Hey Nakamas! Black Yellow Luffy is one of the best choices for competitive One Piece. It’s been the go-to choice for many players in OP08 and OP09 metas. This guide and list are for both OP09/OP09 and I’ll share other cards you can add to the list depending on your preference or the meta shifts.
Decklist
4xEB01-056
2xOP02-096
2xOP02-117
4xOP04-083
4xOP06-086
4xOP06-106
4xOP07-109
1xST13-003
4xST13-007
3xST13-010
3xST13-011
2xST13-012
4xST13-013
4xST13-014
4xST13-015
2xST13-019How to Play
Early into the game, we’re more focused on using our searchers to look for the right pieces and squeeze in early damage. Charlotte Flampe can play early on to self-damage and draw a card.
Self-damage is important to get closer to 0 Life Cards, so we want to take any early hits the opponent throws. Once we’re down to 0 Life Cards, this is where Leader Luffy takes control of the ship. Attaching 2 Don at him, lets us look at our trash and put two 5-cost cards in our Life Area, face up. So we’ll put our Adult brothers and play the kid brothers. Through Kid brothers, we’ll play out those adults on the board and boost our Leader’s power by +2k for each kid activated. This adds to our offensive and defensive pressure and creates a stronger board.
Gecko Moria is a value card we want to play on Don 10 to play the kid brother from Trash and use the Leader effect to set up the combo play.
Let’s go into more detail and showcase the cards!
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, and put them in your life card.
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 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. If we have multiple Gecko Morias, the chances are, we won’t play more than two in one game, so we can trash one of them.
Kid Brothers
The Kid brothers are a key part of your combo game plan. You’ll want to hold onto them until you have an adult brother at the top of our deck.
You could play them early into the game, but you’ll risk having your opponent remove them, which disrupts your game plan.
We want to synergize the kids with Adults, so make sure to activate the correct Kid with the Adult brother on the top of the life area. For example, if we have 5c Sabo on the top of the life area and at the bottom we have Luffy, we’ll activate 2c Sabo first and play out the Sabo then follow it up with activating 2c Luffy.
Adult Brothers
5c 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.
Be careful not to put your Leader at risk of losing the game. Only drop to 0 Life Cards when you can activate the Leader effect and boost up your Leader Power by +4k.
5c 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.
As for 5 Sabo, he’s a valuable blocker who is crucial to not losing the game from one big attack. Being at 0 Life Cards puts us at risk of losing the game from one high-power attack. Even with the +4k Power boost, it can be a challenge to Counter an attack boosted with all Dons.
This is where 5c 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. 5c 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.
Another 5c 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.
Kuzan and Ice Age are cost reduction cards, helping us KO high-cost threats with 5c Monkey.D.Luffy. 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.
Self-Damage
Self-damage cards are important if the opponent avoids attacking our Leader, trying to delay our Leader 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, give us a card draw, and start out a combo plan.
Other options are Kouziki Hiyori and Makino. Kouzuki Hiyori can add a card from hand to the top of our Life cards. So we could add one of the Adults to the top Life cards and activate a Kid’s effect.
We can use the Kouzuki Hiyori combo in the mid-game even if it’s not putting us at 0 Life cards, adding more pressure on the opponent through the Power boost we gain from the kid, and we’re still getting closer to 0 Life cards.
Moria Combo
At 10 Don, we can play Gecko Moria for the combo play. You want to be at 0 Life cards and have two Kids in the trash for Gecko Moria to find value.
With Gecko Moria, you can bring back two of the Kid brothers from the trash and play them on the board. With the remaining 2 Don, you’ll activate the Leader effect, place 2 Adults in the Life card, and activate the Kids.
From there, you’re developing three Characters on the board and giving Leader a +4k Power boost. A huge turn for you to shift the game in your favor.
If you’re going for more aggression, Ace is perfect, but in most cases, you’ll value the Sabo more, to ensure the opponent can’t win the game on the upcoming turn and rely on Gecko Moria for those high 9,000 Power attacks later on in the game.
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 if you don’t have a searcher. 2 Don attack with Leader.
- Turn 3 (5 Don): 5c Monkey.D.Luffy that self damages you.
- Turn 4 (7 Don): If you’re at 1 Life card. Drop to 0 Life cards with Charlotte Flampe, and activate the Leader effect, play 2 Kids.
- Turn 5 (9 Don): Activate the Leader effect and play 2 kids.
- Turn 6 (10 Don): Gecko Moria + Leader effect combo.
Going Second
- Turn 1 (2 Don): Searcher card like Monkey.D.Garp or The Three Brothers Bond. Charlotte Flampe if you don’t have a searcher.
- Turn 2 (4 Don): Searcher card like Monkey.D.Garp or The Three Brothers Bond. Kouzuki Hiyori combo to cheat out a 5-cost Adult using one of your Kids.
- Turn 3 (6 Don): Either of the 5c Monkey.D.Luffys. If you want to KO a Character, use the OP07 Luffy to control the board. Ace is an option since you’ll likely be at 2 Life cards at least.
- Turn 4 (8 Don): Drop to 0 Life cards, and start your Kid + Leader effect combo.
- Turn 5 (10 Don): Gecko Moria + Leader effect combo.
Other Cards to Include
- Finger Pistol is a popular inclusion in the Black Yellow Luffy lists, allowing you to KO a 5-cost or less Character. Its trigger effect activates the card’s Main effect, allowing you to KO a Character without the need to spend Don.
- 8-cost Issho is a good addition for slow matchups. It lets you trash two of the opponent’s cards if they’re holding onto 6 or more cards, cutting down on their resources, and acts as a cost reduction card when 1 Don is attached to him.
- 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.