Leader cards are the life and blood of theOne Piece Card Game. They directly dictate what color of cards you can include in your 50-card deck. Every booster set has included at least five leaders, and while some are fun and perfect for casual play, if you want to get your hands on some of themost coveted prize cards, you ought to pick one of the best.
From strong power boosts to defensive plays, the best leader abilities can impact the board immediately upon activation. Just like every card game, One Piece Card Game offers plenty of playstyles depending on your leader card.
Updated September 10th, 2024, by Jesus Morales:The meta has shifted up and down, making different leaders stronger and some weaker since the last update. We decided to make some changes to the list to represent the current meta of the One Piece Card Game alongside adding some excellent up-and-comers like the OP-07 Rob Lucci, who has completely controlled the top tournaments for some time now.
13Donquixote Doflamingo (Blue)
High-Roll Your Opponent With The Warlords
There are a couple of decks based on the Seven Warlords Of The Sea, but Doflamingo’s can flood the board quickly by rearranging the top cards of your deck. His leader ability can flip the top card of your deck, and if it has the Seven Warlords Of The Sea type and it’s four cost or less, you can play it for free.
With cards like Perona and the blocker Doflamingo, you’re able to rearrange the top of your deck to guarantee your free characters every time your leader attacks.
12Donquixote Doflamingo (G/P)
Play The Game With Two Extra DON!!
DuringOP-04, this version of Doflamingo was introduced alongside plenty of Donquixote Pirate cards, but due to its color combination of green/purple, the optimal way to play this leader is by combining OP-02 FILM type green cards with purple cards found in ST-05.
Doflamingo’s ability to restand two DON!! cards at the end of your turn make this deck a defensive powerhouse that will always have counter power to block your opponent’s attacks against your wide FILM character boards.
11Charlotte Katakuri
Welcome To The Trigger Casino
Katakuri was a menace as soon as it was introduced. The trigger effects were way too powerful, and his leader ability to rearrange life cards made it a high-roller’s dream of a deck.
Big Mom’s son is able to gain a power boost while looking at what he is about to hit in your opponent’s life—or even your own—then rearrange it on the top or bottom of the life pile. With powerful support cards like Charlotte Perospero and the deadly ten-cost Charlotte Linlin, the Emperor’s family is sure to decimate their opponents.
10Trafalgar Law
Offense And Defense In One Package
Most decks in the One Piece Card Game are relatively straightforward. The complexity of the game starts and ends with the math involved with countering attacks. This is not the case with Trafalgar Law.
This leader has the ability to swap out characters for a different color character from your hand. This can lead to a quick barrage of attacks with red’s powerful rush characters or defensive plays with green blocker cards. With many combinations of Law’s shambles effect, every single card in the deck can become a combo piece.
Not only is Trafalgar Law still relatively viable, but it has held itsvalueas well!
9Edward.Newgate
6,000 Power Leader Are No Joke
Every leader card untilOP-02had a base 5,000 power. Edward.Newgate came out the gates swinging with a whopping 6,000 base power and six total life cards. The only bright side of this otherwise top-tier leader is that he takes burn damage every turn to mimic his slow illness from the manga and anime.
His fast card draw, combined with powerful red staple cards and a base 6,000 power makes this leader tough to deal with, even forcing Bandai to issue a restriction list to balance the deck.
8Roronoa Zoro
Low-Cost Cards Are Your Best Friends
Most leaders in the game have abilities that are locked to their crew or series arc that they are found in. Zoro is one of the exceptions, due to Bandai printing red cards that are not locked behind an archetype or leader. Zoro can take advantage of almost every red card in the game by offering a generic “anthem” effect, powering up every character on play by 1,000.
While 1,000 power might not seem like a lot, Zoro’s strategy can consist of spamming the board with low-cost characters that, with Zoro’s ability, can become huge threats if not dealt with quickly.
7Enel
The Local Cockroach That Will Survive An Atomic Bomb
Yellow decks are already obnoxious as it is, but Enel is a different beast. As a mono-colored leader with four life, one might take a quick look and write it off as terrible, but his ability makes it even more resilient than the mighty Whitebeard.
Enel will always heal one life whenever you hit zero life. That means you will always have to make sure you have at least three attacks before you can defeat him, unless you leave him at zero life for the turn. Constant healing, plus some of the best big body characters in the game make Enel the best yellow leader in the One Piece Card Game.
6Gecko Moria
Reanimate Everything
OP-06 introduced some of the strongest leaders to date, one of them being the mono-black Thriller Bark leader, Gecko Moria. Not only can Moria’s effect play a Thriller Bark card from the trash at a lower cost, this Warlord card gets access to the eight-drop version of the leader.
The eight-drop Gecko Moria can play two different characters from the trash, refilling your board quite fast and efficiently. Combined with powerful generic black staples like Great Eruption and Borsalino, once the deck gets going it’s difficult to hit the brakes.
5Jewelry Bonney
The Daughter Of The Mighty Revolutionary
Green leaders have had a reputation of always being the best generic leaders in the game. First it was Eustass “Captain” Kid and now it is the mighty Bonney. Similar to Enel, she can mitigate damage, but instead of healing, Bonney can rest your opponent’s characters.
As long as you keep a DON!! active during your opponent’s turn, you’ll be able to activate her ability, resting anything already on the board, including their leader card. Hands down the best leader to take to your Pre-Release tournament, as well.
4Monkey D. Luffy (B/Y)
The Fiery Brother Cannot Be Killed
If you like combo-based decks, then this version of the future pirate king will be your cup of tea. Luffy thrives off of being at zero life. While other decks look for answers to mititgate big incoming attacks, Luffy welcomes them. Whenever you are at zero life, you will be able to “heal” two life as long as they are five cost.
this effect will allow you to play strong cards like OP-04 Sabo and the colloquially known as “Rocket Luffy,” OP-07 Monkey D. Luffy for cheap cost by playing the small versions of the three brothers.
