10 One Piece Cards You Should Buy Before The Time of Battle (OP-16)

One Piece's upcoming OP-16 expansion, The Time of Battle, is unlike any set we've gotten stateside so far. Releasing in the West just a few weeks after Japan, it's the first time Western players won't know the strongest decks and cards going in, which means we don't really know what's going to be good. We also don't know which old staples will resurface as tech cards, or which middle-tier Leaders from previous sets are about to get their moment in the sun.

On top of that, OP-16's strongest decks look like they'll be built around the new Leaders, which primarily run cards from the new set. That means old staples may be less relevant than they've ever been.

All of this adds up to a question that's harder to answer now than at any point in the game's history: what should I be picking up heading into OP-16?

Here's our roundup: a mix of cards that belong in old decks about to get upgrades, and old staples we expect to find homes in new ones.

#1 OP15-114 Wyper

So far, the two big bogeymen of OP-16 are Purple Enel (yes, he's still strong) and the newcomer Blue Green Luffy—both of which swarm the board with low-cost Characters. Wyper is a great tech against both, letting yellow decks either K.O. low-power Characters en masse or debuff bigger ones into attack range.

#2 OP09-004 Shanks

With unexpected new support in OP16-012 Benn Beckman, OP-09 Shanks is creeping back toward competitive viability (even if it's low-tier). We recommend picking up the deck's core late-game pieces: the SR Rush Shanks from OP-09, and OP06-007 Shanks, which K.O.s a Character when played.

#3 OP09-093 Marshall.D.Teach

Black Yellow Teach is shaping up to be one of OP-16's strongest Leaders, and it leans hard on this still-incredible Teach Blocker from OP-09. All these sets later, its freeze and negation effects are still a terror.

#4 OP15-078 Mamaragan

This card continues to do what no other card does: provide +1000 counter at no cost to DON!! or hand. Yes, it's conditional, but any purple deck that can take advantage of it will run it, no questions asked. Absolutely worth having.

#5 EB04-058 Borsalino

It's no longer the game-breaker it was pre-Re-Quasar nerf, but Borsalino is still the gold standard for healing effects, which are currently among the strongest in One Piece. We don't expect life-spam decks to be as broken as they were in OP-15, but Borsalino will remain a staple of the color regardless. If yellow's on your radar at all, he's worth looking into.

#6 OP13-042 Edward.Newgate

Once considered an Ace-specific boss monster, blue's 10-cost Edward Newgate has quietly become one of the best ways to spend 10 DON!! in One Piece, full stop. It's hand-neutral, filters the deck, refunds 4 DON!! immediately via attachment, and can absorb an attack the very next turn. Expect to see it pop up in decks like OP-16 Buggy in addition to the ones already running it.

#7 EB03-062 Trafalgar Law

OP-16's Purple Navy support isn't just good for OP-16's purple deck Sengoku, it's making OP-12 Rosinante better too. Rosi was a top-tier meta contender just a couple of sets ago, and we expect a resurgence into the mid-tiers, which makes his signature SEC Law an enticing pickup heading into OP-16.

#8 OP14-120 Crocodile

As in OP-15, we expect Black Crocodile to be an upper-tier Leader heading into OP-16, which makes his boss monster card, SEC Crocodile, worth picking up for anyone curious to try one of the strongest freeze decks in the game.

#9 OP14-104 Gecko Moria

The new OP-16 Marshall D. Teach deck will bring a new dimension to yellow gameplay, but the tried-and-true heal-spam strategy should remain viable, largely thanks to this one SR from OP-14. Build around it with a few early-game Thriller Bark Characters and you've got a core that, at the very least, can top most locals.

#10 OP08-036 Electrical Luna

With so many low-cost swarming mechanics running around, the ability to freeze the enemy's board remains strong in OP-16, and Electrical Luna remains the best card for doing so.