Yellow Katakuri Deck Guide (OP06)

Hello everyone! Today, we're diving into the popular OP03-099-charlotte-katakuri meta deck in One Piece Card Game, uncovering its unique mechanics and strategies. This deck has been on top of the meta for so long thanks to its ability to develop a powerful board presence and put late-game pressure with OP03-114-charlotte-linlin.

This guide will walk you through how the deck operates, its game plan, essential cards for different stages of the game, and will provide some valuable tips for piloting the deck efficiently. Let's jump right in!

(Reject will banned in June 2024, I'll update the list once it happens)

Gameplan

Charlotte Katakuri, our Yellow leader, can peek at the top card of either player's Life Area. This allows you to strategically manipulate the cards, either keeping them on top or sending them to the bottom. Although activating this ability costs 1 Don!!, the +1000 Power boost on Katakuri sets up for stronger attacks.

The goal is to utilize this ability whenever possible, applying pressure on your opponent and forcing them to expend counter resources.

When examining your Life Area, prioritize keeping cards with trigger effects on top to get value out of them. The stage of the game affects your decision on which cards you want on the top. For example, OP03-113-charlotte-perospero and OP05-105-satori are great early to mid-game triggers to have on top of your Life Area. OP04-100-caponegangbege and OP04-104-sanji are better suited for the late game as they play a more defensive role.

When observing your opponent's Life Area, aim to remove any cards that could be problematic, sending them to the bottom of their Life Area.

The Trigger Value

This deck excels at creating a formidable board presence through trigger effects like those of Charlotte Perospero, Satori, Kikunojo, and Sanji. While these Characters' Trigger effects don't require Don!!!, some force you to Trash a card from your hand.

With a power of 5000+, these characters serve as excellent attackers, whether confronting the opponent's Leader directly or clearing their Characters. Your main goal is to develop a solid board presence and use your Characters to keep that board in check.

Charlotte Perospero is one of the best characters to have in the early game since, unlike Satori, it's 3 cost character with a draw effect. However, Satori isn't a character you want to spend 5 Don!!! to play. Instead, you'll rely more on its counter effect to keep other Characters alive or protect your Leader.

Kikunojo is just bothersome for the opponent to deal with. She's a 6,000 Power Character that forces a +2000 Counter if they want to save their Leader from taking damage. Additionally, Kikunojo getting KO'd gives you an additional Life Card, making it more challenging for the opponent to close out the game and providing you with extra value.

You're not upset to see Sanji on the top of your Life Area regardless of the stage of the game. Sanji can be a great board pressure in the mid-game and can also be used for defensive purposes to protect other characters or your Leader in the mid/late game.

Capone Bege is more suited for the late game. So if you find him on the top of your deck you'll want to move him to the bottom and increase the odds of finding better-suited trigger cards for the late game.

This card is a valuable +2000 Counter; you don't want to play it on the board as it doesn't offer any threat when played. Activating its trigger effect in the late game can catch opponents off-guard, disrupting their attack phase by shutting down an attacker and potentially buying you an additional turn to win the game.

As for O-Nami, she can give Banish to your Leader or one of your characters, threatening to Trash one of their Life Cards. Basically, you're denying an opponent from a value card while also damaging their Leader. In a lot of cases, your opponent will opt to protect their Leader with Counter cards from the Banish + Attack.

O-Nami is also a solid addition to the deck for her Trigger effect, allowing you to KO any Character on the board with a cost of 5 or less. Ideally, you want to Trigger O-Nami in the mid-game to ensure your opponent loses on board presence. With Katakuri's ability to switch cards in the Life Area, you can increase your odds of having O-Nami at the right time.

Mid-Game Removal

Gedatsu proves invaluable for dealing with units of 5 cost or less, potentially swinging the board in your favor. However, its effect depends on the opponent's Life Cards.

If you have Gedatsu in your hand during the early stages of the game, you'll want to avoid dropping the opponent's Life below 4, depending on the matchup. This can set up a powerful Gedatsu turn to switch the board presence in your favor by KOing a unit on the spot.

In the game's later stages, you'll likely not find value in Gedatsu's effect anymore and can either act as a Counter, a 6000 Power attacker, or even trash fodder.

Events

200,000,000 V Amaru is more of an aggressive Event that allows you to Rest a 4-cost Character and give +3000 Power to your Leader or a Character. This comes in handy if you're looking to attack the Leader directly, but the opponent has a blocker on the board with 4 cost or less like OP05-091-rebecca or OP02-114-borsalino. In most cases, you want to hold onto 200,000,000 V Amaru until you set up the finisher play.

Regarding its trigger effect, you'll get to trash two cards from your hand and add 1 card from the top of your deck to your Life area. Technically, you're only burning one card since you'll later get to draw the card in your Life area. This can make it more difficult for the opponent to close out games. However, in many cases, you'll choose not to activate the trigger effect if you don't feel you're under the threat of losing the game.

Reject is a versatile card, allowing you to play it offensively or defensively. The ability to KO a 5 cost or less Character hits a lot of targets in the meta, dealing with a potential threat or removing a blocker off the board, paving the way for your attackers to strike the opponent's Leader.

Its other effect lets you trash the opponent's last Life Card while giving you a Life Card in return. This sets the stage for an aggressive turn, difficult for the opponent to Counter out of a high Power Katakuri attack.

Late-Game Winners

ST07-010-charlotte-linlin, ST07-010-charlotte-linlin

You don't care much about dropping your opponent to 0 card Life by attacking with your units since the 10c Linlin and Reject will do the job for you. The 7 Big Mom forces your opponent to make a difficult choice of either trashing a card from their Life area or giving you an additional Life, hence more card value. There is no win-win scenario for them here unless their Life area has no cards.

As for 10c Big Mom, she does not give opponents the luxury of choosing their poison; both 7c Big Mom effects will take place. You'll gain an extra Life card while your opponent trashes a Life card, this is a massive value swing that also puts the opponent at the risk of losing the game to your attackers.

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Techs and Options

OP06-106-kouzuki-hiyori: A +2000 Counter that can also be played to get a card you need from the Life Area to your hand. You also get to put another card from your hand to the top of the Life Area, allowing you to strategically pick a Trigger card to get an advantage from the next time you take damage.

OP03-108-charlotte-cracker: For more board aggression, Charlotte Cracker can drop on the board through a Trigger effect and the Double Attack threat will force opponents to counter out of it.

OP03-123-charlotte-katakuri: The play effect puts a Character back in the Life Area. Depending on the game state, you'll get to decide whether you'd rather get rid of an opponent's Character or place one of your Characters in your Life Area.

OP06-115-youre-the-one-who-should-disappear: A defensive Counter Event to protect your Leader. It also has a great Trigger effect, allowing you to get an extra Life Card if you're at 0 Life Cards. Leader Katakuri can put OP06-115-youre-the-one-who-should-disappear at the bottom of the Life Area, giving you an additional lifeline when the opponent is going for the winning play.

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General Tips

• Taking early-on Leader damage is fine if you have a Trigger Character on the top of your deck. You want to take advantage of it and develop a threatening board without having to spend Don!!!.
• Katakuri's Leader ability is important to control what gets triggered. Characters with Trigger effects that let you play them on the board are handy in the mid-game. Defensive cards should be moved to the bottom of the Life Area. You can also use Katakuri's ability to see the top of your opponent's Life Area, giving you information on what they'll have in their hand and whether you want to move it to the bottom of their Life Area.
• You don't need to over-commit attacks once they've dropped to 1 or 2 Life Cards. Focus on stabilizing the board and use ST07-010-charlotte-linlin to Trash the Life Card.

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Mulligan

• Early starters like Charlotte Pudding and Charlotte Perospero are nice to have early on in the game.
• You want to take advantage of Leader Attack + Don!!! as much as possible, so have a low-cost mid-game Character like Sanji or Kikunojo to play.
• In slower matchups, having a ST07-010-charlotte-linlin ensures you can set up something for the late game.

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Important Matchups

Black Gecko Moria

• You're up against a deck that can keep your board development in check with OP06-081-absalom and OP05-093-rob-lucci.
• Have Gedatsu ready to KO a Kuzan. He will be the biggest threat in the early game with the -4 cost reduction. Prioritize attacking and KOing him on the spot.
• They'll rely on OP06-086-gecko-moria as a late-game play, allowing them to go wide on the board with multiple Characters. They can bring back removal cards like OP05-093-rob-lucci or a blocker like OP02-114-borsalino.
• If possible, try not to have more than 5 cards in hand to play around the OP06-093-perona trash play.
• 10c Charlotte Linlin is a game-swinger and almost impossible for them to remove off the board. It can be difficult to set up if your opponent has multiple Characters on the board ready for a full-on attack.

Green Yellow Yamato

• There are two popular versions, Sky Wano Hybrid and Fortress version.
• The Sky Wano version is more aggressive, taking advantage of Trigger cards to put more pressure on the board.
• The Fortress version wants to set up OP01-051-eustasscaptainkid-701 along with blockers to protect Leader Yamato.
• It's difficult for Katakuri to go through the late-game OP01-051-eustasscaptainkid-701. Charlotte Linlin is your heavy hitter but she can be blocked by one of their low-cost Blockers. Later on, your opponent might keep her rested with OP04-031-donquixote-doflamingo.
• Yamato will try to attack your Leader directly at any chance they get. They can combo the Double Attack with O-Nami to Banish your cards. Try to Counter out of it if possible, you heavily rely on Life Cards and their Triggers. If you keep your Life Area above 3 cards, you can delay Yamato's ability to give 2 rested Don!!!.
• OP06-035-hody-jones can rest blockers like Sanji and set up a powerful attack turn.
• The Sky Wano version runs OP06-118-roronoa-zoro, which will be a nightmare with its ability to attack multiple times.

Blue Purple Reiju

• You're up against a deck with access to a lot of resources thanks to Leader OP06-042-vinsmoke-reiju and OP06-069-vinsmoke-reiju abilities.
• OP06-065-vinsmoke-niji can return cards like Sanji, Kikunojo, and Charlotte Perospero back to your hand, slowing down your board development.
• They don't have reliable tools to deal with your 10c Charlotte Linlin. They can potentially KO 7c Charlotte Linlin with OP06-061-vinsmoke-ichiji giving her -2000 Power.
• OP06-062-vinsmoke-judge is their strongest play, allowing them to go wide on the board and threatening an all-out attack to end the game.

Black Blue Sakazuki

• You're up against a deck that wants to control the board with its removal cards.
• Sakazuki has 4 Life Cards, which means it can be awkward to set up a Gedatsu play. If you have him in hand, you can opt to skip your first attack and try K.O. OP05-093-rob-lucci or OP02-096-kuzan. However, OP02-114-borsalino can be problematic since Gadesto can't K.O. it. Instead, you might adopt a more aggressive play and start forcing counters out of them.
  If you drop them down to 3 Life cards, Gedatsu can still find use for K.Oing ST06-008-hina.
• Taking Life cards with 10 Big Mom can put them at the risk of losing to big hitters. They'll rely on their blockers to shut down your attacks.
• With 200,000,000 V Amaru, you could rest a OP05-091-rebecca or OP02-114-borsalino, paving the way for you to connect with their Leader and close out the game.

Yellow Enel

• You want to adopt more aggressive gameplay in the early game and drop them down to 2 Life cards.
• From there, you'll focus more on building a board and keeping theirs in check. The goal is to make it awkward for them to set up a OP04-112-yamato play and create an opportunity for one powerful turn to close out the game.
• Watch out for their Gadetsu play, it's fine to drop to 3 Life cards if it means you'll get to keep your 4-cost Characters safe from getting K.Oed.
• 10 Big Mom is a nightmare for them. Trashing one Life card will force them into a more defensive play. 10 Big Mom is extremely difficult for them to K.O. and will be a heavy hitter.
• Important not to drop them to 0 Life cards for the first time a turn if you're unable to follow it up with an attack. You want to avoid allowing Enel to activate their effect and gain value.

Closing Words

Katakuri relies on the trigger effects to create a powerful board presence and set up threatening attacks. It's currently one of the best-performing decks in OP06 meta and has seen tons of success in the tournament scene.

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