Heya everyone! The January 9, OP14 + EB04 release for the West is fast approaching, and new leaders and cards are coming to the game! This also means that the Sealed Pre-release event is something to look forward to!
The Release Events will take place between January 9 and January 15, 2026. The format is the organizer’s choice. It can be the traditional constructed format or a sealed format. The latter is what matters to us for this article.
The Rules
- Players open a set number of booster packs from specified sets and build their decks using only the cards they open. (Players who purchase 1 booster box during the event period will receive 1 additional Release Event Pack.)
- Unlike the standard play, you can ignore the normal deck-building color restrictions based on your leader and can include cards of any color in your deck. There are additional special rules for deck building.
- 6 Packs is the suggested number of packs. Each participant should use the same number of packs.
- You may bring your leader (including those from previous sets) to use in the event.
- Bring 10x DON!! cards.
Deck Construction Rules
After opening 6 packs, players build a 40-card deck, and a 10 DON!! card deck. There are no banned or restricted cards, and players can include as many copies of cards with the same card number as they like. (There is no 4-card limit, and 5 or more copies of a card with the same card number can be included in decks.) Any cards left over from deck construction are treated as sideboard cards.
Suggested Match Format
Use a Swiss draw format to match players with the closest win rates.
Sideboard
Cards not used in decks are treated as sideboard cards. In between games, players can exchange cards in their deck with cards in their sideboard. Players can exchange as many cards between deck and sideboard as they like, so long as they have a legal number of cards in their deck.
Special Game Rules
In sealed format games, players can ignore deck color requirements based on their leader. For example, if you are playing with the Red starter deck as your leader, you would be restricted to only having red cards in your deck. However, in sealed, you can use cards of any color in your deck, even though your leader is only Red.
All other card restrictions still apply as normal, including effects listed on leaders that specify names or colors.
Example 1: With your leader as Blue Donquixote Doflamingo, you may search for [The Seven Warlords of the Sea] type of Character cards when triggering his ability.
Example 2: When using the ability of OP01 7-cost Crocodile “Blue Event cards in your hand cost 1 less to play” would only apply to Blue Event cards – This would not apply to Event cards of other colors.
Prizes
Participation
P-096 Girl
Leader Card
OP14-EB04 Release Event Pack
- 2 cards per pack
- 89 types in total
- Release Gold Stamped cards are THE AZURE SEA’S SEVEN [OP14-EB04] Common and Uncommon cards.
Winner
P-096 Girl
Players Application Period
December 26, 2025 onwards Apply here!
Leaders
When selecting a Leader, it’s best to choose one that isn’t limited by specific deck-building requirements or card types. Ideally, your Leader should have abilities that remain useful no matter how your deck ends up. Since players can bring their own Leader to the event, you’re not restricted by the randomness of packs. That said, some stores may require everyone to use the Rainbow Luffy Leader, so be sure to check with the organizer in advance.
Sanji’s effect works only on 8-cost or lower Characters that don’t have an On Play ability, allowing you to give them the Rush keyword the turn they enter play. This creates immediate pressure by letting your Characters attack right away, forcing opponents to use up their Counter cards. Since Vanilla Characters are especially strong in prerelease events, and you’ll likely include as many as possible, Sanji’s effect adds even more value to them, turning your Vanillas into serious threats.
I believe Sanji will be one of the strongest leaders in this format, especially since we have a lot of Vanilla Characters to include in this format.
Jewelry Bonney is a defensive Leader designed to slow down your opponent’s aggression, and she saw success during previous prereleases. Her ability to rest an opposing attacker makes her great for stalling the game, though it requires you to keep 1 DON!! available during your opponent’s turn. However, unlike in OP07, Bonney no longer has access to the same support cards, so her performance will likely be weaker this time around.
Monkey D. Dragon has a solid standalone effect, allowing you to reassign attached DON!! to another Character. This gives you flexibility and helps maximize your offensive potential by enabling more aggressive plays.
Another strong Leader in this format is Eustass “Captain” Kid, known for his ability to attack multiple times. His effect requires 3 DON!! to activate, making it more suited for the late game. When timed well, it allows you to pick off rested Characters, pressure your opponent’s hand by forcing Counter cards, or shift into an aggressive strategy by attacking the opposing Leader directly.
Yamato is one of the best Leaders for applying pressure with Double Attack, enabling aggressive plays regardless of your deck composition. In many cases, Yamato can carry the game on her own. However, Blockers can disrupt your strategy by shutting down your Double Attacks, especially if you don’t have removal options. It’s also worth noting that facing 5-life Leaders can be challenging, as many players will likely favor them in this format
Yamato also gives 2 Rested Don to one of your characters, maximizing the aggressiveness of the deck.
Green Roronoa Zoro’s ability to attack a rested Character and then re-stand for a second attack can go a long way in this format, offering a control option while also pressuring the opponent’s Life cards. However, having to attach 3 Don to Roronoa Zoro to activate this effect can be a bit expensive, especially since we’re trying to develop a board presence.
Other Leaders
These are all strong Leaders with powerful effects that aren’t locked into a specific deck build.
Rainbow Luffy can be a powerful Leader in this format when paired with cards that have restrictions. Those cards can still activate their effects even if they’re designed for a specific Leader type. You gain access to effects normally restricted to specific Leaders or card types, allowing you to make use of powerful abilities that would otherwise be unavailable.
OP14 Leaders
OP14 Leaders aren’t great in the sealed format, but if you’re determined on playing a new Leader, then Mihawk is probably your best deck. He gains a +1,000 Power boost if you’re against a Slash attribute Leader, which means you’re gaining that Power boost against Rainbow Luffy.
Additionally, the ability to set 3 of your Don as Active can come in handy to go for stronger attacks and burn opponents’ Counter resources.
General Tips
- Protecting your rested Characters can go a long way in this format. Removal options are usually limited, so opponents will rely on sheer attacks to win the field.
- Since removal options are limited, Blockers are extremely valuable in this format, taking a hit for you to protect your Life cards or a key rested Character.
- +2,000 Counter Characters are generally good to have in your deck, making it easier to protect yourself from attackers.
- Vanilla high-stat characters are usually not played in the majority of OPTCG decks. However, for this format, big bodies are good. We want to add as many to our deck as possible.
OP14 Cards
- This set doesn’t have a lot of Rush attackers.
- A lot of strong Events to protect from attacks and can also shut down blockers.
- There are a lot of +2,000 Counter cards, so ideally, you’ll want to attack with 5,000 or 7,000 Power attacks.
- Both even and odd cost cards are strong in this set. So, depending on how you build your deck, you’ll choose whether going first or second is best for you.
- Some cards in OP14 are locked to certain Leaders, so playing Rainbow Luffy would unlock those effects and potentially give you an edge.
- A lot of cards that give Active Don in this set, so expect a lot of heavy attacks in the mid-game.
Vanillas
Standard Vanilla
Vanilla cards are excellent in this format; they don’t rely on specific synergies and offer high power for their cost, making them strong, straightforward threats. This set, we have way fewer standard vanilla cards than usual; nonetheless, they’re worth including in your deck if you find them.
+2,000 Vanillas
These are Vanilla Characters with a +2,000 Counter, making them excellent additions to your deck, whether you use them defensively for their Counter effect or play them to build board presence. Compared to standard Vanillas, they trade 1,000 Power for the added Counter value. While that makes them weaker on the field, their higher Counter makes them much more effective at protecting you from attacks. These are all uncommon, so you have good odds of hitting these!
You’ll generally prefer these +2,000 Counter Characters over most effect-based ones, as they offer better overall value, both as defensive options and as solid plays when you need to put them on the field. I’ll feature the other +2,000 Counters later in this guide, and we’ll talk more about them!
Vanilla Stats With Effect
These are Characters with an effect but have the standard Vanilla statline. Naturally, there’s a trade-off—while they offer both solid stats and an effect, they come with no Counter, making them dead cards in hand during your defensive turn. Still, they’re worth including for their strong on-field presence and useful abilities.
- Absalom and Ryuma are solid additions, especially since we don’t have standard vanilla cards to play in the early game. They can cheat out a Character through their Trigger effect, but you would need a {Thriller Bark Pirates} type Character with a cost of 4 or less in the Trash.
- Mr.3 can be tough for opponents to remove by KO as long as you have cards in your trash.
- X.Drake is great for protecting supernova Characters (himself included) from a removal effect, but you are giving your Leader a -2,000 Power, making it vulnerable to attacks. If you attach a Don and go for an attack with X.Drake, you can give a -2,000 Power reduction to an opponent’s Character, perfect for controlling the board. Vergo is somewhat similar, but requires you to return Don for the -2,000 Power reduction on an opponent’s Character, but it is usually worth it if you can threaten to KO it. Issho can also reduce the Power of a Character when he goes for the attack, but you have to attach a Don to him and trash a card from your hand, so it’s a bit costly compared to your other two options.
- Kaido works in Rainbow Luffy, activating his On Play effect by returning 2 Don to gain the Rush keyword and rest one of the opponent’s 7-cost or less Characters. You can go for an attack on the Character to control the field, but Kaido, capable of shutting down a blocker, can be perfect for an aggressive turn. Kaido is almost impossible to remove, so he’s usually staying on the board.
- When rested, Shanks can rest one of the opponent’s 7-cost or less Characters and gives a -1,000 Power reduction to all of the opponent’s Characters during the opponent’s turn, making it harder for them to get attacks through. We want to have Shanks rested on the turn he’s played, so Leader Green Mihawk or Red Sanji would shine with Shanks since they can rest him with their effects.
- If you’re at 10 Don, Jinbe is a great play as a control card, returning one of the opponent’s 7-cost or less Characters to their hand. You’ll almost never get to gain the Rush keyword on Jinbe, but still, the removal effect is good enough.
- Shriyu’s On Play effect is awful if you have cards in your hand. His On Play effect lets you return an opponent’s Character to their hand, but as a drawback, you have to trash all your hand, which in most cases won’t be a great trade off unless your hand is dead.
Blockers
Blockers are incredibly valuable in this format, as most opponents won’t have consistent ways to remove them. This means you can reliably block attacks to protect your Life cards or key rested Characters.
Chump Blockers:
- We’ve got a lot of low-cost chump blockers that can take a hit for us, preventing the opponent from KOing a Character or taking a Life card.
Strong effect Blockers:
- Mr.4(Babe)’s On KO effect lets you add 1 Character card with a type including “Baroque Works” and a cost of 8 or less from your trash to your hand. So it can be worth it for the KO effect if you have multiple Baroque Works in the deck. Mr.5(Gem) is a Baroque Works to synergize with Mr.4, and although Mr.5 has a strong draw effect, it’s extremely difficult to activate in the sealed format.
- Nami is a massive play, capable of resting two of the opponent’s Characters with 8-cost or less, perfect if you’re trying to control the board or remove blockers from the equation.
Synergistic Blockers with Rainbow Luffy:
- Eustass”Captain”Kid works with a Supernova-type Leader, letting you cheat out a 2-cost or less Character from your hand through his On Play effect.
High-power Blockers (6,000+ Power) like Hannyabal, Jinbe, and Rosinante & Law are always excellent choices. They can safely block 5,000 Power attackers and typically require less Counter investment to keep alive compared to taking the hit to your Life.
Control Characters
- 4-cost Perona is a great choice in your deck as she can prevent one of the opponent’s 6-cost or less Characters from attacking on the upcoming turn, weakening their offensive and saving you from expending counter resources.
- 5-cost Perona is somewhat similar, keeping two of the opponent’s 5-cost or less Characters from attacking you. Your opponent isn’t too eager to attack, and KO her, as your On KO effect lets you play a green character with a cost of 5 or less from your hand. This can be consistent depending on how you build your deck, but getting to cheat out a Character and keep board presence is extremely strong.
- Silvers Rayleigh only works with multi-colored Leaders and Rainbow Luffy. Your opponent has to have 3 or less Life cards to activate his effect, letting you KO a Character with a base Power of 7,000. It’s a great way to shift the board presence in your favor and save your attacks for other targets.
Card Value
Cards that give us more value are usually good in this format, as they ensure we don’t fall behind in the late game.
- On KO, Dr. Hogback lets you play 1 Character card with a cost of 4 or less and a [Trigger] from your trash. We have plenty of Trigger cards in OP14, so this effect can come up if your opponent decides to KO Dr. Hogback.
- Monet’s On KO lets you draw 2 cards and trash 1, helping fix your hand. However, if you’re playing Rainbow Luffy or {Donquixote Pirates} type Leader, she will ramp you 1 Active Don, making her an extremely stronger choice to add to your deck.
- If you’re running multiple Baroque Works Characters in your deck, Mr.2 would make sense in your list for his On KO effect to develop a 5-cost Baroque Works Character from your trash to hand.
- Boa Hancock is drawing you two cards and trashing 1 from hand, adding more resources to your hand and filtering for better cards. She’s a Vanilla stat card, perfect to add to your deck.
Strong Cards to Consider
- Kin’emon is setting 3 of your Don as Active, letting you use that Don for Events or to go for higher Power attacks. Since Kin’emon’s On KO effect lets you rest an opponent’s card, like Don, Character, or even their Leader, they’re usually not too thrilled about attacking him.
- You can pump Tashigi by 2,000 Power, making her a stronger attacker and a tougher Character to remove. The Power boost, along with her protection effect, will force opponents to ignore her.
- If you have 7 or more cards in your trash, Miss Doublefinger(Zala) will gain a permanent +1,000 Power boost, basically a 5-cost, 7,000 Power Character.
- Cavendish can be used as a win condition in the late-game if you need a Rush attacker.
- Roronoa Zoro and Trafalgar Law are high Power Rush attackers, and in a sealed format, Rush Characters are almost always valuable to get immediate value from your play. Zoro can give a -1,000 Power reduction when he goes for the attack, which comes in handy if you’re trying to KO a rested Character. As for Law, his Power swap effect can be used defensively to protect your Leader from an attack and can even be used to protect your rested character from a high-power attacker. However, you have to trash 2 cards to activate this effect, so you’ll likely trash dead cards in the late-game to defend your Life cards.
- Dracule Mihawk is a late-game defensive play. During the opponent’s turn, Mihawk lets you trash a card from your hand to give your Leader or one of your Characters a +2,000 Power boost, perfect for making use of dead cards. When you rest Mihawk, 1 of your opponent’s Characters with a cost of 9 or less cannot be rested until the end of their turn. Usually, in Green Mihawk, we can use this effect immediately on the turn he’s played, but with other Leaders, we’ll have to wait until 9-cost Mihawk attacks, which is still worth it, as the effect is too strong to pass.
+2,000 Counters
In OP14, we have access to a wide range of +2,000 Counter Characters. In most cases, these cards are included primarily for their Counter value, helping you shut down incoming attacks and defend key turns. However, we’ll usually favor the Vanilla +2,000 Counter Characters over most of these.
Megalo has an extremely strong control effect, letting you KO an 8,000 Power Character if it’s rested. You’re paying 4 Don to remove a win condition on the opponent’s side.
Another strong 2k Counter is Kouzuki Oden, he’s a 5,000 Power Character that gains +2,000 Power boost during the opponent’s turn if he’s rested. This makes it exceptionally hard for the opposing player to attack and KO him.
Rainbow Luffy Synergy
- If you’re on Rainbow Luffy or Green Mihawk, Coffin Boat is great to thin your deck, and it will give you an Active Don at the end of your turn, making it easier for you to play Counter events. Multiple cards in OP14 require you to rest cards to activate their effects, so Coffin Boat can be a target for them.
- Ran attached a rested Don to your {Kuja Pirates} type Leader or Character. So it works with your Rainbow Luffy, setting up stronger attacks.
- If you’re on Rainbow Luffy and you’re lucky enough to pull Boa Hancock, she’s an immediate inclusion in your deck. She’s giving you a Life card and forcing the opponent to take their top Life card and add it to their hand, making it easier for you to start planning a winning turn.
- You can play King outside of Rainbow Luffy. He’s a 6-cost 7,000 Power Character that’s tough to remove and can gain Rush from the Red Sanji Leader. However, if you’re playing Rainbow Luffy or {Animal Kingdom Pirates} type Leader, you benefit from the ramp 2 Don effect. If you drop King on 6 Don, you’ll be at 10 Don on your upcoming turn. A lot of cards in OP14 force you to deramp Don to activate their effects, so King is perfect to mitigate that.
- Fish Tiger is a consideration to play, drawing you 3 cards through his On Play effect.
- If you have multiple Baroque Works Characters in the deck, you can add Ms. All Sunday to go wide on the board.
- Donquixote Doflamingo can be played outside of Rainbow Luffy, but you are stuck with his second effect only, letting you keep 3 of the opponent’s 7-cost or less Characters from attacking you on the upcoming turn. However, if you’re on Rainbow Luffy or a Donquixote Pirates type Leader, you can KO an 8-cost or less Character.
Events
We don’t have to include Events for our deck to perform well, but running two or three events could still be beneficial.
Counter Events
This set offers access to several powerful Counter Events, some of which can protect us from an attack or help control the board. It’s important not to include too many, as our main goal is to consistently develop the board. Prioritize Characters that help you maintain pressure and presence on the field while using Events as support tools, not the core of your strategy.
- Time for the Counterattack is a counter event that can give your Leader or one of your characters a +4,000 Power boost to protect you from an attack. However, there has to be an 8,000 Power or more Character in play to activate this event, so there is a chance it might end up a dead card, but in most cases, you or your opponent will have a high Power Character in the late game.
- Strive to Surpass me, Roronoa Zoro!!! is another Event that gives a +4,000 Power boost, but you have to rest one of your cards to activate it. You can rest a Don card or one of your Characters to get off the +4,000 Power.
- You’ll Frighten Me… is great for the late game when you’re at 2 Life cards or less. For 1 Don, you can prevent one of the opponent’s Characters from attacking, weakening the opponent’s offensive turn.
- Ground Death’s Main effect lets you negate an opponent’s Character, usually useful to shut down a blocker. It can be played for its Counter effect, giving your Leader or one of your Characters a +4,000 Power boost. However, to activate this effect, you need to have 10 or more cards in your trash, which means you’ll only be using it in the late-game.
- Flame Dragon Torch is another +4,000 Power boost Counter event. If you have a Kaido in play, like the 7-cost Kaido, or Rainbow Luffy, you can give them a +3,000 Power boost and rest an opponent’s Character regardless of its cost.
Control Events
- For Fun can be used for its control effect, resting 3 cards to KO a rested Character with a base Power of 7,000. We can also use For Fun for its Counter effect, giving our Leader a +3,000 Power boost.
- I Never Bother to Remember the Faces of Trash draws you a card and rests one of the opponent’s Characters with a base Power of 7,000. It’s usually good if you want to attack and KO that Character or if your opponent has a blocker in play and you’re trying to get through to their Leader. It can also be used as a Counter event to give your Leader +3,000.
Rainbow Luffy Events
- Ice Time only works with Navy type Leaders, preventing two of the opponent’s 10,000 Power or less characters from attacking you on the upcoming turn. It’s a great play in the late-game to slow the opponent’s offense, buying you an additional turn to set a winning play.
- Bullet String requires a {Donquixote Pirates} type Leader to activate, giving your Leader or one of your Characters a +2,000 Power for the battle and another +2,000 Power for the whole turn.
How to build the deck
It’s important to make sure your deck has a smooth curve. Once you’ve added your Blockers, Vanillas, +2,000 Counter cards, and late-game win conditions, take a step back and review your list. You want to ensure you can develop on the board every turn after Turn 1 (if you’re going second). We don’t want to end up with a bunch of unplayable cards in hand and be forced into an awkward turn that puts us behind.
Your turn order should also match your deck’s curve. For example:
- If you’re running a lot of 4-cost and 6-cost Vanillas, going second lets you start playing them right away.
- If your deck leans more on 3-cost, 5-cost, and 7-cost Characters, then going first is usually the better choice.
Also, be careful not to overload your deck with cards that have no Counter value. Running too many of them can make it difficult to defend against attacks, leaving you vulnerable and incapable of defending a rested Character or your Life card.
Practice
You can use a pack-opening simulator here.
Closing Words
A pre-release sealed event is a fun and exciting way to play the One Piece card game, and the prizes are often quite valuable. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the cards before the event; it’ll make deckbuilding easier and help you play more effectively during matches!
This is it from me, I wish the best for your event, good luck! If you want to keep up with my content, consider following me on Twitter or BlueSky.
