on the ranked ladder! This is mainly because Yellow Enel has a great matchup against the popular Blue Doflamingo.
Overall Stats: Games: 5516 Win rate: 56%
Leader OP05-098-enel's ability to gain a Life card plays a massive role in this deck's game plan. You're trying to keep the opponent's side of the field in check, shutting them down for setting up multiple attackers to pressure you. Using cards like /OP05-102-gedatsu and OP08-106-nami you can control the opponent's game plan, prolonging the game until your heavy hitters start joining in.
OP04-112-yamato and OP07-119-portgasdace give your Leader an extra Life card and can KO one of the opponent's Characters, shifting the game in your favor. Eventually, opponents will run out of steam, getting to a point where they don't present a threat to your Leader.
Yellow Enel has the highest win rate on the ranked ladder because of its matchups against Blue Doflamingo, PLuffy, and BY Luffy. It's also not auto-losing to the second-played deck, Black Rob Lucci. Overall, Yellow Enel has a great matchup table and should be a deck on all players' radar when going into a tournament.
The only deck that crushes Yellow Enel is Blue Nami, so if you're playing Enel, you're hoping you don't meet any Nami players.
Good Against: Blue Doflamingo, Purple Luffy, Black Yellow Luffy, Black Smoker,
Close Matchup: Black Rob Lucci, Yellow Katakuri, Blue Purple Reiju.
Bad Against: Green Bonney, Blue Nami, Red Blue Marco, Black Luffy.
Tech Cards
- EB01-057-shirahoshi is a 2-cost Blocker to protect your Leader in the late-game. If opponents KO her with an effect, they'll end up giving you a Life card, making it harder for them to win the game.
- OP03-116-shirahoshi is a value option, especially if she's in your Life area to activate the trigger effect.
Yellow Katakuri
Yellow Katakuri didn't see much change in performance. It remains in the top 10 most-played decks with a decent win rate.
Overall Stats: Games: 3120 Win rate: 51.2%
The Yellow Leader, OP03-099-charlotte-katakuri, pushes heavy attacks with his +1,000 effect and manipulates the Life area, increasing the odds of finding your Trigger cards on the right turns. The heavy attacks can be difficult for opponents to counter and will force more resources from them.
7-cost ST07-010-charlotte-linlin and 10-cost OP03-114-charlotte-linlin are the main win conditions for this deck, creating high power threats on the field and offering value through their Life card effects.
OP08-106-nami is the newest addition to the list, offering a control tool to KO a 5-cost or less Character and she remains on the field as a 5,000 Power attacker.
Good Against: Purple Luffy, Green Bonney, Black Smoker, Red Blue Marco, Blue Purple Reiju, Black Luffy.
Close Matchup: Black Rob Lucci.
Bad Against: Blue Doflamingo, Black Yellow Luffy, Blue Nami.
Tech Cards
- ST20-001-charlotte-katakuri is a blocker that can give a rested Don to your Leader or one of your Characters. This allows for more aggressive attacks and can ensure you continue to activate Leader effect even when playing your high-cost Characters.
- OP03-121-thunder-bolt is an option if you're looking for a low-cost KO card.
Black Smoker
Smoker received new Starter 19 cards in OP8.05, giving the deck a boost in performance and better consistency. Although Black Smoker managed to make it into the top 10 most-played decks, it still struggles to hold a positive win rate. Despite that, the new cards did bring an old Leader back into the meta, giving players more options to choose from when picking up a Leader.
Overall Stats: Games: 2547 Win rate: 48.4%
Black Smoker is a control deck, using cards like OP02-098-koby, EB01-046-brook, and ST19-003-tashigi to KO opponent's Characters and keep control of the field. ST19-003-tashigi is the strongest new addition to this deck, capable of reducing the cost of one of the opponent's Characters by 4 and then trashes a 0-cost Character. Using the cost-reduction effects from Leader and cards in the list, you can drop the opponent's Character in range for your removal to deal with.
OP06-086-gecko-moria is a must-inclusion in the list, offering late-game value and multiple developments in one turn.
Struggling against the two most-played decks is not a good sign for the Black Smoker deck, which explains why its struggling to reach a 50% win rate.
Good Against: Green Bonney, Red Blue Marco, Blue Purple Reiju.
Close Matchup: Purple Luffy, Black Yellow Luffy, Black Luffy.
Bad Against: Blue Doflamingo, Black Rob Lucci, Yellow Enel, Yellow Katakuri, Blue Nami.
Tech Cards
- OP08-084-jack is a KO option, capable of activating his effect once per turn, so you'll always have a KO tool as long as he's in play.
- OP07-118-sabo works best against decks that go wide on the field. So with the rise of Blue Doflamingo, OP07-118-sabo can be a great addition to combat the board swarm.
Blue Nami
Blue Nami remains in the top 10 most-played decks, and although it has a great matchup against most of the meta decks, it gets crushed by the popular Blue Doffy and Purple Luffy, keeping it from taking over the meta.
Overall Stats: Games: 2278 Win rate: 49.3%
If you like playing One Piece with different rules, Blue Nami is the deck for you. You're not looking to control the field or attack the opponent's Leader, instead, the main goal is to survive and mill yourself. Nami changes the game's rules, turning the mill game plan into a win condition. You automatically win the game if you fall to 0 cards in your deck. This forces the opponent to approach the matchup aggressively, trying to close out the game before you drop to 0 cards in the deck.
The thing with Blue Nami is that it's capable of crushing certain matchups, but has an awful experience against some decks. Who you go up against extremely matters for the Blue Nami players and will dictate your tournament experience.
Performing with Nami will heavily depend on which decks you go up against. The Blue deck can crush certain matchups, with almost nothing opponents can do to shut down your plan. However, decks that can play multiple Characters in one turn create an aggressive game plan that puts Nami in an awkward spot.
Nami is beating the top 2 most-played decks (Rob Lucci and Black Yellow Luffy), so it can be a great tournament performer if it matches against those decks and avoids its counter decks. Red Zoro and Purple Luffy gaining popularity isn't great for Nami players, since those two decks are literally crushing the matchup.
Looking at Blue Nami's matchup table, it's beating multiple popular decks, especially the rising Yellow Enel. The main issue for Nami players is the Blue Doffy matchup, which they'll see plenty of as it's the most-played deck on the ranked ladder. If you're able to dodge Doffy players, you're crushing tournaments!
Good Against: Black Rob Lucci, Black Yellow Luffy, Green Bonney, Yellow Enel, Yellow Katakuri, Black Smoker, Black Luffy.
Close Matchup: Red Blue Marco.
Bad Against: Blue Doflamingo, Purple Luffy, Blue Purple Reiju.
Red Blue Marco
Red Blue Marco saw a rise in play rate with the new Starter 15 cards. However, Marco is performing poorly on the ranked ladder, having the lowest win rate among the top 15 decks! If it continues to underperform, it'll likely lose its top 10 spot.
Overall Stats: Games: 2089 Win rate: 41.2%
I only found one list on the ranked ladder, which is using the Tony Tony Chopper package. I'll share below the more usual list we see in tournaments.
Popular list
Leader OP08-002-marco gives one of the opponent's Characters a -2,000 Power reduction, making it easier to attack and KO. This also synergizes with KO effects from cards like ST15-002-edwardnewgate and OP03-018-fire-fist. The Don 10 play is the strongest, allowing you to use the Leader effect to place a high-cost Character at the top of the deck and then follow it up with the OP06-119-sanji to cheat out that Character, developing two big bodies in one turn.
Good Against: Yellow Enel, Black Luffy.
Close Matchup: Green Bonney, Blue Nami.
Bad Against: Blue Doflamingo, Black Rob Lucci, Black Yellow Luffy, Purple Luffy, Blue Purple Reiju.
Fallen Decks
These decks used to be in the top 10 most-played decks in OP08 meta.
Black Luffy
Black Luffy lost a lot of its OP08 popularity, falling from its 6th spot in the top 10. In terms of win rate, it has also plummeted, before OP08.5, Black Luffy was at 53.3% win rate, and now it's struggling to reach a 50% win rate.
Overall Stats: Games: 1223 Win rate: 49%
Black Luffy is a control deck that KO's opponent's characters using EB01-046-brook, ST14-003-sanji, and the new OP08-084-jack. With Leader Luffy's effect increasing the cost of your characters, it makes it more challenging for some decks to control your side of the field. Characters like Rob Lucci, Gedatsu, OP08-106-nami, and OP07-109-monkeydluffy will have a harder time finding value with their KO effects.
Good Against: Green Bonney, Black Yellow Luffy, Yellow Enel.
Close Matchup: Black Smoker.
Bad Against: Blue Doflamingo, Black Rob Lucci, Blue Nami, Yellow Katakuro, Purple Luffy, Blue Purple Reiju, Red Blue Marco.
Blue Purple Vinsmoke Reiju
Reiju also saw a decrease in play and win rate. In OP08, Reiju had a 51.2% win rate, and now it fell below 50%.
Overall Stats: Games: 1680 Win rate: 46.4%
This deck relies on low-cost Vinsmoke Characters to cheat out their higher-cost versions. This enables a powerful field development but you'll have to return Don, slowing down your upcoming turns. Returning Don activates your Leader effect to draw a card, basically having a draw engine to keep the pressure going. Combined with OP06-069-vinsmoke-reiju's draw effect, you won't run out of resources easily.
OP07-072-porche has given the archetype the ability to adopt a more aggressive game plan, especially if you're able to cheat out OP06-061-vinsmoke-ichiji early into the game. OP06-062-vinsmoke-judge is the strongest play in this deck, developing multiple Characters on the field, and setting the stage for one powerful turn to close out the game.
Good Against: Blue Nami, Red Blue Marco, Black Luffy.
Close Matchup: Purple Luffy, Green Bonney, Yellow Enel,
Bad Against: Blue Doflamingo, Black Rob Lucci, Black Yellow Luffy, Yellow Katakuri, Black Smoker.
Red Zoro
Red Zoro maintains a solid win rate, but most players have dropped the deck as it struggles against most of the popular meta, including the Blue Doffy matchup.
Overall Stats: Games: 661 Win rate: 52.3%
This is an aggressive deck that goes wide on the field and threatens multiple attacks on the opponent. Using OP04-010-tony-tonychopper and OP08-007-tony-tonychopper, you can go for the wide game plan, and with Leader Zoro giving a +1,000 Power boost, you're now adding to that aggression that forces Counter cards from the opponent.
The list also has rush attackers OP01-025-roronoa-zoro, EB01-003-kid-killer, and OP07-015-monkeyddragon to keep the aggression going.
Good Against: Purple Luffy, Green Bonney, Blue Nami, Yellow Katakuri, Red Blue Marco, Blue Purple Reiju.
Bad Against: Blue Doflamingo, Black Rob Lucci, Black Yellow Luffy, Yellow Enel.
Yellow Purple Pudding
Puddings is having a rough time in OP08.5 meta. To be fair, it wasn't doing too hot in OP08, but the new meta shakeup has not been in its favor, seeing an even lower win rate in the first week of OP08.5.
Overall Stats: Games: 725 Win rate: 41.5%
Yellow Purple Pudding is a Ramp Leader, capable of accelerating your game plan to drop high-cost Characters as early as possible. Since your Leader effect is tied to the two top Life cards being face-down, cards like OP08-063-charlotte-katakuri can turn your Life cards face-down, allowing you to reactivate Pudding's Ramp effect on turn 3. The list is packed with late-game Characters, which you'll play on earlier turns and start dominating the field through the help of their effects and high power.
Purple Yellow Pudding isn't looking too good on the matchup stats, losing to most of the meta decks and only consistently beating Black Yellow Luffy.
Good Against: Black Yellow Luffy, Yellow Enel, Red Blue Marco.
Bad Against: Blue Doflamingo, Black Rob Lucci, Black Luffy, Blue Purple Reiju, Green Bonney.
Closing Word
The ranked stats aren't always definitive metrics to use for the tournament competitive scene, but they give you a general idea of which decks are most popular and the cards people are experimenting with. It's an extra method to help you prepare for regional tournaments.
To start your ladder climb, join TCG Match Making's Discord server. If you want to follow me personally, here's my Twitter account.
