Interview: Ikailakai - All Blue, UP Luffy guide, Western&Eastern,..

Player: iKailaKai

Favorite Leader: Red Purple Luffy


Favorite Character (in manga): Luffy

What Character needs a leader: More Luffy

Best One Piece Alt-Art: One Legged Soldier PRB01 AA

Socials: iKailaKai on Metafy Twitter Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/@ikailakai

https://x.com/ikailakai https://metafy.gg/@ikailakai

Hi Kai,

Thanks for your time and for doing this interview with me. Since the start of your channel, I’ve been watching your videos (really like them a lot). The real question is: why the videos in the forest/parks?

My home is really small. I see Youtubers with these really nice backgrounds with LEDs and showcases, but I can reach from one side of my room to the other. When I’m watching YouTube Shorts and I sense that the person I’m watching isn’t an established YouTuber due to the quality, I immediately go next. This may just be Shorts culture, but I was worried that the unprofessional nature of my videos in the beginning, making powerpoint slides and putting my face in the corner with my phone’s built-in mic, would turn off a lot of people. So I thought the best way to separate myself from that potential hurdle would be to give no one a point of comparison. I’ve never seen anyone talk about Card Games outside (until recently, it seems like it caught on for a few growing channels), so I thought that would be the best way to make the content visually engaging without needing constant visual engagement done from the background or editing.

"the T in TCG means tree"

Your videos are very popular in the West and a very big warm-up for the upcoming meta. Would you say they’re as popular in the East?

No one knows me in the East at all. I don’t advertise it either so I can just be normal at events. If I show people my channel they’re like ‘the fuck, you got Guanrong on your channel?’ and that’s about it.

What YouTube channels do you watch or recommend? Apart from yourself, of course!

Pyrocynical or any slop channel that I feel bad about watching and wasting time on afterwards.

Nah jk. I actually don’t watch much One Piece Card Game YouTube content. I wouldn’t be able to tell you why exactly without sounding offensive. There are really great people out there doing YouTube, but I usually either don’t trust the narrator’s knowledge, or I don’t find the way that the information is presented to be engaging. This is part of the reason why I started YouTube to begin with. I generally have the aforementioned ‘slop channels’ on in the background while I do other stuff because I don’t need to pay attention. YouTube is a waste of time but don’t tell YouTube I said that.

Channels that I do watch are Tea Faction（紅茶派閥) because it’s run by Natsume, a multi-time Japanese champion, and PurposefullyTCG since he falls into the category of sloptuber hahaha. Even with Tea Faction though I’ll just click through to get the general idea.

Recently, you released the All Blue podcast. Can you tell me more about it? And who suffers the most, time zone–wise, out of the three of you?

The All Blue is a Podcast made by Me, Hrvoje and Yonas with a concept of bringing the East, Europe, and NA together, hence the name, The All Blue, the centerpoint of all oceans. The trio started almost randomly. There was a 3v3 happening at Bandai Card Fest in Japan, and I wanted to seize the opportunity to team up with some of my international friends. Yonas barely missed out on worlds, but mentioned that he was coming, and Hrvoje also at some point mentioned he was coming and I thought it was perfect to grab people who missed out on Worlds and take them to an event happening alongside it. After Worlds finished, they announced the bans. Us 3, alongside some others that were in the area were chilling in a card shop and decided to talk about it. I think the reception on Youtube was luke-warm, but I enjoyed doing it, so I relaunched it officially as The All Blue, spending 10 hours making / rendering that 4 second intro with the coin spinning since it was my first time doing animation in Blender and my laptop at the time could not handle the extremely heavy file.

The reception on the first episode was again lukewarm, but from the 2nd onward, it really popped off.

Time zones are 7am for me, 3pm for Yonas, and Midnight for Hrvoje. I feel bad for Hrvoje since the podcast will go on for an hour minimum and I wouldn’t be able to do what he does.

@Ikailakai - @Railz0 - @YonasOPTCG - Mackenyu

What is your overall vision (video, meta, etc.) for the global Simulous release?

From a deckbuilding perspective for me personally, it doesn’t change much. I’ve already needed to cook my way through the new meta since Japan gets the cards first. What it means for YouTube though is that people may be more interested in the content as it’s about ‘now’ instead of ‘3 months from now.’ The biggest benefactors are people who can keep a close ear to all of the regions, absorbing as much data as possible. I did some diabolical things with 10Kaido in Sakazuki back in OP05 because I noticed it was popular in South East Asia.

I’m excited for simul-release though because it means I may finally have a testing group. I was ostracized from the testing group I used to be in in Japan back in OP03 for not being good enough at the game, and have been playing vs myself for a long time to improve. Going from no testing group, to being able to test and film with Yonas, Jackson, Hrvoje, and many more is a really exciting prospect.

Will the strongest region finally stand out?

I think the west will pass the East with simultaneous release. The East does not look to the West for ideas, but the West looks towards the East for ideas. I don’t think that will change significantly with simul-release, so I can see the West taking over by information advantage. I hope to help with that haha

Before my last regional, I considered bringing UP Luffy and decided to buy your guide — a 4+ hour guide with all the knowledge I would need! What inspired you to create a guide specifically for this leader?

I used to write many articles, it’s actually how I started making content almost 2 years before I started uploading to YouTube. At that time though I still had lots of time as a University Student. My first articles were free simply because the website I was using, note.com, didn’t have a way to accept foreign credit cards back then. As such, it would gate people out of the content for wanting to support me. I made it free, hoping that writing those articles would some day get me closer to finding a way to monetize my content since I was under a lot of pressure from my mom to quit playing card games. Some people made donations, which was really kind. I made a full $7 over the course of a few months of writing articles back then.

Since then things have changed though. YouTube went much better than expected so I had an audience that was looking forward to what I had to say. Referring back to your other question, I wanted to be a trustworthy source of knowledge for the game that I thought that especially English YouTube lacked.

I spent a lot of time playing Red Purple Luffy, and when they showed UP Luffy I freaked out and posted a video within the same day talking about how I’ll play the deck no matter how strong it is… It just happened to be one of the strongest decks the game has seen. I usually bounce between a lot of decks, but OP11 was the first time I was playing the ‘best deck.’ Playing anything else felt like handicapping myself since I was really comfortable with the deck, being used to 6000 power 3 life leaders already.

With an audience who especially recently knew me for UP Luffy, and the fact that I had only played UP for 3 months up until that point, I decided to write the article, knowing it would likely take 20+ hours and be 1.5+ hours long. A majority of the article was written on my phone on the train to and from work.

The result was an article that took about 80-100 hours and is at this point about 5 hours long after some updates.

Despite my YouTube channel doing well, this was the first time that my mom finally accepted that what I am doing is worth the time, so it was significant to me beyond what people may know.

Who would benefit the most from this masterclass — beginners, seasoned players, or both?

I don’t like the word Masterclass, it’s just a fancy way of saying guide, a guise masking yapping as quality.The guide is designed to help beginners who have no concept of how and why things are strong in this game, so it definitely helps them the most. However, I tried my best to make it useful and beneficial to all players. I am confident that there is no one that will come out of that article not having learned something.

People would argue that the deck is ramp-ramp-boss monsters. Is it just that, or is it more?

People who call this deck easy are the same people who called BY Luffy easy. If you get your perfect curve, you’re always chilling. It’s simple. But knowing how to win when you don’t have your perfect curve is actually very difficult. Leaving cards on top because you know you’ll want them in 2 turns, bottoming cards knowing that you need to search for a certain card for an avenue into the game, the deck is challenging to master, but easy to pick up.

I don’t think I could write more than 3000 words on how to play Shanks, but I was able to write more than 37000 for UP Luffy.

Is this guide beneficial for Western players as well?

Tbh right now it’s only beneficial for Western players, I need to update it for OP12 but remembering the weeks I spent without being able to do anything in my free time except write articles has me hesitant to do the deep dive and add the extra hour+ of content that update will surely require. Still, I will update it though.

For now, let me enjoy Lies of P’s DLC.

Without spoiling too much, what makes this leader fun or unique to play?

The Leader ability is unlike anything else in the game. It’s so versatile, so powerful, and so rewarding for deckbuilders. Adding a card as a 1-2 of can feel like an intangible difference that increases your winrate by 2% over the course of 100 games. However, with this deck, those 1-2 ofs play a big role thanks to the deck’s ability to find them. As such, UP Luffy can deckbuild out of almost any hole that the meta presents, and that’s been extremely fun. You can even play the deck as a tempo-midrange deck, rather than a tempo-control deck, and that versatility on all fronts, deckbuilding and playing, is extremely fun.

Do you offer coaching or deck reviews for this leader as well?

Again referring to an answer above, I wanted to be a trustworthy source of knowledge for the game that I thought that especially English YouTube lacked.

I do not think I have met that standard yet. I am confident in my UP Luffy, but I am unconfident in being able to teach someone in a short time period that would be worth the cost. I’m certain there are great coaches out there, but I can’t get past the sense that I’m scamming someone out of their money with my current level. Maybe someday if I get better at the game, but right now, I still have a lot to learn.

What is the hardest part about learning this deck, and do you cover it in your guide?

The hardest part about this deck is maximizing your Leader Ability. I go over it in depth in my guide, but I can’t go over every scenario. The most important scenarios are the ones I can’t write, the ones you only see once every 15 games. It’s up to the player to use the theory I have written down to make their best attempt at solving that puzzle.

Where can readers purchase the guide, and how much does it cost?

It’s on Metafy! https://metafy.gg/@ikailakai It’s $20 and I got told that was too cheap but like that’s 3 hours salary in Japan that’s not cheap at all. https://metafy.gg/guides/view/the-complete-guide-to-blue-purple-luffy-9ckfCx95uUV?contextGroupId=20a71584-1902-41fb-9dd3-3f7c9a0428de

Will you update the guide (or is it still accurate) when the upcoming set drops (OP12/13)?

My list has massively changed for OP12, so I will need to add significant substance, but I will! OP13 I have no idea yet but Ace looks really sick. Whitebeard Pirates cards have aged really well.

OP13- Ace leader!

Will this deck still be on top of the meta in OP12?

I think it’s better than it was in OP11.

Would you recommend the deck in a Chinoize Cup — or even more importantly, in Finals/LCQ?

For me personally, if I want to win, or I want someone to win, I think there’s no other choice. However, I think that playstyle and comfort are actual factors to this game, unique from other games even in the TCG niche, so I don’t think it will be the correct choice for everyone.

You recently casted a ChinoizeCup. What was your first impression? Any feedback?

I noticed Skepas was a lot more critical of the plays being made on the stream, and I was there to just yap and have fun talking about what’s happening. I think that it’s the dynamic between a colorcaster and an analyst. But I never considered myself a colorcaster. I want to cast more in the future, and eventually, hopefully for Bandai officially, but I need to carve out my niche as a caster.

The ChinoizeCup was a lot of fun. I love physical gameplay but I understand how hard that is for online tournaments with worrying about cheating, so it would be really cool to see it be held at a venue physically one day. Hoping to watch the engoodening of the Cup.

Being a YouTuber was my dream when I was young. Being a caster when I was addicted to League of Legends was my dream when I was a Highschool and University, and somehow, I’m on the precipice of succeeding on both of those merits. It’s been a crazy life so far, and I didn’t think it would lead to here.

In the West, it seems that Belo Betty is taking over. How do you feel about that matchup, and what would be the best way/tech card/etc. to handle it?

Even if you tech really hard for that matchup, it will be very difficult. People who try to convince you otherwise are trying to sell you on their snakeoil snakeman guide. The best way to fight it is to play it slow like you would against Red Zoro, but cards that really help in that matchup are Gravity Blade, Thunder Bagua, God Thread, and of course 9 Mom.

What two decks will qualify for Worlds (in the West OP11 format)? Any guesses?

I feel obligated to say UP Luffy with this line of talk, but he may be risky to bring. The West uses data a lot more than the East. Winning 6 Regionals has shaken the ground for sure. I think that means that a lot of people, based on those results, will feel inclined to bring Belo Betty. In that meta, UP Luffy is risky to bring. Maybe something crazy like Buggy breaks through, but tournaments have 3 factors. Skill, Deckbuilding, and Luck. You can win without deckbuilding, you can win without skill, but you can’t win without luck.

So in the spirit of Luck, I’ll put 500million Berries on Buggy and Teach.

Logically it should be 2 of UP Luffy, GP Luffy, or Belo Betty though.

Is OP12 very different from OP11? And what big players/leaders should we watch out for?

It’s a bit different if you’re not a UP Luffy player. Rayleigh Zoro and Sanji are all very solid decks in my opinion.

Rayleigh feels like Reiwa Red Zoro. That saying probably doesn’t make sense in English. I mean modern enhanced Red Zoro

Green Zoro is Reiwa Green Kid. Like why would you ever play Green Kid at this point what a travesty.

And Sanji is something completely new that I think with the right build can be top tier. I still have yet to find that build.

If GGG gets hit, do you think UP is still playable? And for those who are afraid it wouldn't be, what deck do you think will shine?

There was a point where I didn’t run GGG in my deck and won several locals in a row. UP will be fine without it, but 9 Mom is another question. 9 Mom seems like the more likely ban, and without her, the deck will be significantly weaker. Being able to stall for time is a massive aspect to UP Luffy, so without her, people may need to reshape the deck into a more aggressive shell. I think I can still make it work, but I don’t know if it will be top tier.

Were the starter decks impactful in OP12 for the East?

Honestly not really. The threat of starters hurt the playrate of Rayleigh and Lucci, but the start deck cards aren’t very influential in the face of Green Zoro and UP Luffy.

How does the world qualification work for the East? And can you tell us more about the “CS” and “Flagships”?

"Cute little prize card"

To qualify in Japan, you go:

Store Qualifier (16-32 people, top 3 advance)

Championship (~1000 people, top 32 advance) (used to be 16)

Nationals (Top 32 from 8 Championships, top 32 advance)

And that’s the cycle of 1 wave.

You have 2 waves, and therefore, 64 people who qualify for the Japan Finals.

Japan Finals is finally the tournament that gives you your ticket to worlds. The people who qualify for Worlds showcase an incredible amount of skill, tenacity and luck over the course of several different sets, as you only have 1 chance every half a year.

Prize for winning Japan Finals + qualification to Worlds! (picture from Guanrong)

Flagships on the other hand are one and done tournaments. You go, you play 5 rounds, if you place Top 8 or win, you get a cute little prize card.

I’d trade flagships for treasure cups any day though I want a proper mid-size tournament since we only have 1 championship every half a year.

If I were to travel to Japan (hopefully very soon), would I be able to participate in these?

You can participate in flagships if you register your face ID and apply a month ahead of time.

You can technically compete through the championship system, but you’d need to come to Japan 4 times for each phase that's usually split up by a few months.

One more fun question: If you could ban and unban one card, what cards would you pick?

Unban Sakazuki, ban Gum-Gum Giant.

Thanks for reading and Good luck with the the grind!

What's the best pick for Finals?