One Piece TCG: What to Expect from this Banlist Update

Recently, Bandai announced something that makes every TCG player shiver, either from happiness, worry, hope, or plain anxiety. At the next Bandai Card Games Fest, which will take place in Japan on March 16th, 2025, Bandai will update the One Piece TCG banlist.

When Does a TCG Need a Banlist Update?

To understand what might be banned or unbanned and why, first we need to remember that all TCGs work with many revolving parts, and they all need to stand on equal ground if we want fun, fair matches. Overall, here is what we need to look for in One Piece TCG:

Fair interactions - If a card is too strong, we might not have any viable answers in the game for them, which will make any match with them unbalanced by default.

Metagame cycle - The metagame has to change from time to time to keep the game interesting. If certain cards or strategies dominate the meta for a long time, the game will become stale and uninteresting.

Balance between colors and leaders - Different colors and leaders represent different game styles. If one of them becomes too strong, players will feel forced to play them, which, in turn, will make the game less diverse, and matches predictable.

Bans or restrictions can restore balance, as they let new strategies come along and breathe some fresh air into the competitive scene. In the same way, cards that were banned in the past can be unbanned if the metagame has evolved so much that they're no longer problematic.

In the last banlist update, Bandai removed two cards from the card pool at the same time:

Trafalgar Law (ST10-001) was part of an extremely aggressive strategy that let you remove enemy characters while you developed your own board.

Enies Lobby (OP03-098), which saw play with Rob Lucci (OP07-079), discounted the cost of enemy cards constantly. That way, it made cost-based removals even more consistent.

Both cards made game balance challenging, but, clearly, Trafalgar Law (ST10-001) demanded more attention, as it was very popular in tournaments. Despite how strong Enies Lobby (OP03-098) was, it wasn't as popular as it could be, so banning it could have been a preemptive strike - an attempt to balance the new metagame without Trafalgar Law (ST10-001) before it even came.

Will we see something similar in the next banlist update, on March 16th?

Currently, all eyes are on Donquixote Doflamingo (OP01-060). This leader might be from the very first set, OP01, but it was only now, after its Deck Starter (ST-17) came along, that he actually became more popular in tournaments. In fact, he has been popular in the east since OP08, and we're now playing OP11.

How Donquixote Doflamingo Works

Donquixote Doflamingo (OP01-060) is blue and has 5 life, which means it is quite resilient. However, his ability is what makes him so powerful:

If you attach two DON!! on him and attack, you can tap another DON!! to reveal the top of your deck. If the card you reveal is one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and costs 4 or less, you can play it face down on the board.

This means that, for just three DON!!, while you attack with 7000 power, you can put a character that costs 4 or less in play without paying its cost and also activate its On Play effect if it has one. In several turns, you'll be able to put two or, in the most extreme cases, up to five characters in play with this leader's ability and other resources, like the cards in your hand, other character abilities, and any DON!! you have left.

Let's see a decklist that got 1st place at the "Versus Games Online Treasure Cup" tournament and 2nd place at the "Treasure Cup Mexico City" tournament. It was played by Joshua Graham both times.

This deck uses many synergies. It also takes advantage of Seven Warlords of the Sea that cost 4, which all activate powerful abilities when they enter play.

In this strategy, Perona (OP01-077), Buggy (ST17-003), and Marshall.D.Teach (ST17-005) let you organize the top of your deck. With them, you'll always have the right cards to play, as you'll always hit the right card with your leader's ability.

This deck consistently lets you develop twice as many characters as your opponent, and, this way, be ahead of them in terms of the resources you trade.

It was among the top 8 best decks in many tournaments as more sets were released, which is enough to be considered the best deck in the meta by the community. It was also quite aggressive, so there is a real chance Bandai will ban this leader.

But what if Bandai is more subtle?

Other Bans

If Bandai decides to nerf this deck but not ban this leader, they might ban a few key cards:

Possible Bans or Restrictions

Pros: its On Play ability lets you put in play another Seven Warlords of the Sea character that costs 4 or less. So, by itself, this card lets you develop twice as many characters as usual, which is great for Donquixote Doflamingo (OP01-060)'s entire strategy. You'll play more than 2 characters per turn, most turns.

Why ban it? Well, banning it would make this deck slower, but it would also affect a few other blue decks that also rely on developing two characters at a time as their main strategy.

Pros: it interacts really well with this deck, as it delays your opponent's turn by returning cards to their hand. You'll also be able to return expensive cards to your hand and protect them from your opponent.

Why ban it? Banning it would also affect Boa Hancock (OP07-038), and might impact blue as a color just a tad bit too much. There are rumors that Trafalgar Law (ST17-002) will be in the next reprint set, PRB-02, so it might not be banned after all.

Pros: this is an essential 2-drop that makes this deck a lot more efficient, as it makes your DON!! more valuable, lets you put a card on the top of your deck, and, as such, creates advantages turn after turn. You can play multiple combos with it and Marshall.D.Teach (ST17-005), for instance.

Why ban it? Banning it would make Donquixote Doflamingo (OP01-060)'s explosive turn 2s and turn 3s a lot weaker, but would this be enough to change the metagame and spare other cards from the same fate?

Part of the community wants the next banlist to focus on Donquixote Doflamingo (OP01-060). Nerfing this deck could bring us to the ST-15/ST-20 prerelease meta, when black decks dominated the game.

Donquixote Doflamingo (OP01-060)'s fast pace destroys black decks, as they mostly focus on 1-for-1 removals and Trash interactions. So, it wouldn't be such a big surprise if Bandai also decided to restrict or ban black cards preemptively to make sure the meta is balanced.

This card is a black staple. Its On Play ability lets you put two cards from your Trash pile in play, as long as they cost up to 4 and up to 2. Essentially, it lets you set up extremely valuable turns with characters that discount costs, remove threats, block, or even draw cards. Gecko Moria (OP06-086) is incredibly relevant and has been suggested as a ban for a while now. However, removing it from the format could unintentionally nerf many decks that use it as support in the late game.

Marshall.D.Teach (OP09-081) is hated by many players because of its ability, which disables On Play effects and, as such, significantly impacts the metagame. Though it is considered fair, this deck can make opponents frustrated because it simply disables many strategies centered around On Play abilities. In this way, there is a possibility a key card from this list will be banned. A few possible targets are Black Hole (OP09-098), Jesus Burgess (OP09-086), and Fullalead (OP09-099).

Furthermore, here are a few cards that are largely criticized by the community, and that many players would like to see banned: Charlotte Pudding (OP06-047), Rebecca (OP05-091), Gum-Gum Giant (OP09-078), and Enel (OP05-098).

Unbans

While some cards might be banned, some players argue a few banned cards could be unbanned. Here are a few of them:

Sakazuki (OP05-041) was known for its high-value plays with Gecko Moria (OP06-086) and Hound Blaze (OP05-057). If one of these pieces is restricted, this leader might return to the competitive scene and end up quite fair, considering recent sets gave us a way to defend ourselves from discounts.

Great Eruption (ST06-015) being unbanned would certainly please fans of Smoker (OP02-093). Drawing a card and reducing its cost is a powerful effect in a game that focuses so much on card advantage. Furthermore, this card's trigger ability can punish your opponent quite heavily in certain situations. However, this card couldn't return with Sakazuki (OP05-041) because they're too scary together.

With Black Maria (OP08-074), Trafalgar Law (ST10-001)'s ability has no drawbacks, as it saves your DON!!. Furthermore, because this ability lets you put any character that costs 4 in play, it's hard to say this leader won't be an even bigger design problem in the game whenever we get a new set. Despite being a worthy opponent to Donquixote Doflamingo (OP01-060), this card would make the rest of the meta rather anxious.

Moby Dick (OP02-024) can be a way to make Marco (OP08-002), Portgas.D.Ace (OP03-001), and Edward.Newgate (OP02-001) stand out more, as they're a bit unpopular right now. However, this card forces you to all-win when it is active, as it significantly buffs Edward.Newgate (OP02-001), as well as other Whitebeard Pirates, on your own turn. Seeing these leaders more often would be an interesting surprise, after all, they would represent another type of aggro deck in the game.

Cabaji (OP02-052) was banned because it made Nami (OP03-040) a lot stronger. Though it is fair in other decks, this card lets you draw even more cards with Nami, and you can keep a character in play afterward. She might be a fun, beloved leader, but the game's overall design doesn't seem to favor this type of strategy. One of the factors that prevented Nami (OP03-040) from becoming a strong strategy in the past were aggro decks with Trafalgar Law (ST10-001) itself, as well as Donquixote Doflamingo (OP01-060). So, when aggro decks are down, Nami (OP03-040) naturally gets another chance to shine.

Reject (OP06-116)'s ban made a few yellow leaders a lot weaker, like Enel (OP05-098), Charlotte Katakuri (OP03-099), and Kalgara (OP08-098). However, this card is often extremely useful in aggressive and defensive strategies. Considering the OP11 metagame, it might not be in Bandai's plans to unban this card, but it would be great for yellow leaders, which are currently forgotten.

Currently, we don't have many ways to remove Stages. In particular, this card made Rob Lucci (OP07-079)'s removals a lot more consistent. It's difficult to imagine Enies Lobby (OP03-098) returning to competitive settings if we don't have a proper way to remove it.

Bandai can ban so many cards that the One Piece TCG meta might change considerably from March 16th onward. Their decision can bring balance or create new problems - all we have to do is wait!

What do you think will be banned? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!