Like clockwork, it is September 2024, and time for a new installment of the One Piece Trading Card Game to hit the tabletop scene. This latest set, "Two Legends," is the eighth in the series, with box art featuring Whitebeard and the first mate of the Roger Pirates, Rayleigh. Unlike most regular OPTCG sets, which usually introduce five new leaders, this set includes six, with support for existing card types expanding into new colors.

Let's dive into it!

Marco

First, we have one of the few surviving members of the Whitebeard Pirates, Marco.

Marco is a dual-color leader with the regular stat line of 5000 power and 4 life. His ability reads: "[DON!! x1] [Activate: Main] [Once Per Turn] Draw 1 card and place 1 card from your hand at the top or bottom of your deck. Then, give up to 1 of your opponent's Characters -2000 power during this turn." Marco is essentially a red-tinted version of Sakazuki. That said, Marco promotes card advantage while also weakening or potentially removing enemy threats. He introduces a new wave of Whitebeard Pirate characters, not only in red but also in BLUE! This is the first time we've seen Whitebeard Pirates in this color, and there are some notable contenders, such as Namule, Portgas D. Ace, and Edward Newgate.

In summary, Namule is a blocker with "[Blocker] (After your opponent declares an attack, you may rest this card to make it the new target of the attack.) [On Play] Draw 2 cards and place 2 cards from your hand at the top or bottom of your deck in any order." This ability allows you to manipulate the top of your deck and provides a blocker and card draw. Portgas D. Ace is a midrange threat with 6000 power that allows you to play a Whitebeard Pirate character with a cost of 4 or less from the top of your deck without paying any DON!! for it. Edward Newgate, on the other hand, is a 10-cost, 12000-power character with a powerful effect akin to Propaganda from Magic: The Gathering.

On Play, if you have 2 or less life, none of your opponent's characters can attack you until the end of their next turn unless they discard 2 cards each time they attack. A huge character with built-in protection? Yes, please.

Tony Tony Chopper

Next up is none other than the furry doctor, Tony Tony Chopper.

Chopper is a red/green leader with standard stats of 5000 power and 4 life. Unlike Marco, Chopper provides support for previously unsupported card types. His ability reads: "[Activate: Main] [Once Per Turn] Give up to 3 of your {Animal} or {Drum Kingdom} type Characters up to 1 rested DON!! card each." The closest leader ability we've seen to this is Belo Betty's, though Betty gives additional power rather than attaching rested DON!!. Chopper not only promotes the Animal card type but also introduces the Drum Island theme to the One Piece TCG. While there have been many Animal cards in OPTCG's history, Drum Island hasn't been fleshed out much. Some notable Drum Island characters include Dalton, Tony Tony Chopper (Character), and Robson.

Chopper fits the mold of many red/green leaders who encourage aggressive play but with a focus on specific card types.

King

Continuing our journey, we have another winged leader bringing a familiar card type into new colors: King!

King is a purple/black leader with standard stats of 5000 power and 4 life. His ability reads: "[Activate: Main] [Once Per Turn] DON!! -2 (You may return the specified number of DON!! cards from your field to your DON!! deck.): Choose one: If you have 5 or fewer cards in your hand, draw 1 card.

Give up to 1 of your opponent's Characters -2 cost during this turn." We've seen Animal Kingdom Pirates before in purple (and some in blue), but what's new here is the inclusion of this type within black. King offers versatility, with support from cards like Onigashima, King, and Kaido from Starter Deck 4.

Purple typically focuses on DON!! manipulation and big creatures, and this King leader adds a cost reduction element. Beyond that, King provides card draw when you're low on resources. Set 8 introduces more support in the form of Jack, Who's-Who, Queen, and Kaido.

Jack offers card draw while forcing opponents to reduce their hand size.

Kaido removes a 7-cost or less character and reduces the opponent's hand size at the cost of one of your cards. Queen searches for Animal Kingdom cards in black. Who's-Who has a +2000 counter and a removal On Play effect.

Charlotte Pudding

Halfway through the six leaders, we have Charlotte Pudding.

Charlotte Pudding supports the Big Mom Pirates in purple. Her ability reads: "[When Attacking] You may turn two cards from the top of your Life cards face-up: Add up to 1 DON!! card from your DON!! deck and rest it." This ability has the community excited, as it activates on attack without any DON!! cost. By turn two, you could have half of your DON!! already on the field. Key characters for this leader include Charlotte Linlin and Charlotte Pudding.

Charlotte Linlin (9-cost, 9000 power) adds life cards and moves one of your opponent's characters to their life. Charlotte Pudding (3-cost, 4000 power) allows you to ramp DON!! even further.

Carrot

Moving on to the mono-colored leaders, we have Carrot, ally to the Straw Hats.

Carrot is a green leader with standard stats of 5000 power and 5 life. Her ability reads: "[Activate: Main] [Once Per Turn] If you have a {Minks} type Character, rest up to 1 of your opponent's Characters with a cost of 5 or less." This ability, while limited, is useful for resting blockers or valuable opposing characters. Key targets include:

Besides the fact that these characters of course cost 5 or less, the majority of these characters are Blockers. When able, eliminate blockers before they are utilized to minimize damage on your opponent. This leader provides the most opportunity to do so by swinging in with your bigger power characters into your opposing blockers or just characters with valuable effects tied to them that trigger outside of an "on play" ability.

While we have had Mink card type printed before in small portions in previous sets, EVERY green character in Two Legends holds the "minks" card type. Some powerful green minks to include in your Carrot deck are Carrot (Character), Inurashi, Pedro and Nekomamushi.

To summarize, Carrot stops you being attacked by opposing characters with a cost of 7 or less ON PLAY AND ON ATTACK by keeping them rested. Inurashi, much like Carrot character, has an On Play that keeps two of your opponent's characters with a cost of 5 or less from becoming active during your opponent's turn. Pedro has a lot going on with him outside of just being a blocker; Pedro also has a versatile ability of "[On K.O.] Choose one:

• Rest up to 1 of your opponent's DON!! cards.
• K.O. up to 1 of your opponent's rested Characters with a cost of 6 or less.". Lastly, Nekomamushi is a larger body character with a conditional rush that can easily be triggered as long as your opponent has seven or more rested CARDS. Not seven or more CHARACTERS rested, not seven or more DON!! rested; seven or more CARDS.

Kalgara

Let's wrap up this review by reaching for the sky in our last leader, and the only other mono-colored leader in this set, Kalgara.

Kalgara, like the other leaders in this set, has 5000 power and 5 life. His ability reads: "[DON!! x1] [When Attacking] Play up to 1 {Shandian Warrior} type Character card from your hand with a cost equal to or less than the number of DON!! cards on your field. If you do, add 1 card from the top of your Life cards to your hand." All right, admittingly this leader does have a striking resemblance to one of our beloved fish-man leader's, Arlong from Set 3 Pillars of Strength.

Unlike Arlong, this leader decided to stay within the Yellow color instead of dipping into another. Kalgara alone allows us to cheat out Characters within the Shandian Warrior character type while also rewarding your efforts by adding a card to your hand from your life cards; a high risk high reward approach after playing a character without utilizing any of your DON!! on the field. The ability to be able to reserve DON!! And still play characters from our hands can be VERY resourceful. This allows us to hold up Counters such as Burn Bazooka, El Thor, and "The Earth Will Not Lose!" when it comes time for your opponent to swing into you. You could even go as far as during your turn, swing in with Kalgara, cheat out Wyper with leader ability, search into an upper yard, grab a sky island character and then put out Enel for quick rush damage toward your opponent.

Those are quiet the addition to the One Piece Trading Card Game! Until the seas do us part fellow Seafarers!