ST-30 Luffy & Ace

Overview

ST-30 Luffy & Ace is a Starter Deck EX with a single red-green Leader, Luffy & Ace (ST30-001). It has 6000 power and 4 Life. During your opponent's turn, all of your [Portgas.D.Ace] and [Monkey.D.Luffy] cards gain +3000 power, which makes your two namesake Characters 9000-power walls. The drawback is that the Leader drops by 2000 if you control a Character with 7000 base power or more.

Almost every Character in the box has exactly 6000 power, and the deck's support cares about that number. Inazuma and And You Get Yourself in Big Trouble!! search for 6000-power Characters, Emporio.Ivankov and Jinbe turn spare 6000-power cards in hand into draws, and Marco returns from the trash by discarding one. The red cards bring Ace, the Whitebeard Pirates and the searchers, and the green cards bring Luffy, Crocodile, Buggy and Mr.3 from Impel Down.

It suits a player who likes a steady midrange deck with a few decisions every turn. It has fewer Life cards than most starters, so it rewards players who are comfortable blocking and countering.

Luffy & Ace

ST30-001

ST30-001, 6000 power, 4 Life: gives your Ace and Luffy cards +3000 on your opponent's turn

Every card in ST-30 is legal in Standard, including the Luffy & Ace Leader.

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 turns set up hands and boards. One-cost Inazuma finds a 6000-power Character, Emporio.Ivankov can reveal two of them to draw 3 and trash 2, and Mr.3 (Galdino) can later rest itself to give two of your 6000-base-power Characters up to 2 rested DON!! each.

From 4 DON!! on, Portgas.D.Ace and Monkey.D.Luffy are the deck's engine. Each can rest 1 DON!! on play to gain [Rush]. Ace gives an opponent's Character −1000 when attacking, and Luffy rests an opponent's [Blocker] when attacking, so they clear the way for the Leader. Crocodile, Marco and Buggy add [Blocker]s, and Crocodile keeps one of your opponent's rested Characters from untapping.

On defense, your Ace and Luffy Characters sit at 9000 power through the Leader, and LittleOars Jr. and Buggy can save a 6000-base-power Character from your opponent's removal. Keep the 7000-power cards out of the deck so the Leader stays at 6000 on both turns.

Tips for your first games

• Don't add Characters with 7000 base power or more without a reason; any one of them on the field gives your Leader −2000 power.
• Pay for [Rush] on Ace or Luffy when the attack removes a [Blocker] or a key Character, and keep the DON!! when the extra attack would only hit a full-power Leader.
• Hold two 6000-power Characters in hand before playing Emporio.Ivankov, since its draw 3 needs you to reveal two of them.
• Attack with Ace and Luffy without much worry: even rested, they are 9000 power on your opponent's turn, so a 6000-power attacker can't K.O. them in battle without help.
• Use Mr.3 (Galdino) after your Characters are on the field, since it gives DON!! only to Characters with 6000 base power.

Key cards in the box

Portgas.D.Ace

ST30-007

Four-cost 6000 with paid [Rush] and −1000 on attack; 9000 on defense with the Leader

Monkey.D.Luffy

ST30-012

Four-cost 6000 with paid [Rush] that rests a [Blocker] each time it attacks

Inazuma

ST30-002

One-cost searcher for any 6000-power Character in the top 5

Mr.3(Galdino)

ST30-014

Gives two 6000-base-power Characters up to 2 rested DON!! each

Marco

ST30-008

A [Blocker] that returns from the trash when you discard a 6000-power Character

Crocodile

ST30-010

A [Blocker] that keeps one rested opposing Character from untapping

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.

Luffy & Ace: more Ace and Luffy Characters (budget)

The Leader only boosts cards named Portgas.D.Ace and Monkey.D.Luffy, and the box has one of each. Adding more of them at 6000 base power means the +3000 covers more of your board, and Inazuma still finds them. OP16-015 Monkey.D.Luffy costs 2 less when your Leader's name includes "Ace" and you have 6 or more DON!!, which this Leader satisfies, and ST15-005 Portgas.D.Ace gains [Rush] because the Leader has the Whitebeard Pirates type. All of these are budget cards; the tradeoff is fewer on-play effects than the cards they replace.

Portgas.D.Ace (Pirates Party 2026 Vol. 1)

P-119

Four-cost 6000 with a 1000 counter; 9000 on your opponent's turn

Monkey.D.Luffy

OP16-015

Costs 2 less with this Leader at 6+ DON!!, a 6000 Luffy for 2

Portgas.D.Ace

ST15-005

Gains [Rush] with this Leader and shrugs off one removal effect for −2000

Monkey.D.Luffy

OP16-034

One-cost Luffy that finds an Impel Down type card from the top 3

Luffy & Ace: green control at 6000 power

The green half of the box has only Crocodile to slow your opponent down. These cards keep the 6000-power rule and add resting and K.O. effects. Ryuma K.O.s a rested cost 4 or less on play and on K.O., Jewelry Bonney keeps a rested Character or DON!! down, and Gum-Gum Twin Jet Pistol gives a Luffy [Double Attack] and rests two small Characters because your Leader has the Impel Down type. Gum-Gum Hammer Rifle uses the Mr.3 already in the box. Brook is the priciest card here.

Ryuma

OP06-036

Four-cost 6000 that K.O.s a rested cost 4 or less on play and on K.O.

Jewelry Bonney

OP07-026

Keeps an opposing rested Character or DON!! from untapping next turn

Brook

OP15-032

Rests any opposing card on play; trash it to ready a Character

Gum-Gum Twin Jet Pistol

OP16-039

Gives a Luffy [Double Attack] and rests two cost 3 or less Characters

Gum-Gum Hammer Rifle

OP16-040

With Luffy and Mr.3 out, locks a rested cost 6 or less; +3000 counter

Luffy & Ace: Whitebeard Pirates pressure

The red side can hit harder. OP16-118 Portgas.D.Ace searches for a Luffy or a Whitebeard Pirates card on play and again when K.O.'d, Blamenco shrinks a Character by 4000 when attacking with 2 DON!!, and Atmos is another 9000-power defender on your opponent's turn. There's No Way You Could Defeat Me!! is a counter that K.O.s a Character with 6000 base power or less. This idea is mid-priced because of OP16-118 Ace; the rest are budget.

Portgas.D.Ace

OP16-118

Finds a Luffy or Whitebeard Pirates card on play and on K.O.

Blamenco

OP17-011

With 2 DON!!, gives an opposing Character −4000 when attacking

Atmos

OP17-002

Four-cost 6000 that gains +3000 on your opponent's turn

Marco

OP17-015

Takes a removal effect for another Character, then can return from trash

There's No Way You Could Defeat Me!!

EB01-010

Counter that K.O.s an opposing Character with 6000 base power or less

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.

Edward.Newgate

ST30-003

Eight cost for 6000 power, and its bonus only applies on your own turn

Jozu

ST30-005

A 5-cost 6000 with no effect; Characters with text do the same job better

LittleOars Jr.

ST30-009

A narrow protection piece with 2000 power that rarely affects the board

Every card in ST-30

Bandai's card list for ST-30 has 17 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