The Top Decks from the Dallas Finals and Flame-Flame Coliseum

This past weekend was Bandai Card Game Fest Dallas, a large scale card game event meant to celebrate the One Piece Card Game as well as its global release with OP17. There were many events from last weekend but two stand out in particular: The North American Finals as well as the North American Edition of the Flame Flame Fruit Coliseum.

With the Finals bringing the 1000 best players in North America into one event, as well as nearly 5000 players sitting down for the Flame Flame Fruit Coliseum (including the author of this article), it quickly became the largest and most prestigious North American tournament weekend the game has ever seen. And, with it, we have a lot of data on decks players were bringing and winning with. 

In this article we're going over five decks that represent the five strongest Leaders in the current format of the One Piece Card Game. Though there are more viable Leaders in the game outside of these five, each of these Leaders found a lot of success in Dallas and I believe the builds we're going over are great choices for anyone trying to pick a Leader or build a One Piece deck in general. Additionally, if you're looking for more data or deck lists for the current OP-17 format, I recommend checking out the tournament results website I run as well.

Nicky's Mihawk

Mihawk has been the best deck in the OP17 format by default. That doesn't mean that it hasn't been forced to adapt as the competitive scene evolves. Since release there have been a lot of different tech choices pop up for Mihawk. Nicky's list in particular runs a lot of staple cards, but it also makes some unique choices. For example, the removal of a previously considered staple Electrical Luna.

OP14-038 I Never Bother to Remember the Faces of Trash is one of the "newer" tech cards for the deck despite it being relatively unused when it was released in OP14. This card lets you draw 1 and rest a Character, enabling Mihawk to interact with decks with weak initial characters that are later powered up such as Nico Robin and Elbaph Sabo. It's revealed itself as a strong addition to the deck over the last week and one of the more unique tech choices from Nicky's list.

OP17-031 Yasopp has cemented itself as a staple for the deck. Initially it was considered a little clunky due to not having the Slash Attribute, but many decks have pivoted to running OP13-031 Trafalgar Law instead to allow synergy with Yasopp. Like I Never Bother to Remember the Faces of Trash, being able to rest characters to attack into them has been a strong interaction in this format and Yasopp is one of the best cards to help make that happen.

Despite having little direct removal in the deck, Mihawk has been able to find strength in being able to prevent their opponent's cards from attacking or resting. Though Electrical Luna is generally the poster child for this effect, OP13-040 I Know You're Strong... So I'll Go All Out from the Very Start!!! is a flexible choice that's able to pivot to being a +3k counter in matchups where your opponent doesn't play many relevant 7 cost or less cards. I'm personally not a fan of techy single cards so I recommend running this, or Luna, at 1 or 2 copies.

As mentioned, Nicky's list is notable for not running Electrical Luna, though it is definitely a card that can be run if you like it. Mihawk lists have started to homogenize as we reach one month of this format, but there are still a lot of personal tech choices to help certain matchups. A couple other choice cards are: OP07-026 Jewelry Bonney, ST24-004 Law & Bepo, and OP14-033 Perona.

Yonas's Enel 

Enel has been extremely viable and performing well since its release in OP15. It looked like it was finally waning in power with the release in OP17, but it returned with a vengeance in the last couple of weeks. Despite its unique restriction of only having 6 DON!!, Enel has a whole toolbox of tech cards that can help keep it relevant in the current format. And, like Nicky's Mihawk List, Yonas' list is notable not for the cards he chose to run but for the cards he chose NOT to run, chiefly OP05-077 Gamma Knife and OP15-071 Holly.

ST10-010 Trafalgar Law has been really format dependent, but with the amount of card draw that decks are seeing it's unsurprising that Yonas ran Law at four copies. It's a bit of a rarer card, due to being released all the way back in Starter Deck 10, but I recommend running as many copies as you can get a hold of.

Yonas essentially replaced his copies of Gamma Knife with additional copies of Gum-Gum Lightning. With decks like Mihawk, Robin, and Sabo running a lot of cards with 6000 power or less, it makes sense why Gamma Knife is not as relevant as it has been previously. Obviously you lose a little bit of high-end removal with Gamma Knife but there aren't many situations in this format where that's relevant.

A lot of players have been flip-flopping on the Secret Rare Enel. Once it's established, it does offer a lot of board presence and offers some good consistency. However, Mihawk has some good ways to interact with it and sometimes you find it stuck in your hand for most of the game. I wouldn't say it's a hard four-of like it has been in the past but I would recommend still playing at least two copies.

As mentioned, Yonas's list is a bit unique in construction in the realm of Enel decks. Though he didn't run the cards, Gamma Knife and Holly can still be played if you prefer. Some other additional cards I see run are OP07-064 Sanji as a 2K Counter that can be found off Pudding as well as OP12-063 Vinsmoke Reiju that can be a strong 7000 power blocker.

Daniel's Nico Robin

If the Utrecht Finals was the event that established Nico Robin as a viable Leader, then the Dallas Finals was the event that solidified the deck's place in the meta. Nico Robin was the 2nd most popular Leader during the weekend and Daniel found himself in a mirror match during the Dallas Flame-Flame Fruit Finals. Nico Robin is pretty straightforward when it comes to deck building in this format, but there have been a few notable additions since Utrecht. 

OP17-111 Charlotte Mont-d'or has been a more recent tech choice for the deck. It has the play trigger, like the rest of the cards in the OP17 Big Mom Pirates archetype, but it can also be pivotal for interacting with decks that play a lot of 1 drop cards, such as Enel and Mihawk. I think the two copies in Daniels deck offer some much needed removal to the deck and it's another potential play trigger from life.

A lot of people were choosing OP05-073 Miss Doublefinger(Zala) as an additional 2K for this deck due to it being compatible with OP17-112 Charlotte Linlin. But, as the format developed, more and more people started adding Baby 5 due to its' trigger effect drawing two. Not a necessary 4-of in the deck but I do think most builds need to afford a couple of copies.

I can't begin to count the number of games I've lost due to OP16-119 Marshall.D.Teach's Trigger ability. I wasn't originally convinced it was a 4-of in the deck but, the more and more I played, the more I realized just how uniquely strong Teach can be in the deck. It's tied with Borsalino as the most expensive card in the deck, but it's for a good reason. Sometimes Teach can win you the game on the spot.

Though the lists are starting to solidify, there are a couple of additional tech cards I've been seeing pop up as well. OP05-073 Miss Doublefinger(Zala) is another 2K Counter that can also take advantage of Lin-Lin's boost effect. OP11-070 Charlotte Pudding for more search potential. Lastly, OP14-108 Silvers Rayleigh for some good removal.

Seven07's Rocks

Rocks.D.Xebec is in a very unique position in the One Piece Card Game. It has a really unique and restrictive archetype that's able to adapt to a lot of situations. Unfortunately, it's not able to currently adapt to Mihawk; having an abysmal matchup into the most popular Leader in the current format. Despite this, it has a great matchup into the rest of the format and Seven07 was able to shock the world with their Top 4 finish with the deck despite it currently costing under $100 to build.

Like Charlotte Mont-d'or in the Robin build above, there's a lot of value in respecting one-costed character cards in this format. Many people have chosen Wang Zhi over Kaido in this format due to its much needed removal ability.

I, like many others, have been flip-flopping on whether And That's When Somebody Makes Fun of Their Friend's Dream!!!! is a mainstay for the deck or just a gimmick. It can uniquely win you the game by being in your hand at the right time, but it can also lose you the game by being at the top of your deck at the wrong time. I currently believe that two copies are enough for the time being, and it can help give a chance to win in the otherwise impossible Mihawk matchup.

Rocks.D.Xebec is the most expensive card in the deck, with over half the cost of the total deck going to four copies of him. However, he earns that price tag as being one of the most important cards in the deck. Though sometimes he's just an expensive 2000 counter, I would expect him to be the premiere staple card in the deck and I can't imagine any build in the near future not running four copies of him.

Due to how restrictive his Leader effect is, Rocks continues to be a more pilot centric deck than a build centric deck. Though it's currently held back by its matchup into Mihawk, it has a lot of potential to be the next best deck in the format if that matchup evens out. He's a really unique Leader in the game and also a cheap deck, which makes him perfect for someone's first deck to commit to in the One Piece Card Game.

Justin T's Sabo

Sabo, despite being released a year ago in OP13, has been given a new life with OP17's Elbaph archetype. With a combination of low-costed units as well as units that increase their own cost; Sabo has been able to overtake Luffy as the premiere Elbaph archetype Leader in the current format. And Justin's build was able to solidify some newer card choices for the deck as he was able to get a Top 8 finish with Sabo.

Sabo has been making players leap towards their OP15 bulk, hoping to find additional copies of OP15-088 Pirates Docking Six. It's uniquely perfect for this deck and archetype, being able to be an 11-cost on the board to activate Sabo's Leader effect as well as play one of your many Straw Hat Crew 2-cost characters from your trash. Though it would be nice if it had 1 more cost so you could further boost your 2-cost characters, it's still a pretty mandatory four-of in most builds of the deck. 

EB04-007 Roronoa Zoro has been a more recent addition to the deck, mostly to help stabilize against the mirror match and other aggressive matchups. In conjunction with Sabo's Leader effect, you're able to be an 8000 power Leader both offensively and defensively; making him a pretty unique addition to the deck. 

With more and more builds experimenting with non-Elbaph Straw Hat Crew cards, such as the two previously mentioned cards, OP01-016 Nami has been more and more popular in the deck. Though she wouldn't be able to find any of your 12+ cost characters, like Saul and Loki, she can be very good at finding your other Straw Hat cards and is a good play if you end up going first. Not necessarily a mandatory card, but I do find myself playing two copies as well.

With a lot of the archetype being so open-ended, there are still a lot of tech choice cards that are popping up for other builds of Sabo. This includes: OP14-096 Ground Death as a defensive event that can be used offensively to negate effects. OP15-092 Monkey.D.Luffy as a more defensive Zoro with counter. As well as OP14-120 Crocodile, which is a sticky 8-costed character that can be difficult for many decks to get rid of.

Final Thoughts

I hope this article was helpful at showing off many viable and successful decks that you could commit to for the rest of this format. And, again, if you want to find more deck lists and data, I highly recommend checking my results website for more deck lists from the event. Thank you for reading and I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest of this format wraps up!