Quick answer
One Piece card effects name groups of characters in curly braces: {Straw Hat Crew}, {Navy}, {Land of Wano}. 717 of the 2,785 cards in the database reference a trait that way, and they use 61 distinct traits between them. Those 61 are a subset of the 171 type lines printed on cards. CardSpicy indexes every One Piece card by its code, colour and type line.
The braces are not decoration. A word in braces is a search key: the effect looks through the cards you control and counts the ones that carry that type line.
A One Piece card carries a type line under its name — something like “Straw Hat Crew” or “The Seven Warlords of the Sea”. An effect that wants to refer to a group of characters writes that line inside curly braces. Learning to read the braces is what turns a card from a paragraph of text into a rule you can act on, because the braces tell you exactly which cards the effect is allowed to count.
What a type line is, and what a trait reference is
Two different things share the same words. The type line is printed on the card, under the name, and it is a property of that card: this card is a member of the Straw Hat Crew. A trait reference is what an effect writes inside braces, and it is an instruction to look for cards carrying that type line. A card always has a type line; it does not always reference one.
The distinction matters because the two sets are not the same size. The database contains 171 distinct type lines printed across the card pool, but only 61 of them are ever named inside an effect. The other 110 type lines exist on cards and are never referred to by anything.
Every trait an effect can name
All 61 traits, with the number of cards whose effect names each one. Sorted by count, then alphabetically.
| Trait | Cards whose effect names it |
|---|---|
| Straw Hat Crew | 77 |
| Navy | 47 |
| Dressrosa | 45 |
| Land of Wano | 43 |
| Revolutionary Army | 40 |
| Supernovas | 37 |
| FILM | 31 |
| Fish-Man | 31 |
| Impel Down | 29 |
| Big Mom Pirates | 26 |
| Donquixote Pirates | 26 |
| Thriller Bark Pirates | 25 |
| Blackbeard Pirates | 24 |
| Animal Kingdom Pirates | 22 |
| East Blue | 21 |
| Minks | 19 |
| ODYSSEY | 19 |
| Merfolk | 18 |
| The Seven Warlords of the Sea | 16 |
| Cross Guild | 13 |
| Foxy Pirates | 13 |
| Red-Haired Pirates | 13 |
| Egghead | 12 |
| Kuja Pirates | 12 |
| Neptunian | 11 |
| Sky Island | 11 |
| Celestial Dragons | 10 |
| Kid Pirates | 10 |
| Shandian Warrior | 10 |
| Alabasta | 9 |
| Amazon Lily | 9 |
| Water Seven | 9 |
| Animal | 8 |
| GERMA 66 | 8 |
| SMILE | 8 |
| Baroque Works | 7 |
| Elbaph | 7 |
| Heart Pirates | 7 |
| SWORD | 6 |
| Punk Hazard | 5 |
| Drum Kingdom | 4 |
| Fish-Man Island | 4 |
| Five Elders | 4 |
| New Fish-Man Pirates | 4 |
| The Vinsmoke Family | 4 |
| Admiral | 3 |
| Firetank Pirates | 3 |
| Galley-La Company | 3 |
| The Akazaya Nine | 3 |
| Homies | 2 |
| Mary Geoise | 2 |
| Music | 2 |
| Scientist | 2 |
| Whitebeard Pirates | 2 |
| Jailer Beast | 1 |
| Kurozumi Clan | 1 |
| Mountain Bandits | 1 |
| Muggy Kingdom | 1 |
| Rocks Pirates | 1 |
| The Tontattas | 1 |
| Vassals | 1 |
The list is dominated by the organisations the story is built around: crews, navies, and the places characters come from. That is not an accident of design. An effect that counts cards by group is only useful if the group is large enough to count, so the traits that get referenced are the ones with a deep enough pool of cards behind them.
The most common type lines on cards
Type lines are more numerous and more unevenly distributed than trait references. The fifteen most common, counted per card, are:
| Type line | Cards printed with it |
|---|---|
| Straw Hat Crew | 423 |
| Navy | 237 |
| Supernovas | 169 |
| Land of Wano | 156 |
| Whitebeard Pirates | 142 |
| The Seven Warlords of the Sea | 139 |
| FILM | 133 |
| Dressrosa | 132 |
| Big Mom Pirates | 131 |
| The Four Emperors | 122 |
| Animal Kingdom Pirates | 122 |
| East Blue | 114 |
| Revolutionary Army | 114 |
| Donquixote Pirates | 106 |
| Impel Down | 99 |
| Fish-Man | 95 |
A card can carry more than one type line, separated by a slash, which is why the numbers here add up to more than the number of cards. A Straw Hat who is also a member of another group carries both, and an effect naming either one will find them.
How to use the braces when you read a card
Read the braces first. They tell you what the effect is looking for, and therefore what the rest of the effect is allowed to touch. An effect that says “up to 1 of your {Navy} Characters” cannot be aimed at a Marine who happens to be on your side if the card’s type line does not say Navy.
The second thing to check is whose cards the effect counts. “Your” and “your opponent’s” are not interchangeable, and an effect that counts your own cards by trait gets better the more of that trait you have deliberately assembled. That is why a deck built around a single crew tends to work: not because crews are strong, but because every card in it satisfies every other card’s condition.
Frequently asked questions
How many traits are there in the One Piece Card Game?
61 are named inside card effects, chosen from the 171 distinct type lines printed on cards. Traits are written in curly braces in the effect text.
What is the most-referenced trait?
Straw Hat Crew, named by the effects of 77 cards, ahead of Navy and Dressrosa.
How many type lines can one card have?
More than one. A card’s type line can list two or more groups separated by a slash, and any effect that names either group will find the card.
Do traits affect deck building?
Only through effects. A card’s type line is not a deck-building restriction the way its colour is; the colour decides whether the card may be in the deck at all, while the type line decides whether a given effect can find it.
What do the braces mean on a card?
They mark a trait reference: the effect is looking for cards whose printed type line matches the word inside the braces. Nothing else about the word changes.
Sources
Sources and further reading
- Bandai — the official One Piece Card Game card database for the English edition, the source of every type line and every effect quoted on this page.
- CardSpicy — how to read a One Piece card effect, for the timing keywords that sit alongside the trait references.
- CardSpicy — the six colours of DON!!, for the other axis that groups cards.
- CardSpicy — One Piece Leaders explained, whose effects most often reach for a trait.
- CardSpicy — how many One Piece cards there are, for the type breakdown of the whole card pool.
Card statistics on this page are counted from Bandai’s own card database at the date shown, so they move as the database is updated. Prices are not quoted here: this site prices graded cards in US dollars from observed sales, and a raw-card figure would be a different number measured a different way. Where a card is described as part of a set, the set code and release date are the English edition.
Related reading
- How to Read a One Piece Card Effect
- The Six Colours of DON!!
- One Piece Leaders Explained
- How Many One Piece Cards Are There?
Where to go next
- The CardSpicy card index — every card we track, with its PSA 10 population and market history (195 cards).
- The illustrator index — every artist behind those cards, card by card (110 artists).
Leave a Reply