How to play the One Piece Card Game

The One Piece Card Game is a two-player trading card game from Bandai, based on the One Piece manga and anime. Each player picks a Leader card, brings a 50-card deck and a separate pile of 10 DON!! cards, and takes turns playing Characters and attacking. DON!! cards are your energy: they arrive automatically each turn, and you spend them to play cards and to power up your attacks.

To win, you wear down your opponent’s Life cards and then win one more battle against their Leader. You can also win if your opponent runs out of cards in their deck. A starter deck gives you everything you need for your first game, and many UK shops run regular events where you can learn.

Find shops near you on our One Piece Card Game page.

What you need to play

Each player needs three things:

• 1 Leader card. Your Leader sets the colours and direction of your deck, can attack and has its own effects. It starts on the table, so you never need to draw it. The number in the lower right is its Life value, which tells you how many Life cards you start with.
• A 50-card deck. Every card must match your Leader’s colour, and you can include up to four copies of any one card number.
• 10 DON!! cards. These form your DON!! deck, kept separate from your main deck.

The five card types

1. Leader: your main card, which stays on the table all game.
2. DON!!: used to pay costs, or given to your Leader and Characters to boost their power.
3. Character: played from your hand by paying DON!!. Characters have power and effects, and can attack.
4. Event: one-off effects paid for with DON!!. Some can be used during your opponent’s attack.
5. Stage: cards with ongoing effects that support your side. You can only have one Stage out at a time.

The play area

Your side of the table has set places for your Leader, up to five Characters, one Stage, your deck, your trash (for K.O.‘d Characters and used cards), your cost area (where your usable DON!! sits), your DON!! deck and your Life cards. The official site has a free printable playsheet with these zones marked, which makes your first games easier to follow.

Setting up a game

1. Shuffle your deck. Place your Leader face up, then put your deck and DON!! deck in their zones.
2. Play rock, paper, scissors. The winner chooses whether to go first or second.
3. Draw 5 cards. You may mulligan once, meaning you redraw a fresh hand if you prefer.
4. Take cards from the top of your deck equal to your Leader’s Life value and place them face down as your Life cards.
5. The first player begins.

How a turn works

Every turn has five phases, always in the same order.

1. Refresh Phase: turn all your rested cards back to active, and return any DON!! you gave to your Leader or Characters to your cost area.
2. Draw Phase: draw 1 card.
3. DON!! Phase: move 2 cards from your DON!! deck into your cost area. On the very first turn of the game, the first player only takes 1.
4. Main Phase: play cards and attack with your Leader or Characters.
5. End Phase: your turn ends and your opponent takes theirs.

You can have up to 10 DON!! in play, so your options grow each turn.

Playing cards and powering up

In your Main Phase you pay for Characters, Events and Stages using the DON!! in your cost area. You can also give DON!! to your Leader or a Character, and each one adds 1000 power during your turn. Those cards come back to your cost area in your next Refresh Phase, so you get to use them again.

Attacking and defending

Neither player can attack on their first turn. After that, you attack by resting (turning sideways) your Leader or an active Character, then choosing your opponent’s Leader or one of their rested Characters as the target. If the attacker’s power is equal to or higher than the target’s, the attack succeeds: a Character is K.O.‘d, and a Leader takes damage. When you are the one being attacked, you have options:

• Blockers: a Character with [Blocker] can be rested to take the attack instead of the original target.
• Counters: many cards show a Counter value (such as +1000). You can trash them from your hand to add that power to the defending card for this battle, or play Counter Events, which cost DON!!.
• Life cards: each time an attack on your Leader lands, you lose a Life card, and that card goes into your hand. Taking damage hurts, but it also gives you more cards to fight back with.
• Triggers: when a Life card with [Trigger] is revealed as you take damage, you can use its effect instead of adding it to your hand, which can turn a game around.

Two other keywords you will meet early are [Rush], which lets a Character attack on the turn it is played, and [Double Attack], which deals 2 damage to a Leader instead of 1.

Winning

There are two ways to win:

• Win a battle against your opponent’s Leader when they have 0 Life cards left.
• Your opponent has no cards left in their deck.

The official Rule Manual, Comprehensive Rules and FAQ are all on the official rules page, and the Teaching App walks you through a game step by step using a starter deck.

Choosing your first deck

A standard starter deck comes with a ready-built 50-card deck, a Leader card, 10 DON!! cards and three basic rules cards, so you can play straight out of the box. UK shops sell most of the newest decks for around £17. The newest wave, released on 31 July 2026 according to the official site, has six decks:

Other recent official decks include Starter Deck EX Luffy & Ace (ST-30), Starter Deck Egghead (ST-29) and the Set Sail Deck Set (SD-01). The best first deck is simply the one with a Leader you enjoy.

Adding booster packs

Booster packs add random cards so you can customise your deck. The Time of Battle (OP-16) arrived in June 2026, and OP-17 followed in August 2026 as the first set released at the same time worldwide. New booster cards become legal for tournaments 7 days after release in your region, and at your local shop’s events they are legal from its pre-release date.

Playing in the UK

Official events run through the Bandai TCG+ app. It shows nearby shops and their events, you register for events in the app, and on the day you check in through it. Create a free account before your first event. Across the One Piece events we list, most start between 6pm and 6.30pm and charge around £5 to £10, so check the shop’s listing.

The events you are likely to meet:

• Beginner events: relaxed shop events for newer players, such as the Beginner Pirates Party series.
• Store Tournaments: casual shop events, with kits refreshed roughly every three months alongside main booster releases.
• Pre-Release Tournaments: a chance to play new cards early. Our prerelease guide explains how prereleases work in other games.
• Treasure Cups: a year-round official tournament held at shops.
• Store Championships: held at selected shops in North America and Europe.
• Regionals and Finals: the competitive path towards the World Championship in Japan. Regionals Season 2 runs from August 2026, with the Season 2 Finals planned for January 2027.

Most of these use the Standard regulation, which the event page will confirm. There is also an Official Shop in the UK that runs a Welcome Event for beginners, with a Welcome Pack as a participation prize and no TCG+ application needed. Bandai has also announced BANDAI CARD GAMES Fest 26-27 in London for 15 to 17 January 2027.

Asmodee UK is listed as an official distributor for the United Kingdom, and local game shops are the easiest place to buy starter decks and boosters. Some good places to look are Manchester, Newcastle and London, and the Manchester events calendar shows what is on each week.

Your first night checklist

• Pick up a starter deck and play a practice game at home, or try the Teaching App.
• Create a Bandai TCG+ account and register for the event.
• Charge your phone so you can check in.
• Bring your deck, card sleeves and a deck box. A playmat is optional.
• Use genuine cards only, as photocopies are not allowed at official events.
• Arrive a little early and tell the organiser it is your first event.
• If you are unsure about a rule during a game, raise your hand straight away and ask the staff.
• Shuffle well, talk through your plays and enjoy it. Everyone at the table was new once.

If you also play Pokémon, our guide on how to play the Pokémon TCG shows how the two games compare.

Common questions

How many cards are in a One Piece Card Game deck?

You need one Leader card, a main deck of exactly 50 cards and a separate DON!! deck of 10 cards. Your 50 cards must match your Leader's colour, with no more than four copies of any card number.

What are DON!! cards used for?

DON!! cards are your resource, and they arrive automatically every turn. You spend them to play Characters, Events and Stages, or give them to your Leader and Characters to raise their power for a battle.

How do Counters work in the One Piece Card Game?

When you are attacked, you can trash cards with a Counter value from your hand to add power to the defending card for that battle, or play Counter Events, which cost DON!!. Keeping some DON!! back at the end of your turn gives you more ways to defend.

How do you win the One Piece Card Game?

You win if you win a battle against your opponent's Leader while they have no Life cards left. You also win if your opponent has no cards left in their deck.

Which One Piece starter deck is best for a beginner?

Any official starter deck is a complete, ready-to-play deck, so the best choice is a Leader you like the look of. The six single-Leader decks released in July 2026 (ST-31 to ST-36) each show off a different colour's style of play.

How do I find One Piece Card Game tournaments in the UK?

Official events are listed in the Bandai TCG+ app, where you can find nearby shops, register for events and check in on the day. Our city pages also list shops that run regular One Piece nights.