One Piece The Time of Battle (OP-16): The Cards Everybody Wants

One Piece OP-16 The Time of Battle: The Cards Everybody Wants

Three Admiral Manga Rares. Two Ace Secret Rares. The first-ever Japanese OPCG Treasure Rare. One Piece: The Time of Battle (OP-16) is the Marineford arc in card form, and the chase roster reflects it. The English set releases June 12, 2026, four days out as of this writing.

Every price list will tell you what these cards cost. This guide tells you which ones actually hold a PSA 10.

The Time of Battle at a Glance

OP-16 is the Marineford arc: the Marines and Shichibukai against the Whitebeard Pirates over Portgas D. Ace. Six new Leaders, each with an alternate-art version using the split-background, eyes-close-up treatment. The set also introduces the Treasure Rare, a brand-new rarity: Vista is the first card of that type ever printed in Japanese One Piece TCG.

Rank	Card	Rarity	Biggest grade risk
10	Vista	Treasure Rare	Unknown finish, no grading history
9	Ms. All Sunday / Nico Robin	SP	Glossy full-art surface, centering
8	Yamato	Leader alt-art	Full-bleed edges and centering
7	Portgas D. Ace (standard)	Secret Rare	Glossy SEC surface
6	Monkey D. Luffy	Leader alt-art	Centering on a Bandai Leader cut
5	Borsalino / Kizaru	Manga Rare (OP16-073)	Full-bleed manga surface and centering
4	Kuzan / Aokiji	Manga Rare (OP16-063)	Surface and centering
3	Marshall D. Teach / Blackbeard	Secret Rare	Surface on dark, heavy-ink art
2	Portgas D. Ace (alt-art)	Secret Rare	Alt-art surface, centering
1	Sakazuki / Akainu	Manga Rare (OP16-065)	Hardest grade in the set

Why One Piece Cards Are Hard to Grade

OPCG grading is not like Pokemon. The full breakdown lives in our One Piece TCG grading guide, but the short version: glossy full-bleed art shows every print line under a grading lamp; Bandai's cut tolerances run wide enough that a pack-fresh card centered for PSA 10 is closer to 1 in 8 than 1 in 3; and edges show wear fast on thin cardstock with heavy ink.

Chase value and PSA 10 odds are not the same thing. Knowing the difference is why you scan before you submit.

The 10 Cards Everybody Wants

10. Vista (Treasure Rare)

Why everybody wants it. Vista is a collector milestone, not a meta card. The Treasure Rare is a brand-new rarity in Japanese One Piece TCG and this is the first one ever printed. The demand is completionist and speculative.

The grade that matters. Nobody knows yet. The TR finish has no grading track record. Sleeve it, scan it, and wait for the first 50 community-graded examples before paying a submission fee.

Price check. Early Japanese listings are all over the place, as expected for a rarity with no comparable. Projected to settle once the TR grade distribution becomes clear.

9. Ms. All Sunday / Nico Robin (SP)

Why everybody wants it. The SP cycle echoes the OP-04 Kingdoms of Intrigue SPs, among the most collected cards in the game. Robin is consistently a top-traded SP character, and this full-art portrait is the one SP collectors gravitate to most.

The grade that matters. Glossy full-art SPs are surface-sensitive. Print lines are the primary risk. Drift past 57/43 left/right and expect a PSA 9 ceiling. Check the back under tilted light.

Price check. OP-04 SPs of top characters settled in the $100 to $300 raw range. Robin SP is projected similarly, with PSA 10 at a 6x to 10x multiple at low graded-pop.

8. Yamato (Leader Alternate Art)

Why everybody wants it. Yamato is one of OPCG's most consistently demanded characters. The split-background alt-art is a distinct look from the standard Leader.

The grade that matters. Full-bleed alt-art Leaders put all grade risk on edges and centering. No white border means a 60/40 left/right read is immediately visible.

Price check. Comparable alt-art Leaders raw trade in the $40 to $150 range. PSA 10 historically carries a 5x to 8x multiplier on fan-favorite characters.

7. Portgas D. Ace (Secret Rare, Standard)

Why everybody wants it. Ace is the emotional center of Marineford. His story pulls demand from anime fans and collectors who do not play. OP-16 has two Ace SECs; this is the standard one.

The grade that matters. SEC surface is the primary risk: heavy-ink illustration on a glossy background catches micro-scratches that are invisible flat-on. Tilt this card under direct light before sleeving.

Price check. Standard SECs for top OPCG characters settle in the $30 to $120 raw range. With two Ace SECs splitting demand, this one sits below the alt-art but should hold a stable floor.

6. Monkey D. Luffy (Leader Alternate Art)

Why everybody wants it. No OPCG card fails to sell with Luffy on it. The OP-16 Paramount War version is a distinct look from the Romance Dawn alt-art most collectors already own.

The grade that matters. Centering is the PSA 10 killer on Bandai Leaders. A 58/42 left/right puts a PSA 9 ceiling on an otherwise clean card.

Price check. Luffy alt-art Leaders trade in the $80 to $250 raw range. PSA 10 on low-pop Luffy alt-art Leaders has a track record above $1,000.

5. Borsalino / Kizaru (Manga Rare, OP16-073)

Why everybody wants it. The three Admirals are the mechanical backbone of Sengoku-archetype decks in OP-16. Players want one for the deck; collectors want all three as a set. Kizaru's light-speed manga-panel art also draws pure art collectors who do not play.

The grade that matters. High-contrast black-and-white manga art shows every print line and centering on manga rares runs wide. Do not submit without a scan-predicted overall of 9.5 or better. PSA 10 hovers near 5 to 8 percent on OPCG manga rares.

Price check. Early Japanese market prices for the three Admiral Manga Rares have moved together in the $60 to $120 raw range, with Akainu at the top and Kizaru in the middle. PSA 10 manga rares carry a 10x to 20x multiplier at sub-100 graded-pop.

4. Kuzan / Aokiji (Manga Rare, OP16-063)

Why everybody wants it. Aokiji's break from the Marines is one of Marineford's defining beats. He carries the same deck-engine appeal as Kizaru for Admiral builds, and collectors chasing the three-Admiral set need him.

The grade that matters. Same risk as every manga rare: full-bleed surface and wide centering tolerances. Back inspection matters as much as the front on manga rares. Print lines under the OPCG geometric back pattern are especially common at this rarity tier.

Price check. Aokiji sits slightly below Akainu and Kizaru in early Japanese market data, projected in the $50 to $100 raw range.

3. Marshall D. Teach / Blackbeard (Secret Rare)

Why everybody wants it. Teach is the arc's villain payoff and genuinely playable: his ability manipulates the top of your Life to chain Life-gain plays. Players need him. Collectors want him. Dual demand holds floor prices through rotation.

The grade that matters. Dark, heavy-ink backgrounds are where OPCG surface grades go to die. Inspect at multiple tilt angles: a card that looks PSA 10 under warm light can reveal a scratch pattern under direct LED that drops the surface to 8.5.

Price check. Playable SECs with collector crossover land in the $40 to $180 raw range at steady state. Teach is projected in that band, with PSA 10 projecting to a 5x to 8x multiplier.

2. Portgas D. Ace (Alternate Art Secret Rare)

Why everybody wants it. The marquee emotional pull of the set. The alternate illustration takes a different angle on Ace than the standard SEC, and collectors not chasing the Admiral Manga Rares are chasing this instead.

The grade that matters. Alt-art SECs pile all the worst OPCG grading variables onto one card: full-bleed glossy surface plus wide SEC-tier centering tolerances. A PSA 10 alt-art Ace will be genuinely rare in the pop report, which is exactly what holds the premium.

Price check. Alt-art SECs of top-demand characters have settled in the $100 to $400 raw range. With Ace at the center of the arc's story, expect this at the top of that range. PSA 10 at low graded-pop projects to 8x to 12x raw.

1. Sakazuki / Akainu (Manga Rare, OP16-065)

Why everybody wants it. Akainu is the architect of Ace's fate in Marineford, and that narrative weight translates directly into card demand. He is the most valuable of the three Admiral Manga Rares and the card that completes the triptych. Early Japanese listings have reached four figures on high-graded examples, though pre-English prices are volatile.

The grade that matters. The hardest grade in the set. Full-bleed manga-panel art with all the centering and surface risk of the manga rare tier, on the card where a bad submission hurts the most. A PSA 9 is still worth submitting if the math clears, but go in with a confident scan prediction. Use the is my card worth grading calculator before spending a dollar on fees.

Price check. Early Japanese market data has Akainu as the top card in the set, raw prices in the $100 to $200 range with high-grade slabs testing higher in a volatile pre-English market. PSA 10 at sub-100 graded-pop projects to the standout multiplier of the set: historically 15x to 25x raw on OPCG Manga Rares at that population level.

Beyond the Top 10

Teach players will want playsets of the regular Blackbeard (around OP16-199), and that playset demand keeps a price floor in place. The three alt-art Leaders (Luffy, Yamato, and Teach) also form a collector set: set-completion demand pushes the weakest of the three above where it would trade individually.

The ZeroPop Verdict: What to Grade and What to Sell Raw

The three Admiral Manga Rares hold the most long-term slab value but the worst PSA 10 odds. PSA 10 pop on OPCG manga rares sits at 5 to 8 percent historically. Nine of 10 submissions come back at PSA 9 or lower. A PSA 9 still clears a multiplier, but it is not the 15x to 25x return you pay express fees to capture.

Alt-art Leaders and SPs are stronger PSA 10 candidates. Surface is more forgiving than manga-panel art. A pack-fresh Luffy or Yamato alt-art Leader that scans clean on centering has better odds than any of the Manga Rares.

Vista is an unknown. Hold off until community grading data arrives.

The two Ace SECs are the sweet spot for first-wave submissions. Deep character demand plus a PSA 10 alt-art Ace at low graded-pop is the kind of position worth paying for. Check the centering at pack opening, and if it scans clean, submit.

Scan every chase before paying a grading fee. The four sub-grades (corners, edges, surface, centering) tell you whether you are buying a PSA 10 result before you mail anything. See PSA vs BGS vs CGC for grader choice and is my card worth grading for the break-even math.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does One Piece The Time of Battle release in English?

June 12, 2026. Japanese released May 30, 2026. English pre-release events typically run the weekend before street date, so some English pulls will surface a few days early.

What is the most valuable card in The Time of Battle?

Sakazuki / Akainu (Manga Rare, OP16-065) leads based on early Japanese market data. It carries the most collector demand of the three Admiral Manga Rares. English-market prices will settle separately around the June 12 release.

What are the three Admiral Manga Rares in OP-16?

Sakazuki / Akainu (OP16-065), Kuzan / Aokiji (OP16-063), and Borsalino / Kizaru (OP16-073). All three see use in Admiral-archetype and Sengoku-style decks, and collectors are chasing all three as a set.

Is there really a Treasure Rare in OP-16?

Yes. The Vista Treasure Rare is the first card of that rarity ever printed in Japanese One Piece TCG. There is currently no grading history for OPCG Treasure Rares, so grading recommendations are provisional until community data builds up after the English release.

Should I grade One Piece cards with PSA or CGC?

PSA has the deepest secondary market and the highest multipliers for manga rares and alt-art Leaders above $100 raw. CGC is better economics for mid-tier cards in the $20 to $80 range. For any OP-16 chase card above $100 raw, PSA is the default. See PSA vs BGS vs CGC for the full comparison.

Why do One Piece cards rarely hit PSA 10?

Bandai's cut tolerances run wider than The Pokemon Company's, so pack-fresh centering averages worse. A ratio past 55/45 left/right typically caps the grade at PSA 9 regardless of everything else. OPCG's glossy full-bleed art also shows surface defects more aggressively than matte or bordered cards. The average PSA 10 rate on OPCG chase cards sits around 8 percent versus roughly 25 percent on comparable modern Pokemon. Scan before you submit.