A Complete Beginner's Guide || Getting Started with the One Piece Trading Card Game

The One Piece TCG brings the manga and anime to life with stunning artwork and strategic gameplay, perfect for casual collectors or competitive players

When I first jumped into the One Piece TCG last year, I had no clue what I was doing. I spent way too much on the wrong products (accidentally bought a Japanese booster box!), built terrible decks, and got absolutely crushed at my first local tournament. This guide is everything I wish someone had told me before I started - it'll help you skip the painful learning phase and get straight to the fun stuff.

What is the One Piece Card Game?

The One Piece Card Game lets you build a deck around your favorite characters from Eiichiro Oda's world-famous series. You'll pick a Leader (like Luffy or Law), gather a crew of characters, and battle against other players.

The goal is simple - reduce your opponent's life to zero and deal a game-ending blow or make them run out of cards. What makes this game special is how it captures those epic anime moments, whether it's Luffy's famous "Gum-Gum Pistol Red Hawk" or Zoro unleashing his "Three Thousand Worlds" to build a unique gameplan to combat your opponents.

Core Game Mechanics

Let's break down how the game actually works:

Key Components

• Leader Cards: Your captain (i.e., Doflamingo)
• Character Cards: Your crew members who fight for you (i.e., Gecko Moria)
• Event Cards: One-time effects (I.e., Gum-Gum Jet Pistol) that can swing the game
• Stage Cards: Locations (i.e., Thousand Sunny) providing ongoing benefits
• Don!! Cards: Your energy resource

Basic Gameplay Flow

* Determine which player will go first, using a dice, coin flip, or whichever method you prefer!

1. Setup: Choose your Leader, set your Life cards, found on the bottom right of your leader card, and draw 5 cards
2. Draw Phase: Draw a card
   1. If going first, DO NOT draw a card
3. DON!! Phase: Play a DON!! card for resources
   1. If going first, only draw 1 DON!!! card
   2. If going second, draw 2 DON!!! cards
4. Main Phase: Play characters and events
5. Attack Phase: Attack with your characters
   1. You may not attack on your first turn
6. End Phase: End your turn

Check out the Official Bandai Manual for more in-depth guide on how to play the game itself!

Getting Your First Cards

Starter Decks

Opening packs and pulling cards from random boosters is extremely fun, and another exciting part of the One Piece Trading Card Game, especially for collectors. Unfortunately, if you are looking to play the game, it is not the most optimal strategy to create a viable deck. The best way will be to start with a pre-built deck and modify it with additional cards as needed. You'll get:

• A ready-to-play 50-card deck with a Leader card
• A paper playmat to play the game with a friend!
• Rule reference cards
• Don!! cards 

The latest starter decks are significantly better than the older ones, with a powerful core deck that can be played right out of the box! The strongest of these decks include: 

• ST-17 "Donquixote Doflamingo" (Blue): Incredible control deck with powerful counters and disruption, including new cards like Boa Hancock and Trafalgar Law
• ST-18 "Monkey D. Luffy - Straw Hat Crew" (Purple): Features the classic OP-05 Purple Luffy with strong combo potential from cards like Luffy-tarou, Zoro-jurou and San-gorou

Remember while the above two decks are the strongest, any deck can be enjoyed for casual play and we highly recommend you try out many leaders to find your favorite!

Where to Buy Cards

Finding cards can be tricky since demand often outpaces supply:

• DeckBuilder Trading Card Games (DkBxTCG): We highly recommend buying cards from us here at DkBxTCG. We price all of our singles at 95% TCGPlayer Market Price, with the opportunity for up to 10% additional discount if you buy multiple items. All cards are tracked and shipped within 24-48 hours with ample card protection so you know you are getting your cards safely or your money back.
• Local Game Stores: Usually the most convenient with a decent to large range of singles and sealed products (i.e., booster boxes, booster packs). Check out your local community to meet new people that can teach you how to play!
• Big Box Stores: Target and Walmart stock starter decks and boosters, but they sell out quickly and restock limitedly
• Online Retailers: TCGPlayer.com will be your best bet for buying singles and sealed product online as well as Ebay and Amazon (but watch for price gouging). Remember to check the sellers to avoid being scammed and depending on the seller, expect a decent to long shipping time as most sellers use plain white envelope and USPS First Class Mail to ship their cards. Look out for sellers with good reviews and high feedback rating!
• Online Communities: Online groups from Facebook Marketplace or Discord can be another great opportunity to buy One Piece trading cards, and usually at a significant discount (you can find cards from 80-90% market price!). Search for groups such as "Buy/Sell/Trade One Piece Cards" or find groups from your local community. However, be very wary of scammers and be sure to ask for videos, timestamps and use Paypal Goods & Services to have suitable buyer protection to avoid sending your hard-earned money for no return! 
• Card Shows: Great for finding rare singles and meeting other players but often have prices more expensive than the other options since vendors have to comp for their tables.

I've had the best luck on TCGPlayer and online communities personally without being scammed, saving tons of money, but I know the anxiety of waiting for the cards to come is there with every purchase. DkBxTCG was created to provide these discounted prices for our community in a safe environment where you, the buyer, can confidently and safely buy One Piece trading cards. 

Understanding Card Types and Rarities

Card Types

Each card type serves a specific purpose in your deck:

• Leader Cards: Defines your deck's color(s) and strategy
• Character Cards: The backbone of your offense and defense, played directly on the character field
• Event Cards: Surprise effects that can turn the tide
• Stage Cards: Continuous effects that support your strategy
• DON!! Cards: Resources needed to play your other cards

Rarities

Cards come in different rarities, shown by a symbol in the bottom left corner:

• Common (C): Basic cards that may help form the foundation of your deck, very low costs 
• Uncommon (UC): Slightly better effects, but these cards are generally easy to find at low prices 
• Rare (R): More specialized cards with stronger effects, can vary in price with some even reaching up to $9-10!
• Super Rare (SR): Powerful cards that often define deck archetypes
• Secret Rare (SEC): The hardest to pull, with unique artwork and strong effects
• Alternate Art (AA): Special versions of existing cards with different artwork
• Leader (L): Your deck's captain card

Building Your First Deck

Deck Building Rules

The basic requirements for a legal deck:

• Exactly 50 cards in your main deck (Leader is separate)
• Maximum 4 copies of any card (by card number)
• All cards must match your Leader's color(s)
• Include enough DON!! cards (10 required)

Deck Building Strategy for Beginners

After helping several friends build their first decks, here's what works:

1. Focus on a clear strategy: Don't try to do too many things at once, many decks have a core of strong staple cards with some room for technical cards that serve a specific purpose against certain decks
2. Balance your costs: Include cards at different DON!! values so you are likely to have a play throughout the game (1-3-5-7-9 if going first or 2-4-6-8-10 if going second)
3. Include card draw: Running out of cards is the worst feeling, and in One Piece having more cards in hand means having more options to counter your opponents attacks 
4. Include a good amount of Counter cards: When playing the One Piece Card Game, you need counter cards to prevent your opponent from taking your life cards

Playing the Game: Step-by-Step

Game Setup

1. Place your Leader card in the Leader Area
2. Set aside cards equal to your Leader's life value face-down in your Life Area
3. Shuffle your deck thoroughly
4. Draw 5 cards (you can mulligan [replace your hand] once if needed, reshuffle your deck after)
5. Decide who goes first (usually by rolling dice or flipping a coin)

Turn Structure

1. Refresh Step: Stand up all your rested cards
2. Draw Step: Draw the top card of your deck
3. DON!! Step: Place up to 2 DON!! card from your hand into your DON!! Area (depending on your turn order)
4. Main Step: Play characters, events, and activate abilities with your DON!!!
5. Combat Step: Attack with your characters
   1. Opponents may use counter cards or events as necessary
6. End Step: Resolve end-of-turn effects

Combat Basics

1. Declare attacker: Rest (turn sideways) the character you're attacking with
2. Defender response: Your opponent may counter out with counter or event cards
3. Trigger effects: Resolve any "when attacks" or "when blocks" abilities on respective cards
4. Compare power: In character battles, higher power wins
5. Resolve damage: If unblocked, remove cards from opponent's Life Area if attacking leaders, or from the playing field if attacking characters

Playing the One Piece TCG Online

When my local store closed for renovations, I discovered the world of online play:

One Piece TCG Online Simulator 

The best dedicated online simulator for the One Piece TCG, created by our own community member Batsu!: 

1. Download from this google drive, the zip corresponding to your operating system (i.e., ****_Mac.zip)
2. Unzip the file and open the Application file 
3. Build your deck using their interface or by copy and pasting a deck list from One Piece Top Decks
4. Join a public lobby or create a private match
   1. Remember to select a server that matches the ruleset you're playing in (Western for those of us outside Japan or Eastern for the Japan ruleset and cards not yet released gloally)
5. Enjoy playing the game! 

Finding a Community

Local Play

• Local Game Stores: Most shops host weekly One Piece nights
• Store Locator: Use the Bandai TCG+ store finder to locate events near you (more details below)

Online Communities

• Discord: The official One Piece TCG server has thousands of members. Stay tuned for our own community here at DkBxTCG if you'd like a more personal connection!
• Reddit: r/OnePieceTCG for deck help and community news
• Facebook Groups: Great for finding local players in your area
• Twitch: Many streamers broadcast tournaments and pack openings

Tournament Play