ST-35 RED/BLACK Sabo

Overview

ST-35 is a red and black Revolutionary Army deck led by Sabo. While you have 4 or more Life cards, the Leader has −1000 power. With one DON!! attached and a Character with cost 8 or more on your field, your Leader and all of your Characters get +1000 power.

The trick is that you rarely need to pay eight. Several black cards gain cost under a Revolutionary Army Leader: Morley and the P-105 Sabo gain +4 cost, the OP13 Koala and Bartholomew Kuma gain +3, and the ST35 Koala gains +1. A four-cost Morley counts as an eight-cost Character for the Leader and for Hair Removal Fist.

The red side brings early interaction. Hack and Lindbergh handle small Characters, and But Ace Here Said You Deserved It!! is either removal or a +3000 counter for the Leader. The deck suits a player who likes a wide board of mid-sized Characters that all hit a little harder.

Sabo

OP13-004

OP13-004, 5000 power, 5 Life: +1000 to your whole board with a cost-8 Character and a DON!!

Every card in ST-35 is legal in Standard, including the OP12 and OP13 reprints and the P-105 Sabo promo.

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, play Hack or Lindbergh to deal with your opponent's first Characters, or Inazuma to give the Leader a rested DON!!. The Leader is only 4000 power at 4 or more Life, so expect to take a couple of hits early; that drops you to the Life total where the penalty ends.

From turn four, get a cost-8 Character onto the field. Morley and the P-105 Sabo do it for four DON!!, and Sabo is a Blocker under this Leader. Bartholomew Kuma at five then plays a Revolutionary Army Character with 4000 power or less from your hand or trash, such as Hack, so one card puts two bodies on the field.

Once the +1000 is on, every Character attacks for more and Hair Removal Fist becomes a +4000 counter. Monkey.D.Dragon and Emporio.Ivankov protect your Revolutionary Army Characters from removal, so your opponent has a harder time switching the bonus off.

Tips for your first games

• Attach the first DON!! to the Leader each turn; the board-wide +1000 needs it.
• Keep two cost-8 Characters on the field when you can, so one removal spell does not turn the bonus off.
• Use the P-105 Sabo's Life-to-hand cost when you are at 4 Life to drop below 4 Life, which removes the Leader's −1000, and put that Life card into your hand.
• Bartholomew Kuma and the ST35 Koala can play a Character from your trash, so Hack or Lindbergh that were K.O.'d earlier come back.

Key cards in the box

Bartholomew Kuma

ST35-005

Counts as cost 8 and plays a 4000-power Revolutionary Army from hand or trash

Sabo

P-105

A four-cost Blocker that counts as cost 8 and can give the Leader a DON!!

Morley

OP12-093

A four-cost 5000 with a 2000 counter that turns on the Leader by itself

Koala

ST35-004

A cost-8 Blocker that also plays a Revolutionary Army Character from trash

Hair Removal Fist

OP12-098

A one-cost counter worth +4000 once you have a cost-8 Revolutionary Army

Hack

ST35-001

Blocker that K.O.s a 2000-power Character; a good target for Kuma

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: more four-costs that count as cost 8

The cheapest upgrade is more cards that switch on the Leader. The OP12 Hack, Lindbergh and EB03 Koala all gain +4 cost under a Revolutionary Army Leader, and each adds a useful effect on top: removal when K.O.'d, card filtering, or a replacement Character. The OP12 Karasu gains +3 and is a better version of the box's Karasu, and the OP12 Koala searches for the pieces.

Hack

OP12-089

Blocker at cost 8; when K.O.'d it K.O.s a base cost 4 or less Character

Lindbergh

OP12-095

Counts as cost 8 and draws one, trashes one on play

Koala

EB03-042

Cost 8; when K.O.'d on your opponent's turn, plays a Revolutionary Army

Karasu

OP12-085

Counts as cost 8 and strips a card when your opponent holds five or more

Koala

OP12-086

One-cost searcher that finds a Revolutionary Army card in the top three

Removal that grows with a cost-8 Character

The box can only remove small Characters. Ursa Shock K.O.s up to cost 6 once you have a cost-8 Character, which this deck has most turns, and the OP07 Sabo removes two Characters on play. Fire Fist and Dragon Breath are cheap red answers with Triggers, and Dragon Claw is a +4000 counter that also removes a Character once your trash reaches 15. Adding them costs a few bodies, so cut the weakest cards first.

Ursa Shock

OP12-096

K.O.s cost 4 or less, or cost 6 or less with a cost-8 Character

Sabo

OP07-118

Trash one to K.O. a cost-5 and a cost-3 Character on play

Fire Fist

OP05-019

−4000 power, plus a K.O. when you are at 2 or less Life

Dragon Breath

OP07-017

K.O.s a Character with 3000 power or less; the Trigger does the same

Dragon Claw

OP05-095

+4000 counter that K.O.s a cost-4 Character with 15 cards in trash

Recursion from the trash

Black Revolutionary Army cards fill the trash, and several of them use it. The OP12 Monkey.D.Dragon plays a cost-6 Character from your trash, the OP13 Sabo gives a Character +2 cost to reach 8, and the PRB02 Sabo gets cheaper with 15 cards in the trash. Captains Assembled and the OP12 Emporio.Ivankov fill the trash while finding cards or blocking. This path asks you to track your trash count.

Monkey.D.Dragon

OP12-094

Bottom-decks three Revolutionary Army cards from trash to play a cost-6 from trash

Sabo

OP13-120

Blocker that gives a Character +2 cost and the Leader a rested DON!!

Sabo

PRB02-014

A 6000 Blocker that costs three with 15 or more cards in trash

Captains Assembled

OP12-097

One-cost search for a Revolutionary Army card that trashes the rest

Emporio.Ivankov

OP12-084

Three-cost Blocker that trashes three from your deck

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.

Karasu

ST35-003

Its attack effect needs your opponent at seven or more cards in hand

Emporio.Ivankov

OP13-008

Protection only; it does nothing until your opponent uses removal

Belo Betty

OP12-090

A cost reduction with no removal attached, and it mills your own deck

Every card in ST-35

Bandai's card list for ST-35 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