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Heya everyone! Bandai has just revealed the latest banned cards for the 2025 season of One Piece TCG! As of April 1st, OP06-086-gecko-moria, OP07-045-jinbe, OP02-117-ice-age, and EB01-059-kingdom-come will no longer be legal for play.
This shake-up is bound to have a major impact on the OP10 meta, especially for top-tier decks like Blue OP01-060-donquixote-doflamingo, OP07-079-rob-lucci, and ST13-003-monkeydluffy, all of which rely heavily on at least one of these cards.
In this article, we’ll break down the biggest winners and losers of these bans, which decks will take the hardest hit, and which decks will rise in popularity.
Losers
The ban on OP07-045-jinbe will directly affect OP01-060-donquixote-doflamingo and OP07-038-boa-hancock, removing their ability to play aggressively early in the game, by developing multiple Characters in one turn.
OP01-060-donquixote-doflamingo has been the top meta Leader since OP8.5, and he remained a top contender until OP10. He only recently lost his first-place spot in OP11 meta to OP11-040-monkeydluffy.
OP07-038-boa-hancock already struggled to remain a meta-relevant deck, and she remained in the shadows of the Blue Doflamingo. However, we still got to see her make top cuts here and there, but with Jinve out of the picture, things are looking too great.
As for OP01-060-donquixote-doflamingo, the loss of Jinbe is a massive hit, but we could still have the Leader in low tier 2 or tier 3, but definitely will not match the top performers anymore. We'll likely see OP01-060-donquixote-doflamingo shift to a more control playstyle, rather than an aggressive one.
ST13-003-monkeydluffy suffere the most from the loss of OP06-086-gecko-moria. This Leader quickly rose to the top of the meta, and became a favorite among players, especially in the American scene.
ST13-003-monkeydluffy's strategy involves dropping to 0 Life cards and using Leader effect + kid brothers to cheat out the Adult versions from your Life Area, while also boosting the Power of your Leader.
Without OP06-086-gecko-moria, ST13-003-monkeydluffy loses his late game value play. This deck was only strong due to the Gecko Moria's ability to play two kids from the trash, enabling you to cheat out two adult brothers and gain +4,000 Power on your Leader.
Unfortunately, the loss of Gecko Moria isn't the only hit ST13-003-monkeydluffy received. The Black Yellow Leader also lost EB01-059-kingdom-come and OP02-117-ice-age, two cards that played a control factor in this deck. Although OP02-117-ice-age lost popularity in OP09, EB01-059-kingdom-come was being played in all lists as an answer for high-power win conditions.
OP07-079-rob-lucci and OP02-093-smoker lost OP06-086-gecko-moria and OP02-117-ice-age.
OP06-086-gecko-moria has single-handedly carried multiple Black decks, making them relevant choices in the meta. The value he offered by playing two Characters from the trash has given those decks a boost in performance, and there is no card to truly replace what OP06-086-gecko-moria was offering.
For OP07-079-rob-lucci, the ability to cheat out OP05-091-rebecca and OP05-093-rob-lucci created an insanely strong turn, developing multiple Characters and KOing two of the opponent's Characters.
OP06-086-gecko-moria didn't have the same impact in Smoker decks but still remained the strongest play in the deck, which will definitely be a blow for the OP02-093-smoker deck to lose.
As for OP02-117-ice-age, we relied on the 1-cost Event to reduce the cost of a high-cost Character by 5, often a great answer to decks like Red Shanks and Purple Luffy, that have high-cost win conditions to carry their late game.
EB02-044-sengoku will likely be the go-to card for Gecko Moria's replacement. It can only cheat out 1 Character with a cost of 4 or less, and that Character has to be {Navy} type, so it has limitations, unlike Moria.
If you're a Rob Lucci or Smoker player and still want to play a Black Leader, then OP09-081-marshalldteach is the strongest option. Since this Leader doesn't use OP06-086-gecko-moria, the ban doesn't affect it at all. Most lists weren't running OP02-117-ice-age anyways and you still have access to OP07-096-tempest-kick as a reliable cost reduction card. However, if we see a rise in Purple decks with high-cost Characters, losing OP02-117-ice-age will affect OP09-081-marshalldteach players.
OP05-098-enel's main method to remove a high-cost Character is EB01-059-kingdom-come, without it, OP05-098-enel will have to use his high Power Character's attacks to control the field, which won't always be the best approach.
Other Yellow decks like OP10-099-eustasscaptainkid will suffer from this ban, as they too won't have the means to deal with high-power threats.
Winners
Many speculated that OP09-078-gum-gum-giant would get banned, but it managed to dodge it, making it a win for Purple Leaders. This Counter Event has become a staple in many Purple decks, offering a +4,000 Power boost and card draw to add more resources to your hand.
All these Leaders rely on high-cost win conditions, so EB01-059-kingdom-come and OP02-117-ice-age being out of the picture means more decks will struggle to remove their win conditions.
The upcoming meta will likely shift to adapt to these decks, which often have a rough time against aggressive Leaders that can line up multiple attacks in one turn.
OP07-019-jewelry-bonney is mainly glad to see OP07-079-rob-lucci kicking out of the meta. Black control decks have always been a headache for Green OP07-019-jewelry-bonney players, but honestly, I can see OP07-019-jewelry-bonney becoming the top meta deck in the upcoming format, especially since it can beat aggressive and Purple decks.
OP09-001-shanks was already a strong option in the meta, and if we happen to shift into an aggressive meta, OP09-001-shanks's built-in Power reduction effect will help the leader survive the early to mid game until it starts carrying with the 10c Shanks.
With OP07-079-rob-lucci and OP01-060-donquixote-doflamingo receiving hits and Purple decks seeing more overall play, aggressive Leaders like OP01-001-roronoa-zoro and OP05-002-belo-betty will have more room to shine. They've been held back by OP07-079-rob-lucci control power and OP01-060-donquixote-doflamingo matching their early aggression.
Black control decks have been making OP01-002-trafalgar-law's life a nightmare, preventing this Leader from filling up the field and taking advantage of his effect. We might see a comeback for OP01-002-trafalgar-law, especially in a meta where decks can't consistently KO two Active Characters in one turn.
Closing Words
Big changes are on the horizon for the One Piece competitive scene, bringing in a fresh and exciting playstyle! My main concern is how dominant Purple decks might become, especially with the rise of the OP11-040-monkeydluffy Leader.
That said, with Rob Lucci and Doflamingo no longer suppressing the meta, we could see new Leaders emerge, ones capable of countering Purple and keeping its power in check. It'll be exciting to see how the meta evolves in the upcoming months, and which Leaders will rise to the top.
