I Wish I Played Law More In OP03 (Robin vs. Vista & Film Brook? + Thoughts of Law in OP04) (Patreon)

As OP03 comes to a close, and before I shift into OP04, I believe it's important for me to share my recent experiences with Law. Honestly, if I had given Law a fair shot after the restriction list, I likely would've played it for the majority of OP03.

( https://twitter.com/Cross_Aii/status/1698149272708124991?s=20 )

This was my final result for OP03, I played in Pasadena and ended Top 64 at 6-3 (my breakers were insane, but it makes sense, because I played against a bunch of people I played in previous tournaments or who know the content, so very strong players for sure).

Not the craziest result, but similar to Gen Con, the experience was extremely informative! It gave me a lot of ideas on how I should modify my Law deck going into the future. None of my loss were blowouts(except the last game against Whitebeard, where I just didn't see anything, but it was a homie from the Discord, so I'm happy for him!)

The main things I learned from this tournament are:

• Any Law deck can perform well(Vista, Film Brook, or Neither) if the variance is good enough, but the best Law deck to take, and whether to include Vista vs. Robin, or Hawkins vs. Luffy, is highly dependent on meta expectations - This is something I didn't fully understand before, because I understood that it was possible to make different styles of Law decks that have the potential to beat anything, but I didn't realize that it's important to get an edge where I can, if I can realistically much more of a certain matchup than others(Such as me playing 5 Whitebeards)!
• The truth behind Robin vs. Vista
• The Ups and Downs of Film Brook
• The Future of Starter Nami in Law

Some very important stuff I learned in general from my tournament experience this season(Gen Con, Online, Florida, Pasadena) is that:

• My testing is extremely ineffective - I learn an overwhelming amount of content from the various people I play with and speak to, but I fail to properly test against the stuff I need to be worried about the most. For example, I'll get 5 wins in a row against Yellow and assume I'm locked in, even if deep down I know I need a bigger sample size to confirm what's going on. This is something I'm going to be very attentive of going into the future, I have to understand that I need a big enough sample size, and that I also can't win every single matchup(unless I'm Law or Zoro and draw good enough lol)
• My Ignorance - Tbh I think this is something that most TCG players have to some extent, like some people refuse to test certain cards, or others think that certain decks can never be good without giving it a chance. In my case it's blissful ignorance. This goes hand-in-hand with my first point, where I'll test something out a few times, do well, and try to move on, even if I know it isn't or may not be the truth. This is especially true for my Zoro and Law, where my decklists going into tournament would have been slightly stronger, had I tested out some of my concepts more, rather than just allowing them to sound perfect in my head.

This is still my first card game going to tournaments (aside from Buddyfight when I was like 12 LMAO), so it's personally important for me to continue to optimize my tournament experience.

Luffy is Law's Peak (Luffy vs. Hawkins)

This card has been absolutely essential to my recent Law experience! Luffy being Red, having Rush, Being Red, and avoiding blockers is seriously too strong.

Until recently, people have seemed to prefer Hawkins because:

• a.) Better at clearing board (Less necessary, now that 3-4 Restand Law is the Norm)
• b.) More Red Units in the deck(More consistent to shambles out)

These are some beautiful positives, but people fail to see the negatives of Basil Hawkins

• Slash (Can't Kill Buggy)
• Can't bring Bonney back to hand(Bonney is the card we use to search Hawkins)
• No Counter & Lack of Rush(This is really bad against Zoro, and bad against Rebecca in OP04)

Honestly, I can take the L behind not being able to kill Buggy. But not being able to return the searcher you searched Hawkins with, back to hand, makes using Law's leader skill for Hawkins extremely awkward. Hawkins also generally being a bad play against Zoro, makes an already rough matchup, even rougher.

While Luffy can't clear blockers as efficiently as Hawkins, lets look at Luffy's benefits:

• Unblockable & Rush (This card can close out games against decks with a billion blockers, including the mirror!)
  Strike (This card can clear Buggy, and due to Rush, you can attack Buggy on the same turn you play it!)
  Double Searchable (Can be seen from Nami and Bonney, and raises the overall search targets for both)
• Can Return Bonney to Hand(This is the greatest benefit, because once we don't search Blocker Law, sometimes we have to shambles Bonney, and play nothing or a weak card. But with Luffy we can field a 6K attacker, while protecting Bonney)
• "6k Leader" - If we attack with this card at the right timing, we can rush attack with it, and the opponent either can't respond to it, or we're defending a 6K unit for the turn!

Luffy isn't as dominating of a board clearer as Hawkins, but it's convenience to play, being able to clear Buggy, and having rush is just too strong. It's unblockable ability is also one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen. Law, Rebecca, Green, etc. can be posted up with 20 blockers, and you just bypass them and win the game.

When to play What Law Build?

Film Brook Law

(Film Brook Law Ft. Robin - Robin is strong in the mirror, stronger than Vista against Whitebeard, playable from Brook, and you can take the Turn 2 Fire Fist Gamble against Zoro)

(Film Brook Law Ft. 3 ST Zoro, I believe ST Zoro is the strongest card against Zoro! If you shambles in ST Zoro from Blocker Law, is it very difficult for Zoro to deal with two 6K attackers side-by-side. 2 Rush Luffy is also very strong for dealing with Buggy, and returning Bonney to hand)

Film Brook Law is one of the strongest versions of Law against Zoro!  Rather than focusing on clearing the weenies of the opponent's board, we focus more on fielding powerful attackers and rushing Zoro to death.

Unlike the Vista version, I think the aggression of this build, thanks to the inclusion of Film Brook. is one of the strongest elements. But it's worse than Vista version at dealing with utility units  like Gordon and Blamenco.

*This is the build I would have been most likely to take in OP03, since I never played against more than 2 Zoros, and I think Film Brook is greater than Vista against Black, Whitebeard, etc.

VISTA Law

(In contrast to my last article, I now believe Film Brook and Vista should not be in the same deck, they both server to counter Zoro in different ways. Robin is significiantly better in Film Brook builds because it is an attacker that supports Film Brook's aggro plan. Meanwhile Vista aims for a control plan, where we play Law like we normally would, but we aim destroy the opponent's board with Vista, so we take less damage from weenies.)

Vista Law is the other strongest version of Law against Zoro! As I mention in the decklist description, Vista helps deal with the weenies on the opponent's board. Being able to pop Buggy is convenient, because there few attackers that can take Buggy. Destroying attackers in general is also nice, because we are able to keep more 1K/2K counters in our hand.

Another huge benefit is being able to destroy Blamenco/Gordon, the opponent either can't get value from their Blamenco, or they may get punished for playing Gordon on curve.

The biggest incentive for Film Brook build over this build, is that Film Brook is way better into other matchups, such as Whitebeard. But if I expected myself to play against 3+ Zoro in tournament, then I would like to play Vista build the most(unless Blamenco/Gordon is unpopular).

Standard Law

This version of Law is slightly weaker against Zoro, but overall sees greater awareness against the majority of other matchups. Rather than having FIlm Brook or Vista, this list features more defense, in the form of 10 2Ks, 3 Defensive Events, and 2-3 Bege.

----------------------

Thoughts on Law in OP04

These seem to be the new leaders for OP04, and my current opinion is:

• Gurple Doflamingo - Advantageous (Thank you Luffy)
• Blue/Yellow Queen - Advantageous (Thank you Sanji)
• Blue/Black Rebecca - Disadvantageous

These are my current takes on Law's position against these new decks, so given these advnatageous matchups, and on top of all the other advantageous matchups, I think Law will still be one of the best decks in OP04.

Rebecca is bound to be very popular, but thanks to it's sketchy matchups into Yellow/Crocodile, Law has a real change to dodge Rebecca, or not play against many Rebeccas. Rebecca also takes a lot of skill to take, so there is the possibility that after people realize this, it will fall in popularity, due to the average player's lack of performance with Rebecca.

Aside from avoiding Rebecca and Rebecca potentially losing popularity quickly after release, it is very possible to play Red/Green Law if you play cards like Sanji, Luffy, (and maybe Film Brook)! I will talk about this more in a future Law article.

--------------------

This is it for the article for now. I am very excited to be back on Red/Green Law, and can't wait to start cooking with it next format.

As always, if you liked the article, like it so others know to read it. OP04 content coming very soon. And with that being said, I will catch y'all in the next one, peace.