How to Build a Shanks Deck in One Piece Game

There are few figures more commanding than "Red-Haired" Shanks. 

He's the near-inarguable master of Haki, the grandfather of the New Age and the original inspiration for Monkey D. Luffy's pirate journey. If we're being honest, Shanks is almost as iconic as the straw hat he gifted to our beloved protagonist way back when it all began. He's been a focal point of One Piece since the series began over twenty-five years ago and stands to be even more influential as the battle for the titular treasure truly begins. 

More importantly: he's kind of a badass. Who wouldn't want to play a game as Shanks?

Thankfully, the One Piece TCG allows you to do just that. At time of writing, there's two different leaders you can choose from if you want the chief of the Red Hair Pirates to lead your charge into battle: Shanks (OP09-001) and Shanks (ST05-001) — and honestly? That's kind of perfect. 

One of these leaders dips heavily into the events of One Piece Film: Red, leading to an incredibly flavorful and thematic portrayal that's perfect for long-time fans. The other is a heavy-hitting contender at the very top of the metagame and wouldn't look out of place at any tournament table. There's something about Shanks that will appeal to everyone, which makes him a great leader to kick off your journey.

I imagine shuffling with one arm will be a little tough — but that shouldn't prevent you from delivering Divine Departure to your opponent. Let's take a closer look at how to build a Shanks deck in the One Piece TCG. 

Purple Shanks is definitely the more casual version of the leader. He's heavily built around the {FILM} subtype of characters pulled directly from the events of the One Piece film series. As a result, there's not a whole lot of flexibility in how to build Shanks (ST05-001), but you'll get to feel like you're playing out a film in real time in exchange. If you'd like your games to be story driven or you're a particularly big fan of One Piece Film: Red, this leader seems like a fantastic pick.

HowlingMines's Purple Shanks:

• Shanks (ST05-001)
• 4 Buena Festa (ST05-014)
• 4 Jack (ST04 - 008)
• 4 Ann (ST05-003)
• 2 Carina (ST05-002)
• 4 Black Maria (OP08-074)
• 4 Uso-Hachi (ST18-001)
• 4 Uta (ST05-004)
• 2 O-Nami (ST18-002)
• 3 Gild Tesoro (ST05-006)
• 4 Sanji (OP09-065)
• 3 Zephyr (ST05-010)
• 4 Douglass Bullet (ST05-011)
• 4 Union Armada (ST05-017)
• 4 Lion's Threat: Imperial Earth Bind (ST05-016)

Good news! Shanks (ST05-001) comes alongside a Starter Deck that contains most of the cards you'll be looking for. One Piece Film Edition (ST-05) is simple to understand and easy to play straight out of the box, making this deck easy to build from scratch and a great choice for newer players.

The problem with that? Well, Shanks isn't very good. In terms of purple leaders, he's much less appealing than the likes of Monkey.D.Luffy (OP05-060) or even Kaido (ST04-001). If you're in love with the {FILM} subtype, he pales in comparison to Uta (OP06-001) or Uta (ST11-001) because there's only thirty-two {FILM} characters available in purple. If you're choosing to play this leader, it comes from a place of love and because you enjoy the play patterns he presents — not because you're expecting to win. 

The gameplan is fairly simple. You'll spend your early turn strategically accelerating your DON!!! to reach your big endgame {FILM} characters as quickly as possible. Once you've done so, you'll look to send it all back into your DON!!! Deck for one absurdly huge power turn with Douglas Bullet (ST05-011) and the leader ability of Shanks. If that assault somehow wasn't enough to finish the game, the likes of Black Maria (OP08-074) can help to rebuild your DON!!! and fire the cannon all over again. 

This deck is very fun, and the fact you'll find the majority of the cards you need inside a selection of Starter Decks is a huge selling point for accessibility. If you enjoy getting ahead of your opponent and ending the game in one swift blow, consider giving Shanks (ST05-001) a shot. 

Red Shanks is the newer of the two offerings and the more competitive option. He also sports significantly more cards that feature Shanks and his crew, if that's a tiebreaker for your choice. 

As you play your game, you'll be looking to systematically remove problematic characters from the opposing board and reduce the power of anything left standing. That will create suboptimal challenges for your opponent and leaves their remaining characters as easy prey to eliminate whenever you'd like. 

HowlingMines's Red Shanks:

• Shanks (OP09-001)
• 4 Otama (OP01-006)
• 4 Sanji (OP01-013)
• 4 Hongo (OP09-011)
• 4 Limejuice (OP09-014)
• 3 Lucky.Roux (OP09-015)
• 4 Portgas.D.Ace (ST15-005)
• 4 Yasopp (OP09-013)
• 4 Benn.Beckman (OP09-009)
• 4 Silvers Rayleigh (OP08-118)
• 3 Monkey.D.Dragon (OP07-015)
• 4 Shanks (OP09-004)
• 2 Shanks (OP06-007)
• 2 Bad Manners Kick Course (OP04-016)
• 4 Gum-Gum Fire-Fist Pistol Red Hawk (OP01-026)

This version of Shanks carries the small benefit of being relatively new. Many of his best supporting cards were printed alongside him in Emperors of the New World (OP-09), which means they're still readily available and quite cheap. The big exception to this is Silvers Rayleigh (OP08-118), who makes up over half the cost of the entire deck. Make no mistake, he's very good, but there's no harm in leaving that purchase until you're sure that Shanks is a good fit for you or even omitting it entirely at the kitchen table. 

There are so many ways to immediately KO opposing characters once you've shrunk them down in this shell, including Benn.Beckman (OP09-009), Gum-Gum Fire-Fist Pistol Red Hawk (OP01-026) and the gigantic version of Shanks (OP06-007). You'll also get to dominate the board with the Haki-infused version of Shanks (OP09-004) as you sweep away whatever is left.

Altogether, the deck can put the opponent in a prison-like vice and strip away any choices they may have — which is incredibly fun if you enjoy that sort of thing. 

Closing Thoughts: 

I'm overjoyed that Shanks has both viable and flavorful options to build if he's your favorite character in the franchise, and I've personally really enjoyed getting to grips with his OP09 version as I'm playing more and more One Piece. Hopefully, these deck lists are equally helpful to you as you begin your journey too!

Got more questions? No worries! Give me a nudge over at @HowlingMines on X (formerly Twitter) or @howlingmines.com over on Bluesky! Alternatively, give my other work here on TCGplayer a peek if you'd like another slice of everything nice about your favorite game.

But until next time. I've been HowlingMines, you've been amazing!

Stay safe out there — and happy gaming!