Yellow Enel is still fighting tooth and nail in OP12 meta, remaining a strong Yellow choice among players. The loss of Kingdom Come did make things more difficult for Yellow Enel against slow-paced decks that use high-cost Characters as win conditions, but with the meta shifting to an aggressive playstyle, Yellow Enel is still holding his own against those Leaders, thanks to his Life gain effect.
This deck uses Yellow’s Trigger cards to gain an edge over opponents, weakening their field and giving opponents a challenge to win the game. Leader Enel‘s effect of giving you an extra Life card plays perfectly into your game plan, adding potential Trigger effects to your Life area and forcing more attacks out of the opponent.
This deck will force the opposing player to change their playstyle to adapt to your Leader’s effect. So, against inexperienced players, you can punish misplays and put them behind on the field, eventually running out of steam to pressure your Leader.
Leader
Yellow Enel wants to play a slow game, taking things to the late stages and running opponents out of resources. Once per turn, during your opponent’s turn, if you fall to 0 Life cards, Leader Enel‘s effect will activate, letting you trash 1 card from your hand to add the top card in your deck to your Life area.
This gives your Leader more protection, and you can trash a card you don’t need to probably get a better card from the top of your deck in your Life area. A lot of times, you want to fall to 0 Life cards to activate the Leader effect, getting better cards and more Trigger effects will play into your game plan.
But it’s important to watch out for how many attacks the opponent still has. Most of the time, you don’t want to start your turn with 0 Life cards, and you don’t want to feel forced to commit too many Counters to protect your last Life card after your Leader Enel has activated his effect.
Yellow Enel Decklist
How to Play
Early Play
Kikunojo is the perfect play on turn 2 when you’re going second, developing a 6,000 Power Character to help put pressure on the opponent’s Leader or attack a rested Character.
Kikunojo is a bothersome Character outside of just her attacks. She can be played through her Trigger effect without having to use Don. However, your opponent has to be at 3 Life cards or less for the Trigger to activate. Additionally, if Kikunojo is KO’d when your opponent is at 3 Life cards or less, you’ll gain a Life card. This will deter your opponents from KOing Kikunojo if they’re at 3 Life cards or less, either having to put up with her attacks or give up and give you the Life card.
As for Basil Hawkins, he’s a 5,000 Power Character with an effect that lets you trash the top Life card for the opponent when Basil Hawkins is KO’d. This is cutting down on the opponent’s resources and putting them in a more vulnerable spot to your attackers in the late game.
Blockers
2-cost Shirahoshi is a low-cost blocker to protect your Leader from an attacker. If she’s KO’d through an opponent’s effect, you’ll gain a Life card. So, in most cases, opponents will ignore her, allowing you to block one attack of your choosing. This makes it even harder for them to set up a winning turn and go through your Leader Enel‘s effect.
Control Cards
The 5-cost Gedatsu can be a crazy play in the early game, KOing an opponent’s Character with a cost equal to the number of Life cards they have. So early into the game, we’ll avoid attacking the opponent’s Leader to KO a higher-cost Character. Often, we’ll get to remove a 4 or a 5-cost Character in the early game, shifting the state of the board in our favor. Gedatsu remains on the field as a 6,000 Power Character, capable of dishing out offensive pressure.
5-cost Nami trashes a Trigger card from your hand to KO one of the opponent’s Characters with a cost of 5 or less. If you have 3 cards or less in your hand, you can draw a card. So if you have 5 cards, play Nami and trash a card, and you’ll go down to 3 cards, allowing you to draw a card. Nami‘s trigger effect can be a game swinger, allowing you to activate her effect to KO a Character, weakening your opponent’s attack turn.
As for Zeus, his On Play effect adds 1 Life card to your hand and then KO’s a 5-cost or less Life card. So you are dropping 1 Life card, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing for Yellow Enel as it gets you closer to 1 Life card and playing your high-cost Characters to gain value from them, in case your opponent is trying to starve you.
8-cost Charlotte Katakuri‘s On Play effect lets you add 1 Character with a cost of 8 or less to the top or bottom of the owner’s Life area face-up. This can remove one of the opponent’s Characters from play, and although you’re giving them a Life card, it does weaken the field presence. However, 8-cost Katakuri can also place one of your own Characters in your Life area. This gives you an extra Life card to protect your Leader, and if you pick a card with a Trigger effect like 2-cost O-Nami, you’ll have a removal option once the opponent damages your Leader.
Extra Life Cards
Bartholomew Kuma is one of our strong plays in the mid-game, giving us an additional Life card by trashing a card from our hand and then discouraging players from KOing him. When KO’d Kuma adds the top card of your deck to your Life Area, giving you an extra Life card to make it more difficult for the opponent to win the game. The 7,000 Power Character can be used offensively to pressure the opponent’s Leader or KO rested Characters to weaken the state of their board.
9-cost Yamato can give you an extra Life card only when your Leader is at 0 or 1 Life card, adding more protection for your opponent to go through. On top of that, Yamato can KO one of the opponent’s Characters with a cost equal to or less than the total of your and your opponent’s Life cards.
Since Yamato‘s KO effect activates before adding a Life card, that added Life card won’t count toward her KO effect. You can KO a 4-cost Character if you’re at 1 Life card and your opponent is at 3. This in itself is a great value, lowering the number of attackers your opponent has. In some cases, you’ll play Yamato even if you’re at 2 Life cards. You won’t gain a Life card, but you can still KO a Character and have a big body in play to attack on the upcoming turn.
10-cost Ace gives you a Life card when he’s played, but will only gain Rush if you’re at 2 Life cards. So you have to be at 0 or 1 Life card when playing Ace to gain Rush. If you’re at 2 Life cards, you have to decide which is more beneficial, the extra Life card or the Rush attack, depending on the state of the game. You can choose not to gain a Life card with a 10-cost Ace, to gain Rush, and attack with him to either knock out a Character or put pressure on the Leader.
As for 10-cost Enel, if your Leader has the {Sky Island} type, he’ll gain Rush. This means we’ll always have Rush on Enel when he’s played, allowing us to use the 11,000 Power to either KO a rested Character or go for a Leader attack.
Enel also has a “When Attacking” effect, trashing a card from your hand to give you a Life card, only if you have 1 Life card or less. So it can be a bit restrictive, but even without gaining a Life card, the Rush attack is worth it. Activating this effect will also give Enel +1,000 Power, turning him into a 12,000 Power attacker.
Events
You’re the One Who Should Disappear is a Counter Event that lets you trash a card from your hand to give your Leader or a Character +3,000 Power. Its Trigger effect is extremely strong during your defensive turn. If it’s the last card in your Life Area, you can activate the Trigger effect to gain an extra Life card, forcing more attacks from the opposing player to win the game.
+2,000 Counters
Capone”Gang”Bege‘s Trigger effect shuts down one of the opponent’s Leader or Character cards from attacking. This can be insanely good in the late game when the opponent is trying to win the game.
As for Franky, his trigger effect draws you a card, which isn’t worth much, but if you have 1 or less Life cards, you can also play Franky on the field. Then it becomes worth activating his Trigger effect, developing a 5,000 Power Character, and drawing a card.
Mulligan Tips
Going First: Gedatsu or Nami. 9-cost Yamato.
Going Second: Kikunojo or Basil Hawkins. 6-cost Kuma, 8-cost Katakuri.
General Tips
- The starve strategy is popular for Yellow Enel. Initially, you’ll avoid attacking the opponent’s Leader, cutting down on their hand resources and focusing on keeping control of the board.
- Know when it’s best to start pressuring the opponent’s Leader. Since Gedatsu and Yamato’s abilities revolve around life cards, you’ll want to maximize their value. Sometimes that means holding back on Leader attacks so you can set up their effects to remove a key threat on the board instead.
- Having at least one card in your Life Area at the start of your opponent’s turn is crucial. Leader Enel’s ability only activates if a Life card is present, so make sure you either protect your final Life or replenish it with cards like Katakuri, Yamato, Ace, or Enel before passing the turn.
- Understand your opponent’s aggressive abilities. We’re fine taking hits and falling to 1 Life card, we’re even fine triggering our Leader’s effect to filter for better cards. However, we need to make sure we don’t fall to 0 Life cards after our Leader’s effect, especially if we can’t gain a Life card on the upcoming turn.
Turn-Based Gameplay
Going First
- Turn 1 (1 Don):
- Turn 2 (3 Don): 2-cost Shirahoshi.
- Turn 3 (5 Don): Gedatsu, Nami, or Zeus to KO a 4-cost Character. Or play Kikonujo or Basil Hawkins.
- Turn 4 (7 Don): 6-cost Bartholomew Kuma.
- Turn 5 (9 Don): 9-cost Yamato or 8-cost Charlotte Katakuri.
- Turn 6 (10 Don): 10-cost Enel or 10-cost Ace.
Going Second
- Turn 1 (2 Don): 2-cost Shirahoshi
- Turn 2 (4 Don): Kikunojo or Basil Hawkins.
- Turn 3 (6 Don): Gedatsu or Nami to KO a 5-cost Character. Or 6-cost Bartholomew Kuma.
- Turn 4 (8 Don): 8-cost Charlotte Katakuri or 6-cost Bartholomew Kuma.
- Turn 5 (10 Don): 10-cost Enel or 10-cost Ace.
Other Cards to Include
- O-Nami‘s On Play effect gives your Leader or one of your Characters Banish to attack the opponent’s Leader and trash a Life card if that attack goes through. The opponent will feel compelled to counter the attack to avoid losing that Life card. However, O-Nami‘s true strength is in her Trigger effect, letting you KO a 5-cost or less Character. This puts your opponent behind on the field and can buy you a lot of time until your carry cards start dropping.
- Gum-Gum Red Hawk is a versatile event that can be used to KO a 5-cost or less Character or gain +3,000 Power on your Leader during your opponent’s turn. To use Gum-Gum Red Hawk as a control event, you have to rest 3 Don, so you’re using 4 Don to activate it, and you and your opponent have a total of 5 or more Life cards. It’s a great Event in the mid-game to weaken the opponent’s side of the field, which will make it harder for them to threaten your Leader, but it also remains a relevant Event in the late-game for the Power boost it provides.
- Charlotte Brulee‘s Trigger effect lets you play her on the field for free, acting as a defensive play that can ruin your opponent’s win condition setup.
- As for 5-cost Sanji, he’s a 6,000 Power Blocker that you want to play when you’re down to 2 Life cards or less. On Play, Sanji will draw you 2 cards and trashes 1 card from your hand, only if your Leader has 2 Life cards or less. So you’re gaining a Blocker who can be used offensively, gaining 2 cards in your hand, and trashing the card you need the least from your hand.
- 7-cost Enel is a Rush attacker that can be tough for opponents to remove. When KO’d or removed, you can trash the top card in your Life area to keep Enel in play. A lot of times, you want to activate the effect to keep Enel in play, making sure you have an attacker for the upcoming turn. However, if there’s a threat of losing the game if you trash a Life card, you’ll have to sacrifice 7-cost Enel.
- Two-Hundred Million Volts Amaru is used aggressively to rest one of the opponent’s 4-cost or less Characters and gain +3,000 Power. You can use it to KO a Character or to attack the opponent’s Leader by resting one of their blockers. The trigger effect trashes two 2 cards from your hand to gain 1 Life card from the top of your deck.
- Portagas.D.Ace is a Rush attacker, only when you’re at 2 or less Life cards. His 7,000 Power makes a troublesome attacker, forcing at least 2 Counter cards if you’re attacking a 5,000 Power Leader. However, Portagas.D.Ace can be used to help control the field, attacking a rested Character and potentially KOing it to make it even harder for the opposing player to win the game.
- The 8-cost Eustass “Captain” Kid is a 9,000 Power Character to trash opponents’ Life cards. On Play, you can rest 8-cost Kid to trash the opponent’s top Life card, putting them in a riskier spot to lose to your attacks and bleeding them from resources. Although you’re resting Kid when you play him, being a 9,000 Power Character makes him a difficult target to KO through attacks, so your opponent will have to put in a lot of their resources to remove him. At the end of your turn, if your opponent has 2 Life cards or less, you can draw a card and then trash another from your hand with Eustass “Captain” Kid‘s effect, filtering your hand for better cards.
Closing Words
Yellow Enel can be frustrating to play against, especially if you don’t have the game knowledge on what the deck is trying to do. The addition of Kuma has given the deck a stronger survivability, and with each set, we get a new Yellow card that can fit into the deck’s playstyle. Enel‘s strong effect makes him one of the strongest Leaders in the game, making him a viable option in various OPTCG metas.
