Table of Contents
Hey everyone! The Yellow Enel stands as one of the strongest decks in the One Piece card game! In OP07 meta, Yellow Enel is in the top 5 most-played decks, having one of the highest deck representations in tournaments.
The archetype lost one of its strongest Events, P06-116-reject, but still gained many new cards in EB01 and OP07 expansions that gave it a massive boost in performance. This deck is all about Life card resources, field control, and running opponents out of steam.
In this guide, I'll explain how the Yellow Enel deck is played, things to watch out for, different cards you can add to the list, and how to approach popular matchups.
Gameplan
As long as we have one life card at the start of the opponent's turn, we get to put an extra Life Card from the top of our deck through OP05-098-enel's effect if the opponent manages to drop us down to 0 Life Cards. This adds an additional protection layer to our Leader, making it exceptionally difficult for the opponent to win the game.
You do have to trash a card in hand to gain that Life Card, but depending on the situation of the game, you'll trash the card you'll least need to potentially gain a better card from the top of the deck.
There have been different Enel versions out there, some favoring a more aggressive playstyle, with Yellow's trigger effects + Sky Island cards and focusing on hitting the opponent's Leader. Since Enel's effect gets you an extra Life Card, it can be the defensive tool that allows you to go full force on the aggression plan.
Other versions favor a slower pace plan, which focuses on controlling the board and taking it to the late game. It runs removal cards that help you do that. The usual plan is to hold off your early attacks on their Leader, depriving them of additional card draw, and slowly taking over the game with the heavy Characters like OP03-123-charlotte-katakuri, OP04-112-yamato, and OP07-119-portgasdace.
The list I'll cover in this guide for the OP07 meta will be the popular version players are using on the ranked ladder and tournaments. This one adopts a control game plan, keeping the field in check with cards like OP05-102-gedatsu, OP03-123-charlotte-katakuri, and EB01-059-kingdom-come, weakening opponent's attack turns and making it exceptionally difficult for them to set up lethal play. Players are including rusher OP05-100-enel, which puts pressure immediately on the turn he's played and is tough for the opponent to remove.
Early Game Strategy
In most cases, we'll avoid attacking the opponent's Leader with OP05-098-enel, which accomplishes two things: deprive them of resources and set up our OP05-102-gedatsu play.
In early turns we can play EB01-056-charlotte-flampe and EB01-057-shirahoshi, which both have powerful effects that enable a stronger game plan. EB01-056-charlotte-flampe is a +2,000 Counter, but if played, she can self-damage our Leader and draw us a card, basically a value resource that ensures we have future turns lined up, especially if the opponent was planning to avoid attacking our Leader.
As for EB01-057-shirahoshi, think of her as a late-game investment. We want to leave her on the field and only use her as a blocker when necessary. For example, if the opponent is trying to attack and KO a high-value Character, we can use EB01-057-shirahoshi to take the hit, or if they're setting up that final lethal turn, EB01-057-shirahoshi can be a line of defense to protect our Leader. She's problematic for most decks because if they decide to KO her through an effect, you'll gain a Life card, which gives you more protection and additional card value.
If the opponent decides to attack our Leader, we want to take the early hits, even dropping down to 1 Life card is fine! Now whether or not we take the next attack that will drop us to 0 Life cards and activate Leader OP05-098-enel's effect will depend on what your opponent is capable of. Is this their last threatening attack? We can take the hit for a chance to activate a Trigger card and fix up our hand with the Leader effect. Do they have more attacks lined up that will force counterplays? We might want to avoid giving them the chance for a full-on attack.
Trigger Cards
Since I brought up Trigger cards, let's talk about them! Trigger cards are a core part of Yellow decks and Enel takes advantage of many of them for draw value and field control.
OP06-101-o-nami is one of our strongest trigger cards if the opponent has a 5-cost or less Character on the field. KOing that Character without having to spend any Don gives us a boost in controlling the field and it weakens the opponent's aggression, disrupting their game plan.
OP04-100-caponegangbege's trigger effect is more suited for the late game when the opponent is creating a winning line. Shutting down one of their attackers can mess up their entire plan and even make them reconsider keeping the aggression on your Leader going. If there's no threat on your Leader, we'll avoid activating OP04-100-caponegangbege's trigger and keep his as a +2,000 Counter.
There are other cards with powerful trigger effects which I'll talk about throughout this article.
Mid-Game Control
Gedatsu is your strongest turn 3/4 play if the opponent has a character on the board that he's capable of KOing. Gedatsu's effect is tied to the number of the opponent's Life Cards. Most characters that you want to KO with Gedatsu are 4-costs, so in a lot of cases, you'll hold off your attacks on their Leader, keeping them at 4 health for Gedatsu to find value. This depends on whether you have Gedatsu in hand or not and the matchup you're up against.
OP07-109-monkeydluffy can KO a 4-cost or less Character with his effect but has to trash himself for the effect to activate. We're not trying to aggro the opponent down, but more so, control the field and weaken their attacks, so OP07-109-monkeydluffy removing a Character lines up with our strategy. On the good side, OP07-109-monkeydluffy will draw you a card if you activate his effect, putting us ahead in resource value. Keep in mind that you need to be at 2 Life cards or less to activate OP07-109-monkeydluffy's effect.
OP07-109-monkeydluffy also has a powerful trigger effect, allowing you to KO a 4-cost or less Character without having to spend any Don.
ST13-008-sabo enables a more consistent mid-game control plan. KOing a 5-cost or less Character will slow down the opponent, but you have to trash one Life card to activate it.
Lastly, EB01-059-kingdom-come is your strongest removal tool, which you want to play when you're low on Life Cards. So taking a couple of hits to your Leader early sets you up for an easier EB01-059-kingdom-come play. This card KOs one of the opponent's Characters regardless of its cost, and trashes your Life cards until you're down to 1 health. So having 1 Life card when activating EB01-059-kingdom-come means we don't lose on any resources, but there are scenarios where we're forced to trash 1 Life card, and that should be fine if it's worth getting a threat off the field.
EB01-059-kingdom-come has a trigger effect that could find use depending on the total number of life cards, but KOing a 4-cost or more Character with it, is usually worth it.
Rush Pressure
Rusher OP05-100-enel has made it back as a staple card in the Yellow Enel deck. His 7,000 Power and Rush attack creates immediate pressure on the field, capable of attacking a rested Character or focusing on damaging the opponent's Leader. What makes OP05-100-enel a strong choice over ST13-011-portgasdace is that he's extremely annoying to remove off the field. Opponents will need to KO him twice, which forces a lot of their resources. Even cards that remove a Character without KOing them will activate his effect, letting him stick on the field.
Gaining Life Cards
Gaining Life cards is an important part of this deck's game plan. This allows you to add more protection to your leader, forces more resources from the opponent, and ensures that your leader effect continues to activate every turn. If your opponent drops you to 0 Life cards, you have to play one of the heavy-cost cards that give you a Life card. This ensures that on your upcoming defensive turn, you can activate Leader Enel's effect to gain a Life card and force your opponent to have multiple attacks ready to win the game.
OP03-123-charlotte-katakuri can adapt to the game's state! He drops on the board and gets to choose one character with a cost of 8 or less to put back in the Life Area. You can put one of your characters or opponent's character in the life area. The choice will depend on the state game, if the opponent has a threat you need to get rid of, OP03-123-charlotte-katakuri is the guy for that! You give your opponent a Life card, but at least you're weakening their field state.
Do you need an extra life card? OP03-123-charlotte-katakuri has your back! Cards like EB01-056-charlotte-flampe are good choices to put in your Life area to use her as a Counter. You might find yourself forced to put one of your Characters in your Life Area if you're down to 0 Life Cards.
OP04-112-yamato is best played at 0 or 1 Life card to gain that additional Life card from her effect. OP04-112-yamato can potentially KO one of the opponent's Characters, depending on the total number of Life cards. So gaining a Life card and controlling the field puts you ahead of the opponent, making it difficult for them to set up the winning turn. You can play OP04-112-yamato at 2 Life cards if you need to, her KO effect alone is still worth it, and having her on the field as a high-power attacker creates a threat, challenging for opponents to deal with.
Lastly, OP07-119-portgasdace is this deck's strongest play, joining the field and giving you a Life card regardless of how many Life cards you already have. However, for OP07-119-portgasdace to gain Rush you need to have 2 Life cards after he's played.
So to gain Rush, we need to be at 1 Life card before playing OP07-119-portgasdace. However, if you really need that rush attack to either keep the pressure going on their Leader or KO a rested Character with OP07-119-portgasdace's 10,000 Power attack, you can choose not to gain a Life card (if you're already at 2 Life cards) to activate Rush.
Low-cost Events
OP06-115-youre-the-one-who-should-disappear is a 0-cost +3000 Power that can come in clutch to protect your Leader. If it's the last card in your Life Area, you can activate its trigger effect, gaining back a Life Card.
Techs and Options
A powerful Event you'll usually use aggressively to rest one of the opponent's blockers. Resting a 4-cost or less blocker and gaining a +3000 Power boost for 2 Don adds tons of offensive pressure. Additionally, OP05-115-two-hundred-million-volts-amaru's trigger effect lets you trash 2 cards from hand to gain a Life Card. This adds more protection for defensive turns, which can catch opponents off guard if they're going for the lethal turn.
OP03-116-shirahoshi is more of a value card when activating her trigger effect. In slower games, you might have the luxury to spend 5 Don for that card draw, but against fast-paced decks, you will definitely get punished.
General Tips
- Getting Gedatsu value is more important than getting a strike on the opponent's Leader. You're able to outvalue opponents in the late game, so a slow-paced game is the way to go.
- Having a card in your Life Area is essential when the opponent's turn starts. To activate Leader Enel's ability, there has to be a Life Card, so either protect your last Life Card or use Katakuri, Yamato, or Ace to gain one back during your turn.
- Identify which matchups or situations you're able to start attacking their Leader. Gedatsu and Yamato's effects are tied to life cards, and you want to take full advantage of that. At times, you'll avoid attacking their Leader to ensure you can KO a threat on the board with their effects.
Mulligan Tips
- OP05-102-gedatsu is the premium card you want for the mid-game, so we'll usually mulligan for it.
- OP04-112-yamato is another great card we want to ensure a powerful late-game.
Important Matchups
Black Rob Lucci
- We're against a deck that is looking to control our side of the field and build up multiple attackers to win the game.
- Rush Enel can be tough for them to KO thanks to his effect. We need to protect him from their attacks so they don't follow it up with a KO effect.
- Save EB01-059-kingdom-come for their high-cost Characters, especially OP03-078-issho. The cost-reduction he provides makes it easier for them to KO your Yamato or Ace.
- The longer the game takes the fewer resources they'll have for your high-cost Characters.
- OP04-083-sabo can be a problem, shutting you down from KOing any of their Characters.
Red Purple Law
- You're up against an aggressive deck and it's crucial to control their end of the board.
- Avoid attacking their Leader to starve them of resources and shut down OP05-067-zoro-juurou from Ramping. Gedatsu is perfect for the field control, KOing one of their 4-cost Characters.
- Yamato is another powerful card to play. You want to have a total of 4 life cards, so keeping them at 3 health should be enough to KO their 4-cost threats.
- Eventually, you'll run them out of resources if you manage to keep their field in check. Their main plan will be to build a field of multiple characters and set up one big turn to end the game.
Green Jewelry Bonney
- This is a tough matchup since the opponent has multiple threats they can develop, the fortress strategy, and rest out attackers.
- OP07-021-urouge is important for us to KO with Gedatsu as early as possible. He's a blocker that can protect their Leader or key Characters but is also offering an Active Don to rest one of our Characters.
- OP06-035-hody-jones and OP06-118-roronoa-zoro can pose aggression on our Leader. We need to KO OP06-118-roronoa-zoro with EB01-059-kingdom-come to shut down the triple attack turn.
- The Fortress strategy can be tough to go through. We have high-power characters that can threaten to KO OP01-051-eustasscaptainkid-701, but the blockers and Leader Bonney's rest effect will shut us down from striking him. We can use Yamato to KO OP05-030-donquixote-rosinante, removing one of their defensive obstacles.
Black Yellow Luffy
- Gedatsu won't find use in this matchup. Their Leader has 4-health while all their threats are 5-costs. Sabo will be the better choice here to KO their early ST13-015-monkeydluffy and shut down the self-damage.
- You want to starve them, avoid attacking their Leader, and slowly build up your high-cost Characters. The longer it takes them to activate their Leader effect, the more time you have on your hands.
- They'll struggle to deal with your high-cost Power Characters Yamato and Ace. These Characters can damage their Leader even with the +4,000 Power boost, so it'll force them to use blocker Sabo.
Black Gecko Moria
- Try not to hold onto more than 4 cards in hand. OP06-093-perona will force you to trash resources.
- Moria is a 5 health leader, so you can go for one attack and still get value from Gedatsu.
- This will end up being a long game. Your opponent can't set up an aggressive plan and will try to develop multiple characters on the board. It's a resource battle, where you want to run them out of cards and start swinging with your big characters.
- Your big Characters can deal with their 8c OP06-086-gecko-moria. However, an easier way to remove Moria on the spot is through EB01-059-kingdom-come.
Closing Words
Enel continues to evolve with every meta. The Leader's ability makes him one of the best in OPTCG! I think learning how to play Enel is really important, even if you're not planning to main the deck. Learning the ins and outs of the deck will make it easier for you when going up against it! The Yellow Enel deck is known to punish opponents that don't understand the matchup.
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