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Hello, nakamas. First of all, I would like to introduce myself. I'm Bohe, a full-time writer and content creator since September 2020. I started my work for DotGG Network in July 2021 on MTG Arena Zone. Since then, sharing my passion for card games and video games has been an incredible journey.
I recently started watching the One Piece anime, and I do not regret it. Now that I'm enjoying the end of the East Blue saga, I think that I would have liked to have started this journey much earlier. The important thing is that we have already set sail for the Grand Line!
Noting that at DotGG we already had a space available for One Piece TCG was undoubtedly a great incentive for it. This combination of factors made me start playing One Piece TCG and without a doubt, it is the first step of a long road ahead.
Getting started in One Piece TCG
If you are about to start playing One Piece TCG, chances are that, like me, you have looked for some options that allow you to start playing quickly without having to spend a huge amount of berries.
I know that some can afford to acquire all the necessary cards to start playing directly with meta defining deck, regardless of the cost. However, opting for a more accessible archetype may be preferable for several reasons:
- Have a complete deck without investing too much and thus try the game.
- Participate in competitive events despite some financial limitations.
- Build multiple archetypes quickly to try different strategies and adapt to what you like most.
- Have more than one deck and thus be able to introduce some friends or loved ones to the game.
Whatever the reason, this is a topic that I have already researched in detail, and sharing with you what I was able to learn in my first steps in this TCG can surely be useful if you have the desire to delve into this wonderful game.
I will share with you 5 decklists, ensuring that these are around an approximate value of $50. It's certainly possible to build some archetypes with budgets of $10-$20, however, I believe that $50 is an affordable number and that with any of these decks, you will be able to get into the game, learn the basics, and start participating in events at your local store and obtain good results.
Rush Zoro
Let's start with our beloved swordsman, Roronoa Zoro. Of all the decks I will share in this article, Zoro is probably the one that usually has the most appearances at the top of high-level tournaments.
Let's start by understanding that the color red can be the most aggressive color in One Piece (what a surprise, right?) The strategy of playing with Zoro as the leader revolves around putting presence on the table quickly. The reason for this is that thanks to the effect of OP01-001-roronoa-zoro all of our Characters gain +1000 power for just Don!! x1 -This means that Zoro does have a Don!! During your turn, this effect will be active.
This makes playing characters fast compelling, which will allow us to attack several times per turn, turn after turn, with sufficiently relevant power, forcing opponents to react quickly or lose the game in very few turns.
Decklist
This list is certainly capable of handling very difficult matchups like OP05-041-sakazuki and OP05-060-monkeydluffy, leaders that you will undoubtedly encounter in your first few tournaments. ST01-016-diable-jambe is in the deck for exactly this reason, plus increasing OP03-008-buggy's possible hits is always a good idea.
The list I present can be modified and made even more accessible. ST01-016-diable-jambe, as I said, is a choice designed for a specific meta, a similar case to ST01-012-monkeydluffy. Both are cards that are beginning to be relevant in the budget and you can decide to do without them without much complication.
Extremely cheap and basic cards like OP04-007-sanji or OP05-019-fire-fist are good replacement examples and do the job very well.
If you like playing mono red or strategies around tokens in Magic or were a fan of Warlock Zoo in Hearthstone, Rush Zoro is for you.
Self-Mill Nami
The case of the Straw Hat Pirates' navigator is curious. It started as one of the most powerful decks during OP3. This made Bandai have to take action and ban OP02-052-cabaji central cards in the strategy.
What this deck tries to do is run out of cards to draw as quickly as possible. The reason for this is that Nami's effect allows us to win the game instead of losing if this happens.
This makes the deck revolve around many events that allow you to draw multiple cards while we seek to protect ourselves while executing our plan.
Decklist
Some cards that are the centerpiece of this strategy like OP03-044-kaya, OP02-063-mr1-dazbonez, or OP03-056-sanjis-pilaf are cheap. This means that getting the core of the deck is not expensive.
Instead, cards like ST03-017-love-love-mellow can be of great help, but if the cost is something that prevents you from playing this deck, replacements like OP02-068-gum-gum-rain are quite effective. Likewise, if you have difficulty finding any of the characters or prefer to try a different card, OP03-048-nojiko has been seen several times in Nami lists with good results.
Probably his worst match is OP01-002-trafalgar-law and the aforementioned OP01-001-roronoa-zoro. If a deck comes out too quickly it can cause problems if we don't find our removals. Other types of decks that develop their plan more slowly tend to be favorable matchups for Nami.
I see Nami as a deck that will come and go in the meta as time goes by. This is because when the meta is very aggressive, playing Nami will not be ideal. Still, when the meta revolves around slower and heavier decks, Nami can undoubtedly become the queen that beats the whales.
If in other games you like to use decks that win in some alternative way or focus more on executing a plan than interacting with the opponent, Self-Mill Nami is a good option for you.
Budget Attrition Enel
Speaking of whales; Enel is a leader who has been a central part of the meta since his launch and will most likely continue to be so.
The situation with Enel, and actually with the color Yellow, is that their competitive decks like OP05-098-enel or OP03-099-charlotte-katakuri tend to be quite expensive compared to others due to cards like OP03-108-charlotte-cracker, OP03-123-charlotte-katakuri, and ST07-010-charlotte-linlin
However, the reality is that, if you want to compete at a high level, Enel is a great option, and making it work by cutting these three cards is not unrealistic.
Decklist
To the price that appears above, we should add the price of the 4 OP05-100-enel that does not appear in our database. Each one is around $2.5 as of the date of this article, which would give a total of close to $20 for the complete deck.
OP05-098-enel's ability allows you to gain life when your total number of lives becomes 0. This means that opponents have to use a lot of resources to defeat Enel in a game. At the same time, knowing that we won't die so easily, it's common for you to let some attacks do damage so we can gain a card advantage by putting our lives in hand.
Because of this, Enel decks usually have many triggers, cards that if they are in our life zone and are drawn will trigger an effect. Most of these cards do not have a high monetary value, and this allows us to build this deck in a cheap version and compete in local tournaments without any problems.
Now, in this case, instead of talking about replacements, I will talk about upgrades. The cards mentioned above OP03-108-charlotte-cracker, OP03-123-charlotte-katakuri, and ST07-010-charlotte-linlin interact directly with lives which makes them a significant upgrade to Enel's deck. If after trying this deck you decide what you would like to play, getting them would be essential.
In addition to this, OP04-112-Yamato and OP04-104-sanji would also be important upgrades for this deck (and quite useful for the yellow color in general) and they are less expensive than the aforementioned, and you could start here.
If you like to play Abzan or Jund in Magic or Fatigue Mage in Hearthstone, or any deck that is capable of withstanding attrition games, Enel is a great option for you.
Ramp Kaido
This is the most risky recommendation in the entire article. Playing a ramp deck means we can easily surpass decks like OP05-098-enel or OP05-060-monkeydluffy thanks to how we reach the top of our curve faster than them. This added to the fact that the top of our curve is a little more powerful than theirs, means that once we reach 9 or 10 Don!! It is difficult for them to match us in power.
This makes Kaido an option that many may be passing up. And I can somewhat understand why. The matches against OP05-041-sakazuki and OP03-099-charlotte-katakuri are not easy, however, they are certainly winnable.
It should be mentioned that the deck costs much less than what the list shows. Our database is taking the price of OP03-060-Kalifa as if it were the Pre-Release version. A similar case with the 10-cost OP01-094-kaido marks the price of its parallel art version. The difference is abysmal, and the total cost of the deck would be approximately $30.
Decklist
That being said, I find this idea of playing Kaido to be good under the right conditions. If you come from another game, surely the term ramp is familiar to you, but if this is your first TCG, this means speeding up the obtaining of resources, in this case, Don!!
The main way to do it would be ST04-017-onigashima-island, which once per turn allows us to add an additional Don!! to which we add every turn. In a way it reminds me of OP02-001-edwardnewgate, a very popular deck some time ago, and if it managed to reach 9 or 10 Don!! he was practically invincible.
In this case, Kaido gets to that point in the game much faster and if you don't have the potential to survive in the late game or respond to the threats that ST04-003-kaido and OP01-094-kaido represent, you are in serious trouble.
In this case, I have put ST01-010-trafalgar-law as a mid-game blocker who can slow down the opponent stopping their attacks and making them discard. The reason for this is to reduce the cost of the deck. This doesn't mean the card isn't good, it certainly is, but the staple blocker and mid-game card of any black deck is ST04-005-queen. However, the cost of this card makes it somewhat restrictive. If you want to upgrade the deck, exchanging these cards would be the first step. Incidentally, it would be a good buy since Queen is played in the vast majority of black decks.
If you are a fan of playing green decks and searching for lots of lands in Magic or playing Druid in HS, Kaido will undoubtedly be to your liking.
Ending
Whatever reason you're looking for an affordable deck to get started in the world of the One Piece TCG, I want you to know that I've been through this too.
In my case, I may certainly be interested in putting together a casual deck or two for a variety of reasons, but putting together a competitive deck that would allow me to get more involved in the community and local events with as little expense as possible was my priority.
This led me to deeply investigate the subject, go to my local store, buy singles, look at a lot of content, and thus be able to share with you this work that I hope you like.
Don't forget we already have some One Piece TCG articles in our main DotGG site.
Let us know your thoughts on this and any other One Piece TCG-related topics in the comment section of this article and on my Twitter. I would love to know if you want an article about more competitive budget decks, something more focused on learning the fundamentals of the game, or why not, a detailed guide to your favorite leader!
Look for me:
- On Discord as bohettv
- On my Twitter
- Via email at [email protected]
- On Twitch (where I'll probably be playing Marvel Snap, although at this rate, games of the One Piece simulator are starting to be part of the regular schedule).
Thanks for reading, dear nakamas, don’t forget to smile; I assure you that it makes a difference, see you at Egghead!
