Gerd OP17-081: Why She’s So Good in One Piece: The World's Strongest Warriors
- Gregory Thornberry
- Aug 23
- 3 min read
Gerd OP17-081 is quickly becoming one of the most useful utility cards in One Piece Card Game's The World's Strongest Warriors. She may only be a Rare, but her combination of a +2000 Counter, Elbaph cost manipulation, and trash recovery gives the new OP-17 Black Monkey.D.Luffy deck exactly the kind of flexibility it wants.
Gerd costs just 2 DON!!, has 3000 power, and carries a +2000 Counter. If your Leader has the Elbaph type, Gerd also gains +12 cost while she is on the field.
What Does Gerd OP17-081 Do?
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Gerd's biggest trick is that a 2-cost Character can effectively become a 14-cost Character when you're playing an Elbaph Leader.
That matters enormously with Monkey.D.Luffy OP17-079, whose Leader effect gives all of your Characters costing 12 or more Blocker. Gerd therefore turns from a cheap utility Character into another defensive body simply by being on the field.
Her On Play effect adds another layer. You may trash one card from your hand to return a Character costing 8 or less from your trash to your hand, as long as that card isn't another Gerd.
It doesn't create raw card advantage, but it lets you trade an unwanted card for the Character you actually need.
Why Is Gerd So Good in Black Luffy?
Gerd does several jobs without asking much from the deck.
+2000 Counter: If you don't need to play her, Gerd is still valuable defensively from hand.
Cheap Blocker: Under OP17-079 Luffy, her +12 cost effect pushes her above the Leader's 12-cost threshold.
Trash recovery: Her On Play effect can recycle an important Character that has already been discarded, milled, used, or removed.
Only 2 DON!!: She is easy to fit into turns without consuming the resources normally required for a large defensive Character.
The interaction gets even better with Monkey.D.Luffy OP17-093. That 8-cost Luffy can play a Character costing 2 or less directly from the trash, and current Luffy testing specifically identifies Gerd as one of those targets.
That means Gerd can be used, sent to the trash, brought back by Luffy, trigger her On Play recovery effect again, and become another high-cost Blocker.
That's a lot of work from one Rare.
Is Gerd Actually Seeing Play?
Early OP-17 deck lists suggest this isn't just theory.
An August 19 Monkey.D.Luffy list from the Chinoize Cup ran four copies of Gerd, alongside the core OP-17 Elbaph package.
She is even appearing outside the dedicated Luffy Leader. A Sabo list that went 7-0 in an OP-17 Chinoize Cup event included two copies of Gerd as part of its Elbaph package.
The OP-17 metagame is still developing, so those early results do not guarantee Gerd will remain a staple once the format settles. They do show why players are paying attention to her now.
Is Gerd OP17-081 Worth Watching?
Definitely, especially if you're planning to play Black Luffy.
Gerd isn't one of The World's Strongest Warriors' flashy Manga Rares or premium collector hits. She's simply a very efficient Rare that does several useful things at once.
And sometimes those are the cards that matter most once people actually start building decks.
A 2-cost +2000 Counter that can recover Characters and turn itself into a 14-cost Blocker?
Yeah. We'll take four.
Protecting your cards matters just as much as pulling them. If you’re looking for reliable options for One Piece, Pokémon, Magic, and other TCGs, check out our Guide to the Best Card Sleeves for Trading Cards in 2026.
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