Mackenyu, who plays Roronoa Zoro in Netflix’s One Piece, is living out the dream, but his connection to the franchise goes beyond that. As it turns out, the Japanese-American star doesn’t just wield three swords — he’s equally sharp with his One Piece Card Game strategies, too.
In a rare update on X/Twitter, the actor shared his performance at a recent trading card game (TCG) event, alongside a carefully curated collection of rare, valuable cards and an item that any player would fawn over: a playmat with the signature of series creator Eiichiro Oda.
Instead of a Zoro deck, Mackenyu competed with a Black Imu one, a powerful and premium set of cards known for its strategy depth, ultimately winning eight out of 10 matches. His only two defeats came from a Blue-Yellow Boa Hancock deck and another Black Imu player, placing him in eighth place out of 366.
The top 10 feat isn’t all that surprising, considering his dedication to the activity. During a panel at Megacon 2024 in Orlando, fellow One Piece actor Jacob Romero Gibson, who portrays the live-action version of Usopp, talked about his co-star’s obsession with the TCG.
“He’s, like, so serious about it,” he quipped, before sharing the anecdote of how Mackenyu would swing by Oda’s house regularly to train with his assistants.
The championship marks a nice little break from the reel life, which is set to pick back up on 10 March 2026 when One Piece Season 2 returns to Netflix. Alongside Mackenyu and Romero, Iñaki Godoy, Emily Rudd, and Taz Skyler will all reprise their roles as Luffy, Nami, and Sanji, respectively.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Kevin Low
