Invited Author: Peanut Butter Jelly , twitter account @RegretsWasTaken;
About me
Hello, I am Benjamin Teo from Singapore who recently won the Treasure Cup in Sydney. I was running a control/midrange R/G Law deck for the event and will be breaking down the deck's tips and tricks as well as construction thought process.
The Leader
In the OP01 meta, Red and Green have the best cards in the set, as most of them synergises with each other really well. So in a sense, you can call R/G Law having the best of both worlds with the tricks and shenanigans he can pull. Moreover, his leader skill "Shambles" is really really strong for reusing strong cards like Otama/Neko/Izo as well as keeping certain cards alive. The only downside to this leader is that he has 4 Life, but then again, it is necessary or else he will be deemed too broken.
In OP01, there really isn't too much removal cards avaliable yet. Cards like Robin, WhiteBeard/Vista in OP02, hence why this deck thrives greatly in OP01 meta. Moreover, it is really hard to answer a Robin dropped on turn 2 unless your opponent has Neko/Izo/Jet Pistol/6C King/Who's Who/Jinbei, which limits the number of plays you can foresee your opponent making.
Check out this link for the decklist in One Piece Top Decks.
Why play this deck?
The R/G Law is so versitile that you can literally make so much more plays compared to the other decks. For instance, if opponent has a 8C Kidd on board and I have an Otama (With or without 5C Law) I could always make the 8C Kidd into a 4000 base power with either a 3 Don or 4 Don combo. People tend to forget you could Shambles the card back, not play anything and then pay 1 Don to call it down to reuse it, in the event that you dont have a 5C Law. The deck also has multiple 1C cards to fill up your board so you could use your leader's skill fairly easily, as well as multiple searchers including Nami and Bonnie. Overall, the deck has probably an infinite amount of different plays you can make in different situations. The ratios in the deck really varies with each people, I like this list because as I mentioned before, the big threats in certain deck is cards like Robin etc, and that is precisely why I run 3 Izo and 4 Neko to remove her as soon as possible.
Key Cards:
Nekomamushi (Cat Viper) Arguably one of the best cards in the deck, it is a 2C on play: Tap a 3C or lower unit with a 3000 base power, it is a very good removal card especially for removing small blockers your opponent might drop early on (Mainly purple and blue) or removing key cards like Nico Robin. It also provides a cheap character slot for you to shambles early as well as an easy attacking unit (+ 2 Don).
Bonnie Goes without saying, alot of the cards in the deck are Supernovas, Bonnie gives you a cheap character slots at 1C as well as +1 free card potentially every turn. You could also fetch your 5C Laws to perform some shenanigans or even a Jetpistol if you need it. Some people opt to run Red Hawks in the deck rather than radical beam as bonnie is able to search it out as well, but honestly I'll take radical beam over RH as it is a 1 don 4k counter potentially, and I would like to maximise my don usage for aggression.
Bege and Chopper Goes without saying, great 1C blockers as well as + 1 cheap character slot. Searchable through the effects of Bonnie/Nami respectively as well.
5C Law blocker: Best card in the deck/set. Allows you to use leader Shambles into a 5C law and using his skill to shambles again, reusing multiple effects, keeping some cards safe in your hand (Tapped Bonnie) as well as providing a 6k blocker on board. In some events, you could even shambles back your 5C Law depending on the situation. Overall the best card in the deck.
Otama Great card to make a 10k/8k body on board into a Jet pistol target. 2k counter as well as a cheap character slot. Also, many plays with this card as you can opt not to Jet Pistol but use your bodies like Neko/Brook/Izo with don attached to swing into the card which has it's power reduced.
8C Kidd Magnet Kidd is also one of the best cards in the deck. It gives you the option to eat all your life while maintaining an 8k body on board, leading to opponent needing to commit alot to kill him, this + Radical beam makes for a tanky boiiiiii.
Radical Beam! Cheap 1C 4K counter, usually would be at a 4K counter as you have 4 life only, very easy to take 2 as the game progresses. Also a good counter if you drop your 8C Kidd on board and use his ability to attach 1 Don. You would have that extra 1 don to use radical beam if you dont have blockers on board (Unlikely). It is also a strawhat crew and you can search it out with Nami.
ST Killer Card is a great 3C removal, with cards like Neko and Izo, removing 3C cards have never been so easy. Moreover, this card is a shambles target as well being a 3C card, so reusing the card many many times with Law is a definite plus.
Matchups to note (Hardest to easiest):
Red Luffy: Hardest matchup by far if the Luffy player knows how to play. Not entirely unbeatable but have to be really flexible with your plays depending on going 1st or 2nd. If Luffy managed to start first, you ideally want to see Neko/Izo as well as Otama/Brook on your hand for the Robin removal when he drops it on curve. You also have to be disciplined to know when to drop your 8C Kidd without risking it to die to an easy Otama Pistol combo. At times you also have to factor the Red Hawk play from them, as most of your units are 4K and lower, they are a really easy Red Hawk target. Other than that, if you play the matchup diligently, using your skills at the right time with gaining a lead with multiple usage of Bonnie/Nami, you should be fine.
Purple Kaido: Not really a hard matchup unless the Kaido is extremely lucky hitting all his pieces at the right time. General matchup wise you want to have a broad board, and pressuring them with multiple 5K attacks as well as keeping your hand healthy with Bonnie everytime, you'll have to put the Kaido in a pinch and make him think whether dropping his big guns is a good idea. Maximum board and maximum pressure is the way to go. Also, snatch 2nd as you do not want to see that 7C King dropping on curve.
R/G Law Mirror: This matchup is also very situational. Usually you want to see multiple resters like Neko and Izo on your hand to clear out their board and not hitting into their life less deemed necessary. Just keep clearing the board while maintaining yours and you should be good to go. Snatch 2nd for that extra card would be ideal.
Green Kidd: One of the easiest matchups, always remember you are a better green deck. For this matchup nothing much to say other than finding your 8C Kidd and multiple 1C blockers and you are good to go. Snatch 2nd for the extra card.
Blue Doffy/Croc: Easiest matchup for the deck. Basically a free win as they cant answer your 8C Kidd at all, just tempo them and provide maximum pressure when you have your 8C Kidd on board.
Sydney Treasure Cup Matchups
7-1 Swiss
Deck used: RG Law
1st – Kaido (L)
2nd – Kaido (W)
3rd – Zoro (W)
4th – Kaido (W)
5th – Law (W)
6th – Zoro (W)
7th – Croc (W)
8th – Kidd (W)
Got 7/16 Top 16
Day 2
Top 16: Oden (2-0)
Top 8: Doffy (2-0)
Top 4: RG Law (2-0)
Finals: Kaido (2-1)
Why do you opt to play only 3 bege? Thank you!
Honestly, it is probably a preference thing, I would like to have different avenues of plays with a neko/izo/brook/killer, rather than just a 1c blocker on board. 8 feels abit too much for me and 7 is just right as I could tech in more untility/aggressive cards. Too much 1c vanilla blockers on hand can lead to a reduction in overall aggression and limit your plays.