The OPTCG Japan Finals Championship Series Season 2 took place on Saturday 9/2/2025, with this being our first major competitive tournament in the new EB02 meta. Green Purple Monkey D.Luffy has been crushing it in smaller tournaments, so many players had huge expectations for the aggressive style deck to perform in the Championship Series.
This was the final tournament for players to qualify for worlds, so everyone was giving it their best for the chance to compete against the best of the best around the globe. Here are the top 4 decks that managed to make it into Worlds!
1st Place Red Green Smoker
No one expected that the winner of the Championship Series would be Red Green Smoker. The OP10 Leader had an amazing early start, but it started losing steam as players learned how to play against it.
However, this list takes a different approach, running Benn.Beckman as a removal Character, capable of trashing 1 of the opponent’s Characters with 6,000 Power or less. Combined with Otama or Monet, you can trash higher-power characters.
Leader Smoker gives your {Punk Hazard} and {Navy} Characters +1,000 Power during your opponent’s turn, making them difficult to KO. Additionally, your Leader can give you 2 Active Don during your turn, allowing you to make more plays and go for aggressive attacks.
It also lets you set up the Eustass”Captain”Kid fortress strategy way easier, creating a wall that forces your opponent to use their resources to go through it if they wish to win the game.
Hody Jones can go for aggressive attacks, resting two of the opponent’s Characters and attacking immediately with Rush. You’ll have to choose whether you want to focus your attacks on the opponent’s Leader or attack their rested Character to weaken their presence on the field.
This list is also running Gum-Gum Mole Pistol as a control event, reducing the Power of one of the opponent’s Characters by -5,000 and if you have a Character with 6,000 Power or more, you get to KO a 2,000 Power or less Character.
2nd Place Green Purple Monkey D.Luffy
A lot of hype around Green Purple Monkey D.Luffy, and players have yet to figure out the optimal build. This Leader can play aggressively, deramping you for 2 Don to give you 2 Active Don, which sets the stage for an extremely aggressive turn. Additionally, your Leader gains +1,000 Power until the end of your opponent’s upcoming turn, creating more offensive attacks and a defensive turn.
Interestingly, the runner-up list looks completely different than what we’re used to. It cuts out Luffy-Taru and Eustass”Captain”Kid entirely and runs 2-cost Tony Tony Chopper, 6-cost Brook, and Thunder Bagua.
Tony Tony Chopper is great as a ramp option, giving you back 1 Don if you have less or equal Don to your opponent, making sure you don’t fall behind. Chopper remains in play as a blocker to protect you from one of the opponent’s attacks.
6-cost Brook returns 1 or more Don from your field to give two of the opponent’s Characters -2,000 Power, making it easier for you to attack and KO those Characters. This effect activates whenever Brook attacks, so it remains a threat that your opponent isn’t too delighted watching and will try to shut down.
Thunder Bugua is a defensive Event giving your Leader or Character +4,000 Power, but it also ramps you by 1 Don if you have 2 or less Life cards, ensuring you can get the most plays on your upcoming turn.
6-cost Monkey D.Luffy is how this deck wins games, capable of attacking twice in one turn. You’ll want to attach Don to Luffy to go for a more aggressive attack, and if your opponent is down to 1 Life card, 6-cost Luffy can win you the game on the spot. There is a downside to attacking twice with Luffy, preventing you from attacking with him on your upcoming turn.
The Rush attack is already problematic for your opponent, so going for a second attack can leave them in a tough spot.
3rd Place Blue Donquixote Doflamingo
The Blue Doflamingo makes it into the top 4 before getting kicked out by Red Green Smoker. This deck can play aggressively, developing more Characters on the field through Leader effect and Jinbe. This allows for aggressive attacks, capable of unleashing multiple attacks in one turn to force the opposing player to use up their Counter plays.
4-cost Trafalgar Law and 6-cost Jozu can be a problem for the opponent, returning one of their Characters to their hand and weakening their presence on the field. This makes it more challenging for them to control the field, especially if there are multiple Characters to deal with.
7-cost Gravity Blade Raging Tiger is a tough control card, removing two of the opponent’s Characters and placing them at the bottom of their deck.
4th Place Green Purple Monkey D.Luffy
Another Green Purple Monkey D.Luffy made it into the top 4, this list though runs O-Nami as a blocker and Electrical Luna to shut opponent’s Characters from becoming Active, buying you more time as you focus on aggressive attacks, ignoring the opponent’s Characters and attacking their Leader.
