When Emperors in the New World [OP-09] was released, a card that immediately caught the attention of the ONE PIECE Card Game player base was the Shanks Leader card. Prior to that set’s release, the only other Leader card depicting the captain of the Red Hair Pirates was a Purple Leader card from the Film Edition Starter Deck [ST-05]—it was, and still is, regarded as the worst Leader card of all time gameplay-wise. However, with the launch of the Shanks Leader card from Emperors in the New World [OP-09], a deck built around a Shanks card is now a viable option at last.

Strategy

The deck’s Leader card inflicts a Power reduction of 1000 to one of the opponent’s Leader or Character cards during the player’s defensive turn, essentially functioning as a free +1000 Counter to be used once per turn. This effect will primarily be activated to save either the Shanks Leader card itself or, especially in the late game, important Character cards and thus allow the player to conserve defensive resources which will eventually tilt the balance of the game in the player’s favor.

The deck’s most important early game cards are the Uta and Lucky Roux cards from Emperors in the New World [OP-09]. Uta serves as a draw engine for the player to obtain more Red Hair Pirates cards while Lucky Roux provides board control by insta-KOing opposing low-power Characters. As the game progresses, the player can then bring in Edward Newgate from the Red Edward Newgate Starter Deck [ST-15] as well as Benn Beckman from Emperors in the New World [OP-09]. Both cards are important Character removal options by insta-KOing and trashing opposing Character cards respectively; Newgate also supplies DON!! ramping.

In the late game, the cards to play are the Shanks Character card from Emperors in the New World [OP-09] and Monkey D. Dragon from 500 Years in the Future [OP-07]. Dragon’s Rush attack with a Power of 9000 is usually able to one-shot most opposing Characters; this is even more so with Shanks’ own Rush attack backed by 12000 Power. On top of that, as soon as Shanks enters play, all opposing Character cards suffer a Power reduction of 1000.

When mulliganing, the cards to be prioritized are Uta, Benn Beckman, and Edward Newgate because they are the main cards that set up the deck’s early to mid-game strategy. The deck’s most difficult matchups is the Red/Purple Luffy deck; to counter it, the player should attach as many DON!! cards to the deck’s Leader card during the early game before bringing in the deck’s big hitters later on.

Price

The price of all the cards in the Black Smoker deck is at least 34,490 JPY (~US$222).

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