One Piece TCG: Deck Guide - Koby, the Future of the Navy (OP11)

Koby OP11-001 is now a promising rogue option in the OP11 competitive meta. This strategy, which focuses on resilience, is a great representation of the spirit of Monkey D. Garp's apprentice: it exchanges resources efficiently, moves at a decent pace, and is quite consistent, particularly when punishing rushed decisions.

Koby might not be the most popular strategy in the meta, but it is quite interesting because it doesn't meet the current standards for black decks in the meta. If you want something unusual but consistent, then this deck is perfect for you. Let's explore it!

Koby is a black and red leader that has 5000 power, 4 life, the Strike attribute, and the Navy/SWORD card types.

His first effect lets you attack other characters with your SWORD characters on the turn they enter play, so it's like half a Rush. Naturally, you must still respect the other rules of the game, so you can only attack tapped characters with them.

Later on, we'll see the characters that can ignore this rule and attack active characters, that is, untapped characters.

Koby's second ability lets you, once per turn, if one of your Navy characters with up to 7000 power leaves the board through an enemy effect, keep that character on the board. However, to do this, you'll have to shuffle 3 cards from your trash pile to the bottom of your deck in any order. This effect is essentially extra protection, as it keeps your best cards in play and counters enemy removals.

The deck we'll discuss today was built by Japanese player t_Rippy_0, who won a tournament with it. I've also been using this build on tabletop simulator ever since I started playing Koby OP11-001 in May.

Here's our list:

Straight away, you can tell this is not like other black lists in the meta. It doesn't play cards like Hibari OP11-010 and plays way more searchers than usual so you can go through your deck more easily and fill your trash pile with cards. That's how you'll be able to use some abilities in this strategy that force you to send cards from your trash pile to the bottom of your deck as an additional cost.

The main way to remove other cards in this Koby list is directly through combat, and that's what makes it so powerful. Instead of heavily relying on effects that K.O. other characters or return them to their controller's hands, this list fills the board with attackers and clears the enemy board through well-planned assaults.

In today's article, we'll show you how to use this list to control the rhythm of the match, target the right cards, and put pressure on your opponent constantly. If you master these skills, victory will be just one step away.

SWORD

As we mentioned before, this is not like other traditional Koby lists, so it doesn't play as many SWORD characters. It only plays the most useful ones.

The first character we'll go through is Kujyaku OP11-004, which is very consistent, as it is a searcher and an aggressive support character. When this character enters play, you may get Navy cards from your deck. Its second ability lets you give a character +1000, but you'll have to put this card in your trash pile as well. This will actually be part of your strategy, as you want a lot of cards in your trash pile.

When you play Helmeppo OP11-092, you may discard one card in your hand to draw a new one, which is incredibly useful by itself. However, this card is also an extender because it brings back SWORD characters that cost 8 or less from your trash pile. You'll have to shuffle this character into the bottom of your deck at the end of your turn, but you can still use this effect to revive Koby OP11-119. And, remember, this is the best strategy in this entire list.

Koby OP11-119 is at the center of this entire deck. With it, you'll be able to remove active enemy characters through combat, and it is also great support for your leader as well. When it enters play, it lets one of your characters attack active enemy cards that turn, which the basic rules of the game usually don't allow. This simple effect will turn any character on your board into a control tool, as you'll be able to deal with enemy threats immediately. You won't have to wait for your opponent to give you an opening. Then, consider that, thanks to your leader's ability, SWORD characters can attack enemy characters on the turn they enter play. All of this makes Koby OP11-119 an extremely powerful removal.

Furthermore, its second effect, which activates whenever it attacks, gives +1000 power to one of your characters or leader if you move two cards from your trash pile to the bottom of your deck. This will last until the end of your opponent's next turn as well. Very few abilities in OPTCG are as powerful as buffing your leader for so long. This effect will make Koby OP11-001 very resilient, particularly when you use multiple Koby OP11-119 at once.

When you use your Helmeppo OP11-092 to bring back your Koby OP11-119, you'll be able to use both effects, which is perfect for this overall attrition strategy, as it will stretch the game and get value by removing other cards. You can also use Helmeppo OP11-092 to recycle Kujyaku OP11-004 and reuse its searcher effect another time. Then, you can sacrifice it to give +1000 to something and avoid shuffling it into the bottom of your deck at all.

The Navy

The Navy is as great in this strategy as it is in other black decks. We mentioned early on that what makes this entire thing work are Navy searchers, as they filter your cards and fill your trash pile. So, this list plays three very specific tools.

The first one of them is the always popular Brannew OP03-089, which lets you look at the top three cards in your deck, get a Navy card from among them, and put the rest in your trash pile.

I'm Gonna Be a Navy Officer!!! OP11-099 does the exact same, but it doesn't leave a 3000 power body behind. Instead, you can also activate this effect as a trigger if you pull this card from your life pile.

Finally, this list plays Sengoku ST19-002, a card draw engine. After you discard two cards in your hand, it'll draw three other cards. All of these cards are a way to fill your trash pile and add new options to your hand at the same time. As such, they're a way to "carve" your perfect hand according to what you need right then.

Aramaki OP11-082 is a bit more specific. If you trash it, you may use one of your Navy characters to attack active enemy characters. Once again, it is a way to remove enemy cards through combat, which is what this list does above all else. Furthermore, this card also forces you to trash two cards from the top of your deck, which means it is a simple but efficient enabler for this strategy because it feeds your trash pile.

Hina ST19-004 lets you give tapped DON!! to other leaders and characters. She is a bit more aggressive in that sense.

Berry Good OP11-091 is a +2000 counter that you'll rarely play but, in a few matches, it is quite useful. When it enters play, it forces the opponent to shuffle 3 Event cards from their own trash pile into the bottom of their deck. It is great to disrupt decks centered around events, or Nami OP03-040, for instance, which needs to draw to win by deck out.

Ripper OP11-096 will be your main blocker. It gains this ability when there's another Navy character in play (except for another Ripper).

Other Cards

Monkey.D.Dragon OP07-015 has 9000 power and Rush, so it rewards you instantly and is a perfect finisher. It also lets you move up to 2 tapped DON!! to your leader or another character, so you can use it to set up powerful attacks to win.

As for Sanji OP10-005, it is a very simple card and very versatile in red decks because it is so practical. During your turn, it gains +3000 power passively, so it will have 6000 power for free. It is perfect to exchange pieces directly or put pressure on the enemy leader. Furthermore, when it is K.O.'d, it draws a card, so it refills itself. Most times, you can swap it for Hibari OP11-010 if you want to make the SWORD part of this strategy more consistent.

Considering Koby OP11-001 defends itself with power bufs from Koby OP11-119 and attacks directly with SWORD characters, it's not the best at blocking.

Countless times I had just a few cards in hand and relied heavily on drawing another card or setting up a play with Helmeppo OP11-092. So, aggressive decks like Roronoa Zoro OP01-001 and Belo Betty OP05-002 will be difficult for Koby.

On the other side, decks that take longer to win will struggle against this sailor. You'll have enough time to set up your game plan and beat them.

This deck surprised me. "Brawler" lists are quite common in MTG, particularly in green, but rather uncommon in One Piece TCG. These types of strategies enjoy drawn-out games, and I enjoy them a lot as a result.

This list is more for those who enjoy this game style than for those who want to win competitive matches, but, in smaller tournaments, it could perform rather well.

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

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!