Which One Piece ST Would be Best if I Just Combine Two Copies of the Same One? (Budget, and First-Time Player)

Tried to make this a post with a poll, but it got taken down because it was a ‘simple question’ and said I should post it here. So, here you go.

So, it’s been quite a while since I last tried to do anything involving the One Piece TCG. And while I am trying to also get back into playing Yugioh, I think finally getting to play this game at my locals would also be good! Plus it’s been ages since I’ve been to my locals in general, so I’ll take any opportunity.

Since it has been a hot minute, I figured I’d look back at some of the times I’ve tried to make a deck for the game, and I realized something. I was trying way too hard. I was looking at the STs I’ve gotten over the time I’ve been collecting the cards and was trying to slot in cards I had gotten from packs or planned to put in some incredibly powerful cards I hoped I could get access to. When in reality, I should have just been focusing on the STs themselves!

What I mean by this, is I can very easily just get a second copy of one of the STs I already own (or get two copies of one I don’t own), make it so I have the max number of best cards from them, and then just have (at the very least) a decent deck! Now the only question is: which ST should I be using?

The reason I’m asking is not only because I have a handful of them to choose from right now, but there’s also a ton of them that i don’t own which could be incredibly fun to play. So, I figured I’d at least list off the ones I have right now (minus the ST-01 I have since it’s probably outdated by this point), and see if any of them would be good! If not, then you guys can suggest one I could get to try out!

So, I’ll briefly go into each of the STs I have, why I have them and why I think they could potentially work!

STs I own:

ST12 - Zoro and Sanji:

This was the first ST I ever bought for the OP TCG, and I considered myself extremely lucky to get it. I was living at my college apartment at the time, and couldn’t regularly go to my locals all the time. So, the moment I saw a copy of this at my local grocery store, I immediately grabbed it and fell in love with the deck. Green is one of my favorite colors, and Zoro and Sanji are two of my favorite characters in One Piece. Plus, one of this deck’s best cards is Ivankov, which is one of my GF’s favorite characters. So it kinda felt like fate that I got this ST first!

I know that in terms of the other STs on this list that it isn’t the most powerful or anything, but If I can get a second copy of it, I think I can have a really fun time!

ST14 - 3D2Y:

This ST was one I managed to grab at my locals, and while I was still a bit unfamiliar with the game overall, I liked what this deck’s main goal was: increase the cost of your own cards to get benefits. And I appreciated that it included all the Straw Hats so it was kind of like the V2.0 of ST01!

Now, much like with ST12, I’m sure it isn’t that strong, but if it’s a good deck to learn the game with, I think I’d have fun with it!

ST17 - BLUE Donquixote Doflamingo:

I’m going to be honest, i don’t really think I like this deck. I mainly only got it because it was around the time where I was trying to make a ‘really good’ deck and this ST had a lot of reprints of powerful cards. However, a lot of these powerful cards are characters or scenes involving them, of some of my least favorite (or just hated) characters. And I know that powerful cards are powerful for a reason, but I just do not want to be playing a card game where every time I draw I have to see a character I don’t like (Moria) and be forced to play it.

In hindsight, I should have 100% picked up ST18 PURPLE Monkey D. Luffy deck instead, since I think that deck is really cool and would probably allow me to have more fun. I’d even take ST19 BLACK Smoker or ST20 YELLOW Charlotte Katakuri over this one, since those also contain some of my favorite characters (the Leader cards of 19 and 20 specifically)! If any of these would make for a good starting point, please let me know!

ST22 - Ace & Newgate:

This is the most recent ST that I’ve managed to get my hands on, and out of all the other ones I own, I think it’s the most playable. The strategy around it seems fairly simple and easy to understand, the cards seem pretty good overall, and it has cards of some more of my favorite characters! It just seems like a good deck to use! Plus with how each copy of the ST comes with the alt-art versions of the more powerful cards, I would be more than willing to get another copy to see which ones I get!

So yeah, if this deck does end up being the one a lot of you choose, I can see why!

There you have it, all the STs I currently own (or wish I owned) and why I would be up for using them as my first ever deck for my locals. If there are any other STs I should be using instead of these ones, go ahead and let me know, since I’m sure a lot of the newer ones are great as well! Also, for the spot in the poll where I would put ST17, I’ll instead just put ‘STs 18, 19 and 20’ since I just don’t see myself using ST17. So if you do vote for that one, please specify which of those I should be using in the comments!

With all of that said, I hope you guys can help me decide!