Invited Author: Abiel Austria Alejandro
Country: Philippines
Introduction
Abiel Alejandro here and I'm from the Philippines.
Currently the Meta in the Philippines is so diverse. In December 2022, most people were using Zoro and Kinemon but due to the result of the 2nd Prelims tournament everything changed. Most Kinemon users started using KID LEADER after that tournament.
I was contemplating on which deck to use for the 3rd Prelims. I'm choosing between Zoro,Kid,Kaido or WhiteBeard.
I didnt choose Zoro Leader because it just wasnt my playstyle even though its the tier 0 of the META. For WhiteBeard,I just dont like the stress of having 0 life and with 1 wrong move could end the game.
While Kid is one of the strongest LEADER in the game it is still one of the most grindy deck to use, so thinking it would be a 7-8 rounds tournament with a cutoff of top 16 it would surely drain you. I opted to use Kaido in the end because for me the only bad matchup for the Kaido is Zoro.
Check out this link for the decklist in One Piece Top Decks.
In the above image, there are only 4 copies of 10-cost Kaido. (I put 8 copies to take picture is just for fun)
KAIDO - PARAMOUNT WAR OP02
Animal Kingdom pirates didn't get any love from OP02. But having an Impel Down engine surely helped the deck cope up with the rush meta right now. In any TCG, any card that helps you thin out your deck works great to increase the consistency of the deck. This is why Hannyabal is really good in the Kaido deck right now. Being able to search a Domino or Judgement of hell in crucial moments can make a great impact in any game.
The engine basically lets you set up a Kaido-10 play without getting too much damage in early games but still lets you play a little bit more aggresive than the usual play style of Kaido.
Matchups
Kid Matchup : In General Kaido has the upperhand against Kid deck just because of the clear board potential of Kaido-10.
What I try to do is push Kid to use his Kid-8 before casting Kaido-10 even if i have to cast a King-6/King-7 without any effect.
Being Able to summon a King-6/King-7 is really crucial because in turn 4 of Kid they will surely cast a Kid-7 which is really hard for Kaido to kill unless you have a Kaido-10 waiting in your hand. Having a beat down King in board can really push your opponent to cast his Kid-8. After Kid-8 just use Kaido-10 to clear the board.
WhiteBeard Matchup: Going 2nd turn against WhiteBeard is crucial since WhiteBeard is super dependent with hand card size. Doing a turn 2 Onigashima with a 6000 attack Kaido leader is one of the best play against WhiteBeard in the early game. Whether he chose to counter the 6000 attack or take damage it would be in your favor.
I always try to push to cast Queen and X.Drake. Queen because it is a 6000 attacker while X.Drake discards 1 card from the opponent. Since most of the time by mid game the WhiteBeard will have 0 life, having a 6000 Queen will surely have a great impact. It will force the WhiteBeard to always discard 1 card just to counter the attack.
One of the most crucial card in Kaido is also the Judgement of Hell.I only attack my Queen if im sure I can counter the attack with Judgement of hell or any 2k Counter.
Having a tapped Queen in field will surely tempt your opponent to over extend his Don management just to kill 1card. In a sense even though the Queen is tapped he is still acting as a blocker since WhiteBeard is forced to attack the queen.
Zoro Matchup: After practicing Kaido against Zoro for 1 week I was able to conclude if you are able to wipe out the board of Zoro in mid game you can surely win the game.
My main goal in keeping a hand card is either it has a Onigashima or a KING-7 (even without Onigashima).
Going 2nd turn is still the best option in my opinion against Zoro. Being able to cast in your first turn a Domini/Hannyabal/Shiki/Kurozumi Higurashi could surely help you clear the board early. Having a King-7 in hand but no Onigashima is okay to keep cause for turn 3 since you have 6 Don you can use Judgement of hell to delay the Zoro for two attack and set up for a King-7 for your Turn 4.
Round 1 WhiteBeard-WIN
Round 2 WhiteBeard-WIN
Round 3 Zoro-WIN
Round 4 Ivankov-WIN
Round 5 Kaido-WIN
Round 6 Zoro-WIN
Round 7 WhiteBeard-WIN
Eighth-finals Kinemon-WIN
Quarterfinals Kid-WIN
Semifinals Zoro-WIN
Finals Zoro-WIN
Conclusion
Kaido is still a threat in the META right now and maybe even after the release of OP03.Kaido being the only deck who has access to both a board wipe card and Don Manipulation.
Hopefully we will get some more love to Animal Kingdom Pirates in OP03.
SHOUTOUT
I would like to give thanks to Team Asiong and Team Arken for supporting me in the 3rd Preliminary Championship Tournament. All the restless grind and practice really paid off.