Massive Bans and Rotations Shake Up One-Piece TCG!

Why do all the cool card game announcements force me to be awake so early?! I have got to speak to somebody about this...

In case you missed it, the team at Bandai confirmed a few weeks back that we'd be receiving a hefty ban list update during the second day of the Bandai Card Games Fest 24-25 World Tour Final. Queue the early morning coffee and spectating games of One Piece over slightly soggy cereal. Fatigue be damned — I'm excited to see what's coming next.

...and somehow, they overdelivered on expectations!

One Piece is a Rotating Card Game Now 

The new "Block Numbers System" has been a long-rumored update to One Piece TCG that was finally formally announced this past weekend. This new legality system won't go into effect until April 2026 — likely coinciding with the switch to a global release schedule — but it pays to be prepared. The way we play One Piece TCG is about to change forever. 

After all, you didn't think a random number correlating to the year a card released was an aesthetic choice, did you?

Moving forward, the four oldest sets will rotate out of the game once per year, leaving two years' worth of products legal in the "Standard Regulation Tournament" format. This change is designed to increase diversity, free up design space and creating a fresh-feeling format on a regular basis, and I mostly agree that it's a healthy change (if not a little bit earlier than I expected) — but most online responses don't seem to agree with me. 

To be clear, Bandai need to follow through on their promises for this to work: the new set of "extra regulation tournaments" that allows all blocks to be used needs to be actively supported at a regional level as to allow players to continue enjoying their favourite leaders from yesteryear, or we'll quickly lose the interest of veterans who fell in love with a specific leader.

Bandai have also claimed that cards from older blocks will become legal for play again if they are eventually reprinted with a new block icon, which will appear on all reprinted cards from 2026 onwards. Original prints will still be legal for play regardless of block icon, which is a really big deal for accessibility. 

There will also be an updated/everchanging list of old block cards that are granted legality in future block rotations until a suitable set to reprint them arrives. It's a lot to take in, and I think these changes will take a while to adjust to.

As long as this change plays out as expected, consider me a fan. Rotational systems have done wonders for the longevity of other trading cards games and lord knows certain old set all stars have outstayed their welcome. I'm excited to see how this goes.

Ban List Updates

Four new entries from across the history of One Piece have joined the list of cards deemed too good for tournament play, which was honestly a little surprising to me on the doorstep of OP10 - Royal Blood. Unlike other games, the eastern player base already offers data as to how Royal Blood will play out, and they have still been begging for changes to pull some of the more egregious power outliers back in line — which makes it a whole lot easier to rationalize early action.

Truthfully, I don't feel like anybody managed to escape the hammer either.

Gecko Moria (OP06-086): 

I've referred to Gecko Moria (OP06-086) as one of the kingpins of the format since I began writing about One Piece... because it has been exactly that for the entire period. It was the ultimate endgame engine for dominant black leaders like Rob Lucci (OP07-079), Monkey.D.Luffy (ST13-003) and Sakazuki (OP05-041) and has racked up over 1500 confirmed top finishes since the card first released in OP-06 Wings of the Captain. 

Will I miss how cool Gecko Moria was? Sure. Had it overstayed its welcome? Absolutely. Black leaders shouldn't have a default build-around character that strips all sense of identity from them, and there were rare few occurrences that building towards late-game Moria loops was actively incorrect. These leaders get to explore alternative options now and that's a good thing in the long run. 

Jinbe (OP07-045):

I mostly stayed awake in hope of a Donquixote Doflamingo (OP01-060) hit. I'm glad my lack of sleep was vindicated. 

Jinbe (OP07-045) was one of the cards most responsible for the high-roll stats that Donquixote Doflamingo could achieve, and one of the more reasonable bannings if you didn't want to leaders like [Boa Hancock](product-hover id="545822")catching a stray in the crossfire. Jinbe was simply raw power — but arguably a little unexciting. Removing him from the deck dials down the power level a reasonable amount but doesn't directly damage the core identity of the deck. 

Ice Age (OP02-117): 

A shame that this card finally bit the bullet following several recent reprints, but not a change I hate at all. 

Ice Age is another light tap to bring black leaders back to a reasonable level. As the card pool expands, there's more and more ways to abuse such a huge cost reduction effect, and any cheap option stapled to a K.O-based trigger was likely to be best-in-class. This change reminds me of the previous hit to Enies Lobby (OP03-098); there's no clear hit, so just lower the ceiling. 

Ice Age was just always a consideration for any black leader — and that isn't healthy. I'm happy to see it gone. 

Kingdom Come (EB01-059):

Alright, this one surprised me. 

Realistically, Kingdom Come (EB01-059) is a targeted hit to Enel (OP05-098) that just happens to have splash damage for certain builds of Monkey.D.Luffy (ST13-003), who arguably got ranched by this list a little harder than just Kingdom Come. Perhaps Bandai expect Enel to be a real force in a format where Black Yellow Luffy isn't as prominent? I'm unsure. 

I have similar feelings about this ban as I do Ice Age (OP02-117) — it's a light tap. Enel struggles if an opponent manages to go too wide and overwhelm the safety of his leader ability, and potent control tools like Kingdom Come (EB01-059) were an important part of shutting that down. In its absence, yellow players will need to reach for more situational control options, which leaves holes in the armor for other leaders to exploit.

Overall, I'm less sold on the timing of this hit but I'm not really against it. Kingdom Come is a very powerful card that doesn't look out of place on the ban list.