Every One Piece Card Game turn runs through the same five phases: Refresh, Draw, DON!!, Main and End. Four of them take a few seconds. The Main Phase is where you play cards and attack, and it is the one worth learning to order well.
A One Piece TCG turn is the Refresh Phase, the Draw Phase, the DON!! Phase, the Main Phase and the End
Phase, always in that order. Only the player whose turn it is goes through them; the other player acts
only when an effect or a battle lets them. This page follows Bandai's Comprehensive Rules, version 1.2.1,
last updated August 28, 2026, and gives the rule number for each point so you can check it against a
later version.
PhaseWhat you doRule
1. RefreshTake back the DON!! you gave out, then stand all your rested cards back up.6-2
2. DrawDraw 1 card. The first player skips this on their first turn.6-3
3. DON!!Place 2 DON!! from your DON!! deck into your cost area (1 on the first player's first turn).6-4
4. MainPlay cards, use effects, give DON!! and attack, in any order.6-5
5. EndResolve end-of-turn effects, and the turn passes.6-6
Refresh Phase: get your cards back
The Refresh Phase resets your side of the table. First, effects that last "until the start of your next
turn" end, and effects that say "at the start of your turn" activate. Then every DON!! card you gave to
your Leader or a Character last turn goes back to your cost area. Finally, every rested card you control
(Leader, Characters, Stage and DON!!) is set active again, which means turned upright.
This is why attacking and paying costs are not permanent losses. A Character that attacked last turn and
the DON!! you spent are all ready again now. The one thing the Refresh Phase does not undo is damage: Life
cards your Leader lost stay lost, and K.O.'d Characters stay in the trash.
Draw Phase: one card
You draw 1 card from the top of your deck. The player going first skips this draw on their very first
turn (rule 6-3-1), which is part of how the game balances going first. Watch your deck size in long games:
a player whose deck reaches 0 cards loses, as covered in
how you win the One Piece TCG.
DON!! Phase: how many DON!! you get
You place 2 DON!! cards from your DON!! deck face up and active in your cost area. The first player places
only 1 on their first turn. When 1 card is left in the DON!! deck you place 1, and when it is empty you
place none (rules 6-4-1 to 6-4-3). Since every DON!! deck is 10 cards, the count follows a fixed schedule
unless a card adds or returns DON!!:
Your turn1st2nd3rd4th5th6th
DON!! if you go first1357910
DON!! if you go second24681010
That schedule is the game's mana curve. A 5-cost Character is something the first player can play on
their third turn at the earliest, and the second player on their third turn with 1 DON!! to spare. What
DON!! cards are and how the collectible versions differ is covered in
One Piece DON!! cards.
The Main Phase is where you make your decisions. First, effects that say "at the start of the Main Phase"
activate. Then you can take four kinds of action, in any order and as many times as you can afford (rule
6-5-2):
ActionHow it works
Play a cardRest active DON!! equal to the card's cost to play a Character or Stage, or to use an Event marked [Main]. Events go to the trash after they resolve.
Activate an effectUse an [Activate: Main] effect on your Leader, a Character or a Stage, paying whatever its text asks.
Give DON!!Move 1 active DON!! from your cost area under your Leader or a Character. Each one adds +1000 power during your turn.
BattleRest your Leader or an active Character to attack your opponent's Leader or one of their rested Characters.
A few limits apply. You can have at most 5 Characters and 1 Stage in play. If you play a sixth Character,
you trash one of your five first; if you play a new Stage, the old one is trashed (rules 3-7-6 and 3-8-5).
A Character you just played can't attack this turn unless it has [Rush], and neither player can battle on
their own first turn. How an attack plays out is the next lesson,
how battles work.
Giving DON!! is not spending it. The DON!! stays attached to the card through your opponent's turn and
comes back in your next Refresh Phase. The +1000 power only counts during your turn, though (rule 6-5-5-2),
so DON!! given to a Character does not help it defend.
End Phase: wrapping up
When you are done, you declare the end of your Main Phase and move to the End Phase. Your [End of Your
Turn] effects resolve first, then your opponent's [End of Your Opponent's Turn] effects. After that,
effects that lasted "until the end of the turn" or "during this turn" stop, and your opponent's turn begins
with their Refresh Phase. There is no hand size limit to discard down to.
Comprehensive Rules · 6-6-1-1
Auto effects that read "[End of Your Turn]" and "[End of Your Opponent's Turn]" are activated.
Most [End of Your Turn] effects set cards active again. Kikunojo stands itself back up after it attacks, so it
can still block on your opponent's turn, and Usopp sets 2 DON!! active, which can then pay for a [Counter]
Event while your opponent attacks.
Three rules only apply to the opening turns. The first player skips their draw and gets 1 DON!! instead of
2. Neither player can attack on their own first turn. Before either of those, at setup, each player draws 5
cards and may redraw once, putting all 5 back, shuffling and drawing 5 new ones; the player going first
decides first (rule 5-2-1-6). Then each player puts Life cards face down from the top of their deck, as
many as their Leader's Life value.
In practice, the first player's first turn is usually a 1-cost play or simply passing, and the second
player gets the first chance to attack. Going second also means being one card and one DON!! ahead of
where the first player was on the same turn. Which seat is better depends on your deck and your
opponent's, so there is no single right answer. The full setup is in how to play the One Piece Card Game.
The mulligan decision is easier to learn before a game than during one. TurnZero HQ's Deck Lab deals a sample
5-card hand from any One Piece deck you build: Draw takes the next card, and
Mulligan puts the hand back, shuffles and deals 5 new cards, so you can see what your
deck's opening hands look like and which ones you would keep.
A sample hand from a deliberately short demo deck in the Deck Lab. Mulligan redraws all 5 the way the game's one redraw does; the app lets you keep trying, so stop at one to practice the real decision. View full size
What order should you do things in during your Main Phase?
Because the four actions can happen in any order, the order is a skill. A sequence that works for most
turns, and the reason for each step:
Count your DON!! and decide what you want this turn: which cards to play and how much power each attack needs.
Play cards with [On Play] effects that rest, K.O. or weaken your opponent's Characters first, so a [Blocker] is gone before you attack.
Give DON!! to the attackers that need it to reach a target's power. Each DON!! you give is one you can't spend on a card, so give only what a specific attack needs.
Attack with your smaller attackers before your biggest one, so your opponent has to decide whether to spend Counter cards before the attack that matters most. A losing attacker is not K.O.'d; it just stays rested.
Spend any DON!! left over on a card that helps you defend next turn, such as a [Blocker] or a Character with a high Counter value kept in hand.
None of these steps is a rule, and a strong deck will often break them. A Leader whose effect needs DON!!
attached when it attacks, or a card that gets stronger with more cards in your trash, changes what comes
first.
Common turn mistakes
✕
Drawing on your first turn when you went first. You skip that draw and take only 1 DON!!.
✕
Forgetting the Refresh Phase returns given DON!! to your cost area rested, then sets it active with everything else. Both steps happen; you end up with all your DON!! active.
✕
Attacking with a Character played this turn. It needs [Rush], or [Rush: Character] to attack only Characters.
✕
Counting given DON!! as defense. The +1000 is for your turn only.
✕
Expecting [On K.O.] when you trash a Character to make room for a sixth. That is a rule, not a K.O.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the phases of a turn in the One Piece TCG?
There are five, always in this order: the Refresh Phase, the Draw Phase, the DON!! Phase, the Main Phase and the End Phase. You play cards, give DON!! and attack during the Main Phase; the other four phases mostly happen on their own.
Does the first player draw a card in the One Piece TCG?
No. The player going first skips the draw on their first turn and places only 1 DON!! card instead of 2. Every turn after that, both players draw 1 card and place 2 DON!!.
Can you attack on your first turn in the One Piece TCG?
No. Neither player can battle on their own first turn, so the player going second gets the first attack of the game. After that, a Character can't attack on the turn it is played unless it has [Rush].
How many DON!! do you get each turn?
2 per turn from your 10-card DON!! deck, except 1 on the first player's first turn. The first player reaches all 10 DON!! on their sixth turn and the second player on their fifth, unless a card adds DON!! sooner.
Does DON!! given to a Character stay on it during my opponent's turn?
Yes, it stays attached until your next Refresh Phase, but the +1000 power per DON!! only counts during your turn. On your opponent's turn the card defends at its printed power plus any other effects.
What happens if I have 5 Characters and want to play another?
You may still play it. Reveal the new card, trash one of your 5 Characters, then play the new one. That trash is a rule, not a K.O., so the trashed card's [On K.O.] effect does not activate.
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