One Piece Tech Cards for the OP-16 Format

The concept of a "tech card" in the One Piece Card Game feels more contentious in OP-16 than it's ever been. With cards like Charlotte Pudding rotated out of the Standard format and removal nerfed into a shadow of its former self, the game's focus is much more on playing for long-term value and knowing when to all-in than on digging for matchup-saving one- or two-ofs.

On top of that, more recently printed cards like Ground Death](product-hover id="671427") and I Know You're Strong... So I'll Go All Out from the Very Start!!! have situational effects that would have made them techs in previous metas, but they can also be used for +3000 counter, turning them into high-value staples that are almost always useful. (Don't get us started on Mamaragan).

Generally, though, the definition of a tech card in One Piece is the same as it's always been: a card with an extremely high utility or value ceiling that's only relevant on certain turns, in certain matchups, or in specific meta windows.

Here's a collection of some of the strongest tech cards in the game that can help turn the tide of battle in a pinch.

OP-15 +2000-counter Anti-Removals (Leo, Perona, etc.)

One Piece's OP-15 set gave each color a +2000-counter tool to stop removal dead in its tracks: OP15-009 Koby, OP15-035 Laboon, OP15-052 Leo, OP15-069 Nola, OP15-090 Perona, and OP15-105 Jewelry Bonney.

With generic value as +2000-counter options and broad-sweeping applications, these may be the purest tech cards of the bunch.

OP06-058 Gravity Blade Raging Tiger

Still the king of removal, Gravity Blade answers the pesky midrange 5- and 6-drops running rampant in the current meta. Just make sure you're playing it in a deck with enough breathing room to actually cast it.

OP15-047 Sanji

Unblockable is one of the few mechanics that lets you cheat out wins, bypassing blockers with big swings at the end of the game when your opponent's at zero Life. With no limits on what it can be applied to, this Sanji's effect is one of the strongest versions of the mechanic the game currently has to offer.

PRB02-006 Roronoa Zoro

This Roronoa Zoro has searchability, +2000 counter, and Blocker, plus resistance to the first blocker-resting effect it encounters in a given turn—making it the quintessential anti-rest tech.

OP12-037 Demon Aura Nine Sword Style Asura Blades Drawn Dead Man's Game

The flexibility to rest DON!! or Characters or use the card as +3000 counter gives makes this card perennially relevant, and a recurring staple in green decks that need finishing power.

OP15-114 Wyper

The ability to board wipe all of your opponent's 2000-power Characters is premium in a meta where decks like Blue Green Luffy can swarm the board with them by turn 2. It's clearly not a tech in Sky Island-themed decks that can take more direct advantage of it, but elsewhere, this card tends to see usage only when swarm is at its peak.

OP14-108 Rayleigh

As a generally good card whose relevance ebbs and flows based on the stat lines you're likely to see in the meta, Rayleigh is always just one winning Regional decklist away from wide adoption in decks like Blue Yellow Boa Hancock and Blue Yellow Nami.

OP14-118 You'll Frighten Me…

The fact that this card can fully stop an opponent's Character from attacking when used as a counter Event gives it an extremely high ceiling in big-body matchups, but its Trigger, which summons a 6000-power Character, keeps it relevant even when opponents play around the counter effect.

EB01-059 Kingdom Come

High-tempo 10-cost cards like the 10-cost Marshall D. Teach Blocker from OP-09 and Blocker Edward Newgate from OP-13 are all over the place, and can stop a yellow deck dead in its tracks if multiple of them can hit the board. This card solves that issue, and is likely to stay a yellow tech go-to for as long as these big cards stay in the meta. 

ST10-015 Gum-Gum Giant Sumo Slap

Start digging in your bulk, because this little-used Event out of ST-10 is seeing new life in Lucy. As a +2000 counter Event that also K.O.s an opponent's Character with 2000 power or less, it's great for picking off Blue Green Luffy's early drops.

OP09-097 Black Vortex

With so many pesky On K.O. effects running around, a counter card like Black Vortex that also negates opponent Characters or Leaders has a high utility ceiling.

OP09-077 Gum-Gum Lightning

On its own, this card never quite made a splash in the meta because purple as a color has never tended to run power-reducing effects that could raise this card's value ceiling. With the release of the power-reducing SR Sakazuki in OP-16, that's no longer the case. Now decks like Purple Yellow Rosinante can use it to remove 12000-power Characters in one fell swoop.

OP07-076 Slow-Slow Beam Sword

The situational nature of this card hinges less on the meta than on how much opponents expect it. Unexpected, it can be game-winning. Anticipated, it can feel like it barely matters.

ST18-001 Uso-Hachi

Originally released as a two-of in Starter Deck 18, Uso-Hachi quickly became one of the best +2000-counter cards in the game, with the generically-solid ability to rest an opponent's blocker. With the general decrease in power that purple's undergone post-rotation (with the exception of Enel, of course), Uso-Hachi isn't as ubiquitous as he once was, but his effect is still one of the strongest anti-blocker techs the color currently has access to.