Mono Green Uta - From the Big Screen to the Competitive Scene in One Piece TCG

One Piece's Starter decks are the Holy Grail of many players. There are strong cards that are only available in these products (and like so aren't printed in the main sets), so it is quite common for a precon deck in this card game to become more popular among more experienced players than beginners.

The most recent product that fits this category is Starter Deck number 11, which focuses on Uta, a character that joined the One Piece story just a few years ago. She was also the main protagonist in the One Piece Film: Red movie.

In today's article, we'll explore ST11 and see how we can make it more competitive by changing its structure; we'll also analyze One Piece TCG's upcoming products to see how we can improve it in the future.

Unlike other characters created specifically for movies in several anime franchises, including One Piece, Uta may have come from the big screen, but she has been added to the series' canon as a whole as well. She is well accepted and beloved by fans of this series, and One Piece TCG itself has already released several cards representing her, usually in Purple.

However, now we have an entirely new Uta in Green who is perfect to lead your decks:

She has 5000 power, a special attack, and 5 health. She also has the FILM type, the type designated for characters in this series who debuted in films.

When Uta ST11-001 has at least one DON!! attached and attacks, you'll reveal a card from the top of your deck, and, if that card is a FILM card, you can place it in your hand. If you don't want this card in your hand, or it isn't a FILM card, it will be placed at the bottom of your deck.

Basically, you'll always want to attack with this leader, considering she will draw you a card practically any time she attacks, depending on the way your deck is built. A 5000 leader with one DON!! has a total power of 6000, which will force your opponent to use at least one Counter from their hand or use a blocker to deal with her.

We must keep in mind that this effect is only triggered once per turn and not every time our leader attacks. It is a particularly relevant trait in Green, a color that can easily tap and untap cards, particularly I'm Invincible ST11-005, an exclusive card in Starter Deck 11 that untaps a leader who is named "Uta".

This character's starter deck is the following:

Unlike most Starter decks, which have original cards, this deck has reprints from the OP02 set, Paramount War. This is because, in Japan, it was released as a "side deck", a less ambitious deck with only a few new cards that focuses on bringing more products about Uta, and that includes cards that represent her and the musical numbers she performs in One Piece Film: Red.

Out of all the new cards, this product only includes four copies of I'm Invincible ST11-005, which means, players will be forced to buy extra single copies or buy two closed decks.

This product also includes four copies of all reprinted cards, but these aren't the most expensive, rare, and necessary cards, and it only includes a few standout cards, like モンキー・Ｄ・ルフィ OP02-041 and Brook OP02-040. That being said, there's a problem with the reprints...

In any green deck that is centered around FILM characters, Nami OP02-036 has always been the most popular and coveted card. Unlike most common searchers, she looks for cards in your archetype not only when she comes in, but also when she attacks. This card is important for FILM decks, and is also quite rare to find and expensive money-wise, considering that, besides the fact we can build several cohesive decks with her, she is also Nami, a character that is amply collected by players. Guess how many copies of it this closed deck includes?

In this monogreen deck, which is centered around the FILM strategy, we have exactly zero Nami OP02-036, the main card searcher for it. An expensive, rare, and necessary card for this strategy. Additionally, it is also the only FILM character from OP02 that is missing from this deck. Sanji doesn't count because he was included as a leader in this set and was swapped for トラファルガー・ロー OP02-035 in her FILM subset.

So, if you want to play this Uta deck in a competitive setting, buy as many Nami OP02-036 your budget can handle - if she isn't in your deck, this will severely affect the quality of your deck.

We have three new event-type cards in this deck; they're all based on the songs Uta sings in her movie, and they can only activate their effects when she is your leader.

I'm Invincible ST11-005 is the simplest one of them: this event can untap your leader. However, out of all the three new events, it is the only one that has a trigger when it comes from your life pile, and gives +1000 power to your leader or one of your characters until the end of the turn.

Backlight ST11-003 has a more complex concept. It has a modal effect, which means, it lists several effects and allows you to choose the best out of these possibilities at that moment. The options offered by Backlight ST11-003 are: tapping one of your opponent's 5-cost or lower characters, making them vulnerable to attacks or certain effects or disabling an enemy block; or destroy one of your opponent's 5-cost or lower characters, as long as it is tapped.

New Genesis ST11-004 is this deck's attempt to make up for the lack of Nami OP02-036, considering it is a single-use FILM card searcher. At least, it untaps one of your DON!!, which practically makes it a free card, and can find Nami, unlike her, which can't search for herself.

Finally, we have Uta ST11-002, a character with the Blocker ability, which is excellent to protect your leader and other characters, and also untaps one of your FILM characters. Unfortunately, it can only untap characters, and not leaders as well, and will require an event from your hand as payment.

Now that we've discussed this unfortunate situation with Nami and the new cards, let's see what a competitive Uta ST11-001 looks like:

This is the deck used by Masayan, who got a 6-0 at a Flagship and guaranteed himself first place.

Straight away, what most stood out to me was ジュラキュール・ミホーク ST12-003, a card that we still can't access in the west, and is crucial for this deck.

Originally from the next Starter Deck, ST12 - Zoro & Sanji, ジュラキュール・ミホーク ST12-003 is a green card that, when played on the board, plays a character with the Muggy Kingdom type or the Slash attribute that costs 4 or less on the board tapped, as long as you have at least two or fewer characters on the board. It is great to balance the difference on the board, and also gives you another ace up your sleeve.

Sequencing ジュラキュール・ミホーク ST12-003 with Brook OP02-040 allows you to bring to the board another character, which means you'll essentially play three characters for just the cost of your Mihawk. The most utopian play would be to sequence Mihawk with Brook OP02-040 followed by Nami OP02-036, which will allow you to search for more relevant cards.

トラファルガー・ロー OP02-035 has an incredible ability: it returns to its owner's hand and play a 3-cost character from it. This deck's curve on turn three is critical and has great utility characters, such as ジュラキュール・ミホーク ST12-003 and Nami OP02-036 themselves, and also Izo (OP01-033) and Uta ST11-002, cards that allow you to manipulate tapped and untapped cards on the board.

Curve 3 also gives you Usopp OP02-028, a card without any effects that represents a 5000 power character - it brings you a lot of stats for its cost, and is perfect for when you need a bit more aggression.

In a similar sense, we have Roronoa Zoro (OP02-043), a 4-cost card with 6000 power and no ability, and can easily be played by Mihawk or Brook.

The greatest threats in the deck start coming at curve 7 with モンキー・Ｄ・ルフィ OP02-041, a 7000 power blocker that is a true barrier, and needs to be dealt with. And the best of all, it plays another 4 cost or lower character with the FILM or Straw Hat Crew type when you play it, which allows you to execute all the play lines aforementioned and play an extremely powerful card.

Eustass"Captain"Kid OP01-051 is also in this list. It works similarly to a blocker. As long as it is tapped and has a DON!! attached, Kid is the only card your opponents can declare as the target of their attacks. Once again, 8000 power is an extremely solid obstacle, and your opponents will struggle to overcome it.

Additionally, it already has, built-in, an ability that allows it to tap to play a 3-cost or lower character from your hand. It is perfect when your board is empty because you can combo with Mihawk, Brook, and Nami, one after the other. With this ability, Kid can easily untap on the same turn it was played, or turns in which it can't attack.

Finally, Donquixote Doflamingo OP04-031 is the absolute peak of this deck's curve, and is responsible for preventing your opponent's leaders or other tapped characters from untapping on the next turn, which will disrupt your opponent's game plan and allow you to counterattack with your other characters to destroy their board. It has become quite popular in strategies with this color.

Uta's deck has been a nice surprise. Apart from the Namis, which we've already discussed at the beginning of this article, it is practically already built, and isn't too different from the competitive deck we discussed, which has won tournaments. I had the chance to see it in action out of the box, and it went really well against decks that are well-placed in the meta, such as Charlotte Katakuri (OP03-099) and other decks that aren't at the absolute top of the format, but are still strong, such as Trafalgar Law (OP01-002) and Monkey.D.Luffy ST10-002.

Uta needs a very specific build, but, when it is in a strong archetype, it can get better any time another FILM green card is released.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!