Set Information
Control the Opposition With The Seven Warlords of the Sea
One of the most rabid fanbases in trading card games is that of the Control playstyle. Usually, players try to defeat their opponents by overwhelming them with big power or a lot of quick attacks, but Control decks approach the game differently, choosing to win by dictating what your opponent can and cannot do. The One Piece TCG, like many before it, chooses the color Blue for its “Control” color. That’s where the Starter Deck The Seven Warlords of the Sea enters the fray.
Every Seven Warlords of the Sea starter deck contains a ready to play out of the box deck with 51 cards (one Leader Card, two Super Rares, and 14 Commons), ten DON!! cards and one Playsheet. DON!! is the resource of the game that each player needs to play characters and it goes in a separate deck. The Seven Warlords of the Sea launched on 2 December 2022 and has an MSRP of 13.90 €.
A Blocker a Day Keeps the Aggro Away
Every game has its Control tactics. In One Piece Card Game, these tactics involve field disruption and stalling which are the main mechanics of The Seven Warlords of the Sea. Crocodile, the Blue Leader of the Starter Deck, has an ability unlocked while equipped with at least four DON!! cards. When that threshold is met, Crocodile can return up to one Character with a cost of five or less to the owner’s hand. Since in One Piece Card Game, only [Rush] characters can attack the turn they are placed, simultaneous bounces back to hand can disrupt an opponent’s attack. However, the Blue deck has other tricks in its sleeve to delay the opponent’s aggression. Trafalgar Law, Boa Hancock, and Crocodile (character version) are three Characters that can aid the player in this regard since they have the [Blocker] keyword. This means that even when the Leader is the target of an attack, a character with [Blocker] can redirect the attack to itself.
Drowning in Draws
Card selection is heavily associated with Blue and One Piece Card Game respects tradition in this respect. Dracule Mihawk is a four-costed Character that while equipped with a DON!! card, allows the player to draw two cards and trash two others among them. Love-Love Mellow is an Event card that activates in the [Counter] window and grants one Character [Power] +4000 during the battle. However, this combat trick is packed with a second ability which lets the player draw a card if their hand has three or fewer cards.
Control decks are usually hard to pilot, where every decision matters. Since The Seven Warlords of the Sea is a Starter Deck, a powerful winning strategy is missing. Romance’s Dawn, the first Booster Collection, could have the answer for Control players, which means finding a character that merits stalling your opponents out.