Table of Contents
OP06 It's started! Finally, Wings of the Captain has arrived in the West (certainly with many product cuts, but it is what it is...) and with this set 6 new leaders enter the Grand Line in search of positioning themselves in the meta.
The reality is that from the data from Japan which, for those who don't know, is at least 1 set ahead, we know that only three of them are still in force in the fight for the best positions in the tournaments.
OP06-080-gecko-moria-parallel's permanence in the meta is no surprise to anyone. Since its launch in the Country of the Rising Sun, it has made it clear that it could compete with the recently banned OP05-041-sakazuki-374.
OP06-022-yamato-parallel and OP06-021-perona-parallel follow relatively closely. In general terms the reasons are clear. The colors Black and Yellow are currently solid. Japan's ban list is now a confirmed replica in the West, making this not something that will change very soon.
Deck Presentation
Although many iterations of Yamato are certainly playable, without a doubt, the one focused on the core of Sky Island is the most consistent to date.
Deck Concept and Strategy
Let's start with the most important thing. Yamato is an archetype that can be put together in multiple ways. This is made clear by "Sorry" in his article "Three Best Green/Yellow Yamato Deck Builds to Try Out".
It will be common that at first, most people talk about "Yamato Fortress"; an iteration of Yamato especially focused on a defensive playstyle and where OP04-031-donquixote-doflamingo and OP01-051-eustasscaptainkid-701 are the center of attention.
Now, it is true that Yamato Fortress is a powerful archetype, and I agree with that. However, under the current circumstances of the game, we Western players can take what Japan has tested for us in advance.
In this sense, it is clear that Sky Island is currently the best iteration of Yamato, at least in Japan. The normal thing would be to also play with some Wano cards, to a greater or lesser extent depending on the number of events you decide to play in the deck. However lately as we can see in Kapu's list, using only the most essential Wano cards is starting to be the rule.
Yamato is a leader who inherently wants to be aggressive (ignoring the aforementioned Fortress build). Thanks to using the Sky Island core, we can quickly put presence on the table while looking to rest the opponent's remaining cards to be able to continue attacking again and again.
Let's take a closer look at the core pieces of this archetype to understand why playing Yamato with Sky Island is the best option.
Sky Island Core
The color Yellow has many reasons to be considered one of the best colors in the game. The Sky Island cards are one of those reasons.
A good turn 1 seeker for the archetype with OP05-106-shura, and a turn 2 double body combo with OP05-101-ohm and OP05-110-holly are a curve that few cores can match. For its part, OP05-105-satori is almost Yellow's best +2K Counter. And I say "almost" because OP04-100-caponegangbege gets in the way. There are a few +2K counters that, in addition to this, are a body with a decent cost-power relation and also have a useful trigger.
One of the lists I propose plays the complete Gedatsu playset. From my point of view, the decision of whether or not to play Gedatsu is meta-dependant.
It's somewhat contradictory to want to knock out an opponent's character with a cost equal to or less than your opponent's life cards when Yamato has Double Attack and the burst damage is so high.
However, when the meta requires it, removing low-cost characters easily and maintaining pressure on the table is simple thanks to Gedatsu. Furthermore, if the opponent had not allowed Yamato's first attacks to pass, Gedatsu can make the difference during the mid-game.
Wano Core
Izo
Izo is the most important Wano card for almost any Yamato build. The reason is simple. Being able to continue resting enemy characters allows any iteration of Yamato to continue the pressure. This enables our leader, allowing it to have an open path to attack the enemy leader and take advantage of her Double Attack without risking a counterattack.
If we add to this that it's a +2K counter, Izo is undoubtedly a card that makes a difference in many key moments of the game.
Hiyori, Kikunojo, Momonosuke
The rest of Wano's core appears in the second list I present. Its inclusion aims to take advantage of playing Izo + Increase the ability to reach the late stages of the game.
Let me explain. There are iterations of Yamato that play the full package of Wano cards, which includes cards like OP01-041-kouzuki-momonosuke. The problem with this is that Momo is not a search engine with immediacy. To be useful, it must spend a turn on the field, which is not guaranteed in all instances of the game.
Now, playing only 2 or 3 more Wano cards to take advantage of Izo and solidify matchups vs aggressive decks is not unreasonable.
OP06-107-kouzuki-momonosuke is the reason for this core. In addition to being a 6K blocker, it allows us to add 1 Wano character to the top or bottom of our life cards.
This makes a huge difference that allows us to reach late turns where OP06-035-hody-jones will cause destruction in the company of ST13-011-portgasdace and OP06-022-yamato-parallel.
OP06-106-kouzuki-hiyori/ and OP06-104-kikunojo/ are incredible complements to playing OP06-107-kouzuki-momonosuke. Having more +2K counters never hurts, and Kouzuki allows us to draw a card from our lives in exchange for one from our hand, which gives us card fixing and trigger stacking. Not bad when we want to find important cards or put ourselves in a favorable situation.
Kiku is the Wano card that synergizes best with Yamato. It rewards us for being aggressive by putting a card from our top to the top of our life cards. This can be crucial at a time when the game is tight. Furthermore, its trigger helps close games quite unexpectedly by adding a relevant body to the field at no greater cost than having been aggressive from the beginning.
Yellow Core
Both cards are essential in every Yellow deck.
Even if OP06-101-o-nami is a new card, it has quickly positioned itself as a powerful staple. I would think about playing it in every Yellow deck that I came across. However, I think Yamato is one of the leaders who can make this new card shine the most. A Double Attack with Banish is very powerful! No triggers that save your life.
Speaking of triggers, OP05-115-two-hundred-million-volts-amaru is a card that some people even considered a banned candidate. And is not for less. Not only does it have an incredible trigger, but, in a deck where we are going to want to attack without stopping we are going to be taking a lot of damage. This means that not only will we gain the +3K, but it will also allow us to restore an opponent's character of cost 4 or less. All this for only 2 Don!! is something I find hard to believe.
It seems fair to mention this letter in this section. While it is true that not all yellow decks decide to play it, personally it seems to me that it has the potential to do so.
At least in Yamato, it seems to me to be an essential piece in our plan. This is because Yellow now has a zero-cost event, which makes aggressive archetypes like Yamato use their DON!! to continue applying pressure without worrying about not having answers to the opponent's plays.
Also, the Trigger is the effect of OP06-115-youre-the-one-who-should-disappear on a stick, which seems incredible to me. A situation that is favorable thanks to Hiyori, who allows us to put this card in lives and take advantage of this effect despite having drawn the card.
Rush Core
Rush characters for the mid and late game are very important for Yamato. These because both characters allow us to accompany Yamato's aggressiveness when we want to close the game.
OP06-035-hody-jones is, along with OP01-033-izo, one of the few cards that we see in all Yamato builds. This is not surprising and has a lot of logic since being able to rest the enemy characters makes it easier for us to keep the field clean and close the game when necessary regardless of the decisions of our opponents.
Furthermore, being able to take a card from our lives may seem risky but, in moments where we want to go down to Hody, it will be quite the opposite. This is because this card puts a lot of pressure, and accompanying it with an additional draw puts us in a position of card advantage in most cases.
This synergizes very well with the idea of the Wano Core that allows us to have control over the cards in our lives and even recover them when necessary.
I encourage myself to place lists with ST13-011-portgasdace because we are close to its launch on April 19. Thanks to OP06-035-hody-jones's effect we can remove a card from our lives, which allows us to put ourselves in a state where Ace will have Rush. This means that we have an attack power equal to that of OP05-100-enel for a lower cost.
This aggressiveness makes it very difficult for the opponent to resist the transition to the late game, which puts anyone on the ropes.
Speaking of OP05-100-enel, I think it is important to point out that this would be the card that I would use in the Portgas slot as we reach the moment of release of the Three Brothers deck.
Extra Rest Core
The spaces that the Wano Core occupies in the Master's list are the ones that Kapu uses in the first list of this article to add more cards that allow the rest of the opponent's characters.
Even though OP04-024-sugar can't activate her first effect, redundancy is always an important factor in card games. Thanks to OP04-024-sugar and OP01-058-punk-gibson we have the OP01-033-izo effect 6 more times (at least), which allows us to remain tremendously aggressive and take away the opponent's ability to decide whether or not to protect their characters by leaving them untapped.
El Thor
The last card on Kapu's list. Logically we want to play a card that has the effect of OP05-102-gedatsu in a Trigger form if we opt not to play this character. In the end, it's just a matter of deciding if we want this effect in a trigger or a body.
What I find curious is that it is not played in the list with OP06-106-kouzuki-hiyori, which would allow us to place it in lives if necessary. Now, beyond the trigger, being able to give +4K to Yamato, OP06-035-hody-jones, or ST13-011-portgasdace for a single DON!! is undoubtedly something that can close the game at a very low cost. That is why I think it is a necessary inclusion in case you do not want to play Gedatsu or want a little more pressure directly from our leader.
Matchups
Sakazuki
It seems fair to talk about Sakazuki in matchups despite his announcement about the future ban.
The fact that the list of banned cards announced for Japan is going to be replicated in the West on June 21 means that this leader will still be present for these next three months. No doubt trying to take his last breaths leaving his name high.
OP06-022-yamato-parallel was known in Japan as the Sakazuki Killer. Certainly, The Admiral is not an easy nut to crack. However, if any deck has possibilities, it is undoubtedly a hyper-aggressive deck.
This is why the Sky Island build is popular in Japan over Fortress/Tank or Full Green. Because we can get a presence on the table quickly with OP05-101-ohm and OP05-110-holly combo, Sakazuki is forced to respond quickly or run into trouble.
Additionally, Izo, Sugar, etc. style rest effects are perfect for dealing with blockers of cost 4 or lower. This allows us to continue attacking the leader without Sakazuki being able to do much about it.
This is the way to play the matchups. With or without Omh's combo, attack face turn after turn, resting blockers like OP05-091-rebecca with OP01-033-izo effects, and pressing as hard as possible. Without a doubt a favorable match from my point of view.
Gecko Moria
OP06-080-gecko-moria-parallel[/cards]
Just like against [card][cards]OP05-041-sakazuki-374, we must play as aggressively as possible. This means trying to attack with OP06-022-yamato-parallel giving it Banish with OP06-101-o-nami as soon as possible. It's quite useful to put early pressure on a deck that reaches its peak power in the transition from mid to late game.
OP04-083-sabo may be our main problem. Keep this in mind to get rid of him as soon as possible with OP06-035-hody-jones, or with ST13-011-portgasdace / OP05-100-enel. Other blockers like OP02-114-borsalino won't be a problem thanks to our multiple https://onepiece.gg/cards/OP01-033-izo effects.
Gecko needs at least 2 cards to get rid of OP06-035-hody-jones. Normally it will be https://onepiece.gg/cards/OP02-117-ice-age + https://onepiece.gg/cards/OP06-081-absalom or OP05-093-rob-lucci. With this in mind, you can make the best decision about when to play Hody. Now, one way or another, this implies that OP06-035-hody-jones is usually going to switch 2x1 to the opponent's cards.
Clearly, Yamato has an advantage against Black decks.
Katakuri
OP03-099-charlotte-katakuri-284The more Katakuri vs Yamato games I watch, the more I think Yamato is in an incredible position in the current meta. You would think that non-black decks would have a better matchup vs Yamato. And the reality is that it is like that. Archetypes that seek early aggression or play attrition rather than control have much more even games against Yamato.
Once again, OP06-101-o-nami's combo with Yamato is formidable in stopping the multiple yellow characters that Katakuri plays with a trigger ability. This makes the development of the field slower for Kata, and at the same time, makes the idea of taking damage knowing that they could obtain some benefit much more difficult.
Katakuri's effect is annoying, since if we are playing the Wano Core, it will not be easy for us to manipulate the order of our lives with OP06-106-kouzuki-hiyori or OP06-107-kouzuki-momonosuke. Keep this in mind and force the opponent to want to order your lives for fear of our triggers, preventing him from ordering his own so that any hit without O-Nami does not produce greater repercussions.
Ending
Yamato is a tremendously aggressive leader. The interesting thing about this archetype is that it is developed in a very different way from other aggressive decks like Zoro. It certainly looks to quickly put some presence on the board to support Yamato with OP05-101-ohm's combo.
After that, the Sky Island build seeks to clear the path of blockers with rest effects to allow Yamato to be able to achieve hits with his Double Attack effect.
I think it has the potential to stay in the meta for a long time, however, having people stop playing https://onepiece.gg/cards/OP05-041-sakazuki-374 during these three months is difficult. In the same way, the long wait for OP06-080-gecko-moria-parallel due to its results in Japan makes even more people decide to look the other way. Let me just say that if you choose to play Yamato, you're probably in for a pretty pleasant surprise in the OP06 meta.
Don't forget to review the guides previously written by my colleagues for DotGG Network:
- Roronoa Zoro Leader Guide by Trec
- Enel Leader Guide by Djidone
- Sakazuki Leader Guide by Trec
- Edward Newgate Leader Guide by Djidone
- Katakuri Deck Guide by Sorry
Our guides for onepiece.gg can be found here. <-
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 your opinion.
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