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Heya everyone! Red Green OP10-001-smoker is one of the strongest Leaders in the OP10 release, capable of creating stronger turns thanks to his effect. Gaining 2 Don every turn allows you to make more plays, enabling you to go wider on the field or commit to heavier attacks.
There are different ways to build OP10-001-smoker since he has access to two colors; the popular version includes control cards and the Fortress strategy. You're controlling the field while making it harder for the opponent to get their attacks through, stretching out games until you have your opponent low on Life cards and can go for the final attack.
In this guide, I'll explain OP10-001-smoker's general strategy, different cards you can add, and how to approach different matchups. Let's get started!
Gameplan
OP10-001-smoker synergizes with {Navy} or {Punk Hazard} type Characters, giving them +1,000 Power during the opponent's turn. This makes your characters harder to remove from play, putting them out of range from certain attacks or removal effects.
OP10-001-smoker's second effect is the main reason this Leader can put tons of pressure on opponents. If you have a character in play with 7,000 Power or more, OP10-001-smoker allows you to restand two of your rested Don, gaining 2 Active Don to either develop on the field or boost your attack Power.
The +2 Don will be a core part of this deck's strategy, as it's enabling us to drop OP01-051-eustasscaptainkid-701 a turn earlier, play events without sacrificing field development, or go for higher Power attacks that can be challenging to counter.
Early Turns
So, for our early turns, we have two main characters to develop. If we're going first, OP10-004-vergo's On Play effect searches for {Punk Hazard} type cards to add to your hand. So you could find OP10-016-monet, OP10-005-sanji, OP10-011-tony-tonychopper, or OP10-018-ten-layer-igloo.
If you're going second, you want to go for OP10-016-monet, offering to attach 2 of your rested Don to the Leader or a character and reduce the Power of an opponent's character by 1,000. You'll hold off on activating her effect until it's useful since you will have to rest her to activate her effect, making her an easy target for opponents to remove.
She'll help you control the field, making it easier to KO a rested Character through an attack or put an Active character in range for a removal card like ST21-017-gum-gum-mole-pistol or OP09-009-bennbeckman.
During your turn, OP10-005-sanji gains +3,000 Power, turning him into a 6,000 Power attacker. If you attach 1 Don to him, you can activate your Leader's effect to set 2 Don as Active. OP10-005-sanji is great for an aggressive attack but vulnerable during your defensive turn. He'll become a 4,000 Power Character during your opponent's turn, with +1,000 Power from your Leader, but still difficult to protect. When KO'd, OP10-005-sanji draws you a card, so you won't lose resources.
As for OP10-011-tony-tonychopper, his blocker keyword and the power boost he gains during the opponent's turn makes him a valuable defensive card. During your opponent's turn, OP10-011-tony-tonychopper gains +2,000 Power from his effect and another +1,000 Power from your Leader's effect, becoming a 7,000 Power character.
OP10-011-tony-tonychopper will be great for protecting us from attacks and saving counter cards. We'll try to keep him on the field for as long as possible, gaining value from the blocker keyword multiple times.
Don Value
On turn 3, we want to play OP10-030-smoker to start taking advantage of the 1 Active Don he gives us. After we've set 2 Active Don through Leader effect, we can activate OP10-030-smoker to gain a third Don, setting you up for more plays to make.
As long as OP10-030-smoker is in play, you can keep getting the Active Don, putting you ahead of your opponent. Since OP10-030-smoker has the Banish keyword, you'll prioritize attacking the opponent's Leader, threatening to trash their Life card and cut down on their card resources.
Removal Options
You need a 6,000 Power Character in play to use ST21-017-gum-gum-mole-pistol's KO effect. For 4 Don, you can reduce the Power of an opponent's character by 5,000 and then KO a 2,000 Power character. So with ST21-017-gum-gum-mole-pistol, you can KO a 7,000 Power character.
As for OP09-009-bennbeckman, you can trash a 6,000 Power character through his On Play effect. You're developing an attacker while removing an opponent's character, helping shift the game in your favor. Since OP09-009-bennbeckman trashes instead of KO, you can remove characters with a KO immunity, like Borsalino or Sabo.
Fortress Kid
We can play OP01-051-eustasscaptainkid-701 as early as Don 8 thanks to the Leader's effect. Since OP10-001-smoker sets two restede Don as active, we can attach 1 of those Don to OP01-051-eustasscaptainkid-701 to activate the Fortress strategy.
While OP01-051-eustasscaptainkid-701 is rested and a Don is attached to him, your opponent cannot attack anything but OP01-051-eustasscaptainkid-701. This means they're forced to remove the 8,000 Power character before attacking your Leader or rested characters.
It can be a challenge for most decks to remove OP01-051-eustasscaptainkid-701 and will likely slow them down. On top of that, when resting OP01-051-eustasscaptainkid-701, you can activate his effect to cheat out a 3-cost or less Character. Ideally, you'll cheat out OP05-030-donquixote-rosinante, a low-cost blocker to protect OP01-051-eustasscaptainkid-701 from a heavy attack.
OP05-030-donquixote-rosinante can also protect your key characters from a KO effect, sacrificing himself instead and keeping the initially targeted character in play.
OP07-010-baccarat is another low-cost blocker we can cheat out through OP01-051-eustasscaptainkid-701. She's a strong defensive character since she lets us trash a card from hand to gain +2,000 Power on your Leader or a character. This turns a dead card in your hand into a +2,000 Counter.
OP10-032-tashigi is a +2,000 counter, but she can be used to protect your OP01-051-eustasscaptainkid-701. By cheating her on the field, you can protect OP01-051-eustasscaptainkid-701 or other key characters from removal effects, forcing your opponent to rely on attacks to KO characters.
Aggressive Turn
Playing OP06-035-hody-jones will damage your Leader for one Life card, but it's worth it for his effect and Rush attack. When played, OP06-035-hody-jones can rest two of the opponent's attackers, allowing you to attack and KO them. If your opponent has blockers in the way, OP06-035-hody-jones can rest them to attack the opponent's Leader directly.
He can be used as an aggressor to pressure the Leader or a control card to KO characters and weaken the opponent's presence on the field. If there are no characters worth resting, OP06-035-hody-jones can rest 2 Active Don for the opponent, preventing them from playing a Counter event.
Events
OP10-018-ten-layer-igloo gives your Leader or one of your Characters a +3,000 Power boost; then you can reduce the Power of the opponent's Leader or a Character by 2,000. So OP10-018-ten-layer-igloo is an answer for a high-power attack, or it could be used to shut down two attackers, countering the first with the Power boost and reducing the Power of the other attacker before it gets to attack.
Other Cards to Include
OP08-023-carrot enables a stall game plan, keeping a 7-cost or less character rested and preventing it from attacking you on the upcoming turn. You can keep activating OP08-023-carrot's effect when she attacks, so your opponent will try their best to remove her.
OP08-036-electrical-luna and OP04-031-donquixote-doflamingo enable a stronger stall strategy, keeping the opponent's attackers and preventing them from attacking you on the upcoming turn.
OP06-118-roronoa-zoro can act as a solo carry character, playing on the field as early as possible and forcing your opponent to have the answer or risk losing the game. Attacking 3 times with OP06-118-roronoa-zoro can win you the game on the spot or at least have your opponent low on resources so that they can't defend their Leader on the upcoming turn.
A 1-cost counter event to protect your Leader or a key character with the +4,000 Power boost. Since you're gaining Don from OP10-001-smoker, it'll be easy to activate OP01-029-radical-beam.
General Tips
- Since we're gaining extra Active Don from OP10-001-smoker and OP10-030-smoker, we can go for more aggressive attacks on the opponent's Leader, quickly dropping them low on Life cards.
- Depending on the state of the game, we'll decide whether we can go full agro or play defensively. With OP06-035-hody-jones, we can keep the aggression on the opponent, and if need be, we can save 2 Don to play OP10-018-ten-layer-igloo. However, if we're behind on the field and our Leader is in trouble, we'll have to play the fortress strategy to buy us time.
- Since we often take an aggressive approach, we'll want to protect key aggressive characters when possible. OP10-030-smoker's banish and the extra Don are critical to pressure the opponent. OP06-035-hody-jones's 8,000 Power attacks are valuable, so when possible, we want to keep him from getting KO'd by an attacker.
- OP05-030-donquixote-rosinante and OP10-032-tashigi aren't tied to OP01-051-eustasscaptainkid-701. You can use them to protect other key characters to keep a field presence.
Mulligan Tips
- We want to have our early cards OP10-004-vergo, OP10-005-sanji, and OP10-030-smoker to quickly pressure the opponent.
Important Matchups
Red Shanks
- OP09-001-shanks's Power reduction effect can slow our aggression, helping them protect their Leader or rested Character from an attack.
- They can easily KO a Character with 6,000 Power or less, using cards like OP09-009-bennbeckman and OP08-118-silvers-rayleigh. For anything above that, they'll need to use Power reduction cards like OP09-008-building-snake. Luckily, our key Characters are above 6,000 Power, so they'll need to use more resources to remove them.
- Since OP09-001-shanks decks can KO only one Character per turn through an effect, Rosinante or Tashigi will do wonders, protecting your important cards from getting removed.
- We can't afford to attack their high-power characters. Instead, we'll focus our attacks on their Leader, trying to rush them down.
Black Marshall D.Teach
- OP09-081-marshalldteach's effect to shut down On Play effect isn't a problem for us since most of our characters don't rely on On Play effects. OP09-009-bennbeckman and OP06-035-hody-jones are the only characters affected by OP09-081-marshalldteach's effect. However, although you can't rest two characters with OP06-035-hody-jones, you at least won't damage your Leader when he's played.
- They can KO our Characters with cards like EB01-051-finger-pistol to slow us down. Having Rosinante or Tashigi in play is crucial, especially to protect high-cost cards.
- We'll need to have multiple attackers in play to break through OP09-093-marshalldteach blocker. If for some reason, they didn't activate their Leader effect in the late game, we can use OP06-035-hody-jones to rest their blockers and aggro down their Leader.
Yellow Kid
- OP10-099-eustasscaptainkid can turn his high-power {Supernovas} type Characters into blockers, slowing you down from winning the game. They can also trash your Life cards, dropping you on resources and making it easier to go for the winning attack.
- OP08-106-nami can be an answer for our OP10-030-smoker.
- We'll rely on OP06-035-hody-jones to rest their blockers, allowing us to attack their Leader directly.
- We might have to use OP01-006-otama + ST21-017-gum-gum-mole-pistol to KO a 9,000 Power Character like OP10-119-trafalgar-law or OP10-112-eustasscaptainkid.
Red Roronoa Zoro
- OP01-001-roronoa-zoro is an aggressive deck that will mainly target our Leader, trying to close out the game quickly.
- We have to KO OP08-007-tony-tonychopper to prevent them from cheating out more Characters.
- OP01-051-eustasscaptainkid-701 + blocker will be the main way we protect our Leader and prolong the game.
Closing Words
Red Green OP10-001-smoker's effect has quickly made the Leader a strong consideration for tournaments, capable of playing aggressively, but can switch to a defensive game plan with OP01-051-eustasscaptainkid-701. Understanding the matchups and your opponent's capabilities will go a long way, allowing you to make decisions based on the game state and win games a turn earlier.
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