The 10 Cards Everybody Wants from Paramount War

The release of OP2: Paramount War is coming up fast, so now is a good time to familiarize yourself with some of the best cards you can possibly open in a box of the new set.

This set is based around one of the most climactic moments in One Piece, The Paramount War, and as such features many iconic characters and moments from the saga, in addition to a few outside of it.

Just because a card isn't on this list doesn't necessarily mean it's not desirable! There are just too many great new cards to fit on a single list. This set is adding a great deal for both collectors and spikes to enjoy, so no matter how you engage with the One Piece Card Game, there will be something here for you.

Let's dive into the 10 most desirable cards in The One Piece Card Game's second set, Paramount War.

#10 Zephyr (Alternate Art)

We're starting with a bit of a speculative call on my part before we get into the more obvious cards.

Given what we saw in OP1, pretty much every Alternate Art leader card was highly desirable. The lone exception was King Leader, and that was largely due to it being a worse version of Kiado Leader. That downside certainly doesn't apply to Zephyr, as they're the only leader in their color combination, and one of those colors is brand new. While all of the dual-colored leaders in this set have sole claim to their color combinations, Zephyr's colors synergize the best, with many purple cards caring about costs and many black cards being able to reduce them. I expect this leader to have a notable impact on the metagame.

Aside from this card's value as a game piece, I expect this to garner collector interest for a couple reasons. First, "One Piece Film Z" is widely regarded as the best One Piece movie largely due to the strength of Zephyr as a character. Not only that, but as far as I can tell this card art is taken from one of the very few times Eiichiro Oda himself published an illustration of Zephyr, making it a legitimately rare work of art.

This will be a recurring theme on this list, but any card art drawn by Oda is just going to be more desirable due to his stature as a manga artist.

#9 Kozuki Oden (Alternate Art)

Oden only appeared as a Leader in OP1, but now he's been given a character card befitting his stature in OP2 that is going to give a considerable boost to most green decks.

While OP1 Eustace Kid has had a firm stranglehold on the eight-drop spot in green so far, there are a few reasons why some decks could end up preferring Kouzuki Oden instead. The main reason would be its synergy with the new leader Kinemon, allowing this card to be played a full turn sooner than it would normally be able to, but there are also lighter interactions with cards like OP2 Kozuki Toki that make Oden even more appealing.

Where Kid is a defensive brick wall, Oden is a massive threat that can muster two huge attacks every turn it's in play, so there is a core gameplay difference in what these two cards are trying to accomplish. Oden is also much more resilient to removal, as the K.O. trigger allows you to get a respectable threat like OP1 Okiku or whatever other Wano card fits your situation. Kinemon decks are poised to be a big part of this new metagame, and Oden is one of the larger reasons why.

#8 Smoker Leader (Alternate Art)

Going into the new format there are only two mono-black leaders, and by all accounts Smoker is seen to be the more powerful option.

Smoker simultaneously acts as both an enabler and payoff for your cards that care about cost, so there is a lot of versatility in the game plans you can employ with this leader. Being able to keep the pressure on with low-investment 7000 attacks all while shrinking the cost of opposing creatures is just a very generically powerful effect.

There are a lot of powerful new black cards that players will want to build with, and Smoker is likely the leader most of them will want for those shells. There's also the added collector benefit of this card art depicting the very first panel that Smoker was ever featured in!

#7 Nami (Alternate Art)

While Nami cards are always desirable and this one should retain a fair amount of value, I feel like it's important to take this opportunity and talk about exactly why that's the case.

Because the target audience for both Shonen anime and card games is teen to young adult men, a game like this can create an environment that is so insular that those men feel more comfortable objectifying fictional women in a way that makes real-life women incredibly uncomfortable. This dynamic is reflected in what is colloquially referred to as the "waifu tax," where cards like the one above have their price inflated because they are fetishized.

That "tax" isn't the problem as much as the environment that enables it, and that's what I would like people to be more conscious of combating as this community starts to grow. Young women should be able to find a sense of community and belonging in One Piece in the same way a bunch of young men like myself did in other card games, so let's all work to make it a more welcoming place for them.

Outside of all that, this card is very niche, and will only see play in one deck due to the incredibly high number of FILM cards you need to play for the ability to get value. Nami is likely the most important card within those decks, but it's unclear if they will be a significant player in the metagame. Overall this card will likely retain value due to the reasons mentioned above, but as a pure game piece, it's a very narrow card with limited playability.

#6 Monkey.D.Luffy (Alternate Art)

As the main protagonist of One Piece, Luffy cards are always pretty desirable, and i don't expect "Bluffy" here to be any exception.

While this card may not read as especially powerful on first glance, it's important to note that this will almost always be played alongside OP2 Imperio Ivankov in an Imperio Ivankov Leader deck, and in that context it's quite strong. Being able to bounce a blocker to clear the way for a double attack swing can end the game very quickly, and you could even activate this effect the turn Luffy comes into play to deal with a potential attacker.

Aside from this card being a core player in Ivankov decks, the art depicts an iconic moment of the Paramount War, and for that reason should also garner a considerable amount of interest from collectors.

#5 Borsalino (Alternate Art)

Navy Admiral Kizaru, AKA Borsalino, falls into the middle of our list as one of the core black cards in the set that most competitive players will want to get their hands on.

Borsalino is probably the best rate blocker that has come into the One Piece Card Game so far. He's a 6000 on the opponent's turn for just 4 cost, but on top of that he also cannot be K.O.ed by card effects. The second line of text is huge, as it means you know your blocker will endure through most interactive cards your opponent can throw at it.

Blue and green have an easier time getting Borsalino out of the way with bounce and rest effects, but against every other color he's likely to be a permanent fixture of the game. If you can't get a hold of this flashy alternate art, be sure to at least get your hands on four of the base copy of this card, as Borsalino will be a four-of in every black deck for the foreseeable future.

#4 Edward Newgate Leader (Alternate Art)

One of the biggest new additions to the format is the Edward Newgate Leader card, and this Alternate Art version will be highly sought after for that reason.

Newgate is unique in that he is the first leader to have 6000 base power and 6 life, but it comes at a cost. At the end of every turn you are forced to add a life card to hand, so from the very start of the game you're on the clock, creating a very unique play pattern. Credit to Bandai for figuring out an excellent top-down design for "world's strongest pirate, but he's old and on a ventilator."

Despite the drawback, this leader is incredibly powerful and enables many new powerful cards like OP2 Moby Dick and even the #1 card on this list. Given how the Japanese metagame looks, it's also quite likely this card will retain value moving into OP3, so it's a fairly safe investment. We've seen the Alternate Art leader cards for top tier decks like Zoro and Law be highly desirable in OP1, and I expect Newgate to continue that pattern.

#3 Kuzan (SEC Alternate Art)

Kuzan is one of the two Secret Rare cards in the set, and is the vastly more powerful of the two. The new color black is chiefly based around reducing the cost of opposing creatures to bring them into range of removal and other effects, so Kuzan's passive ability is an incredible enabler once you get it into play. Not only that, but he has a solid immediate impact thanks to his on-play ability allowing him to K.O. what ends up being a creature of 5 or less cost due to the passive.

The game takes on a completely different tone once Kuzan gets into play, and for that reason, he'll be a staple four-of in pretty much every black deck. That demand will make this Alternate Art incredibly desirable, due to its SEC Rare status making it one of the rarest cards in the set. Even players who only open a base version of this card should still be very excited, as I expect that version to also command a considerable price.

#2 Edward Newgate (Alternate Art)

It's fitting that the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates got the most powerful card in Paramount War. This is going to be a four-of in both old and new red decks from the start of the format until its end.

In a lot of ways the OP1 format was defined by OP1 Eustace Kid because of how powerful raising the attack threshold is, and Edward "Whitebeard" Newgate replicates that effect while putting a massive threat into play. In addition, the on-play also prevents Newgate's leader card from forcing a life card into your hand, effectively buying you an extra turn. Newgate's second ability is also a big part of the reason most decks in the OP2 format will rely on mid-sized blockers rather than small ones.

Not only will Edward.Newgate be a massive staple of the format, it also has this incredible Alternate Art variant that is taken directly from the manga and thus drawn by Eiichiro Oda himself. That is actually quite uncommon for a character card's Alternate Art, as most of them are original works by other artists, but Newgate has been given the honor of being depicted in his original form in full frame.

#1 Portgas.D.Ace (Manga)

Each One Piece Card Game set features one variant of an Alternate Art card featuring a background made of manga panels from the character's history, and this one is going to be hard to top. Not only is Ace the focal point of the Paramount War saga, he is one of the most popular characters in the One Piece universe at least partly because of the moments that are featured on this card.

This card will be sought after by collectors who might not even play the game, just because it's an incredible showcase of Eiichiro Oda's artwork. That on its own carries an immense amount of value. Manga Portgas.D.Ace will not only be the most expensive card in Paramount War by a wide margin—I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being the most valuable main set card even several sets from now. It's very hard to top Ace.

In addition to collector value, the actual card is quite powerful and will be a staple of Newgate decks for as long as they exist, and any other Whitebeard Pirate decks that come up in the future. Being a large rush threat that shrinks multiple creatures offers immense versatility, both for controlling the board and applying surprise pressure to the opponent. The base version and Alternate Art of this card will also retain a fair amount of value for those reasons, and will certainly be worth picking up if those types of decks interest you.