One Piece TCG: Deck Tech - Jinbe (OP14)

Analyzing lists that perform well as soon as a new set comes out is usually the fastest way to understand their foundations and most obvious options. That's precisely what we'll do today, as we'll discuss one of the most beloved Shichibukai in the One Piece community: Jinbe, from OP14 - The Azure Sea's Seven!

Jinbe OP14-040 is a blue leader with 5000 power and 5 life that shows you how you should build his list in his first few lines of text. Once per turn, in your main phase, you may discard 1 card from your hand to attach up to 2 tapped DON!! to a Fish-Man or Merfolk leader or character. The most interesting detail about this ability is that you can use it as much as you want, as long as you have cards to discard from your hand. This is quite rare for leader abilities.

Attaching tapped DON!! to a character or leader so that they can reuse these resources is a very popular ability, particularly in red leaders like Monkey.D.Dragon OP07-001. This ability essentially converts a resource into another. It allows you to spend DON!! to play your cards, then reuse that same DON!!, which at this point wouldn't be available for combat, for your attacks. Like so, you'll be able to manage 12 DON!! in a single turn. This encourages us to think about how powerful our attackers should be, and how often they should attack. It also encourages us to consider growing small creatures to 5000 and 7000 power and attacking with them as well so that we can exhaust our opponent's defenses quickly and empty their hand.

Personally, I believe this leader could be blue and green so that we could use the extensive Fish-Men/Merfolk card pool we got in OP11, but unfortunately that won't be possible.

What I enjoy the most about the list we'll see today is that it doesn't have a plan B.

Instead, it welcomes Jinbe's plan and plays several cheap bodies, above-average attacks with reused DON!!, and a Fish-Men set that allows us to cycle our hand so that we don't empty it too soon.

The deck we'll see today was played by HashtagEMB, who got 2nd place at the ChinoizeCup, an online European tournament.

Here it is:

The Initial Setup

The idea behind this list is to open the game with lots of small characters and use the leader's ability to set up consistent attacks. You'll use cards like Arlong OP14-042 and Chew OP14-050 to keep your hand full and keep discarding cards. Furthermore, these cards have exactly 3000 power, so they'll have 5000 power with the two DON!! you'll give them through your leader's ability.

The curve this deck wants is 1/3/4/6/8, which works perfectly both when you are first to play and when you are second to play. That being said, for an aggressive deck that plays lots of competent 1-drops, it's best to go first.

Arlong OP14-042 is this list's main searcher. It lets you look for characters that cost 2 or more among the top 4 cards in your deck. Chew OP14-050 is the simplest version of this idea: if your leader is a Fish-Man, it draws 1 card. This might seem too little, but both of these cards fill your hand so that you can play your abilities over and over. Hatchan OP14-051 draws cards when it is knocked out, as long as it has two DON!! attached, which is exactly the number of DON!! Jinbe's ability gives you.

Finally, in the low curve, we have the most interesting and didactic piece in this archetype: Wadatsumi OP14-056. Its text says it can't attack, but, when a card is discarded from your hand through any effects, it can attack that particular turn. So, using your leader's effect turns this 3-cost brick into a 5000-power attacker that is also a +2000 counter, which is perfect in this list. Koala OP14-046 is another example of how this deck treats cards as fuel. You can discard this card from play to give +2000 to a Fish-Man or Merfolk until the end of the turn.

Finally, still for the early game, this list plays 4 copies of Arlong P-048, which forces the opponent to return cards from their hand to the bottom of their deck. The only restriction is that you need to have four or more cards in your life pile to use it. It's a perfect way to put pressure on the opponent, and you should use it as early as possible.

Unfortunately, this Arlong is an older promo, and, because it is one of the strongest early game cards, it has become a bit expensive.

Early on, the idea is to fill your board and carve out the perfect hand. In the mid-game, you should try to set up 2-card turns without ramp. Aladine OP14-043 is the best way to do that, as it puts up to one Fish-Man or Merfolk that costs 3 or less in play when it enters the board, and, when it is knocked out, it draws 1 card. In practice, Aladine turns a 4-DON!! turn into a 7-DON!! turn in value, as it develops your board and stays behind as a 5000-power body. The card it draws when it is knocked out essentially mitigates its loss.

Shirahoshi OP14-047 plays a similar role, but with one caveat: it is also a blocker. Its On Play effect draws 1 card and also puts in play a Merfolk or Fish-Man that costs 3 or less. This card essentially protects your Jinbe from catastrophe if you decide to be more aggressive.

The last tempo card in this list is Trafalgar Law ST17-002. When it enters play, you may return 1 of your characters to your hand. If your leader is a Seven Warlords of the Sea, which Jinbe is, you may return up to 1 enemy character that costs 4 or less to the opponent's hand. Law is interesting in this list because it recycles "entry" effects, like Aladine OP14-043, removes potential blockers and attackers for one turn, and delays the opponent by one turn. They'll have to rebuild their board while you'll keep building yours.

Fisher Tiger!

Fisher Tiger OP14-054, a cool guy as well as the old leader of the Sun Pirates, separates the Jinbe aggro lists from the Jinbe lists that don't lose gas throughout the game. It costs 6, has 700 power, and, when you play it, draws 3 cards. The only downside is that, at the end of every turn, it forces you to discard cards from your hand until you only have 5.

This seems contradictory until you remember your leader forces you to discard cards to attach tapped DON!! to your characters. Tiger gives you cards so that you can spend them on the same turn and still end up with a good hand, with the best cards you can find. In other words, Fisher Tiger OP14-054 won't leave you with 8 or 9 cards, but will allow you to keep using Jinbe OP14-040 without spending all of your resources.

The Big Boss

Jinbe OP14-049 is this deck's big boss. When a card is discarded from your hand through an effect, this Jinbe gains Rush that turn. Its On Play effect lets you tap 2 DON!! to draw 2 and return up to 1 character that costs 7 or less to its owner's hand.

This card is quite simple and objective. You'll put a 10000-power card in play, draw cards, remove any piece you want by bouncing it (most likely something that was preventing you from attacking your opponent directly), and give this Jinbe Rush, considering you'll always be using your leader's effect. It is a sort of finisher that doesn't rely on a combination of 3 particular cards. All you need to do is to play the regular game plan this deck already does.

This character attacks with 10000 or 12000 power if you take advantage of the DON!! you get from your leader, so, as strong as a Yonkou card. This is often enough to remove an enemy character through an attack, and you'll also get to remove another by bouncing it.

The Events

Perfume Femur OP07-057 is the only event this deck plays, and it is perfect in it. This event gives your Seven Warlords leader or another character +2000, and, if that buffed card attacks, your opponent can't use blockers that turn. Furthermore, if you find it through trigger, you may draw a card.

This card is the very last push to win in this deck, the perfect finisher. Jinbe OP14-040 is already difficult to counter with your leader alone, but this event allows your attackers to go through, particularly if your opponent is relying on blockers to survive. You shouldn't spend this event early, but keep in mind it could be the perfect card to discard with your leader's ability.

I really wanted to play green Fish-Men in this list, just so I could use Jinbe OP11-031, as it fits the aggressive game plan this leader promotes quite well. The fact this leader isn't blue and green really restricts our deckbuilding options. We are forced to rely completely on blue cards.

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

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!