Summary
The titular character from One Piece, Monkey D. Luffy, has had some of the strongest Leaders in theOne Piece Card Game. He was the first leader to be featured, and he certainly won’t be the last.
There has been many iterations of the leader. From aggro game styles to remove your opponent’s characters with sheer power to control-based strategies to manipulate their characters’ costs, this smiling pirate is an easy bet to pick if you’re looking to start the game or defeat the higher level competition.
10Starter Deck 8
KO Power For Everyone
For the first half of the starter deck line up, black decks did not have much going for them. They offered incredible cost-based removal, but the cost of activation meant you will be playing on the backfoot when comparing hand sizes. This Monkey D. Luffy deck tried something a bit different, although with not much success.
The deck offered the classic black removal abilities, alongside powering up your leader by 1,000 with that rested DON!!, but the ability was a bit underwhelming, since you could easily play any other black deck with better results.
9Red/Green OP01
Restand Your Supernovas
The first Luffy leader from a booster was not as good as its starter deck counterpart. It was, and still is, a great leader, leaning more into the Supernova wave of support rather than the Straw Hat Crew type. This leader is able to restand one of your characters, while giving them a small power boost.
The dual-colored leader took a backseat to the other red and green leader found inOP01 Romance Dawn, Trafalgar Law. While Luffy is able to combo with multiple attacks, its high cost of four DON!! was a bit troublesome.
8Starter Deck 1
The First Ever Leader
The red starter deck Luffy is still one of the most versatile leaders in the game. Although the deck hasn’t seen all that much meta and competitive play since the early days of the game, the leader can still put in heavy work with its extra rested DON!!.
The leader can give one of your characters a rested DON!! to power up your next attack, making rush decks extra powerful. Countering against this deck is essential to success. Just hope you’re not playing against a 6,000 power leader likeEdward Newgate.
7Promo Sealed Battle Vol. 1
Consistent Draw Power
A lot of players have forgotten about little ol’ blue Luffy, but this leader is quite fun. Even though four-life leaders are some of the most popular in the game, five-life leaders are extremely powerful. Especially with some of Blue’s best removal options, like Gravity Blade Raging Tiger and Gum Gum Red Roc.
The leader can draw extra cards every time you attack but with a condition that you have to have a DON!! attached and you have to have three cards in hand. It may seem like a heavy condition, but if you counter aggressively, this leader can be a defensive powerhouse.
6Starter Deck 14
Classic Cost-Reduction Gameplay
If there is anything to be said about Bandai is they love the color black. A couple of starter decks later, the protagonist received another leader with a cost-based ability. This time, Luffy played a more defensive role, rather than the typical KO focused playstyle of the last starter deck.
With a DON!! attached to your leader, all of your characters will receive a point to their cost, making it a bit harder for decks like Rob Lucci to remove from the board.
5Purple/Black OP09
A Defensive Powerhouse
Even though Bandai tends to float towards cost removal effects in black, the Gear Five Luffy leader is more of a defensive deck that can quickly ramp up with the purple side and play a couple of black cards as support.
With the help of cards like Gum Gum Giant, this leader can stay healthy while having a good hand size. Leave it to Bandai to make a powerful leader featuring one of the most powerful Luffy forms so far.
4Red/Purple ST10
Low Life, High Power
Even though the highlight from the 10th starter deck was the red purple Trafalgar Law, the Luffy leader was the second leader in the game that had a base 6,000 power, making players quickly turn their focus into. The low life count was offset by the fact that you may easily ramp with powerful ramp cards like Bon Kurei.
Using strong top end cards, like Edward Newgate, you can easily make this leader an 8,000 power card during your opponent’s turn, making it extremely hard to hit life.
3Starter Deck EX
These Are The Drums Of Liberation!
The newest leader on the list is another Gear Five Luffy, meaning it will be extremely strong. This leader is a way better version of the first starter deck Luffy, giving your character up to two rested DON!!, rather than the usual one.
Even though this effect has a cost, as opposed to the free effect from the first starter, two DON!! is way better and the cost to trigger it can easily be achieved with the other cards released in the deck.
2Starter Deck 13
Combo With The Three Brothers' Bond
Even though this leader is the least flexible of the bunch, it’s one of the best, and the one that can have the highest base power during your opponent’s turn. It will most likely never happen, but if you can high roll your life and guess what is in it, you could make your leader 13,000 power during your opponent’s turn.
This is one of the most combo-heavy decks in the game, transforming your little brother cards into their grown up versions, giving you plenty of draws and attacking power at the cost of your own life.
1Purple OP05
Ramp Up And Defeat Your Opponent
When speaking of versatile leaders, there’s no better leader than the purple Luffy from OP05 Awakening Of The New Era. Ever since its release, this deck has had the flexibility to play strong midrange cards that can disrupt your opponent’s curve, like Magellan, or even deadly top end, like the rush Luffy from OP09.
The deck has evolved since its release, sticking mostly to newer Straw Hat type cards, but its generic ramp effect will keep it in the meta for sets to come.
