Red Yellow Sabo Deck Guide

Learn how to play Red Yellow Sabo in One Piece Card Game with our in-depth guide.

Red Yellow ST13-001-sabo is one of the three brothers in the Ultra Deck ST13 deck! Similarly to ST13-003-monkeydluffy and ST13-002-portgasdace, he also places cards face-up at the top of the Life Area. However, unlike the two brothers, Sabo puts cards from the board onto the Life Area and gives a Power boost for offensive power. The Red Yellow deck capitalizes on that damage boost to set up aggressive attacks.

You could go for a Revolutionary Army Sabo deck, but this aggressive Rush version is more consistent and should perform better competitively.

To learn to play the other brothers' decks:

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Gameplan

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ST13-001-sabo's effect lets us put one of our characters with a cost of 3 or more and 7000+ Power into our Life Area, enabling Sabo to give another character on the board +2000 Power boost until the start of our next turn.

Activating the effect means we'll lose on the board presence but we'll gain additional Life that some of the cards in the deck can take advantage of and allow us to set up stronger attacks.

The ST13-001-sabo deck wants to be played aggressively, setting up powerful attacks that can be difficult for opponents to deal with, while also using our Life Area as a resource and protection not to lose the game.

This deck runs Rush characters like ST13-011-portgasdace and ST01-012-monkeydluffy-938 to create immediate threats on the board. With Sabo's Power boost, you can add to that aggression, forcing more counter cards out of the opponent.

Usually, you'll start activating Sabo's effect by turn 4, setting up those heavy attacks that will be challenging to deal with. If you have the kid+adult combo play, then you're able to bring back the card you've placed at the top of the Life Area on the same turn, and go for another Rush attack.

The best way to describe this deck is that it's a glass cannon, with a lot of aggressive power, but lacks defensive/removal tools to maintain board control. This could end up with opponents winning the board and attacking multiple times on your Leader. This is where Trigger cards come in handy since we're able to put them at the top of our Life Area with Sabo's effect, providing us with an additional Life and a trigger effect.

Trigger cards are also important since this deck doesn't heavily rely on the kid + adult brothers combo, because we can't reliably get access to those cards like the other Leaders ST13-003-monkeydluffy and ST13-002-portgasdace.

Two Kids

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This list cuts out ST13-008-sabo and ST13-008-sabo since it focuses more on maximizing aggression rather than controlling the board.

Both kids need to see their adult version at the top of the Life Area to activate their effects, playing out the adult version and giving your Leader a +2000 Power boost.

We're not relying on any luck in this deck! So before we activate the kids' effects we need to make sure we have their adult version at the top of our Life Area. To do that, we'll play the adult versions on the board, have them attack for at least 7,000 Power, and with Leader Sabo's effect, we can place them back into our Life Area, boost another character by +2000, and then replay them on the board using the kids' effect and boost Leader Power by +2000.

We're doing a lot of power boosting so sequencing is important to take advantage of that power boosts and set up powerful attacks! We want to hold our attack with Leader and a Character on the board until we give them the additional Power boost and then we go for the attack!

Two Rush Adults

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Although the order Leader brothers use Yellow ST13-015-monkeydluffy in their lists, Red Yellow Sabo replaces it with Red ST01-012-monkeydluffy-938 in this deck for the added pressure!

Since ST01-012-monkeydluffy-938[/cards] is a 5-cost character, kid [card]ST13-014-monkeydluffy can play him from the Life Area. This gives us two Rush characters ST13-011-portgasdace and ST01-012-monkeydluffy-938 that enable our aggressive game plan.

Playing one of your Rush characters, going for a 7,000 Power attack, and then placing them back in the Life Area with Sabo's effect forces answers out of the opponent. Additionally, we're representing a second attack with our Rush character once we drop them on the board using our kids' effects.

ST13-011-portgasdace and ST01-012-monkeydluffy-938 are the main aggressors that you'll leverage to keep the pressure on the opponent and force Counter cards out of them.

ST01-012-monkeydluffy-938 goes the extra mile, ignoring any blockers opponent has if he has 2 Don!!!. He can be a massive game-finisher to close out games.

A Third Rusher

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Since we're planning to use Rush cards as tools to push more damage, and in some scenarios, we might only have one Character on the board, so we don't get value out of Sabo's +2000 Power boost. A low-cost Rush Character like Zoro will come in handy to keep our aggression going.

The Triggers

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Trigger cards synergize with Leader Sabo's effect since we can place them in our Life Area, leave them there as extra protection to our Leader, and play them on the board once the opponent damages Leader. This activates our Trigger card and can now play it without spending Don!!!.

OP05-105-satori is a bit expensive to play for 5 Don, so you'll likely use it for its +2000 Counter. As for, OP06-110-nekomamushi and OP06-104-kikunojo they're both troublesome for the opponent, with OP06-110-nekomamushi threatening to KO active Characters and OP06-104-kikunojo offering an additional Life Card if KO'd.

If you're planning to put them in your Life Area, you want to attach Don!!! to them and put them at 7000 Power when attacking. Both OP06-110-nekomamushi and OP06-104-kikunojo don't require you to trash any cards in your hand to play them on the board, making them perfect setup and ensuring you don't lose on board presence when activating Leader Sabo's effect.

Events

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OP06-115-youre-the-one-who-should-disappear is a 0-cost Event to protect your Leader or one of your characters. Since we're using a lot of our Don!!! for offensive power, trashing a card might be more worthwile than using a Don!!! defensively.

On the other hand, OP05-115-two-hundred-million-volts-amaru is an offensive event, which you'll usually use to rest a 4-cost blocker and strike their Leader. Even if opponent doesn't have a blocker, OP05-115-two-hundred-million-volts-amaru can still be used offensively since it gives a +3000 Power boost for 2 Don!!!.


Techs and Options

OP06-107-kouzuki-momonosuke: A blocker that synergizes with cards like OP06-104-kikunojo and OP06-106-kouzuki-hiyori to put in your Life Area and add additional protection for Leader. You'll replace OP06-110-nekomamushi for OP06-107-kouzuki-momonosuke.

ST10-006-monkeydluffy: A big finisher play for the late-game finds most use against slow matchups. The Rush + 11,000 Power should be difficult for most decks to deal with.

OP06-009-shuraiya: A 3-cost blocker with offensive value as well. Can find use in both situations depending on the matchup.

OP01-029-radical-beam: Since we're aiming to be at 2 Life Cards most of the time to activate ST13-011-portgasdace 's Rush ability, OP01-029-radical-beam is a solid defensive tool to protect your Leader and give you an extra turn for a full-on attack.

EB01 Cards

You'll likely add these cards once EB01 cards are out for the West.

EB01-003-kid-killer: A Rush attacker you'll want to play when the opponent is down to two life cards. When attacking, you'll gain +2000 Power, putting Kid & Killer at that sweet 7000 Power mark.

EB01-056-charlotte-flampe: Can be used as a value card with Leader Sabo's ability. If you have a Rush attacker at the top of your Life Area, you can put it in hand with Charlotte Flampe.


General Tips

  • Make sure to boost the attacker's power to 7000 or more if you're planning to place them in your Life Area.

  • Activate your kids' effect before you attack with ST13-001-sabo. You want to benefit from the +2000 Power boost, not just defensively, but also offensively.

  • You want to play aggressively, prioritize attacking the opponent's leader, and drop them down to 1 Life Card as early as possible.

  • You can keep one of your Rush attackers safe from getting KO'd. Put the Rush attacker at the top of the Life Area with Leader Sabo's ability and leave them there. This lets you replay them on the upcoming turn if the opponent damages Leader Sabo. This is mostly valuable with ST01-012-monkeydluffy-938 since he can dodge blockers.

Mulligan Tips

  • ST13-013-monkeydgarp is an early searcher to find the right brothers to set up the combo play.
  • Kid and Adult brothers are great to have to threaten big attacks.
  • You can't go wrong with a OP06-104-kikunojo in the early turns. The 6000 Power attacker can be a nuisance for opponents.

Important Matchups

Black Gecko Moria

  • Try not to hold more than 4 cards in your hand since OP06-093-perona will trash resources.
  • You'll eventually lose the board due to Gecko Moria, Your focus should be striking down their Leader and using OP06-110-nekomamushi and OP06-104-kikunojo with Leader Sabo's effect for the extra Life Card and board development.
  • Save OP05-115-two-hundred-million-volts-amaru for their OP02-114-borsalino.
  • ST01-012-monkeydluffy-938 is your late-game winner to dodge blockers and connect with their Leader.

Yellow Katakuri

  • Outside of OP05-102-gedatsu and OP06-116-reject, your opponent doesn't have removal tools to control the board. You want to take the first hit and drop to 3 Life Cards to avoid getting Kikunojo KO'd by OP05-102-gedatsu.
  • Every time you attack their Leader, you might activate one of their trigger cards. If Katakuri looked at the top of their Life Area and kept the card at the top, it's likely a trigger card.
  • You want to win the board presence, to make it difficult for them to play 7c and 10c Charlotte Linlin. The threat of multiple attacks can sway them from playing a 10c Linlin, and focus on using Don!!! on Katakuri for board removal.

Black Blue Sakazuki

  • Since Sakazuki has only 4 health, playing turbo aggressive is the goal, forcing them down to 1 health as fast as possible.
  • They can put Kikunojo at the bottom of your deck with cards like OP05-057-hound-blaze and OP06-056-ama-no-murakumo-sword, shutting you down from gaining that Life Card.
  • OP05-115-two-hundred-million-volts-amaru lets you rest blockers like OP02-114-borsalino or OP05-091-rebecca to strike their leader. OP04-083-sabo will slow down your aggression.
  • ST01-012-monkeydluffy-938 is your late-game winner to dodge blockers and connect with their Leader.

Green Yellow Yamato

  • You want to go first in this matchup to take away their turn 2, 8,000 Power Yamato attack.
  • If possible, counter their + Yamato attack so you don't lose Life Card resources.
  • We don't have any defensive blockers, so playing aggressively is a must to finish games as fast as possible.
  • Adding Life through Leader Sabo's effect can buy us more time until our Rush Characters close out the game.

Closing Words

The Red Yellow Sabo's effect is different than his two brothers, requiring you to draw into the cards you want to place at the top of your Life Area rather than search for them. This makes it less consistent if we heavily rely on the Kid/Adult brother combos, hence why we include trigger cards to find other uses for his effect.

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Sorry
Sorry

Trickster or more known by "Sorry" is a competitive CCG player. His passion for card games ignited during his childhood, with favorites such as Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokémon. After playing Hearthstone casually for a couple of years, he decided to take it a step further with Legends of Runeterra, competing in major tournaments and achieving multiple accomplishments. Now, he delights in exploring various card games and mastering them.

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