Three More Cards Added To One Piece Card Game Ban List + New Promo Replacement

The One Piece ban list for the English version of the game has just been updated for 2024. The new OPTCG ban list includes three cards – the same three banned in Japan – but it doesn’t take effect yet.

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Banned Cards – June 21st

The three cards banned are OP05-041 Sakazuki the Navy leader, ST06-015 Great Eruption from Starter Deck ST-06, and OP06-116 Reject. All three cards will be completely banned from June 21st, 2024 in the Global version of the game – aka the English version.

OP05-041 Sakazuki

ST06-015 Great Eruption

OP06-116 Reject

Until then, they are allowed to be played with no restrictions. That means there is some time to play with these cards during the OP06 meta. June 21st roughly lines up with the date for the prerelease of OP07.

However, Sakazuki will be getting a replacement in the form of a promo version with a different ability. Read on for more.

OP05-041 Sakazuki

The official reasoning for the ban of this card is as below. But to summarize: He dominated most top cuts and was very consistent, largely due to being able to draw consistently.

This card’s effect allows players to draw cards with little risk, making the ideal game plan centered around this card easily replicable. Its reliability is a strength that sets it apart from other Leaders, especially in tournaments.

In addition, the blue and black color combination affords highly flexible effects, with black serving to lower cost and blue removing Character cards at the bottom of the deck. The result is a deck that is more powerful than expected, leading to one-sided battles that ignore the use of the trash, [On K.O.] effects, and other game mechanics.

This card has a higher win rate and usage rate than other cards due to its powerful removal ability, reliability, and minimal risk, and significantly impairs the enjoyment of fundamental aspects of the ONE PIECE Card Game: the back-and-forth of attack and defense between Characters and the ability to choose from a variety of Leaders. We have therefore decided to designate this card as a Banned Card.

Sakazuki Leader Replacement – New Ability

As a replacement, P-076 Sakazuki will be available as a promo. Only the ability and art is changed. It’s unconfirmed how it will be made available in the English market.

P-076 Sakazuki

It’s still a 4-life blue/black Navy Special attribute Leader with 5000 power. The ability translates to:

[Activate:Main] [Once Per Turn] You may discard one 1 from your hand with the {Navy} type: Give up to one of your opponent’s characters -1 to their cost during this turn.

ST06-015 Great Eruption

This was a simple ban, as the card is basically a must-have playset in any Black deck. 1 Don for a draw and minus cost, with a trigger, and no real downsides. Official explanation below: –

While many other cards reduce cost in a way similar to this card, this is the only card that can reduce cost without consuming any cards in the player’s hand or imposing any conditions, making it powerful in every stage of the game. We have determined that this card significantly lowers the risk involved in removal for decks containing black cards.

Given the very high usage rate and win rate of decks that include black cards, and the fact that this card has the highest usage rate among cards that reduce cost, we have decided to designate this card as a Banned Card.

This is the first card only available in a starter deck that has been banned. That might have added to the argument for banning, as the card has been fairly expensive for a while.

OP06-116 Reject

The ability to outright ignore the board and pay to take life was always going to be controversial. Paired with OP05-115 Two-Hundred Million Volts Amaru – or the various Trigger cards Yellow has – also goes against intended gameplay i.e. attack, defend.

The “deal 1 damage to your opponent” effect of this card greatly improves the ability of decks containing yellow cards, which often feature [Trigger] effects, to deal finishing blows. It thereby makes these decks harder to deal with than expected and significantly boosts their win rate.

In addition, we are concerned that the cost of dealing 1 damage via this effect is low and the ability to easily ignore offensive and defensive play causes more stress for players than expected, so we have decided to designate this card as a Banned Card.

Are The Bans Permanent?

The bans aren’t permanent, but no end date has been set. Previous bans and restrictions that came into place just after OP03 were lifted around the OP05 set release so these might not be forever.

Why So Late?

The bans are based on bans that happened in Japan, which came into place a few months into the OP06 meta there. These cards could have been banned earlier, but basically copy Japan’s timeline where they were banned a few months into play.

That almost certainly means that the same meta and decks will be used – at least for a while. We know they’re powerful – that’s why they were banned! It probably means these cards won’t be as expensive, but that could also lead to: –

People sell the cards because they know they are going to be banned
Others can get playsets cheaper so the decks get played anyway

Still, it does mean Bandai are at least listening to concerns and aren’t afraid to ban cards that make gameplay less fun. There are many arguments about other leaders and cards that should have been banned, but we’ll stay out of that for now.

Previously Banned Cards

Of the previous bans and restrictions, there are only two card bans that are still in place. OP02-024 Moby Dick and OP02-052 Cabaji bans started at the release of OP03. To still be banned four/five sets after release really speaks to their power.

OP02-024 Moby Dick

OP02-052 Cabaji

Moby Dick is really powerful, completely changing the board. Its overuse in OP02 meant Whitebeard was arguably the only viable deck. Cabaji never really got to see play because his main issue was when used with the OP03-040 Nami leader.

Unbanned Cards

Seven cards were previously banned or restricted, and then unbanned/unrestricted back in December. So to confirm, the following cards are currently completely legal to play without any restrictions: