[Update 25 Oct 2024] A new variant of this deck makes use of several cards from the Red Newgate Starter Deck [ST-15]: Thatch, Portgas D. Ace, Atmos, and Kingdew. These cards combine to stall for time and protect the deck’s Leader card through their effects which enhance the deck’s defensive capabilities.

Over the past two months, the Red Newgate deck has emerged as one of the leading forces in the ONE PIECE Card Game metagame. Since April 2024, players using this deck have attained impressive results at various Regionals and Treasure Cup tournaments including a victory at the Peoria Regionals as well as top-five finishes at the Toulouse Regionals, OPE Online Treasure Cup, LATAM TCG Online Treasure Cup, and Treasure Cup Birmingham at UKGE.

The idea behind this deck is to apply major board pressure as soon as possible. This should mainly be done by swinging 6000 Power swings into 5000 Power targets, often forcing opponents to make use of their counter cards. In the early game to mid-game, the player can also do so to ascertain how many counter cards the opponent has in hand and adjust a strategy accordingly. For this reason, it’s also important to keep tabs on what cards the opponent searches for as well as what the opponent plays on curve.

Later in the game, crucial cards will include the Monkey D. Luffy card from Straw Hat Crew [ST-01] as well as the Portgas D. Ace card from Paramount War [OP-02]. These cards can be used to force the opponent to make suboptimal plays in the late game and potentially swing the balance of the board just like that. The Kid & Killer card from the Extra Booster Memorial Collection [EB-01] is also a solid supporting piece because it serves an a sometimes unexpected counterplay to opponents who may have made the mistake of overly focusing on the Ace and Luffy cards mentioned.

This deck’s most difficult matchups are the Green Uta and Black/Yellow Luffy decks. When playing against either of those decks, it’s important to prioritize mulliganing for the Luffy and Ace cards mentioned; seek the Marco card from Pillars of Strength [OP-03] when against the Green Uta deck as well. Against the Green Uta deck, the player should put particular emphasis on Ace because it’s the deck’s main counterplay against the Eustass Kid card from Romance Dawn [OP-01]. Against the Black/Yellow Luffy deck, meanwhile, a Red Newgate deck player should spend the early and mid-game filling up the board with hard-hitting characters before in the late game, either playing a Luffy card to swing into the opposing Leader card or make an all-in play, bypassing blockers to do so.

The cumulative cost of every card in a Red Newgate deck is at least 20,300 JPY (~US$129).

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