All your favorite pirates and marines from Shounen sensation One Piece have Leader cards in the One Piece Card Game, with these special cards forming the crux of the competitive game. They’re also very valuable collecting targets.
A Leader is the foundation of a One Piece Card Game deck. The color (or colors) of your Leader determines what colour you can include in your constructed deck and sets your starting life total for each match. Every Leader in the Bandai game also boasts a unique ability that fits into its archetype.
Each Leader also comes with an alternate-art version in the set they’re released, with these premium releases often going for as much as $200 USD. They are some of the most valuable cards in each expansion.
As One Piece Card Game sets keep dropping, more and more Leaders will be added to the roster. All new Leaders will get added upon availability.
All Leader cards in One Piece Card Game
- Romance Dawn
- Paramount War
- Pillars of Strength
- Kingdoms of Intrigue
- Awakening of a New Era
- Wings of the Captain
- Memorial Collection
- 500 Years into the Future
- Two Legends
- The Best
- Emperors in the New World
- Starter Decks
- Ultimate Decks
- Promos
OP01 — Romance Dawn
The first One Piece Card Game set focused around the Straw Hat Pirates setting out on their grand adventure to find Gold Roger’s treasure. There were two themes: the main characters and their iconic villains, and several standout characters from the incredible Wano Country arc the anime was in at the time.
While most of these Leaders have since struggled to keep their place in the meta, Zoro and Trafalgar Law stayed strong from their December 2022 release through to set six.
When this set was released, the TCG had four colors: Red, Blue, Green, and Purple. Law, Luffy, Kaido, and Crocodile also marked the first dual-color Leaders.
The Leaders released in OP01 include:
- Zoro — Red
- Trafalgar Law — Red/Green
- Monkey D. Luffy — Red/Green
- Kouzuki Oden — Green
- Donquixote Doflamingo — Blue
- Kaido — Blue/Purple
- Crocodile — Blue/Purple
- King — Purple
OP02 — Paramount War
Set two, themed around the massive Summit War at Marineford and the preceding Impel Down arc, introduced Black into One Piece Card Game. The color was quickly attached to the Marines—Smoker, Garp, and Zephyr all slot in there—but it has since expanded to include other characters.
The OP02 release also gave the game perhaps its most broken Leader: Edward Newgate, also known as Whitebeard. He reigned supreme atop the metagame until set six and drew several bans for the best cards in his builds.
The Leaders released in OP02 include:
- Edward Newgate — Red
- Monkey D. Garp — Red/Black
- Kin’emon — Green
- Sanji — Blue/Green
- Emporio Ivankov — Blue
- Magellan — Purple
- Zephyr — Purple/Black
- Smoker — Black
OP03 — Pillars of Strength
One Piece’s third set simultaneously journeyed forward to the Enies Lobby and Whole Cake Island arcs, while bringing in several iconic heroes and villains from the original East Blue journey.
Fans of the manga and anime were most excited to finally get a Portgas. D Ace Leader card with this release. The Fire Fist has long been a top favorite, especially because he’s main character Monkey D. Luffy’s brother. Though he pales to Whitebeard and Zoro competitively, the Ace Leader alt-art quickly became a top chase card.
The Leaders released in OP03 include:
- Portgas D. Ace — Red
- Kuro — Green
- Arlong — Green/Yellow
- Nami — Blue
- Iceburg — Purple
- Rob Lucci — Black
- Charlotte Linlin — Black/Yellow
- Charlotte Katakuri — Yellow
OP04 — Kingdoms of Intrigue
The Kingdoms of Intrigue expansion set, honed in on two arcs: Arabasta, famous for being the first mega-sized One Piece adventure, and Dressrosa, a Doflamingo-helmed story many consider among the series’ best.
Nearly all the Leaders added in OP04 came from these two arcs, with Vivi (Red/Blue) and Crocodile (Purple/Yellow) from Arabasta and Doflamingo (Green/Purple), Issho (Green/Black), and Rebecca (Blue/Black) from Dressrosa. Only the Blue and Yellow Queen dual-Leader wasn’t from either.
This set introduced decently competitive Leaders, with Doflamingo, Queen, and Rebecca all seeing some play in late 2023 events.
The Leaders released in OP04 include:
- Nefeltari Vivi — Red/Blue
- Donquixote Doflamingo — Green/Purple
- Issho — Green/Black
- Rebecca — Blue/Black
- Queen — Blue/Yellow
- Crocodile — Purple/Yellow
OP05 — Awakening of the New Age
Awakening of the New Age certainly lived up to its name, with the fifth One Piece Card Game set (and the last before the 2024 season began) adding several Leaders that finally shifted the balance of power in the competitive metagame. In particular, Blue-Black Navy commander Sakazuki surged to the top spot as the game’s new S-Tier Leader pick, with Purple Luffy and Yellow Enel both proving to be powerful choices in the right hands too.
Sakazuki ended up proving so powerful he drew the game’s second Leader ban (Newgate was the first) and unlike Whitebeard, Sakazuki hasn’t been taken off the list later either.
The themes for this expansion revolved around Skypeia (with Enel) and the Revolutionary Army (with Sabo and Belo Betty), though non-themed Leaders like Luffy, Sakazuki, and Donquixote Rosinante also made it through. The latter, Rosinante, followed the Dressrosa focus last release.
The Leaders released in OP05 include:
- Sabo — Red/Black
- Belo Betty — Red/Yellow
- Donquixote Rosinante — Green/Blue
- Sakazuki — Blue/Black
- Enel — Yellow
- Monkey D. Luffy — Purple
OP06 — Wings of the Captain
The Wings of the Captain expansion reshuffled the One Piece Card Game metagame quite a lot, with powerful new Leader cards like Gecko Moria (Black) and Reiju (Blue/Purple) instantly joining the upper echelons. Moria especially became a top Leader, challenging set five’s Sakazuki to become the very best available strategy.
Most of the Leaders slotted into one of the OP06 expansion’s central themes, with Moria and his offsider Perona embodying the Thriller Bark arc—which basically headlined the set—Reiju leading Germa 66, mono Green Fishman commander Hody Jones boosting Fishman Island plans, and Uta giving FILM a proper Leader choice.
The game’s sixth set also introduced a gamechanging Leader ability: Yamato (Green/Yellow) became the first Leader card to boast Double Attack without any cost restrictions. He also has a Don-related boost ability.
The Leaders released in OP06 include:
- Uta — Red/Purple
- Yamato — Green/Yellow
- Perona — Green/Black
- Hody Jones — Green
- Vinsmoke Reiju — Blue/Purple
- Gecko Moria — Black
EB01 — Memorial Collection
The Leaders released in EB01 include:
- Kozuki Oden — Red/Green
- Hannyabal — Blue/Purple
- Kyros — Black/Yellow
OP07 — 500 Years in the Future
500 Years in the Future went back to all single-color Leaders and focused around popular characters rather than any specific arc; the long-running Egghead was the expansion theme, but only Vegapunk (Yellow) truly fit that billing.
Several of the set seven releases, especially Rob Lucci (Black) and Jewelry Bonney (Green) immediately dropped into the metagame’s top tiers. Lucci became the premier control deck in the game—especially with Sakazuki banned—while Bonney was the first Green Leader to have a reasonable fighting chance since Kid in set one.
The Leaders released in OP07 include:
- Monkey D. Dragon — Red
- Jewelry Bonney — Green
- Boa Hancock — Blue
- Foxy — Purple
- Rob Lucci — Black
- Vegapunk — Yellow
OP08 — Two Legends
The latest One Piece Card Game set has a wide range of thematic releases, bouncing from Straw Hats and their allies (Tony Tony Chopper and Carrot) to some of the strongest soldiers who served older Emperors, like Marco, King, and Pudding.
With the latest One Piece ban list, several slower Leaders from OP-08 like Marco (who appears in Red/Blue and has a heavy Whitebeard theme) and Charlotte Pudding (Yellow/Purple and focused on Big Mom Pirates) now have a chance to stake their flag in competitive play. Mono-Yellow Skypeia Leader Kalgara also appears to be an early frontrunner strength-wise.
The Leaders released in OP08 include:
- Tony Tony Chopper (Red/Green)
- Marco (Red/Blue)
- Carrot (Green)
- King (Purple/Black)
- Charlotte Pudding (Purple/Yellow)
- Kalgara (Yellow)
PRB-01 — The Best
There’s just one new Leaders being released in PRB-01: Sanji (Red). This is because this “PRB” expansion is supposed to be full of reprints rather than new cards. That said, Bandai has snuck a new Leader release in regardless.
OP09 — Emperors in the New World
The Leaders releasing in OP09 include:
- Shanks (Red)
- Lim (Green/Purple)
- Buggy (Blue)
- Monkey D. Luffy (Purple/Black)
- Nico Robin (Purple/Yellow)
- Marshall D. Teach (Black)
Starter Decks
The One Piece Card Game regularly releases preconstructed decks alongside its expansion sets, including four right at the start of the game’s lifespan.
Many of these Leaders have simpler abilities so players can simply grab a deck and begin playing, but several have still become solid picks for competitive players, including the Green Eustass Kid card and Crocodile’s mono-Blue design. The FILM-aligned Uta has also stayed relevant in the metagame for some time now.
Several older Leaders, including set one’s Donquixote Doflamingo and the ever-popular Green-coloured Uta FILM card, were also reincluded in ST15 through ST20—these included a mix of new and updated cards.
The Leaders released in Starter Decks include:
- Monkey D. Luffy — Red
- Eustass “Captain” Kid — Green
- Crocodile — Blue
- Kaido — Purple
- Shanks — Purple
- Sakazuki — Black
- Charlotte Linlin — Yellow
- Monkey. D Luffy — Black
- Yamato — Yellow
- Uta — Green
- Zoro and Sanji — Green and Blue
- Monkey D. Luffy — Black
- Edward Newgate — Red
- Uta — Green
- Donquixote Doflamingo — Blue
- Monkey D. Luffy — Purple
- Smoker — Black
- Charlotte Katakuri — Yellow
Ultimate Decks
The first Ultimate Deck, titled “Three Captains,” added three Leaders to the growing One Piece pool. All three Leaders are the same dual-colour—Purple and Red—which marked the first time this combo was used. A second, “Three Brothers,” came soon after and added dual-coloured Sabo, Luffy, and Ace cards.
The Law card from ST13 has become infamous since its release, with its power in OP07 and OP08 in the Eastern metagame becoming so uncontrollable that Bandai simply banned the Leader. It is still on the restriction list to this day.
The Leaders released in Ultimate Decks include:
- Monkey D. Luffy — Red/Purple
- Trafalgar Law — Red/Purple
- Eustass “Captain” Kid — Red/Purple
- Sabo — Red/Yellow
- Portgas D. Ace — Blue/Yellow
- Monkey D. Luffy — Yellow/Black
Promos
There have only been a few promo Leaders released so far, including a Uta alternate that came alongside One Piece FILM: Red in late 2022 and a multicolor Monkey D. Luffy Leader to celebrate the One Piece Netflix series.
The Leaders released as promos include:
- Uta — Red
- Monkey D. Luffy — All colors
- Monkey D. Luffy — Blue
One Piece Card Game Leader article changelog
- Update Sept. 3, 1:25am CT: Updated after Two Legends was released.
- Update Aug. 26, 2024, 12:07am CT: Added all Leaders from the Two Legends, The Best, and Emperors of the New World sets as well as the Three Brothers Ultimate and 3D2Y Starter decks.
- Update April 7, 2024, 10:48pm, CT: All 500 Year in the Future Leaders added.
- Update Feb. 26, 2024, 5.10pm CT: All Leader cards updated for Wings of the Captain and the Zoro and Sanji Starter Deck.
- Update Dec. 12, 2023, 9.04pm CT: All Leader cards updated for Awakening of the New Age.
- Update Oct. 30, 2023, 9:57pm CT: All Leader cards through to Kingdoms of Intrigue added, including One Piece’s first Ultimate Deck and all Starters.
- Update July 13, 2023, 3pm CT: All Leader cards updated for Romance Dawn.
- Update Dec. 3, 2022, 12:20pm CT: All Leader cards for One Piece TCG Romance Dawn were added following the English launch on Dec. 2.
Published: Sep 3, 2024 12:26 am