Red Purple Monkey D. Luffy has low health, which can make it intimidating for new players. However, its 6,000 Power forces opponents to take extra steps to land their attacks. The deck’s ramping capabilities—both from its Leader effect and multiple ramp cards—allow you to play high-cost Characters quickly. As a result, you’ll often dominate the early and mid-game, setting up strong momentum.
With multiple ramp sources, it’s logical to include several late-game win conditions. These cards are difficult for most decks to remove, and if you can keep multiple in play, you’ll gain a significant advantage.
Leader
Leader Red Purple Luffy only has 3 Life cards, so he might seem vulnerable to aggressive decks. However, the 6,000 Power makes it more of a challenge for opponents to get their attacks through and will require fewer Counter resources from you to shut down attacks. On top of that, the 6,000 Power on your Leader proves useful when going for attacks, exerting more pressure with each Leader swing, and forcing the opposing player to commit more Counter cards.
Leader Red Purple Luffy‘s effect lets you ramp 1 Active Don, letting you make bigger plays on earlier turns. However, you can only activate it on Don 0 and 8, this means when we’re at Don 8+ we can play a higher-cost Character or set up a stronger turn. The only time we’ll get to activate on Don 0 is when we play 10-cost Monkey D.Luffy, which is usually a finisher play.
RP Luffy Decklist
How to Play
Searcher
The 1-cost Nami is a searcher card, letting us choose 1 {Straw Hat Crew} type card from the top 5 cards in our deck. Your card choice will depend on your current hand and what you’re planning to play on the upcoming turns. You can choose a Character to develop, a late-game carry, or a defensive card to Counter an attack.
Ramp Cards
This list has multiple Ramp cards to speed up our game plan and get to Don 8 as fast as possible.
If you go first, Zoro-Juurou is your best play. Zoro-Juuro only ramps you up when he attacks, so you’ll have to wait until the upcoming turn, but he does give an Active Don. On turn 3 you’ll be at 5 Don, attacking with Zoro-Juuro will put you at 6 Don, but since he’s only a 4,000 Power attacker, in most cases you’ll attach Don to him to force the opponent into playing a Counter card. In some cases, you might opt to avoid attaching a Don to him to play a high-cost card. For example, if you’re going second and attacking with Zoro-Juuro on turn 3, you’ll be at 7 Don, capable of playing 7-cost Sanji.
As for Mr 2 Bon Clay, they’re best played on turn 2 if you’re going second, giving you an Active Don to attach on your Leader and attack for 7,000 Power or play a 1-cost Nami. Mr 2 Bon Clay can match the Power of one of the opponent’s Characters when it goes for the attack, so its pressure relies on what the opponent has in play. When rested, Mr 2 Bon Clay is extremely vulnerable with their 1,000 Power, so you’ll almost always let them go when the opponent attacks them.
Lead Performer “Disaster” is another ramp option, but you won’t be developing anything on the field. Instead, this event draws you a card and ramps an Active Don. It’s best played on turn 2 if you’re going second and you don’t have Mr 2 Bon Clay.
5-cost plays
5-cost Luffy is a Rush attacker that can go for 6,000 Power attacks but will also attach a Don to a Character or your Leader, giving you a more aggressive turn.
As for Queen, he’s more of a value card, drawing 2 cards and trashing one from your hand. You will though have to return 1 Don, so it might not be the best play early into the game. Queen having the Blocker keyword means he can protect from one of the opponent’s attacks.
7-cost Plays
7-cost Eustass”Captain”Kid gives your Leader +1,000 Power that remains on him until the end of the opponent’s turn. This turns Luffy into a 7,000 Power Leader, making it difficult for your opponent’s attacks to go through. However, to get the +1,000 Power you will have to return a Don, so it could prevent you from playing a 10-cost Shanks on the upcoming turn if Eustass”Captain”Kid is played on Don 7. If he’s played on Don 8, you won’t be behind on Don thanks to your Leader’s ramp effect.
As for 7-cost Sanji, you can return 1 Don to activate his effect, gaining the Rush keyword and resting one of the opponent’s 6-cost or less Characters. This allows you to attack that rested Character with your Leader and/or Sanji to KO it and remove an attacker from the opponent’s side.
Aggressive Rusher
6-cost Monkey D.Luffy is an aggressor, a perfect Rush attacker who can attack twice per turn. However, to attack a second time with Luffy, you’ll have to return 2 Active Don, so often you’ll activate this effect when you’re at 8+ Don and you won’t have to worry much about deramping. Keep in mind that activating Luffy‘s second effect will damage your Leader, and being a 3 Life card leader can put him at risk of getting aggroed down by your opponent.
Late Game Characters
9-cost Monkey D. Luffy is your best play when you’re at 9 Don. He’s a 10,000 Power Character that gains the Rush keyword and draws you a card when you return a Don. Returning a Don at 9 Don won’t put you behind on the upcoming turn, you’ll still be at 10 Don, where you can develop a 10-cost Shanks. You can play 9-cost Monkey D. Luffy on Don 8 after ramping with Leader Luffy.
As for 10-cost Shanks, he’s a Rush attacker, putting the 12,000 Power to use on the turn he’s played. Shanks will also reduce the Power of all the opponent’s Characters for as long as he’s in play. This means it’ll be easier for you to KO or to ignore the opponent’s Characters as the opposing player will have to attach more Don to them before attacking to threaten your 6,000 Power Leader.
Gol D. Roger is a late-game finisher play. If either player is at 0 Life cards, the opponent can’t activate Blocker anymore or they’ll automatically lose the game. If the opponent is down to 0 Life cards and has a blocker in play, Gol D. Roger can go for a direct attack on the opponent’s Leader and force them to have enough Counter cards to stop the 13,000 Power attack or lose the game.
Events
Gum-Gum Giant is a powerful defensive event that returns 2 Don to give your Leader or one of your Characters +4,000 Power. It also draws two cards and lets you trash a card from your hand, ensuring you have more plays to make or even find more Counter cards. Since Gum-Gum Giant is returning 2 Don, you want to play when you’re at 8+ Don so you don’t struggle to play your high-cost Characters on the upcoming turn.
Divine Departure is a flexible event that serves two key functions: it can KO an opponent’s Character with 8,000 Power or less, or it can be used as a Counter event to block an attack. To KO a Character, you must return 5 DON!!, making it more effective as a late-game play. After using it, you’ll have 7 DON!! available on your next turn to continue your plays.
+2,000 Counters
2-cost Sanji can target one of your {Straw Hat Crew} type Characters, preventing your opponent from activating their Blocker when that Character attacks. It can be used along with 6-cost Monkey D.Luffy to make use of the effect twice per turn. It can also work with 9-cost Monkey D.Luffy if your opponent is at 0 Life cards and you can go for the finisher play.
Uso-Hachi can be used to rest one of the opponent’s 5-cost or less Characters, enabling you to attack and KO that Character or ignore it if it’s a blocker and focus your attacks on their Leader.
6-cost Sanji is a blocker, but you’ll usually play him as a Counter card. With cards like Divine Departure, you could fall 2 Don behind your opponent, so Sanji is great when played for 3 Don, giving you a Blocker to protect your Leader from an attack.
Mulligan
We’re primarily looking for a ramp card, making sure we can get to 8 Don as fast as possible. Having 9-cost Monkey D.Luffy is also great, as you’ll often want to play him on Don 9 to get the card draw and go for a Rush attack.
Turn-Based Gameplay
Going First
- Turn 1 (1 Don): 1-cost Nami.
- Turn 2 (3 Don): Zoro-Juurou.
- Turn 3 (5 Don 6 Don): If you ramped, you can play 6-cost Monkey D.Luffy, but you can’t Rush attack. You could go for Mr 2 Bon Clay or Queen, but it’s best not to deramp on this turn.
- Turn 4 (7 Don 8 Don): Ramp with Leader Luffy to get to 9 Don and play 9-cost Monkey D.Luffy. If you don’t have Luffy you can consider playing 7-cost Eustass”Captain”Kid or 7-cost Sanji.
- Turn 5 (9 Don 10 Don): 10-cost Shanks or 9-cost Monkey D.Luffy.
- Turn 6 (10 Don): 10-cost Shanks or 9-cost Monkey D.Luffy.
Going Second
- Turn 1 (2 Don): 1-cost Nami.
- Turn 2 (4 Don): Mr 2 Bon Clay or Lead Performer “Disaster”.
- Turn 3 (6 Don 7 Don): 7-cost Eustass”Captain”Kid or 7-cost Sanji
- Turn 4 (8 Don): If we deramped the previous turn, we should be at 8 Don, ramp with Leader and play 9-cost Monkey D.Luffy.
- Turn 5 (10 Don): 10-cost Shanks or 9-cost Monkey D.Luffy.
Other Cards to Include
- 5-cost God Thread is a control event that KO’s one of your opponent’s 5-cost Characters. It also ramps you up by 1 Active Don.
- 7-cost Benn Beckman is a control option capable of KOing one of the opponent’s Characters. Benn Beckman can trash one of the opponent’s Characters with a power of 6,000 or less. The ability to trash instead of KO is more valuable as it bypasses the KO immunity of cards like 4-cost Borsalino and 5-cost Sabo.
- 9-cost Edward Newgate gives your Leader +2,000 Power on the turn he’s played. That +2,000 Power will remain on your Leader until the end of the opponent’s upcoming turn. So with that extra Power, Leader Luffy packs a heavier punch when he attacks and at the same time, it will be difficult for opponents to damage an 8,000 Power Leader.
- 10-cost Monkey D.Luffy can be a late-game winner, returning all your Don to give you an extra turn.
