One Piece TCG: My Thoughts on the Current Hot Topic in the Community, "Should RP Law be Banned?" 

Saka Ban Vid 2: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5y5womQosq8.htmlsi=HKWgTxK843K1895M Saka Ban Vid 1: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jiCPc1ZYt4c.htmlsi=NMTI2LqtpCVg0FTg Small Hat Crew, Top-32* RY Sabo Video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-9UVEkuNijGs.htmlsi=vSDogPBAZfokWrBr Magellan List: 1xOP02-071 4xOP01-114 4xOP02-085 4xOP05-074 2xOP06-069 4xOP08-067 2xOP08-074 4xST04-002 2xST04-003 2xST04-004 4xST04-005 4xST04-012 4xST10-010 4xST10-011 3xST10-013 3xEB01-039

We are not worried about Law in 07, we are worried about him in 08.

I think leader locking more card effects would be ideal. But when stuff like this happens, I wish they would be more open to either erratas or restrictions (or both). I don't think leaders should be banned. But why not errata? Like you said, Saka could be one effect or the other and not both. Law could be -4 don instead or maybe removing a 1000 power instead of 3000 to force more resources. If not, you could look to restrict the most impactful cards. You made a great point that Gordon and Max effectively make it so you have 8 copies of a card instead of the intended 4, and a ban on promos could be great. With only 4 Maxs and losing the 4c -2k Law promo, maybe Law feels average now? With Saka, maybe a Hound Blaze and Moria restriction would bring him in line as is (Moria should be type locked IMO). Anyway, great vid and great insight!

Even when im playing RP Law "counters" i hardly ever feel like im in advantage state vs this leader.

I dont think leaders should be able to bottom deck, thats crazy to me. Its rare that leaders can even KO and those leaders arent even good cuz the KO effect isnt that strong or it costs too much. Also why arent there cards that protect your characters from bottom decking? there needs to be a way to counter this type of play, like you would counter KO abilities.

Locking more good cards to its archetype should be mandatory. The same thing happens with Gecko Moria (the character), it should be closed to Thriller Bark. Black decks will always carry 4 copies of him and that's not good for the health of the game.

I think your approach was extremely well done, I just feel like the fact you had to give 3 cards that should be tuned or released differently in order to tiptoe around this Leader, just seem healthier to let it go in the long term. As long as RP law exists, they can no longer make broadly strong cards in the colors. I’d like to see it re-released where you HAVE to actually tuck something in order to play out a card from hand

I feel black maria may be more the issue. It provides them so much advantage. Maybe ban her or like someone else said they should leader lock more cards.

New to the OPTCG and your vids help me out alot. Keep it up!

Love your content man!

The problem with law is if they leave him they can never print good 4 cost red or purple cards again cause it just becomes support for him which is really bad... theyd have to leaderlock so many future cards to stop law using them which means other red and purple decks cant recieve generic support

Errata Black Maria to only be able to work with Animal Kingdom leader.

It irks me how bandai isnt willing to try and (semi)limit cards more often. Its a way to test the waters and see if it can help balance the game by hitting problem cards after releasing new sets. Except black maria that card needs a quickban. Also leader locking strong cards is such a great idea. I would love to see some more off meta decks get those privileges.

nailed it, mech unique promos shouldnt be legal. Considering the 7 blue luffy and where the wind blows are banned cause you cant get them. Also, you could have fixed kid and killer by making them 5 cost so the effect sticks to rg law and luffy, and is much harder for him to play. Make him pay with Fist or Gamma knife instead of gordon and raise, the 2 cost made him way worse, see pre raise max and kid killer and reiju. Having to keep the 3 drop law on board, and stay under don to keep card adv was when this leader took any semblence of skill. Like saka-lucci, the problem wasnt the leader, it was the cards they got unfettered access too.

100% great video 🎉🎉

It's annoying how few new cards (disregarding Egghead) Bandai makes leader-locked, while some obviously would make total sense. OP08 Black Maria for Animal Kingdom leaders, OP06 Gecko Moria for Thriller Bark leaders, Raise Max or Gordon for film-type leaders, etc.

I wonder if its worth making a Reiju deck that focuses on don minus as well so that your getting card draw each turn? or if thats the focus is magellan just a better leader?

I think there needs to be retrictions in how many of certain cards you can have in the deck. Like maybe only 2 kid & killers in the deck or only 1 or 2 marias in the deck. stuff like that and of course ban promos

Thanks for the video VV. I'm pro-bans as a tool to help curate the correct power level and diversity of format you want in your game. Law, like Saka, does a really good job of gatekeeping a lot of tier 2 decks. And while I think Law was fine up to 08, these early results really push me over into ban territory. Sure, they could ban Black Maria and Pudding or whatever, but then what? A new Red or Purple card pushes law back up. Do they ban that? At a certain point, leaders with strong enough abilities are always just waiting to get a few pieces of support to get over. In Laws case, the interplay against it doesn't have the support to viably hold a space in the meta. I like Law, but it's overtuned and provides too much generic value. My take: Do the sake thing and ban it and print a new one. Make it require a bottom deck, make it cost 4, adjust the targets it can get. Something. As law exists now, banning around it won't solve the problem. Speaking directly to your promo suggestion, I don't think that meaningful solves anything and adds a whole layer of confusion as to what is/isn't legal. Especially since there's only a few that are played. If anything, just ban Gordon. More to my greater point, you suggest multiple changes to make RP Law fine, and that's why it's not. Why adjust multiple points of the game when 1 is the biggest issue? Anyways, cheers VV. Thanks for rocking brother.

I disagree with you on bottom decking. The game needs a form of "exile" (MTG term) but i do understand the sentiment. It could be more expensive.

Great video as always. What’s your opinion on if they errata’d leader effect by restricting playing a 4c or lower to only Heart Pirates type cards? Or, what if they restricted leader effect and you can only play a card off leader effect if you first bottom deck/KO an opponents card? If you can’t bottom deck/Ko, the second part of the ability is not available.

I think just a minor errata should be implemented like the bottom decking should be mandatory before playing a 4 or less makes the ability require the right pieces to work instead of a risk free summon especially when the game is on the line

You’re 100% right about Gordon and raise max. Every other deck only gets 4 of a card and Law literally gets 8 of the same card because the name is different

Cards are too expensive to be banning.

Like many have said, and are saying in the comments below they just need to type lock cards man. If its film don't let non film leaders play it. If it's Thriller Bark then lock it to thriller bark pirates etc. Just try it at least. If it doesn't work then just undo it like they did the whitebeard ban, but I feel like that would make things more interesting. If Saka couldn't play CP, Dressarosa, or thriller bark stuff I'm sure it would be decent still but it would not be the menace it was.

If there's an effect that counter "bottom deck" effetcs that will be better. Like you can't bottom deck this character then it will be fine. Thats my opinion only

In my opinion RP Law is fine. Is a deck that is not on autopilot and every little change in a play may lose your game. In the mean time we have Enel Roulette not being almost ever mentioned. The guy just put 9k removal (which adds life wtf), triggers board from life and for free. Enel power costs literally 0 and with the life manipulation is getting harsh to predict what may come out of life. If you rush you could get Onami'd from trigger. If you try to stall the guy is gonna start 10k Ace and going like 6 life at turn 8. Btw didn't play OP 08 Law so that might be broken af but I think need some extra tool more than rushing

Give me more decks weak to Yamato! On topic, RP Law is fine in 07, but 08 makes me worry for sure. Have to see how the next month or so turns out and to from there. He has issues and makes me worry about card design cause banfai clearly forgets leader locking busted cards is a thing, in surprised 10 mom was leader locked lol

They should make characters with effects that trigger when they leave the field, not just KO.

Tbh I think the reduction aspect into bottom decking is whats so strong, mono blue leaders cant reduce so there bottom decking at least has some limit to it, red roc being the exception but I dont think law should be banned at the same time

I think the leaders ability is poorly designed; it wouldn’t be busted if it was destroy; making him bottom is 100% the issue imo. I think cards should be restricted; Black Maria shouldn’t be in the meta, Moria should be at 1-2 etc; that’s how I’d solve stuff

Black Maria will be an absolute menace when she's released.

Bandai did act quickly to overwhelming winning numbers from a deck in Dragonball Fusion world. Look up what topku has done in Fusion world and Laws number are looking similar.

I feel like they should just leader lock some of the core cards that make it a problem for the meta, like let’s be real: Reiju, Maria, pudding, killer (maybe), even Moria as it pains me to say as someone who plays a lot of black, should most likely be leader lock cards. And I like the idea of banning promo cards, it makes sense in tourneys. But overall, Law in o8, just get too much value from being able to cheat out strong combo cards, and they get so much value that’s it’s hard to keep up. And going vs a law that opens perfect, yikes.

Without bottom dekcing, how would you work around black's graveyard plays?

I agree with a lot of your points! Especially about leader locking abilities

Imho the bottom deck effect should be exclusive for blue cards, so Law is kinda broken. It should be at MAXIMUM a KO; Promo cards should be AA of already existing ones, it's not healthy for the game the way it is now; Kid & Killer could work better if the effect is "...2 or more life..."; Black Maria shouldn't exist; Sometimes I think (especially with more collections/cards being available) that the Type should be more important at the game, like you could have 4 copies of a card in your deck only if it has the same types as your leader. Otherwise should have a limit of 2/3.

They couldn't figure out have the choose one be activate main while the other was while attacking

So like what is law was a “when attacking” effect instead of an activate main effect Edit: and make it KO instead of bottom deck

If this is what we're going to do every time a new king rises, this TCG probably should adopt some form of Living Legend. 🤷‍♂️

Yes! Say it louder for the ones in the back! Bans are not the answer.

Law being able to bottom deck is crazy. I think that should stay in blue's territory. If they wanted to still be on flavor with Law's devil fruit ability, it should be that he can shambles an ally character back to hand to cheat out a 4 cost or less. It could play a lot like RG Law in that way.

Banning Leaders is not the way, Errata with testing behind it is the way to go. Having Gordon and Raise Max together also is completely unbalanced, 8 of the same type of card shouldn’t be a thing. Type locking is needed for decks like Law imo. The thing is when a leader becomes the most played it gets boring to watch, especially when it’s a mirror match. From a spectators perspective watching RP Law vs RP Law constantly wouldn’t be fun

I was VERY against banning Sakazuki, but Law feels MUCH worse IMHO and I honestly do not believe that card should stay in the game as is... I'm sorry. I've NEVER before been for any bans, but this time genuinely feels very different to me...

You can't ban promos! I won't be able to play the new Sakazuki leader! 😂. In seriousness though, its never been as advantageous to run promos in a deck as it is in law. For the most part, they are tech only. Black maria... spot on leader locking to animal kingdom and a simple errata to solve. Yet another well thought out video... you need to be hired by that card development company. I cant wait till blue gets some love sigh

I think the Sanji is going to be a problem soon too. 3c 6k blocker that also is a 2k is a ridiculous card

I’ve played law enough now to say I don’t think banning Gordon/Max will have the impact ppl think it will. I’m honestly open to it since it just frees up more slots for something else and I don’t even run the max 8. Now limiting Black Maria to 1 or banning it from Law would be the best fix imo(maybe pudding too). Taking away the thought process behind managing law’s ability is just way to broken but she’s useless in the mirror match so there’s a chance she self regulates over the next few weeks of op08

Yeah, I hate the promo cards being new functional cards instead of just reprints with new art. And I also dont like banning cards, I wish there was more erratas and leader-locked effects.

Without bottom decking how do we deal with decks that play from trash? If you can't bottom deck against black they just run you over.

Generally I am on your side, however, I think Law has hit a point (especially in op08) where he is so strong that Bandai has to balance cards around him, and that in itself is unhealthy for the game. Does he win every matchup? no. Does he completely dominate by top decking while not having a searcher or consistency? yes. Bandai won't errata him and will probably have a choice of crippling multiple decks by banning certain cards or just get rid of the leader itself

Yes

Would it be the worse if R/P Law was choose one? Either bottom deck a 3k or less OR play a 4 drop. That way you’re not playing 8 Don worth of bodies starting turn 2

The real problem is Black Maria RP Law in op07 is strong, but not broken In OP08 Black Maria makes the deck ridiculous You can use the ability for free Just limit to Animal Kingdom Pirates and it’s ok But I agree with the Promo point, promos should not be legal It’s not fair

quick glance through of the character break down for the tournament results is 6 R/P law 3 Y/B luffy 3 lucci 1 boa 1 doflamingo 1 bonny 1 perona

Sakasuki is losing to RP Law in OP06 but at that time Law isn’t as strong as OP08. I do agree that banning Sakasuki is not entirely correct. But now Law is just too strong, mostly I will win only against if they draw bad, I draw good, because their 2nd turn is just too strong, how do you deal with black maria+Sanji or Pudding+Penguin, then more and more to come, is there is even an answer to this 2nd turn play with 4,5 dons.

There are way to beat all decks even R/P law....😊

As for gordon and raise max, well there are many functional copies out there. Aka all vanillas. Youre gona have many functional copies down the pipe as more sets are released. Gordon isnt the issue. Its maria

i don't think law himself should be banned. im very much against banning leaders unless they happen to warp card design in an unfortunate way. there are a few ways to address Law, and that is to limit his resources. aggro decks should struggle to keep up after a certain point, but he has a ton of card draw with reiju, so banning reiju may be in order. the other option is to ban the card that he uses to keep his don high. but that card is too new to consider.

Vv i think youre thinking too much about the top tier of the game, sure maybe hes not stomping like white beard but for most of us in locals having most players run it forces casual players to either spend 200 on on of the other top 5 decks or just lose, one of my favourite things about the game is how lower tier leaders can do well causally, and i think law stomps B> decks alot more easily then the other s teir decks which is why the community feels so negatively to it

Ban law

I wouldn’t say banning leaders is the best move, personally I believe that some cards should be limited or in some cases leader locked that way you can still use said leader but they won’t be as powerful going forward that’s just my take🤷🏾‍♂️

Ama no murakumo sword should be banned over hound blaze if you’re going to hit one of them, bottoming 2 cards is insane into decks like law/moria that spam board.

your on point 👉 , i concur 👌

G/P Doffy does work against Law but it’s still very annoying and not fun to go up against

Players should be given a choice between Gordon and Raise Max. IF you have Gordon use it and keep Raise Max out and if you don't have Gordon use Raise Max as a good replacement

Honestly there are a lot of ways for them to fix law, but there should not be any doubt that he will continue to power creep if nothing is done. I don't think it's healthy.

Sakazuki was not really banned. It was errata’ed. Black blue saka still exists , its ability was significantly tuned down. People keep saying its banned. Its not, still there.. but different

Dont ban the leader, just ban some support like shachi and penguin or gordon. The deck isn't as consistent as sakazuki. It bricks pretty hard and runs out of resources.

the only problem card is black maria. Laws results were not this good before it was released. was it a good deck? absolutely, there will always be good decks. Banning them because you dont like them because they're good is not the right approach.

As a RP Law player all the way from OP04 I think that Black Maria is the main problem! Ban it, please. Everything else? Perfect balanced and good leader, as many other leaders have weakness and strengths! But Black Maria makes the deck so easy and dumb to play... RP Law is fun because is one of the hardest decks to play (the only deck you can be mana screwed!). So, for me, ban Black Maria, that would make the deck hard but rewarding and a fair deck!

Do you have a twitter Vv?

20:20 Kid mentioned!! I love this leader and agree with the sentiment that errata of leader locking the out of control synergies like Black Maria will help level out the meta without banning another leader.

Disagree with the kid and killer opinion. Red needs it. I don't agree on banning all promos either but maybe just ban gordon or make it in film decks only.

black maria broke the balance on the deck

But removing Gordon would not stop law

Im down with the promo card ban lol

W/o Kid n Killer, Law currently has no boss card tho. Agree with the Black Maria leader locking tho.

Play gp Doflamingo against rp law with birdcage and you will win instantly 😂

It’s been 4 tournaments now and Law mirror match was the final of all 4. Hundreds of participants each. You don’t ban, you leader limit Maria and maybe Moria I think. Most extreme is alter law to what characters it can play for free or only play if it bottom decks something.

Sakazuki, law and luffy yb dominating would NOT be fun... It's better when you have at least 5 decks competing for t1 and another 5 rogue decks around like doffy, boa, nami etc Law was really op but managable in op7... In op8 with Black maria, pudding etc is too much and the problem is that in future they will keep printing cards that will just be better in Law. If Sakazuki was not banned he would fight Law exactly like Lucci does, Lucci already fights Law, you don't need Sakazuki, Sakazuki was insanely bad designed and extremely overpowered in probably the best combination of colors in the entire game.

black maria needs to be banned and reprinted to leader lock to animal kingdom pirates only

Rather than the leader, black Maria feels more problematic for OP08, but as a Law player (still a begginer though) I feel that other meta relevant decks like Enel, Moria or BY Luffy are really solid counterplays, plus another means that another leader is going to take Law's place, there's always going to be a deck on top and makes no sense to ban every leader that starts to be dominant, it would be better for certain cards to be locked to certain leader or leaders

I don’t think law should be banned I think some of the cards he was given should either be leader locked or banned/changed

just ban black maria is that simple!!!! please bandai do it

problem with making Saka only able to do one of his 2 abilities is that it misses the point of why saka is powerful. Saka was powerful because of cycling and being able to craft your hand every turn. If they wanted to keep his identity as that, they should have taken away the -1 when attacking, and locking his ability to only discard a navy card

The meta being Saka vs rp law x by luffy sounds awful and very unfun. Im glad saka was banned, i think law was ok until 08. Black maria should never have been printed and some cards shouldve been leader locked like reiju

I think "errataing" a card to the point it's effect is completely different is something that should never happen. Reading the card should explain the cars, especially in a relatively new game that is trying to attract new players.

just limit BlackMaria to "Animal Kingdom Leader" only! Bandai only needs to lay out the rule for it, so in deck checks we can see if decks are legal or not. Also ban Gordon. That way RP Law loses bottomdecking and don recovery abilities, but would still be good. Like the Gordon will be replaced by Firefist, but that would still be a 2Don instead of a 1Don play. I hate banning Leaders if we could just fix stuff by laying out the rules for it. As you said i think leaderlocking is the goto!

so ban gordon

Leader bans are not the way

Limit / restrict Black Maria to 1 or 2. She bypasses the downside to Law. I love the deck, been playing RP Law since I started OPTCG. But she seems to be the core problem. The fact they printed her with 2k counter is ridiculous.

First of all bro, not just japan official tournaments even singapore cs and gao both top 4 also got rekt by rp law. Design a red and purple leader with blue specialty mechanism bottom deck is just straight a joke move from the very beginning kek. Bandai has been really careful on designing blue cards after releasing nami as leader because they dont fucking want to have their own version of exodia deck in opcg and it is very unfair for the blue gang. Because from there onwards , blue is just straight up the weakest color by its own and probably can compete with multi color blue. Fuck bandai and make blue great again!

Leave kid and killer out of this. Red needed that card and it's not that powerful compared to Moria or bigmom. Kid and Killer leader lock hurts decks like RY Sabo and he shouldn't get nerfed for RP Laws sins

Actually, i think banning Gordon is the right move. 8 of the same card is ridiculous

same. they shouldn't banned sakazuki.

Not even worth arguing, Law will be 100% banned. The effect is really just a mistake, red/purple with a blue effect is just dumb.