OP04.75 Meta Analysis (Magellan, R/P Law, etc.) by Kai (Patreon)

Hi there.

It’s me, Kai, on Cross’ Patreon. Isn’t that crazy.

Bet you didn’t see this coming.

And right before 4 new bans/restrictions drop in the English format too. Isn’t that good timing.

As this Patreon has been articles exclusively from Cross up until this point, I would like to first take some time to introduce myself to those who do not know me.

I am Kai “Kai” Weiss. I go by Kai on Twitter, and you can find me at @ikailakai. I am a half Japanese One Piece Card (OPTCG) player with next to no card game history outside of OPTCG, playing in Tokyo, Japan.

However, despite this, being surrounded by Top level Yugioh players, Pokemon players, DuelMasters Players, Zenonzard players, etc, that have played card games for 10+ years, I have been gifted opportunities by living in Tokyo to learn from people like にゃお, あーる, FOREST, 猫まる, Takuya, うぃんだ, しゅま, and many more people who range from Championship Winners, to people who leave an exceptional amount of results in unofficial tournaments, all the way to trolls who pretend to be bad at the game, but crush me every time it matters.

As someone who only started playing card games competitively from OPTCG, I needed to take in a tremendous amount of game theory and logic to catch up to these terrifying Yugioh players. Thousands of hours of research, talking, asking, playing, and thinking has brought me to where I am today. My goal is to translate the knowledge I have gained from all of the people I have met in Japan to a single cornucopia of knowledge in English on this Patreon. I hope to bring my unique perspective as someone who started at zero the same way that many people who started this game do and bring everyone to a higher level together. This will range from guides on specific decks, predictions on meta progression, recaps on Japanese meta, all the way to theory in OPTCG that edges out that extra 1% chance of winning in a game.

I am still learning, and I want you to be on this journey with me. Remember that just because someone has played more than you, it doesn’t mean that they’re better. The information to get better is all out there, but it can be difficult to get if you don’t live in a competitive area. If you just know the correct way to think, or build your deck, or practice, you will become better. The information is all out there, and I’m going to bring it to you straight from the best region in the world.

Many thanks to Cross for this opportunity. And many thanks to you, our Patron for making this possible. I promise to keep putting out high quality content to make this the best OPTCG Patreon on the internet. The content will be beginner friendly, but hopefully also useful to higher level players, so if you have a friend who wants to get into optcg, we will make it our goal to have a concentrated library of knowledge for anyone to immediately pick up the game and start thinking winning.

On to the article.

Introduction

The very first article I wrote was on the restrictions in OP03, and how I think the meta could change. As such, my first article on Patreon, will be my predictions on OP04.5 with the restrictions.

For those who are reading my articles for the first time, this is my system:

In articles where I present multiple leaders, I will present a ‘Template Deck.’ A template deck is a set of 50 cards that will not fail you, but are not necessarily the best 50 cards for the current meta, as the meta will keep changing. I present a Template Deck with a few cards that can be interchanged based on the meta, to enable the articles to not age poorly. This way, you can refer back to these articles for more ideas especially when the meta changes for ways to adapt your deck to you personally, and to the local meta around you.

In this guide, I will be discussing the impact of the new cards that are to be banned on 2023, November 10 in the English format, what decks might come up to take some old King’s seats, a template list for each deck, pros and cons, strengths and weakness, etc, of each deck. This article should act as a meta pre-read to get you ready for the big changes coming at the end of the English OP04, so you are prepared to make the strongest deck in this mysterious brief interstice between sets, and be prepared for other people’s ideas too.

This Unique Interstice

Cards have been banned before. Although it is rare, there have been 2 times where multiple cards have been banned after being deemed problematic.

The first time, on April 1st, 2023, Japan, OP02-052 Cabaji and OP02-024 Moby Dick were banned. The English format followed suit and even banned these cards preemptively during OP02 as Whitebeard was more of a problem overseas than in Japan.

The second time, on July 28, 2023, English Format Only, OP02-004 Edward Newgate, OP02-018 Marco, and OP01-029 Radical Beam!! were restricted to 1 copy per deck. In my first article on the restrictions, I explained why the distinction between banning a card and restricting was important. However, as you surely now know experiencing Whitebeard, I will not go into great detail on this. Not only were all 3 of these cards still used, but the main perpetrator for this restriction, Whitebeard, remained the strongest deck in the format. I do not work with Bandai, so I do not know the philosophy behind when a card is banned, or restricted. However, it feels like Bandai was trying to be careful with not damaging the value of some of the cards in light of the restrictions with the clause ‘don’t worry it’s still usable, just only at 1.’

Ironically with these restrictions aimed at Whitebeard, all it did was ban the only deck that could keep an aggro focused Whitebeard in check. This being pure Whitebeard with 4 9cost Edward Newgate. The reason why Strawbeard, or Whitebeard + 5 Luffy was never seen in Japan is not because we didn’t test it, it’s because it could not beat pure Whitebeard. It was very well known in Japan that Strawbeard could beat most of the top meta decks, but it could not beat the best deck, and thus, the presence was effectively zero. As pure Whitebeard was taken out of the meta forcefully on July 28th, the only massive counter to aggro Whitebeard was lost. With aggro Whitebeard’s only bad matchup gone, it ironically created the strongest deck in the English format, more problematic that Whitebeard ever was before.

This is why whilst you would see Whitebeard at the top of usage in Japan, it was not necessarily the top in terms of wins. This title belonged to Rebecca in OP04 in Japan. Thanks to Whitebeard defending against the oppressive aggro version, decks like Rebecca, Zoro, Katakuri, Law, and Nami could flourish.

I believe that if the English Whitebeard restrictions were lifted with the event of OP04, we would not be where we are today.

Before I talk about any of the new cards, I want to illustrate a unique trait of this specific ban cycle. When Moby Dick and Cabaji were banned, it was the start of OP03 in Japan. When Whitebeard, Marco and Radical Beam!! were restricted, it was the start of OP03 in English.

However, these new bans taking place are happening 1 month before OP05 comes out in the English metagame. This means 1 thing mainly.

People will not have time to make counters to strong decks.

By the time that people start winning tournaments with decks that are obviously strong, and people start to find ways to beat them, the set will be over, and OP05 will start. The start dash into this OP04.5 meta might be the most important of any meta we have ever had, as people will not be able to counter your ‘perfect deck’ before it’s too late. Many people will only have 1 tournament, if any, before OP05 starts, and thus, you need to make that 1 shot count.

To further illustrate this: In OP04 in Japan for the first month, Green/Purple Doflamingo was the strongest deck in the meta. GP Doflamingo could beat aggro decks that were prevalent in OP03, and out resource other leaders. Within the next few weeks, Whitebeard came back, and Rebecca appeared, bringing GP Doflamingo’s presence close to zero. If the meta was only 1 month long, GP Doflamingo, would have went down as the strongest deck of OP04 in Japan. Decks that tend to do well in unstable metas are decks with a simple gameplan, and aggro decks. As such, although it is extremely important to understand how your deck will stack up and counter other people’s decks. Your meta-read (and my meta-read) might just be wrong. If you go to a tournament with Rebecca expecting only Law, but hit only Katakuri, you might do worse than if you brought a stable deck like GP Doflamingo that could go 50/50 with many of the meta decks.

In this uncertain time, consistent decks that can push their own gameplan well will be a safe choice for anyone uncertain. Be careful not to overthink how the meta will evolve to the point that you eat your own tail and get countered by the meta that never changed.

Card Restrictions Effective November 10, 2023

First, let’s talk about each card being banned or restricted, as this is the first time that we have a mix of cards being banned and restricted.

Banned Cards (no copies are allowed in any deck):

OP01-016 Nami

OP02-001 Edward Newgate (Leader)

OP02-005 Curly Dadan

Restricted Cards (1 copy allowed per deck):

OP03-013 Marco

OP01-016 Nami

Nami is probably the saddest card to see go. Many people are angry with this ban, but I do understand the logic. If you delete only Whitebeard from the meta, then other red decks will take his place, namely Zoro and Law. The Nami ban targets Zoro and Law, but hurts Zoro the most. Zoro only has 2 main ways of building him that are viable. Whitebeard Pirates Zoro, and Strawhat Zoro. Whitebeard Pirates Zoro is more common as it is the stronger version in the mirror thanks to 5 cost Marco. Similar to 9 cost Whitebeard, had 5 cost Marco been the only target for the restrictions, then a classic aggro Zoro similar to those you used to see in OP01 and OP02 might have taken over the meta. By banning Nami they are covering all bases. I think that this ban, as well as the Curly Dadan ban that I will talk about soon, are nailing Zoro’s coffin shut. However, Law still can use an entirely unrestricted color, Green, and still has room to evolve again and come back into the meta. What this ban means holistically is that there should be a general decrease in aggro decks, as now reliable rush cards such as OP01-025 Roronoa Zoro, ST01-012 Monkey D. Luffy, and even cards in the new Ultra Start Deck ST10-004 Sanji, ST10-006 Monkey D. Luffy, are now all unsearchable. While I understand the logic behind banning Nami, I think that it is dangerous to ban searchers as it demonstrates bad organization considering this Nami that is now banned will be included in the Ultra Start Deck that releases on the same day as the bans.

OP02-001 Edward Newgate (Leader)

If there was any card that should have been banned, it should have been this one. Whitebeard and the way that he is made is much too strong. He has 6 life, 6000 power, and draws his life for free letting him draw 2 cards per turn. No matter what cards you ban, the leader alone is too strong and he will find a way to make things work. If the goal was to take this leader out of the meta, this was the only way to do it. Banning Whitebeard makes massive changes to the meta, but that is essentially the whole purpose of this article, so I won’t go over everything right now. In terms of general deck building changes, you may be able to reduce the number of 2000 counters in your deck now that Whitebeard is gone. If you remember in the distant past in OP01, 8 2000 counters was the standard. Once Whitebeard became the meta-defining leader, 12 2000 counters became the prerequisite to play the game as other leaders with very few exceptions. Whitebeard being banned can create a surprising amount of deck building freedom that deck builders will enjoy for one month before OP05 drops and Sakazaki terrorizes the meta harder than Whitebeard ever did. FUCK. Sorry. Was clearing my throat.

OP02-005 Curly Dadan

Seeing Dadan go is sad. While Dadan wasn’t used in every deck, it enables decks like Law and Zoro to thrive. Generally the pattern throughout most of optcg has been that the decks that could effectively use more than 1 searcher were strong. OP01 Kid used Bonney and Momonosuke, OP02 Kinemon used Bonney and Momonosuke, OP03 Whiteboard used Izou and Whitebeard Pirates. Most powerful decks have always used 2 searchers to increase their stability. On the other hand, Zoro would use Dadan, Izou/Nami, and Buggy, while Law would use Dadan, Nami, Bonney, and occasionally Buggy. Dadan was an uncommon card while most searchers are rares, leading me to think they didn’t expect Dadan to be strong. However, being able to search a searcher while playing a body, which is important for both Law and Zoro, made these 2 decks quite oppressive, and more stable than it used to be. I personally feel that taking this away is a massive blow to both, and is part of the reason why I am skeptical on Law’s power in this OP04.5 meta despite what people say. Dadan was not always a power card, but rather a consistency card. Even if Law’s power is largely unaffected, the consistency of both decks would theoretically drop significantly. We will have to wait and see. Perhaps Cross can save Law.

OP03-013 Marco

Marco largely targets Zoro. Zoro having an immovable 7000 attacker every turn was quite oppressive all around. While decks like Rebecca or Katakuri could reasonably deal with Zoro, their difficult matchups vs other top decks made their presence a bit lower. Marco is the only card in this cycle that is restricted to one copy, and not outright banned. While usually this would still mean that the card would be used, as if you manage to play it it can be absurdly strong, Marco has an extra asterisk attached to it. 4cost Marco, 9cost Whitebeard, now 5cost Marco, and even the Whitebeard leader are all restricted or banned. Usually even having one wasn’t the biggest problem as you could still search it, but all of these crucial Whitebeard Pirates have had their core pieces restricted to 1, making it more difficult to justify the use of Izou and the whole Whitebeard Pirates package. Red decks will still probably put in 1 of this card, but the consistency of only having 1 that is not even searchable, may be a turn-off for those who want to try and save Red.

These bans largely target Whitebeard, Zoro, and Law. Some are more direct than others.

However, let’s also look at some other decks that these bans punish collaterally.

Right now the only decks that had potential of being meta, but were gated by these changes are RP Luffy, and Ace I believe. Ace may still be able to find success with Pell for example, but the 2 popular types of RP Luffy were both effected by this long saga of changes. In RP Luffy, there is a version that ramps up to 7-9Don asap to play 7cost Kid and 9 cost Whitebeard back to back to stay at 7000-8000 permanently. This version absoluely needs 9 cost Whitebeard at 4 to function, so it is unfortunate that this ban is not being lifted, even in the future as far as we know. Another RP Luffy list is a more aggro version, similar to Whitebeard’s current state. This version uses the searcher Nami to increase its consistency and aggro the enemy down with the benefit that Luffy is a 6000 power leader that does not naturally lose life. Both of these versions were hit, and RP Luffy, that is notoriously inconsistent in Japan, lost even more consistency. There is still hope as he is the only 6000 power leader left, but I can see it being very difficult for Luffy to find a footing in the meta.

What Kinds of Decks Will be Strong?

In this short OP04.5 meta, decks that can push their strengths easily, and consistently will probably be your best bet for placing high in events with little effort. In the research for this article, I talked to many people to ask for their opinions. If you remember me asking you for opinions, thank you for your input. It helps a lot to get the impressions of everyone. However, one unique aspect that I picked up on in my research that does actually play a factor in the deck selection for this short meta, is that people don’t care about this meta that much, and just want OP05 to start. Despite there being a few more events left in this meta, people are not theory crafting as hard as they would for a new meta. This isn’t unusual, as putting a ton of effort into a meta last will only last 1 month can feel fruitless especially given that all of the OP05 cards are already revealed. In Japan, the new set’s cards are not fully revealed until 1 week before the set is released. As such, people will try very hard to optimize until the very end, but drop the set as soon as the new one is shown.

I think that the people who put in the effort during this time will be rewarded as the decks that they will face will be surface level and the understanding of matchups could even be more basic. Just because someone has a 1 month headstart on OP05, that doesn’t mean you can’t catch up. There is no XP bar that goes up by grinding games on OPTCGsim. You can catch up just fine, and I will be there to teach you through these articles in the future, so don’t feel pressured to keep staying ahead.

Therefore, I think the decks that will do well are consistent, easy, and strong decks, as well as the decks that immediately counter those consistent decks. Thinking too far and trying to find counters to these counters might not be worth it, as people will just play what is strong and get ready for OP05 where everyone will have the original idea of playing Sakazuki. fuck. (But Enel is strong too)

Tier List and Decks Introductions

As I said before, this meta will most likely be the top decks, and those that beat them. Therefore, I won’t get into a very detailed B tier or C tier decks that could come into the meta if it shifts more. The order does not reflect my stance on which deck I think will win the most events.

Let’s go over these 7 decks first briefly, and why I see potential in them, and then go into deck lists and how to play them.

Yellow Katakuri

I think people unanimously agree that this deck will be strong. While there are many decks that can beat Katakuri, if Katakuri just gets a few good triggers, and little more 10cost Linlin than expected, you could very easily win many losing matchups.

The worst things to hear from Katakuri players are:

1. 10don, big mom
2. Trigger, bege
3. Let me think

There is a lot of Katakuri hate as it is known to be a very easy deck, but that is all the more a reason to use it. It can consistently push its gameplan that many decks struggle to play against. It can move the opponent’s lethal by gaining life, while automatically getting closer to lethal with the additional banish effects. The deck comes down to how well you can chain your turns together, but thanks to the 2 types of searchers that Big Mom Pirates have, it can do so quite consistently. The big turn off for this deck however, is that the mirror can come down to rock paper scissors. While in OP03, I believed that taking first was better in the mirror due to cards such as 7cost Linlin, with the advent of 6 cost Perospero, going second has become very winning. A good Katakuri player should also get better at rock paper scissors as the mirror matchup can be hard to overcome. However, some Katakuri lists in Japan that ended up doing well, used the 7cost Linlin and 0 8cost Katakuri to balance out the strength and weaknesses of going first or second. The flexibility is limited due to being required to put in cards such as 10mom, 8Katakuri/7mom, 3Perospero, and other triggers that may not have counter. If you are focusing on OP05, and want to coast through the rest of OP04, Katakuri may be the deck for you as Katakuri and Enel are still relevant in OP05. Many decks are being made to destroy Katakuri, but if they destroyed all of the meta, then Katakuri would not be at the top of this list. Once you get passed a certain point in tournaments, only strong decks will be left.

Green Eustass “Captain” Kid

These graphs are not meant to say that one deck is objectively better than another because it has more points on the chart. Case and point, Kid in terms of hitting high on all of the categories, achieves that, but there is an asterisk as the consistency is lower while the difficulty is a little higher based on the type of Kid build that you use. Kid is unique in that there are 2 viable decks that are completely different. Film Kid, and Supernova Kid. Film Kid does not have too much flexibility in the cards that he can utilize as the film package needs to be the majority of the deck for Nami to hit consistently. Film Kid is relatively easy to use and straight forward in its gameplan as it is aggro centered. As Zoro is now gone, finding decks that can still play aggro are a key to doing well in this meta without using Katakuri. Film Kid is a good example of this as he has always originally been able to fight with Katakuri quite well, by merit of his leader ability being able to hit twice. Supernova Kid, or as I refer to it, 要塞キッド(Fortress Kid), on the other hand is a hyper control deck. Fortress Kid aims to set up many blockers behind 8 cost Kid, burn the enemy resources, and push back in 2-3 turns to finish the game. Fortress Kid has always been a difficult deck since OP01, but has potential as it is very strong in the green mirror, as well as against Katakuri simply by placing blockers and using the leader ability. As Kid has multiple viable lists, and even within these lists, there might be Film Kids that run 10c Dofla, 8c Kid, 6c Krieg etc, as well as Fortress Kid that might run 5c Hawkins, 5c Yamato, 4c Yamato, 7c Kid, etc. By just flipping over the leader, you might not know what type of Kid you are facing which can be very scary and make some situations like the mulligan more difficult. I recommend Kid to people who want to have some fun with a deck that provably and overwhelmingly beats Yellow.

Green Kinemon

There is a good argument for Kinemon being in the top tier as a meta definer, but the list for Kinemon is not completely solidified yet, so I am putting him here. Kinemon, compared to Kid runs a more traditional Green list centering around Wano type cards for the early game, and 8c Kid as well as 10c Doflamingo in the late game. Kinemon is very strong in that his gameplan is flexible, and is naturally strong vs Katakuri as well as Film Kid. While it’s not as winning as Film Kid vs Katakuri may be, Kinemon has the ability to fight with a wide range of decks, even including RG Law. The main problem for Kinemon is that he is very difficult. The mirror match, although rock paper scissors is important, comes down mostly to how to play the matchup. The Kinemon mirror is very complicated as is many green mirrors, as you will try to focus on cutting down the opponent’s resources without using your own. Knowing when to hit where, when to play your characters, as well as how to adjust your list, could make Kinemon difficult to bring to some event if you’re not confident in the mirror. However, if you like decks that can win if you’re simply better than the opponent at the game, Kinemon could be a good choice. I have yet to test enough games of Kinemon vs Fortress Kid, but Kinemon vs Film Kid can be difficult for Kid.

Green/Purple Doflamingo

Green Purple Doflamingo generally uses a film based list (even in OP05 Japan) as the old film cards from Purple and Green work great together in terms of consistency. The 1c Buena Festa being a searcher as well as a 2000 counter, as well as simply having more Vanilla characters with the type: Film means that GP Doflamingo can get his plan to work consistently. Another strength of the purple film package is that you have access to cards such as Tesoro and 4c Blocker Uta. These cards are very good at locking down the game and securing a win in the late game. However, in the current meta, yellow seems likely to be the most prevalent list. As such, Doflamingo has needed to adapt and add back in some old cards that Doflamingo used to enjoy using such as Bakara and Brook. The goal of the current GP Doflamingo list is to be film Kid with more consistency, supplemented with power cards such as 9c Kaido. In terms of consistency and flexibility within each game, Doflamingo may the be top. With his leader ability allowing him to use many events for free, there is lots of flexibility to change spots in the list to adapt him to the new meta.

Red/Green Trafalgar D. Law

Despite many of Law’s consistency cards being taken away, Law’s biggest bad matchup, Zoro, was banished to the shadow realm. Not only this, but matchups that Law were originally favored in, like Katakuri, Film Kid, and Crocodile are going to be potentially more prevalent now. As such, Law has one of the highest potentials in this set, but it will come down to if people can find the right list to make his matchups shine. With the loss of Dadan and Nami, Law has made a few new lists that compete with the new meta. While there is a Wano Law, and a Whitebeard Pirates Law, I see more potential in the Wano Law, as cards like Okiku are increasingly difficult to deal with, and can slow down many decks. The main concern that I have with this deck is the loss of Dadan. Law is a very draw reliant deck, and Dadan helps him find the searchers that connect into finding the cards that he needs to set up his board. As such, Law is now forced to rely more on draws, which can lead to some unfortunate games where you simply do not draw Bonney or Law. While I have Law as easier than Kinemon, the reason for this is that Kinemon’s skill ceiling feels higher to me personally. Law, however, has a higher skill floor, which dissuades (or encourages) beginners into trying him. Once you understand the gameplan and board state you are trying to go for, it is just a matter of how do you reach that board state as Law. Law’s don efficiency with his leader ability is undeniable, and I am sure that with the right list, he can still find a place in this meta. If you originally were a Law player, you may want to give Law another chance. In this article I will not post a RGLaw decklist as it is not my field of expertise. Thankfully, Cross is here so keep an eye out for what he cooks.

Blue Crocodile

Crocodile is a weird deck in this meta. While all of the decks presented so far have an above average win rate vs Katakuri, Crocodile is statistically below average against Katakuri. People say that this matchup is winning for Crocodile, but Crocodile disappeared from the meta in Japan due to decks including Katakuri coming into the meta. This being said, I do not think that it is impossible for Crocodile to fight with Katakuri, even if it is an uphill battle. What puts Crocodile into the list of leaders with potential is that he has a reasonably good matchup vs other decks in the meta. Blue in general is strong vs Green and other midrange decks that might appear here and there such as Magellan. Crocodile’s biggest weakness was swarm decks such as Law or Zoro, and if these kinds of decks are not in the meta, then Crocodile has a chance to fight. Crocodile’s strength comes from his ability to play a powerful character on the board every turn that effect the board and slows down the enemy. Crocodile struggles vs decks that can play multiple cards in a single turn, that might force him to use his leader ability early. However, despite this, Crocodile does have a slightly winning matchup vs Film Kid as you only let Kid’s leader stay on the board as you permanently clear the board and/or play Pacifista’s to eventually win back the game. Crocodile is very reliant on going first in matchups, so if you are playing Crocodile, pray you get to go first, and if you are against Crocodile, take first. If your local meta becomes dominated by green, destroy it with Crocodile and 10Kaido. As a Green player, I still cannot forgive Bandai for making 10cost Kaido, and Red Roc. The Crocodile mirror may be more lopsided than the Katakuri mirror, as everything that Crocodile wants to do is an odd number, making going first significantly stronger in the mirror. Fortunately, the Crocodile mirror is relatively rare, and not something that should require attention when deck building.

Purple Magellan

Magellan is interesting in that he is one of the few previous leaders buffed and viable thanks to the upcoming Start Deck 10 “Three Captains.” Magellan uses the 7 cost Eustass Captain Kid very well to hit for 7000, and make his leader 6000. 6000 power leaders are generally annoying for Film Kid, but the matchup is not extremely winning or losing for either side. The main strength of Magellan comes from the fact that he is very strong vs Katakuri. With the power of 5c Magellan you can play an immovable 5c character that slows down the enemy’s 10cLinlin by 1 turn. This along with the leader being 6000, hitting for 7000 as well as the banish / double attack threat from other small characters makes Magellan a good pick versus Katakuri, without struggling immensely vs other matchup either. However, Magellan is very reliant on the 5c Magellan, and if he fails to draw it, it cant be difficult. Not only does Magellan slow down Katakuri from playing 10c Linlin, it can also slow down Kid or Kinemon from playing their 10c Doflamingo, and generally flip who is going first and second in some matchups due to the Don minus on your opponent. Magellan may not be the strongest, but the magic of using a deck that no one understands is a power that cannot be neglected and could be a surprise contender from someone who has learned the full depth of Magellan.

Red/Purple Law

Red/Purple Law is surprisingly similar to Red/Green Law in playstyle, so those who played RG Law will immediately be at home with this deck. I believe that in terms of difficulty, it is roughly the same difficulty as RG Law. However, RP Law is a new leader that will take some getting used, and therefore, I have put the difficulty up on the basis that people won’t know how to optimally use Law quite yet. This isn’t to say that Law isn’t strong of course. RP Law is another aggro deck that survived the wave of bans. This alone holds some weight, but RP Law is surprisingly oppressive if piloted correctly. A bad RP Law will use their leader ability every turn and finish the game with 0 don left, while a good RP Law will charge up for a few turns where it isn’t required to use your leader ability. RP Law’s full power will be shown in OP05, where he will receive a searcher, a blocker that gives you back don, and more. Despite this, he is still quite powerful with the current set of card due to the nature of his leader ability allowing him to place 2 characters per turn while also bottom decking one of the opponent’s characters at the same time.

Thoughts on the 7 Leaders

• Of these 7 leaders, Katakuri and RP Law still have a place in the meta next set. By playing one of these leaders, you are preparing for OP05 inadvertently while still being competitive in OP04.5. Unfortunately for the rest of the leaders, they have not seen much play outside of Kid occasionally.
• There are many more leaders that have a few good matchups vs the leaders above, but I did not write fully about them because I deem them not in the running for the ‘top tier’ of the expected meta we’ll see. These leaders include, but are not limited to Queen, Nami, and GP Doflamingo.
• Queen has a bad matchup vs Katakuri. This alone is enough to knock it out of the running for meta staple. It is equivalent to people who used Katakuri in a Whitebeard meta in terms of difficulty. Yes, you can win some games, but you’re probably better off just playing a higher tier leader.
• Nami had some immediate hype as Zoro and Law seemed to be dead, but unfortunately, Katakuri and Film Kid still both beat this deck. As such, I cannot see it being a meta defining leader.
• I could be wrong on any number of these points, but this is how I see the meta turning out.
• I don’t think Rebecca is bad either, as she no longer has to build for Whitebeard, but I will not get into the Rebecca Rabbit Hole this time.

Decklists and General Optimal Movement

In this section I’ll post a template decklist like I mentioned, a few cards to consider for certain matchups, and how to generally play the deck. I cannot go into full detail like some of my full length deck guides, as those guides take days alone. The knowledge may be surface level to some, but should act as a good jumping point for those who are curious about a deck, but don’t know where to start.

Katakuri

There aren’t many special cards in Katakuri. The mirror is significantly easier for whoever is going second as the 6/8000 Perospero is extremely hard to deal with. At least Randolf is in Thunderbolt range. This deck is made to fight strong in the mirror, and be consistent in most matchups.

As a standard, you will want to take second in most matchups, and use your don cleanly each turn. This will look something like:

• 2: Pudding
• 4: 3c Perospero + Leader ability, or Sanji
• 6: 6c Perospero
• 8: 7c Linlin + Leader ability, or 8c Katakuri
• 10: 10c Linlin

The reason why Katakuri is classically strong and easy is due to the fact that he rarely plays more than one card a turn. Most of the time, the highest cost card that you can play is also the correct choice as well. To an extent, the deck can play itself. When going first, the advantage you have is that you can go more aggressive as you get an extra hit going first, and don left over for your leader ability after playing characters. This could look something like:

• 1: Pudding
• 3: 3c Perospero
• 5: Sanji + Leader ability
• 7: 7c Linlin
• 9: 8c Katakuri+ Leader ability/ 7c Linlin + Garrett
• 10: 10c Linlin

The only special card in this deck is perhaps Garrett. When fighting yellow, low cost blockers are very important, as they can potentially stop a 12000 hit with one card. I am using 3 in my build to try to find some sort of edge in the mirror. In the mirror it eventually will boil down to who has the most 10c Linlin. It is rare for the mirror to end before reaching this point, so whoever has the most Linlin will be in a generally advantageous spot. Once you run out of Linlins, you will take a step down and play your remaining 8c Katakuri or 7c Linlin. This alone is quite weak in comparison, but with Garrett along side these 2 options, she can help polish the weakness of your draw.

However, there are a few other ways you could change your list for the mirror. Some other cards to consider are the following:

4c Katakuri. Having a rush 4/6000 in this matchup can make a difference in the long run. However, due to it not having counter, and being stronger going second, where you are already advantageous, I decided against this card.

4c Cracker. Cracker is a 4/5000 that can come out of trigger to suddenly pressure life. If you could consistently get this card out of life, this would be the obvious choice as the number of attacks you can get through in the mirror is vital to edging out bad matchups. However, as the statistical likelihood of getting any trigger out of life at 4 copies is around 1 in every 3 games, it’s not something to rely on. This is higher than you might expect, but may not be consistent enough if you need to go 8-1 to reach the topcut of a tournament. However, I do not think this is bad, and would probably change Garrett to Cracker if anything. If you do want to go for a trigger focused Katakuri, more power to you. If so, then consider also putting in Smoothie so that you have the maximum amount of trigger characters out of life. Twitter will be in flames if you win a tournament with a full trigger-man deck.

Randolf. Before the 6/8000 Perospero came out, a 5/7000 powerline in the mirror was extremely strong. However, now that Perospero exists, it can hit anything that Katakuri plays aside from 10c Linlin without any Don on it. As the 5/7000 is overshadowed, and can be bullied by the 6/8000, I am not using it right now. However, it is certainly the strongest card to play on turn 3 going first. Play test this card to get a feel for it before you include it, as the early game 5/7000 is not actually as valuable as the consistent repeated play of large bodies in the late game.

In the mirror, take second, mulligan for a good curve with heavy priority on 10c Linlin in your starting hand. In this matchup you won’t be punished for having even 2 10c Linlin in your starting hand, and will dramatically increase the likelihood that you end up with more in the end.

Against other matchups, you do not need to play 3, or often even 2 10c Linlin in a row, so mulligan for a good early game curve to push your color’s advantage.

In the case that you want to play Katakuri, but do not have the secret rare, don’t worry. Many people have done well in tournaments choosing not to run any. These lists run 4 of 7cLinlin, and 10cLinlin, and use the extra space for more counter, or triggers.

Eustass “Captain” Kid

My Film Kid Guide is the article people remember me the most for it seems. I constantly get dms and comments that this guide helped them back in the day when it was relevant. Ironically, before I might have overhyped Kid a little and called him S tier, and now I am calling him top tier again.

But Film Kid won a championship in South America, you can’t take that away from me.

Film decks in general do not have too much room for changing cards as you need a minimum of 22 films cards aside from Nami to comfortably search a card from Nami’s effect. As such, the lis actually hasn’t change too much from my first list that I posted. I originally put in Paradise Totsuka solely to deal with Whitebeard, but it turns out that people took a liking to the card even in other matchups. There are 2 differences between this list and the one that I presented months ago. Sugar, and 8 cost Eustass Kid. There is a debate between whether 8c Kid is better, or 10c Doflamingo. However, I am on the side of 8c Kid. Let’s compare the two.

8c Kid

Benefit 1: 8c Kid can be played 1 turn early. Even if you can’t attach a Don to Kid. In the green mirror, it can be a massive power move to play 8c Kid on 8 Don with a 3 cost character, and then playing 7 Luffy the next turn. The theory behind this is simple. There are 2 ways to play around 8c Kid. Don’t hit life, or Kill 8c Kid immediately. Green decks do not have a way to kill 8c Kid, and therefore, the opponent only has 3 options.

1. Not attack for a turn to not give you more resources to defend 8c Kid
2. Hit 8c Kid to reduce their resources
3. Go for lethal

None of the choices are great for the opponent, so I recommend playing 8c Kid asap in the mirror, as being able to play it a turn early is a large advantage.

Benefit 2: It makes your leader 8000 power. While 10c Dofla can lock 3 cards and effectively stall a turn, 8c Kid can do this permanently, should he have enough resources. While 10c Dofla in stats is higher, hitting 10000 into 8000 is the same as hitting 7000 into 5000.

Downside: It’s 8 cost. 10 Dofla being 10 cost is strong in that it is very hard to get rid of. 8c Kid, however, is a target for things such as 8c Katakuri, and Flame Emperor

I believe that when it comes down to which is better in isolation in the Green mirror, 8c Kid shines brighter than 10c Dofla.

10c Doflamingo

Benefit 1: Basically gives you a free 10000 attacker. Most of the time the enemy will have 1-2 characters active when you pass back the turn and you are ready to play 10c Dofla. If the enemy plays around Doflamingo and simply doesn’t rest their characters, you still got value as you prevented them from hitting. As Doflamingo just stops the game for one turn, when the game resumes, you have a 10000 attacker on your board.

Benefit 2: The effect cannot be prevented. 8c Kid, though strong, can be bullied by reducing his power, KOing, bouncing, etc. However, 10c Doflamingo’s effect is guaranteed, making him easier to use.

Downside: Doflamingo’s presence is only felt for 1 turn. Your leader will still be 5000 power at the end of the day, so if the enemy can survive the turn after you play 10c Dofla, and you don’t have another one, then the power of having him is lower than 8c Kid

Neither of these cards are bad, or incorrect. However, I feel 8c Kid’s benefits outweigh Doflamingo’s. While I think that if it is between using 8c Kid, and 10c Doflamingo, then 8c Kid is stronger, I think if you have the space to afford to run both, you could be even better off, if the mirror turns out to be more prevalent.

Sugar is the only other change between my old list. I was originally using Paradise Totsuka due to the Whitebeard matchup and nothing else. As Whitebeard is gone, you have a bit more leniency with your Don, and therefore I have chosen the card with counter over the cheaper card, as we want as much counter as possible to protect 8c Kid when he comes out.

If you don’t have Bartolomeo, don’t worry. Just put in 5cost Franky, It is very strong in the mirror.

For how to generally play Kid, I would recommend looking at my old guide on just the general movement of Kid. My apologies for the typos in that article.

Here is an example of a Fortress Kid list. The advantage of this list would be that it can be stronger vs Law, as well as vs Film Kid. This disadvantage would be that it is significantly harder to play than Film Kid. If Law becomes a problem, this list would most likely devastate Law, while still being able to fight with Yellow.

Vs most matchups, you will want to rest and hit the board to make a resource advantage.

Vs yellow, you will want to play blockers and use your leader ability often. Do not play 8c Kid vs Yellow.

Kinemon

I am a big Kinemon doubter, but Kinemon is one of my favorite leaders. Having used Kinemon for a long time, he is one of my favorites to use and looks beautiful too. However, I believe that by raw power, he is weaker than the leader Kid. However, Kinemon can be played as he is the leader that can use the 3 cost Okiku the best of any leader, allowing him to play it on turn 2 going second. Kinemon is also able to play 4c Yamato on turn 2 going first which can be a massive advantage in some matchups. The real merit to playing Kinemon is that he performs quite well in the green mirror thanks to having both 8c Kid, and 10c Dofla, can be strong vs Yellow with 5c Yamato and can be strong vs Law with Okiku and other Wano cards.

The deck has potential all around as a slightly more aggro version of Fortress Kid without sacrificing the late game.

The main issue with Kinemon is that he is surprisingly difficult. Here are a few things to be careful of when playing Kinemon.

1. While playing 5c Yamato on turn 2 can be very powerful, putting all off your don on Yamato the next turn to get the doubleattack banish isn’t always the strongest play. (It often is, but do be careful of the lost board control, and don’t feel threatened to use Yamato immediately in matchups where the enemy struggles to deal with characters.)
2. Don’t use your searchers overzealously. As this deck runs Raizo, the strongest way to use him is to use searchers with him. The best way to use searchers is from behind 8c Kid as well, so holding on to searchers when you don’t need to search for any specific card can be strong.
3. Don’t play Toki if your Yamato is going to likely die. Toki has counter and is the only searchable Wano blocker with counter, so you want to use her carefully. Place her in good spots, and feel free to use her for counter otherwise.
4. Know what gameplan to go for. Kinemon can go for an aggro plan, or a fortress plan, so know when to make the switch ahead of time so you don’t waste resources on a plan that is not going to work.
5. If you have 1 or less characters on the board during your turn Just say “leader ability” If you forget to say it, you’re fucked. Just say it. Even if you don’t use it. As Kinemon’s ability only activates for the first character that costs 3 or more, you can use your leader ability when you have 1 character, play Momonosuke and use the ability, then still play a 3 cost character for 2 don, thanks to the fact that you said it.

The important part to playing Kinemon is to never play more characters than you need to. Kinemon’s leader ability can be played around, and as the opponent to Kinemon, consider actually ignoring Momonosuke sometimes, so that they can’t use their leader ability. Bonney is too dangerous to ignore, but Momonosuke can at best bring a 2000 counter, or Toki in the mid to late game.

As Kinemon you will generally want to take second and play a strong early curve, aiming to end the game with 10c Dofla/ 8c Kid.

The reason why I use 10c Dofla in this deck and not Kid is because Kid does not need the extra firepower, while Kinemon does.

Green/Purple Doflamingo

As GP Doflamingo’s strength comes from his consistency in his ability to make a wide board of 5000 power attackers, looking for key cards such as 3c Nami, or 4c Brook can help get you started in the early game. Using Nami well, with cards like Brook and 5c Law will help you spread out the board. As Doflamingo can naturally treated a 2 cost counter event, it is very hard to tell as the opponent if this is a bluff of not. By nature of being able to counter for +4000 for essentially 0 Don, as you got them for free, it makes Doflamingo powerful vs leaders who want to hit hard such as Kid and Kinemon. A risk this list runs as it does not run Tesoro, is that it may end up with too many events in hand, or too many cards without counter. As such, the top end of this list is spread out (inspired by @dobogeee) Have 1-2 of these high power cards can help you adjust your gameplan, but getting too many of them can prove to be problematic for your hand status. When piloting this deck, prioritize a good curve, and push through the opponents defenses with an abundance of 5000 power characters.

Remember, as is the same with any film deck, that you are trying to finish the game fast. This means using 7c Luffy, or 5c Law as attackers for as long as you are allowed to. Most of this list is standard, so let’s look at the event choices and other options.

Punk Gibson: Punk Gibson in Japanese was an invaluable tool to deal with Whitebeard as it would rest 4c Marco. However, even now without Whitebeard, it can still be used as decks are trying to find the best way to role-play as Zoro. Against other film decks, trigger focused Katakuri decks, all the way to RP Law, this card can be used to slow them down. If you play against Doflamingo, this is the event that can be played around the most. Hit from the 4c or less character that you don’t want rested first, and hit at either 5000, or 9000, to make it difficult for the enemy to use Punk Gibson well. While you can hit with 5000 or 9000, hitting with 9000 gives too much value to Doflamingo’s events while being heavy for you, so most of the time it’s best to not overcomplicate it and simply hit at 5000.

Thunder Bagua: As Doflamingo is in fact a purple deck, he has ways to increase him Don. By taking the first 2 hits, Doflamingo can already reap the benefit of Thunder Bagua and speed up their Don. This can have good use cases in the mid-game as it allows you to play 7c Luffy as soon as turn 3 going second, or even playing Kaido early if you can get away with it. Having more Don in general means that you can fill your board faster, and thanks to Queen, you will have a strong body on the board and replenish your hand. Thunder Bagua is an excellent early game card to use, and going down to 2 health early is not much of a problem as Doflamingo’s defense is naturally so strong.

Spiderweb: Spiderweb is just Paradise Waterfall but a 2 cost event. While I think that Paradise Waterfall is stronger in general, as Doflamingo’s leader ability stands up 2 don, this event fits better with Doflamingo. Do not waste this on small characters like Usopp, Bakara, or Brook, but prioritize using it on characters that can create problems continuously. This includes Nami, and 7c Luffy/other blockers. The only reason to restand a blocker is to continuously have strong defense throughout the turn so make sure that if you use Spiderweb and restand Luffy or another blocker, to use the blocker again to defend another attack to get full value.

Three Sword Style Oni Giri: This card caught me a bit by surprise as I used to see it as a gimmicky Sanji card. However, as Doflamingo, it is a 1 cost +6000 that plays a 3/5000 on the board. To use the strength of the card fully, we are using more Bakara.

Side Note: Bakara is actually better than Usopp as she can hit the promo Smoker. But you won’t see the promo smoker so you are probably find to have more of the card that you just like more)

With Oni Giri, you can push your gameplan of swarming the board faster. The reason why this card is only at 2 is because you do not run enough 3/5000s to justify putting in more, and you do not want multiple to get stuck in your hand.

As board removal is scare in the current meta, consider putting in more Spiderweb, or Even Paradise Totsuka to ensure that the opponent doesn’t take your board.

Red/Green Trafalgar Law

I have to be honest and say this is not a deck that I use. I was too late to the Law party as the cards were too expensive in OP01. As such, I still don’t play Law. Look out for some cool lists that Cross might put out! He’s been cooking.

For how to fight Law, you will have 2 options.

1. Control the board and never hit life
2. Hit life and never control the board.

Some decks excel at attacking the board like Rebecca or the Wano package from green, but some colors have a lot of difficulty dealing with Law’s ability to shambles. Rather than trying your best to awkwardly control the board, just threaten their life and limit the options through pressure. Law is not so fragile that you can clear 1-2 characters and they will lose. Know your deck’s strengths, push them hard, and pray that Law doesn’t draw well.

Blue Crocodile

For the past many sets, blue has been weak to Green as Blue did not have a way to get rid of 8c Kid. However, with OP04, we got 2 cards that can reach a cost that is higher than 8 cost. This being Gum-Gum Red Roc, and 10 cost Kaido. These 2 cards decimate any Green deck that wants to play high cost characters. Blue Crocodile is strong into most types of Green decks and might be something that you see in your tournaments that you need to be ready for. The reason why Crocodile went out of the meta in Japan was because Zoro and Katakuri became popular. Crocodile doesn’t have many tools to deal with aggro, but they do have tools to deal with control now. With the addition of Red Roc, Crocodile can permanently clear 10cost Linlin, or any other high cost cards from Yellow. The issue with this of course is if you can draw enough Red Roc. The 3cost Miss All Sunday helps with this as you can retrieve Red Roc and use it repeatedly. The issue, however, is that Crocodile cannot deal with these high cost characters with anything except Red Roc. There are consistency issues as at best, you have 8 Red Rocs thanks to Miss All Sunday, but Yellow has 8 cards that are 8 cost or higher, that are both searchable. Yellow ends up with more consistency and therefore more resources, so it is easier for Yellow to play. However, it is not impossible for Crocodile to win this matchup. One problem for Crocodile as well, is that Law is extremely miserable to fight. If Law is popular, Crocodile will have a bad time, but if it is not, Crocodile should do ok.

Crocodile wants to play first in every matchup, and play

• 1: Pass
• 3: Sentomaru
• 5: Sentomaru effect
• 7: Sogeking
• 9: Mihawk
• 10: Kaido

Crocodile plays powerful cards each turn that bounce the enemies board and create his own board of insanely high power characters. After Crocodile moves cleanly on this curve, he will shut out the enemy with events, blockers, and his leader ability. The gameplan for Crocodile is very simple, and therefore does not have too much room for changing cards in the deck. However, slots that used to be used for controlling Zoro, can now be used to make the yellow matchup slightly better.

Some cards to consider are

• 4c Bartholomew Kuma: Kuma can bring Pacifistas out of your hand and act as a blocker. This is a good card and mainly comes down to preference.
• 2c Dragon Twister Demolition Breath: This card is anti-Zoro, but if there are many Laws, you can consider this card as well to trip up the enemy on unexpected turns. This card alone cannot beat Law however, so perhaps consider using it with the next card as well
• 5c Start Deck Crocodile: Many people don’t know what this card does. However, if you read it, it’s really not bad. It bottoms a 2 cost character on block. If Law becomes prevalent, Crocodile cannot take the plan to aggro Law down. Cards like these board be necessary to try your best to control the board.

I don’t have high hopes for Crocodile to be the best, but I do think that he is good enough that people will want to play him.

Magellan

This deck is a bit of a wildcard, and also maybe a bit unorthodox in build. Magellan is one of the few leaders that had a big buff from ST10. Magellan is very good vs Yellow as 5c Magellan delays 10c Linlin, and the Minozebra and Minotaurus are very annoying for Yellow. Additionally, 7Kid makes Magellan 6000 power, which can be problematic for aggro decks like RP Law, or Film Kid. As Hell’s judgement lasts for the whole turn, it can also permanently -3000 the Leader Kid, weakening his double punch. Magellan has many tools that could make him very strong in this meta, so I actually have some high hopes for him, even if the list will not end up looking the same as this.

Magellan wants to takes first, play simply play a powerful curve.

• 1: Hanyabal
• 3: Heat / Sadichan + a Mino
• 5: Magellan
• 6: Magellan
• 7: Kid
• etc.

The core of Magellan’s gameplan comes from 5c Magellan, so this will be the card to look for in most matchups. 7c Kid is not searchable, so if you do have one in your hand, treat it with respect. If you can manage to do something like the moves illustrated above, Magellan can be very oppressive. 5c Magellan is one of those cards that is not ok to exist if purple is strong. When Purple Luffy was dominating the meta in Japan, this card was miserable as it would essentially flip who is going first and second. Heat is a surprisingly strong upgrade that works very well with a midrange-aggro Magellan as it retains the +2000 during the opponent’s turn as well.

Other cards to consider would be:

• 4c Uta: Uta can rest a character with a cost of 5 or less on block, at the cost of -1 Don. This card can be very annoying for more swarm-y decks like RP Law, Film Kid, Film Dofla, etc. The only issue is that the -1 Don can hurt if you use this effect too early in the game. Nonetheless, it could be better than 4c Law as the timings for playing them is similar. 4c Law is very good against decks that want to be greedy with taking life, and winning through resources. This can include Yellow which wants to find early game triggers, to of course any fortress type Green deck. Consider interchanging these cards based on how the meta plays out.
• 9c Kaido: 9c Kaido is a very powerful finisher, as well as a strong board control card that can effectively guarantee clearing 2 characters on the board. It could be interesting to put in 1-2, but I chose not to include it as you minus your own Don very hard from the mid game as Magellan, and this card could get stuck in your hand
• 3c Wire: Wire’s effect lets you refresh 1 card in your hand when you minus a Don. This works great with Magellan’s gameplan, and also increasing the amount of counter you will have in the long run. On top of this, it’s a blocker. Being 3000 power is not a weakness anymore as 5c Marco is not part of the meta anymore. Considering interchanging Wire and Heat in this deck depending on whether you want to play a more Midrange-Aggro Focused plan, or a more pure Midrange Plan with some more stability in the mid to late game.

I would really like to see this deck do well at some point, even if not many people would give it a try. Magellan has a surprising amount of power built in that can be a dark horse in the meta if people take the list and push it to it’s limits in terms of deck building as well as play.

Red/Purple Trafalgar D. Law

As Law is a new deck, this will probably have the most differences from person to person. Law will gain more cards that give him more power next set, but ironically, might see less play compared to now, as other decks are very powerful next set. However, Law in OP04.5 mainly struggled vs Red decks. As Red decks are disappearing, Law actually has an avenue into the meta early. Law is an aggro deck that is deceptively hard. The skill floor for playing this deck is very high as you need to correctly assess when you use your leader ability. If you mess this up one turn, you might mess up the entire rest of your game, as you will be functioning at 3 less Don than you otherwise would have. Law aims to clear the opponent’s early game board, while using his leader ability to play 2 things each turn. Cards like Gamma Knife that come out next set are very powerful and help Law deal with 8000 power characters, but this deck is much more focused on the aggro plan.

With this version of the deck, you will want to take second and play Brook on 4 Don, then use your leader ability to get out characters such as Shachi&Penguin, Jean Bart, or Bepo to recoup your lost Don, or Ulti/Page One, or Rush Zoro to apply more pressure to the opponent. Round Table is in this deck to deal with 8c Kid or other obstacles so that it is not doomed when it hits these walls. All in all, it’s a surprisingly strong deck given the current card pool, but is very difficult to master in just 1 month.

Cards to consider are:

• 7c Ace: Ace is standard in Japanese Law lists in OP05, despite not being able to gain rush, as it can minus 2 characters for 3000, letting you hit something and take it out very easily, while also using your leader ability to get rid of the other character in the process. The reason why I have not included it in this deck is because this deck wants to take 2nd, while OP05 lists want to take first. This is due to the card pool. Ace can still be very strong, but it requires you to play differently, as you will not want to use your leader ability until 7c Ace can be placed. This could still be good, but it is delayed by an extra turn if you are going second.
• 3c Heat: Similar to Magellan, Law minuses a lot of Don, so Heat can help Law put more pressure on the opponent, especially when he is going first. I have not included it this time, as I wanted to focus more on the immediate power that you get from many of the card’s on-play effects, rather than the slow burn of Heat, as he will need more setup than card that immediately effect the board to your benefit like 5c Zoro, or Film 4c Law. If you do find your moves going first being lackluster, consider swapping this with other setup cards like 4c Brook.
• 5c Queen: Queen is just a great purple card. However, in an aggro deck, it did feel awkward to play at some timings. Having 2 of this won’t hurt to make sure you don’t die too easily, as this deck will burn your hand just as fast as it burns your Don.

Closing

Thanks for making it to the end. This wasn’t supposed to be this long, but it seems we’ve reached 10,000 words again. Despite it being the same length as my other articles, this one has been the hardest to write as I aggregated the opinions of over 30 or more people as well as my own ideas. It has taken me so much time, but I will be back when OP05 is around the corner with more. I may be wrong in some places, on my opinions on decks, but I hope that this can help you prepare in some way or another. Knowing the ins and outs of decks you will face can always prove useful.

Once again, thank you to Cross for inviting me to join his Patreon. If you have friends who are just getting into the game, maybe recommend The Caliber Team (Cross’) Patreon as a good hub of knowledge. We will teach you everything we can.

-Kai