Back on May 3rd, 2024 Bandai released their first unique set for the One Piece Trading Card Game named Memorial Collection : Extra Booster.

For those of you who play Magic, this set is comparable to March of the Machines: Aftermath where it's a very small set... but unlike M.O.M Aftermath, Extra Booster had an impact that was felt on every card table. Extra Booster, while intended to bring cards to support some not as commonly used leaders, brought us some powerful cards such as Cavendish and Brook

Alongside these characters, the first Extra Booster set also introduced us to three brand new leaders to the format;

For a small set, that's a fair amount of leaders.

Yet, on March 9th 2025 Bandai released Extra Booster 2 where, in comparison to Extra Booster, only one leader was released from this set.

But he's more than enough by himself.

Monkey .D. Luffy is a Green/Purple leader with standard dual colored leader stats of 5000 power and 4 life and has the following leader ability "[Activate: Main][Once Per Turn] DON!! - 2: If the only characters on your field are 'Straw Hat Crew' type characters, Set up to 2 of your DON!! cards as active. Then, this Leader gains +1000 power until the end of your opponent's next turn." So, we've seen a plethora of Monkey .D. Luffy leaders in the past... But this Luffy seems to be hyper focused on his fellow crew mates. Which might leave you thinking "What cards would I even throw together with this leader?"

We'll start off with discussing Sanji & Pudding:

This character is a 5 DON!! Cost 7000 power purple character with two different abilities. The first is "[Your Turn][Once Per Turn] When 2 or more DON!! cards on your field are returned to your DON!! deck, add up to 1 DON!! card from your DON!! deck and set is as active" as well as the ability "[On Play] If the number of DON!! cards on your field is equal to or less than the number on your opponent's field, draw 1 card."

So, this character has both the Strawhat and Big Mom types with along with being an absolute units worth of value. 7000 power is nothing to gawk at, and with Luffy leader already turning two DON!! Active when you utilize his ability you essentially pay 3 for this character who also draw you a card on play?

Say it with me now, V A L U E. Nothing but Value.

Two other excellent cards for this leader within Extra Booster are Roronoa Zoro and Nami:

Roronoa Zoro is a 4 cost 5000 power Character with the following abilities "If your opponent has 2 or more characters, this Character can attack Characters on the turn in which it is played." and "[On Play] If your Leader has the 'Straw Hat Crew' type, rest up to 1 of your opponent's Characters with a cost of 4 or less."

Zoro has pseudo-Rush and can come in hot from Luffy leader and get rid of an opposing character. Also worth noting, unlike Sanji & Pudding, Zoro won't brick up your hand. Zoro is a +1000 counter in hand as well.

Nami, however, is this Luffy's flavor of Searcher character. She is a 1-cost 2000 power character that read's "[On Play] Look at 5 cards from the top of your deck; reveal up to one (1) 'Straw Hat Crew' type card other than 'Nami' and add it to your hand. Then, place the rest at the bottom of your deck in any order."

Nami, like Zoro, also possess a +1000 counter meaning she isn't dead in hand as well. Also... Just "Straw Hat Crew" card, not specified down to a Character.

Monkey .D. Luffy is a ramp-esque leader that want to play rather aggressively with 6000+ characters like Zoro-Juroo from Starter deck 18, Uso-hachi and Fra-Nosuke as +2000 counters and the Merry Go stage as protection for these higher powered characters. Some decks run Tony Tony Chopper from set 7 but it's worth noting... this Chopper is NOT a "Straw Hat Crew" character.

However... it's a guarantee that G/P Luffy will run, well... Monkey .D. Luffy as a finisher.

Monkey .D. Luffy is a 6 cost 7000 power Character with the following abilities "If your Leader is multicolored and your opponent has 5 or more DON!! cards on their field, this Character gains 'Rush'" and "[When Attacking][Once Per Turn] You may return two of your active DON!! cards to your DON!! deck; Set this Character as active. Then, add 1 card from the top of your Life cards to your hand."

So... Leader, Monkey .D. Luffy, drops this once your opponent is down to one life or so and then swings in for a minimum of 7000 power and then re-stands this character at the cost of a card out of life to fuel your hand and then swing another minimum of 7000 for the final blow.

But, fellow sea farers, is this a leader that intrigues you? Will you use Green/Purple Luffy going into One Piece Set 11? Extra Booster format is only here until the beginning of June. What will you build prior to Set 11?

'Til the seas do us part, fellow Pirates!