Table of Contents
Hey everyone! The Yellow Enel stands as one of the strongest decks in the One Piece card game! Despite falling out of favor when OP06 was released and being overshadowed by the Yellow OP03-099-charlotte-katakuri deck, Yellow Enel is making a comeback with the release of EB01.
It still managed to top a couple of tournaments here and there, but couldn't really perform to its old standards. That was until EB01 cards came out, giving Enel new tools to add to its list. The Enel is slowly gaining popularity and will continue improving once OP07 is out in the West.
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 them 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 units like OP03-123-charlotte-katakuri and OP04-112-yamato.
Life Manipulation
Yellow is notorious for its ability to use the Life Area to its advantage. Low-cost cards like Charlotte Flame and Kouzuki Hiyori do just that.
The EB01 card Charlotte Flame is a +2000 Counter that can also drop on the board, self-damage our Leader, and give us a card draw from the top of our deck. In many cases, we'll use Charlotte Flame for her counter effect, but if we need resource value, then playing her on the board is the right call.
As for Kouzuki Hiyori, she's usually a +2000 Counter, but we can use her to put a card in hand to our Life Area. Since we're adding a card to the top of our Life Area, the situation of the game dictates which card we want on the top. For instance, if we're comfortable in the mid-game and opponent isn't putting too much pressure, then a counter card like OP06-104-kikunojo should be a good pick. However, if we're on the defense and opponent is aggroing us down, then putting a OP05-115-two-hundred-million-volts-amaru or OP06-115-youre-the-one-who-should-disappear should help us defend and prolong the game.
Trigger Cards
Trigger cards are a core part of Yellow decks and Enel takes advantage of many of them to set up a more offensive board or create a defensive plan to stretch out the game.
OP06-104-kikunojo is your strongest 4-cost to play on turn 2/3. She's threatening 6,000 Power hits, which in slow matchups, opponents can't afford to ignore her. If opponent KO's OP06-104-kikunojo, you'll get to add a Life Card, a huge resource swing! Usually, opponents will try to ignore her or remove her off the board without KOing her. If you get her as a trigger card, you can play her for free if the opponent is down to 3 Life or less.
OP05-105-satori is only played on the board through the Trigger effect, you don't want to spend 5 Don to play a 5,000 Power Character. To justify OP05-105-satori's inclusion in the list, the +2000 Counter and trigger effect are enough to make this card worth having!
OP03-116-shirahoshi is more of a value card when activating her trigger effect. We can put her in our Life Area through cards like OP06-106-kouzuki-hiyori. 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.
Mid-Game Control
Gedatsu is your strongest turn 3/4 play if opponent has a character on the board that he's capable of KOing.
Gedatsu's effect is tied to the number of opponent's Life Cards. Most characters that you want to KO with Gedatsu are at 4 health, 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.
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 on is totally fine to set up the EB01-059-kingdom-come play. You're able to shut down a win condition for the opponent, slowing them down immensely.
OP06-116-reject remains one of the strongest cards in Yellow but will be banned soon. For the time being, we can take advantage of it offensively or defensively. The 4-cost Event can KO mid-game threats on the spot, slowing down the opponent's aggression. It can also be used to damage the opponent's Leader, paving the way to close out the game.
Late game Carries
[cards]OP05-115-two-hundred-million-volts-amaru, OP06-115-youre-the-one-who-should-disappear" data-atts='[]'>
OP05-115-two-hundred-million-volts-amaru is one of the strongest cards for an aggressive turn. Resting a 4-cost or less blocker and gaining a +3000 Power boost for 2 Don adds tons of offensive pressure that your opponent needs to deal with. Alternatively, 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.
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're able to activate its trigger effect, gaining back a Life Card.
We need to be extremely lucky to have OP06-115-youre-the-one-who-should-disappear as the last card in our Life Area. However, we don't need to rely on luck! We can use OP06-106-kouzuki-hiyori to place OP06-115-youre-the-one-who-should-disappear in our Life Area when we're down to 1 life card.
Squeezing Damage
ST13's ST13-011-portgasdace's 7,000 Power + Rush threatens an immediate attack, creating an aggressive turn.
ST13-011-portgasdace is usually played to either KO a rested character or go for an attack on their Leader. We want to play him when we're down to two life cards to take advantage of his Rush effect.
He acts similarly to OP05-100-enel for 2 less Don. The 7,000 Power can be difficult for opponents to deal with, the only downside is that he's more vulnerable than OP05-100-enel.
Techs and Options
ST13-008-sabo: Can be a replacement for Reject, letting you control the board by KOing 5-cost threats. You probably don't want to run more than two copies of Sabo in the deck.
EB01-057-shirahoshi: A 2-cost blocker to protect your Leader or key characters. If your opponent KO's her through an effect, you'll gain a life card.
OP05-100-enel: A rush attacker to put pressure on the opponent in the late game. 7c Enel can be extremely difficult to remove off the board due to his effect.
OP07 Cards
OP7 is where Enel will shine the most with more new cards it'll add to its arsenal.
OP07-107-franky: A +2000 Counter that can replace Satori. Its trigger effect if you're down to 1 Life Card or less offers a card draw and lets you play it for free.
OP07-119-portgasdace: One of the strongest late-game cards that give a boost in performance for Enel decks. One play, you're gaining a Life Card and if you're at 2 or less Life Cards, Ace gains Rush, letting you put those 10,000 Power to use.
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 fine.
- 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 or Yamato to gain one back during your turn.
- Katakuri can put cards like OP06-104-kikunojo or OP03-116-shirahoshi in our Life Area, taking advantage of their trigger effects.
- 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
- Early Characters like OP06-104-kikunojo and OP05-102-gedatsu are good to have to keep up with the opponent's board development.
Important Matchups
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.
Red Purple Law
- You're up against an aggressive deck and it's crucial to control their end of the board.
- Reject and Gedatsu help you out in the mid-game. You'll hold off on attacking their Leader until Gedatsu starts dropping and getting value. Most of their characters are at 4 Don.
- 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 board in check. Their main plan will be to build a board of multiple characters and set up one big turn to end the game.
Black Yellow Luffy
- Gedatsu won't find use in this matchup. Their Leader has 4-health while all their threats are 5-costs.
- You want to starve them, keeping the opponent at 1 or 2 Life Cards until you develop your heavy hitters for one big turn.
- Use Reject to deal with their 5-cost characters. Yamato, Katakuri, and Big Mom are high-power threats that they can't easily remove.
- Blocker Sabo can be a problem, slowing down your ability to win the game. Amaru won't find much use in this matchup outside of a Power boost or its trigger effect.
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!
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