One Piece Card Game · Colors
Black in the One Piece TCG
A Black deck removes by cost and comes back from the trash. Black has the highest share of K.O. effects of any color, most of them aimed at Characters below a cost, and the most cards that play from your trash.
Black is a deck led by a one-color Black Leader, so every card in it is Black. Cost cuts, K.O. by cost and plays from the trash, with Leaders that recycle a crew.
As of November 2026, Bandai has printed 12 one-color Black Leaders. Eight are legal in Standard, four rotated out with block 1. Of those, 11 have 5 Life, one more than most two-color Leaders; Imu (OP13-079) has 4.
How Black Plays
Black's removal works in two steps. A cost cut brings an opposing Character down, then a K.O. effect that checks cost removes it, and a Character at cost 0 is in range of almost anything. Rob Lucci (OP07-079) trashes 2 from the top of your deck to give −1 cost when attacking, Crocodile (OP14-079) is the exception: he K.O.s one of your own Baroque Works Characters to give −10 cost, but under his Leader your effects can't remove your opponent's Characters at all, so that deck removes in battle.
The trash is the second resource. Gecko Moria (OP06-080) trashes 2 from your deck and plays a 4-cost or cheaper Thriller Bark Pirates Character from your trash when attacking, and Yamato (OP16-079) gives [Rush] to any Land of Wano Character played from your trash. Losing a Character in battle costs a Black deck less than it costs other colors.
Three Leaders change the rules. Marshall.D.Teach (OP09-081) negates your own [On Play] effects and trashes a card to negate your opponent's. Imu (OP13-079) has 4 Life, bans Events costing 2 or more, and starts the game with a Mary Geoise Stage in play. Monkey.D.Luffy (ST14-001) and Monkey.D.Luffy (OP17-079) raise costs instead, the first giving all your Characters +1 cost and the second giving [Blocker] to every Character that costs 12 or more.
What Black does across all of its cards, counted from the card text, is in the Black section of the colors lesson.
What It Does Well, and What It Doesn't
Strengths
- The most K.O. removal of any color, and a cost cut makes even big Characters reachable.
- Recursion: Characters lost in battle can come back from the trash.
- Teach's Leader effect shuts off your opponent's [On Play] effects for a turn cycle.
Weaknesses
- Effects that trash from your deck shorten the game for you, so a slow matchup can run Black out of cards.
- Removal often takes two cards (a cost cut and a K.O.), which costs more than one Red or Blue effect.
- Several Leaders need a crew (Thriller Bark Pirates, Baroque Works, Land of Wano, Celestial Dragons) to work.
Black Leaders
A one-color Leader gives up the second color's cards, and most get an extra Life for it: a typical one-color Leader has 5 Life where a typical two-color Leader has 4. Cards that check for a multicolored Leader do nothing extra here. These are the Black Leaders legal in Standard as of November 2026, with what each one asks of the deck.
Monkey.D.Luffy
OP17-079
Your Characters costing 12 or more gain [Blocker]
Yamato
OP16-079
Land of Wano Characters played from trash gain [Rush]
Crocodile
OP14-079
Your effects can't remove opposing Characters; K.O. a Baroque Works Character for −10 cost
Imu
OP13-079
No Events costing 2 or more; starts with a Mary Geoise Stage
Marshall.D.Teach
OP09-081
Negates your [On Play] effects; trash 1 to negate your opponent's
Rob Lucci
OP07-079
Trashes 2 from your deck for −1 cost when attacking
Gecko Moria
OP06-080
Plays a Thriller Bark Pirates Character from trash when attacking
Monkey.D.Luffy
ST14-001
+1 cost to all your Characters
Rotated out of Standard with block 1 on April 1, 2026, and still playable in casual games: Rob Lucci (OP03-076), Smoker (OP02-093), Sakazuki (ST06-001), Monkey.D.Luffy (ST08-001).
How Leaders work, and the ones that change deckbuilding rules, is in One Piece Leader cards. Every printing of every Leader, by character, is in One Piece Leaders.
Cards Worth Knowing
These show what Black cards do; they are examples from Standard-legal sets, not a list of the best cards.
Where to Start
The fastest start is a one-color Black starter deck: ST-14 3D2Y (Standard legal, difficulty 2 out of 5); ST-27 BLACK Marshall.D.Teach (Standard legal, difficulty 4 out of 5). Each guide covers the deck as sold and the upgrades worth buying first.
Older Black boxes whose Leader has rotated out of Standard: ST-06 Absolute Justice, ST-08 Monkey D. Luffy, ST-19 Black Smoker. They still work for casual games and as a source of cards.
To build one, pick the Leader first and fill the 50 cards in Black; the steps are in how to build a One Piece deck. TurnZero HQ's One Piece Deck Lab flags any card that doesn't share a color with your Leader, and decks players have published are at One Piece decks, searchable by deck name or by a card in the deck.
Black in Two-Color Decks
A two-color Leader adds a second color's cards to Black's. All five Black pairs have at least one Leader as of October 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Black remove Characters in the One Piece TCG?
Mostly by cost. Black effects lower an opposing Character's cost and then K.O. a Character at or below a cost, so the two together can remove a Character of any size. A Character brought down to cost 0 is in range of almost every Black K.O. effect.
What are the Black Leaders in the One Piece TCG?
As of November 2026, 8 one-color Black Leaders are legal in Standard: Monkey.D.Luffy (OP17-079), Yamato (OP16-079), Crocodile (OP14-079), Imu (OP13-079), Marshall.D.Teach (OP09-081), Rob Lucci (OP07-079), Gecko Moria (OP06-080) and Monkey.D.Luffy (ST14-001). Rob Lucci (OP03-076), Smoker (OP02-093), Sakazuki (ST06-001) and Monkey.D.Luffy (ST08-001) rotated out with block 1 on April 1, 2026.
Is there a Black starter deck in the One Piece TCG?
Yes. The one-color Black starter decks still playable in Standard are ST-14 3D2Y (difficulty 2 out of 5, Standard legal) and ST-27 BLACK Marshall.D.Teach (difficulty 4 out of 5, Standard legal). Our starter deck guide rates each one for strength as well as difficulty, with the upgrades worth buying first.
Build your Black deck.
Pick a Leader, build a deck in its color and check it against the rules, then keep score at the table. Free on iPhone, Android and the web.
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