Table of Contents
The Purple Black Monkey D. Luffy deck is known for its many deramp cards in its list, returning Don to activate your cards' powerful effects. Usually, most decks would avoid deramping until the late game in order not to fall behind their opponents in Don. However, with Purple Black OP09-061-monkeydluffy you're not too worried about deramping in the early game, in fact, you welcome it, increasing your impact on each turn and allowing you to make certain plays without worrying about the number of Don cards you have left.
In this guide, I'll explain how the Purple Black OP09-061-monkeydluffy works, its game plan, tech cards you can add, and how to approach different matchups. Let's get started!
Gameplan
Black Purple OP09-061-monkeydluffy has two effects: increase the cost of your Characters by 1 and Ramp up 2 Don during your turn.
There is a condition for each to activate. To gain +1 cost on all your Characters on the field, you have to attach 1 Don to your Leader. The +1 cost will stick until the start of your upcoming turn, which means that some decks might struggle to control your side of the field if they rely on reducing the cost of your Characters to remove through their effects. Additionally, ST14-003-sanji needs to see a 6-cost Character to activate his effect, so with your Leader's +1-cost, you can turn ST14-003-sanji into a 6-cost Character, making him self-activate his KO effect.
Now for the fun part, OP09-061-monkeydluffy's ramp mechanic! To ramp with OP09-061-monkeydluffy you need to return 2 Don or more during your, which will trigger your Leaders effect, allowing you to add 1 Active and 1 Rested Don. Although we're technically not "ramping" up, we are gaining an Active Don for the turn and activating extremely strong effects without having to worry about the drawbacks of those effects. Characters such as OP09-072-franky and OP09-065-sanji won't put you behind on Don when played in the mid-game thanks to your leader's effect.
Ramp Characters
Early Ramp cards help get us to our high-cost Characters faster, playing them a turn earlier than usual. OP09-076-roronoa-zoro returns 1 or more Don to ramp you up with 1 Active Don. We want to return 2 Don with OP09-076-roronoa-zoro and gain an Active Don, we then will activate Leader effect to ramp another 2 Don (1 Active and 1 Rested).
EB01-061-mr2bonkurei-bentham is another Ramp option, giving you an Active Don when he's played. EB01-061-mr2bonkurei-bentham copies the power of one of the opponent's Characters, so if they have a high-power Character in play, EB01-061-mr2bonkurei-bentham can go for a heavy attack. You often won't protect EB01-061-mr2bonkurei-bentham when rested, having only 1,000 Power makes him vulnerable to opponent's attacks.
Blockers
OP09-072-franky is your best defensive value Blocker, returning 2 Don to draw 2 cards and trash 1. You're gaining more cards in your hand, triggering your Leader's ramp effect to gain an Active Don, and developing a 5,000 Power blocker that can be used offensively if you wish to.
As for ST18-002-o-nami, she's similar to OP09-072-franky, giving you draw value but will only activate if you're at 8 or more Don cards. She'll mainly be used for her Blocker keyword as she offers nothing offensively.
OP07-064-sanji will mainly be used as a +2,000 Counter, but in some cases, you can play his as a blocker to protect you. If you have 2 less Don than your opponent, OP07-064-sanji becomes a 3-cost Character, way easier to play from hand.
Mid Game Control
ST14-003-sanji is your strongest control card in the early game, which can be played at Don 6 or more. To activate ST14-003-sanji KO effect, you need to have a 6-cost Character in play. We'll attach a Don to our Leader and then play ST14-003-sanji to KO a 5-cost or less Character.
As for OP09-065-sanji, you'll return 2 Don with his effect to trigger your Leader's effect, resting one of the opponent's 6-cost or less Characters and gaining Rush on OP09-065-sanji. OP09-065-sanji's 7,000 Power + the Active Don you gained can be used to attack the rested Character and KO it, weakening the opponent's upcoming turn.
OP03-074-top-knot is a great low-cost removal Event that places a 4-cost or less Character at the bottom of the opponent's deck. This means we don't have to worry about our opponent having a KO immunity, removing the likes of OP04-083-sabo. We can combo OP03-074-top-knot with OP05-081-one-legged-toy-soldier to target up to 7-cost Characters.
Late Game Plays
We're taking advantage of OP09-061-monkeydluffy's Black color, adding OP06-086-gecko-moria into the list as a value Character that cheats out two Characters from trash. The 4-cost Character you'll cheat out will often be OP09-072-franky for the extra draws and your second Character can be OP09-069-trafalgar-law for the searcher draw.
However, if you're at 10 Don, you can instead play OP05-081-one-legged-toy-soldier through Gecko Moria for the -3 cost reduction and remove a 7-cost or less with OP03-074-top-knot.
Both ST04-003-kaido-400 and OP09-119-monkeydluffy can go for Rush attacks, putting the 10,000 Power to use on the turn they're played. OP09-119-monkeydluffy gives you a card draw and is best played when there's a rested Character for you to attack. However, if your opponent has an Active Character with a cost of 6 or less, then ST04-003-kaido-400 is the better play.
Winning Turn
OP05-119-monkeydluffy is usually played when you're confident you can win the game. After you've attacked with all your Characters, you can play OP05-119-monkeydluffy to return 10 Don and return all your Characters to the bottom of your deck. You'll then ramp back with your Leader, and with the Active Don, you'll activate OP05-119-monkeydluffy's ramp effect, gaining an Active Don, which you'll attach to your Leader and go for an attack.
Then when you end your turn, you'll start a new one at 5 Don. You can attack with your Leader + OP05-119-monkeydluffy to win the game, and the 5 Don can be used to boost your Leader's attack. If you're not confident you can win, you can use the 5 Don to play a blocker and try pushing the game an extra turn.
Thanks to your leader's ramp effect, you're not falling too behind on Don if you don't manage to win the game on the turn OP05-119-monkeydluffy.
Counter Events
Since we have multiple cards with no Counter effects, we could use OP03-072-gum-gum-jet-gatling for the +3,000 Power boost by trashing a card we don't need.
As for OP09-078-gum-gum-giant, it's deramping for 2 Don and giving a +4,000 Power boost + 2 draws and trash 1 card. You're gaining more cards in your hand and a huge defensive Power boost. Keep in mind that your leader's ramp effect can only be activated during your turn, so you won't get back 2 Don when playing OP09-078-gum-gum-giant.
Techs and Options
A low-cost blocker that can filter your hand for a better card. You'd mainly add OP06-073-shiki so you can cheat it out with Gecko Moria when needed.
A +2,000 Counter card which can be searched by OP09-069-trafalgar-law. If played on the field, OP09-074-bepo gives your leader or one of your Characters +1,000 Power (once per turn) when you return a Don card. This add more power to your attacks, forcing Counter cards from your opponent.
General Tips
- Multiple cards give you the freedom to return any number of Don to your deck. It's important you return 2 Don rather than just 1 to activate your leader's affect and gain back the 2 Don you just returned.
- The list is heavy on Counter and blockers, so in the late game, you can start shifting your focus on the opponent's leader rather than controlling the field, trying to close out games quickly while knowing you have the defensive power to survive their attacks or even protect your rested Characters.
- Make use of the Active Don you gain from your leader's effect. The Active Don can be used for more Power in your attacks, play a low-cost Character, or bank the Don to play OP09-078-gum-gum-giant during your opponent's turn.
Mulligan Tips
- Early searcher to help you plan your upcoming turns.
- Ramp cards OP09-076-roronoa-zoro or EB01-061-mr2bonkurei-bentham to speed things up. OP09-076-roronoa-zoro is great if you're going first.
- You can't go wrong with having ST14-003-sanji, making sure you are not losing the early/mid game.
Important Matchups
Blue Doflamingo
- You're up against an aggressive deck that tries to develop multiple Characters a turn and unleash their attacks on your Leader.
- OP03-074-top-knot will be important there to remove a 4-cost character, slowing opponent down.
- ST14-003-sanji is a premium card in this matchup, helping you slow your opponent down.
- ST04-003-kaido-400 is your best late-game option, KOing a 6-cost Characters or less like ST04-003-kaido-400 and going for an attack to KO a rested Character.
Red Shanks
- Shanks can reduce the Power of your attacks with his effect, helping him prolong the game until the OP09-004-shanks take over.
- OP09-009-bennbeckman and OP08-118-silvers-rayleigh can remove one of your 6,000 Power or less Character, so ST14-003-sanji is usually the easy target. However, your higher Power Characters will force them to play Power reduction cards to put them in range.
- You're going to ignore the OP09-004-shanks and focus your attacks on their Leader, trying to win the game. You have the defensive cards to stay int he game for a couple of turns, especially with the help of your blockers, so trying to put them down to 0 Life cards and go for the finisher is usually the best approach.
Black Marshal D. Teach
- We're going up against a control deck that can shut us from activating On Play effects. They could go as early as turn 2, preventing us from ramping, activating KO effects, and gaining Rush on our Characters.
- OP03-074-top-knot will be a key control event since your opponent can't shut it off. It'll be a great answer for OP09-086-jesus-burgess that can turn into a win condition in the late game.
- Since your opponent is forced to continously activate their Leader effect, they will be burning their resources, making it easier for us to get our attacks through. We'll play Characters despite not being able to activate their On Play effect, having them in play as attacks to try and win the game.
- OP09-093-marshalldteach is how your opponent will slow you down, preventing a Character from attacking having a 12,000 Power to block your attack. The only way to win from here is to have multiple Characters in play ready to attack, their OP09-093-marshalldteach can only block one of them.
Black Yellow Luffy
- Against Black Yellow Luffy, you'll avoid attacking their leader early into the game. They want to fall to 0 Life cards and start activating ST13-003-monkeydluffy effect + OP06-086-gecko-moria to gain +4,000 Power on their Leader and cheat out 2 adult brothers.
- ST14-003-sanji is great to KO their ST13-015-monkeydluff and stop them from self damaging. OP02-096-kuzan is another target we want to remove to prevent the cost reduction effect.
- OP03-074-top-knot + OP05-081-one-legged-toy-soldier can remove a OP04-083-sabo from play, a key card in your opponent's strategy.
- Having multiple high-power Characters is how we win games, going for attacks on their 0 Life leader even when he's at 9,000 Power just to force Counter cards or have them use their blockers.
Closing Words
Black Purple OP09-061-monkeydluffy has been a fun deck to play in OP09 meta, combining Purple ramp mechanic with Black control cards to create a strong deck that can rush things and start dropping high-cost Characters while making use of valuable effects without worrying about their deramp drawback.
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