Kaido — Standard Strategy Guide

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Archetype Overview

This is Purple Kaido ramp. Most of the deck adds DON!! from your DON!! deck, and the rest spends DON!! by returning it. The list took 2nd Place at Win a Box - Aegean Pirate Cup #6 (2026-10-22, 33 players), played by Limitless user xkalliger. Its shape is clear: build your DON!! count early, land 9- and 10-cost Characters before your opponent can answer them, and turn every DON!! you return into removal, card draw or Life.

The Plan

Your early turns go to growing your DON!!. Queen (the 1-cost), Basil Hawkins and Yamato each add a DON!! card from your DON!! deck. King adds two every turn it stays on the field, as long as it's your only King Character. Ulti & Page One ramps one and K.O.s a small Character in the same play. Kundali Dragon Swarm is the burst option: rest 3 DON!! and trash 2 cards to add 3 DON!! rested.

That ramp feeds the top of the curve: three different 10-cost, 12000-power bodies and two 9-costs.

• The Kaido with Blocker refunds DON!! on your turn whenever one is returned.
• The other Kaido negates and K.O.s a cost 6 or less Character the turn it's played. It also gives every Character in your hand that lacks a Counter a +1000 Counter.
• Charlotte Linlin adds a Life card and sets an opposing Character's base power to 0.
• The 9-cost Queen has Banish, draws a card, and stops up to two cost 5 or less Characters from attacking through your opponent's next turn.
• Lead Performers adds a Life card on play. Later you can trash it to play King or Queen from your hand for free.

We're Going to Claim the One Piece!!! finds whichever piece you're missing. It can grab any Animal Kingdom Pirates card, and Charlotte Linlin too, since she has the Big Mom Pirates type.

Why It Works

DON!! is a currency here, not a limit. Your Leader's once-per-turn DON!! -1 gives an opposing Character -2000 power, and it works on both your attacks and your opponent's. On your turn, that return triggers the Blocker Kaido. It adds a DON!! as active and then sets another DON!! active, so the Leader's removal can leave you ahead on active DON!!. Slow-Slow Beam Sword, Gum-Gum Lightning and the 9-cost Queen spend DON!! the same way. Your ramp Characters refill what you spend, so you pay these costs while still curving out.

Your big Characters are hard to remove. King can return a DON!! instead of being K.O.'d. Nola does the same for any of your Characters with 7000 base power or less when your opponent's effect would remove them. That protects your early ramp Characters, the 6-cost Ulti & Page One, and King a second time. Your opponent has to spend real resources to clear your board, and every DON!! you lose to these replacements is one your ramp can add back.

You don't fall behind on Counters. Ramp decks usually lose games with a hand full of fat, Counter-less cards. Here the early Characters carry +1000 or +2000 Counters. Once the right Kaido is on the field, every Counter-less card in your hand counts too. Add Mamaragan, Slow-Slow Beam Sword and the +4000 Leader Counter on Kundali Dragon Swarm, and you can defend a 5-Life Leader while your board develops.

You have removal at every size. You can handle opposing Characters wherever they land:

• Ulti & Page One K.O.s 3000 power or less.
• Mamaragan rests 5000 or less.
• Gum-Gum Lightning K.O.s 6000 or less.
• The removal Kaido negates and K.O.s cost 6 or less.
• Charlotte Linlin zeroes out anything for a turn.
• Your Leader shrinks a Character by 2000 every turn.

Three Events also have Triggers (We're Going to Claim the One Piece!!!, Slow-Slow Beam Sword, Gum-Gum Lightning), so some of the Life you lose comes back as cards or ramp.

You can gain Life back. Lead Performers and Charlotte Linlin both put a card from the top of your deck onto your Life. Aggressive decks need to take your last Life cards before your 10-costs take over, and these two cards push that deadline back.

Who Should Pick It Up

Play this deck if you like counting resources. Every turn you track several things at once:

• how many DON!! are on your field
• which once-per-turn effects you've already used
• whether a DON!! return happens on your turn (it triggers the Blocker Kaido) or your opponent's (it doesn't)
• how many DON!! you can still pay for Kundali Dragon Swarm's Counter or Slow-Slow Beam Sword

The deck rewards planning two turns ahead and punishes autopilot. If you sequence ramp out of order or spend your Leader's DON!! -1 at the wrong time, you end up a turn short of your top end.

Skip it if you want short, fast games. The deck wins by outgrowing your opponent, not by racing them, and its turns are long. If you're comfortable as the midrange player who takes over the late game, this list gives you protection, removal and Life gain at the top of its curve. It costs about $147 at TCGplayer market prices, which is a reasonable price for a list that took 2nd in a 33-player field.

Core Strategy & Game Plan

How the Deck Wins

This is a purple ramp deck. You spend the early turns adding DON!! from your DON!! deck faster than the natural two per turn. You reach 9- and 10-cost threats ahead of schedule, then stack Life and removal until the opponent can't push the last points through. The finishers are 12000-power bodies: two versions of Kaido and Charlotte Linlin. They are backed by Lead Performers and the 9-cost Queen, and two of those four (Lead Performers and Linlin) also put a card on top of your Life. You win by out-sizing the board while your Life total goes up, not down.

Posture: Reactive Early, Overwhelming Late

Before your bombs land, you are the defender. Your early Characters are low-power ramp pieces carrying +1000 or +2000 Counter values. Yamato gives you a Blocker on turn three or so. Your Leader taxes the opponent's attacks. On their turn, Kaido can give one of their attacking Characters -2000 power. That ability is Once Per Turn, so plan each turn around whether you spend it on offense or on defense.

Once you hit double-digit-cost plays, the roles flip. The 9-cost Queen stops up to two cost-5-or-less Characters from attacking through your opponent's next End Phase. The 10-cost removal Kaido negates and K.O.s a cost-6-or-less Character the turn it comes down. From there you attack into a board that can't hit back.

The Engine: Ramp In, Return, Ramp Again

Your ramp pieces each add DON!! a different way:

• 1-cost Queen trades a card for two on play. Its Activate: Main rests 2 DON!! to add 1 more, rested.
• Basil Hawkins adds an active DON!!, so the turn you play him still has mana left over.
• Yamato adds a rested DON!! and stays behind as a Blocker.
• King is the premium engine. Every turn, his Activate adds one active and one rested DON!!, as long as he's your only King.
• Ulti & Page One adds an active DON!! and K.O.s a 3000-or-less Character.
• Kundali Dragon Swarm is the big jump. You trash 2 cards for 3 rested DON!!.

You can never control more than 10 DON!!, and ramp effects pull from your DON!! deck. Once you're capped, more ramp does nothing. Your DON!! -1 costs solve this. The Leader's -2000, the 9-cost Queen, the removal Kaido, Slow-Slow Beam Sword, and Gum-Gum Lightning all return DON!! to the DON!! deck. That refills the pool for King to pull from again.

The Blocker Kaido turns this loop into profit. On your turn, the first time a DON!! returns to your DON!! deck, it adds an active DON!! back and sets another DON!! active. With it on board, your Leader's -2000 on attack effectively costs nothing, and you untap a DON!! too. Sequence your DON!! -1 effects on your own turn whenever the Blocker Kaido is out so you collect that refund.

Protecting the Engine

The ramp only works if your Characters survive. Nola lets you return a DON!! from your field to save any of your Characters with 7000 base power or less from removal by an opponent's effect. That covers King, Ulti & Page One, and every early ramp body. King also has his own K.O. replacement.

The removal Kaido fixes the deck's biggest weakness: a hand full of counterless bombs. While it's on the field, every Character card in your hand without a Counter gains +1000 Counter. Your stranded 10-drops become defense.

The Ideal Game

1. Turns 1-2: Play the 1-cost Queen and trash an Animal Kingdom Pirates card to draw 2, or play Nola early so your ramp is protected from the start. Use We're Going to Claim the One Piece!!! to find the Animal Kingdom Pirates piece you're missing. It can't find Yamato, Nola, or Charlotte Linlin.
2. Turns 2-3: Play Basil Hawkins or Yamato, then activate Queen if you have 2 spare DON!!. The goal is reaching 6 cost a turn early.
3. Turns 3-4: Play King and activate him immediately, or play Ulti & Page One if the opponent has a small Character worth killing. Next turn, King's activation alone should put a 9- or 10-cost play within reach.
4. Turns 4-6: Choose your first bomb based on the board:
   • Play the removal Kaido when a key cost-6-or-less threat needs to die.
   • Play the 9-cost Queen when you need to stop two attackers.
   • Play Charlotte Linlin or Lead Performers when you need Life.
   Lead Performers can later trash itself to put King or Queen into play from your hand at no cost.
5. Closing: Keep one bomb per turn hitting the board. Swing with 12000-power Characters and use your Leader's -2000 to clear the way. Leave the Blocker Kaido back if your Life is thin.

The Tension to Manage

Ramp and card flow pull against each other. The Counter side of Mamaragan draws a card only if you have 6 or fewer DON!! on your field. Its Main side also has a DON!! 2 cost that competes with your development. Early, Mamaragan is a cheap cantrip Counter. Late, it's just +1000.

Kundali Dragon Swarm has the same kind of trade-off. Its Main effect costs two cards from your hand, and its Counter side gives your Leader +4000. Before you ramp with it, decide whether this game is about reaching 10 DON!! fast or surviving to get there, and spend your hand accordingly.

Card Choices & Breakdown

Ramp Package: Building to Ten

The list has sixteen Characters at cost 9 or more, so the cheap slots exist to accelerate your DON!! count, not to pressure Life.

• 4x Queen (EB04-032): This is the most flexible early play. The [On Play] trashes an Animal Kingdom Pirates card to draw 2, which converts a stranded top-end card into fresh resources. The [Activate: Main] rests 2 DON!! to add 1 rested DON!! from your deck. That trades tempo this turn for a permanent extra DON!!, so fire it on turns where you have spare DON!! after your main play.
• 4x Basil Hawkins: Costs 3, trashes a card and refunds 1 active DON!!. The effective cost is low and the trash outlet smooths hands clogged with 10-drops. It also carries a +2000 Counter for when you draw it late.
• 4x Yamato: Ramp plus a [Blocker]. It adds 1 rested DON!!, so it doesn't help that turn, but it leaves a body that absorbs an attack while you develop.
• 4x King: The best ramp piece in the deck. Its [Activate: Main] adds 1 active and 1 rested DON!!, but only while you control no other King. You never want two on the field, so extra copies stay in hand. They have no Counter on their own, but once Kaido (OP17-063) is down they become +1000 Counters. If King would be K.O.'d, you can return a DON!! to keep it.
• 2x Kundali Dragon Swarm: A burst of three rested DON!! at the price of resting 3 and trashing 2 cards. That card cost is steep, which is why it's a 2-of. Its Counter mode, +4000 to your Leader for DON!! 1, means a late copy is never dead.

The DON!! Return Engine

Several effects return DON!! to your DON!! deck. Kaido (OP17-062) is the card that turns those returns into profit.

• Leader Kaido: Its DON!! -1 gives an opposing Character -2000, on your attack or theirs, once per turn. On your turn with OP17-062 on the field, that return immediately pays you back.
• 4x Kaido (OP17-062): A 12000 [Blocker]. During your turn, once per turn, when a DON!! returns to your DON!! deck, you add 1 active DON!! and set another active. A return effect then costs you nothing, and you gain an extra active DON!! on top. This card is the reason the deck can afford to spend DON!! freely.
• 4x Nola: Protects any of your Characters with 7000 base power or less from removal by opponent effects, at the cost of a DON!!. That covers King, Ulti & Page One and your ramp bodies, so your engine survives removal-heavy turns. A +2000 Counter on a 1-cost makes it a full 4-of.
• 2x Slow-Slow Beam Sword: DON!! -1 for +2000 and resting an opposing Character. Its [Trigger] adds an active DON!!, which is relevant when you are flipping Life.
• 1x Gum-Gum Lightning: DON!! -2 to K.O. a 6000-power-or-less Character. It's a single copy of flat removal that combines with the OP17-062 refund on your turn. It's held to one because the 9- and 10-drops already carry most of your interaction.

Top End

• 4x Lead Performers: A 9-cost 11000 with an [On Play] that adds the top card of your deck to Life (DON!! 1). Its [Activate: Main] trashes itself to play a King or either Queen from hand. That turns a spent body into a fresh King activation, or into a free Queen (OP17-065) [On Play].
• 2x Queen (OP17-065): [Banish], draws a card, and stops up to two opposing Characters of cost 5 or less from attacking through their next turn. It's a 2-of because Lead Performers can fetch it from hand, and because the deck already has plenty of 9+ costs.
• 4x Kaido (OP17-062): Covered above. It's the 10-drop you most want to land first.
• 3x Kaido (OP17-063): Gives every Counterless Character in your hand a +1000 Counter. That's twenty cards in this list. Its [Activate: Main] negates and K.O.s a cost 6 or less Character on the turn it's played, paid with DON!! -1, which also triggers OP17-062. You never want two on board, so it sits at 3.
• 3x Charlotte Linlin: At DON!! 4, she trashes a card to add the top of your deck to Life and sets an opposing Character's base power to 0 for the turn. That swings a race in both directions. She's Big Mom Pirates rather than Animal Kingdom Pirates, but We're Going to Claim the One Piece!!! still finds her. Three copies keeps the 10-cost count from choking your hand.
• 2x Ulti & Page One: A 6-cost that ramps 1 active DON!! and K.O.s a 3000-or-less Character. It's strong against wide boards of small bodies. It shares the 6 slot with King, which is why it's a 2-of rather than a 4-of.

Consistency and Counters

• 4x We're Going to Claim the One Piece!!!: Looks at five cards and takes an Animal Kingdom Pirates or Big Mom Pirates card. It can find nearly every ramp piece and finisher, and its [Trigger] repeats the effect from Life. Note that it misses Nola, Yamato and the non-Kaido Events.
• 3x Mamaragan: The [Main] mode draws and rests a 5000-or-less Character. The [Counter] mode gives +1000 and draws, but only while you have 6 or fewer DON!! on the field. As you ramp, that draw disappears. That's why it's a 3-of: it's best early and weakest in exactly the late turns this deck is built for.

Count your real Counters before game one. The printed Counters sit mostly on the cheap cards, so your defense swings heavily on whether Kaido (OP17-063) is in play. Plan your early life total with that in mind.

The Decklist

This is the exact 50 that xkalliger took to 2nd place at Win a Box - Aegean Pirate Cup #6 (2026-10-22, 33 players). It runs 38 Characters and 12 Events behind the Kaido Leader, at an estimated deck price of about $147 on TCGplayer market prices. Two names appear twice in the main deck, and a third, Kaido, also shares its name with the Leader. Set codes are included below so you register and build the right printings: the 1-cost Queen is EB04-032, the 9-cost Queen is OP17-065, the Blocker Kaido is OP17-062 and the removal Kaido is OP17-063.

Leader

Characters (38)

Events (12)

At a Glance

• Curve: 8 one-drops, 8 three-drops, 6 six-drops, 6 nine-drops and 10 ten-drops. The 1- and 3-cost slots exist to build DON!! fast enough to reach the top end.
• Printed Counters: 18 Characters (8 at +2000) plus 3 Counter Events. Kaido (OP17-063) temporarily adds Counter value to every big Character stuck in hand.
• Triggers: 7. Two of them add DON!!, so Life damage can push your ramp forward.
• Search coverage: We're Going to Claim the One Piece!!! cannot find Nola, Yamato or any Event. Your Blocker and Counter density comes from draws, not tutoring.

Opening Hands & Mulligan

What a Keep Looks Like

This deck races to 10 DON!! and wins with the top end. Judge every five-card hand by one question: does it put extra DON!! on the field by your second turn? The cards that answer yes are the 1-cost Queen, Basil Hawkins, Yamato and We're Going to Claim the One Piece!!!. The last one finds the 1-cost Queen or Basil Hawkins from the top five. It cannot find Yamato or Nola, because neither is an Animal Kingdom Pirates or Big Mom Pirates card.

A standard keep has:

• One or more early ramp pieces, or We're Going to Claim the One Piece!!! to dig for one.
• One or two real Counter cards: Nola and Basil Hawkins at +2000, Mamaragan, Slow-Slow Beam Sword or Kundali Dragon Swarm.
• Top end you can afford to hold. A single 9- or 10-cost card is not a liability. The 1-cost Queen trashes an Animal Kingdom Pirates card to draw 2, Basil Hawkins trashes any card, and Kundali Dragon Swarm trashes two. An extra Lead Performers or 10-cost Kaido is often the best card to pitch.

The best opener is 1-cost Queen + Basil Hawkins + a spare Animal Kingdom Pirates card + a Counter. That hand ramps on curve, draws two, and still defends.

What Goes Back

• No ramp and no We're Going to Claim the One Piece!!!. Five good cards that cost 6 or more are a mulligan. Without acceleration you are playing an ordinary midrange deck with no early board.
• Three or more counterless top-end cards. King, Lead Performers, Charlotte Linlin, the 9-cost Queen and both 10-cost Kaido have no Counter value printed. The Kaido that grants a +1000 Counter to hand cards only does so once it is on the field, so it does not help an opening hand. A hand that can't block early and can't ramp loses Life with nothing to show for it.
• Kundali Dragon Swarm as your only ramp. Its Main effect needs 1 DON!! to cast plus 3 more to rest, so it does nothing before you have 4 DON!! on the field. It is an excellent second ramp piece and a poor first one.

Going First

You start with 1 DON!!. Your turn-one options are the 1-cost Queen or We're Going to Claim the One Piece!!!. Lead with Queen if you have an Animal Kingdom Pirates card to trash for the draw. Even without one, putting her on the field now lets you use her rest-2 activation next turn.

Turn two you have 3 DON!!, and there are two strong lines:

1. Hawkins chain. Play Basil Hawkins and trash a card to add 1 active DON!!. Spend that DON!! on the 1-cost Queen or We're Going to Claim the One Piece!!!. You finish the turn with two ramp bodies on the field.
2. Queen already on field. Rest 2 DON!! for Queen's activation to add 1 rested DON!!. Use the last active DON!! on We're Going to Claim the One Piece!!! or Nola.

Yamato is the fallback when you need a Blocker more than speed. It still nets you a rested DON!!.

Going Second

You start with 2 DON!!, so you can play the 1-cost Queen plus We're Going to Claim the One Piece!!! or Nola on turn one. You cannot also use Queen's activation that turn: playing her leaves only 1 active DON!!, and the ability needs 2.

Turn two you have 4 DON!!, and this is where the deck pulls ahead:

• Hawkins + Queen. Play Basil Hawkins, which uses 3 DON!! and adds 1 active, leaving you 2 active. Rest those 2 for Queen's activation. You end the turn with 6 DON!! on the field and 8 available next turn.
• Kundali. Use Kundali Dragon Swarm's Main effect: 1 DON!! to cast, 3 rested, 2 cards trashed, and 3 rested DON!! added. It costs more cards but makes the bigger jump.

Going second is where you can keep slightly greedier hands. Having 2 DON!! on turn one means a lone ramp piece does more work.

In both seats, think hard before using the Leader's DON!! -1 on your opponent's attack early. Every DON!! returned pushes your 10-cost turn back. Spend it only when the -2000 saves real Life or stops a Character that matters.

Matchup Adjustments to the Keep

You see the opposing Leader before you mulligan, so adjust the keep to it:

• Against aggro, the Counter requirement goes up. Prioritize Yamato as an early Blocker, plus Nola, Basil Hawkins and Mamaragan. The Counter side of Mamaragan draws a card when you have 6 or fewer DON!! on the field, which is nearly always true in the early turns. Mulligan a pure-ramp hand with no Counters.
• Against decks that remove Characters with effects, an opening Nola gets much more valuable. She protects Queen, Basil Hawkins, Yamato, King and Ulti & Page One from your opponent's effects by returning a DON!! instead.
• Against go-wide strategies, a hand that can reach Ulti & Page One (K.O. 3000 power or less) or holds Mamaragan (rest 5000 power or less) is a stronger keep than one that only ramps.
• Against slower control decks, keep greedy. A hand of ramp plus two top-end threats is fine, and Kundali Dragon Swarm as a second accelerant gets better the less pressure you are under.

Sequencing & Key Lines

Turns 1–3: buy DON!! before you buy board

Your early turns exist to push your DON!! count past the normal curve. A 1-cost Queen on turn 1 should trash an Animal Kingdom Pirates card you don't need, such as a second Leader-dependent piece or an extra 10-cost, and draw 2. On the following turns, the order of your plays matters more than which plays you pick:

• Basil Hawkins first. His DON!! comes in active, so play him before deciding the rest of the turn. The new DON!! can pay for Nola, We're Going to Claim the One Piece!!!, or another 1-drop.
• Queen's Activate goes last. It needs 2 active DON!! to rest. Spend everything else first, then use the last two on Queen to add a rested DON!!.
• Yamato is the defensive ramp piece. Choose her over Hawkins when the opponent is already pressuring you. She ramps and stays back as a Blocker.
• Kundali Dragon Swarm is a jump, not a curve play. Cast it on a turn when you can rest 3 DON!! and pitch 2 cards you don't need. You skip developing that turn, and the next turn lands you in Lead Performers or 10-cost range.

Don't spend your Leader's DON!! -1 early just to shrink a small Character. Each early return sets back your 6- and 9-drops by a turn. Use it only if that -2000 sets up a K.O. (see below) or prevents real damage.

The DON!! ordering rules

These are the most important edges this deck has.

1. Pay returns before ramp once you're near 10. When your DON!! deck is empty, King's Activate and Queen's Activate add nothing. Make your Leader attack with DON!! -1, or play Gum-Gum Lightning, before you activate King. That way the ramp refills the DON!! you just returned.
2. Rest first, then return, while Kaido (OP17-062) is on the field. Its once-per-turn trigger adds an active DON!! and then sets one of your DON!! as active. The first return on your turn therefore leaves you with one more active DON!! than you started with, but only if you have a rested DON!! for it to untap. Pay your costs first, then trigger the return. Remember it fires only on the first return each turn, so make that return the one that matters.
3. At 10 DON!!, returns on your opponent's turn are nearly free. You gain up to 2 DON!! per turn up to 10, so whatever you return on defense comes back in your next DON!! phase. Use your Leader's On Your Opponent's Attack -2000 and Slow-Slow Beam Sword freely once you're capped.

Removal lines

Your Leader's -2000 lasts the whole turn, and you can still play cards after a battle. Attack with the Leader first, shrink a target, then follow up:

• A 5000 Character drops to 3000, which is in range for Ulti & Page One's On Play K.O.
• An 8000 Character drops to 6000, which is in range for Gum-Gum Lightning.
• A 7000 Blocker drops to 5000. Mamaragan's Main can then rest it before your Characters swing.

Kaido (OP17-063) needs no setup. Play it and immediately pay its DON!! -1 to negate and K.O. a cost 6 or lower Character. The ability only works on the turn the card was played, so never hold it on the field for later. Charlotte Linlin sets a target's base power to 0. Use her to strip a big Blocker or attacker, and then any attack wins the battle against it.

The 6- and 9-cost branch points

• King or Ulti & Page One at 6: choose Ulti if there is a 3000-power target now, or a 5000 one after your Leader's -2000. Choose King if the board is empty, since he ramps you every turn afterward. Never keep a second King on the field, because his Activate requires that you control no other King.
• Lead Performers: pay the On Play to add to your Life, then decide whether to trash it. Trash it into Queen (OP17-065) when two cost 5 or lower attackers threaten you. Queen draws a card and stops both of them from attacking. Trash it into King when you need ramp and don't control a King yet. Keep the 11000 body when neither play is better than a big Character.

What to hold

• Play Nola before you commit King or Ulti & Page One. Both have 7000 base power or less, so Nola can save them from your opponent's removal effects. She can't protect your 10-costs or Lead Performers.
• Hold your counter-less big cards while Kaido (OP17-063) is on the field. Every Character in your hand without a Counter gains +1000 Counter. Your late-game hand becomes defense, so don't discard it to Basil Hawkins or Kundali Dragon Swarm carelessly.
• Stack counters in order. Mamaragan's Counter draws only if you have 6 or fewer DON!! on the field. Play Slow-Slow Beam Sword first, or use your Leader's defensive -2000, to drop your count to 6, then play Mamaragan to draw the card.
• Save Kundali Dragon Swarm's Counter for the attack that would actually take a Life you can't afford to lose. +4000 on your Leader is your biggest single defensive swing.

Playing around removal

The plan doesn't change against removal: make removal cost your opponent more than it costs you. King can return a DON!! instead of being K.O.'d. Nola covers your mid-sized Characters. Queen (OP17-063) and Mamaragan reduce how many attackers your opponent can swing with. Your big turns should leave behind at least one of these protections, so don't spend everything on a single play.

Matchup Matrix

Verdicts below are read from what this list's answers actually cover: removal that caps at cost 6, 6000 power or 3000 power, a Leader that shrinks Characters by 2000, and Life adds from Lead Performers and Charlotte Linlin. They are not drawn from matchup data. "Even" means the game turns on the deciders listed, not on the pairing itself.

Rocks.D.Xebec

This is the deck to prepare for: Xebec took 8 of 32 Top 8 slots from 46 of 256 entries (source: Limitless TCG online platform, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-19). Its lists are rigid, with the same eight cards at four copies in every Top 8 build (source: Limitless TCG online platform, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-19). That predictability is your edge. Learn those eight cards' costs and power before the event so you know which of them Kaido (OP17-063), Gum-Gum Lightning and Ulti & Page One can hit. Save your removal for their core Characters. Spending it on filler leaves you without an answer when the real threat lands.

Luffy & Ace

Luffy & Ace took 6 slots from 31 entries, built on a fixed core of seven four-ofs (source: Limitless TCG online platform, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-19). Your risk is falling behind while you ramp.

• Keep Yamato for its Blocker as well as its DON!!.
• Use your Leader's -2000 on their attacking Characters.
• Time Lead Performers so the Life you add arrives before their push, not after it.

For that side of the matchup, see our Luffy & Ace Standard guide.

Monkey.D.Luffy (OP17-079)

Luffy had 29 entries for 3 slots and 1 win (source: Limitless TCG online platform, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-19). Treat Life as the resource that decides this game.

• Hold Kundali Dragon Swarm for its +4000 Leader Counter rather than its ramp mode.
• Count Mamaragan as both a Counter and a card draw.
• Land Kaido (OP17-063) early. Its +1000 Counter on Counter-less hand cards turns your 10-cost bodies into defense.

For the Luffy pilot's view, see our Monkey.D.Luffy Standard guide.

Kalgara

Kalgara converted 3 slots and 1 win from just 9 entries (source: Limitless TCG online platform, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-19). Size each answer to its target. Ulti & Page One handles anything at 3000 power or less, and Gum-Gum Lightning reaches 6000. Above that, Charlotte Linlin can set a Character's base power to 0 for the turn so your attacks connect. For that side of the matchup, see our Kalgara Standard guide.

Sabo

Sabo had 18 entries for 2 slots (source: Limitless TCG online platform, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-19). This one is about tempo on your big turns. Queen (OP17-065) stops up to two of their Characters with cost 5 or less from attacking through their next End Phase. That buys you a turn to set up Lead Performers or Charlotte Linlin without taking a swing back. For that side of the matchup, see our Sabo Standard guide.

Kaido mirror

Kaido itself had 19 entries for 1 Top 8, so expect it at a 33-player event (source: Limitless TCG online platform, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-19). Their King and Nola can both answer your removal by returning a DON!! card. That makes every forced DON!! return a real cost to them. Their Kaido (OP17-062) only refunds DON!! on their own turn, so returns you force on your turn give them nothing back. Removal into Characters they cannot protect comes first. Break their Nola before you commit to Kaido (OP17-063).

Go-wide aggro

You are favored here. Ulti & Page One clears 3000-power bodies, and Mamaragan rests anything at 5000 or less. Queen (OP17-065) shuts off two attackers, and Yamato blocks. Your Leader's -2000 on an opponent's attack blunts their best swing each turn.

Big-body midrange

You are unfavored here. Your removal stops at cost 6 and 6000 power. Against bigger threats, your only tools are Charlotte Linlin's one-turn base power 0 and racing them on Life. Keep Slow-Slow Beam Sword to rest their biggest attacker, and win the race with Life adds.

Removal-heavy control

You are favored here. Nola converts removal into a DON!! return for any of your Characters with 7000 base power or less. King does the same for itself against K.O. Make them spend removal on protected targets before you expose your 10-cost bodies.

Tech Choices & Variations

Thirty-two cards in this list are the engine and shouldn't move: 4 Queen (cost 1), 4 Nola, 4 Basil Hawkins, 4 Yamato, 4 King, 4 Lead Performers, 4 Kaido (the [Blocker] copy) and 4 We're Going to Claim the One Piece!!!. The other eighteen slots are where you tune. Every number below has to stay at 50 cards, and no card number can go past 4 copies.

The Flex Slots at a Glance

Top-End Shape

The real tuning question is the 10-cost split: 3 Charlotte Linlin against 3 negate/K.O. Kaido. That Kaido is the most important flex card because it does two jobs. Its [Activate: Main] removes a threat the turn it lands. Its static effect gives every counterless Character in your hand a +1000 Counter: King, Lead Performers, cost-9 Queen, Charlotte Linlin and both Kaido. The more top end you play, the more you need it on the field. Moving to a fourth copy by cutting a Charlotte Linlin is the most natural swap. You lose a Life-gain finisher and gain consistency on defense.

Cost-9 Queen is better than its count looks. Lead Performers can trash itself to play a King or Queen from hand with no cost limit. That gives you a line where the big Queen comes down and her On Play fires, drawing a card and stopping two attackers. A third copy, cut from Ulti & Page One, strengthens that line against wide boards. The price is that Ulti is your only Character that ramps and removes small threats in one card.

The Event Package

Gum-Gum Lightning at 1 is the swap most worth testing. Its DON!! 2 cost returns DON!! to your DON!! deck. During your turn, that triggers the [Blocker] Kaido's Once Per Turn refund: you add 1 active DON!! and set 1 active. With Kaido on the field, the removal is close to free. A second copy, cut from the third Mamaragan, suits fields full of mid-sized attackers. The trade-off is that Gum-Gum has no Counter mode. Every non-Counter Event makes your hand worse on defense.

Mamaragan only draws off its Counter while you control 6 or fewer DON!!. It is at its best in the early and mid game, and it drops to a plain +1000 once your ramp has done its job. If you expect slow matches, it is the first event to trim. If you expect aggro, go to 4.

Slow-Slow Beam Sword and Nola both use DON!! returns on the opponent's turn. Nola returns a DON!! to save a Character, and Slow-Slow returns one to pay its Counter cost. In heavy-pressure turns you can run short of DON!! for both. If removal-heavy opponents hit Nola often, consider a third Kundali Dragon Swarm over a Slow-Slow. Kundali's Counter costs DON!! 1 instead of a return and gives your Leader a bigger number, but it only protects the Leader.

Tuning for Your Local Field

• Aggro or go-wide fields: 4 Mamaragan, 3 Kundali Dragon Swarm, 3 Ulti & Page One. Cut 1 Charlotte Linlin, 1 Slow-Slow Beam Sword and 1 Gum-Gum Lightning. You want cheap Counters, early ramp and answers to small bodies.
• Midrange fields with mid-sized threats: 2 Gum-Gum Lightning and 4 negate/K.O. Kaido. Cut 1 Mamaragan and 1 Charlotte Linlin. Removal that refunds itself through the [Blocker] Kaido beats extra Counters here.
• Slow fields that go long: keep 3 Charlotte Linlin and add a third cost-9 Queen over 1 Mamaragan. Life gain and card draw matter more once both players sit at 10 DON!!.

For an online-leaning field, two Leaders stood out in the data. Rocks.D.Xebec (OP17-039) held 8 of 32 Top 8 slots, and Luffy & Ace (ST30-001) held 6 (source: Limitless TCG online events, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-19). Put your test games against those two before you lock your flex counts, and check the matchup chapter for the plan in each.

Budget Options

The full list comes to about $147 at TCGplayer market prices. Most of that cost likely sits in a few playsets. Don't cut evenly across the list. Keep the DON!! engine intact, and cut or delay only the top end, where each card has a backup that does a similar job.

Where the Money Likely Is

Individual prices move too often to quote. Check current market on these first, because they are the newest printings in the list and the ones you need multiple copies of:

• The OP17 10-cost Characters: 4x Kaido (OP17-063) and 3x Kaido (OP17-062). That is seven copies of top-end Characters from the newest set in the list.
• The Leader: Kaido (OP17-058). There is no substitute, so buy it first.
• The EB04 Animal Kingdom Pirates: 4x King and 4x Queen (EB04-032). These are full playsets of engine cards.
• The other OP17 playsets: Lead Performers, Basil Hawkins and Yamato.

The starter-deck Charlotte Linlin (ST34-004) and the older Events (We're Going to Claim the One Piece!!!, Slow-Slow Beam Sword, Gum-Gum Lightning) are the likeliest to be cheap. Confirm that before you plan around it.

Two buying notes:

• Buy by set code, not by name. This list has two different Queen cards and three different Kaido cards. Ordering "4x Kaido" gets you the wrong card.
• Buy base printings. Parallel arts with the same card number play identically.

What You Cannot Cut

The ramp core is the deck:

• Queen (EB04-032)
• Basil Hawkins
• Yamato
• King
• Kundali Dragon Swarm
• Nola
• We're Going to Claim the One Piece!!!

Every one of these either adds DON!! from your DON!! deck or keeps your board and DON!! count intact. Without a full engine you can't reach 10 cost ahead of schedule, and the deck becomes a slow pile of expensive Characters. If money is tight, run fewer finishers, never fewer ramp pieces.

Acceptable Budget Swaps

Each swap below uses a card already in the list, raised toward four copies. You lose the most when you swap out the OP17-063 Kaido, so keep that one for last.

A Sample Interim Build

Say you own the full engine and all four OP17-063 Kaido, but you're missing the OP17-062 copies and half the Lead Performers. Make these swaps:

• Remove: 3x Kaido (OP17-062), 2x Lead Performers
• Add: 2x Ulti & Page One (up to 4), 1x Charlotte Linlin (up to 4), 1x Queen (OP17-065, up to 3), 1x Gum-Gum Lightning (up to 2)

Here is how this build plays differently:

• More early interaction: it removes small Characters more often.
• More control over the board: extra 9-cost Queen plays stop up to 2 cost-5-or-less Characters from attacking.
• Weaker late defense: it loses the 10-cost Blocker and the DON!! refunds. Expect long games against decks that go wide to feel worse.
• More Life sensitivity: with fewer ways to add Life, guard your Life total more carefully.

Upgrade Path

1. Leader plus the full engine: the core list above. This is the minimum that plays like the real deck.
2. 4x Kaido (OP17-063): the biggest single jump in power. The Counter boost fixes the deck's main weakness of holding cards with no Counter, and the on-play removal handles mid-sized threats.
3. 3x Kaido (OP17-062): brings back the Blocker and the DON!! refund. With it, the Leader's once-per-turn -2000 effect has almost no tempo cost on your turn.
4. 4x Lead Performers: restores the Life buffer and the cheat into King or Queen.
5. Trim the stand-ins back to list counts: return Ulti & Page One, Charlotte Linlin, Queen (OP17-065) and Gum-Gum Lightning to the numbers in the decklist.

You can practice the opening turns at every stage. The engine is identical across all of these builds, so the turn-one to turn-four sequencing you learn on the budget version carries straight over to the full list.

Common Mistakes

1. Wasting Your Once-Per-Turn DON!! Refund

The Kaido Character with [Blocker] (OP17-062) refunds the first DON!! you return to your DON!! deck on your turn. It adds a DON!! as active, then sets one of your DON!! as active. That only works if the return happens after it is on the field, and only once per turn. The common error is swinging with the Leader, paying its DON!! -1 for the -2000 on a blocker, and only then slamming the 10-drop. The refund never fires.

Fix: On turns you plan to land OP17-062, deploy it first, then make your first return of the turn. That return can be the Leader's attack ability, the DON!! -1 on the OP17-063 Kaido, or Gum-Gum Lightning. Plan which return gets the refund. Treat a second return in the same turn as full price.

2. Playing the Removal Kaido and Not Using It

The OP17-063 Kaido can only negate and K.O. a Character if it was played this turn. The target must cost 6 or less. If you pass without activating it, or play it into a board with no legal target, you have spent a 10-cost on a vanilla body.

Fix: Activate the turn it lands, before attacks, so the removed Character can't block. If the opponent's board has nothing at cost 6 or less, you have two choices. Hold it as a passive Counter enabler, or deploy a different threat that turn.

3. Overestimating What Nola Protects

Nola only steps in when a Character with 7000 base power or less would be removed by your opponent's effect. It does nothing against a K.O. in battle. It does nothing for your 10000+ finishers: the 10-cost Kaidos, Charlotte Linlin, the cost-9 Queen and Lead Performers. Players also forget that every replacement costs a DON!! from the field. Those are DON!! you may need for Slow-Slow Beam Sword, the [Counter] on Kundali Dragon Swarm, or the Leader's defensive -2000.

Fix: Use Nola to keep your ramp bodies alive: King, Ulti & Page One, Basil Hawkins. Before you accept a replacement on the opponent's turn, count the DON!! you'll still need for that turn's defense.

4. Ramping Past Your Own Card Text

Every ramp effect in this list adds "up to 1" DON!! from your DON!! deck. Once all 10 are on the field, those effects do nothing. That includes Basil Hawkins, which still makes you trash a card. Hard ramp also shuts off the draw on Mamaragan's [Counter], which needs 6 or fewer DON!! on your field.

Fix: Always know your DON!! deck count. Near the cap, don't pitch a card to Basil Hawkins for nothing. Count what Mamaragan will actually give you before treating it as a cantrip Counter.

5. Mistiming Queen's DON!! Activation

The cost-1 Queen (EB04-032) rests 2 of your DON!! to add 1 rested DON!!. Fired at the top of your Main Phase, it locks up two DON!! you needed for this turn's plays.

Fix: Make it your last action. Use it only with DON!! you had no other use for. It turns leftover DON!! into a bigger total next turn.

6. Trashing the Wrong Cards

This deck pays costs from hand constantly: Queen's draw, Basil Hawkins, Charlotte Linlin and Kundali Dragon Swarm, which takes two cards. Two errors come up:

• Illegal discards. Queen's On Play needs an Animal Kingdom Pirates card. Yamato, Nola and Charlotte Linlin don't qualify. Check your hand before you plan the cost-1 Queen as a draw engine.
• Pitching future Counters. While an OP17-063 Kaido is on the field, every Counter-less Character in your hand has +1000 Counter. That covers King, Lead Performers, the big Queen, the other Kaidos and Charlotte Linlin. Discarding spare 10-drops is usually correct with that Kaido off the board. With it in play, those cards are defense.

7. Burning Lead Performers on the Wrong Payoff

Lead Performers can trash itself to play a King or Queen from hand. Either Queen qualifies, and players sometimes cash it in for the cost-1 version. That trades an 11000 body for a 1000 one. Its other trap is King: if you already control a King, the second one can't use its DON!! activation.

Fix: The premium conversion is the cost-9 Queen. Its On Play draws and stops up to 2 of the opponent's cost-5-or-less Characters from attacking. Use that when you need a turn of breathing room or an alpha strike the opponent can't race back. Bring in King only when you control no other King.

8. Skipping the Leader on Defense

Your Leader's -2000 works on your attack and on your opponent's. Once Per Turn applies to each turn separately. Players who spend it every turn of their own often forget it on the opponent's turn. That is often where it shrinks an attacker below what your Counter needs to beat.

Fix: Keep one spare DON!! on the field going into the opponent's turn whenever you can. Decide before your End Phase whether that DON!! is for the Leader, Slow-Slow Beam Sword, or Kundali Dragon Swarm's +4000.

Tournament Prep & Final Notes

What to Practice Before the Event

• DON!! math from turn 2 onward. Between Queen, Basil Hawkins, Yamato, King, Ulti & Page One and Kundali Dragon Swarm, you can add DON!! well ahead of the normal two-per-turn curve. Practice saying your total out loud each turn: what you have now, what you'll have after ramp, and which 9- or 10-cost play that unlocks next turn. The DON!! deck holds exactly 10 cards, so once it's empty, further ramp does nothing.
• We're Going to Claim the One Piece!!! targeting. It finds any Animal Kingdom Pirates or Big Mom Pirates card, so Charlotte Linlin and Kundali Dragon Swarm are legal hits. Yamato, Nola and Mamaragan are not. Drill which piece your next turn actually needs, and practice ordering the bottom four cards with purpose instead of stacking them randomly.
• Hand budgeting for discard costs. Queen (EB04-032), Basil Hawkins, Charlotte Linlin and Kundali Dragon Swarm all ask you to trash cards. Practice deciding before your Main Phase which cards are fuel and which are Counters you need to keep.

Rules Interactions to Know Cold

• The 12000 Kaido (OP17-062) engine works only on your turn. Its trigger is [Your Turn] [Once Per Turn]. Returning DON!! with your Leader's [When Attacking] effect, the [On Play] of 10000 Queen, the activation of the other Kaido (OP17-063) or Gum-Gum Lightning all count, and each one refunds you an active DON!! plus sets one more active. Slow-Slow Beam Sword and Nola's replacement effect usually happen on your opponent's turn, so they won't trigger it there. Sequence your first DON!! return of the turn to land while that Kaido is already on the field.
• Your Leader works on both turns, once per turn total. It can fire on your attack or on your opponent's attack, but not both in the same turn. If you spend it shrinking a Blocker on your own turn, it isn't available again until the next turn.
• Kaido (OP17-063)'s removal is same-turn only. The negate-and-K.O. requires that it was played this turn. You can't hold it for a later turn, so commit it when there's a cost-6-or-less target worth removing.
• The 63 Kaido gives your hand Counters. While it's on the field, every Character in your hand without a Counter gains +1000. That covers King, Lead Performers, the 10-cost Queen, both Kaido Characters and Charlotte Linlin. Count those as defensive resources when your opponent swings.
• Check King's activation condition. It requires no other King Characters on your field. A second copy is a body, not a second ramp activation.
• Lead Performers can deploy without paying full cost. Trashing it plays King or either Queen from hand, and the played card's [On Play] still resolves. Know that this option exists before you hard-cast a 9-cost.
• Mamaragan's Counter draw has a ceiling. It only draws with 6 or fewer DON!! on your field. Ramp pushes you past that threshold early, so the late-game copy is just +1000.
• Protection replaces removal from the field. Nola covers Characters with 7000 base power or less against your opponent's effects. That includes King and Yamato, but not your 10-cost finishers. King has its own K.O. replacement. Both cost a DON!! from the field, so they shrink your next turn.

Clock Management

This deck spends a lot of time thinking. It looks at five cards, orders the bottom of the deck, resolves layered [On Play] and DON!! triggers, and makes discard decisions most turns. Play faster in the low-impact moments:

• Plan your next turn during your opponent's turn.
• Resolve searches in a fixed order: pick the card first, then order the bottom.
• Don't re-count DON!! you already counted.

Announce each DON!! return and refund clearly so your opponent can track them. That avoids judge calls that eat into the round. If you're a slow player, practice full games on a timer until finishing in time is automatic.

Preparing for the Field

The only Standard data available for this window is online. In that data, Rocks.D.Xebec took 8 of 32 Top 8 slots and Luffy & Ace took 6 (source: Limitless TCG online platform, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-19). Those two decks should get most of your practice games.

Be realistic about the deck's track record. The same data shows this Leader with 19 entries and 1 Top 8 (source: Limitless TCG online platform, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-19). Don't expect the list to win on autopilot. The 2nd-place finish at a 33-player Win a Box came from a pilot who executed tightly.

Before you register, confirm the banned list that took effect on 2026-10-12. This list contains none of those cards, but double-check any variation you build.

For opponent-specific prep, see the Luffy & Ace Standard guide to learn what that deck wants to do to you.

Final Assessment

This is a ramp deck with real teeth. Twelve DON!! accelerants push you to 9- and 10-cost threats ahead of schedule, and those threats bring their own value: removal, Life gain, attack denial and DON!! refunds.

The weaknesses are just as clear:

• Early pressure is light.
• Discard costs strain your hand.
• Protection costs DON!!, so a fast deck can make you choose between defending and developing.

If you enjoy managing resources and you're willing to drill the DON!! engine until it's second nature, this list rewards the work. If you want a deck that forgives sloppy turns, pick something else.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the Purple Kaido ramp deck win games?

It adds DON!! from your DON!! deck faster than the natural two per turn to reach 9- and 10-cost threats ahead of schedule. It then stacks Life and removal until the opponent can't push the last points through. The finishers are 12000-power bodies: two versions of Kaido and Charlotte Linlin.

Which cards are the most important ramp pieces in this Kaido list?

King is the premium engine, adding one active and one rested DON!! every turn as long as he's your only King. The 1-cost Queen, Basil Hawkins, Yamato, Ulti & Page One and Kundali Dragon Swarm also add DON!!, each in a different way.

Why is the Blocker Kaido so important to the deck's engine?

On your turn, the first time a DON!! returns to your DON!! deck, the Blocker Kaido adds an active DON!! and sets another DON!! active. That makes your Leader's -2000 and cards like Gum-Gum Lightning close to free. Deploy it first, then make your first return of the turn so the refund fires.

What does a good opening hand look like for Kaido ramp?

Judge each hand by whether it puts extra DON!! on the field by your second turn. Keep hands with one or more early ramp pieces or We're Going to Claim the One Piece!!!, one or two real Counters, and top end you can afford to hold. Mulligan hands with no ramp or with three or more counterless top-end cards.

What are the hardest matchups for this Kaido deck?

The guide rates big-body midrange as unfavored because your removal stops at cost 6 and 6000 power. Against bigger threats, your only tools are Charlotte Linlin's one-turn base power 0 and racing on Life with Life adds. Keep Slow-Slow Beam Sword to rest their biggest attacker.

Which matchups does the guide say Kaido ramp is favored in?

It is favored against go-wide aggro thanks to Blockers, attack locks and small-body removal like Ulti & Page One and Mamaragan. It is also favored against removal-heavy control, because Nola and King can blank their removal by returning DON!!.

What are the best budget swaps for this Kaido list?

Never cut the ramp core; run fewer finishers instead. If you're short on the Blocker Kaido, fill with the 9-cost Queen or Charlotte Linlin. If you're short on Lead Performers, use Charlotte Linlin or Ulti & Page One, and save the removal Kaido for last because losing it costs the most.

What should I practice before taking Kaido ramp to a tournament?

Practice DON!! math from turn 2 onward, saying your total out loud each turn, and remember ramp does nothing once your DON!! deck is empty. Drill We're Going to Claim the One Piece!!! targeting and hand budgeting for discard costs. Slow players should also practice full games on a timer.

Metagame Context

Built from xkalliger's 2nd Place list at Win a Box - Aegean Pirate Cup #6 (33 players, 2026-10-22), via the Limitless platform. Metagame context comes from a research brief dated 2026-10-19 covering 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-19, drawn from the Limitless TCG online platform; Limitless TCG event results; Bandai (official One Piece site). Card text and prices: optcgapi.com and tcgcsv.com (TCGplayer prices).

Source: tournament results. Decklist and placements as reported by the event organizer.