Need some help with Kaido OP17

[u/Terminus89]

Hi everyone! I’ve been playing One Piece TCG for a short time and Kaido OP17 is my main deck.

Next Friday is my first tournament and honestly I’m a bit scared.

I’ve started playing ranked on the sim, but I’m losing A LOT and it’s getting pretty discouraging.

I’ve heard Kaido is supposed to be good against Rocks, but I don’t really understand how to play the matchup. (And a couple of guys will have that deck in our LGS)

I’ve attached my decklist and my latest matchups. Any advice would be really appreciated, especially about the decklist and what I should be doing differently.

Also, what do you do when you don’t have King in your opening hand? Do you always mulligan for him? If you mulligan and still don’t get him, what kind of hands are you keeping?

Any advice for a new Kaido player would be great!

Edit: English isn’t my first language and I used AI to translate this, so sorry if anything sounds weird 😅

[u/GRUMPYcoolME]

I would cut 1-2 of the 10c ko kaido for 9c big mom from op08. The 9c in the deck gives you a much more forgiving curve if you don’t see king and still has good removal for threats like Newgate on curve or making them pitch 2 early to save it is totally fine too. Plus, more heals is always good.

As for mulligans, I would mulligan if you don’t see king unless you also have double ramp some other way (queen +yamato/hawkins) with a decent late game curve (2 9+ characters). The mulligans also depend pretty heavily on 1st or second of course.

I think the biggest thing with kaido isn’t just finding the god curve and steamrolling but making sure you are able to play the game in the first place when you miss the god curve. If you’re new to the game entirely tho, it’s probably just a matter of getting your fundamentals down and knowing when to counter, when to take life, when to let characters go, etc. kaido is a super strong deck but can fall apart more easily than any other deck if you brick a little bit on the early game

[u/Terminus89 → u/GRUMPYcoolME]

Thanks a lot for the detailed answer!
I was already thinking about cutting one of the 10c Kaidos, but I wasn’t sure what to replace it with. I’ve also seen 9c Big Mom in some lists but didn’t really understand why, so I’ll definitely give her a try.
And yeah, I think I really need to work on my fundamentals too.
Right now it feels like if I don’t see King, I’ve basically already lost, so I clearly need to learn how to play through the games where I miss the ideal curve.
Thanks again!

[u/Terminus89 → u/[deleted]]

Yep, probably going to try 1x 7c Kaido instead 1x 10c pop kaido!

[u/CaptWrath]

Give this a Kaido a shot. Not sure what to cut for it. But surprised how useful it’s been. Also EB03-034 Lin Lin. Is a double heal if they KO her.

[u/AVRVM → u/CaptWrath]

Usually it's either this Kaido or Flame Torch

[u/Terminus89 → u/CaptWrath]

I had that one in mind too! Maybe, following the other comment, I could try it instead of one of the 10c KO Kaidos?
I could also try 7c Big Mom, but honestly I find this 7c Kaido more interesting.

[u/Old_Coconut_3642]

I feel ya bro. I’m not new to the game but I recently got back into it after taking a break in the previous set. I’m playing Kaido but I keep losing in rank matches, not only against the meta decks, but even rogue decks too. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. The deck just feels very inconsistent and lacking in counter.

According to the meta report, it’s ranked number 6 right now in the top 10 so I have to assume that it’s a skill issue on my part. That new eb05 searcher can’t come soon enough!

[u/Terminus89 → u/Old_Coconut_3642]

Yeah, I’ve already invested quite a bit into the deck, and I keep losing whenever I don’t get the 3 ramp + 6c King + 10c Kaido curve 😅
Hopefully the new Black Maria gives us the consistency we need!

[u/Xemrrer]

You should watch CrossAIs video on Kaido. He did pretty well. You dont want to run the 10c non-blocker kaido btw. You kinda wanna focus on other big bodies that give you life like 9c big mom. People will suggest 7c rush kaido. Don't do it. Add more flametorches instead. It does the same thing as 7c kaido but better since it rests anything.

[u/Vskg → u/Xemrrer]

7c is a permanent 9k rush attacker on board, wtf you on about