Guida di Raphterra

EarlyEarly Game (1 to 4 DON!!)

Searching, Drawing, and The Weenie War

Your goal in the early game is simple: draw as many cards as you can and search to fill out your curve.

The Search Ladder

Follow The Early Search Ladder from Chapter 3: 5C Oden first, then 6C Law or 6C Mihawk, then your late game combo cards (10C Shanks, 3C Electrical Luna, or 5C Kawamatsu as Decken fodder) once you already have a relatively good hand.

🖼 vignetta manga stilizzata su fondo giallo, volto con espressione sorpresa

You Can Be My Samurai and The Weenie War

This is very important in the early game, especially on the 3 to 4 DON!! turns. If you have You Can Be My Samurai, your instinct will be to use it immediately to draw cards, but consider the following factors before playing it.

By being patient with your 1C You Can Be My Samurai, you accomplish the following:

• Law on Curve Comes FirstYou secure your on-curve 6C Law. Remember, you can still use 1C You Can Be My Samurai on later turns, once you're sure you don't need to keep your weenies safe anymore.
• Punish Their RestIf your opponent rests their weenies carelessly, you can use your weenies to hit into theirs, possibly locking them out of 6C Law or extra copies of 1C You Can Be My Samurai.

You can play 1C You Can Be My Samurai immediately if:

• Not Enough AttackersYour opponent doesn't have enough weenies to clear yours, even if they rest them.
• Backup Weenies: You have other weenies in hand to play, even if your opponent clears the ones already on board.
• The 6C Mihawk BuildYou are running 6C Mihawk and don't mind your opponent clearing your weenies, because you're not reliant on 6C Law anyway.
• Dig or DieYou have a bad hand and really need the draw from 1C You Can Be My Samurai.

🖼 Shanks + Trafalgar Law

MidMid Game (5 to 9 DON!!)

Assembling Combo Pieces and The Battle for Board Dominance

Before we dive into the board control battle, which will be a long discussion, we first need to discuss assembling your combo pieces for the late game.

Assembling Your Combo Pieces

Throughout the mid game, you will be searching with 1C Perona and countering on defense, and it's very, very important to prepare for the late game.

• 10C Shanks or 10C Law Bepo: 2 to 3 copies.
• 2C Vander Decken + 5C Kawamatsu: At least 1 pair.
• 3C Electrical Luna: At least 1 copy.

🖼 Shanks + carte Shanks (10C, 12000), Vander Decken IX (2C, 2000), Electrical Luna (3C), Kawamatsu (5C, 4000)

The Battle for Board Dominance

Your goal in the mid game is to limit your opponent's board and take out 6k characters to get ahead in the resource battle.

Board or Life? The common mid game question is whether to attack the board or life. The short answer: if there are rested 6k bodies to attack, attack them and try to clear the board.

🖼 Shanks + carte Kinemon (1C, 2000), Otama (1C, 0), Vander Decken IX (2C, 2000), Kawamatsu (5C, 6000)

• The 3-Card Rule: If it will cost 3 or more counter cards to defend, it's very rarely worth defending a character. Let it go and save your resources for later.
• The 2-Card Rule: If it only requires 2 counter cards, protect the character if:
  • It's 5C Yasopp.
  • You don't have follow-up characters for the following turns, and you need that character to keep up in the board battle.
  • You drew a lot of cards through You Can Be My Samurai early, so you can afford to throw away counter cards to keep your board.
• The Fishman Warning: One very important point I must highlight: be very careful discarding Fishman cards when countering, because you need your Vander Decken + Fishman combo in the late game to take out your opponent's 10C Shanks. Counter with the cards listed in Counter With These First (Chapter 3) instead.

🖼 Kaido che urla + carte Yasopp (5C, 6000), Kouzuki Oden (5C, 6000), Jewelry Bonney (5C, 6000), Perona (5C, 6000)

MidThe 5 DON!! Turn

Before we go further, I want to talk about the opening phase of the mid game: the 5 DON!! turn.

The 5-Cost Target: The 5C character you put down on the 5 DON!! turn will, most of the time, either get rested by 5C Yasopp and attacked into, or get stunned by 5C Oden. With this in mind, here are some pointers for the 5 DON!! turn:

• Bonney or Perona at 5The best characters to play at 5 DON!!, if you have them, are 5C Bonney, to freeze your opponent's 6 DON!! turn and stop them from going wide, or 5C Perona, because she's very likely to stick on board.
• Oden Before YasoppIf you have a choice between 5C Oden and 5C Yasopp, play 5C Oden, since you may need 5C Yasopp next turn to rest the opponent's Yasopp and attack into it.
• The Skip ExceptionI would consider skipping a 5C play on my 5 DON!! turn if I only have one 5C in hand. Since I know that 5C character will just get taken out or stunned, I'd rather use it on the following turn, and use my 5 DON!! turn to search and draw for more 5-costs for future turns.

MidThe Key Mid Game Pieces

Here are some of the important pieces in the mid game of the Green Mihawk Mirror, and how they factor into this battle.

🖼 Shanks che sorride

5C Yasopp is the most important 5-cost in this matchup, for the following reasons:

• He can force rest the opponent's mid game characters, letting you attack into them and clear them.
• If he stays on board, he can keep attacking and restanding himself, staying safe from attacks.
• Even when played rested from 6C Law, he restands himself immediately, staying safe from attacks.
• The Late Game ShieldMost importantly, if he survives the mid game into the late game, he can keep restanding 10C Shanks, so your opponent needs more combo pieces in the late game to answer 10C Shanks (more on this later).

🖼 Perona (capelli rosa)

5C Perona is quite strong in the mirror as well. She's a sticky character that maintains board presence while stopping your opponent's 5C characters from attacking.

🖼 Kouzuki Oden che urla

In theory, 5C Oden is one of the highest value cards in the game, but in the mirror he's surprisingly the least impactful card to play, especially at 5 to 7 DON!!.

🖼 Jewelry Bonney

5C Freeze Bonney is most impactful in the mid game at exactly 5 DON!!, freezing your opponent's DON!! to stop their 6 DON!! go-wide play.

• They Need the ComboYou are ahead on board with multiple 6k characters, so your opponent will likely need the 10C Shanks + Electrical Luna combo to regain tempo.
• The Shanks-Only HandYour opponent has no other good play besides 10C Shanks. You can assume this if they take many copies of 10C Shanks from their searches, or if you notice they aren't doing 6+5 in the mid game, which might mean their hand is counter events and 10C Shanks.
• Buying TimeYou don't have your late game combo piece (10C Shanks) and need to delay the late game combo battle to search and dig for ammunition. This can buy you a lot of time, especially if you have 6C Law in hand to bounce and replay 5C Bonney for multiple turns while you stall and assemble combo pieces.

This one shows the utility of Freeze Bonney in the endgames of the mirror. (P.S Do Not Starve Mihawk, I did not do this intentionally)

🖼 carte For Fun (1C), Billion-fold World Trichiliocosm (1C), Electrical Luna (3C) su fondo verde

1C For Fun

1C For Fun is a great card for getting ahead in the board control battle, as it can secure the kill on a rested 5C character, most ideally 5C Yasopp.

Counter, Then Kill: Attack the rested character with 6k or 7k attacks to make your opponent counter, then kill it anyway with 1C For Fun.

1C Billion Fold

The 8k Check: If you are attacking and your opponent does not have 8 rested cards (cards include the Leader, characters, and stage, by the way), you can attack for 8k and require at least 2 counter cards to protect a character.

🖼 Electrical Luna

The 3C Electrical Luna Factor

Finally, the most important factor to keep in mind in the mirror's mid game is 3C Electrical Luna.

Consider saving cards in hand instead of going too wide, and perhaps allocating the DON!! to offense if that fits your gameplan better.

• The 3+ Luna RaceYou have 3+ copies of Electrical Luna. All your attacks should go to the Leader, since you will effectively disable their whole board before their attackers get to attack again.
• The Hail MaryYou don't have a good late game hand, e.g. you lack the combo cards (10C Shanks or 2C Vander Decken) but you have freeze spells. You may need a Hail Mary YOLO attack on the Leader, assuming you have enough freeze effects to stall your opponent's attacks and get them before they get you.
• Know Your CeilingYou have to recognize whether you can play the long game. If you don't have the tools to compete in a late game combo battle, recognize it and go for a full race instead.
• The Early Low LifeYour opponent showed a lack of counters in the early to mid game and went to 1 life too early. Start spamming 8k attacks at face to test their counters. If they go too low, you may get a quick win with Rush 10C Shanks.

🖼 Shanks + carte Shanks (10C, 12000), Electrical Luna (3C), Vander Decken IX (2C, 2000), Kawamatsu (5C, 4000)

LateLate Game (10 DON!!+)

The Battle of Combo Pieces

The late game is a battle of combo pieces. The main combo pieces are 10C Shanks, 3C Electrical Luna, and 2C Vander Decken + any Fishman card.

🖼 scontro di lame rosse/spade

LateLate Game Guidelines

Ultimately, you can follow these general guidelines for the late game:

• Luna LethalGo aggressive on life if you can set up lethal while freezing the board with 3C Electrical Luna.
• The Long Game ClearGo for a board clear if you don't have clear lethal yet and you have the tools for a longer game, e.g. multiple 10C Shanks and plenty of counter cards to survive the aggression.
• Bad Hand, Fast ClockGo aggressive on life if you have a bad hand without the tools for a long game, and you need to end the game as soon as possible.

It can be very scary if you don't win before running out of 3C Electrical Lunas and you let their board survive, since they can suddenly go for lethal with 8k+ attacks and 10C Shanks.

🖼 Shanks sulla nave

TurnoGoing Second: Don't Open With Shanks if not needed

• When going second, you don't need to open the late game with 10C Shanks immediately if you're not behind on board, especially if you only have 1 to 2 copies in hand and you're still far from lethal. Your 10C Shanks is very likely to get KOd by Vander Decken on the following turn, so preserve it for when you need your own Shanks + Decken combo on future turns.
• Make Them Combo FirstAlternate plays, like using 5C Perona to freeze attackers or using most of your DON!! to clear the board, can force your opponent to use their Shanks Luna combo first, and then you can answer with your own Shanks Decken combo. If you can afford to delay spending your Shanks Decken Luna cards as the late game starts, you save them to answer your opponent's combo.
• The 3+ Shanks ExceptionIf you have 3+ copies of 10C Shanks in hand, it's often better to drop one immediately and start the race, forcing your opponent to spend their combo knowing you have ammunition to fight back.

🖼 Vander Decken IX

Answering 10C Shanks

The Always Rule: ALWAYS preserve your 2C Vander Decken + Fishman cards in hand to take out your opponent's 10C Shanks.

If you don't have 2C Vander Decken, you have a few options for answering an opponent's 10C Shanks:

• 10C Law BepoAs covered in 10C Law Bepo: The One-Card Combo (Chapter 3), he gives you the body, the freeze, and the board-weakening Leader buff in a single card. The main difference from the Shanks Decken Luna combo is that you don't get to rush down the opponent with a big attacker, but your boosted Leader attack can still force a counter event or a life take.
  • The Bepo WindowThe best window for 10C Law Bepo is usually the turn after you use your Shanks Decken combo, to lock down the opposing Shanks. If your opponent has run out of Shanks Decken combos, you can play another 10C Shanks and go for lethal with two big attackers.

This game showcases the strenght of 10C Law Bepo in the mirror, in games where you do not have the complete combo pieces in hand.

• 10C Shanks BombAnother way to take out an opposing boss is to manually bomb it with a 17k attack from Rush Shanks and hope your opponent doesn't have enough counters to defend it. When doing this, bait out counter cards first with 6k attacks before bombing their boss.

This one showcases me needing to rely on bombing my opponent's Shanks with big attacks.

• 5C Freeze BonneyShe can also be a decent way to freeze the rested 10C Shanks, but it's a pretty weak turn because you don't establish any bodies. If you're left with this option, you need to make multiple 8k+ attacks on the Leader and end the game soon.
• The Hail Mary RaceIf you don't have a clean answer to 10C Shanks, your opponent can lethal you very, very soon. In the worst-case scenario, you have to go for a Hail Mary race gameplan.
  • Survive, Then SwingControl the board just enough that you don't die on the following turn, and focus the rest of your attacks on the Leader, aiming to end the game as soon as possible and hoping for the best.

The Yasopp Factor - As I mentioned in the previous section, 5C Yasopp surviving into the late game is very strong, because he can restand 10C Shanks at end of turn. Your opponent then needs 10C Shanks + Decken to clear it, and if they miss a 10C Shanks or 10C Law Bepo turn, you are likely to just win the game, because your 12k body stays on board to wreak havoc.

🖼 Trafalgar Law + Shanks

After the Combo Cards Run Out

Once you run out of combo cards, the game becomes a battle of controlling your opponent's board just enough to survive the following turns while setting up lethal.

🖼 Dracule Mihawk (occhi gialli, fiamme e cappello)

LateReading Your Distance to Lethal

Before ending this section, I want to emphasize that you have to read the game state and recognize how far you are from lethal. Here are some pointers:

• Control Beats GreedGenerally, going for board control is safer than going for lethal, unless you have a clear lethal path that keeps you safe even while ignoring the opposing board (e.g. multiple Electrical Lunas until your lethal turn).
• Too Far? Tax ThemIf you are still very far from lethal because your opponent still has many hand cards, either control the board to limit their options, or attack their life for 8k or higher to bring yourself near lethal or ask for 2+ counter cards.
• Behind With No AmmoIf you are behind and don't have the cards to keep up in a prolonged end game, start going for a Hail Mary lethal, controlling the board only enough that you don't die to your opponent's lethal.
  • Call It at 8 DON!!Sometimes you have to recognize this as early as the 8 to 9 DON!! turns, where you need to start making multiple 8k+ attacks on the Leader to end the game as soon as possible.
  • The No-Answer SignalThe most common example is not having a clean answer to your opponent's 10C Shanks. Then you know the game will end shortly once their 10C Shanks gets to stay on board and attack.

This one shows me adapting my gameplan in the mid-game as soon as I read that I cannot survive a prolonged battle.

🖼 Dracule Mihawk (croce dorata al collo)

Playing to Your Outs

If you really have no lethal and don't have the necessary combo cards either, you have to play to your outs and hope your opponent also doesn't have the ideal hand. It's an important skill to realize when you can no longer afford to play around certain threats, and instead bet on your opponent not having them in hand. Some examples:

• Out of LunasHoping your opponent has run out of Electrical Luna, so you can go aggressive with your wide board.
• No ShanksHoping your opponent doesn't have 10C Shanks, so you can safely wall up behind 6C Law blockers.
• No CountersHoping your opponent doesn't have 2k counters or a 4k counter event, so you can go for lethal or take out key rested characters.

🖼 Nico Robin (artwork viola/giallo OP09)

The 10C Linlin Turn

This matchup comes down to preparing for the opponent's 10C Linlin turn. They can usually ramp to play 10C Linlin one turn earlier, and we want to prepare for this power turn.

The key to preparing for the 10C Linlin turn is understanding the following:

• Linlin Needs a Board10C Linlin alone isn't a strong play. She needs to be played alongside a board of 4k characters, which are usually play-trigger cards that come out of their life when you damage them.
• Linlin Spends EverythingPlaying 10C Linlin uses all their DON!! for the turn, meaning they have no DON!! left for stronger attacks or for counter events like 1C Gum Gum Giant.

With this, keep the following in mind for their 10C Linlin turn:

• Starve the Linlin BuffClear and/or limit their board so that by the time they play 10C Linlin, they can't immediately capitalize on her passive board stat boost. We do this with cards that rest opponent's characters so we can attack into them: 5C Yasopp, plus 1C Trash Event if you have it in the deck.
• Keep a Board of Your OwnIf they do have a board when they drop 10C Linlin, make sure that by the time their board attacks, you also have a board to clear their 4ks once they're rested.
• The Bonney DelayWe also have the option to delay their 10C Linlin turn with 5C Freeze Bonney if she's in your deck. This is sometimes ineffective, though, because they can often just play 8C Teach instead and still have a strong board development play.

This one showcases the power of Freeze Bonney in the Robin matchup, especially if you can freeze dons for consecutive turns.

🖼 striscia orizzontale con bordo verde/oro — a sinistra artwork manga in bianco e nero di un volto femminile di profilo, al centro la carta 5C Bonney (costo 5, 6000 potenza) con artwork a colori di Bonney che sorride con le stelle, a destra una fila di 5 carte verdi: Yasopp (6000), Shanks (12000, costo 10), Shanks (12000, costo 10), Vander Decken IX (2000, costo 2), Kawamatsu (6000, costo 5)

EarlyEarly to Mid Game

With these pointers, our main goal in the early to mid game is to build a board, ideally with 5C Yasopp, to rest their 4k characters and hit into them. The gameplan seems simple enough, but some complications make the journey less smooth in this matchup.

Robin Leader's Banish

Robin will usually only attack with their Leader in the early to mid game, using Banish attacks, and leave their characters active as they build a board of 4k characters for their 10C Linlin turn. This means your hand size will be limited throughout the game, and you have to work with what you manually draw from your deck.

• The 1-Card Counter RuleThe general rule: if you have cards in hand you don't need, counter attacks that only require one card to counter. Otherwise, it's okay to take 1 to 2 Banish attacks in the early game.
• The 3-Life ThresholdI start considering countering at 3 life, since going down to 2 life too early can be dangerous.
• Don't Counter With TheseThe cards you don't want to use as counters are mainly 5C Yasopp and your Fishman combo cards, 2C Vander Decken and 5C Kawamatsu. You need the Decken Kawamatsu combo to clear the first 10C Linlin, so keep it in hand as you approach the late game.
• The Late Game HandYou generally want 2x 10C Shanks, 1x Vander Decken, and 1 Fishman discard fodder as you approach the later turns.

🖼 striscia orizzontale con bordo verde/oro — a sinistra un primo piano in stile manga bianco e nero di un occhio femminile, a destra artwork a colori di Mihawk che si tocca il volto, su sfondo verde

To Starve or Not to Starve?

I mentioned that we generally want to rest and attack into the board most of the time, so a common question arises: should we skip free attacks to the Leader if there are no characters to hit? In theory, skipping Leader attacks prevents any chance of characters coming out from triggers. Here are my thoughts:

• Never Skip Free Damage: I almost never skip free Leader attacks in the early to mid game if there's nothing rested to hit on board. With every Leader attack, they either counter or take life, which brings me closer to lethal. If a character comes out of a trigger, I can rest and hit into it in future turns.
• The Lethal Window: If you skip early attacks, you give them too much time to build a board and draw cards for the late game. Purple Yellow Robin can be pretty easy to lethal in the late game if you keep up the pressure with 7k-plus attacks and bring them to low life. If you skip free Leader attacks early, you rob yourself of those late game windows where you can just aggro them down.
• The Trigger Highroll: If they somehow highroll and get out a lot of play triggers, we still have opportunities to clear them later once they attack, or we can force rest them all with 10C Shanks and hit into them.
• The Late Game Exception: There are some spots where I would skip free Leader attacks, but those are in the late game, and we'll dive into them later on.

🖼 riquadro verde con bordo giallo/oro, sfondo a trama verde con una bussola stilizzata sulla destra; al centro due carte

Yasopp OP17-031 — costo 5, 6000 potenza, tipo Red-Haired Pirates

I Never Bother to Remember the Faces of Trash OP14-038 — evento costo 1, testo: "You may rest 2 of your cards. Draw 1 card. Then, rest up to 1 of your opponent's Characters with 7000 base power or less." / "Trigger: Up to 1 of your Leader gains +3000 power during this battle."

Controlling Their Board

Our main tools for controlling the board are 5C Yasopp and 1C Trash Event. It's pretty straightforward: we rest any 4k characters on board and hit into them.

🖼 striscia orizzontale con sfondo giallo/arancione fiammeggiante, artwork a colori di Oven (personaggio corpulento dall'espressione arrabbiata, braccio alzato)

The 4C Oven Problem

Hitting 4k characters sounds simple, right? However, one character is quite annoying to deal with: 4C Oven. 4C Oven has an On KO effect that plays another character from trash, so KOing it won't solve the problem. Here's how to deal with 4C Oven:

• Hit Others FirstIf there are characters on board other than 4C Oven, hit into them first if you have limited attacks for the turn.
• Freeze the OvenYou can freeze Oven with 5C Oden if you don't have enough attackers to clear him and the character he puts out. If you can stun him repeatedly with 5C Oden, you can sometimes ignore him throughout the game.
• The Oven Clear LineIf 4C Oven is already rested, hit into him, then once he puts out a character, rest that character with 5C Yasopp and hit into it. Do this if:
  • You have enough attackers for the combo and there are no other characters on board to attack.
  • You don't have 5C Oden to keep freezing the Oven.
  • Inspect the TrashThe strongest character they can play with 4C Oven is 3C Pudding, to draw cards. Beyond that, you usually don't mind any other character being played. If there's no 3C Pudding in trash, it's almost always worth clearing the 4C Oven so you get rid of it for the following turns.
  • The Pudding CounterYour opponent can counter with a 3C Pudding from hand to put it in trash before Oven gets KOd, but at that point it's fine, because they discard cards from hand.
  • Pudding Already BuriedIf there is a 3C Pudding in trash, the 4C Oven line can still be worth it if it results in a full board clear. If not, it's usually better to aim those two attacks at the Leader to apply pressure.

🖼 striscia orizzontale con bordo giallo/oro — a sinistra artwork manga in bianco e nero di Mihawk che sorride portandosi la mano al volto, a destra artwork a colori di Big Mom (Linlin) con capelli rosa e lingua di fuori su sfondo viola

The No-Yasopp Plan

• Protect Your LifeI would be a bit more protective of my life cards, since I know I'll need to take more life cards once their board attacks. I try to stay at around 4 life if I can.
• Perona Buys Time5C Perona also helps a lot here, since you can stun 2 bodies before they attack with multiple 8k attacks, buying time for your 10C Shanks turn. This also applies if you have a read that you can't clear the board as they approach

their ramped 10 DON!! turn.

• Keep Attackers BackI make sure I have a board that can attack back into theirs once their board eventually gets rested. This may mean skipping some character attacks so I have 6k bodies to hit into their 4k bodies on my attack turn.
• The Careless RestIf you carelessly rest your whole board, your opponent will likely attack into it with consecutive 8k attacks to clear it.
• Billion Fold BackupPreparing 1C Billion Fold to defend rested characters is also good if you really need to attack with your board.

🖼 striscia orizzontale con bordo giallo/oro, artwork a colori in primo piano di Big Mom (Linlin) con capelli rosa, occhi spiritati e bocca spalancata

LateThe Late Game

For a smooth late game, you generally want as many copies of 10C Shanks as possible (2x is ideal, but more is always welcome) and at minimum one pair of Decken + Fishman fodder.

Dealing With the First 10C Linlin Turn

The 8 to 9 DON!! Linlin: When the first 10C Linlin drops, you will usually be at 8 to 9 DON!!, due to their ramp Leader ability.

The Double Linlin Threat: The best case for Purple Yellow Robin is playing two consecutive 10C Linlins. While this seems scary, it's not all that dire.

On their first 10C Linlin turn, there are two possible scenarios:

• The Cleared Board (Best Case)If you have cleared the board, their 10C Linlin turn is not that strong, since they only have their 5k Leader attack, which you can easily counter with 1 card. When the turn comes back to you, simply continue developing your board with a 6+5 and attack life.
  • Life First, Then DevelopRemember to attack life before developing your board, since if a play trigger comes out of life, you may want to rest it with 5C Yasopp and hit into it to keep their board controlled.
• The Uncleared BoardIf you weren't able to control the board and they have some characters, then, as mentioned, you should have been a bit conservative with your life cards in the early to mid game, since you will need to take life cards here and go down to about 1 to 2 life. When the turn comes back to you, use your board to hit into theirs and clear it.
  • The Last Attack ChoiceIf you only have 1 attack left after clearing the board, I would consider skipping the Leader attack IF a play trigger coming out of life would be devastating. If you are still relatively healthy and have enough counter cards, just hit life and deal with the play trigger that comes out.

🖼 striscia orizzontale con bordo giallo/oro — a sinistra artwork a colori di Big Mom (Linlin) in primo piano, a destra una fila di 4 carte: Shanks (costo 10, 12000), Electrical Luna (costo 3), Vander Decken IX (costo 2, 2000), Kawamatsu (costo 5, 6000)

Dealing With the Second 10C Linlin Turn

On the opponent's second 10 DON!! turn, their best case is playing another 10C Linlin, so they now have two 10C Linlins on board. This is where your collected combo cards come in: 10C Shanks and 2C Vander Decken + Fishman fodder.

• A Trigger Comes Out: If they take the life cards and a play trigger comes out, rest it and attack into it with 10C Shanks.
• No Trigger, Push Life: If they take life and no play trigger comes out, use this turn to pressure life and put them on a lethal timer. Use 2C Vander Decken to take out one of the 10C Linlins, then send the 10C Shanks attack at life alongside more 7k attacks.
• Counters Spent, Bomb Linlin: If they counter the earlier attacks and go low on hand size, depending on their remaining hand, you can skip 2C Vander Decken and instead bomb a 10C Linlin with a 17k attack, then preserve 2C Vander Decken to KO the remaining Linlin on the following turn. They don't have Gum Gum Giant active during this turn, so a 17k attack is very likely to clear the Linlin.

🖼 striscia orizzontale con bordo giallo/oro su sfondo verde, fila di 5 carte

Shanks — costo 10, 12000, Red-Haired Pirates

Electrical Luna OP08-036 — costo 3, evento, Minks; testo: "All of your opponent's rested characters with a cost of 7 or less do not become active during your opponent's next refresh phase." / "Trigger: Rest up to one of your opponent's characters."

Trafalgar Law OP13-031 — costo 6, 6000, Heart Pirates/Supernovas

Kouzuki Oden ST32-002 — costo 5, 6000, Land of Wano/Kouzuki Clan

Perona — costo 5, 6000, Thriller Bark Pirates

LateClosing Out the Game

Assuming the plan goes well, the rest of the game should be relatively smooth. Take out the remaining 10C Linlin with a bomb attack from Shanks or with 2C Vander Decken.

🖼 striscia orizzontale con bordo giallo/oro, primo piano in stile manga colorato di un occhio (Robin) e di una mano guantata di bianco

When the Plan Goes Wrong

Not every game in a card game goes to plan. Here are some scenarios where it goes wrong:

• The Pudding HandThe opponent played a lot of 3C Puddings and has too many cards in hand, making it impossible to clear the 10C Linlin even with bomb attacks, and you don't have 2C Vander Decken.
• The Missed Shanks: You miss your on-curve 10C Shanks.
• The Oven Flood: Your opponent triggered too many 4C Ovens, and you don't have enough attacks to clear them.
• The Teach Flood: Your opponent triggered too many 8C Teaches and cleared your board.

Sometimes, Robin also bricks, if they miss out on key cards even if they get good triggers.

🖼 striscia orizzontale con bordo viola/oro — a sinistra primo piano manga a colori dell'occhio di Nico Robin, a destra una fila di 5 carte con la scritta SAMPLE: Charlotte Linlin (costo 10, 12000), Charlotte Oven (costo 4, 4000), Gum-Gum Giant (costo 1, evento), una carta viola (costo e nome non leggibili), Bonatino? (costo 5, 6000)

Other Notes

🖼 striscia orizzontale con bordo giallo/oro, artwork a colori di Portgas D. Ace circondato dalle fiamme rosse

The Ace Win Pattern

Red Ace is a matchup where, if your opponent draws all the tools they need, there is not much you can do. Their game-winning pattern is 6C Marco into 8C Newgate, then spamming consecutive 10C Newgates.

🖼 fascia verde con motivo mappa/bussola, due carte in evidenza

Kouzuki Oden ST32-002 — costo 5, potenza 6000, CHARACTER verde, tratto "Land of Wano/Kouzuki Clan"

Trafalgar Law OP13-031 — costo 6, potenza 6000, CHARACTER verde, tratto "FILM/Supernovas/Heart Pirates"

The Race Plan

The gameplan in this matchup is straightforward, nothing special: go aggressive with consecutive 6+5 turns, stunning one of their attackers every turn with 5C Oden and setting up 6C Law as a late game blocker.

🖼 fascia rossa con artwork di Portgas D. Ace, tre carte in evidenza

Marco — costo 6, potenza 8000, carta blu/azzurra

Edward Newgate — costo 6, potenza 10000, immagine "SAMPLE"

Edward Newgate — costo 10, potenza 12000, immagine "SAMPLE"

MidThe 8 to 9 DON!! Turn

🖼 artwork di Edward Newgate (Barbabianca) con la sua bisento, primo piano

LateYour First 10 DON!! Turn

Another critical decision is your first 10 DON!! turn.

🖼 artwork di Jewelry Bonney (ragazza con cappello verde, capelli viola, bocca spalancata) su sfondo viola

5C Freeze Bonney is the best tech card in this matchup, for two reasons:

• The Marco Lock: If you lose the dice and go first, you can use her on your 5 DON!! turn to freeze their DON!! and stop their on-curve 6C Marco. This alone can set them behind, since they then need to choose between playing 6C Marco or 8C Newgate on the following turn.
• The 10 DON!! Lock: She's also great in a 6+5 or 5+5 play on your 10 DON!! turn, developing two bodies and then freezing the opponent's DON!!, locking them out of their 10C Newgate turn and letting your wide board keep up the pressure on the following turn.

Red Ace in the Current Meta

Note: Gameplay videos are to follow, surprisingly I don't face Red Ace a lot on the sim. Most of my games against it are at the tabletop.

🖼 artwork in stile manga di Monkey D. Luffy sorridente con l'elmo/corona di Elbaph, su fondo bianco e nero con dettagli rossi

The Board Control Role

Your main goal in this matchup is board control. They are the aggro deck in this matchup, while you want to stall their aggression as you ramp up to your 10C Shanks turn. If you reach your 10C Shanks turn relatively healthy, you can clear the board and then lethal them within a few turns.

The Full Starve Question

A common question in this matchup is whether to run a full starve strategy. In theory, starving an aggro deck is ideal, since it makes the board easier to clear.

• The Draw Engine Problem: However, Black Luffy is similar to Blue Green Luffy: many of their characters draw cards On Play. Starving them may just lead to a late game where they have a lot of hand cards and life cards.
• Board Won, Clock Lost: Even if you control the board, you're too far from lethal to end the game, and they can start bombing you with big attacks even after their board is cleared.
• Rested First, Leader Otherwise: Generally hit rested characters if there are any, but do not skip free attacks on their Leader when there are no rested characters to hit. Skipping early attacks makes late game lethal much harder, especially since they can also set up multiple late game blockers.
• The Hand Count Exception: A scenario where I would consider skipping some early Leader attacks is when they play early characters that don't replace

themselves with a draw, such as 2C Zoro or 2C Sanji, and I can rest and attack into them with 5C Yasopp or 1C Trash Event in future turns. Otherwise, I almost always take my free Leader attacks.

🖼 fascia verde con motivo mappa/bussola, tre carte in evidenza

Kouzuki Oden ST32-002 costo 5, 6000, tratto "Land of Wano/Kouzuki Clan"

Yasopp OP17-031 costo 5, 6000, tratto "Red Haired Pirates"

Perona costo 5, 6000, tratto "Mogia Kingdom/Thriller Bark Pirates"

MidThe Mid Game Plan

The gameplan in this matchup is quite simple: go 6+5, either using 5C Oden to freeze their 6C Loki or 4C Saul and then attacking rested characters to limit their aggression, or using 5C Yasopp to force rest a 2-cost and attack into it.

🖼 artwork di Dracule Mihawk che sorride, su sfondo viola/lilla

The 6C Loki Weenie Wipe

They will likely play 4C Saul and 6C Loki on curve as their Giants. 6C Loki is the one to watch out for, because he can clear all your 1C characters from the board.

🖼 artwork in primo piano di un gigante (Saul?) che ride, su sfondo di cielo azzurro

Countering and Removal

Counter With Care: You generally want to counter 5k or 6k attacks if you already have a good hand, but preserve a 2C Vander Decken + Fishman fodder pair, because you'll need them to take out 6C Loki or 8C Luffy later on. Multiple Vander Decken + Fishman pairs help a lot in this matchup.

• Decken on Loki2C Vander Decken is your main hard removal card, usually used to take out 6C Loki.
• For Fun on Saul: 1C For Fun is also a good tech in this matchup, as it can cleanly take out a rested 4C Saul.
• Weakening the Rush TurnClearing their board of Giants also weakens their 8C Rush Luffy turns, since they need to play a Giant alongside Luffy to give him Rush. If they already have a Giant on board, they usually play a draw card instead of a Giant, adding more cards to their hand.

Nel frame: partita su simulatore, log di gioco a sinistra (menzioni di Shirahoshi (OP05-082), Roronoa Zoro (OP17-093), "Trash Demonic Aura Nine-Sword Style Asura Dead Man's Game (OP12-037)"), sovraimpressione "Mihawk Fish + Zoro: 6-1 / Shanks Cope: 3-2", chat YouTube sulla destra, webcam di Raphterra in basso a destra con scritta "CULT LEADER RAPHTERRA" e "metafy.gg/@raphterra". Pulsante "Guarda su YouTube".

Reach your 10C Shanks turn and turn the game around!

🖼 artwork di Shanks (?) in stile colorato viola/verde — primo piano di un personaggio con maschera/occhiali

The Ideal 10C Shanks Turn

Your ideal 10C Shanks turn is playing 10C Shanks, taking out their Giants with Shanks' attack and 2C Vander Decken, then attacking their weakened board with the rest of your attackers.

🖼 artwork di Monkey D. Luffy sorridente con cappello di paglia su sfondo rosso

LateSurviving Their Lethal Push

In the late game, if you successfully clear their board and/or whittle down their hand, Black Luffy will usually start going for big bomb attacks to lethal you as soon as possible. 6C Law, 5C Oden, and counter events are great for defending.

Keep in mind the following tools they have when going for lethal:

• 8C Rush Luffy8k Rush attacks. Always assume they will play this if they still have 8 DON!! up.
• 1C ChopperGrants their characters Unblockable. They can play two on two active characters for 2 bomb attacks.

🖼 artwork di Monkey D. Luffy con cappello di paglia, in stile manga colorato su sfondo rosso

Other Notes

Nel frame: partita su simulatore, log di gioco a sinistra (menzioni di Dracule Mihawk (OP14-020), Dracule Mihawk (ST32-003), "Rest Dracule Mihawk", "Activate 1 Don", "Can't play Cost 1 Or More Characters for the Turn!", "Draw 1 Card"), sovraimpressione "Mihawk Fish + Zoro: 5-1 / Shanks Cope: 3-2", chat YouTube sulla destra (commenti: "whats the zoro in the fish build?", "1c or 9c", "ouhhh spicy", "how ya enjoying fish so far", "ussop, saul, loki, luffy?", "second curve, 4 Saul 6 Loki 8 rush Luffy", "Oden is huge into loki, but for fun + 7c shanks is also good to remove saul/gerd"), webcam di Raphterra in basso a destra con scritta "CULT LEADER RAPHTERRA" e "metafy.gg/@raphterra". Pulsante "Guarda su YouTube".

🖼 artwork di Sabo con cappello a cilindro e occhiali, fiamme arancioni sullo sfondo