How to Upgrade the One Piece TCG Starter Deck 25: BLUE Buggy

Welcome back to chapter three of our One Piece TCG Starter Deck upgrades guides. This time around, I'm feeling a little bit blue. I think we need a dose of laughter from the genius jester, Buggy (OP09-042)!

When Buggy first released back in Emperors in the New World, the leader was the butt of the joke. The deck felt strong but overly linear, flooding the board with characters with little means to slow down opponents (or stop their primary points of interaction). The matchup into Donquixote Doflamingo (OP01-060) and Marshall.D.Teach (OP09-081) felt very solid, but you had a terrible time with the meta-defining Shanks (OP09-001).

Lore accurate? Perhaps. But painfully annoying if you wanted to join Cross Guild.

Thankfully, Starter Deck 25: BLUE Buggy revitalizes this fan-favorite deck into a real metagame force. At time of writing, Buggy (OP09-042) is the sixth best performing leader in the entire OP11 metagame. If you can kickstart your journey towards a competitive deck for a handful of pocket change, why wouldn't you?

If you're taking your first steps into One Piece alongside a different leader, fear not! I'm slowly working through a full series of upgrade guides for the most recent wave of starter decks. As they're finished, you'll be able to find them below:

However, if you're setting sail alongside the owner of the Bara Bara no Mi, let's begin by breaking down exactly what you'll find inside the box.

Starter Deck 25: Blue Buggy - Base Decklist

• Buggy (OP09-042)
• 2 Crocodile & Mihawk (ST25-003)
• 2 Buggy (ST25-004)
• 2 Alvida (ST25-001)
• 4 Cabaji (ST25-002)
• 4 Mohji (ST25-005)
• 4 Alvida (OP09-043)
• 4 Cabaji (OP09-045)
• 4 Buggy (OP09-051)
• 4 Mohji (OP09-053)
• 4 Richie (OP09-054)
• 4 Mr.1 (Daz.Bonez) (OP09-055)
• 4 Mr.3 (Galdino) (OP09-056)
• 4 Buggy (P-084)
• 4 Cross Guild (OP09-057)

Talk about an overhaul! BLUE Buggy (ST25) is easily the most impressive starter deck of the new wave. As a deck, Buggy's looking to swarm the board with above-rate {Cross Guild} characters by using his leader ability to cheat out bigger characters as early as Turn 3. You'll spend the early turns tutoring up the missing pieces with Mr.3 (Galdino) (OP09-056) and Cross Guild (OP09-057) then open the floodgates with whichever tool you need.

It feels like somebody at Bandai studied all the shortcomings the leader had and deliberately designed a new card to address each one. Cabaji (ST25-002) and Mohji (ST25-005) are flexible +2000 counters that can slot onto the board to provide {blocker} against aggressively slanted decks, while Alvida (ST25-001) joins the latter in generating card advantage, being a +1000 and meeting both the four and five cost requirements of the deck. The additional cost of trashing a card to activate Buggy's leader ability tends to leave you out of resources fast, so having additional ways to keep the hand flowing is a huge boon.

At the top end, Crocodile & Mihawk (ST25-003) is a full-blown custom card for the deck. Dumping gigantic characters into play at the cost of two cards leaves you very susceptible to getting two-for-one'd by targeted removal. While you do need to trash another card in order to use Crocodile & Mihawk's effect, you're not losing the tempo you would from losing the character in play. All you need is blue's abundance of card draw effects to keep your hand stocked.

Finally, a huge round of applause for including four copies of Buggy (P-084) in the deck. Previously, this card was only available as a pre-release promo from OP10 and caused no end of chaos for aspiring Buggy players. It's a must have card that was previously a nightmare to find but you won't have to worry about that. They've even got the snazzy extended artwork!

All in all, I think this product is a home run out of the box. There are very few omissions from a fully powered Buggy deck and it's incredibly fun to play. If you're still deciding which deck to pick up, consider this my endorsement.

Budget Upgrades

Part of that endorsement comes from writing this section of the article. Normally, I break these down into budget upgrades and full powered upgrades, but I don't need to do that here because not a single copy of any card needed for a fully powered Buggy deck costs more than $6 a copy.

Madness. In all the right ways. Let's break them down by most important:

The biggest omission from the starter deck is Dracule Mihawk (OP09-048), the potent 7000 power blocker than generates card advantage when played. This card can be cheated in by both Buggy (ST25-004) and Buggy (P-084) if you'd prefer to use your leader ability elsewhere. It's a bread-and-butter part of your play sequences and really keeps the engine running as the game continues. It's the most expensive upgrade in the deck but probably the most important.

The second priority should be buying additional copies of all the new cards featured within the deck. You'll only find two Alvida (ST25-001), Buggy (ST25-004) and Crocodile & Mihawk (ST25-003) inside each box but you'll want four of each for a full build. Consider grabbing a second deck to fill up or picking up spare copies on the marketplace.

Otherwise, the deck is looking to double up on additional ways to cheat characters into play and more consistent card advantage. Crocodile (OP09-046) can't quite cheese out the biggest characters alone but he can sidestep through Buggy (ST25-004) to get to Mihawk, search with Mr.3 (Galdino) (OP09-056) or generate cards/blockers as needed. Sanji's Pilaf (OP03-056) is a much simpler inclusion. You need cards to discard to your leader ability and a hearty meal is the best way to get them. Nice, clean and simple.

The final few changes come in the form of the limited interaction that blue has access to. The odd copy of Love-Love Mellow (ST03-017) or Sables (ST03-015) provide a handful of trigger effects that can sway the turn cycle in your favor. The sweetest part? Just discard them to Buggy (OP09-042) if you don't need them.

Throw it all together and you've got Jean Carlos's ninth place decklist from the Toronto Regional last month:

Jean Carlos's Blue Buggy - 9th Place at Toronto Regional

• Buggy (OP09-042)
• 4 Mr.3 (Galdino) (OP09-056)
• 4 Alvida (ST25-001)
• 4 Cabaji (ST25-002)
• 4 Buggy (ST25-004)
• 4 Mohji (ST25-005)
• 3 Cabaji (OP09-045)
• 4 Dracule Mihawk (OP09-048)
• 3 Crocodile (OP09-046)
• 3 Buggy (P-084)
• 4 Crocodile & Mihawk (ST25-003)
• 4 Buggy (OP09-051)
• 3 Cross Guild (OP09-057)
• 1 Love-Love Mellow (ST03-017)
• 3 Sanji's Pilaf (OP03-056)
• 2 Sables (ST03-015)

As always, decklists will ebb and flow as new products release and the metagame adapts. Thankfully, Buggy is pretty all-in on {Cross Guild} synergies, so it should be easy enough to see when something else is coming down the pipeline that might be worth testing. Until then, I hope you enjoy every moment of turning your opponent into a practical joke.

Closing Thoughts

Starter Deck 25: BLUE Buggy is the perfect example of an onboarding product. It offers a ton of new play patterns and support to established players while requiring minimal investment from a fresh face to get the party started. Moreover, the deck has a place in the current metagame. We're not making concessions to budget here. It's just that good.

Have further questions? Let me know what you're thinking 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!