One Piece TCG: Trafalgar Law Blue Control Full Guide
Trafalgar Law is the most intellectually demanding leader in One Piece TCG. While Luffy simply asks "how do I deal damage?" Law asks a more complex question every turn: "Which of my opponent's cards is the most dangerous, and how do I return it to their hand at exactly the right moment?"
This guide is for players who've understood the basics of Law and want to optimise their piloting.
Law's Core Mechanic
Leader ability: Once per turn, pay 1 DON!! → Choose 1 of your opponent's characters. Return it to its owner's hand.
This is one of the most powerful leader abilities ever printed. The reason: there's no power restriction. A 9000-power Kaido or a 1000-power support piece both go back equally. The only cost is 1 DON!! and a once-per-turn limitation.
The Room effect shapes every game where Law is on either side of the table. Your opponent knows it exists and will play around it. Often, this means they hold cards in hand instead of deploying them — which is a win even when you don't activate it.
The "Open DON!!" Principle
The most important strategic concept for Law pilots is open DON!!: maintaining at least 1–2 unspent DON!! in your active pool at the end of your turn.
Why: Law's Room ability, like many Blue effects, functions at instant speed — you can use it at various points. If you have 0 DON!! at the end of your main phase, your opponent knows Room cannot fire. They can safely deploy their best character.
If you have 1 DON!! open, every deployment your opponent makes is uncertain. Will you fire Room? They don't know. This uncertainty is worth more than whatever you'd have spent that DON!! on.
Rule: In most game states, don't spend your last DON!!. One open DON!! is always worth having.
Card Selection
Characters
Trafalgar Law (character, OP-01) — 4-of The Law character has the same Return effect as his leader ability — a second copy essentially. This is the most important character in the deck. Two Law effects per turn (leader + character) is overwhelming.
Bepo — 3-of Law's loyal crew member. Low cost, Blocker, and a synergy effect that generates value when Law is your leader. The baseline defensive wall.
Jean Bart — 2-of High-cost, high-power finisher with On Play draw. When Room has controlled the board, Jean Bart closes.
Penguin and Shachi — 3-of each 1-cost Heart Pirates with efficient bodies. Flooding the board with low-cost Blockers is Blue Law's defensive strategy while Room controls threats.
Events
Shambles — 4-of The event version of Room. 2 DON!! to return a character with 5 cost or less. This supplements your leader ability, giving you 2 forced returns per turn at full capacity.
Counter Battle — 4-of 2000 Counter value event. Essential defensive tool. No Blue deck should run fewer than 4.
Radio Knife — 2-of Niche DON!! manipulation — returns an opponent's attached DON!! to their active pool and gives you a DON!!. Situational but punishing in the right moments.
Sequencing: The Three-Part Room Turn
An optimal Law turn has three distinct phases:
Phase 1: Identify the threat Before doing anything, scan your opponent's field. What's the most dangerous card? What card, if left in play, guarantees their win? That's your Room target.
Phase 2: Deploy Play your characters and events. Hold 1 DON!! minimum.
Phase 3: Room (if necessary) If your opponent has the dangerous card from Phase 1 still in play and you have DON!!, fire Room. Return it. Now they have to pay cost to redeploy next turn.
If they didn't play the dangerous card yet (it's still in hand), Room is less valuable. Don't fire it reactively — fire it at the right target.
Matchup Guide
vs. Red Luffy
Unfavoured 40–60
This is Law's hardest matchup. Luffy's speed is the problem. He can hit 4 life damage by turn 3 before you've set up your control structure. Room returning one Sanji doesn't stop the remaining attackers.
Adjustment: Run 4 Bepo Blockers and 8+ counter event cards. Survival is the priority. If you can stabilise past turn 4 with 3+ life remaining, Law typically wins the long game.
Key card: Any character with "prevents 2000 damage when blocking" — these are your survival tools.
vs. Kaido (Green/Purple)
Favoured 55–45
Room returns Kaido's large characters regardless of power. This is Law's best matchup. A 9000-power King returns to hand just like a 2000-power token. Keep returning his largest threats, and Kaido's high-cost curve runs out of resources.
Be aware of Yamato's DON!! generation — don't let Kaido reach 10 DON!! and activate his ability too early.
vs. Big Mom (Yellow)
Roughly even 50–50
Big Mom's life engine makes Room less impactful because returning characters doesn't prevent life gain from previous turns. Law needs to exert pressure (which is unusual for control) to beat Big Mom's life total before the engine overwhelms.
Adjust the build: include 2–3 characters with Rush for surprise aggression in this matchup.
vs. Mirror (Blue Law)
Decided by sequencing
Both players have Room. Whoever fires Room at the worse target loses. The mirror is decided by:
- Who gets better DON!! economy (open DON!! more consistently)
- Who correctly identifies the "must-answer" target more often
Advanced Technique: The Fake Room
Since opponents play around Room when you have 1+ open DON!!, you can sometimes "fake" Room by holding DON!! and then NOT firing it. Let your opponent play around a Room you have no intention of using — they'll redeploy at suboptimal timing, spend extra DON!! on protection, or hold cards in hand for too long.
Room's value doesn't come only from activation. It comes from the uncertainty it creates. Master using that uncertainty and you'll win games without firing a single Room.
Law is the most rewarding leader to master. When your Room fires at the perfect target on the perfect turn and your opponent's carefully constructed gameplan collapses, there's nothing like it.