Everything We Know About One Piece TCG: The World's Strongest Warriors (OP-17)

The One Piece Card Game's 4th Anniversary set is nearly here, and it's already shaping up to be a blockbuster. OP-17, The World's Strongest Warriors, is themed around the Elbaph arc and the Four Emperors, and includes the game's first-ever Manga Leader, as well as Manga Rares for all four Yonko.

As far as competitive play is concerned, the gap between Eastern and Western releases—once three months, then two weeks for OP-16—has now shrunk to about six days for the wide release. For players, that means Japanese tournament results will barely have time to shape the Western meta before OP-17 is legal here, making it the closest thing to a truly wide-open format launch we've ever had in the West. 

Here's a look at everything we know about the set so far.

When Does The World's Strongest Warriors (OP-17) Release?

The World's Strongest Warriors (OP-17) releases in the West on August 28th, 2026, about two and a half months after The Time of Battle (OP-16) dropped on June 12th. Japan gets OP-17 on August 22nd.

Western pre-release events begin August 21st, so keep an eye out for sign ups, as they're sure to sell out quickly. 

Who Are the New Leaders in The World's Strongest Warriors (OP-17)?

Five of the six OP-17 Leader slots are officially confirmed, and so far, every Leader carries the Four Emperors type. 

While the sixth Leader of the set is still unrevealed as of writing, the community speculates that it may be Rocks D. Xebec given the set's "strongest warriors" framing. Expect the reveal in the final run-up to the Japanese release.

Red Edward.Newgate

• [On Your Opponent's Attack] [Once Per Turn] You may trash 1 card from your hand: Up to 1 of your Leader or Characters gains +4000 power during this battle.

Whitebeard returns to Red as a 5-Life Leader, but now looks to be much more control-focused than its predecessor. Instead of Red's usual offensive focus, OP-17 Newgate's once-per-turn ability triggers on your opponent's attack, letting you trash a card from hand to give your Leader or a Character +4000 power for the battle.

It's basically a free Radical Beam every turn, and a huge burst of defensive power for such a cheap price.

Green Shanks (OP17-022)

• [Activate:Main] [Once Per Turn] You may trash 1 card from your hand or rest 1 of your DON!! cards: Up to 1 of your opponent's rested Characters will not become active in your opponent's next Refresh Phase.

With the generically strong ability to stun an opponent's rested Character, Shanks is an early pick for strongest Leader of the set. Simply rest an opponent's Character and you can essentially lock it down forever, comboing with cards like Electrical Luna to slow opponents down and either swing at their Life, or pick off their threats one by one.

Purple Kaido (OP17-058)

• [When Attacking]/[On Your Opponent's Attack] [Once Per Turn] DON!! -1: Give up to 1 of your opponent's Characters -2000 power during this turn.

A 5-Life Leader whose once-per-turn effect works when either you or your opponent attacks, Kaido can return 1 DON!! to give an opposing Character -2000 power for the turn. It's great for defense and board control, and paired with strong enough support Characters, can let Kaido survive into a potentially explosive late game.

Yellow Charlotte Linlin (OP17-099)

• [When Attacking] You may trash 1 card from your hand: Your opponent chooses one:
  • Trash 1 card from your hand. Then, add up to 1 card from the top of your deck to the top of your Life cards.
  • Trash 1 card from your opponent's hand.

Big Mom's When Attacking effect is effectively a mini-Soul Pocus on a stick: when you discard a card from your hand, your opponent can choose to either discard a card from their hand, or heal you. While the ability is extremely card-hungry, we already know that yellow decks can be tough to finish off when they've healed up a bit, and we expect this one to be miserable to play against in long games.

Black Monkey.D.Luffy (OP17-079)

• All of your Characters with a cost of 12 of more gain <Blocker>.

The headliner of the set, this new Luffy leader makes all of your Characters with a cost of 12 or more into Blockers. That might seem impossible, as no card currently has a natural cost above 10, but Dorry, Gerd, and Loki—the Elbaph giants in this set—all conveniently grant themselves +12 cost. That means this could be one of the most Blocker-heavy decks we've ever seen, so start practicing your swing math versus blocker walls now.

What Are the Most Valuable Cards in The World's Strongest Warriors (OP-17)?

Where OP-16 gave us three Manga Rares, OP-17 goes even further by giving us four: Whitebeard, Shanks, Kaido, and Big Mom, the original Four Emperors. We expect all four to command serious prices, but they'll likely be led by Shanks, a fan-favorite.

But there's actually another card that may outshine them all: the Luffy Leader Super Parallel, which is the first Leader card to ever get Manga-like treatment. Milestone firsts in this game have a tendency to hold their value (see Signature Luffy and Red Manga Luffy), and a blinged-out Manga-style Luffy Leader in the 4th Anniversary set is about as big of a milestone as it gets. If any card in OP-17 ends up as the face of the set, it's this one.

The Special Rare lineup is no slouch either. The six SPs of Zoro, Oden, Garp, Roger, Yamato, and Rayleigh are being called the Conqueror's Haki SPs for their striking monochrome and gold-accented finishes. With a cast list this stacked, any of the six could pop in value, but Yamato and Zoro will likely command the highest prices.

And because six SPs apparently wasn't enough for an anniversary set, OP-17 also boasts a second SP tier of Gold Anniversary SPs featuring the new Four Emperors: Luffy, Shanks, Blackbeard, and Buggy. In the style of previous gold and silver SPs, the metallic finish on these is so convincing it actually looks like a precious metal.

Gaudy? Absolutely, but what better way to celebrate an anniversary? Our early read is that Shanks and Luffy carry the safest demand floors, but Blackbeard and Buggy have their own devoted fanbases who'll also want to get their hands on these as quickly as possible.