As the popularity of the One Piece Card Game surges ever higher, us players look forward to the sets to come. Each of which introduces new cards, mechanics and treasures into the game to collect and play in tournaments.
The newest addition throws fans back into some of the spiciest battles we’ve seen throughout the anime and manga, and leaves no bars held. Introducing. OP16: The Time of Battle!
In this review, I’ll be picking apart the set, showing you what to expect in your boosters and highlighting what treasures might be lurking at the back of each pack if you’re lucky.
Showdowns from the past
OP16 dives back into the iconic Marineford, Paramount War and Impel Down storylines, during which well known characters were killed, rediscovered and introduced. With a wide variety of crews making an appearance throughout these arcs, we can also expect to see a lot of additions to crews that haven’t received any support in a while.
But, looking at the present to begin with, 6 new leaders show their faces, only one of which features a character for the first time. Our champions in this set are Ace, Luffy, Buggy, Yamato, Blackbeard, and our new addition, Sengoku! Each of which follows the same suit of the previous set and brings entirely new fresh mechanics to the game.
What’s even more exciting, and something I’ll cover later on is that this set contains a variety of fundamental competitive staples that will likely see play in tournaments for many sets to come.
Impel Down with the sickness
So, what can you expect to find in an OP16 booster pack?
Each pack contains 12 unique cards which can include DON!!, commons, uncommons, and rares. However, each pack has a ‘hit’ slot which has the chance to include either a rare, leader card, SR, SEC, alt art, treasure card or a manga rare.
Aside from the rarity slots, there’s no guarantee as to which particular cards you receive, however, if you’re chasing the hits from the set; I highly recommend buying a booster box. Each box has an average of 3 hits, which means better luck at getting those sought after cards.
But what are these ‘better cards’, I hear you ask. Well, inside your pack, you may find anything from stunning SP cards with devil fruit themed backgrounds or one of three glorious manga rares, with each one featuring one of the Navy Admirals; Sakazuki, Kuzan or Borsalino.
With so many treasures packed into one set, it also makes OP16 a great investment for collectors as players and fans alike will be chasing the alternate arts to bling out their decks.
Back with both the old and new
But enough about potential, let's look at what's waiting inside those packs.
The new Black/Yellow Teach leader brings a fresh, controlling playstyle that utilises a powerful redirection effect. By trashing a card with a trigger, you can redirect an attack to another target. This works particularly well with the 10 cost teach character, meaning you can prevent up to three attacks with that card alone.
Red decks have also received massive offensive upgrades via characters like Ace and Marco, giving aggressive players excellent tools for rapid damage and board pressure. And with the new 8 cost Whitebeard, late game red decks have amazing utility too!
But there new support cards aren't just for OP-16 leaders; they also breathe life into older favorites, such as the new Purple Navy tools providing a massive boost to OP-12 Rosinante, and Ben Beckman giving Red Shanks a much needed revival.
The tide of war is changing
Those who are new to the game, or looking to start may not know, but OP16 marks a huge milestone for the game. From OP17 onwards, the One Piece Card Game will have a global release. This means that all regions will get the new sets at the same time.
Although this is common for some of the larger card games, OPTCG players have missed out on the enjoyment of discovering the synergies and combos in the newest set because the Asian meta has already solved the new leaders by the time we get to play it.
A global release means that all regions will have their own take on the top meta decks and if other card games are anything to go by, we’ll likely see a wide variety of different leaders be played depending on the region.
And with OP16 launching so closely behind the Japanese release, the western regions now have the opportunity to solve the meta in real-time. Which means we’ll see some unusual leaders making an appearance after receiving one or two power spike cards.
Personally, having played this game from OP04, it’s great to see that the popularity has pushed Bandai to take the game to the next level. I’m so excited to see what the future holds for this game, and what new mechanics and formats we’ll see as the game progresses.
Final Thoughts
So that concludes my rundown of this rollercoaster of a One Piece set. With all of the new mechanics, power spikes and treasure cards to find, I can see this set being highly sought after for booster pack and boxes; so make sure you get some while you can.
And with even more cards on the way soon, it’s an exciting time to be playing the One Piece TCG! So, crack open those boosters, and if you stumble on some treasure, be sure to show us. Just use the @zatugames tag on all popular social media.
