How to Beat Blue Rocks in the One Piece Card Game

Now that Mihawk is banned from the One Piece Card Game, the meta is about to shift, and now Rocks D. Xebec is going to be the deck to beat.

With the ability to draw two cards every turn while filtering his hand, Rocks is one of the most consistent decks in the One Piece Card Game. And since his deck is primarily made of counterless cards (which generally have the most powerful effects), the deck's ceiling is one of the highest the game has ever seen.

But there's hope yet for non-Rocks players: that lack of counter can be exploited, as can a few other nuances of the deck that aren't intuitive if you're not familiar with the popular lists. Here's a rundown of how to beat Rocks.

Blue Rocks D. Xebec's Decklist and Game Plan

(ChinoizeCup #119 winner list, via Egman Events)

Rocks is a deck that often gets off to a slow start, but has an explosive midgame and suffocating late game that can be difficult to recover from if his board gets out of control. Early, Rocks will cycle through his deck with his Leader effect while playing cards like Kyo, Kaido, and Gloriosa to fix his hand, keep your board under control, and prepare himself for midgame board removal or aggression. 

In the midgame, he'll play cards like Charlotte Linlin, which increases his card advantage by two cards no matter whether you trash 2 or let him draw 2. In the 6-7 DON!! turns, he'll play something like Newgate, which buffs his Leader by 3000 power when attacking (or when attacked), or the all-powerful SR Shiki, which has Rush:Character and can give one of your cards -3000 power when it attacks. Establishing these Characters allows him to use his counterless cards to "counter" so that he can survive into the late game. 

Once he reaches 10 DON!!, Rocks will look to play 10-DON!! Rocks SEC, a 12000-power Character that plays 9 DON!! worth of Rocks Pirates from hand, establishing an entire board that often has immediate effects. From there, he just needs to survive for long enough to finish the game, which is easy to do with Miss Buckingham Stussy, a 3-cost card that can freeze up to two Characters per turn. Alternately, he can use Captain John as a 6000-power super-blocker that can't be surpassed by unblockable effects. Then, he himself can make an unblockable attack with the 0-cost Event There's No Authority in the World That Lasts Forever!!!.

Blue Rocks D. Xebec's Strengths

Generally, Rocks is pretty good at everything, with access to:

• Consistent card draw with his Leader effect.
• Solid anti-aggro and anti-removal options via Gloriosa, Captain John, Kaido, Don Marlon, Ganzui, and Kyo.
• Removal in the form of Gloriosa.
• Card advantage from Linlin.
• Freeze effects with Stussy.
• Raw power from Newgate.
• Potent board combat in the form of Shiki.
• Finishers in the form of his unblockable Event.

With access to all these tools, if Rocks can get any sort of board advantage over his opponent, it can become extremely difficult to come back.

Blue Rocks D. Xebec's Weaknesses

While Rocks has access to an overwhelming amount of tools, they're not all-powerful, and many of them come with important conditions that you need to understand if you're going to beat him. Generally, his weaknesses include:

• Board reliance. Since his board converts his hand into counter, Rocks can lose the game quickly if he loses his board, as much of his hand becomes immediately useless in the absence of established Characters.
• Early game pressure. Since he has trouble countering early swings without pitching one of his valuable 2000-power Counter Events, he can take a beating in the early game if he's against more aggressive decks. This, in turn, can make it harder for him to safely establish a board in the later turns.
• Conditional counter. Since Shiki turn (7 DON!!) can only "counter" attacks coming from Characters, his effect can be circumvented by swinging big with your Leader. Since Newgate can only "counter" attacks aimed at the Rocks Leader, Characters can more easily pressure other Characters when only he's on the board. While these Characters can combine to make nearly every attack feel useless, the chain can easily fall apart if one piece is removed. A careful eye and situational awareness will help turn these conditions into a glaring weakness for Rocks' game plan.

Tips for Beating Blue Rocks D. Xebec

• Clear his board. As we've established, Rocks is nothing without his Characters. If you can successfully clear ones that pose the biggest threat to your swing numbers and board state, you can severely weaken his Leader and put backbreaking pressure on him.
• Play around his swing plays. Heading into his Gloriosa turn (4 DON!!), avoid playing Characters that don't net immediate value. Heading into his Shiki turn (7 DON!!), consider not turning key Characters sideways unless you have a Blocker or other option to protect them. In the late game, be wary of double Gloriosa turns that can negate up to four of your Characters' attacks. This may require you to prioritize attackers that are currently on the board over developing Characters that don't provide immediate value.
• Put pressure on him. As his early turns are relatively weak—especially if he misses a key drop—you can sometimes get Rocks down to low Life early and force him to take dangerous amounts of damage.
• Go wide. Since Rocks' Character "counter" effects can only be used once per turn, a wide board allows you to minimize their impact. If you can generate lots of attacks before he has the chance to develop his Character counters, you can force him into much tighter late-game situations.
• Swing difficult numbers. Against 5000-power targets, 5000 and 7000-power attacks are still strong against Rocks in the early game, while 8000-power attacks get stronger as he begins to develop Newgate and Shiki. When swinging, keep in mind the conditionality of his counters. If he has a Shiki on the board and you're swinging at his Leader, a 7000-power swing from your Leader is just as powerful as an 8000-power swing from one of your Characters.