The Yellow Monkey D.Luffy from the Starter 29 deck is a new Egghead-type Leader with 6 Life cards. This Leader strives on Life card resources, capable of stretching out games until the opponent runs out of steam or can’t defend their Leader anymore.
Yellow Luffy is already seeing success in local tournaments, as it has a lot of strong ST29 cards to support its strategy, and we have access to older cards like Nico Robin and Bonney that fit perfectly with what this deck is trying to do.
Leader
The Yellow Monkey D.Luffy has 6 Life cards, something we don’t see often among Leaders. Red Edward Newgate has 6 Life cards as well, but the difference is that Newgate self-damages himself, so opponents don’t have to commit as many attacks to win the game. Here things are different; our opponent needs at least 7 attacks to go through to close out the game, but this list runs multiple cards that give us Life cards, making it extremely harder for the opposing player to set up a winning turn, especially if they start running out of resources.
Having a lot of Life cards for a Yellow deck means we can gain an edge using Trigger effects, either to control the board, gain resources, or develop more Characters without relying on Don.
Luffy has a When Attacking effect that only activates when you’re at 2 Life cards or less, letting you draw a card and trash a card from your hand. It’s not the strongest effect, as it only filters your hand for better cards, but it doesn’t affect the board state at all.
Decklist
How to Play
Early Searcher
This deck runs a lot of cards with a Trigger effect, so Lilith makes sense as a low-cost searcher, looking at the top 4 cards and letting us add 1 card with a Trigger effect to our hand. We can pick up cards like Sanji, Kikunojo, Nico Robin, or even Bonney, depending on the state of the game and what we’re missing in our hand.
4-cost Plays
Sanji is another searcher, but unlike Lilith, he looks at the top 4 cards of the deck and adds 1 {Straw Hat Crew} type card to our hand. The list has a lot of Straw Hats, like Sanji, Nico Robin, Usopp, and Nami. We’re basically developing a 5,000 Power Character while still gaining a card in our hand. Sanji’s Trigger effect lets us trash a card from hand to play him, and since he’s drawing us a card, we won’t be losing resources from our hand, making him a perfect play to go wider on the field and set up a more aggressive turn.
As for Kikunojo, she can go for stronger attacks thanks to her 6,000 Power, but that does come at a cost of losing her Counter effect. Kikunojo is perfect if you’re going up against a 6,000 Power Leader, capable of threatening a Life card without having to attach Don. Usually, your opponent isn’t too thrilled about KOing Kikunojo since it means you’ll be gaining a Life card if they’re at 3 Life cards or less.
Kikunojo’s Trigger effect lets you play her for free if your opponent is at 3 Life cards or less, gaining a strong attacker without having to commit Don.
Nami Life Loss
If your opponent has 3 Life cards or more, Nami can join in the mid-game to force them to add a Life card to their hand, dropping them lower on Life cards and making it an easier job to set up a winning turn later in the game. Her On Play effect is also attaching a Don to your Leader, so even when played on Don 5, you can still threaten a 6,000 Power attack afterwards.
Your opponent won’t be too happy KOing Nami, as her KO effect lets you play a Character with 6000 power or less from your hand. So a card like 4-cost Kikunojo would be a great development if Nami is KO’d.
Life Card Gain
S-Snake can only activate her effect if you have 2 or more Life cards, letting you add 1 Character with a Trigger effect from your hand at the top of your Life cards, face-up. Ideally, if we have something like a Kikunojo in hand, we’d rather have her in our Life Area to play her for free. S-Snake remains on the board as a 7,000 Power attacker, perfect for threatening attacks.
In some cases, we might need S-Snake for her Trigger effect, shutting down one of the opponent’s 6-cost or less Characters other than Monkey D.Luffy from attacking us for the turn.
Kuma works similarly, but we have to trash a card from our hand to add the top card of our deck to the top of our Life cards. We don’t have control over the card that’s added to our Life Area, but Kuma can also give us another Life card if he’s KO’d. Often, your opponent will avoid KOing Kuma so as not give you the Life card.
We also can’t forget that Kuma gains +2 cost when he’s played and until the end of the opponent’s upcoming turn. This can be useful if your opponent is trying to remove Kuma through an effect that is tied to the cost of the Character.
When played, Nico Robin trashes your top Life card, then adds up to 2 cards from the top of your deck to the top of your Life cards. You’re gaining more Life cards and making it even harder for the opponent to put you low enough to win the game.
Your opponent will likely avoid KOing Nico Robin, so they don’t lose a Life card. So often, they’ll rely on a removal effect or completely ignore Nico Robin, letting use her 8,000 Power to go for heavy attacks and potentially threaten their Leader.
Late Game
Kid is great for trashing an opponent’s Life card, putting you close to setting up a winning turn. If your opponent is at 2 or less Life cards, Kid filters your hand for better cards.
The 9-cost Jewelry Bonney is our strongest play, and she can be a game finisher if your opponent is at 1 Life card. Her On Play effect gives her the Rush keyword, enabling you to put her 10,000 Power to use immediately. Jewelry Bonney also forces the opposing player to put the top card from their Life Area in their hand. They’re not trashing the card, but you now need one less attack to win the game.
If your opponent is at 1 Life card, 9-cost Jewelry Bonney is dropping them to 0 Life cards and going for the lethal attack, which will be tough for the opposing player to Counter. Even at 2 Life cards, you’re dropping your opponent to 1 Life card, setting the stage to win the game on the upcoming turn.
+2,000 Counters
Usopp and Jinbe are a searchable +2,000 Counter. You can search for them through his Trigger effect with Lilith, or have Sanji search for them since they’re a Straw Hat.
Nico Robin is also a searchable +2,000 Counter, and in some cases, you might want to play her for the Blocker keyword.
Events
Blaze Slice can be played either defensively or offensively. If you’re worried opponent is trying to set up a winning play, Blaze Slice gives you a +1,000 Power boost and rests one of their attackers, slowing down their aggression and buying you an extra turn. It can be played on the offense, giving a Power boost to one of your attackers and resting a 4-cost blocker, letting you attack their Leader directly.
If your opponent is down to 0 Life cards, we can use Kizaru!! Compared to Two Years Ago We’re a Hundred Times Stronger Now!! to give our Leader Luffy the Unblockable keyword, shutting down their blockers, and potentially setting up the winning turn. This Event can also be played for it’s Counter effect, giving your Leader a +3,000 Power boost.
Thriller Bark Version
Some lists have been running a Thriller Bark version, running Dr. Hogback and Perona as early 4-costs, and since they have a Trigger effect, we can search for them through Lilith.
Gecko Moria becomes a late-game win condition, letting you place one of your Thriller Bark Characters at the top of your Life cards, giving you more survivability while remaining on the field as a heavy attacker.
Mulligan Tips
Going First: Lilith, Nami, Nico Robin.
Going Second: Lilith, Kikunojo, S-Snake or Kuma.
Closing Words
With Yellow Monkey D.Luffy having 6 Life cards, we can easily push for a late-game, relying on running opponents out of steam and forcing them to lose Life cards through our effects. We don’t have to over-commit attacks on their Leader in the mid-game thanks to those effects, focusing on controlling the board until we can shift our focus on their Leader and try to set up a winning game.
