Howdy! Red Blue Marco is one of the new Leaders in OP08 meta and he’s showing potential, winning first place in a Singaporean tournament.
I wrote this guide to help you learn how to play the deck! Follow our Twitter account if you’re enjoying the content.
1xOP08-002
2xOP01-006
2xOP02-004
4xOP02-008
3xOP02-013
4xOP02-018
2xOP03-003
4xOP03-013
4xOP08-118
3xOP06-119
4xOP07-053
4xOP08-044
4xOP08-045
4xOP08-052
2xOP01-029
2xOP02-021
2xOP04-016
We need to give Marco 1 Don to activate his effect, drawing us a card, but we have to put 1 card from our hand on the top or bottom of our deck. Then we get to give one of the opponent’s characters -2k, making it easier for us to attack and KO them. The Don we’re giving to Marco means we get to attack for 6,000 Power
Let’s talk about the first effect first. We’re mainly interested in Marco‘s ability to put a card at the top or bottom of the deck, giving us the ability to control our next draws. We want to run cards that can take advantage of that effect, so 5-cost Ace and 9-cost Sanji are perfect. The effect is also good to filter our hand, and put cards we don’t want at the bottom of the deck.
As for the Power reduction, it can make it can put certain characters in range for your Characters with KO removals.
Early Game
Searcher
The majority of our deck runs {Whitebeard Pirates} cards, so Izo is a perfect early-game searcher to look at the top 5 cards in the deck and find what we need to set up our future turns.
4-costs
4c Thatch and 4c Marco are Characters we’re looking to play on our turn 2 if we’re going second. They’re both 5,000 Power attackers that play a role in putting a threat on the board.
If Thatch were to be KO’d or removed from play, you’d draw a card, giving you back a resource. As for Marco, he’s just a nuisance and difficult for opponents to remove through KOing. You can bring him back on the board by trashing a “Whitebeard Pirates” from your hand, keeping you from losing board presence.
Although Jozu and Kingdew are useful as +2,000 Counter, they are still a threat if played on the board, and they’re {White Pirates} so we can find them through our searcher. Jozu can gain Rush if you’re down to 2 Life Cards, going for the attack on the same turn he’s played and forcing Counter plays from the opponent.
Kingdew can boost his Power by +2,000, becoming a 6,000 Power attacker. One extra Don on him will make him a 7,000 attacker, forcing 2 card Counters to protect from the attack.
5-costs
Similar to the 4-cost Marco, the 5-cost Marco is just as annoying to remove off the board. On Play, he can KO a 3,000 Power or less character, combined with Leader effect, you can now KO a 5,000 Power character. If the opponent managed to KO Marco, you can trash 1 Event to replay him on the board rested.
Blocker Ace filters our hand, drawing two cards and trashing two. We want to trash cards we don’t expect to play on the upcoming turns.
As for our other Porgas.D.Ace, we want to play him when we have 6 Don to make use of his ability. Using Leader ability, we’ll put one of our 4-cost Characters at the top of our deck and then play 6-cost Portgas.D.Ace for his On Play effect, letting us look at the top card in our deck (Which we already know what card it’ll be) and play it on the board. We’re basically developing two Characters in one turn, going aggressive in the middle game as we set up for our later turns.
Ace Rusher
Since Leader Marco is a {Whitebeard Pirated} 7-cost Ace gains Rush and can immediately go for the attack on the turn he’s played. He’s also dropping the Power of two characters by 3k, making it easier for you to KO them if they’re rested.
Late Game Combo
9-cost Sanji is the strongest play in this deck which we’ll be aiming to set up. We have to wait until 10 Don, give 1 Don to Leader, and put one of our high-cost Characters at the top of our deck. So cards like Silvers Rayleigh, Edward.Newgate, or Portgas.D.Ace would be ideal cards for the combo.
We then play Sanji, look at the top card in our deck (which will be the card we placed through Leader effect), and play it. In one turn, we’re developing two big bodies on the board, and we want the second body to have an On Play effect to help us survive the upcoming turn until the carries start swinging.
Carry Targets
Silvers Rayleigh is a great choice especially when combined with Leader effect’s Power reduction. On play he’ll lower one of the Power of one of the opponent’s Characters by -3k and another by -2k. Putting a 5k Power Character in range for his KO effect. If we use Leader effect, we’re now putting a 7k Power Character in range for Silvers Rayleigh to KO.
The Power Reduction by Silvers Rayleigh sticks during your opponent’s turn, potentially shutting down one of their Characters from attacking or making it easier for you to Counter the attack.
Edward.Newgate gives our Leader +2k Power until our next turn, boosting our attack and making it difficult for opponents to set up an aggressive upcoming turn. His KO effect can later find use in future turns, especially with Leader Marco‘s Power reduction effect.
Events
Radical Beam and Bad Manners Kick Course are to be used for protection from attackers. If we’re low on health, Radical Beam gives an additional +2K Power, making it our strongest defensive card.
Seaquake is for board control, with Leader Marco‘s effect we can lower the power of one of the characters and KO them with Seaquake. We can deal with higher-cost cards using 7-cost Ace.
Turn-Based Gameplay
Going First
- Turn 1 (1 Don): Izo searcher
- Turn 2 (3 Don): 8k attack their Leader
- Turn 3 (5 Don): 5-cost Marco or 5-cost Blocker Ace.
- Turn 4 (7 Don): The best play is 2 Don Leader and put a 4-cost on top of the deck, then play 5-cost Ace to play the top card in the deck.
or play any of your other 5-cost or 7-cost Ace. - Turn 5 (9 Don): Edward Newgate or 1 Don Leader and Silvers Rayleigh.
- Turn 6 (10 Don): 1 Don Leader + Sanji Combo.
Going Second (We want to go Second)
- Turn 1 (2 Don): Izo searcher
- Turn 2 (4 Don): 4-cost Character Marco or Thatch.
- Turn 3 (6 Don): The best play is 1 Don Leader and put a 4-cost on top of the deck, then play 5-cost Ace to play the top card in the deck.
Or play any of your other 5-cost - Turn 4 (8 Don): Silvers Rayleigh for board control.
- Turn 5 (10 Don): 1 Don Leader + Sanji Combo.
Other Cards
- Namule is an early blocker that draws two cards and lets us choose whether we want to put the two cards we return at the top or bottom of the deck. This lets us create an opportunity to play Sanji on Don 9 without relying on Leader effect.
- Blue Edward Newgate is a powerhouse with his 12,000 Power attack. He can shut down all opponents’ characters from attacking unless they discard two cards.
- Gravity Blade Raging Tiger for board control to remove two characters.