Black Rob Lucci is one of the strongest Leaders in the One Piece card game, consistently performing across multiple metas and remaining a top choice among competitive players. However, Black decks received a huge blow with the ban of Gecko Moria and Ice Age, which meant Lucci fell in popularity, dropping to a Tier 2 deck.
Despite the ban of key cards in this deck, the Black color still has plenty of cards that can keep Rob Lucci playable, which ensures Lucci isn’t completely out of the OPTCG meta! This control deck excels at keeping the opponent’s board in check, preventing them from winning the field presence and slowing down their offensive pressure.
Leader
Black Rob Lucci’s effect activates when he goes for the attack, trashing the top 2 cards from your deck and giving one of the opponent’s Characters a -1 cost reduction for the turn. Both of those effects play into this deck’s strategy. You will rely on cards in the Trash to activate certain effects like Tempest Kick or play cards from the Trash through Characters like Rebecca.
As for the cost reduction, it helps put your opponent’s Characters in range for your KO cards to activate, saving you from committing as many cost-reduction cards.
Black Rob Lucci Decklist
How to Play
Control Cards
This list has multiple removal cards to control the board, each finding use at different stages of the game. On their own, they don’t pose much of a threat, but when combined with your cost-reduction cards, you’ll remove higher-cost Characters from play. This makes it difficult for opponents to have Characters that stick on the field and present aggressive attacks.
Brook, when played or attacking, can reduce the cost of an opponent’s character by -1 and KO a 0-cost character. Your opponents will scramble to remove him immediately since Brook can reactivate both effects when he attacks.
4-cost Rob Lucci is your ultimate removal card, capable of KOing two targets, one with a cost of 2 or less and the other with a cost of 1 or less, adding a powerful punch to your strategy. Rob Lucci can be played through Spandine, offering an additional method to have in on the field to KO 2 of the opponent’s Characters.
When activating Rob Lucci‘s effect, you have to place 3 cards from your trash at the bottom of the deck. Pick cards you don’t expect to need in your trash, such as Events, Jack, or Kaido.
High-cost Control Cards
Jack is a 7-cost Character that can KO a 3-cost or less Character every turn through his main effect. Additionally, Jack draws one card and trashes one card from hand, so it digs through your deck for the key cards.
Having to rest Jack to activate his effect means you won’t be able to use him offensively if you activate it later in the game. It also allows the opponent to attack Jack when he rests himself on the turn he’s played, but an 8K Power Character isn’t easy to remove.
Another effect Jack has is that in play, he becomes an 11-cost Character, which will only matter depending on the matchup you’re up against. So against Black decks, they’ll struggle to lower Jack‘s Power and KO him.
As for 10-cost Kuzan, he acts as both a cost reducer and a control Character, capable of giving a 5-cost AOE to all of the opponent’s Characters in play for as long as he’s in play, and his On Play effect KO’s a 0-cost Character. So, when you play Kuzan, you get to KO a 5-cost Character.
The -5 cost reduction will make things easier on the upcoming turn, letting you play your removal cards without being as reliant on cost-reduction cards. If you have cards like 4-cost Kuzan or 2-cost Uta in play from previous turns, you can KO a higher-cost Character when you play 10-cost Kuzan. Jack will also benefit from Kuzan‘s cost reduction, enabling him to remove an 8-cost Character.
Kuzan shines most in slower matchups where your opponent is relying on high-cost win conditions to win the game. Having a -5 cost reduction will make it extremely easy to keep control of the field and prevent your opponent from setting multiple high-power attacks.
Cost Reduction
The 4-cost Kuzan is your best play on turn 2 if you’re going second, drawing you a card, and can later reduce the cost of an opponent’s Character by 4. When Kuzan attacks, he’ll reduce the cost of a Character, which makes it easier for you to follow up the attack with a removal play to control the field. In most cases, your opponent will shift their focus toward Kuzan, trying to remove him as quickly as possible.
Laboon‘s Activate:Main effect reduces the cost of one of the opponent’s characters by 4, allowing you to KO it with one of your removal cards. You can use Laboon‘s cost reduction effect on the turn it’s played, but you are resting Laboon to activate the effect, which means your opponent can attack into it on the upcoming turn.
We can have Uta early into the game to KO a Character in the early turns. You have to rest her to give one of the opponent’s Characters a -2 cost reduction. Combined with your Leader effect, you can KO a 4-cost Character with Brook to slow your opponent down. When rested, Uta is vulnerable to opponents’ attacks, but they can’t KO her with their Leader’s attack and will need to have a Character in play to try and remove her.
Tempest Kick becomes your mid-game ace, drawing you a card while reducing an opponent’s character’s cost by -3. And hitting the condition for Tempest Kick isn’t hard with Leader Rob Lucci‘s ability to trash 2 cards on every attack. Technically, you need to be at 9 cards in Trash for the cost reduction effect to activate, since playing Tempest Kick will put it in the Trash, making the total cards in there 10.
Hina is a cost reduction Character who can act as an attacker, going for 5,000 Power attacks. The -4 cost reduction helps you KO high-cost Characters, and Hina can be played from trash through Rebecca.
Tsuru is a 1-cost character that reduces the cost of one of the opponent’s Characters by -2. She’s also a +2,000 Counter, so you can use her to protect yourself from an attack.
One-Legged Toy Soldier is another +2,000 Counter Character that can be played for his cost reduction effect. One-Legged Toy Soldier is perfect for the Black Teach matchup since he has an Active main effect to give one of the opponent’s Characters a -3 cost reduction.
4-cost Shirahoshi acts as a blocker to protect you from an opponent’s attack, but she can also reduce the cost of an opponent’s Character by 4, making it easier for you to remove a Character while also developing a defensive blocker.
Value Blockers
Rebecca is a 4-cost Blocker that lets you add 1 black Character with a cost of 3 to 7 from the trash to your hand. Then, Rebecca lets you play a black Character with a cost of 3 or less from your hand. So you aren’t tied to the card you just added to your hand, but you can choose any card from your hand that costs 3 or less.
Rebecca can cheat out the likes of Brook and Hina, whom you’ll choose which you need depending on the state of the game. Brook is perfect to KO a Character after you’ve reduced its cost. As for Hina, you can cheat her out for the -4 cost reduction effect, and she remains as a potential attack that your opponent has to remove.
As for 5-cost Sabo, he’s a valuable blocker to protect us from an opponent’s attack. 5-cost Sabo‘s On Play effect lets you filter your hand for better cards, drawing 2 cards and trashing 2 from your hand. He’ll also give all Characters in play KO immunity, which can ruin the opponent’s upcoming turn depending on the deck they play. We can get rid of dead cards in our hand to hopefully draw into better cards.
1-cost Value
Mansherry is a value Character. You can rest her and a Don to add a 3 to 5 cost Black Character from your trash to your hand. Ideally, you want to grab Rebecca from the Trash, giving access to an additional Character development. Other options like Brook, Lucci, or Bartolomeo can also find use depending on the game.
You do have to return 2 cards from your trash to the bottom of the deck to activate Mansherry‘s value effect, so you’ll often use her in the late-game.
Your opponent is forced to KO Mansherry to shut down the value generation. If possible, you can protect her by sacrificing your Rebecca and then grabbing that Rebecca again from the trash to replay her for her On Play effect.
Deciding on whether it’s worth protecting Mansherry comes down to the state of the game and what your opponent is capable of doing.
Turn-Based Gameplay
Going First
- Turn 1 (1 Don):
- Turn 2 (3 Don): Uta.
- Turn 3 (5 Don): Kuzan or Laboon. Or Brook to KO a Character.
- Turn 4 (7 Don): Rob Lucci + cost reduction to remove two Characters or Jack + Leader effect to KO a 4-cost Character.
- Turn 5 (9 Don): Jack + cost reduction. Rebecca + Brook or Hina is another option to control the field.
- Turn 6 (10 Don): 10-cost Kuzan.
Going Second
- Turn 1 (2 Don): Uta.
- Turn 2 (4 Don): Kuzan or Laboon.
- Turn 3 (6 Don): Rob Lucci or Brook + cost reduction.
- Turn 4 (8 Don): Jack + cost-reduction or Rebecca + Brook/Hina combo.
- Turn 5 (10 Don): 10-cost Kuzan.
Other Cards to Include
- Finger Pistol KO’s a 5-cost or less Character, and combined with your Leader effect, you can easily KO a 6-cost Character. Its trigger effect lets you KO a 5-cost Character without using Don, weakening your opponent’s attack turn.
- Nefeltari Cobra is a low-cost blocker to protect you from an opponent’s attack, perfect for prolonging the game an additional turn. He’s also trashing the top card of your deck, which can be useful for the Rob Lucci deck.
- As for 9-cost Kaido, he’s a late-game play, capable of trashing a 7-cost or less Character and one of the opponent’s cards. However, you have to trash one of your cards to activate his effect. Combined with the Leader effect, you can KO an 8-cost Character without relying on any cost-reduction cards.
- Six King Pistol trashes 1 card from your hand to give +3,000 Power to your Leader or a Character. It’s a defensive event that can shut down one of the opponent’s attacks. You have multiple cards on the list with no Counter effect, so you can trash one of those.
Important Matchups:
Blue Purple Luffy
- Our opponent is relying on an early ramp from cards like 3-cost Roronoa Zoro to accelerate their game. We can KO that Zoro with Uta + Brook, slowing down their Sanji combo turn.
- We need to have Kuzan on Don 10, making it easier for us to keep control of the board. We’re hoping the opposing player doesn’t have Gum Gum Red Roc to remove our Kuzan.
- Blockers can buy us more time, but with them having Counter Events like Gum Gum Giant, it can be tough to line up the winning turn.
Green Purple Luffy
- Against Green Purple Luffy, we have to KO the Sanji & Pudding as early as possible to slow down the opponent’s pace. The ramp they gain will allow them to go for more aggressive turns and even develop an additional Character.
- The 1-cost Merry Go stage will make it harder for us to put Characters in range. They’ll often push Sanji & Pudding to become a 7-cost Character.
- Blockers are extremely annoying for Green Purple Luffy as they don’t have removal options to deal with them. They can buy you more time until you’re able to set up the winning turn.
- Keep in mind that they can go for a Rush attack with 6-cost Luffy and then a second attack with him, trying to aggro you down when you’re low on Life cards.
Black Teach
- Black Marshal D.Teach is a tough matchup since he can shut down our On Play effects. This means Characters like Brook, Rob Lucci, Rebecca, Hina, and Kuzan won’t be as useful in this game.
- Jesus Burgess is their main win condition, capable of becoming a heavy attacker in the late game. With his KO immunity, we don’t have answers for him, so we’ll either try to KO him through attacks if possible or ignore him and try to rush the opponent down.
- Jack, Tempest Kick, Laboo, Uta, and One-legged Toy Soldier aren’t affected by Leader Teach’s effect. Jack can help you control the board through his KO effect, and since he gains +4-cost, he’ll be difficult for the opposing player to remove.
- Remember, every time your opponent shuts off your On Play effects, they are forced to trash a card, so they will struggle to counter your attacks the longer the game stretches out.
