Bandai will ban the leader card OP14-020 Dracule Mihawk from the ONE PIECE CARD GAME on Oct. 12, 2026, the company said in a notice posted Sept. 24. The ban covers every printing of the card, including alternate-art versions, and applies to all official and sanctioned events. A new leader with different text, P-163 Dracule Mihawk, will be distributed at future events as a replacement.
What does the Mihawk ban notice from Bandai say?
The notice adds one card to the Banned List and removes none. Bandai's stated reasoning has two parts. First, "certain combinations involving this card have become more powerful than we had anticipated and deviated from the gameplay experience we aim to provide" as more booster products were released. Second, the company determined that the card "significantly restricts the viability of Leader cards with the {Slash} attribute and severely harms the diversity of Leader selection in the game environment, including cards to be released in the future."
The second point is the unusual one. Bandai is saying the card would have constrained leaders that do not exist yet, which is a forward-looking reason rather than a response to a single tournament result.
The Japanese-language notice, posted the same day, carries the same card, the same effective date and the same replacement plan.
How does Bandai decide which cards to ban?
The notice restates the company's policy. The development team says it evaluates "win rate, results from major tournaments, usage rate, its projected influence on the future game environment, and whether it restricts the viability of other Leaders." Revisions are normally announced twice a year, once after Championship Season 1 in Japan and once after the World Championship. Bandai added that it may act outside that calendar "if we determine that a particular card is preventing us from providing an enjoyable environment."
This revision falls outside the usual cadence, which is consistent with that exception.
What is P-163 Dracule Mihawk, and what is still unknown?
P-163 Dracule Mihawk is described as "a new Leader card with a new text." The P prefix marks it as a promotional card rather than a booster card, so it will come from events rather than packs. Bandai has not published the card's text, the events that will distribute it, quantities or a date. Until that information appears on the official site, any description of how P-163 plays is speculation.
What does the Mihawk ban mean for players?
- Decks built around OP14-020 are legal through Oct. 11 and illegal from Oct. 12 at any sanctioned event.
- The ban is total, not a restriction to one copy, so the card cannot be run in any quantity.
- Slash-attribute leaders other than Mihawk are the stated beneficiaries. Bandai's own language frames the ban as a diversity measure for that group.
- Players who want a Mihawk leader will have to obtain P-163 through whatever event distribution Bandai announces.
What does the Mihawk ban mean for collectors?
The notice does not change the card's print run or its art. It changes one source of demand: competitive play. For the base rare, that was most of the demand. For alternate-art printings, demand also comes from character collectors, and that part is unaffected by the ban.
Because P-163 is a promo with event-only distribution, its scarcity will be set by how widely Bandai hands it out, which has not been announced. The banned OP14-020 and the legal P-163 are different cards with different numbers and will be priced separately.
No sold-price data is included in this article because the ban has not yet taken effect. This piece will be updated with dated market prices after Oct. 12.
What comes next on the One Piece Card Game calendar?
The next product is EB-05, ONE PIECE Heroines Edition vol.2, scheduled for Oct. 30, 2026, at a suggested price of $4.99 per pack with "75+2 types in total," according to Bandai's product page. Cards from the set become tournament legal seven days after release. The ban takes effect 18 days before that set reaches shelves.
Quick answers
Is Mihawk banned in the One Piece Card Game?+
Yes. OP14-020 Dracule Mihawk is banned from all decks in official and sanctioned events effective Oct. 12, 2026, according to Bandai's Sept. 24 notice.
Does the ban include the alternate-art Mihawk?+
Yes. The notice states "Parallel cards (Alt-Art cards) included," so every printing of OP14-020 is covered.
Is there a replacement Mihawk leader?+
Bandai said a new leader card with new text, P-163 Dracule Mihawk, will be distributed at future events as a replacement. No date or event list has been published.
Can Mihawk still be played before Oct. 12?+
Yes. The card remains legal until the effective date. From Oct. 12 it cannot be included in any deck at a sanctioned event.
Why was Mihawk banned?+
Bandai cited combinations with newer boosters that became stronger than intended and said the card "severely harms the diversity of Leader selection," particularly among Slash-attribute leaders.
Were any cards unbanned at the same time?+
No. The Sept. 24 revision added one card and removed none.
Sources (3)+
- 1.Bandai Card Games Division, "Banned/Restricted Cards effective from October 12, 2026," Sept. 24, 2026
- 2.Bandai, "禁止・制限カード追加のお知らせ" (Japanese notice), Sept. 24, 2026
- 3.Bandai, product page for EXTRA BOOSTER ONE PIECE Heroines Edition vol.2 [EB-05]
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