Green Jewelry Bonney gained a boost in performance in OP12 meta as the things shifted in her favor, and she gained more tools to add to her arsenal. The Green Bonney has been a menace in tournament play, especially since it can beat the likes of Green Zoro and Red Rayeligh.
If you like playing defensively, controlling the field, and slowly shifting the game in your favor, then this deck is for you! Bonney has proven herself as one of the strongest Leaders, and with multiple support cards, this deck isn’t going away anytime soon.
Leader
Bonney‘s effect is simple: you can rest one of their characters for 1 Don during your opponent’s turn. You’ll need to wait for your opponent to commit to an attack before activating this, effectively shutting down one of their characters or leader from attacking. This works best when your opponent has multiple attacks, as it won’t stop the first attack.
The goal of the Green Bonney deck is to drag the game into the late stages and bring out your high-cost threats. Bonney‘s effect, combined with multiple defensive cards, helps slow down your opponent’s aggression, giving you time to play your win conditions.
Green Bonney Decklist
How to Play
1-cost Draws
Jewelry Bonney is your early-game searcher. She can look at the top 5 cards of your deck to find the right cards for upcoming turns. Jewelry Bonney can draw a {Supernovas} card, like Urouge, Cavendish, X.Drake, or Eustas “Captain” Kid. While rested, your opponent will have to attack Jewelry Bonney and KO her to prevent you from reactivating her effect.
Extra Don
Leader Bonney‘s ability needs 1 Don to activate during your defensive turns. Urouge and Cavendish help by setting rested Don to active, letting you develop the board and keep Don for Bonney‘s ability.
These characters can reactivate their abilities, giving you multiple chances to keep Don active and ensuring Bonney‘s effect is available each turn to slow your opponent down. Your opponent will go above and beyond to remove them from play, so when possible, protect them to keep using the extra Don they provide.
Urouge is the go-to play on turn 2 if you’re going second, setting one of your rested Don as Active at the end of your turn. This allows you to activate your Leader’s effect without losing on Character development. You often won’t attack with Urouge unless necessary, making it harder for the opposing player to KO him and ensuring you get the most out of his 1 Don effect.
Since Urouge has the Blocker keyword, he can be used to protect your Leader or a rested Character.
When you play Cavendish, he’ll set 2 of your rested Don as Active, so you can use 1 Don to boost the power of your attack and hold onto the other Don for the defensive turn. Cavendish can reactivate his effect when he attacks, so make sure to develop a Character first and rest your Don before attacking with Cavendish to set 2 of them as Active.
Mid-game Stall
5-cost Carrot stalls out the game by keeping one of the opponent’s Characters with a cost of 7 or less rested, stopping them from attacking you on the upcoming turn. This is an On Play effect, but you can reactivate it when attacking with Carrot, making life miserable for the opposing player if they don’t KO her.
Combined with your Leader’s effect, Carrot can be frustrating for the opposing player, making it harder for them to aggro you down.
Fortress Strategy
Eustass”Captain”Kid enables your Fortress strategy also known as “Bird Cage”. On Don 9, we can play Eustass”Captain”Kid rest him, and cheat out one of our low-cost blockers, Donquixote Rosinante or Capone”Gang”Bege. We also want to attach 1 Don to Eustass”Captain”Kid to activate his effect, preventing the opposing player from attacking any card other than Eustass”Captain”Kid. An 8,000 Power Character isn’t easy to KO through attacks, especially with blockers in play that can protect him from high-power attacks.
This could shut down the opponent’s aggressive turn and force them to attach more Don to their attackers instead of playing Characters on the field. Donquixote Rosinante is the better choice to accompany Eustass”Captain”Kid since he can keep him safe from KO effects.
You can play Eustass”Captain”Kid on Don 8 if you have Cavendish from the previous turn, gaining the extra Don to attach to Eustass”Captain”Kid and rest him, forcing opponents to deal with him if they wish to target your Leader or other Characters.
Low-cost Blockers
We have two low-cost Blockers in this list: Koushirou and Capone”Gang”Bege. They can protect us from one of the opponent’s attacks, and since they cost 3 or less, they can be cheated out on the field through Eustass”Captain”Kid.
Koushirou can protect our 5-cost or less <Slash> attribute Characters, which means he keeps Cavendish protected from KO effects in the early to mid-game.
Capone”Gang”Bege is a 2-cost Blocker that activates his effect if you have 6 or more rested cards on your side of the field, which includes Don cards. You get to draw 1 card and trash a card, perfect to filter your hand for better cards.
3-cost Tashigi is a +2,000 Counter card, which we might find ourselves playing through Eustass”Captain”Kid to protect our Fortress strategy. If we’re worried the opponent might remove Eustass”Captain”Kid through an effect and 2-cost Donquixote Rosinante is nowhere to be seen, Tashigi can fill its place. Tashigi‘s effect activates when one of your Green Characters would be removed due to the opponent’s effect; instead, you can rest Tashigi and keep that Character in play.
In specific matchups, we’ll opt to play Tashigi from hand to shut down our opponent’s removal plays throughout the game, making it harder for them to control the field. We can protect other key Characters like Carrot, Hody Jones, or Shanks from being removed through an effect.
Higher-cost Blockers
5-cost Bonney is a 6,000 Power Blocker, nice to protect us from an attack, and can become an offensive attacker when need be. She has a draw value effect that activates when you have a total of 8 or more rested cards. So rested Characters or Don will be great here, and she’s usually best played when combined with Dracule Mihawk to develop two blockers in one turn.
You’re drawing 2 cards and trashing 1, adding more resources, and filtering your hand for better cards. Additionally, Bonney is setting 1 Don as Active, which enables your Leader Bonney‘s effect during your opponent’s turn.
We can play 8-cost Mihawk on Don 9, develop 5-cost Bonney, and still have our Leader’s effect active to rest an opponent’s Character.
The 8-cost Dracule Mihawk sets 4 of your Don as Active but prevents you from playing any Character with a cost of 7 or more. The 8,000 Power Blocker can be a real pain for the opposing player, offering a massive turn for you and acting as a heavy hitter when you need to switch to a more aggressive strategy.
Rush Aggro
Hody Jones‘ Rush attack + ability to rest two Characters enables an aggressive turn, stopping opponents from using their blockers to tank hits targeted toward the leader. You can also use Hody Jones‘ rest effect to attack the rested Characters, potentially KOing them and weakening opponents’ board.
Hody Jones can also rest Active Don, preventing the opposing player from activating their Counter Events, which could shut down their defensive turn entirely.
Control Option
9-cost Shanks is a strong option in the late game, joining the battle and KOing a rested Character. We can consistently find value with Shanks since Leader Bonney will rest one of the opponent’s Characters during your defensive turn.
The 11,000 Power can be tough to KO through attacks, so your opponents will likely ignore him or resort to one of their removal effects.
Donquixote Doflamingo can keep three of the opponent’s rested Characters + Leader from becoming Active, preventing them from attacking you on the upcoming turn. If you’re unable to control the opponent’s field, 10-cost Doflamingo is a great play to slow down their upcoming offensive turn, buying you enough time to win the game.
You’re essentially removing 3 attackers from the equation, letting you shift your focus on other Characters or the opponent’s Leader while ignoring those attackers for the turn.
Counter Events
We’re only using one event: Because The Side of Justice Will Be Whichever Side Wins!! It’s a 0-cost +3000 Power Counter that forces you to trash a card from your hand. This is usually to protect your leader or keep the Fortress up. The list has a lot of Characters with no Counter effect, so Because The Side of Justice Will Be Whichever Side Wins!! can be used to trash dead cards we won’t need.
Mulligan Tips
Going First: 1-cost Jewelry Bonney and Cavendish.
Going Second: 1-cost Jewelry Bonney and Urouge.
General Tips
- Make sure to bank 1 Don for your defensive turns when needed. If your opponent has a Character in play to attack with, Bonney’s effect will be critical in weakening the opponent’s offensive pressure and saving you from playing as many Counter cards.
- Identify when to go for board control over aggro. The list is heavy on defensive cards, so you can technically ignore the opponent’s Characters and try to Rush them down, leaving the defense to your Leader’s effect and your blockers.
Turn-Based Gameplay
Going First
- Turn 1 (1 Don): 1-cost Jewelry Bonney.
- Turn 2 (3 Don): 2-cost Blocker or go for a 7,000 Power Leader attack. You can bank 1 Don if there is a Character in play to rest, or if you expect your opponent to want to play a Character before attacking. Tashigi, if you’re up against a deck with removal effects.
- Turn 3 (5 Don): 5-cost Cavendish.
- Turn 4 (7 Don): Hody Jones, Carrot, or Cavendish.
- Turn 5 (9 Don): Mihawk, Eustass”Captain”Kid, or Shanks.
- Turn 6 (10 Don): Shanks or Doflamingo.
Going Second
- Turn 1 (2 Don): 1-cost Jewelry Bonney
- Turn 2 (4 Don): Urouge.
- Turn 3 (6 Don): 5-cost Cavendish or Carrot.
- Turn 4 (8 Don): Hody Jones, Carrot, or Cavendish. Or Eustass”Captain”Kid (If Cavendish is still in play).
- Turn 5 (10 Don): Eustass”Captain”Kid, Shanks, or Doflamingo.
Other Cards to Include
- 10-cost Law & Bepo adds to your stall strategy, resting one of the opponent’s Characters and keeping it from becoming Active on the upcoming turn if they have 2 or more rested Characters. Law & Bepo remains in play as a high-power Character that continues to pressure the opposing player.
- 8-cost Donquixote Rosinante is your best play on Don 8, allowing you to rest him and play a 5-cost Green Character from your hand. So you can go wide with Characters like Carrot, Smoker, or Cavendish. The Character you choose to play will depend on the effect you need. Carrot to keep an opponent’s Character rested, whereas Smoker or Cavendish for the extra Don. As long as 8-cost Donquixote Rosinante is on the field, rested, he prevents opponents from KOing your 5-cost Characters through effects, forcing opponents to remove Donquixote Rosinante if they have a KO effect to deal with your 5-costs.
- 4-cost Basil Hawkins is a +2,000 Counter Character but can be played on the field as an alternative to Urouge if we don’t have him in hand. Basil Hawkins is giving us an Active Don at the end of our turn, ensuring we don’t continue to activate Leader effects without sacrificing development of the field or going for higher power attacks.
- We want to have 9-cost Roronoa Zoro in play as early as possible and force the opposing player to have the removal option to deal with him. If 9-cost Zoro sticks on the field, we’re going for an extremely aggressive turn, setting up to 3 attacks in one turn! To attack two times with Roronoa Zoro, you’ll need to rest 1 Don. You can then rest 2 more Don to go for a third attack, either going for a finishing play or putting your opponent low enough to win on your upcoming turn. Roronoa Zoro being a 9,000 Power Character means we’re going for multiple heavy attacks, and if we’re lining up the winning turn, we can attack more Don to him to go for multiple higher-power attacks.
- 2-cost Kid & Killer is a searcher card to find the Supernova card you need. Later in the game, you can trash Kid & Killer to set one of your Don as Active.
- Smoker can set 1 Don as Active, but will shut off any of your other Characters from giving Don. So, if you have Canvendish in play, make sure to activate his effect first and gain 2 Don, then activate Smoker‘s effect for the 1 Don. The 7,000 Power + Banish keyword will force opponents to use up Counter cards when you target their Leader. We must prioritize attacking their Leader with Smoker to force out Counter cards or trash one of their Life cards. However, if there’s a rested Character that we have to KO, we’ll shift Smoker‘s attack to that Character.
- As for 5-cost Jewelry Bonney, she can keep one of the opponent’s rested Characters from becoming Active on the upcoming turn. She’s similar to Carrot but can target higher-cost Characters, and her effect activates only once. So you’ll use her for win conditions to stop them from attacking on the upcoming turn, buying you more time to win the game.
Important Matchups
Green Roronoa Zoro
- They’ll play extremely aggressively to rush you down, mainly focusing down your mid-game Characters like Urouge or Cavandish to slow down your turns. Ideally, we’ll protect Cavendish in the early game to continue gaining the 2 Active Don value from him.
- Carrot can keep characters like Tashigi from becoming rested, slowing down your opponent’s upcoming turn.
- 10-cost Doflamingo is your strongest play in this matchup, shutting down their Leader from attacking multiple times and forcing them to play their 3-cost Event to re-stand and attack.
- We’ll often try to match their aggression, keeping things rested whenever possible and focusing our attacks to aggro their Leader down. Blockers can be a game-saver in the late game if they’re trying to set up a finisher.
Red Silvers Rayleigh
- We’re up against an aggressive deck, so we’ll focus down their low-cost Characters, KOing them and weakening their upcoming turn.
- Avoid falling below 2 Life cards. At 1 Life card, your opponent will plan a 2-turn win condition, using their To Never Doubt–That Is Power! to ignore your blockers with their Leader’s attack.
- Carrot can beat for shutting down 3-cost Sanji or any of their other Characters from attacking. You can completely ignore those Characters thanks to Carrot and focus on their Leader or other rested Characters.
- Since your opponent is giving us hand knowledge when they activate certain effects, we need to remember those cards for the later turns, especially when we’re lining up a winning turn and are unsure of the number of Counter cards in their hand.
Blue Purple Luffy
- Blue Purple Luffy can go wide with Sanji combo, putting two big bodies on the field in one turn. The 9-cost Shanks will do wonders in this matchup, helping you weaken the opponent’s side of the field. However, with our opponent dropping two big bodies each turn, we will still struggle to deal with them, as Shanks is our only way of KOing them.
- 9-cost Zoro will be the carry of this matchup, so we want to have him in play as early as possible. This forces the opposing player to have Gum Gum Red Roc to remove him. However, if we have Tashigi in play, we can protect our Zoro and ensure we can get the triple attack turn to try and win the game on the spot, or put them low enough to win on the upcoming turn.
- Hody Jones can rest two of their Don, preventing them from playing their Counter Events like Gum Gum Giant.
Green Purple Luffy
- Green Purple Luffy can play aggressively, especially if they manage to develop multiple Sanji & Pudding. They don’t have any removal tools, so blockers and the fortress strategy can slow them down a lot. A lot of lists include a copy or two of Gamma knife to reduce the Power of Kid, making him an easy target for their attacks. If we can protect him through blockers, we can go for it, but if we’re pressured to use up our Counter resources, we should just give up on him.
- We also have Carrot to prevent Sanji & Pudding from attacking. We can also target the 6-cost Luffy, but if they increase his cost by 2 through Go Merry, they’ll put him out of Carrot‘s range.
- Hody Jones can rest two of their Don, preventing them from playing Gum Gum Giant.
Red Shanks
- Red Shanks can KO a Character a turn through Benn.Beckman and Silvers Rayleigh, so having Tashigi in play can protect your key Characters.
- 9-cost Shanks is how we remove their 10-cost Characters, but if we don’t have him, we’ll try to keep them rested using 10-cost Doflamingo and focus our attacks on their Leader to close out the game before they do.
Black Teach
- Against Black Marshall D.Teach, Jesus Burgess will end up becoming a problem in the late game, so we’ll try to KO him early on or keep him rested through Carrot‘s effect. We can rest Jesus Burgess and Kuzan with Hody Jones and attack to KO them.
- They can easily KO our 5-cost Characters, but will need to use cost-reduction effects to remove Eustass”Captain”Kid. Having Tashigi or Rosinante in play can protect and make it harder for them to break through the Fortress.
- Although 9-cost Shanks is a key card to KO their 10-cost Teach, their Leader’s ability to shut off your on play effect will prevent you from controlling the field. However, when it comes to Hody Jones, we get to play him without taking a Life card and still benefiting from his Rush attack.
Closing Words
Green Bonney remains one of the strongest options in the current meta. The stall mechanic, along with Kid’s bird cage, makes her a tough matchup for aggressive decks trying to close out games quickly. We also have multiple control cards and heavy hitters to go up against slower-paced decks.
