ST-26 PURPLE/BLACK Monkey.D.Luffy

Overview

ST-26 is a purple and black Straw Hat Crew deck led by OP09-061 Monkey.D.Luffy, a 4-Life Leader with 5000 power. Purple cards often pay for effects by returning DON!! from your field to your DON!! deck (written as DON!! −2 on the card). This Leader gives some of that back: once per turn, on your turn, when 2 or more DON!! cards are returned, you add 1 DON!! card as active and 1 more rested.

The Leader's other ability gives all of your Characters +1 cost while it has 1 DON!! given to it. That helps against removal that checks cost, and it helps black cards that ask whether you have a high-cost Character. The box is almost entirely purple, with ST14-010 Brook as its one black card, so this half of the Leader matters more after upgrades.

The box has 15 different cards, counting the Leader, and includes OP09-070 Nami, a card that is expensive as a single in its OP09 printing. The deck suits a player who likes counting resources and is patient through a few turns of setup.

Monkey.D.Luffy

OP09-061

OP09-061, 5000 power, 4 Life: adds 2 DON!! when you return 2 or more, and +1 cost to Characters

Every card in ST-26 is legal in Standard; OP05-065 San-Gorou, OP05-066 Jinbe and OP05-070 Fra-Nosuke first came out in block 1 but were reprinted with a block-2 icon.

Ratings

These are TurnZero HQ's own read of the cards, not tournament results or an official Bandai rating. How we rate starter decks →

How it plays

Early on, play Characters that return DON!! on purpose. ST26-003 Nico Robin returns 2 and adds 1 back as active, OP09-076 Roronoa Zoro returns any number and adds 1 back, and OP09-070 Nami returns DON!! to give 2 rested DON!! to your Leader or a Character. When the return is 2 or more, the Leader adds 2 more, so Nico Robin's effect leaves you with one more DON!! on the field than you started with.

In the middle turns, removal runs through the same cost. Gum-Gum Lightning K.O.s a Character with 6000 power or less, ST26-002 Tony Tony.Chopper rests a DON!! card or a Character with a cost of 1 or less, and General Franky gives 2 of your opponent's Characters −2000 power. Gum-Gum Giant is a counter that returns 2 DON!! and trashes a card for +4000 power and 2 draws, but on your opponent's turn it does not set off the Leader's refund.

Late, ST26-005 Monkey.D.Luffy returns 2 DON!! when played or when attacking to make your Leader's base power 7000 until the end of your opponent's next End Phase, as long as your opponent has 5 or more DON!! on their field. A 7000-power Leader makes each attack against you cost your opponent more.

Tips for your first games

• Plan one return of 2 or more DON!! on each of your turns, because the Leader's refund works once per turn and never on your opponent's turn.
• Give 1 DON!! to the Leader before you end your turn when you can, so your Characters keep +1 cost through your opponent's turn.
• Check that your opponent has 5 or more DON!! before using ST26-005 Monkey.D.Luffy; the DON!! −2 is still paid if they don't, and the Leader stays at 5000.
• OP05-070 Fra-Nosuke needs 8 DON!! on your field and OP05-066 Jinbe needs 10 for their bonuses, so count before you return DON!! on a turn you want them active.

Key cards in the box

Nico Robin

ST26-003

Returns 2 DON!! and adds 1 back, so with the Leader's refund you gain a DON!!

Nami (Reprint)

OP09-070

Turns returned DON!! into 2 given DON!! for an attack, and has a 2000 counter

Gum-Gum Lightning (Reprint)

OP09-077

K.O.s a Character with 6000 power or less for DON!! −2

Monkey.D.Luffy

ST26-005

Sets your Leader's base power to 7000 through your opponent's next turn

General Franky

ST26-004

10000 power, and gives 2 opposing Characters −2000 power

Tony Tony.Chopper

ST26-002

Blocker that rests a DON!! card or a cost 1 or less Character

Upgrade guide

Every upgrade below is legal in Standard and shares a color with the Leader. Prices are each card's base printing on TCGplayer on October 10, 2026; open a card for today's price.

Budget purple DON!! −2 package

Each card here returns DON!! in a way that sets off the Leader's refund, or finds the cards that do. OP09-079 Gum-Gum Jump Rope rests a Character with a cost of 5 or less and draws a card, OP09-072 Franky is a Blocker that returns 2 DON!! and trashes a card to draw 2, and OP09-065 Sanji returns DON!! to gain Rush and rest a Character with a cost of 6 or less. EB02-037 Franky adds a rested DON!! when your field has no more DON!! than your opponent's, and OP09-069 Trafalgar Law looks at 4 cards for a Straw Hat Crew card with a cost of 2 or more. All five are budget singles, and they replace Fra-Nosuke, San-Gorou and Soba Mask.

Gum-Gum Jump Rope

OP09-079

DON!! −2 to rest a cost 5 or less Character and draw 1

Franky

OP09-072

Blocker that returns 2 DON!! and trashes a card to draw 2

Sanji

OP09-065

Returns DON!! for Rush and rests an opposing cost 6 or less Character

Franky

EB02-037

Adds a rested DON!! when you have no more DON!! than your opponent

Trafalgar Law

OP09-069

1-cost that finds a Straw Hat Crew card with a cost of 2 or more

Black ST14 cards that read the Leader's +1 cost

The Leader's +1 cost is wasted in the box, because nothing checks your Characters' costs. The black cards from ST-14 do. ST14-003 Sanji K.O.s a Character with a cost of 5 or less if you have a Character with a cost of 6 or more, and the Leader makes any 5-cost count. ST14-007 Nico Robin gives −5 cost and ST14-002 Usopp K.O.s a cost 4 or less Character when you have a Character with a cost of 8 or more, which General Franky meets on its own and a 7-cost meets with the Leader's bonus. ST14-014 Gum-Gum Giant Rifle is a +3000 counter under the same condition, and ST14-016 I Have My Crew!! draws a card and gives a Character +3 cost. Most are budget singles; ST14-003 Sanji costs a little more. This package asks you to keep a DON!! on the Leader, which is DON!! you are not spending elsewhere.

Sanji

ST14-003

K.O.s a cost 5 or less Character if you have a Character with a cost of 6 or more

Nico Robin

ST14-007

Gives −5 cost on play and on attack with a cost 8 or more Character

Usopp

ST14-002

K.O.s a cost 4 or less Character when attacking with a cost 8 or more Character

Gum-Gum Giant Rifle

ST14-014

+3000 counter with a cost 8 or more Character; its Trigger returns a 2-cost from trash

I Have My Crew!!

ST14-016

Draws 1 and gives a Character +3 cost through your opponent's next turn

Bigger Straw Hat Crew finishers

This is the costlier path, and none of these is a budget single. OP09-119 Monkey.D.Luffy returns DON!! to draw a card and gain Rush. EB02-061 Monkey.D.Luffy gains Rush under the same condition as ST26-005 and can set itself active once per turn by returning 2 active DON!!, which also sets off the Leader. EB02-035 Sanji & Pudding adds an active DON!! whenever 2 or more are returned on your turn, the same trigger as the Leader. OP09-073 Brook gives 2 Characters −2000 power when attacking, and OP09-068 Tony Tony.Chopper returns DON!! at the end of your turn to stand up as a Blocker. Swap these in for General Franky and the vanilla 5- and 6-costs once the budget packages are in.

Monkey.D.Luffy

OP09-119

9-cost that returns DON!! to draw 1 and gain Rush

Monkey.D.Luffy

EB02-061

Gains Rush and sets itself active by returning 2 active DON!!

Sanji & Pudding

EB02-035

Adds an active DON!! when 2 or more are returned, stacking with the Leader

Brook

OP09-073

Returns DON!! when attacking to give 2 opposing Characters −2000 power

Tony Tony.Chopper

OP09-068

Returns DON!! at end of turn to set itself active with Blocker

What to cut first

Bandai's list doesn't say how many copies of each card the deck has, so cut by card: take out every copy of these before anything else, and keep the deck at exactly 50.

Fra-Nosuke (Reprint)

OP05-070

4000 power, and needs 8 DON!! plus a given DON!! to gain Rush

Soba Mask

ST26-001

Only cheap with a 7000-power San-Gorou or Sanji in play, then returns them to hand

San-Gorou (Reprint)

OP05-065

No effect; it is mostly here to make Soba Mask cheaper

Brook (Reprint)

ST14-010

The only black card and has no effect; black cards that use the +1 cost do more

Every card in ST-26

Bandai's card list for ST-26 has 15 different cards. Every one of them is legal in Standard. Legality follows Bandai's block icons and its banned list effective October 12, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions