[EN-OP2] Naasir Jusab: 1st Place Offline Regionals in Montreal (Canada)

Kinemon

Ash’s match vs Kinemon that was on stream in the Tokyo 2nd preliminary CS helped me understand how the matchup should be played. I had a feeling that Kinemon and Whitebeard would be the two most popular leaders, so I had to make sure that I knew how to play against those decks. If you’re having trouble with Kinemon I would suggest watching Ash’s match at the following link.

【1月14日(土) 東京第二予選】ONE PIECEカードゲーム チャンピオンシップ 2023.01 東京第二予選〈アーカイブ配信〉

The Kinemon matchup boils down to their early game opening. If your opponent starts Raizou turn 1. As the Zoro player, you should be dancing with joy. If however, they open with Okiku. You can either go sideways with your characters or keep them standing. Depending on your hand both strategies are valid. I like to go sideways if I have Whitebeard in my hand. Staying healthy on life count and dropping Whitebeard is usually enough to win the game. Kinemon has a really hard time dealing with Whitebeard.

Alternatively, you can keep playing your searchers and ignore the Okiku. Deal with it when you can, most of the time you’ll be doing this because you don’t have the perfect answer to Okiku and I’d rather not slow down my development by jet pistoling it.

 Additionally, Kinemon usually loses if they are losing on board, so if you have good trades into their characters then you should perform those battles. However, it’s important to calculate how much of your board can they clear on their turn and whether this damage would have been better going face rather than clearing the board. You need to make sure you have enough damage to close out the game so you can’t gas yourself out by endlessly clearing the board. The longer the game is stretched out the favorable it is for Kinemon.

The best tip I can give while piloting Zoro into any matchup is to think about your opponent’s power turns. For example, Kinemon’s power turns are turn 1 Okiku going second or turn 4 Oden. You should deploy your threats around those power turns. If you know your opponent is going into their Oden turn. That is the perfect time to swing with your characters. Drop your Makinos and Zoros, swing with all your characters. Maximize damage by swinging for as many magic numbers as possible. This makes your opponent reluctant to play their Oden. Additionally, they have too many targets to clear such as Makino, Zoro, Sunny, Robin, etc. 

I pulled off this sequence in my semi-finals match against Doflamingo. For the first few turns, I kept taking damage and developing bodies. The commentators found it strange that I went down to 2 lives, but I felt comfortable because I had a radical beam in my hand. Once, I had a satisfactory board I started swinging with all my characters. This puts a lot of pressure on my opponent, and it takes pressure away from my life. On my opponent’s turn it’s difficult for him to know what to clear exactly, there are too many good targets.

One Piece Card Game – Day 2 Semi Finals – Nassir Jusab Vs Josh Oniate

Zoro

The next matchup I was very worried about was the mirror match. In my locals, I would win against every color. My only losses during a month of playing were in the mirror match. This had me thinking a lot about what I could do to outplay my opponent. Zoro is such a strong deck that I felt I was losing to less skilled Zoro players in the mirror. This is where Natsume’s matches at the Osaka championship enlightened me.

【11月23日(水・祝) 大阪予選】ONE PIECEカードゲーム チャンピオンシップ 2022.11 大阪予選〈アーカイブ配信〉

In the Zoro mirror, it is important to go first. Dropping Whitebeard on curve is too strong and if your opponent doesn’t see theirs then you win the game. Additionally, it is okay to go down to 3 lives. I see many Zoro players defending their lives as much as they can and in the long run, they are losing out on damage that can help them close the game out. Try to collect as many 2k counters as you can off your searchers. If you have a lot of them in hand, feel free to play them as they are bodies on your board.   

In the matchup you try your best to control your opponent’s board use your Vistas and Robins and clear as many bodies as you can. They can have more life than you but if their board is empty, they’re not going to be winning the game. Once you feel you’re losing on board, it’s time to just go swing face and try to win. Your opponent might have seen more removals, so you’ll run out of gas if you keep fighting for board thus, try to setup lethal. 

You can find my finals match which was a mirror match here:

One Piece Card Game – Day 2 Finals –Anthony Micallef Vs Nassir Jusab

Whitebeard

A lot of people asked me about the Whitebeard matchup. I played two Whitebeards Day 1 and a BO3 on day 2. The matchup is definitely not easy. Having 0 blockers makes is so that the Whitebeard keeps swinging at your life. Thus, it’s important to see your pseudo-blockers. These cards are Robin, Zoro, Makino. 

It is important to go first in the match as Whitebeard on curve makes it easier to defend life and deal damage. In the mid-game, with your searchers try to collect as many 2k counters. Additionally, have a robin setup and try to do 6ks with robin, Zoro and your leader. If you have a 1 drop, then boost them up with Makinos. This will make your opponent’s turn difficult as they have to clear these bodies otherwise, they are taking 4 6ks every turn. I feel Gordon is huge in this matchup as well. I try to use my Otamas and Gordons aggressively to clear the board.   Eventually, your opponent will run out of rush characters which allows you to pressure their lives. 

Law

The Law matchup is either the easiest or the hardest. If they open godly then it’s hard to get through all those blockers and you need to stall the game until you can drop Whitebeard. Pressure your opponent with your Robins and Zoros. Law usually wins on board after the first shambles so try to delay their shambles as much as possible. Use your removals to eliminate valuable bodies. It’s hard for them to clear the board as well as develop their own units. Take as much life as possible. You can go down to 2 lives and do well against Law. It’s hard to keep up with card advantage against them so taking lives is the only way to keep up with their hand. Their valuable units are 5 cost Law, any blockers, Zoro and Vista. It is important to clear Vista early game either with Robin or your own Vista as they can get a lot of value out of them by combing with leader ability. If the Law player pops off and sets up a wall of blockers at a healthy life total, then rely on your 9-cost Whitebeard to close the game.

Smoker/Kaido

Both of these matchups are super free. Go wide on your board and swing for magic numbers. There isn’t much to say for it other than that. If they clear your characters, refill your board up and do it all over again. It’s very hard for these leaders to win against you. The only way you lose is if they are aggressive and swinging at your leader. If they try to race you, make sure you’re calculating how much potential damage you’re taking every turn and what you need to stay alive.

Ivankov

Ivankov can be fairly difficult if they’re going first. Remember the power turns mentioned above. Keep your Zoros for the turn before they drop Ivankov. Thus, you want to go wide with your board and pop off on the turn before they are going to drop Ivankov. It makes it awkward for them to clear the board and they have no choice but to drop their Ivankov. Try to deal with their Luffy once it’s tapped as it’s their only win condition in most scenarios. If you feel the Luffy doesn’t pose a threat, then keep swinging life as other bodies aren’t worth swinging over. Keep your Gordon’s for when Luffy is tapped so all your little bodies can swing over it.

Tournament Matches Day 1

Round 1 Law O

Round 2 Kinemon O

Round 3 Kinemon X

Round 4 Ivankov O

Round 5 Ivankov O

Round 6 Whitebeard O

Round 7 Whitebeard O

Round 8 Luffy O

Round 9 Zoro O

Day 1 was honestly not as bad as I thought it would be. I was very dominant in all my matches, even the round 3 match vs Kinemon. The only reason I lost was because I had miscounted dons and didn’t keep one up for radical beam. If this was me at Treasure Cup, I probably would have tilted again and spiralled. Thankfully, my friends were there for me and told me to keep pushing forward. I kept playing the rest of my matches as if I was undefeated. I was really happy with my play following that Round 3 match. I wish I had them recorded because I felt it was the best I had ever played. None of the matches felt remotely close, I was pretty dominant against most people. At this point, I was very happy with my Day 1 performance. It showed that I had improved as a player mechanically and mentally since treasure cup.

Tournament Matches Day 2 BO3

Round 1 Smoker O O

Round 2 Whitebeard O O

Round 3 Doflamingo O O

Round 4 Zoro O O

Smoker

When I saw that Smoker was my first round, I got super happy. I thought to myself this was going to be the easiest serial Luffy. The game started and my hand was not very strong so I mulliganed. This time around my hand was even weaker. Since I was a higher seed, I had decided to go second to put the smoker off his curve. My turn 1 play was Brook. I was getting nervous because it was the only playable card I had in hand. The rest of my hand was Otamas and Makinos. I feel that I had no business winning game 1. My opponent had two impact waves in hand and saw a third one of trigger in life.I only had 1 or 2 characters on board the whole time. I feel like he might have made mistakes somewhere which allowed me to rush him down and close the game.

Game 2, my opponent decided to go second. This time I had a stronger hand, but my opponent kept countering early. This left him with a very weak hand size, so I kept clearing board and went for lethal at some point. That’s how I received my serial luffy.

Funnily enough, what is said to be Zoro’s best matchup was my toughest series of the day.

Whitebeard

Game 1, I was a higher seed, so I decided to go first. I had a good hand with Robins, Gordons and Zoros. This helped me pressure life and control the board and I was able to close out the game with 9 cost Whitebeard.

Game 2, my opponent decided to go first, I mulliganed for the usual targets which are Gordons, Zoros, Robins and at least 1 Whitebeard. This game my Nami bottom decked two of my Whitebeards which had me stressing a bit. However, I was able to establish a few 1 cost units which were able to pop off because of Makino. I believe the board overwhelmed my opponent and it became very difficult for them to rush life because they were taking too much damage every turn.

Doflamingo

Game 1, this was my first time on stream, and it made me super nervous. The nerves got to me while I was seated under the stream camera. I was thinking to myself, “Can the viewers see my hand?”, “Will the viewers judge my play?”, “Will they think I am undeserving of being a top 4 regionalist player?”. All of these thoughts were racing in my head while two judges were seated at our table and my opponent was sitting across from me. I was overwhelmed by the pressure. My opponent was a higher seed, so he decided to go first.  I was so nervous I drew two cards by accident. The judge saw that and gave me a stern warning. Another warning would result in a game loss. Then, the same turn I played a Sunny and passed. As soon as I passed, I asked myself, why did I play this sunny? It was going to get bottom decked by my opponent’s 1 cost Doflamingo. I started to think that my friends and the viewers on twitch are going to think I am so bad at the game. So, on my following turn, I took a second to calm myself down. I told myself that I couldn’t correct the mistakes I had made so far but I could try to play perfectly from here on out and win the game. I believe that from turn 3, I had not made any mistakes and I even got my opponent to concede the match.

Game 2, my confidence was high, and I was comfortable playing on stream. I played as if I was at my local and won the match with relative ease. My opponent couldn’t get much going with their leader ability. I kept clearing the board and eventually when I saw his hand size decreasing, I went for game.

Zoro

This was a match that I would have dreaded if I hadn’t studied the mirror match. I had a clear game plan, control the opponent’s board as much as you can and if you’re losing control of the board then calculate how much damage you can inflict in order to setup lethal. 

Game 1, I went first, I saw everything I needed. In this matchup, searchers are very important. I was constantly searching, establishing bodies but also adding 2k counters to my hand. I saw more searchers than my opponent and Whitebeard. I felt that he didn’t have much of a chance, but he almost countered out of a 15k swing, the game turned out to be very close. 

Game 2, my opponent put me in second, but I kept my game plan in mind. My opponent saw Whitebeard but hadn’t inflicted much damage to my life. So, I was able to close out the game before the Whitebeard could do much work. I believe this series was my best series of the day and I am happy with the way I played. I believe all my turns were optimal and I am glad that it was recorded on stream. 

Here are the matches for those who want to watch:

Semi-Finals

One Piece Card Game – Day 2 Semi Finals – Nassir Jusab Vs Josh Oniate

Finals 

One Piece Card Game – Day 2 Finals –Anthony Micallef Vs Nassir Jusab