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. Players in the East shifted their strategy to an aggressive one, trying to combat the Blue Purple Luffy deck.
Today, we’ll explore the popular OP11 decks in East tournaments and which ones you should keep an eye on or even play yourself. However, with the new Starter decks, the OP11 meta is looking different than what we saw in the East, with decks like Blue Buggy and Black Purple Luffy seeing a massive boost in performance.
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.
Favored: GP Luffy, Black Teach, Black Purple Luffy, Green Bonney, Black Lucci, Red Shanks, Red Zoro.
Close Matchup: RG Smoker.
Unfavored: RY Belo Betty, Blue Buggy, PLuffy, GY Law, GY Yamato.
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 Don 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, 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 re-stand 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.
Favored: Black Teach, Blue Buggy, Black Purple Luffy, PLuffy, GY Yamato.
Close Matchup: GY Law.
Unfavored: Blue Purple Luffy, RY Belo Betty, RG Smoker, Green Bonney, Black Lucci, Red Zoro.
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 stronger turn to pressure the opposing player. You will hold off on activating this effect until the late game 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 + Sanji & Puddings effect will give you 3 Active Don in one turn, enabling 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 re-stand himself to attack a second time if you return 2 Active Don and take a Life card. This can be a costly play, so you’ll want to use it in the late game as falling low on Life cards will put you at risk of losing the game.
Red Yellow Belo Betty
With Blue Purple and Green Purple Luffy being on top of the meta, Red Yellow Belo Betty saw a massive rise in popularity as the anti-meta deck. She’s capable of rushing down both decks before they set up their win conditions, forcing them to go for a defensive approach or even try to rush you down.
Favored: Blue Purple Luffy, GP Luffy, RG Smoker, PLuffy, GY Law.
Close Matchup: Black Teach.
Unfavored: Blue Buggy, Green Bonney, Black Purple Luffy, Black Lucci, Red Zoro, GY Yamato.
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 you have a 7,000+ Power Character in play. 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.
Blue Buggy
Blue Buggy received tons of support cards in the Starter 26, giving the deck better consistency to its strategy. This deck thrives on cheating out Characters, having cards like the 4-cost Buggy, Crocodile, and 7-cost Buggy to play out a Character and empower your board.
Favored: Blue Purple Luffy, RY Belo Betty, Black Teach, Black Lucci, Red Zoro.
Close Matchup: RG Smoker, GY Yamato.
Unfavored: GP Luffy, Green Bonney, Black Purple Luffy, Purple Luffy, GY Law.
How does the deck work?
We want to fill up the board so we can play our 10-cost Luffy and keep it in play. Using our Leader effect, we can play out high-cost Characters for less Don, enabling us to make other plays on specific turns. 7-cost Crocodile, 7-cost Buggy, and 8-cost Crocodile & Mihawk can cheat out Characters, making it easier to go wider on the field and go for more aggressive turns.
10-cost Buggy can remove one of the opponent’s Characters from play, and if you can keep him on the field, you’re creating a high-power win condition that your opponent can’t Counter out of his attack.
Black Marshall D.Teach
Teach is currently the strongest Black 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.
Favored: Green Bonney, Black Purple Luffy, GY Law, Black Lucci.
Close Matchup: RY Belo Betty, RG Smoker.
Unfavored: Blue Purple Luffy, Green Purple Luffy, Blue Buggy, PLuffy, Red Zoro, GY Yamato.
How does the deck work?
Black Marshall D. Teach shuts down all On Play effects, so you’ll need to build the deck differently, avoiding cards with On Play abilities. 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.
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.
7-cost Teach is a control card that adds more resources to our hand, perfect when combined with a cost-reduction card like Tempest Kick.
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.
Favored: Green Purple Luffy, RY Belo Betty, Blue Buggy, Purple Black Luffy, Purple Luffy, GY Law, Red Zoro, GY Yamato.
Close Matchup: RG Smoker.
Unfavored: Blue Purple Luffy, Black Teach, Black Lucci.
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.
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 Doflamingo, 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.
10-cost Law & Bepo is another consideration to this deck, acting as a defensive play to shut down one of the opponent’s Characters, and if the opponent has two Characters on the field, your Leader gains a +2,000 Power boost that sticks until the end of the opponent’s upcoming turn. This makes it harder for your opponent to get an attack through, forcing them to attach more Don to their attacks.
Most lists are adding the 9-cost Roronoa Zoro for the three attack turn, trying to set up an extremely aggressive turn to overwhelm the opposing player.
Black Purple Luffy
Black Purple Luffy received a couple of new cards in the Starter 26 deck that pushed it to the next level. The 6-cost Luffy has been the strongest addition to this list, giving the Leader a +2,000 Power boost that adds to your aggression and makes it harder for the opposing player to get their attacks through.
Favored: RY Belo Betty, Blue Buggy, GY Yamato.
Close Matchup:
Unfavored: Blue Purple Luffy, Green Purple Luffy, Black Teach, RG Smoker, Green Bonney, Purple Luffy, GY Law, Black Teach, Red Zoro.
How does the deck work?
Attaching a Don to Monkey D. Luffy will give all your Characters a +1 cost, making them harder to KO for certain decks. It also allows you to activate Character effects that are tied to Character cost conditions, like 5-cost Sanji.
Leader Luffy’s second effect activates whenever you return two or more Don, giving you back two Don cards—one active and one rested. This lets us play powerful cards with deramp drawbacks without worrying about falling behind in the game.
EB02 Luffy enables an aggressive turn, threatening to go for two attacks to try and pressure the opponent’s Leader, especially if they’re down to 1 Life card.
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.
Favored: Green Purple Luffy, Black Purple Luffy, GY Law.
Close Matchup: Blue Purple Luffy, Black Teach, Blue Buggy, Green Bonney.
Unfavored: RY Belo Betty, PLuffy, Black Lucci, Red Zoro, GY Yamato.
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.
Purple Monkey D.Luffy
Purple Luffy saw a resurgence in OP11 Meta, especially since it can go toe-to-toe with the Blue Purple Luffy deck. You’re capable of ramping through your Leader’s effect and dropping your big bodies earlier than your opponent to try and rush them down.
Favored: Blue Purple Luffy, Black Teach, RG Smoker, Black Purple Luffy, Black Lucci.
Close Matchup: GY Law, Red Zoro
Unfavored: Green Purple Luffy, RY Belo Betty, Green Bonney, GY Yamato.
How does the deck work?
Purple Luffy can activate his effect on turn 2, taking a Life card to ramp an Active Don. This allows you to play a higher-cost Character a turn earlier than usual, putting a bigger body for your opponent to deal with. We have the 4-cost Zoro and 5-cost Sanji as value cards, adding more resources to your hand. The 7-cost Luffy-Tarou is your strongest mid-game play, allowing you to cheat out 4-cost Zoro or 5-cost Sanji to go wide on the field and overwhelm the opposing player.
8-cost Charlotte Katakuri acts as a massive wall, protecting you from an opponent’s attack. Since Katakuri can re-stand himself, he can be used offensively and still remain as a blocker to protect your Leader.
9-cost Luffy is the strongest play, drawing you a card and going for a 10,000 Power Rush attack, either KOing a rested Character or taking an opponent’s Life card.
Green Yellow Trafalgar Law
Green Yellow Trafalgar Law started gaining traction at the end of OP11’s East meta, managing to perform well and make top 4 and top 8 in the Tokyo Championship.
Favored: Blue Purple Luffy, Blue Buggy, Black Purple Luffy, GY Yamato.
Close Matchup: Green Purple Luffy, Purple Luffy.
Unfavored: RY Belo Betty, Black Teach, RG Smoker, Green Bonney, Black Lucci, Red Zoro.
Green Yellow Law can return one of your Characters to your hand to cheat out a 5-cost or less Supernova type Character from the top of your Life card to your field. So you have Characters like 3-cost Bonney and 7-cost Law to place the Character you need at the top of your Life card and cheat it out on the field.
The Cavandish is perfect in the early game, setting two of your Don as Active and enabling a stronger turn. As for 5-cost Bonney, she prevents one of the opponent’s rested Characters from becoming Active, weakening the opponent’s upcoming turn and giving you more breathing room.
8-cost Kid is perfect for aggressive decks, putting up a wall to force your opponent to have the resources to break through, which should give you enough time to set up the winning turn.
Green Yellow Yamato
How does the deck work?
Green Yellow Yamato has the Double Attack keyword, threatening to take 2 Life cards if you attack the opponent’s Leader. Combined with O-Nami and Izo, you can go for a Double Attack + Banish Leader swing to force your opponent to use their counter cards.
Kikunojo and Nekomamushi are there to pressure the opponent in the mid-game and can be played on the field through their Trigger effects. 6-cost Kouzuki Momonosuke can go for a Rush attack while also boosting your Leader’s Power by +1,000, creating a strong aggressive turn.
Hody Jones is the strongest aggressor, capable of resting 2 of the opponent’s Characters or Don and going for an 8,000 Power Rush attack.
Red Roronoa Zoro
Red Roronoa Zoro has gained a lot of popularity since it counters the top-performing decks. However, Belo Betty has been the more popular choice among players, but Red Zoro is still a great choice for OP11.
This deck beats: Black Purple Luffy, Green Purple Luffy, Red Green Smoker, Red Yellow Belo Betty, Black Teach, Blue Yellow Nami, Red Shanks.
How does the deck work?
Red 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 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, Robson, and Kid & Killer, will help you push through their remaining life cards for the win.
Black Rob Lucci
How does the deck work?
Black Rob Lucci is a control deck, relying on cost reduction cards to put Characters in range for your removal options. The list has cards like 4-cost Lucci, Brook, Jack, and 10-cost Kuzan as removal options, keeping the opponent’s side of the board in check.
4-cost Kuzan, Hina, and Tempest Kick are a couple of our cost-reduction options. Combined with our Leader’s effect, we can put Characters in range to remove and slow the opponent’s pace.
