Getting Your Feet Wet - A Guide On Where to Start With One Piece TCG

Looking to get into One Piece TCG but don't know where to start? Don't worry, we've all been there. Answering some of the below questions will help you find a place to start.

If you are new to the One Piece manga/anime/live action then there will be plenty of spoilers in this game. Unfortunately the first set, OP-01, does not start from the beginning of the story, so you'll see cards of characters you may have not met yet. I was fairly caught up with the anime so the spoilers for me were very minimal. Kaila and I plan to binge the anime until we're completely caught up once the current Arc is finished.

Since most of the spoilers are mostly characters and factions, some players that are new to the series find it fun to recognize the character when they appear in the show since they saw the card before. Otherwise the card game shouldn't spoil the story too much.

For the Collectors

If you're a collector, what kind of collection are you looking for? Are you a seeker of the rare cards? Do you want to get cards of your favorite character(s)? Do you want to hit the rare by breaking open a pack or are you okay buying the card(s) you want?

For those wanting to get rare cards then the most rare cards are going to be what are called the Manga Alt Art cards. Typically each set has introduced 1 card with a Manga Alt Art variant where the background contains panels from the manga. These cards typically go for $300 - $600 with the Manga Art Gear 5 Luffy from the OP-05 set going for $2600 US raw. These are the most sought after cards as they are hard to find and hence very valuable.

The next in rarity would be the Special Art cards. Each set starting from OP-03 contain Special Art variants of cards that were introduced in previous sets. These cards are very unique with art that is more beautiful than the alt art variants of the same cards in my opinion.

If you're a collector of the rare, then the above would be some cards you would want to get your hands on.

For those looking to collect cards of their favorite character, I would recommend going to the Official One Piece Card Game site (https://en.onepiece-cardgame.com/) and checking out the card list. You can use the card list to search for the character you're looking for (make sure to set the filter to search in all sets).

You can find cards for sale at TCGPlayer or on eBay. Be careful though when searching through eBay as it is popular for fans to create custom art cards for certain characters. So if you are looking for official cards, make sure to read the description before buying or if you don't think it's an official card, check the Official One Piece Card Game site's card list. Also of note, the Japanese version of One Piece TCG is typically one set ahead of the English version.

If you like the thrill of opening packs and not buying your cards, then there are few things to keep in mind whether to buy booster packs vs booster boxes. Each booster box is guaranteed to have 2-3 "hits" (SP or alt arts). They are also guaranteed to have at least 1 of each leader card in the set. The box also contains 2 of the special DON!! cards for the set. So if you want your guaranteed hits, we recommend going for a whole booster box. As far as we are aware this only applies to the English version.

For the Player

Starting off as a player can be tough, especially if you don't know anyone else that plays. That's what put me off of buying the game originally, but luckily for me, Kaila was on board when we did get some cards. If you don't have friends to play with and are comfortable meeting new people, try going to a One Piece night at your local game store. Our experience at our first local One Piece tournament was filled with friendly players who are all there to enjoy the game.

If you want to learn the game a bit before going, the Official One Piece Card Game site has a tutorial video. There's also a tutorial app that lets you play the game with a limited selection of decks. But honestly I would probably recommend grabbing a starter deck, read the rules, and hop on over to your LGS.

If you're looking to get into the competitive scene and make a meta deck then I recommend checking out sites like https://onepiece.gg/. The site offers a meta report where you can review all the best performing decks. You can also download the unofficial One Piece TCG Sim (https://onepieceplayer.com/). The sim has all the cards available which you can make your deck from, so even if you don't have the cards, you can make a deck and play others online.

For the Collector Player

I gave some ideas for starting off above that applies to the collector players. However for the collector players, there are special promo cards, tournament prizes, and participation swag you can get for participating in tournaments. There are promo cards and tournament winner cards that are unique and cannot be found outside of the tournaments (other than buying them off of eBay, TCG Player, or from the tournament winner). These cards don't typically see play normally but are nice collectible pieces. I'm not in the collector player realm yet, but a goal I see most of these types of players aim for is to have a complete set of alt art cards for their deck, at least for the cards with an alt art variant. So if you are one of these players, show that deck off with pride while you're at your LGS!

Another thing Kaila and others enjoy is collecting the DON!! cards. Each set has a unique DON!! card. There are also special DON!! cards for the double pack sets. Each double pack comes with one DON!! card. The Devil Fruits Collection devil fruit deck case also comes with a unique DON!! card (they were very liberal in calling it a deck case/box, so don't expect to use it for that purpose).

Japanese Cards VS English Cards

If you are looking to simply collect the cards then you can get either version. The Japanese version is cheaper in general if you want a single box. Although each box comes with 24 booster packs, the Japanese version comes with 6 cards per booster with 1 guaranteed rare or better card per booster while the English booster packs have 12 cards with 1 guaranteed rare AND 1 guaranteed rare or better card. Sometimes the Japanese booster boxes are going for less than half the price of the English versions, especially with the older sets.

If you are going to be playing the game, check out the tournament rules which set to use. In the Americas, Europe, and Oceania official tournaments only allow the English version of cards. If you plan using the cards amongst friends then go ahead use the cards of either set, just be aware if you and your opponent isn't a native speaker of the language the card is in, you may want to keep a translation of the cards on hand when playing. If you're at your LGS and playing someone new in a non-tournament setting, go ahead and ask them first if it's okay that you're using cards of a different language.

Proxy Cards

Proxy cards are essentially home made versions of the cards. If you are starting off and your budget is tight or you want to try and play with cards you don't have in a non-tournament setting, use proxy cards. To play with proxy cards you can print the card images on paper or on card start, cut them out and sleeve the cards to make your deck. If you're printing them on standard paper and have some extra cards laying around, sleeve the card and place the proxy card in front. Just like playing with cards of a different language, if you're playing someone new, give them the curtesy of asking if it's okay that your deck has proxy cards.