Author: RJ Jacinto

Right after the OPCG World Finals, Bandai, the publisher of the One Piece Card Game, announced the cards that will be hit by the ban hammer. Sakazuki Leader, Reject, and Great Eruption will be banned from future tournament play due to concerns about their effects on the game’s balance.

【重要なお知らせ】
ONE PIECEカードゲームの公式・公認イベントにて、以下の3枚を禁止カードとさせていただく運びとなりました。2024/4/1/(月)より施行いたします。#ONEPIECEカードゲーム #ワンピカード #ONEPIECE pic.twitter.com/5HGzTnumeu

— 【公式】ONE PIECEカードゲーム (@ONEPIECE_tcg) March 3, 2024

What are the newly banned cards in OPCG?

Sakazuki Leader, Reject, and Great Eruption will be joining Moby Dick and Cabaji in the ban list. No explanation was offered regarding the bannings but everybody expected the Sakazuki ban. Sakazuki has dominated the competitive scene since Japan discovered the SakaLucci variant.

Great Eruption and Reject were unexpected. Many believed that the team won’t ban any OP06 cards since it has yet to come out in the west and Great Eruption’s brother, Ice Age, was the cost-reduction card that was predicted by many to be banned. It’s also worth noting that the “problematic” card according to the community : Rebecca and Rob Lucci were also spared in the banning.

The ban will take effect on April 1, 2024, and only hit Asia. It’s unclear yet if the western region will follow suit.

The first-ever One Piece Card Game World Finals has come to a conclusion. As the dust was settled, Guan Rong Kuik, hailing from Malaysia, emerged triumphant and undefeated, claiming the coveted Luffy alternate art and the title as the next Pirate King.

A Triumph in Japan

The journey to the pinnacle of the One Piece Card Game World Finals was long for Guan Rong Kuik.

He first qualified for the SEA finals after winning 3rd place in the Malaysian Preliminaries. After that, he fought in the SEA Finals, defeating SGAhIce for the title. Both of them represented the region in the World Finals.

After 5 rounds of Swiss in the World Finals, GRK was undefeated. He faced Sirroco, the Japanese representative, in the first match of the semi-finals. He won the Sakazuki Mirror and was poised to face Hrvoje from Croatia after Hrvoje defeated the NA representative, Clyde, in his semis match.

In the Finals, the format was adjusted to a best-of-3 unlike the usual best-of-1 matches here in Asia. In the first round, both players went back and forth in the initial turns as they both have answers to whatever the other player is putting on the board.

The tide have shifted to the Malaysian player when Hrvoje played Kaido 10 and was answered immediately after by GRK. The nail in the coffin was the 7000 attack of Brannew with Hound Blaze taking the last life. Hrvoje tried to come back by removing GRK’s board and playing a Rebecca as blocker but GRK still has an answer. GRK sealed the first game with a 15000 attack from the leader after an Eruption to Hound Blaze combo to take out Hrvoje’s only blocker for the lethal.

In the next round, GRK’s tech card, Sanji’s Pilaf, played a crucial role as the card gave him the resource advantage to take the early and middle game from Hrvoje. At one point in the game, GRK is ahead of six cards against Hrvoje, thanks to Pilaf.

The pivotal point again in the match was when Hrvoje played his Kaido and GRK answered with a Sabo to protect his board. This proved very effective as the only removal available to Hrvoje in the next turn was Lucci. Sadly for the EU champion, GRK also has two Ice Age and a Hound Blaze that managed to deal with Kaido.

After the turn, both players opted to go defensive putting up blockers to prevent the other from dealing damages but Hrvoje ran out of gas in a turn and just went all-in with his leader. This signaled the end of the match and GRK just attacked with 7000 and Hrvoje extended his hand to GRK.

Final Standings:

• Champion – Guan Rong Kuik (Malaysia)
• 2nd Place – Hrvoje (Croatia)
• 3rd Place – Clyde (USA)
• 4th Place – Sirroco (Japan)

Bandai has announced the new prizes for the One Piece Trading Card Game Flagship tournaments in April. These promo cards will replace Mihawk and Perona as Flagship prizes.

How do we win these?

The champion of the Flagship tournament will win an Alternate Art Reiju (OP06-069) card while the top 8 will get an alternate art Cavendish (EB01-012). Everyone who will join will also get a promo Sanji (P-068).

One Piece Trading Card Game Flagship tournaments are held at participating hobby stores and game shops. To find a tournament near you, you can visit the official One Piece Trading Card Game website.

We hope you enjoy the new prizes for the One Piece Trading Card Game Flagship this April!

In a surprising turn of events during the Japan Nationals stream for the One Piece Card Game, the One Piece Trading Card Game Japan team announced that there will be a banning and restriction that will happen after the World Finals.

During the live stream, the hosts address the player community. They emphasized the importance of maintaining a healthy and diverse metagame to provide players with a fair and balanced competitive environment. To achieve this goal, the committee announced that they would have bannings or card restrictions after the World Finals.

What cards are likely to be Banned / Restricted?

Speculations are already floating around, but 3 theories are more likely to happen than others.

1. SakaLucci will be hit hard – Fans speculate that Rebecca, Lucci, and Moria will be restricted or banned. Sakazuki has dominated the scene since the discovery of the SakaLucci variant. With the Worlds being in OP05 format, it’s believed that most players will go for Sakazuki, which will put the ban hammer’s target onto the deck.
2. Big Mom to be restricted – People have a love-and-hate relationship with Big Mom. It’s a card that is extremely strong due to its on-play ability. People have been calling for its restriction for months, and their prayers might be answered on the next culling.
3. Moby Dick will be unbanned – Whitebeard’s Boat is the very first card to ever be banned by the OPCG Japan team due to its power. It was a very problematic card back then, but now that many cards can answer it, fans speculate it might be time to unban it.

The World Finals will happen on March 3; the next culling is expected to happen a week after. Although the announcement came from the Japanese team, it is to be expected that the western OPCG team will follow suit.