Yellow Enel received new cards in the EB02 expansion, giving the deck a boost in the new meta. This deck will likely become a top contender in OP10, and it’s already performing in local tournaments on the first week of the EB02 release.
This deck plays defensively, controlling the field and stretching the game until your opponent runs out of steam. With how Leader Enel‘s effect works, it can be tough for most decks to create a winning turn, having to develop multiple Characters to unleash a barrage of attacks just to have a shot at bypassing the Enel extra Life card effect.
Leader
Yellow Enel wants to play a slow game, taking things to the late stages and running opponents out of resources. Once per turn, during your opponent’s turn, if you fall to 0 Life cards, Leader Enel‘s effect will activate, letting you trash 1 card from your hand to add the top card in your deck to your Life area.
This gives your Leader more protection and you can trash a card you don’t need to probably get a better card from the top of your deck in your Life area. A lot of times you want to fall to 0 Life cards to activate the Leader effect, getting better cards and more Trigger effects will play into your gameplan.
But it’s important to watch out for how many attacks the opponent still has. Most of the time, you don’t want to start your turn with 0 Life cards, and you don’t want to feel forced to commit too many Counters to save your last Life card after your Leader Enel has attacked.
Yellow Enel Decklist
How to Play
Early Attacker
4-cost Basil Hawkins is an early development to have a Character on the field capable of attacking an opponent’s rested Character, helping you control the field. When KO’d, Basil Hawkins trashes one of the opponent’s Life cards, putting them lower on resources and making it easier for you to set up the winning turn.
Blockers
2-cost Shirahoshi is a low-cost blocker to protect your Leader from an attacker. If she’s KO’d through an opponent’s effect, you’ll gain a Life card. So in most cases, opponents will ignore her, allowing you to block one attack of your choosing. This makes it even harder for them to set up a winning turn and go through your Leader Enel‘s effect.
As for 5-cost Sanji, he’s a 6,000 Power Blocker that you want to play when you’re down to 2 Life cards or less. On Play, Sanji will draw you 2 cards and trashes 1 card from your hand, only if your Leader has 2 Life cards or less. So you’re gaining a Blocker who can be used offensively, gaining 2 cards in your hand, and trashing the card you need the least from your hand.
Control Cards
Control cards are an important part of Yellow Enel’s game plan. For opponents to go through your Leader effect and set up a winning turn, they need to develop multiple attackers. Your job isn’t to fully wipe out their field, but more or less, weaken it, giving them less attackers to strike your Leader. This makes it difficult for them to present a meaningful threat on your Leader and will eventually run out of steam.
Nami requires you to trash a Trigger card from your hand to activate her effect, and since the Yellow Enel list is full of cards with a Trigger effect, it won’t be tough to use Nami to her full potential.
Nami trashes a Trigger card from your hand to KO one of the opponent’s Characters with a 5-cost or less. If you have 3 cards or less in your hand, you can draw a card. So if you have 5 cards, play Nami and trash a card, you’ll go down to 3 cards, allowing you to draw a card. The card draw is huge since you’re not losing on resources, filtering your hand for better cards, and weakening the opponent’s side of the field.
8-cost Charlotte Katakuri‘s On Play effect lets you add 1 Character with a cost of 8 or less to the top or bottom of the owner’s Life area face-up. This can remove one of the opponent’s Characters from play, and although you’re giving them a Life card, it does weaken the field presence. However, 8-cost Katakuri can also place one of your Characters in your Life area. This gives you an extra Life card to protect your Leader and if you pick a card with a Trigger effect like 5-cost Nami, you’ll have a removal option once the opponent damages your Leader.
Damned Punk looks at the top cards of your opponent’s Life Area, giving you information and allowing you to move it to the bottom of their Life cards, preventing them from getting access to it immediately when their Leader is damaged. Then, Damned Punk can KO one of the opponent’s Characters with a cost of 5 or less, helping your opponent’s aggression.
Kingdom Come is a control event, KOing one of the opponent’s Characters for 6 Don. You want to use this card to remove a high-cost Character that can be problematic if left in play. Kingdom Come has a downside though, when activated, it’ll trash your Life cards until there’s 1 Left. So you usually play it in the late game when you have 1 Life card left so you don’t lose any resources. You can activate it at 2 Life cards and trash 1 card if it’s worth removing the opponent’s Character.
Its Trigger effect KO’s one of the opponent’s Characters with a cost equal to or less than the total of your and your opponent’s Life cards, so similar to Yamato‘s effect. If there’s a Character worth KOing without having to spend Don, then you want to make use of that Trigger effect.
Late-Game Plays
All your late-game Characters give your Leader a Life card. This is an important effect as it forces your opponent to commit an additional attack to win the game, and it adds more card resources to your hand helping you Counter an attack. On top of that, if your Leader is down to 0 Life cards during your turn, you need to gain a Life card or you won’t be able to activate your Leader effect during your upcoming turn, so Yamato, Portgas D. Ace, and Enel are crucial to maintain a strong late-game.
9-cost Yamato can give you an extra Life card only when your Leader is at 0 or 1 Life card, adding more protection that your opponent has to go through. On top of that, Yamato can KO one of the opponent’s Characters with a cost equal to or less than the total of your and your opponent’s Life cards.
Since Yamato‘s KO effect activates before adding a Life card, that added Life card won’t count toward her KO effect. You can KO a 4-cost Character if you’re at 1 Life card and your opponent is at 3. This in itself is great value, lowering the number of attackers your opponent has. In some cases, you’ll play Yamato even if you’re at 2 Life cards. You won’t gain a Life card, but you can still KO a Character and have a big body in play to attack on the upcoming turn.
10-cost Ace gives you a Life card when he’s played, but will only gain Rush if you’re at 2 Life cards. So you have to be at 0 or 1 Life card when playing Ace to gain Rush. If you’re at 2 Life cards, you have to decide which is more beneficial, the extra Life card or the Rush attack, depending on the state of the game. You can choose not to gain a Life card with a 10-cost Ace, to gain Rush, and attack with him to either knock out a Character or put pressure on the Leader.
As for 10-cost Enel, if your Leader has the {Sky Island} type, he’ll gain Rush. This means we’ll always have Rush on Enel when he’s played, allowing us to use the 11,000 Power to either KO a rested Character or go for a Leader attack.
Enel also has a “When Attacking” effect, trashing a card from your hand to give you a Life card, only if you have 1 Life card or less. So it can be a bit restrictive, but even without gaining a Life card, the Rush attack is worth it. Activating this effect will also give Enel +1,000 Power, turning him into a 12,000 Power attacker.
Events
You’re the One Who Should Disappear is a Counter Event that lets you trash a card from your hand to give your Leader or a Character +3,000 Power. Its Trigger effect is extremely strong during your defensive turn. If it’s the last card in your Life Area, you can activate the Trigger effect to gain an extra Life card, forcing more attacks from the opposing player to win the game.
Two-Hundred Million Volts Amaru is used aggressively to rest one of the opponent’s 4-cost or less Characters and gain +3,000 Power. You can use it to KO a Character or to attack the opponent’s Leader by resting one of their blockers. The trigger effect trashes two 2 cards from your hand to gain 1 Life card from the top of your deck.
+2,000 Counters
All these Characters have a +2,000 Counter effect, so can be used to protect your Leader or Characters. However, they also have another use, depending on the game. Charlotte Flampe can be played to self-damage your Leader and draw an extra card. This is useful in slow matchups where the opponent is refusing to attack your Leader.
Capone”Gang”Bege‘s Trigger effect shuts down one of the opponent’s Leader or Character cards from attacking. This can be insanely good in the late game when the opponent is trying to win the game.
X.Drake can rest one of the opponent’s Characters with a cost of 4 or less, preferably a blocker to give you an opportunity to attack the opponent’s Leader. However, although not common, you can use it to target a 4-cost Character and control the field.
Mulligan
- You want to have a good early hand like Nami, Bassil Hawkins, or Damned Punk so you don’t get aggroed down.
- Late-game plays like Katakuri, Yamato, Ace, and Enel are good to have in your hand. If you’re going second, you’ll want Katakuri for turn 4 play. Going first means we want Yamato as a turn 5 play.
Turn-Based Gameplay
Going First
- Turn 1 (1 Don): Charlotte Flampe for the card draw, only if you’re not against a deck that can aggro you down.
- Turn 2 (3 Don): 2-cost Shirahoshi.
- Turn 3 (5 Don): Nami, Sanji, or Basil Hawkins.
- Turn 4 (7 Don): Nami, Sanji, or Damned Punk.
- Turn 5 (9 Don): Yamato or Charlotte Katakuri.
- Turn 6 (10 Don): Portgas D. Ace or Enel.
Going Second
- Turn 1 (2 Don): 2-cost Shirahoshi.
- Turn 2 (4 Don): Basil Hawkins.
- Turn 3 (6 Don): Nami, Sanji, or Damned Punk.
- Turn 4 (8 Don): Charlotte Katakuri.
- Turn 5 (10 Don): Yamato, Portgas D. Ace or Enel.
Other Cards to Include
- 5-cost Shirahoshi is a value Character, best for her Trigger effect so you don’t spend any Don to play her. You can also play 8-cost Katakuri to place her in your Life Area and activate her Trigger effect.
- UUUUUS! looks at the top 4 cards in your deck and lets you add one of them to your hand with a cost of 4 or more. This thins your deck and ensures you have a late-game play to make. Its Trigger effect allows you to activate its effect without having to use Don.
- 5-cost Monkey.D.Luffy is tied to the number of Life cards you have left. So falling to two Life cards is usually fine to make sure you can activate his effect. You can play Luffy and trash him to KO a 4-cost Character and draw a card. So you’re not losing on resources, while your opponent is losing a Character in play.
- 5-cost Gedatsu is usually the first play you’ll make to KO one of the opponent’s Characters, slowing down their mid-game immensely. His KO effect is tied to the number of the opponent’s Life cards. Gedatsu can KO a Character with a cost equal to or less than the number of the opponent’s Life cards. So if you have a Gedatsu in your hand, you’ll often avoid attacking the opponent’s Leader to preserve their Life cards and KO the Character they play.
- 7-cost Enel is a Rush attacker that can be tough for opponents to remove. When KO’d or removed, you can trash the top card in your Life area to keep Enel in play. A lot of times, you want to activate the effect to keep Enel in play, making sure you have an attacker for the upcoming turn. However, if there’s a threat of losing the game if you trash a Life card, you’ll have to sacrifice 7-cost Enel.
