Table of Contents
Blue Donquixote Doflamingo is an old deck that's evolved with the metas, incorporating new cards to keep up with the top performers. This deck adopts a defensive playstyle and gradually sets up a strong board to unleash multiple attacks on the opponent.
Gameplan
The Blue Doffy deck thrives on synergy with characters from "The Seven Warlords of the Sea" archetype, complementing Leader Donquixote Doflimaingo's ability. By using 3 Don!!! you'll get to look at the top of your deck if it's a 4-cost or less {The Seven Warlords of the Sea} type Character and play it rested on the board. Utilizing cards like ST03-005-dracule-mihawk, ST03-004-gecko-moria, and OP02-054-gecko-moria, you can create threats that the opponent can't ignore.
If you think about it, Donquixote Doflimaingo's ability could get you a 4-cost character for 3 Don!!!, provide card value, and push a +2000 Power attack with your leader.
This deck aims to win the board presence, ensure the opponent doesn't get to freely develop characters, and use low-cost blockers to protect Leader and key characters. The value generation from Leader Doflamingo is needed so you don't run out of resources in the game's later stages.
Managing to drop 4 cost Characters for 3 Don!!! allows you to use that extra Don!!! on either empowering your attacks or developing an additional character. The blockers will prolong the game until your heavy hitters join the battle, allowing you to start striking down the opponent's Leader until you close out the game.
Deck Sorters
Gaining information on the top cards in our deck is valuable knowledge to set up our game plan. Ideally, you want the second card to be one of the 4 cost Characters, allowing you to play it on the board with Donquixote Doflamingo's Leader ability on the upcoming turn.
Cards like Perona and 3c Donquixote Doflamingo grant knowledge into the 5 upcoming draws, from there you'll decide whether you want to keep those cards at the top of the deck and change their order or put them at the bottom to find better cards.
Duval serves a similar purpose but only gives you information on the top 3 cards in your deck.
If you don't find anything that Leader Donquixote Doflamingo can play on your upcoming turn, you might put them all at the bottom of your deck, hoping you find better cards. This does leave you in the unknown, but that could be better than whatever cards you had. It's also matchup dependent, you might not have solid draws for the upcoming turn, but they can find use in the late game.
You want to play these cards before you attack with your Leader, to ensure that the top of your deck has a character you can play on the board. You can also set it up for future turns, for example, on the first card in our deck we'll play with Leader ability, second card we'll draw on the upcoming turn, third card we'll play with Leader ability.
Also, these find use in the late game along with OP06-119-sanji, so make sure the top of your deck has a high-cost character when OP06-119-sanji drops.
Doflamingo's Best Targets
You prefer dropping Gecko Morias on the board, but we don't mind seeing Dracule Mihawk or Boa Hancock on the top of the deck.
Leader Doflamingo's ability plays cards in a rested state, making them vulnerable to attacks. While this diverts attention from your Leader, it may force you to sacrifice Counter cards to prevent rested characters from being KO'ed.
The 6000 Power ST03-004-gecko-moria can be more challenging for opponents to deal with, and will force out Don!!! out of them. As for OP02-054-gecko-moria, you'll get to draw a card from trash, creating value just as it's played on the board.
OP01-078-boa-hancock-706 is one of my favorite cards in the deck, always making me want to attack with my blocker. For one Don, you can get a card draw by attacking with Boa Hancock, making her a value generator, and forcing opponents to remove her off the board as soon as possible. Since you're running a lot of blockers in the deck, you can get away with attacking with Boa Hancock, but you might find yourself in situations where you need her as a blocker and will opt to avoid attacking with her.
Dracule Mihawk is another solid 4-drop you'd like to find at the top of your deck. The ability to draw 2 cards and trash 2 can fix your hand, finding you better cards.
Blockers
Blockers play a pivotal role in protecting your Leader and key characters, enabling you to prolong the game until you can play your win conditions.
ST03-008-trafalgar-law is a 1-cost blocker, easy to develop, and becomes a nuisance for the opponent. A 1-cost blocker means you can develop it along heavy hitters OP01-070-dracule-mihawk and OP06-119-sanji at 10 Don!!!
ST12-014-duval and OP01-073-donquixote-doflamingo are two other low-cost blockers with a useful play effect to look at the top of your deck.
Heavy Hitters
OP01-070-dracule-mihawk is one of your strongest plays, immediately shifting the board's presence in your favor with his removal ability.
OP06-119-sanji playing the top card in your deck allows you to go wide on the board and present an offensive threat. Managing to play cards like OP01-070-dracule-mihawk can be a game swinger.
This is where deck information comes in handy, you can play Sanji when you know you're able to drop a valuable card like Dracule Mihawk, Boa Hancock, or Gecko Moria.
We want to play a deck sorting card on turns 5 or 7, giving us information and the Sanji setup.
Events
Three Thousand Worlds is a great removal tool that puts a 5-cost or less character at the bottom of the owner's deck. The fact that it doesn't KO things means it can deal with characters like Borsalino and Sabo. You can remove potential threats and weaken your opponent's upcoming turn or remove a blocker and pave the way for your attackers to go through.
Gum-Gum Red Roc operates similarly to Three Thousand Worlds but the cost of the opponent's character is irrelevant. This finds better use when dealing with higher-cost targets, especially in Yellow matchups where they drop a 10c Charlotte Linlin.
Gum-Gum Rain is a defensive card to keep your Leader safe and buy you enough time to close out the game. If you feel relatively safe, you can save a character with it to set up a stronger offensive turn.
Techs and Options
Another defensive card that gives you information on the top card in your deck and plays a 2-cost character. This synergizes with ST12-014-duval and OP01-064-alvida. The blocker can be exceptionally useful to take one of your opponent's attacks. If you want to add more 2-cost blockers to the list, OP05-052-maynard is a good candidate.
A protection card to keep your Leader or key character safe. The ability to return a character with a cost of 3 or less might be useful in some situations, but will likely feel awkward if that card can be replayed for value or Counter effect.
The Trigger effect is neat, letting you return a 4-cost or less character back to the owner's hand, effectively weakening their board presence.
General Tips
- Keep track of the cards at the top of your deck. If you look at your top cards and decide to keep them, it's important to know your options and which card Leader Doflamingo will play. This makes it easier to decide whether you want to activate his effect or develop a card from hand.
- In some cases, you might need to draw first before activating Leader Doflamingo's effect. If you know you don't have a {The Seven Warlords of the Sea} type Character at the top of your deck, you can draw first with cards like ST03-005-dracule-mihawk or OP01-078-boa-hancock-706 to have a chance of finding one.
Mulligan Tips
- Early cards that give you information like OP01-077-perona, OP01-073-donquixote-doflamingo, and ST12-014-duval are solid to have in the early game.
- Gecko Morias can put pressure in the mid-game, so having at least one in hand will be enough.
Matchups
Black Gecko Moria
- They have the tools with OP05-093-rob-lucci and OP06-081-absalom to remove your characters/blockers. You'll want to use Three Thousand Worlds to put them at the bottom of the opponent's deck, shutting down the ability for the opponent to replay them through black-gecko-moria-deck-guide.
- Difficult to run this deck out of resources. You want to ensure you keep their board in check as you take it to the late game and start dropping 9c Dracule Mihawk.
- Gum-Gum Red Roc is a solid answer to remove Gecko Moria off the board. The 9,000 attacks can be bothersome and will force you to use your blockers.
Yellow Katakuri
- Watch out for Gedatdu KOing one of your 4-cost characters. You might opt to take the early hits and drop down to 3 Life cards.
- Keep in mind that with every attack on their Leader, you're risking a board development on their side by using the Trigger effect of cards like OP03-113-charlotte-perospero, OP04-104-sanji, and OP05-105-satori.
- Prioritize dealing with their board development. You don't want them to win the board and start freely swinging with multiple Characters.
- OP03-114-charlotte-linlin will be problematic as she takes away your Life Card. OP04-056-gum-gum-red-roc is a great answer to remove her off the board on the spot. Another answer isOP01-070-dracule-mihawk, allowing you to shift the board presence in your favor.
- Outside of ST07-010-charlotte-linlin and OP03-114-charlotte-linlin, your opponent doesn't have the tools to deal with OP01-070-dracule-mihawk and OP06-119-sanji.
Red Purple Law
- You're up against a deck that can set up aggressive attacks with their leader's ability and at the same time can remove your threats.
- Immediately deal with cards that give them Don like ST10-012-bepo and OP05-074-eustasscaptainkid with OP03-057-three-thousand-worlds. You want to shut down their Don value and slow down their pace.
- Blockers will be important to keep your Leader safe and prolong the game.
- OP06-076-hitokiri-kamazo can KO your 1-2 cost blockers.
Closing Words
Blue Donquixote Doflamingo revolves around developing low-cost blockers, prolonging games, and using your heavy hitters as game finishers. It adopts a defensive playstyle, as it slowly takes over the board with Gecko Morias. It's a fun Blue deck to pick up and there's room to alter the list depending on your liking.
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