How to Play One Piece Card Game Rules for Rulebook Haters

I hate rulebooks! This condensed How to Play One Piece Trading Card Game rules help players get the essential instructions without having to trawl rulebooks.

The One Piece Trading Card Game overview page introduces you to the game through a summary of the gameplay and videos shared by other gamers.

One Piece Card Information

Leader Cards

Character Cards

Don!! Cards

• DON!! cards are used to pay the cost of using a card.
• You can attach DON!! cards to Character and Leader cards.
• Attached DON!! cards give Character and Leader cards 1000 power during your turn per DON!! card attached.

Playing Area

1. Character area: Where your Character cards are placed.
2. Leader area: Where your single Leader card is placed face-up from the start of the game.
3. Stage area: Where your Stage cards are placed (maximum of 1 card).
4. Deck: Where your deck is placed.
5. Trash: Where K.O.’d Character cards and activated Event cards are placed.
6. Cost area: Where DON!! cards from your DON!! deck are placed.
7. DON!! deck: Where your DON!! deck is placed.
8. Life: Where cards equal to the Life value of your Leader are placed face-down.

• When your Leader takes damage, the number of cards in your Life area decreases.
• If your Leader takes damage with 0 cards in your Life area, you lose the game.
• The Leader area, Character area, Stage area, and Cost area are collectively referred to as “the field.”

Game Setup

1. Shuffle your deck and place it in the designated area.
2. Place your Leader card face-up in the Leader area.
3. Decide who goes first with Rock-Paper-Scissors. The winner chooses to go first or second.
4. Draw 5 cards from your deck.
5. Each player may return all cards in their hand to their deck, reshuffle, and redraw 5 cards. This can only be done once per player.
6. The player going first decides whether to do this first.
7. Draw cards equal to your Leader’s Life value from the top of your deck one at a time. Place them face-down in your Life area without looking at their contents.
8. Place the top card of your deck at the bottom of your Life area.
9. The player going first starts their turn, and the game begins.

Active and Rested States

• Character and Stage cards are played upright in an active state.
• After actions like attacking or blocking, they are rotated sideways to show a rested state.
• Returning a rested card to an active state is called setting it as active.
• Changing an active card to a rested state is called resting it.

Paying Costs

• To play a Character or Stage card, or activate an Event card, pay its cost by resting the specified number of active DON!! cards in your cost area.

Gameplay

Gameplay proceeds based on the following flow:

• Refresh Phase
  • Set all of your rested cards as active.
  • Return all DON!! cards attached to cards to your cost area in an active state.
• Draw Phase
  • Draw 1 card from your deck and add it to your hand.
  • (The player going first does not draw a card on their first turn.)
• Don!! Phase
  • Place 2 DON!! cards from your DON!! deck in your cost area and set them as active.
  • If you have only 1 card in your DON!! deck, place 1 DON!! card in your cost area and set it as active.
  • The player going first can only place 1 DON!! card in their cost area and set it as active on their first turn.
• Main Phase
  • Perform actions A to D in any order and as many times as possible:
    • A. Play Cards
      • Play Character Cards
      • Play Stage Cards
      • Activate Event Cards
    • B. Activate Card Effects
    • C. Give DON!! Cards
    • D. Battle
    • The game proceeds to the End Phase when you declare the end of your Main Phase.
• End Phase
  • “End of Your Turn” and similar effects activate and are resolved.
  • Then, your turn ends and it becomes your opponentʼ s turn.

Main Phase

Play Cards

Play Character Cards

• Place a Character card from your hand in your Character area and set it as active.
• Pay the cost of the Character card.
• The Character is now played in your Character area.
• If you have 5 Characters on your field and want to play a new Character, trash one of the existing Characters.

Play Stage Cards

• Place a Stage card from your hand in your Stage area and set it as active.
• Pay the cost of the Stage card.
• The Stage is now played in your Stage area.
• If you have a Stage card on your field and want to play a new Stage card, trash the existing Stage card.

Activate Event Cards

• Reveal the Event card you wish to activate from your hand.
• Pay the activation cost to activate the Event card’s Main effect.
• Place the Event card in your trash after activation.

Activate Card Effects

Players can activate the effects of Leader, Character, Event, and Stage cards.

Give DON!! Cards

• Give 1 active DON!! card from your cost area to a Leader or Character card by placing it under that card, keeping it visible. This is called “giving” a DON!! card.
• eader and Character cards gain 1000 power during your turn for each DON!! card attached to them.
• There is no limit to the number of times you can give DON!! cards, as long as you have DON!! cards available.

Battle

• Attack Declaration
  • Leaders or Characters in the Character area can attack.
  • To attack, rest the active Leader or Character you want to attack with and declare your attack.
  • Choose your attack target: either your opponent’s Leader or a rested Character in their Character area.
  • Any effects or effects that activate when your Leader or Character attacks are triggered at this point.
• Block Step
  • The player being attacked can activate the effect of one of their Characters.
• Counter Step
  • The player being attacked may perform the following actions in any order and as many times as they like:
    • Activate a Character card’s [Counter] effect
      • Trash a Character card with [Counter] to activate an effect that increases the power of your Leader or one of your Characters by the value of the [Counter] for the duration of the battle.
    • Play an Event card
      • Trash an Event card with [Counter] from your hand to activate the effect.
• Damage Step
  • Compare the power of the attacking and defending cards:
    • The attacking card wins if its power is greater than or equal to the power of the card being attacked, leading to one of the following results:
      • When the opponent’s Leader is attacked:
        • The Leader takes 1 damage.
        • If the opponent’s Leader has 0 Life:
          • The attacking player wins the game.
      • When the opponent’s Character is attacked:
        • The Character is K.O.’d (trashed).
        • Proceed to End of the Battle.
    • If the attacking card’s power is less than the card being attacked:
      • The attacking card loses the battle, and nothing happens.
      • Proceed to End of the Battle.
  • Damage to Leaders:
    • When your Leader takes damage, check the top card of your Life cards without showing your opponent.
    • If the card has a [Trigger] effect, you may reveal the card and activate its [Trigger] effect instead of adding it to your hand.
      • You can also choose not to activate the [Trigger] effect. In this case, add the card to your hand without revealing it.
    • If your Leader takes 2 or more damage due to an effect, repeat the process for every 1 damage taken.
• End of Battle
  • Any effects that activate at the end of the battle can be activated at this point.
  • All effects specified as applying during this battle are canceled

End Phase

End Phase proceeds in the following order:

1. Activate and resolve any of your effects that trigger at the end of the turn.
2. Activate and resolve any of your opponent’s effects that trigger at the end of the turn.
3. Cancel any of your effects specified as “during this turn.”
4. Cancel any of your opponent’s effects specified as “during this turn.”