How to Upgrade the One Piece TCG Starter Deck 27: BLACK Marshall.D.Teach

Welcome back to chapter five of our One Piece TCG Starter Deck Upgrade Guides. Today, we're playing the antagonist. The bad guy. The worst of the Worst Generation. Prepare yourself to nullify everyone else's powers alongside the newly recognized son of Rocks.D.Xebec, Marshall.D.Teach (OP09-081)

The infamous dual devil fruit user is the face of Starter Deck 27: BLACK Marshall.D.Teach and serves as an interesting onboarding choice for players new to the game. Teach (also commonly referred to as Blackbeard) is a unique deck, focused on discarding your own cards to shut off the On Play abilities of opposing characters. In exchange, you can't use On Play effects either. This leaves Blackbeard as a very potent controlling strategy that requires practice and finesse to properly navigate. After all, it's hard to flick the switch at the right time if you have no idea what they opponent could play.

With that said, Marshall.D.Teach (OP09-081) is a phenomenal choice as the face of a starter deck. Sure, there's a need to represent all colors and factions across each chunk of decks to capture the widest net of the One Piece audience, but the deck has also been a serious metagame contender since it released back in Emperors of the New World (OP09). At time of writing, Blackbeard is a top five deck in the format. That's hardly a bad place to get started on a budget. 

If you're starting your One Piece journey alongside a different leader, fear not. I'm slowly working through upgrade guides for every starter deck from the most recent wave. As they're finished, you'll be able to find them below:

However, if you're hopping aboard with the dastardly admiral of the Blackbeard Pirates, let's take a closer look at what you'll find inside the box.

Starter Deck 27: Black Marshall.D.Teach - Base Decklist

• Marshall.D.Teach (OP09-081)
• 2 Kuzan (ST27-003)
• 2 Marshall.D.Teach (ST27-005)
• 2 Sanjuan.Wolf (ST27-004)
• 4 Avalo Pizarro (ST27-001)
• 4 Catarine Devon (ST27-002)
• 4 Van Augur (OP09-083)
• 4 Jesus Burgess (OP09-086)
• 4 Shiryu (OP09-088)
• 4 Stronger (OP09-089)
• 4 Doc Q (OP09-090)
• 4 Vasco Shot (OP09-091)
• 4 Laffitte (OP09-095)
• 4 Sanjuan.Wolf (OP10-084)
• 4 Fullalead (OP09-099)

Honestly? This product is a slam dunk. You'll find most of the bread-and-butter staples we've come to expect from Marshall.D.Teach (OP09-081) inside. A full playset of Stronger (OP09-089), Doc Q (OP09-090), Jesus Burgess (OP09-086) and Fullalead (OP09-099) form the backbone of the fully powered strategy, while Laffitte (OP09-095) and Van Augur (OP09-083) also translate over in most lists. It's rare for a starter product to translate so well into a competitive deck list and frankly it's a joy to see.

Most of the new cards are also exceptionally powerful tools for the archetype. Marshall.D.Teach (ST27-005) pairs up perfectly with the incidental cost reduction effects available to black, eliminates problematic characters who slip through your leader ability and recurs any card in your trash on K.O. Blackbeard often aggressively trashes cards with Fullalead (OP09-099) and your leader ability, so you'll have your pick of tools to pull back. Perhaps you just want another Marshall.D.Teach (ST27-005) to keep the value train going? The choice is entirely up to you.

Kuzan (ST27-003) and Sanjuan.Wolf (ST27-004) aren't quite as flashy, but they're important roleplayers. The former offers an important {blocker} in more aggressive matchups and rebuys the latter on K.O to keep the defenses staunch. Alternatively, you can pull back value pieces like Van Augur (OP09-083) to set up removal like Marshall.D.Teach (ST27-005). Altogether, the deck is a well-oiled machine. 

This is exactly what I'm hoping for from a starter product. None of the important framework is missing, but simplicity is still the focus of the cards selected. Even better, there's cheap, clear upgrade paths if you're looking to scale up to a tournament winning decklist. If you're just getting started, it's a fantastic product to buy! 

Budget Upgrades

Much like the upgrade guide for Buggy (OP09-042), I take serious pleasure in telling you just how cheap Marshall.D.Teach (OP09-081) can be to pull up to full power. Typically, I separate these guides into "budget upgrades" and "full-powered upgrades" to facilitate every price point — but I don't need to when every single card is under five dollars a copy.

There are three cards that stand out as the biggest omissions from the starter deck that'd I'd be looking to pick up immediately: My Era... Begins!! (OP09-096), Kuzan (OP10-082) and Marshall.D.Teach (OP09-093).

My Era... Begins!! (OP09-096) is another premium searcher that dials your consistency to eleven, all while filling up the trash for Jesus Burgess (OP09-086) and Marshall.D.Teach (ST27-005). It's also a trigger effect: something the starter deck is painfully lacking. You want to be rewarded for taking damage to life on occasion and a free peek at the top three cards is a fine payoff in my books.

Kuzan (OP10-082) is the most expensive card in the deck, but also one of the most important. Blackbeard is designed to use its trash as a toolbox of effects as the game goes longer, giving you the freedom to trash cards you may need later with your leader ability. Kuzan is a big part of that puzzle, replaying whichever {Blackbeard Pirate} silver bullet you may need in the current situation, as long as it costs less than five. It also pairs beautifully with Kuzan (ST27-003), who can grab his smaller self from the trash to open up a whole world of options on the following turn.

Finally, Marshall.D.Teach (OP09-093) is the big bad boss monster. On the turn Teach is played, you'll extend your negation abilities all the way to the opposing leader while preventing a character of your choice from using its ability or attacking. He's also a 12000 power {Blocker}, which is unbelievably difficult to brute force through. Every good control deck needs a way to slam the door shut, and Marshall.D.Teach (OP09-093) does exactly that.

Next, you should be looking to pick up some more efficient removal effects to handle the problematic characters or Activate: Main effects that sneak through your leader ability. Tempest Kick (OP07-096) is the gold standard here, combining with your other cost reduction effects off its trigger effect or providing cost reduction to pair with Doc Q (OP09-090) or Marshall.D.Teach (ST27-005). 

Black Hole (OP09-098) is typically the other option of choice, providing the flexibility to negate any character for a turn or pair up with your cost reduction to knock out a threat. It's rather expensive and it's not flashy, but that's the price you pay to cast a wider net. 

Most other card choices stem from metagame considerations or choosing more appropriate counters. In the decklist we're upgrading towards today, we'll be looking to pick up four copies of Caribou (OP011-083) as our +2000 of choice. It's mostly going to provide that counter value, but sometimes you just really need a blocker against an aggressive assault from Belo Betty (OP05-002). 

Mix it all together and we have Kevin Le's winning decklist from Championship Finals Paris. Perhaps more importantly, the entire list comes in at under $50 to purchase from scratch. 

Kevin Le's Black Blackbeard - 1st Place at Championship Finals Paris

• Marshall.D.Teach (OP09-081)
• 4 Stronger (OP09-089)
• 4 Caribou (OP011-083)
• 3 Laffitte (OP09-095)
• 4 Doc Q (OP09-090)
• 4 Jesus Burgess (OP09-086)
• 1 Shiryu (OP10-086)
• 1 Sanjuan.Wolf (ST27-004)
• 4 Van Augur (OP09-083)
• 4 Kuzan (OP10-082)
• 1 Kuzan (ST27-003)
• 3 Marshall.D.Teach (ST27-005)
• 3 Marshall.D.Teach (OP09-093)
• 4 Tempest Kick (OP07-096)
• 4 My Era... Begins!! (OP09-096)
• 2 Black Hole (OP09-098)
• 4 Fullalead (OP09-099)

As always, these deck lists will ebb and flow as new products release and metagames adapt. Thankfully, Blackbeard is pretty all-in on {Blackbeard Pirate} synergies, so it should be easy enough to spot any upcoming cards with potential inside the deck. Until then, enjoy draining away your opponent's powers and cackling maniacally while you do so! 

Closing Thoughts

While Starter Deck 27: BLACK Marshall.D.Teach is going to take a little more legwork to get familiar with than other preconstructed products, the payoff is a deck with an established pedigree and endless skill expression. Blackbeard is a behemoth of a deck that stands its ground at any tournament table, and it costs next-to-nothing to give it a shot. Not bad, eh? 

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!