The ban of 8-cost Gecko Moria has made things awkward for many Black decks, but one deck that was hit especially hard is Black Yellow Monkey D. Luffy. Gecko Moria was the deck’s strongest card, enabling powerful late-game combos by flooding the field and setting up multiple attacks.
With Moria gone, most players have dropped the Leader entirely. However, with the addition of PRB02 Portagas.D.Ace, things are looking brighter for the BY Luffy deck.
In this article, I’ll share a standard Black Yellow Luffy for OP12 meta, and I’ll explain the general game plan of the deck and other cards you can include to change up the list to your liking.
Leader
Leader Monkey.D.Luffy doesn’t offer much in the early game. You’ll want to take as much damage as possible early into the game until you drop to 0 life cards. From there, you can attach two Don to Leader, bring back two adult brothers (Sabo, Luffy, or Ace), and put them in your life Area.
Taking damage on Leader while there’s a face-card in your Life area means it won’t go to trash, due to Luffy changing the rules. Instead, it’ll go to the bottom of the deck, which hurts our plans.
When activating Luffy‘s effect, we have to trash one card from our hand. The card we choose depends on the situation of the game. Usually, we’ll trash 5-cost Adult brothers we want to bring back through the Leader effect. Ace is perfect to Trash since we can’t use him as a counter card. Once we place those 2 Adults in our Life Area, we can cheat them out through their kid versions.
BY Luffy Decklist
How to Play BY Luffy
The Black Yellow Luffy deck is combo-oriented, aiming to drop to 0 Life cards to activate the Leader effect and start cheating out the 5-cost Adult brothers. Each Adult brings a unique strength: For example, Rush Ace applies immediate pressure, Luffy helps you reach 0 Life faster while setting up powerful attacks, and Sabo provides reliable defense as a blocker.
The Kid brothers offer power boosts that strengthen your Leader’s attacks, making it harder for your opponent to defend. The Power boost sticks during your opponent’s turn, so they add a layer of protection, making it harder for the opposing player to get their attacks through. Because the combo plays are so important to your strategy, we include searchers to improve consistency and help you find the right pieces when you need them.
Searchers
Monkey D.Garp and The Three Brothers’ Bond can look at the top 5 cards of your deck to add a Sabo, Luffy, or Ace to your hand. So you can add one of your 2-cost or 5-cost Characters to your hand, depending on what you’re missing to execute your strategy. The searcher cards add consistency to your game plan, allowing you to make your combo plays.
Kid Brothers
The Kid brothers are a key part of your combo strategy, but timing their use is crucial. Ideally, you want to hold them until you have an Adult brother on top of your Life Area. While you can play them early, doing so risks them being removed by your opponent, which can set you back. That’s why it’s important to understand your opponent’s removal options in the matchup.
The goal is to pair each Kid with their corresponding Adult. Make sure to activate the correct Kid when their matching Adult is at the top of your Life Area. For example, if 5-cost Luffy is on top of your Life Area and 5-cost Sabo is underneath, you should activate 2-cost Luffy first to play the 5-cost Luffy. Then, activate 2-cost Sabo to play the 5-cost Sabo afterward. The 2-cost Kids not only cheat out their adult versions, but also give your Leader a +2,000 Power boost until the end of your opponent’s upcoming turn. So, you’re going for a heavier attack while also making it harder for the opposing player to get attacks through.
To set up Adults in your Life Area, you can rely on your Leader effect once you’re at 0 Life, or use cards like Kouzuki Hiyori, which we’ll cover later in the guide.
Adult Brothers
5-cost Monkey.D.Luffy is one of the best cards to play as early as possible. He’s a self-damage Leader who you’ll want to activate whenever possible. Even if you can’t attack with Luffy, activating his effect puts us one step closer to dropping to 0 Life Cards. Luffy gains +2,000 Power until the start of your next turn, dishing out stronger attacks while being a more pesky Character to remove. Although you’re trashing a card through Luffy, you’re still getting a draw, adding a card to your hand, and not falling behind on resources.
Be careful not to put your Leader at risk of losing the game. Only drop to 0 Life Cards when you can activate your Leader’s effect and boost up your Leader’s Power.
As for 5-cost Sabos, they’re valuable blockers that play a crucial role in preventing the opponent from winning the game through one high-power attack. Being at 0 Life Cards puts us at risk of losing the game from one heavy attack. Even with the Power boost from the kids, it can be a challenge to counter an attack boosted with all Dons.
This is where 5-cost Sabo comes into play; having a blocker on the board means the opponent can’t attach all their Don on one attacker to win the game. 5-cost Sabo messes up that plan and forces the opposing player to split their Don into multiple attacks or change their play entirely. This makes it easier for you to counter their attacks and stay in the game.
5-cost Black Sabo‘s On Play effect lets you filter your hand for better cards, drawing 2 cards and trashing 2 from your hand. He’ll also give all Characters in play KO immunity, which can ruin the opponent’s upcoming turn depending on the deck they play.
As for the Yellow Sabo, he’s usually the better option in the early to mid game, letting you add one Life card to your hand and drawing you 2 cards and trashing 1. Yellow Sabo helps you push to 0 Life cards, gives you an extra card, and filters your hand for better cards.
PRB02 Ace is the star of the show, giving us the value we need to keep going in the late game. You want to play 5-cost Ace if you have a face-up card at the top of your Life card, which isn’t a difficult condition to meet thanks to our Leader’s effect. Ace then lets you play one of your 2-cost Kid brothers from your trash.
If you’re getting Adult Ace through your Leader effect, you want to place him on the top of your Life Area so that when you cheat him on the field, you’ll have another face-up Life card to get another kid brother and cheat out the second Adult brother.
You’re developing a 7,000 Power attacker while having access to your trash to get the kid brother you need the most, depending on the scenario of the game.
5-cost Portgas.D.Ace is an aggressive attacker with his Rush, joining the board and immediately creating an opportunity to attack. You’ll need to be at 2 Life cards or less to gain Rush, which isn’t difficult for this deck to accomplish.
Control Cards
Another 5-cost Rocket Monkey.D.Luffy card that we can play through Kid Luffy! This one can control the board through his effect, KOing a 4-cost or less Character and going to the trash in the process. This might not seem worth it, but you’re gaining a card draw when activating the effect, so gaining value over the opponent. Rocket Monkey.D.Luffy can remove a problematic Character or a 4-cost or less Blocker, enabling you to attack the opponent’s Leader directly without being interrupted. You could include cost-reduction cards to remove higher-cost targets with Rocket Luffy.
The 2-cost Zeus puts a Life card in your hand, putting you closer to the 0 Life card mark and activating its effect to KO a 5-cost or less Character. This can be a huge play to put your opponent behind on the field or to remove a blocker.
You can include Slam Gibson in the list to deal with high-cost win conditions without having to attack them. By resting 5 Don, Slam Gibson places a 9-cost or less Character at the top or bottom of the opponent’s Life card, making it harder for them to set up a winning turn and potentially falling behind on the board.
If you’re at 10 Don, you can play Slam Gibson to remove a Character and have 4 Don left. 2 Don to activate your Leader’s effect and then play a 2-cost Ace to cheat PRB02 Ace along with another Kid to play your second Adult.
If there’s no Character worth removing, Slam Gibson can still be used for its Counter effect, giving your Leader a +3,000 Power boost.
Self-damage
Self-damage cards are important if the opponent avoids attacking our Leader, trying to delay our Leader’s effect. Charlotte Flampe is our best choice for 1-cost only. If we’re down to 1 Life card, Flampe can deal that 1 damage to Leader Luffy, give us a card draw, and start the combo plan. You can also play Charlotte Flampe early into the game; you’re getting closer to 0 Life cards while gaining a card draw to find the cards you need.
Kouzuki Hiyori can add a card from your hand to the top of your Life cards. So we could add one of the Adults to the top Life cards and activate a Kid’s effect. This allows us to cheat out an adult Character in the early to mid-game before having to rely on the Leader effect.
General Tips
- You can use adult cards like Monkey.D.Luffy for their +1000 counter. You can later pull them from the trash and onto your Life Area.
- Understand when you’re able to take damage. You’re playing a deck that wants to drop down to 0 Life Cards and start taking advantage of Leader’s ability. This might put you in rough situations where the opponent could close out the game. Knowing different matchups, keeping an eye on the opponent’s Don!!!, and what they’re capable of is essential to surviving those turns.
- Although we’re gaining a lot of Power through the three kid brothers, your opponent can still set up one heavy swing with all their Don!!! to end the game. This is where blockers are crucial to survive on the defensive turn. A blocker or two on the board will force the opponent to commit their Don!!! on two or three attackers to damage your leader. This makes it easier for you to Counter any attack that might go through. They could have removal tools to deal with your blocker, but it still requires them to use up Don!!!, weakening their attack.
- Make sure you’ve activated your Kids’ abilities and gained the Power boost before you go for the attack with your Leader. You’re able to threaten. 9,000 or 11,000 Power attack with your Leader.
- Choose the cards you need the least to trash through Sabo‘s. You can also trash Adult brothers to place them in your Life Area through your Leader effect.
Mulligan Tips
- Early searcher cards Monkey D.Garp and Three Brothers’ Bond.
- Zeus for early board control.
- 5-cost Luffy or Sabo for the self-damage.
Turn-Based Gameplay
Going First
- Turn 1 (1 Don): Searcher card like Monkey.D.Garp or The Three Brothers Bond. Charlotte Flampe, if you don’t have a searcher.
- Turn 2 (3 Don): Searcher card like Monkey.D.Garp or The Three Brothers Bond. Charlotte Flampe to drop lower on Life cards.
- Turn 3 (5 Don): 5c Monkey.D.Luffy to self-damage your Leader.
- Turn 4 (7 Don): 5-cost Sabo or Luffy. If you’re at 1 Life card. Drop to 0 Life cards with Charlotte Flampe, activate the Leader effect, and play 2 Kids to cheat out 2 Adult brothers.
- Turn 5 (9 Don): We should be able to activate our Leader effect by now, trying to cheat out 2 Adult brothers to overwhelm the opposing player. Having a Blocker makes it exceptionally harder for the opponent to set up a winning turn.
- Turn 6 (10 Don): Continue trying to activate your Leader effect and building up your field. You want to have a Blocker to protect your Leader if at 0 Life cards.
Going Second
- Turn 1 (2 Don): Searcher card like Monkey.D.Garp or The Three Brothers Bond. Charlotte Flampe to drop lower on Life cards.
- Turn 2 (4 Don): Kouzuki Hiyori combo to cheat out a 5-cost Adult using one of your Kids. Alternatively, can play Makino to potentially cheat out an Adult Brother.
- Turn 3 (6 Don): Either of the 5-cost Monkey.D.Luffys. If you want to KO a Character, use the Rocket Luffy to control the board. Ace is an option since you’ll likely be at 2 Life cards or less.
- Turn 4 (8 Don): Drop to 0 Life cards, and start your Kid + Leader effect combo.
- Turn 5 (10 Don): Continue trying to activate your Leader effect and building up your field. You want to have a Blocker to protect your Leader if at 0 Life cards.
Other Cards to Include
- Black Vortex is a tech choice to counter the popular Green Roronoa Zoro, but it can still be useful in different matchups. It negates the effect of one of the opponent’s Leaders or Characters and gives a -4,000 Power reduction, perfect for protecting your Leader and pushing for additional turns.
- Gum-Gum Fire-Fist Pistol Red Hawk can KO a Character with a cost of 5 or less, great for keeping control in the mid-game or removing a blocker. It can also be used for its Counter effect to give your Leader a +3,000 Power boost.
- Kuzan is a cost-reduction card, helping us KO high-cost threats with 5-cost Monkey.D.Luffy or Zeus. Don 4 can be awkward, so having Kuzan on the list makes for a great play, drawing you a card and keeping the threat of a -4-cost reduction active on the field.
- 5-cost Sabo adds a Life card in your hand to KO a 5-cost or less Character, shifting the field presence in your favor.
- Makino adds a Life card to your hand, but also allows you to reorder the rest of your Life cards. This means if we find a 5-cost Adult brother, we can move it to the top of our Life Area to cheat it out with one of the Kid brothers.
- 10c Kuzan is for games that stretch out too long, KOing a 5-cost card on play and presenting a threat with his high power for the remainder of the game.
Closing Words
With the addition of PRB02 Ace and OP12 Sabo, Black Yellow Luffy has a chance of pushing itself back in the meta. The deck was missing that value card to consistently playout your Adult brothers from your Life Area, making sure you don’t run out of powerful games as games stretch out.
