Sam OP17 Mihawk session focuses on how the deck has changed from OP16.5 and why the new Shanks, Vander Decken, Luna, and stun package has reshaped both deckbuilding and matchup strategy. Her broad conclusion is:

• Mihawk is likely the strongest overall deck in the current OP17 environment.
• It is not necessarily Tier 0, and Kaido, Sabo, Robin, and other decks remain valid tournament choices.
• Mihawk's mirror is the matchup that matters most for serious tournament preparation.
• The deck's main advantage is no longer only Law/Bepo endgames. It now has a Shanks plus Vander Decken plus Luna endgame that can invalidate entire boards.
• Deck construction should prioritize strong mirror performance while retaining enough tools to beat Sabo, Rocks, Kaido, yellow Big Mom decks, and other important field decks.

OP17 Mihawk is still fundamentally built around the same strong Wano core: Searchers · Samurai effects · Perona · Oden · Mihawk · Law/Bepo · Rad Beam · Efficient board development · Strong event-based defense.

The deck still wants to:

1. Develop a 5-cost body on its first relevant curve turn.
2. Build efficient 6-cost and 5-cost combinations.
3. Use Perona and Oden to prevent the opponent's board from converting.
4. Generate card advantage through Samurai, searchers, Mihawk filtering, and Oden.
5. Transition into a late-game bomb turn.
6. Use high leader power, Luna, Shanks, Vander Decken, or Law/Bepo to finish.

What has changed is the endgame. In OP16.5, Mihawk mirrors often became Law/Bepo wars. Stun cards were less important because the opponent's board frequently could not convert anyway. In OP17, Shanks changes that. When Mihawk plays Shanks:

• Opponent's board can be rested.
• Luna can freeze the board.
• Vander Decken can remove a key large body.
• Mihawk can attack with a 12k threat on the same turn.
• The opponent is often pushed to zero life while their board is disabled.

This means stuns now have much more value because Shanks creates the board state that makes Luna devastating.

Sam considers the Wano engine largely unchanged and non-negotiable. The core gives Mihawk: reliable early development · card selection · Samurai conversion · access to multiple 6-cost plays · Perona and Oden lines · filtered access to major threats · a consistent way to generate value over a long game.

She is very high on playing four Samurai effects. The deck wants to see several in a game, especially in the mirror where extra draws, extra filtering, and card economy are major sources of edge. If Samurai becomes unusable late, it can still be pitched through Mihawk filtering. That makes it much less punishing to play four copies.

A major list decision is whether to play the Mihawk plus Perona shell or the Law plus Yasopp shell.

Vander Decken has become close to standard in OP17 Mihawk. Its main purpose is to improve the Sabo matchup. Why it matters against Sabo:

• Sabo creates a board full of Giant-enabled bodies.
• Its big units can become difficult to contest conventionally.
• Vander Decken lets Mihawk remove or answer an important body.
• It gives Mihawk a cleaner way to interact with the Sabo board before it becomes overwhelming.

Vander Decken is also incidentally good in the mirror: if the opponent plays Shanks, Mihawk can interact with the Shanks; if the opponent plays a major body, Decken provides a practical answer; it supports Shanks plus Luna lines by removing the character that matters most. Sam does not describe Decken as the only mirror plan, but it is a major tool in the most common Shanks endgame.

Shanks is the defining OP17 Mihawk bomb. Its role is not merely to remove a body. Its real value is that it creates a board state where Luna becomes a mass tempo swing.

Luna is now much more important than it was in OP16.5. In the old Law/Bepo-focused Mihawk endgame, the opponent's board often already struggled to attack into a large leader. Stuns were less necessary. In OP17:

• Shanks rests the opposing board.
• Luna freezes the entire group.
• Mihawk gets a tempo turn without taking meaningful return pressure.
• The opponent often cannot make up the lost turn because Mihawk's board is already attacking for large numbers.

Luna is not merely defensive. It is a card that converts Shanks from a strong threat into a game-ending tempo package.

Sam is testing Stun Bonney as mirror tech. The key use is simple: Stun Bonney can take the opponent off its Shanks turn.

In the mirror, the player going second often has the natural advantage of playing Shanks first and then using Luna to punish the opponent's board. Stun Bonney gives the going-first player a way to disrupt that timing. Why Bonney is playable even in a Mihawk build:

• Law into Bonney creates a body that often enters sideways anyway.
• That body can be removed by Luna, combat, or other interaction.
• The difference between Law plus Bonney and standalone Bonney on the relevant turn may be smaller than it appears.

The card improves the mirror and has incidental value into yellow Big Mom decks. Against yellow Big Mom decks, Stun Bonney can stop their first major Big Mom turn. Those decks frequently have little productive to do if they are taken off their first important curve turn. Sam is not fully certain that Bonney is mandatory. It is an active testing choice, but she has been happy with its mirror role.

Sam plays Law/Bepo as a second bomb rather than the entire deck's primary endgame. She does not believe four copies are necessary. ⚠️ nel video dice «I just don't think that you need five» — mai "four" Why:

• The first Shanks package is difficult to replace.
• If Shanks does not end the game, Law/Bepo is an efficient second bomb.
• Law/Bepo can replace a complicated multi-card follow-up sequence.
• It stuns Shanks.
• It invalidates the rest of the board by raising the leader.
• It can preserve enough hand to survive the turn after Shanks plus Luna.
• It gives the player another route to put the opponent to zero.

In many games, one Shanks turn puts the opponent at one or zero, and the second bomb is only needed when the first Shanks turn does not end the game.

Sam plays fewer Boats than previous Mihawk builds. Reasoning:

• The current deck contains fewer events.
• Shanks and other expensive middle-game cards naturally use more DON!!.
• There are fewer turns where the deck simply has spare DON!! to convert an event.
• 2k counters are often more valuable than a Boat in the mirror.
• The major value of Boat is now its cantrip effect, not constant event conversion.

She could be convinced to play a third Boat, but she does not think Boat is as essential to OP17 Mihawk as it was to the event-heavier OP16.5 version.

Rad Beam remains a core card because it defends the board. Sam's distinction:

• Most 3k events are mostly defensive life tools.
• Rad Beam can defend both life and key characters.
• The most important event turns often happen in the midgame when the opponent tries to contest a character.
• Saving a key body can create several future attacks and prevent the opponent from regaining tempo.

She therefore wants multiple Rad Beams even if she is playing fewer Boats.

Stronger

Sam thinks Stronger is poor. Why:

• It does not stun enough bodies.
• Mirror boards are often four to five wide.
• Luna is dramatically better at stopping the board.
• In many cases, using Stronger saves a similar number of cards as a normal counter event.
• It does not defend key bodies in the way Rad Beam does.

For Fun

For Fun has become less reliable. Why:

• Players now play around it because they do not want to be punished by Luna.
• Mihawk and Oden frequently freeze or remove the most appealing target.
• Shanks no longer guarantees the same easy For Fun setup that it once did.
• Sabo can sometimes present Zoro or other cards that do not line up well.

For Fun may still be playable, but Sam does not see it as a major priority in her current shell.

DMG

Sam thinks DMG is less necessary now. Why:

• The mirror often ends through zeroing the opponent with Shanks pressure.
• Mihawk can frequently create lethal without needing a dedicated DMG finish.
• Red-Green, the matchup where DMG mattered most, is not expected to be a major part of the format.
• Other players are also playing fewer events, reducing the need for DMG-based lethal lines.

The player going first has a difficult structural issue. If both players develop optimally:

• The going-second player reaches Shanks plus Luna first.
• The going-first player may have a wide board.
• Shanks rests the board.
• Luna freezes it.
• The going-second player attacks with a 12k Shanks plus additional bodies.
• The going-first player can be pushed to zero.
• Mihawk at zero has limited reliable ways to play another turn.

This is why leader life management has changed in OP17.

Stun Bonney is the main experimental answer for the player going first. If Bonney prevents the opponent from playing Shanks on curve:

• Their planned Shanks plus Luna line becomes unavailable.
• Their 9-DON!! turn becomes awkward.
• They may only be able to Perona a body or attack a single rested character.
• They do not establish a major bomb.
• The going-first player becomes the first player who can Shanks plus Luna.

The opponent may still send several attacks, so the Mihawk player must be willing to counter enough damage to survive. However, if the opponent cannot play Shanks, the Mihawk player can often safely go to one life because the opponent's follow-up is much weaker.

If Stun Bonney is unavailable, Sam recommends using the odd-DON!! turns to push life efficiently. On 9 DON!!:

• Do not automatically play another 6-cost body.
• The opponent will often Shanks plus Luna the board anyway.
• The extra body may not matter.
• Use the available DON!! to make larger attacks.
• Play Perona to reduce the incoming attack count.
• Push the opponent toward one or zero life before their bomb turn.

The logic is simple: if both players reach one life, the player who zeros the opponent first wins the initiative. The opponent then has to kill immediately. If the opponent cannot kill through your counter and leader power, you win the following turn.

The 6-cost body on 9 DON!! is less valuable than it was in OP16.5 because the opponent's Shanks plus Luna turn can invalidate the entire board. The player going first should often choose: Perona plus larger attacks · Stun Bonney plus development · more aggressive face pressure · a defensive event posture — instead of 6-cost development that is immediately frozen with the rest of the board.

Sam prefers going second in the mirror. The normal going-second progression remains powerful:

• Develop a 6-cost body on 6. ⚠️ le note scrivono «65-body»: nel video è "a six drop on six and then a six drop on eight"
• Develop another 6-cost body on 8.
• Reach Shanks timing first.
• Luna the opponent's board before they can execute their own Shanks turn.

Going second gives access to the first major tempo bomb and naturally creates better curve efficiency.

On 10 DON!!, Mihawk should almost always play its bomb. Why:

• Delaying lets the opponent play their bomb first.
• The game becomes a race to zero the opponent before they zero you.
• Shanks creates immediate 12k pressure.
• Law/Bepo can compress multiple interaction effects into one card.
• Waiting generally creates no real advantage.

The rare exception is a Stun Bonney plus another development line that prevents the opponent's entire bomb turn. In most games, however, Mihawk should simply play the 10-cost bomb.

01:04:36 Dal video: "Always slam the 10 drop on 10?" Yes, you cannot afford to delay; Bonney + another five on 10 is theoretical because it requires them to have cleaned up your board, "which doesn't really happen".

Mihawk cannot casually go to zero against Shanks Mihawk. Why zero is dangerous:

• Mihawk has limited blocker access.
• Law can be answered by Oden, Shanks, DMG, or other interaction.
• The opponent can create a 12k swing on its bomb turn.
• The opponent can freeze the board and remove the ability to defend through combat.
• Once at zero, Mihawk may have no reliable way to survive a second large push.

Sam's guideline: try to be at least two life at the beginning of the opponent's 10-DON!! turn. Sometimes two is sufficient if Rad Beam and counter math cover their next turn. In many games, this requires countering more of the one-card hits in the middle game than OP16.5 Mihawk did.

00:44:22 Dal video: the bomb swing is now a 12 instead of the 8–9 you got with Bepo; at zero Mihawk "does not have any way to reliably prolong the game — all you can do is counter, you do not have blockers". 00:45:11 Whether you need more than 2 life "depends on whether you'll be able to counter out of their lethal if they send it on their 12-DON turn"; with Rad Beams, 2 is often fine.

The mirror has more turns where events can become stuck. If you use Shanks, Vander Decken, Luna you often spend all available DON!!. That means a Rad Beam held too long can become unusable. The practical rule:

• Use Rad Beam on the turn before the all-in Shanks plus Luna turn if it saves a meaningful body or preserves enough life.
• Do not hold every Rad Beam just because it looks valuable.
• Plan one turn ahead: if the next turn uses all DON!!, convert your event now or it may remain dead in hand.

Sam's deckbuilding priority is mirror equity. Why:

• Mihawk is expected to be extremely popular.
• Mihawk is likely overrepresented among strong players.
• Mihawk is likely overrepresented in top cut.
• Losing the mirror repeatedly is unacceptable for a tournament deck.

Stun Bonney, Shanks, Luna, Vander Decken, and Law/Bepo all contribute directly or indirectly to mirror success.

Before using DON!! for an attack, ask:

• Does this swing force a real card?
• Does this attack put the opponent at one or zero?
• Does this remove a character that enables their board?
• Does it create a two-turn lethal?
• Is the DON!! better spent on Samurai, a searcher, Rad Beam, or a development?

Do not spend DON!! attacking merely because it is available.

Mihawk should search based on the upcoming bomb turns.

The mirror is the most important matchup in OP17 Mihawk. Sam expects Mihawk to be: the most popular deck · the deck most likely to be present in top cut · the deck every serious Mihawk list must prepare to face repeatedly.

The mirror is no longer just a Law/Bepo war. It is now a race to:

• Establish board.
• Preserve life correctly.
• Play Shanks first.
• Use Luna effectively.
• Prevent the opponent's Shanks turn with Stun Bonney.
• Put the opponent to zero before they do the same to you.

Law/Bepo is especially useful after the first Shanks exchange. A common sequence:

1. Opponent plays Shanks plus Luna.
2. You survive with one or two life.
3. Your board is frozen or partially invalidated.
4. You play Law/Bepo.
5. Law/Bepo stuns Shanks.
6. Your leader becomes larger.
7. Opponent's board cannot meaningfully convert.
8. You spend one card instead of needing another Shanks, Vander Decken, and Luna combination.
9. You preserve enough hand to survive.
10. You counterattack and put the opponent at zero.

Law/Bepo compresses a multi-card recovery line into one card. That is why Sam still values it highly as a second bomb.

Sam sees Sabo as Mihawk's worst major matchup. The matchup is more difficult when Mihawk goes first because:

• Mihawk reaches its pivot bomb turn one turn later.
• Sabo can build a wider board before Mihawk gets Shanks or Law/Bepo active.
• Sabo's 6k attacks can repeatedly 2k-check Mihawk.
• Sabo can use Giant lines, Saul, Loki, Luffy, and Brook to produce too many attacks. ⚠️ Brook non è mai nominato nel video (Sam cita Saul, Loki, Gravity Blade, Docking, 8c Luffy, Zoro, il blocker Jinbe, i 2 costi, i 12 costi)
• Mihawk can be forced low before it gets to stabilize.

When Mihawk goes second, Sam believes the matchup is much easier because Mihawk reaches its bomb turn earlier relative to Sabo's board.

The Law/Yasopp build has more direct value into Sabo because Yasopp can rest a 2-cost body and attack it. However, Sam does not think this alone makes Law/Yasopp clearly superior. Perona is also strong:

• It can stun two 6k bodies.
• It protects against removal by replacing itself. ⚠️ nel video: "the Perona will float into something if it dies, so you can just let it die and summon an Oden" — è l'On K.O. che gioca un altro 5 costi
• It can prevent two meaningful attacks when Sabo plays two 2-cost bodies plus Saul or Docking Station.
• It can reduce Sabo's ability to attack in a coordinated wave.

The current Mihawk plus Perona build gives up some Sabo equity compared with Yasopp, but Sam does not think the sacrifice is large enough to abandon the stronger mirror shell.

Without Yasopp, Sam does not recommend fully starving Sabo. Why not:

• Sabo can continue developing.
• Its cards search, replace themselves, or create board value.
• A full starve lets Sabo construct its ideal board.
• Mihawk loses opportunities to create two-turn lethal pressure.
• If Mihawk gets knocked low while starving, it may have no winning route because Sabo still has a board.

Her default is to attack Sabo. The preferred pattern:

1. Deal the first damage.
2. If Sabo turns a body sideways, attack that body.
3. If Sabo lets the body die, continue attacking face.
4. If Sabo defends the body, keep attacking face and let them spend their hand.
5. Transition into a race once Sabo is low.

This gives Mihawk multiple win conditions: Sabo runs out of hand protecting the board · Sabo takes too much life and dies to Shanks · Mihawk clears enough Giant bodies to invalidate the board · Law/Bepo turns the board off and enables a two-turn lethal.

Mihawk should attack Sabo's board when: a character is already rested · the attack does not require too much extra DON!! · the body is important to Sabo's Giant engine · the body is a 6k attacker that will create future pressure · killing it prevents Sabo from converting its board.

Mihawk should not attach DON!! merely to attack into Saul unless: Sabo's hand is already very small · killing Saul turns off the entire board · the attack prevents immediate lethal · you are removing the final Giant body that makes their next turn functional.

Attacking Sabo throughout the game makes Gravity Blade less punishing. If Mihawk starves Sabo and Sabo resolves Gravity Blade: Mihawk may be at two life · Sabo may still be at five life · Mihawk's board is reduced · Mihawk has a hard time closing the life gap. If Mihawk has already attacked Sabo: Sabo is lower on life · Sabo has already spent counter · Mihawk's surviving bodies still threaten life · a Gravity Blade turn does not automatically erase the win condition · Shanks can still create a lethal turn.

Law/Bepo is strong against Sabo because Sabo often cannot play around it. Sabo expects Shanks and generally wants to use its board to attack. If it turns bodies: Law/Bepo can stun a key Giant or Loki · Mihawk gains leader power · Sabo's smaller bodies become much less effective · Mihawk can push lethal over two turns while holding enough DON!! to survive.

The key is that Law/Bepo is poor in a full-starve game. If Sabo remains at five life, gaining one extra turn does not solve the matchup. Attacking first makes Law/Bepo a real finisher.

Sam considers Mihawk strongly favored into Rocks, particularly going second. Rocks has trouble interacting with Mihawk's board efficiently: Mihawk can play a 6-cost and a 5-cost body · both bodies often remain standing · Rocks cannot contest them except through very specific Gloriosa lines · if Rocks spends a Gloriosa turn, it is often not developing its own Newgate, Shiki, or Linlin engine · Mihawk's board keeps pressuring while Rocks falls behind on tempo.

Rocks wants to establish characters that create ongoing value (Newgate, Shiki, Linlin, Kyo, other 3k-counter and card-conversion bodies). Mihawk is difficult because it pressures Rocks' bodies and freezes its board before those cards can convert. Going second, Mihawk can often: develop a 6-cost plus 5-cost board · keep those bodies standing · force Rocks to choose between interacting and developing · play Shanks · Luna the board · put Rocks at zero before it can stabilize.

Perona is excellent because it can: freeze multiple meaningful bodies · reduce Rocks' ability to attack · protect the Mihawk player's hand and board · punish narrow development turns. ⚠️ Perona non è mai nominata nel segmento Rocks del video: le carte che Sam cita sono il board 6+5 in piedi, Rad Beam (vs Shiki), Shanks+Luna, Decken (su Shiki) e Stun Bonney sul loro 10.

Shanks plus Luna is especially strong because many Rocks bodies are Luna victims: Rocks has multiple 7-cost-or-less characters · its engines are often board-dependent · if Mihawk freezes them, Rocks loses its ability to turn hand cards into defense · Mihawk can then push large attacks while Rocks' board is disabled.

Rad Beam matters because Rocks often attempts to contest a body with Shiki. If Rocks uses Shiki to interact with a key Mihawk body: Rad Beam can save the body · Mihawk untaps with more board · Rocks has spent a turn trying to answer one unit · Mihawk double-develops and pulls further ahead.

Sam highlights Captain John plus Usopp spell as the main thing Mihawk should be aware of. Rocks can put Mihawk at zero; Captain John plus Usopp spell can create a sudden unblockable-style finish; if Mihawk becomes careless at zero, it may lose to a line it assumed was not available. However, she views this as rare and manageable. Mihawk can usually avoid dying by maintaining leader power, counter, Luna access, and appropriate board control.

Kyo does not change the matchup much. Kyo can protect Rocks from some effect removal, but Sam does not believe it fundamentally changes Mihawk's plan: Mihawk does not need Vander Decken to win the matchup · Luna can still disable the board · Rad Beam can save Mihawk bodies · Mihawk can attack face · if Kyo matters, a 6k attack into it is acceptable because Rocks' natural counter is heavily weighted toward 2ks. Decken is nice when it is available, but not mandatory.

Sam sees Kaido as a reasonable but more difficult matchup than Rocks or yellow Big Mom decks. Kaido is dangerous because: it can interact with Mihawk's board · it can play large bodies · it can remove or punish exposed characters · it can make the standard Shanks plus Vander Decken plan less effective. Decken has made the matchup worse than it was previously. The biggest issue is that Kaido can punish the standard Mihawk bomb sequence and force Mihawk to work harder for board retention.

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Oden is one of Mihawk's best cards against Kaido because it can stop King from attacking. If Kaido misses King, Sam believes Mihawk is generally heavily favored: Kaido lacks enough attack instances · Mihawk can develop more efficiently · Mihawk can freeze the board · Kaido struggles to both attack life and contest Mihawk's board. The Kaido player's most threatening games are the ones that establish King early, then use larger attacks to pressure Mihawk before its bomb turn.

Vander Decken is good against Kaido, but Mihawk's plan is not fully dependent on it. If Mihawk cannot Decken the relevant Kaido body: it can Rad Beam to protect board · it can freeze King · it can pressure face · it can eventually Shanks/Decken a relevant body · it can use Law/Bepo as a second bomb. The matchup is not free, but Sam still sees Mihawk as having enough strong lines.

Sam believes Mihawk is favored into yellow Big Mom decks, including Robin-style shells. The reason is that Mihawk devalues the ways yellow decks want to convert board. Yellow decks want to: build wide boards · play Big Mom · heal · use trigger bodies · attack with several mid-sized characters · force the opponent to spend cards defending life. Mihawk answers this with: Perona freezes · Oden freezes · Shanks plus Vander Decken · Luna · Law/Bepo · high leader power · repeated double development.

Mihawk should: take early damage when safe · develop bodies · freeze relevant 4k and 5k attackers · prevent Big Mom board turns from converting · push the opponent low before they establish repeated healing · use Shanks to remove the major body · use Luna to freeze triggers and smaller attackers · force the yellow player to attempt lethal from a low-counter position.

Stun Bonney is particularly useful into yellow Big Mom decks. If Mihawk stuns the opponent on their first major Big Mom turn: they may have no productive 10-DON!! play · their whole curve can become delayed · Mihawk gets another turn to develop · the opponent's board is still too narrow to pressure effectively · Mihawk can often take damage safely and then execute a bomb turn. The main exception is Pudding, which may have alternative plays and more flexible development.

• Counter banish hits more often than against many other decks because Robin's available DON!! is constrained.
• The banish attacks are frequently small enough that countering is efficient.
• Taking the first damage is often fine.
• If Stun Bonney is available, Mihawk can take damage more liberally because Robin cannot execute the first 10-DON!! turn.
• Make Linlin discard unless the random discard can hit a card that fundamentally ruins your game plan.
• If the opponent is low on hand, force the heal because discarding the extra card becomes a real cost.
• Never allow a heal if you are currently presenting lethal.

Why Mihawk wins: Mihawk can repeatedly freeze yellow's small attackers · survive while preserving board · prevent the Big Mom board from converting · put yellow low enough that a Shanks 12k swing becomes impossible to defend · force yellow to spend too many attacks into Mihawk's board, leaving Mihawk healthy enough to survive a final push.

Sam views Ace Luffy as generally favorable for Mihawk. Ace Luffy often has limited counter and relies on its board to pressure. Mihawk can: freeze the board · attack life with large numbers · counter more aggressively after the first life · use Shanks and Luna to invalidate early bodies · outdevelop Ace Luffy over time.

Mihawk should: take the first life when safe · counter the second life more often to avoid random double-strike lethal · use Oden to freeze a relevant attacker · attack Ace Luffy rather than overfocus on board · use Shanks and Luna against the wide early board · push life because Ace Luffy often cannot defend repeated 7k attacks. Going second is favored because Mihawk's development is ahead and the bomb turn arrives earlier. Going first may require more aggressive countering on the 4-DON!! and 5-DON!! turns because those are some of the cheapest attacks Ace Luffy will make.