The 10 Most Expensive One Piece Cards in The Time of Battle (OP-16)

Like the Summit War itself, The Time of Battle has a lot going on at once.

Between the three Manga Rare Admirals, the six SP reprints, the six alt-art Leaders, and weirder things like alt-art Events and Treasure Rares, the latest One Piece set asks collectors to split their attention in many different directions.

Now that fans have gotten their hands on OP-16, we have a better sense of which new cards are main characters in the set, and which ones are fading into the background. Today we're highlighting the collectibles that the market has voted most likely to spark a showdown between the Great Powers. These are the most valuable One Piece cards in The Time of Battle (OP-16).

#10 Alt-Art Yamato (OP16-079)

At least for now, Yamato has come out ahead of Luffy and Teach as the most valuable alt-art Leader in The Time of Battle (OP-16). Part of that comes down to Yamato's popularity—he consistently outranks some Straw Hats—but it also helps that players adore his new deck in OP-16.

Using a unique combination of recursion and rush, Black Yamato can start a turn with no board presence and end by chaining four attacks at the opponent's Leader. This resilient aggro strategy is super fun, and buildable for around $70, making it many players favorite new deck from the set. Since the deck is so cheap to assemble, fans with means have been happy to spend the money they "saved" on the alt-art version of the Leader.

#8 SP Tashigi (OP14-024)

Like most other One Piece sets, The Time of Battle features a cycle of Special Rares (SPs): alternate-art cards (mostly reprints) with a unified art style. This time, that art style is a close-up portrait of each Character, rich in details and topped off with a stunning holofoil pattern.

Obviously, cards this rare and gorgeous are going to be among the most valuable in the set, but their rankings relative to each other depend on the popularity and strength of the Characters themselves.

Tashigi's position as the least-valuable SP from Heroines Edition should give you an idea of where this character ranks in popularity. Regardless, this SP is still plenty expensive.

Even ignoring Hashimoto Q's artwork (which I definitely don't have a crush on *blushes*) Tashigi (OP14-029) sees consistent play in Mihawk (OP14-020), One Piece's premier green good-stuff deck at the moment. As the first alt-art version of this card, SP Tashigi is the logical choice for green players aiming to max-rarity their decks.

#8 SP Bartholomew Kuma (EB04-054)

It's a mark of how severely Bandai has power crept the One Piece Card Game that Bartholomew Kuma (EB04-054) sees barely any play. This card heals you on play, damages your opponent on KO, and has counter—but outside of Jewelry Bonney (EB04-001), most decks would rather get those effects at a lower cost with cards like Nami (EB03-053) and Borsalino (EB04-058). 

Still, the story of Kuma and Bonney absolutely wrecked One Piece fans, so any card that reminds people of that story is bound to be popular.

#7 Alt-Art Zehahahahaha! (OP16-116)

For competitive players, the most important new deck to come out of OP-16 has been Black Yellow Teach, the first deck we've seen with a positive matchup into both of the last format's biggest threats: Enel and Nami. Black Yellow Teach lists run three to four copies of Zehahahahaha! so they can drop 10-cost Teach and still have extra DON!! to play around with.

Whether you're trying to max-rarity this new monster of the meta or just loved that video about learning the alphabet through One Piece laughs, this card is a remarkable pull. It's also the only alt-art Event in OP-16, and while we don't know exactly how that's affected its pull rate, the lack of competition means it has a special spotlight in the set.

#6 SP Charlotte Katakuri (OP11-067)

As a big blocker that sets itself active and ramps, Charlotte Katakuri has seen play across all different kinds of purple decks, where it helps slow down opponents long enough to set up huge DON!! minus abilities.

Katakuri himself ranks high on popularity polls, especially for an antagonist, but has never had an SP card before. Now that he does, it's instantly become the most valuable Katakuri card ever available in an English One Piece booster pack.

#5 SP Portgas.D.Ace (ST15-005)

This SP reprint was timed perfectly to coincide with the card becoming relevant again thanks to the release of Starter Deck 30. The Luffy & Ace Leader makes Luffy and Ace cards huge on the opponent's turn, meaning that this Ace can protect itself from removal and still be a tanky 7000-power Character.

Ace himself is easily a top-10 character in One Piece, as well as the focal point of the entire storyline this set is based around. As the rarest Ace card you can pull in The Time of Battle (OP-16), this SP naturally ranks as one of the most valuable cards in the set.

#4 SP Ms. All Sunday (OP14-084)

Everyone loves Nico Robin, and her drip while she was working for Baroque Works was undeniable.

Those two factors alone would have made SP Ms. All Sunday tremendously valuable, but this is also a key card in the spicy anti-meta Black Crocodile deck that's about to become even stronger with the release of the promo cards from Live Action Edition Vol.2 Baroque Works Collection in November.

#3 Manga Borsalino (OP16-073)

At the pinnacle of every One Piece set are its Manga Rares: heartbreakingly rare cards featuring a background of iconic panels from the manga. In OP-16, we have one Manga Rare for each of the three Admirals who fought at Marineford.

None of these law-and-order types are especially well-liked in a series all about overthrowing oppressive rulers, but these three Manga Rares combine to recreate an iconic manga panel with their foreground artwork, to complement their backgrounds. That fact will dare fans into collecting all three, making all of them more valuable by association.

#2 Manga Kuzan (OP16-063)

If anything gives Kuzan a leg up compared to the other Manga Rare admirals, it's his popularity as a character. Kuzan's conflicted brand of "lazy justice" drives him to alternate between opposing the Straw Hats and letting them off the hook, which makes him endlessly intriguing as an antagonist, especially compared to the more straightforwardly villainous Sakazuki and Borsalino.

#1 Manga Sakazuki (OP16-065)

Manga Rare Sakazuki currently holds the title of the most valuable One Piece card in The Time of Battle (OP-16), though it's a close race with the other two Manga Rare admirals.

Sakazuki has the distinction of being the strongest of the three admirals, both in the fiction and in the TCG. OP-16 Sakazuki effectively removes an opposing Character for a full turn, while getting around the removal protection that's so common on recent cards. It also ramps DON!! cards, which helps Leaders like Sengoku and Rosinante abuse their powerful effects without consequence.