The 10 Cards Everybody Wants from 500 Years in the Future

It's once again time to delve into another new set for one of the fastest growing card games of all time, and this time we're going into the future!

One Piece Card Game's latest set, 500 Years in the Future is based around the Egghead arc, which is fitting considering the anime has just started to get into that part of the story as well. This set also marks the start of a new era for the card game with the ban of both the Sakasuki Leader and Reject from the format. In particular the Hawian shirt-enjoying war criminal has had a stranglehold on the format for multiple sets now that has made it difficult for any new additions to really find their place, but now we can enter a much more open environment where some of the cards on our list can make a huge impact.

#10 Jinbe (Character, Alternate Art)

Blue has been in a weird spot for quite some time with no real powerhouse cards to define its archetypes, but that is certainly changing with the release of OP7, and it starts with Jinbe. OP1 Donquixote Doflamingo has been a fringe part of the metagame, but hasn't really had the explosiveness to compete with the rest of the format until now.

This Jinbe allows for some of the most explosive tempo plays in the game while having a lot of direct synergy with the 7 Warlords subtheme found throughout blue. While Doflamingo is the most obvious home for Jinbe, the card is powerful enough to show up alongside more fair blue Leaders, one of which we'll get to later on this list. 

#9 Otama (Character, Alternate Art)

This card actually unlocks an entire package of Wano cards that can be included in a few different archetypes. The most important interaction is the one between this card, EB Hiyori, and You Can Be My Samurai. You can use Otama to find either of the other two pieces, play Hiyori, rest both to draw 2 with Samurai, and then play a Wano five-drop. If that five-drop happens to be OP6 Momonosuke you can then put Otama back on top of your life and potentially run the combo back one more time.

This card is a big boon for Yamato decks that want to play a bit of a slower game plan, as well as Perona, who can use it alongside Ryuma. Otama is an incredibly strong role player that will only get better over time.

#8 Luffy (Character, Alternate Art)

Every time i put together one of these lists I feel like I'm talking about a Luffy card, and I guess we aren't going to break the streak just yet. Egghead Luffy is an important addition to many yellow decks because he gives them access to removal in a way they might not have had previously. This is especially important for the Black Yellow Luffy deck as they previously did not have access to much removal and could find themselves cold to large threats like OP6 Zoro.

Now in combination with cost reduction cards like Kuzan and Ice Age, that deck has the ability to interact with a much larger range of threats. Even in mono-yellow decks looking to play a more value-oriented gameplan like Enel, Luffy can function in a similar role to Gedatsu to help keep the board clear and stall out to the end game.

It's also worth noting that the art used on this card is Oda's, which is something that's becoming increasingly rare in the game and gives it a great deal more value for collectors.

#7 Sanji (Character, Alternate Art)

Sanji's alter ego Stealth Black makes their first entry into the game, and it's poised to be one of the most impactful cards for competitive play in the set. The way this card is worded means that the cost reduction effect applies to the card's cost while in hand, making it a legal target for the Leader ability of RP Law. You get this benefit on both ends because the card goes back to being 6 cost once in play, which is a reasonably difficult cost to interact with, especially for rest effects.

RP Law is poised to be one of the more powerful Leaders in Sakasuki's absence, so Sanji will be in high demand for most competitive players. Sanji is also just an incredibly popular character in general, so even if Law fell out of the meta for whatever reason, Sanji would still be sought-after.

#6 Portgas.D.Ace (Character, Alternate Art)

The two secret rares for this set are the brothers Ace and Sabo, and while I do expect Sabo to have a place in the game, I don't expect his impact to be on the same level as Ace. This iteration of The Firefist is going to be a huge boon for any yellow decks looking to win the late game, but will be particularly strong alongside Enel. That Leader's ability makes the life gain from Ace a great deal more meaningful and even gives you the ability to potentially play Ace while at 0 life and still have a strong shot of getting another turn.

With the addition of Ace alongside Katakuri and Yamato, the Enel deck now boasts one of the best top ends in the game and will certainly be a player in the competitive environment that people need to have a plan for.

#5 Rob Lucci (Leader, Alternate Art)

This set actually introduces several Leaders that I expect to have a notable impact on the metagame, and the first one to make this list is the second iteration of Black Rob Lucci. The Leader operates in a similar space as Gecko Moria and the recently departed Sakasuki. If you've trended toward playing black-based removal-heavy decks before, then this is probably the Leader for you.

While Lucci's text might not seem exceptional, it actually enables quite a few good cards like Enies Lobby and the brand new Tempest Kick. Having access to both of those goes a long way toward giving you enough cost reduction to remove what you need, especially now that Great Eruption is banned. While certainly not on the same power level as Sakasuki, I expect Lucci to fill the same role in the format of keeping board-based decks in check.

#4 Jewelry Bonney (Leader, Alternate Art)

Bonney has been a bit of a side character for most of One Piece's existence, but just as the Egghead Arc has made her a much more important part of the story, 500 Years in the future is going to make her a very important part of the metagame. Green hasn't really had a home for all of its powerful late-game cards in quite a while, but now with the help of Bonney's great defensive Leader ability, you can slow the game down enough to play things like OP6 Zoro and 10-drop Doffy. She also has the benefit of being a Supernova, which gives her access to powerful cards like EB Cavendish and OP7 Basil Hawkins. If you've found yourself missing the slow midrange gameplan of OP1 Kid then I would certainly recommend trying out Bonney.

#3 Boa Hancock (Leader, Alternate Art)

Now we get to the star of the set and her first iteration as a Leader card, the most beautiful woman in the One Piece world, Boa Hancock. I mentioned earlier that generically good blue cards might have a home again, and this is it. Boa naturally synergizes with most of the good blue effects as most of the color's interaction is based around bounce or bottom deck effects.

Cards like Gravity Blade Raging Tiger and Three Thousand Worlds can now replace themselves while clearing the opponent's board, which is a huge boost in power. You can also return your own cards like Kaya or the new Seven Warlord searcher Sengoku to hand and double up on the value. Boa gives blue a way to keep up on resources while still being able to leverage all of its tempo-based effects, and that's a strong recipe for success.

#2 Special Rares

The next batch of special rares we get for OP7 is one of the better ones we've seen. Each of the cards featured in this collection has at least one home among reasonable competitive decks.

The one exception people may point out is Okiku, but I've personally found her to line up quite well into the plethora of five-drop blockers across most decks and think it's likely her playrate increases as people figure things out. Issho is also a bit niche, but still shows up pretty frequently across black decks, albeit in low numbers.

Izou and Doffy should end up around the middle of this bunch as they are both mainstays of Tier 2 archetypes that should endure for most of the game's life span.

Kid is also a great hit as this card is going to be a staple of pretty much every purple deck for the foreseeable future. The chase card from this bunch will unquestionably be O-Nami both due to the card's playrate across most yellow decks as well as people's love for Nami.

#1 Manga Boa Hancock

Now for the final and most valuable card on our list that will allow us to see how the "waifu tax" interacts with Manga rares for the first time. We've gone through this enough times now that it is pretty clear the main driver of price on a Manga rare is simply how widely available its set is, and to be frank, Bandai has been struggling to meet demand on that front. Scarcity alone is likely to send Boa near the higher end of the range for Manga rares, but she certainly has a unique appeal that is likely to drive that demand even higher. I wouldn't be shocked to see this card end up in a similar range as Ace and Shanks when all is said and done.

It's also worth mentioning this card's parallel version that would have also deserved a place on this list in its own right, as Boa is actually an incredibly powerful tool for pretty much all blue decks. This card is not just a great tempo play on curve, but also allows you to prevent a wider range of lethal attacks from the opponent in the late game. All iterations of this Boa will be in high demand, so get used to seeing the Pirate Queen sitting across the table from you.