Although Blue Purple Monkey D.Luffy has been the popular choice in OP11 tournaments, the One Piece TCG still has a lot to offer, with many archetypes holding their own and bringing results.
OP11 moved to a “drop big bodies, win games” playstyle, using ramp cards to speed up decks’ gameplans and have their win condition online as early as possible. However, the meta also saw a rise in aggressive decks trying to combat those slow-paced playstyles with limited removal options.
Today, we’ll explore the popular OP11 decks in tournaments and which ones you should keep an eye on or even play yourself.
Blue Purple Monkey D.Luffy
Blue Purple Monkey D.Luffy is currently the most-played deck in tournaments and has forced the meta to adapt and try to counter him. If you’re going into an OP11 tournament, this is the Leader to watch out for, and the deck you bring has to have a fighting chance against him.
This deck beats: Green Purple Monkey D.Luffy, Black Marshall D.Teach, Green Bonney, and Red Shanks.
How does the deck work?
Blue Purple Monkey D. Luffy is a ramp deck using Zoro-Juurou and Mr. 2 Bon Clay to get an extra Dawn and start playing its high-cost Character a turn earlier.
Leader Monkey D. Luffy’s effect activates only when you have 8 or more Don on your side of the field at the start of your turn. This means you have to have 8 Don at the start of your turn just before you’ve added the 2 Don. So by turn 5, you should be able to activate your Leader effect to look at the top 5 cards in your deck and add 1 {Straw Hat crew} type card into your hand. Then, you can place the rest of the cards at the top or bottom of your deck in any order you want.
This allows you to place the high-cost Character at the top of your deck, and then you can play 9-cost Sanji to cheat out that Character. You’re developing two big bodies in one turn, setting the stage for an aggressive upcoming turn that can overwhelm your opponent. You want to cheat out Characters like 8-cost Charlotte Katakuri, Dracule Mihawk, Charlotte Linlin, or 9-cost Monkey D.Luffy. Each Character has a unique effect that’ll be useful depending on the state of the game.
8-cost Charlotte Katakuri is an exceptionally strong addition to this list thanks to his Blocker keyword, protecting your Leader from an opponent’s attack. Additionally, Katakuri can restand himself at the end of your turn, so he can be used offensively and still maintain a defensive strategy with his Blocker keyword.
Green Purple Monkey D.Luffy
Green Purple Monkey D.Luffy crushed it in EB02 meta, and the only deck standing in its way from regaining its spot as the number 1 deck is Blue Purple Luffy. This deck has a unique playstyle where using your Don efficiently can go a long way, allowing you to get the most out of your cards and not fall behind in the game. It’s a difficult deck to play correctly, and you’ll find yourself playing differently depending on the matchup.
This deck beats: Red Roronoa Zoro, Red Yellow Belo Betty, Black Marshall D.Teach, and Red Shanks.
How does the deck work?
Green Purple Monkey D.Luffy’s effect allows you to return 2 Don to set up 2 Don as Active, allowing for a more meaningful turn to pressure the opposing player. You will hold off on activating this effect until the late or when you have 5-cost Sanji & Pudding in play. When you return Don, Sanji & Pudding’s effect will activate, ramping you for 1 Active Don. Leader Luffy’s + Samji & Puddings effect will give you 3 Active Don in one turn, allowing you to drop an additional Character or go for higher Power attacks.
Luffy-Tarou is great for going wide on the field, letting you cheat out 4-cost Zoro-Juuro or 5-cost Sanji & Pudding. As for 6-cost Monkey D. Luffy, he acts as the Rush aggressor in this list, attacking for 7,000 Power on the turn he’s played and can restand himself to attack a second time if you return 2 Active Don. This can be a costly play, so you’ll want to use it in the late game.
Red Roronoa Zoro
Red Roronoa Zoro has gained a lot of popularity with the fall of Black Rob Lucci and Blue Doflamingo. Although those two decks still exist in the OP11 meta, they aren’t as strong as they used to be, giving Red aggressive decks more room to perform and counter the current top meta picks.
This deck beats: Blue Purple Luffy, Red Green Smoker, Red Yellow Belo Betty, and Black Teach.
How does the deck work?
Redro Roronoa Zoro is an aggressive Leader who thrives on overwhelming the opponent with multiple attacks. His effect gives +1000 power to all your Characters, increasing the pressure each turn and forcing your opponent to spend more counter resources to survive.
The deck is built with low-cost characters to help you flood the board and maintain constant aggression. Cards like OP08 Tony Tony Chopper and OP04 Tony Tony Chopper are key to this strategy, as they allow you to cheat out additional Characters—either from your hand or from the top of your deck.
The OP08 Chopper is the centerpiece of this deck. When played, he looks at the top five cards of your deck and lets you play one Animal-type Character with 4000 power or less, rested. Then, when he attacks, he reactivates that ability, letting you cheat out another Animal-type character. This effect lets you build a wide board quickly and snowball pressure, which is why opponents will often prioritize removing this Chopper to cut off your tempo.
The deck’s win condition revolves around relentless aggression. With your board filled, you can swing multiple times in one turn, forcing your opponent to burn through their hand to defend. Eventually, they’ll run out of counter power, and your rush attackers—3-cost Roronoa Zoro, Robon, and Kid & Killer—will help you push through their remaining life cards for the win.
Red Green Smoker
Red Green Smoker can adapt to the matchup and game state, going for an aggressive strategy or switching to a defensive one with the Kid’s Fortress strategy. This Leader is making top cuts and winning tournaments, making it a solid consideration to play if you like the extra Don effect RG Smoker provides.
This deck beats: Blue Purple Luffy, Green Purple Luffy, and Black Teach.
How does the deck work?
Red-Green Smoker synergizes with {Navy} and {Punk Hazard} type characters, giving them +1000 power during your opponent’s turn. This makes your board harder to clear through both attacks and effects, forcing your opponent to commit more resources just to deal with your Characters.
But the real core of the deck is Smoker’s second effect, which we’ll be taking advantage of every single turn. As long as we have a Character with 7000 power or more, we get to restand 2 of our DON!! This, paired with the 5-cost Smoker who gives us an extra DON!!, means we’re gaining 3 DON!! in one turn, allowing us to make more plays to overwhelm the opponent. 5-cost Smoker also has the Banish keyword, which means we’ll focus his attack on the opponent’s Leader, threatening to trash one of their Life cards.
This deck can play aggressively with Rush attackers like 5-cost Monkey D.Luffy and 7-cost Hody Jones. You’re developing a win condition that forces your opponent to play defensively, trying to slow down your aggression and buy themselves more time.
With Eustass”Captain”Kid on the list, you can develop the Fortress strategy, protecting your Leader from incoming attacks. Donquixote Rosinante and Tashigi play a key part in the Fortress, protecting your Kid from getting KO’d and making it even harder for the opposing player to break through.
Red Yellow Belo Betty
Just like Red Roronoa Zoro, Belo Betty has become a popular pick in the tournament scene, capable of rushing opponents down. She’s one of the best choices for explosive gameplay, overwhelming opponents with multiple high-power attacks.
This deck beats: Blue Purple Luffy, Red Shanks, and Red Green Smoker.
How does the deck work?
Red Yellow Belo Betty is an aggressive Leader, trashing a {Revolutionary Army} type Character or a Character with a Trigger effect from your hand to activate her effect. Belo Betty’s effect gives +3,000 Power to three of your Characters, creating an aggressive turn that forces out Counter cards from the opponent.
With Emporio Ivnakov and 6-cost Koala, you can cheat out a Character on the field, making sure you can go wide and threaten the aggressive upcoming turn. You want to get the most out of your Leader Belo Betty’s effect, so having three attackers in play is the goal. 3-cost Inazuma becomes a Rush attacker if he’s at 7,000 Power. So, if you’re missing an attacker, you can play Inazuma and give him a Power boost with your Leader’s effect to go for an attack on the turn he’s played.
The 4-cost Karasu can reduce the Power of an opponent’s Character or their Leader by 1,000. You usually will target the Leader before going for the attack, making it harder for the opposing player to Counter your attacks.
Black Marshall D.Teach
Teach is currently the strongest Black control Leader to play in OP11. However, this Leader plays the game completely differently than other Leaders, so it will take you a while to get the hang of him. Losing Ice Age as a potential addition has made it difficult for Teach to remove high-cost Characters.
This deck beats: Red Shanks and Red Yellow Belo Betty.
How does the deck work?
Black Marshall D. Teach shuts down all On Play effects, so you’ll need to build the deck differently. We avoid cards with On Play abilities and instead rely on Finger Pistol, Black Hole, and Doc Q to KO opposing Characters. Marshall D. Teach’s effect prevents opponents from using their On Play abilities, but you must trash a card to activate it. You’ll usually trigger this on key turns when your opponent is most likely to play On Play cards, completely disrupting their strategy and setting up a strong follow-up turn. If they rely on On Play effects to remove your Characters, it can leave them in an awkward position.
The deck runs several cost-reduction cards to bring opposing Characters into KO range. Van Augur is your cost reducer, applying pressure while supporting removal cards. For raw offense, Jesus Burgess is a powerhouse. He can’t be KO’d by effects and gains +1,000 Power for every 4 cards in your trash. In the late-game, he’ll become a high-damage attacker, difficult for the opponent to counter his attack.
Your strongest play is 10-cost Marshall D. Teach, which prevents a Character from attacking on the upcoming turn and negates the effects of your opponent’s Leader and one of their Characters. On top of that, he’s a high-power blocker, acting as a defensive wall to shut off one attack and protect your Leader.
Green Jewelry Bonney
The stall queen, Green Jewelry Bonney, is still one of the top choices in OP11. Her ability to rest a Character can slow opponents from winning the game, buying you enough time to develop your win conditions and eventually go for the finisher play.
This deck beats: Green Purple Luffy, Red Green Smoker, Red Roronoa Zoro, and Red Yellow Belo Betty.
How does the deck work?
Green Bonney can be a frustrating Leader to go up against, thanks to her ability to rest one of the opponent’s attackers. While this effect requires 1 Active Don, it’s highly effective at slowing down the opponent’s offense and preserving Bonney’s Counter resources.
This deck thrives on a defensive strategy, stalling games until high-cost Characters can take over. Blockers and 5-cost Carrot help reinforce this game plan, giving you time to either clear the opponent’s board or transition into an aggressive push against their Leader.
Your main aggressor is 7-cost Hody Jones, who enters the field, rests two Characters, and immediately attacks with Rush. Whether you focus on clearing the board or attacking the opponent’s Leader will depend on the game state. The 9-cost Roronoa Zoro has become a staple in this list again to Counter Blue Purple Monkey D.Luffy. The ability to attack 3 times in one turn with Zoro can be tough for the 3 Life card Leader to survive, allowing you to aggro them down and win the game.
8-cost Eustass”Captain”Kid and your low-cost blockers enable the Fortress strategy, making it even harder for the opposing player to break through and attack your Leader or other rested Characters. Donquixote Rosinante and Tashigi can protect Kid from removal effects, limiting the opponent’s outs to brute attack force.
Lists usually run either 9-cost Shanks or 10-cost Dolamingo, both serving a different purpose. 9-cost Shanks is a key removal option, KOing a rested Character without needing to attack it. He’s a great play if there’s a high-power rested Character that you can’t KO through your attacks, so Shanks can do the job.
As for 10-cost Doflamingo, he keeps three of the opponent’s attackers rested, preventing them from attacking you on the upcoming turn, significantly lowering your opponent’s aggression. This can be a great play alongside the Fortress strategy, immensely slowing your opponent down.
Red Shanks
Red Shanks had a rough start in OP11, but it slowly adjusted to the meta, and we’re seeing it make top cuts again. Leader Shanks’ effect allows you to stall games, giving you more time to play your high-cost Characters and take over the field.
This deck beats: Green Bonney.
How does the deck work?
Red Shanks’s effect is great for defense, reducing the Power of one of the opponent’s attackers and saving you from playing as many Counter resources. This helps you stall out games until your higher-cost Characters start dropping in. The deck has multiple control Characters, so you’re always trying to KO one Character through your effects. 7-cost Benn.Beckman, 7-cost Edward Newgate, 8-cost Silvers Rayleigh, and 10-cost Shanks can remove one of the opponent’s Characters, helping you shift the field presence in your favor.
10-cost Shanks reduces the Power of all of the opponent’s Characters by -1,000, making it even harder for them to get their attacks through, especially if they have low-power attackers. It also makes it easier for you to KO those Characters, especially if you’re putting them in range for one of your KO effects.
