Silvers Rayleigh — Standard Strategy Guide

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Archetype Overview

Silvers Rayleigh is a low-curve red tempo deck built around one resource: Events in hand. The Leader's rule caps your deck at cost 4, so you have no top-end bomb. You win by putting several efficient Characters on board, pumping them past what your opponent can comfortably Counter, and keeping a hand that doubles as both fuel and defense. This list made Top 4 at ChinoizeCup #124 MONDAY (2026-10-19, 128 players), played by Limitless user Spartacus2224. The case for it rests on how tightly the card text interlocks.

The Core Idea: Reveal, Don't Spend

Three of your most important effects share one cost: "reveal 2 Events from your hand."

• Silvers Rayleigh: Once Per Turn, a Character with 4000 base power or less gains +2000 for the turn.
• Jinbe: gains [Rush] on the turn it comes down, then +1000 that lasts through your opponent's next End Phase.
• Monkey.D.Luffy: plays a red Character with 3000 power or less from your hand, then gives a rested DON!! to your Leader or a Character.

Revealing doesn't trash or play anything. The same two Events pay for your Leader's buff, your Jinbe's Rush and your Luffy's free deploy on the same turn, and they stay in your hand afterward. That is the deck's central edge. Your "cost" is really a hand-composition requirement, and the list is built to meet it every turn.

Why the Engine Holds Together

The deck runs 18 Events, and its cheap Characters exist mostly to find more. Buggy digs 5 for a red Event. Shakuyaku and Boa Hancock dig 5 for either a red Event or a Monkey.D.Luffy. Color of Observation Haki pulls a red Event or a cost-3+ Character off the top 4. Keeping two Events in hand is rarely a strain, and your searchers also find the Luffy that turns those Events into extra board presence.

Luffy is the turn that swings games. It comes down, reveals two Events, and drops a second body from hand for free. That second body can be a searcher whose On Play refills the Events you need, or a Sanji that threatens big damage on the next swing. The rested DON!! Luffy hands out then counts toward its own condition: with 2 or more given DON!! cards, it gains +2000.

The Damage Math

Your attackers all come in under the 4000-base-power line that Rayleigh's buff checks for.

• Sanji is 3000 base but 6000 on your turn. With the Leader's +2000 it attacks at 8000 for 3 cost, and it draws a card when it's K.O.'d.
• Jinbe is 4000 base. It can attack the turn it lands and keeps its +1000 through your opponent's next turn.
• Monkey.D.Luffy is 4000 base, rising to 6000 with 2 given DON!! before Rayleigh adds anything.

Boa Hancock and Monet turn already-spent, rested DON!! into attack power by giving them to your Leader or a Character. You get more damage per turn than your DON!! count suggests. Getting a Character to 6000 also switches on the conditional K.O. from Gum-Gum Mole Pistol. That K.O. hits an opposing Character with 2000 power or less, alongside the power adjustment it gives one of their Characters.

To Never Doubt--That Is Power! handles the classic tempo-deck problem of a wall of defenders. Give 2 active DON!! to Rayleigh and your opponent cannot activate [Blocker] when Rayleigh attacks that turn. You use it to force Life damage, or to push the final hit through a board that would otherwise stall you.

Defense Comes Free

The Events you hold for reveal costs are also your Counters. To Never Doubt--That Is Power! and Color of the Supreme King Haki each give +2000 during a battle. That makes eight +2000 Counter Events, and Supreme King Haki can also rest a DON!! to affect your opponent's Leader and every one of their Characters for the turn.

Most of your Characters also carry +1000 Counter:

• Shakuyaku
• Monet
• Sanji
• Jinbe
• Monkey.D.Luffy

A hand that is "full of reveal fuel" is a hand full of defense too. Your main skill tension each turn is deciding which Events you can afford to commit, and which you keep back to cover the swing and meet next turn's reveal costs.

The Trade-Offs

The cost-4 ceiling is real. You can't fall back on one big Character to stabilize, so every game is a race of efficiency and card quality. Pressure comes from the board, not from any single card.

The engine also wants Events in hand at all times. Dumping your hand on Counters or Main-phase Events can shut off your Leader, Jinbe and Monkey.D.Luffy for a turn. The 4-of Nami and Baby 5 slots fill out the Character count, while Luffy, Now's Your Chance rounds out the Event density the engine depends on.

Who Should Pick It Up

This deck fits you if:

• You like resource arithmetic. You'll track how many Events are in hand, how many DON!! are rested and given, and which Character crosses which power threshold every turn.
• You want proactive pressure that can still defend. The dual-purpose Events let you play the aggressor without folding to a counterattack.
• You're on a budget. At an estimated $96 (TCGplayer market prices; approximate), it's an accessible way into a list with a recent Top 4 finish.

If you'd rather end games with one dominant top-end threat, or you dislike managing a hand every turn, look elsewhere. Here the hand is the engine, and how well you manage it decides your games.

Core Strategy & Game Plan

How the Deck Wins

Rayleigh is a low-curve aggro deck that keeps its Events in hand as a resource. The Leader rule bars any card costing 5 or more, so every turn goes to cheap bodies, search, and power boosts. You win by building a board of Characters that hit far above their cost, forcing your opponent to trade Life and Counters every turn. Then you finish with a Leader swing they can't Block.

The deck is proactive. You set the pace from turn one, and your defense is efficient rather than heavy: two Counter Events at +2000, plus +1000 Counters on most of your Characters. If you find yourself reacting for multiple turns, you've usually lost the tempo war.

The Engine: Revealing, Not Spending

Three of your most important effects share one cost: revealing 2 Events from your hand.

• Silvers Rayleigh: Once Per Turn, gives one of your Characters with 4000 base power or less +2000 for the turn.
• Monkey.D.Luffy: On Play, puts a red Character with 3000 power or less from your hand into play for free, then gives a rested DON!! to your Leader or a Character.
• Jinbe: On Play, gains Rush, then +1000 until the end of your opponent's next End Phase.

Revealing doesn't discard anything. The same two Events can pay for Luffy's On Play, then Rayleigh's activation, then Jinbe, all in one turn. Your top priority every turn is to keep at least two Events in hand. With 18 Events in the list, this is easy until you get greedy with Counters or Main-phase Events. Before you spend an Event, count what you'll have left to reveal next turn.

Search Feeds the Engine

Your 1- and 2-cost Characters keep the hand stocked.

• Buggy digs for a red Event.
• Shakuyaku and Boa Hancock dig for either a red Event or Monkey.D.Luffy.
• Color of Observation Haki finds a red Event or a Character costing 3 or more (Sanji, Jinbe, Luffy). Its cost puts a DON!! on Rayleigh, so it also powers up your Leader's attack.

Every one of these that hits gets you closer to your next reveal.

The Power Math

Your Characters are cheap, but they swing big:

• Sanji is 6000 on your turn by himself and 8000 with Rayleigh's boost. When he's K.O.'d, he draws you a card.
• Monkey.D.Luffy gains +2000 once you have a total of 2 or more given DON!! cards. Add Rayleigh's +2000 and he hits for 8000 off a 4-cost card. His base power stays 4000, so Rayleigh's boost still works on him.
• DON!! enablers: Monet (rest it) and Boa Hancock (trash it) each give 2 rested DON!! to a target. That turns the DON!! you already spent this turn into given DON!!, which switches on Luffy's +2000 without costing you any active DON!!. Monet also takes 1000 power off one of your opponent's Characters, which can bring a target into a profitable attack.

Removal and the Closer

Gum-Gum Mole Pistol puts a 5000-power hit on an opposing Character. It then K.O.s one of their Characters with 2000 power or less if you control a Character with 6000 power or more. Cast it on your turn with Sanji in play and that condition is always met. You can use both halves on the same target to remove a mid-sized Blocker outright.

Its Trigger runs the same effect. Sanji's bonus is [Your Turn] only, though, so on your opponent's turn he won't satisfy the K.O. clause.

To Never Doubt--That Is Power! is your finisher. Give 2 active DON!! to Rayleigh and your opponent can't activate Blocker against his attack. Hold it for the turn the Leader swing ends the game or forces their last Counters. Using it to push a single Life point early wastes it.

Defense

Color of the Supreme King Haki is a +2000 Counter. It also lets you rest 1 DON!! to take 1000 power off their Leader and every Character for the turn, which can drop multiple attackers below your blockers' or Leader's power in one go. Use it on turns when your opponent goes wide.

The Counter half of To Never Doubt--That Is Power! gives +2000 when you need to survive. Since it's also your finisher, spend it only when the hit you're stopping actually matters.

The Ideal Game

1. Turn 1 (1 DON!! going first, 2 going second): Play Shakuyaku or Buggy to find an Event. Going second, two 1-drops or Boa Hancock are both fine.
2. Turn 2: Add a 2-drop. Pick Boa Hancock if you're still short on Events or need Luffy. Pick Monet if your hand is full. Get two Events into hand and start using Rayleigh's boost on your best attacker.
3. Turn 3: Play Monkey.D.Luffy, reveal, and put Sanji or Hancock into play free. Luffy into Hancock chains another search. Then enable Luffy's +2000 with Monet or Hancock and attack with multiple Characters at 6000 or more.
4. Turn 4 onward: Rebuild after trades with a second Luffy or Jinbe with Rush. Clear Blockers with Gum-Gum Mole Pistol. Keep a Counter Event ready in case they hit back.
5. Closing turn: Once your opponent is low on Life and Counters, put DON!! on Rayleigh with Color of Observation Haki and To Never Doubt--That Is Power!. Then swing with every Character so they can't stop all the attacks.

Card Choices & Breakdown

The Leader Engine: Why Event Density Matters

Silvers Rayleigh caps the deck at cost 4. His once-per-turn ability reveals 2 Events from hand to give +2000 to a Character with 4000 base power or less. The Events are only revealed, not spent, so the same two cards can turn on the Leader, Monkey.D.Luffy's On Play, and Jinbe's On Play in a single turn. That is why the list runs 18 Events. Your hand should almost always hold two red Events, and the 4-of searchers keep it that way.

The cost of revealing is information. Every reveal shows your opponent two cards you might use on defense. Don't reveal when the buff doesn't change an attack or a trade.

Searchers: Buggy, Shakuyaku, Boa Hancock (4 each)

Twelve 1-2 cost Characters all look at 5 and keep the engine fed:

• Buggy finds any red Event. He is a 3000-power body that can't be K.O.'d in battle by Slash attribute cards, so he survives attacks from Slash Characters and Leaders. He has no Counter value, so he belongs on the board, not in your hand.
• Shakuyaku finds Monkey.D.Luffy or a red Event. She is the only searcher with a Counter (+1000), which makes her the one you can hold late.
• Boa Hancock has the same search as Shakuyaku. She can also trash herself to give 2 rested DON!! to your Leader or a Character. That second ability turns her into DON!! acceleration once her On Play is done.

Every searcher is a legal target for Monkey.D.Luffy's On Play (red, 3000 power or less), so a Luffy turn can play a second search from hand.

The Damage Core: Sanji, Monkey.D.Luffy, Jinbe

• Sanji (4) is a 3000 base body that becomes 6000 on your turn. That is exactly the threshold Gum-Gum Mole Pistol checks for its K.O. With the Leader's +2000 he attacks at 8000 for 3 cost. On the opponent's turn he sits at 3000. If they spend an attack removing him, his On K.O. draw refunds the card. He also carries a +1000 Counter.
• Monkey.D.Luffy (4) is the payoff. Reveal 2 Events to play a red 3000-or-less Character from hand, then give a rested DON!! away. He gains +2000 with 2 or more given DON!!, and his own On Play DON!! gets you halfway there. Pair him with a Boa Hancock trash or a Monet activation to reach 6000. His 4000 base also qualifies for the Leader buff. This is your best tempo turn, and two separate searchers can find him by name.
• Jinbe (2) is the reach card. Reveal 2 Events and he gains Rush, then holds +1000 through your opponent's next End Phase, which leaves a 5000 body on defense. He sits at 2 because he only works with the Events in hand. The 4-ofs above do more on a bad draw. Color of Observation Haki can find him (cost 3), so 2 copies is enough access.

DON!! Support: Monet (2)

Monet rests rather than trashes to give 2 rested DON!!, so she can do it every turn. She also adds a 1000 power hit on an opposing Character, which can drag a defender down into a winning trade. She is capped at 2 for two reasons. Boa Hancock already covers the DON!! role, and none of your searchers can find Monet (cost 2, not a Monkey.D.Luffy, not an Event). Her +1000 Counter keeps her playable as a late draw.

Unlisted Characters: Nami and Baby 5 (4 each)

Nami and Baby 5 take up eight Character slots. Under the Leader rule, both cost 4 or less. The searchers can't find them. Whether Monkey.D.Luffy can play them from hand or Color of Observation Haki can find them depends on their printed power and cost, so check the cards before you count them as targets in either line.

Events: The 18 Cards That Run the Deck

• Color of Observation Haki (4): Give 1 active DON!! to Silvers Rayleigh to look at 4 and take a red Event or a cost 3+ Character. Finding an Event keeps your reveal count up. Finding a Character pulls Sanji, Monkey.D.Luffy, or Jinbe, so it covers whichever half of the engine you're missing.
• To Never Doubt--That Is Power! (4): On your turn, giving 2 active DON!! to Rayleigh stops your opponent from activating Blocker when he attacks. That is your closer through a Blocker wall. Otherwise it is a +2000 Counter.
• Color of the Supreme King Haki (4): A +2000 Counter that can rest 1 DON!! to hit your opponent's Leader and every Character for 1000 for the rest of their turn. Used mid-attack, it can push their later swings under your blockers' power. This is your best defensive Event, so it should be the last one you spend on a reveal-only turn.
• Luffy, Now's Your Chance (4): A red Event, so every searcher and Observation Haki can find it, and it counts toward every reveal.
• Gum-Gum Mole Pistol (2): At cost 4 it is your most expensive card. It hits an opposing Character for 5000, then K.O.s one with 2000 or less if you have a 6000+ Character, which Sanji gives you on your turn for free. Its Trigger activates the same effect from Life. It sits at 2 because it's a heavy main-phase spend in a deck that wants DON!! on bodies, but the Trigger gives it value even when you don't cast it.

Counter Profile

Your listed Counter values are +1000 on Shakuyaku, Monet, Sanji, Jinbe, and Monkey.D.Luffy. You also have eight +2000 Counter Events across the two Haki and Never Doubt packages. Buggy and Boa Hancock have none, which is why you want them on the board early rather than held.

The Decklist

The list below finished Top 4 at ChinoizeCup #124 MONDAY (2026-10-19, 128 players), played by Spartacus2224. Estimated cost is about $96 at TCGplayer market prices. It runs 32 Characters and 18 Events, and every card respects the Leader's rule that nothing in the deck can cost 5 or more. The 4-ofs are the engine. The 2-ofs are where you have room to tune.

Leader

Characters (32)

Events (18)

Reading the list

• 18 Events is the point. Silvers Rayleigh, Jinbe and Monkey.D.Luffy all ask you to reveal 2 Events. That is why the deck commits 16 slots to searching: Buggy, Shakuyaku, Boa Hancock and Color of Observation Haki. If you cut Events, those reveal costs get harder to meet.
• Luffy's free play has plenty of targets. Buggy, Shakuyaku, Boa Hancock, Monet and Sanji all fit the 3000-power-or-less window. Jinbe does not, at 4000.
• Mole Pistol's K.O. clause comes online naturally. Sanji attacks at 6000 on your turn. A given-DON!! Monkey.D.Luffy or a Leader-boosted Jinbe also reaches 6000.
• Defense: 8 Events carry a +2000 Counter. 16 Characters carry a +1000 Counter: Shakuyaku, Monet, Sanji, Jinbe and Luffy.

Opening Hands & Mulligan

This Leader is only as strong as the Events in your hand. Silvers Rayleigh's once-per-turn buff, Monkey.D.Luffy's free Character drop, and Jinbe's Rush all ask you to reveal 2 Events from your hand. Revealing does not spend them; they stay in hand as Counters afterward. Judge every opener on one question: can this hand show two Events by the turn it needs to, and does it have a Character to put the buff on?

The Keep Checklist

Keep a five-card hand that has at least two of these three:

• A cheap searcher: Buggy, Shakuyaku or Boa Hancock. Each looks at 5 cards for a red Event, and the last two can find Monkey.D.Luffy instead.
• Two Events, or one Event plus a searcher to find the second.
• A turn-three-or-four threat: Sanji or Monkey.D.Luffy.

A hand with all three is a snap keep. A hand with only one of them is usually a redraw, unless that one thing is a searcher and the rest of the hand is Events.

Hands You Send Back

• No Events and no searcher. Your Leader is a vanilla 5000 body, and Monkey.D.Luffy and Jinbe lose their On Play value. This is the clearest redraw in the deck.
• All Events, no early Character. The Leader buff only targets Characters, so you have nothing to develop and nothing to grow. A hand of four or five Events with no 1- or 2-cost Character goes back.
• Stacked Monkey.D.Luffy with nothing cheap. Monkey.D.Luffy wants a 3000-power-or-less red Character in hand to drop for free. Two copies with no Buggy, Shakuyaku, Boa Hancock, Monet or Sanji makes for a slow, clunky start.

Nami and Baby 5 fill Character slots in the list. Don't count either as a searcher or as Event payment when you evaluate a hand.

Going First

You have 1 DON!! on turn one, so your play is Buggy or Shakuyaku. Lead with whichever searcher fixes the hand's weakness:

• Play Shakuyaku if you're missing Monkey.D.Luffy.
• Play Buggy if you already have Luffy and need Events.

On turn two, with 3 DON!!, you can play Boa Hancock plus a 1-cost searcher. You can also play Sanji, who is a 6000-power attacker on your turn and an 8000 attacker with the Leader buff. Going first, you can afford to keep a slightly greedier, threat-light hand. Your early searchers dig toward the pieces you lack before the opponent pressures your Life.

Going Second

Going second, you have 2 DON!! on turn one. Boa Hancock or Monet comes down immediately, or you can play two 1-cost searchers. Turn two puts you at 4 DON!!, which is exactly Monkey.D.Luffy. With two Events revealed, his On Play drops a cheap red Character from hand for free, such as Boa Hancock to search again or Sanji as a second attacker. Then he gives a rested DON!! card to your Leader or a Character.

That turn-two Luffy line is the best start this deck has. Going second, keep Monkey.D.Luffy + a cheap Character + Events more aggressively than you would going first. If your opener has Luffy and a searcher but only one Event, keep it. The searcher's job that turn is finding the second Event.

How the Matchup Changes the Keep

Close Calls

If you're unsure whether to keep, ask whether the hand has a searcher. Buggy, Shakuyaku and Boa Hancock turn mediocre hands into functional ones. A searcher plus Events is almost always a keep, while a hand without either is almost always a redraw. You only get one redraw, so when you're truly on the fence, keep the hand that does something on turn one.

Sequencing & Key Lines

The Reveal Rule: Sequence Around Your Event Count

Three of your best effects need you to reveal 2 Events from hand: the Silvers Rayleigh activation, the Monkey.D.Luffy On Play, and the Jinbe Rush line. Revealing doesn't spend the cards, but casting them does. Almost every main phase follows one ordering principle: fire every reveal effect first, then cast Main-phase Events. If you cast Color of Observation Haki before playing Monkey.D.Luffy and drop to one Event in hand, the free Character is gone.

Use the same logic in reverse when you search. The 1-drops and Boa Hancock pull either a red Event or Monkey.D.Luffy. If your hand already holds 2 Events and no Luffy, take the Luffy. If you hold Luffy and fewer than 2 Events, take the Event.

Standard Curve

Going first (1, 3, 5 DON!!):

• Turn 1: Shakuyaku if you're missing Monkey.D.Luffy. Otherwise play Buggy, which only finds Events.
• Turn 2: Boa Hancock plus a 1-drop, or Monet plus a 1-drop. Lean toward Hancock when you still need a piece, because it searches and Monet doesn't.
• Turn 3: Monkey.D.Luffy with 2 Events revealed, putting Sanji into play for free. Give the leftover rested DON!! to whichever body is attacking.

Going second (2, 4, 6 DON!!):

• Turn 1: Boa Hancock or two 1-drops. Pick two 1-drops when your hand is light on Events, since two searches build toward the reveal count faster.
• Turn 2: Monkey.D.Luffy into free Sanji. This is your strongest early tempo turn, so protect the hand that makes it possible.
• Turn 3: develop, then set up pressure with the DON!! movers covered below.

Making Luffy Big

Monkey.D.Luffy gains +2000 once you have 2 or more given DON!! total. Its own On Play gives one rested DON!!. Either of these gets you to two:

• Monet rests to give 2 rested DON!!. You keep the body, and it puts a 1000-power modifier on an opposing Character.
• Boa Hancock trashes itself to give 2 rested DON!!. It costs you a body, so save it for turns when the extra power wins a specific trade or closes the game.

Spend your DON!! active on plays first. These two cards move rested DON!!, so they turn already-spent DON!! into attack power.

The Lethal-Turn Sequence

1. Play Jinbe or Monkey.D.Luffy while you still hold 2 Events. Jinbe gains Rush and +1000 that lasts through the opponent's next End Phase.
2. Activate Silvers Rayleigh for +2000 on a Character with 4000 base power or less. Sanji, Jinbe and Monkey.D.Luffy all qualify. Rayleigh can't buff himself.
3. Move rested DON!! with Monet or Boa Hancock.
4. Cast Gum-Gum Mole Pistol once you control a 6000-power Character. Sanji is 6000 on your turn by himself, so the KO clause is live. Apply the 5000 modifier and the KO against two different threats when you can.
5. Cast To Never Doubt--That Is Power! last, giving 2 active DON!! to Silvers Rayleigh. Opposing Blockers can't activate when he attacks.
6. Attack with your Characters first so the opponent has to spend Blockers and Counters on them. Then send Rayleigh in last for the final Life.

Hold To Never Doubt--That Is Power! until it actually ends the game or removes a Blocker that is walling your Leader. Its Counter mode gives +2000, so keeping it has real value on defense. Don't burn it on a midgame swing that doesn't take Life you need.

Defensive Turns

Color of the Supreme King Haki has an optional rider: rest 1 of your DON!! to put a 1000-power modifier on the opponent's Leader and all their Characters. That only works if you still have an active DON!! during their turn. When you expect a wide attack, end your turn with one DON!! unspent beyond what casting it requires. This matters most against spread and aggro boards, where the rider changes several attacks at once.

Pick which Counter to spend based on what you'll do next turn:

• Use the Counter modes on the two Haki-free Events first.
• Keep at least 2 Events in hand at the end of each exchange if you can, so next turn's reveal effects stay online.
• A hand of four Events that you counter down to one shuts off your entire engine.

Branch Points

• Color of Observation Haki target: it finds a red Event or a Character costing 3 or more. Take Monkey.D.Luffy if you have none. Take Jinbe if you need a Rush attacker this turn. Take an Event if you're one short of the reveal count. The DON!! you give to Rayleigh to cast it stays on him for his attack, so cast it before combat.
• Free play off Luffy: choose Sanji for pressure and Pistol enablement. Choose Boa Hancock when you need the extra search more than the body.
• Buggy on board: it can't be K.O.'d in battle by Slash-attribute cards. Against Slash attackers, leave Buggy as a body that sits back and soaks attacks, and commit your other Characters to attacking.

Small Edges

• Order the cards you put on the bottom from each search deliberately. Bury the cards you want least.
• Gum-Gum Mole Pistol has a Trigger that activates its Main effect. When it flips from Life, the KO clause still needs a 6000-power Character, which Sanji only reaches on your turn. Plan your board accordingly.
• Counter Events in hand make you predictable. When you reveal 2 for an effect, you tell the opponent exactly how many you hold. If you only need one effect this turn, use it at the point where showing your hand costs you the least.

Matchup Matrix

These verdicts come from your card pool and what the brief shows each deck playing. No matchup data exists for this list. Every figure below comes from the four 64-player online events in the brief.

Rocks.D.Xebec

This is the deck to beat. It had 46 of 256 entries and took 8 of 32 Top 8 slots (source: Limitless TCG online platform, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-19). Its Top 8 lists are tight, with eight cards at four copies in every list (source: Limitless TCG online platform, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-19). Don't count on them stumbling.

Your plan: your deck holds nothing above cost 4, so you can't win a value war at the top end. Win on tempo instead:

• Chain Shakuyaku and Boa Hancock into Monkey.D.Luffy early.
• Keep two Events in hand at all times so Rayleigh's +2000 is live every turn.
• Treat Color of the Supreme King Haki as both a Counter and a way to blunt their whole attack step.

Luffy & Ace

All six of its Top 8 lists ran four copies of the same Monkey.D.Luffy you play, plus one or two Shakuyaku (source: Limitless TCG online platform, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-19). You know exactly what that Luffy does. Once they have 2 or more given DON!!, it hits 6000. Its On Play also puts a second body onto the board.

Your plan: kill that Luffy on your turn.

• Gum-Gum Mole Pistol's 5000-power swing makes the trade lopsided.
• Alternatively, attack it with Sanji, who is 6000 on your turn, then add Rayleigh's +2000.
• Once Sanji or your own Luffy is at 6000, Mole Pistol's follow-up K.O. also removes a 2000-power body.

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

Monkey.D.Luffy (OP17-079)

It had 29 entries for 3 Top 8 slots and 1 win (source: Limitless TCG online platform, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-19). A different Luffy Leader, OP13-001, went 6-0 to win ChinoizeCup #121 (source: Limitless TCG online platform, 2026-10-12). Confirm which Leader you face before planning your turns.

Your plan: this comes down to your Event count against their pressure.

• Don't fire Color of Observation Haki so eagerly that you strip your Counter suite.
• Your two Counter Events, To Never Doubt--That Is Power! and Color of the Supreme King Haki, each give +2000 and are your best defense.

For that side of the matchup, see our Monkey.D.Luffy Standard guide.

Sabo

It had 18 entries for 2 Top 8 slots (source: Limitless TCG online platform, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-19).

Your plan: play to your engine.

• Use Jinbe's Rush when an extra attack forces a Counter.
• Otherwise play Jinbe without Rush and let his +1000 carry through their turn as a 5000-power body.
• Deploy Sanji freely. If it's K.O.'d, you draw a card, so trading it away costs you little.

For that side of the matchup, see our Sabo Standard guide.

Kalgara

It had only 9 entries but took 3 Top 8 slots, including a 6-0 win at ChinoizeCup #122 (source: Limitless TCG online platform, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-19). Respect it even though it's rarely played.

Your plan: push Life early. Spend Monet and Boa Hancock DON!! on Rayleigh attacks rather than holding them back. Your ceiling is lower, so a long game favors whoever has more top end.

For that side of the matchup, see our Kalgara Standard guide.

Blocker-reliant defense

Favored. To Never Doubt--That Is Power! stops your opponent from activating Blocker when Rayleigh attacks. Pair it with Rayleigh's +2000 on a Character and their wall stops mattering.

Your plan: hold the denial for the turn it converts Life, not for an early chip attack.

Wide boards of small Characters

Favored. Your tools line up well here:

• Color of the Supreme King Haki's rider hits their Leader and every Character for 1000.
• Monet adds another 1000 swing on a single Character.
• Gum-Gum Mole Pistol K.O.s a 2000-power body once you have a 6000-power Character.
• Buggy can't be K.O.'d in battle by Slash attribute cards, which matters only if their attackers are Slash.

Your plan: fire the Supreme King Haki rider on the turn they swing with multiple Characters.

Big-body late-game decks

Unfavored. Your only removal is two copies of Gum-Gum Mole Pistol. Its swing lasts one turn, and its K.O. only reaches 2000 power or less.

Your plan: race. Mulligan for early Characters, put every spare DON!! on attacks, and treat the game as lost if it goes long.

Tech Choices & Variations

Where the Flex Actually Is

Most of this list is locked. The search package (Buggy, Shakuyaku, Boa Hancock, Color of Observation Haki), the four Monkey.D.Luffy, the four Sanji, and the two 4-of Counter Events are what make the Leader work. The list also commits eight slots to Nami and Baby 5, so treat them as core. The real flex sits in three 2-of slots: Monet, Jinbe, and Gum-Gum Mole Pistol. The split between the two Counter Events is a secondary dial.

Monet: DON!! Acceleration vs. Board Presence

Monet rests to give 2 rested DON!! and shrinks an opposing Character by 1000. Two given DON!! is exactly what turns on Monkey.D.Luffy's +2000, which puts him at 6000. That also satisfies the condition on Gum-Gum Mole Pistol. A third copy makes your Luffy turns more consistent and gives you another 1000-power shrink on a key blocker or attacker. The cost: Monet isn't attacking while she's resting for value, and she can't be pulled by Color of Observation Haki, which only finds Characters costing 3 or more. Cut to one if you're getting run over and need Characters that pull their weight in combat.

Jinbe: The Tempo Slot

Jinbe reveals 2 Events for Rush and +1000 until the end of your opponent's next End Phase. That makes him a 5000 attacker the turn he lands and a 5000 body on their turn. Revealing doesn't spend the cards, so the same two Events can pay for Jinbe, the Leader's activation, and a Monkey.D.Luffy On Play in the same turn. Go to three against aggressive starts, where an immediate attack plus a sturdier body buys real tempo. Stay at two if you're already trimming Events. Jinbe without two Events in hand is a vanilla 4000 for 3.

Gum-Gum Mole Pistol: Removal vs. Counter Density

This is the only Event in the list with no Counter mode. In exchange, it gives -5000 and a conditional K.O. on a 2000-power-or-less Character. You need a 6000+ Character to get the K.O., which Sanji gives you by himself on your turn, and Luffy gives you with 2 given DON!!. The Trigger adds free value off Life. Go to three when opponents lean on small utility Characters you have to clear. Drop to one when games are decided by surviving big swings and you'd rather hold another Event that can Counter. It costs 4, so every copy you add is a turn where you develop less.

Tuning the Counter Event Split

To Never Doubt--That Is Power! and Color of the Supreme King Haki both give +2000 on defense. Shifting the ratio never costs you defense. You're choosing between their other effects.

• Blocker-heavy fields: lean toward To Never Doubt--That Is Power!. Shutting off Blocker on a Rayleigh attack gets damage through when you're closing a game.
• Wide boards: lean toward Color of the Supreme King Haki. The -1000 hits their Leader and every Character for the turn, which stacks with Monet and turns their counterattack into whiffs.

Don't drop the combined count below eight. The Leader, Jinbe, and Monkey.D.Luffy all want two Events in hand, and these are the Events you're happiest to hold.

What an Outside Card Has to Clear

If you want to bring in something new, it has to meet these conditions:

1. Red and cost 4 or less. Rayleigh bans cost 5+, and the deck must match the Leader's color.
2. Preferably an Event, because Event count fuels the Leader, Jinbe, and Monkey.D.Luffy, and Buggy, Shakuyaku, and Boa Hancock can search red Events.
3. If it's a Character, it should have 4000 base power or less so the Leader's +2000 can target it. With 3000 power or less, Luffy's On Play can put it into play from your hand. At cost 3 or more, Color of Observation Haki can find it.

A card that misses two of these is fighting the deck's engine, however strong it is on its own.

Tuning for Your Local Field

• Aggro-heavy room: third Jinbe, one Gum-Gum Mole Pistol, Counter split tilted toward Color of the Supreme King Haki.
• Midrange and Blocker walls: third Monet, two Mole Pistol, tilt toward To Never Doubt--That Is Power!.
• Go-wide boards of small Characters: third Mole Pistol and Color of the Supreme King Haki at five, trimming Jinbe to one.
• Unknown field: register the list as is. The 2/2/2 flex and even 4/4 Counter split cover every axis without a hole.

Budget Options

At roughly $96 for the full 50 plus Leader (TCGplayer market prices, approximate), this list is already near the affordable end for a deck that just made Top 4 of a 128-player event. Budget work here means trimming a few demand-driven slots without breaking the engine.

Where the Money Likely Sits

Check prices yourself before buying. Demand usually drives cost, and two cards in this list have demand outside Rayleigh:

• Monkey.D.Luffy (OP12-015): The Luffy & Ace Top 8 lists in the brief run this exact card number as a four-of (source: Limitless TCG online platform, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-19). Two decks competing for the same playset tends to push the price up.
• Shakuyaku (OP12-006): This card also shows up as a flex include in some of those Luffy & Ace lists (source: Limitless TCG online platform, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-19).
• Boa Hancock (OP12-014): There is no cross-deck data for this one in the brief. It's a four-of you'll need regardless, so price-check it early.

The Rayleigh Events are a different story. The [Main] halves of To Never Doubt--That Is Power! and Color of Observation Haki only work by giving DON!! to Silvers Rayleigh, so outside demand for them should be limited. Gum-Gum Mole Pistol is a starter-deck (ST21) card, so compare the sealed product against singles. The Leader is a single copy. Even an inflated Leader is a small share of the total.

Buy base-rarity copies. Parallel and alternate arts change nothing about how a card plays.

What You Cannot Cut

The Event count is the deck. Your Leader, Jinbe and Monkey.D.Luffy all ask you to reveal 2 Events from hand. Both Counter Events give +2000 in battle, and Color of the Supreme King Haki adds a -1000 sweep across the opponent's board.

Keep all 18 Events (the 4-4-4-4-2 split) before you trim any Character. Cutting Events to save money weakens every "reveal 2" payoff and your defense at the same time.

Every swap must also stay red and at cost 4 or less. The Leader bans cost 5 or more.

Budget Swaps Using Cards Already in the List

The safest swaps raise counts on cards you're already buying. Your deck keeps the same plan and only gets weaker in specific places.

Watch the compounding when you stack swaps. If you trim Shakuyaku and Boa Hancock together, only Color of Observation Haki can still find Monkey.D.Luffy (cost 3 or more), and your Luffy turns show up later. Make one of those two cuts, not both, unless you're already running full Luffy.

Don't trim Nami or Baby 5 blindly. They're four-ofs in a list that just placed, and none of the swaps above reproduces what those slots do. If they turn out to be the expensive ones, proxy them for testing before you decide.

Upgrade Path

1. Core first: Get Silvers Rayleigh, all 18 Events, 4 Buggy, 4 Sanji and 4 Monet. That's a functional shell. The extra Monet copies hold the Boa Hancock slots for now.
2. Monkey.D.Luffy next: This is the biggest power jump. It turns one Character drop into two, and it's what makes the reveal-2-Events condition pay off.
3. Boa Hancock third: Search plus burst DON!! giving restores your ability to find Luffy and power up a key attack on the same turn. Cut Monet back to 2 as Hancocks arrive.
4. Shakuyaku last: It finishes your search suite at cost 1 with a +1000 Counter. Swap out the stopgap Gum-Gum Mole Pistol or Jinbe copies.

Once you hold the stock list, practice with it. Most budget versions lose because they find Luffy a turn later, not because they lack power.

Common Mistakes

1. Spending the Events you need to reveal

Your Leader, Monkey.D.Luffy and Jinbe all ask you to reveal 2 Events from hand. Revealing is not discarding. The same two Events can power the Leader activation, a Luffy On Play and a Jinbe On Play in the same turn, and they stay in hand afterward. The common error is casting Color of Observation Haki or To Never Doubt--That Is Power! for value on an early turn and then reaching turn 4 with one Event and a Luffy that does nothing.

Fix: Treat two Events in hand as a floor. Only cast a Main Event if you will still have two afterward, or if the card you dig up replaces it. When a Buggy, Shakuyaku or Boa Hancock search gives you a choice and you are below two Events, take the Event over a Character.

2. Activating Monet or Hancock with no rested DON!! on the field

Monet and Boa Hancock give rested DON!!, not active ones. If you activate them at the start of your Main Phase, before you have paid for anything, you have nothing to move and you have wasted the activation. For Hancock, that means you trashed her for nothing.

Fix: Pay costs first, then redistribute. Play your Characters and Events, and only then rest Monet or trash Hancock to move the DON!! you already spent onto the attacker that needs it.

3. Wasting Luffy's On Play

Monkey.D.Luffy puts a red Character with 3000 power or less from your hand onto the field, then gives 1 rested DON!!. Two errors are common here:

• Hard-casting your cheap searchers on earlier turns, so Luffy has nothing to put out.
• Putting out a body with no follow-up.

The strongest line is to hold Boa Hancock for Luffy:

1. Luffy's On Play puts Hancock onto the field.
2. Hancock's On Play digs for an Event or another Luffy.
3. Luffy gives 1 rested DON!!.
4. Trash Hancock to give 2 more rested DON!! to Luffy.

Luffy now has the 2 given DON!! his +2000 needs, and you refilled your hand along the way. Sanji and Monet are also legal targets, so pick whichever body the board needs.

Fix: Before turn 4, plan which 3000-or-less Character you are holding for Luffy. Hancock is usually the right one when you need both cards and power.

4. Pointing the Leader buff at the wrong target

The Leader activation checks base power of 4000 or less and only targets Characters, never Silvers Rayleigh himself. That makes your best targets the ones that already scale:

• Sanji is 6000 on your turn, so the buff takes him to 8000.
• Monkey.D.Luffy is 6000 with 2 given DON!!, so the buff also takes him to 8000.

The buff is Once Per Turn and lasts the whole turn. Using it on a Buggy swing for a marginal hit, then wanting it on Luffy two attacks later, costs you the turn.

Fix: Decide your attack order before you activate. Buff the attack that has to connect or has to beat a specific power number, and activate it before that attack is declared.

5. Casting Gum-Gum Mole Pistol with no 6000 Character

Gum-Gum Mole Pistol only K.O.s if you control a Character with 6000 power or more. Without one, it is just a single-turn −5000. The bigger missed edge is the order of its effects. The −5000 resolves first, so you can drop a 7000 Character to 2000 and then K.O. that same Character with the second half.

Fix: Cast Mole Pistol on your turn with Sanji on board, or after Luffy reaches 6000. Aim the −5000 at the Character you actually want gone, not at a small one that dies to the K.O. clause anyway. When it flips as a Trigger, check whether you control a 6000 Character before choosing targets.

6. Firing To Never Doubt's Main too early

To Never Doubt--That Is Power! is both your Blocker breaker and a +2000 Counter. Casting the Main to push Rayleigh through a Blocker on a turn that doesn't threaten lethal trades a defensive card for one Life. It also uses up an Event you may need to reveal.

Fix: Use the Main when shutting off Blockers wins the game or forces exact lethal. Otherwise, hold it as a Counter. Remember that the 2 DON!! it gives to Rayleigh count toward Luffy's 2-given-DON!! condition. That matters when you need Luffy's +2000 and have no Monet or Hancock available.

7. Misusing Color of the Supreme King Haki

The second half of Color of the Supreme King Haki requires resting one of your DON!!. You need an active DON!! on your opponent's turn to pay for it. If you tap out on your own turn, the card is just a +2000 Counter. The −1000 to their Leader and all their Characters also lasts the whole turn, so using it on their last attack throws most of it away.

Fix: When you are on defense, leave one DON!! active. Fire Supreme King Haki early in their attack sequence, ideally on the first swing where the −1000 changes what the later attacks need to connect.

Tournament Prep & Final Notes

What to Practice Before the Event

• Event counting. Your Leader, Jinbe, and Monkey.D.Luffy all need 2 Events revealed from hand. Before you spend any Event, know how many will still be in hand on your next turn. Running goldfish games where you track "Events in hand after this play" makes this automatic.
• Given-DON!! math for Luffy. Monkey.D.Luffy gains +2000 only if you have a total of 2 or more given DON!! cards. Boa Hancock (trash), Monet (rest), and Luffy's own On Play all give rested DON!!. Practice reaching that threshold without stranding the active DON!! you need for To Never Doubt--That Is Power! or Color of Observation Haki.
• Counter discipline. To Never Doubt--That Is Power! and Color of the Supreme King Haki are both Counters and both Event-count fuel. Drill the decision of when an Event is worth more as a Counter than as a reveal for next turn's Luffy.

Rules Interactions to Know Cold

• Revealing is not discarding. The Leader, Jinbe, and Monkey.D.Luffy only reveal Events, and the Events stay in your hand. The same two Events can satisfy your Leader and a Luffy On Play in the same turn.
• Leader targeting checks base power. Your Leader's +2000 hits a Character with 4000 base power or less. Sanji's Your Turn boost does not change his base power of 3000, so he stays a legal target. Monkey.D.Luffy and Jinbe (base 4000) also qualify.
• Luffy's free play. Luffy's On Play puts a red Character with 3000 power or less from your hand onto the field. Buggy, Shakuyaku, Boa Hancock, and Monet all fit. A Character played this way resolves its own On Play, so Luffy into Shakuyaku or Hancock chains into another search. Sanji is printed at 3000, which makes him a target as well.
• Mole Pistol's K.O. clause. Gum-Gum Mole Pistol only K.O.s if you control a Character with 6000 power or more. On your turn, Sanji gets there on his own. If Mole Pistol is flipped as a Trigger on your opponent's turn, Sanji's boost is off, so the K.O. needs a different 6000+ Character. Don't assume the removal half will happen.
• Supreme King's rider needs an active DON!!. Color of the Supreme King Haki asks you to rest 1 of your DON!! cards for its second effect, and you can't rest a card that is already rested. When you hold this Counter, end your turn with a DON!! left active, or the rider is gone.
• Blocker denial is Leader-only. To Never Doubt--That Is Power! stops Blockers only for the card it gave DON!! to, and that card must be your Silvers Rayleigh. It does nothing for a Character swing. Plan for Rayleigh to be the attacker on the turn you need to get past a Blocker.
• Buggy versus Slash. Buggy can't be K.O.'d in battle by Slash attribute cards. Read your opponent's Leader and attackers for attribute. Against Slash-heavy boards, Buggy is a sticky body, not just a search.
• Deck construction. Your Leader bans cards costing 5 or more. Check any substitution you make against that limit before you register.

Time Management

This deck isn't slow on board, but it is slow in execution. Buggy, Shakuyaku, and Boa Hancock each look at 5 cards. Color of Observation Haki looks at 4. Every one of them asks you to order the rest on the bottom. Decide your bottom order fast: you will rarely see those cards again in a normal-length game, so don't burn clock arranging them.

Announce reveals clearly and briefly ("revealing these two for Leader"), then return the cards to hand. This prevents disputes and keeps your opponent from stalling you with questions. On a multi-step turn, sequence it in your head before you touch a card. Searches first, then Luffy, then Leader buff, then attacks.

Preparing for the Field

The only metagame data available is online. Across four 64-player Standard events, 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). If your testing time is limited, spend it there first.

The Luffy & Ace Top 8 lists in that window all played the same Monkey.D.Luffy (OP12-015) at 4 copies (source: Limitless TCG online platform, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-19). Expect to see your own threat from the other side of the table, and know its On Play cold from both seats.

Dracule Mihawk (OP14-020) was banned effective 2026-10-12 (source: Bandai official Banned/Restricted Card List, effective 2026-10-12). Any testing data or replays from before that date may reflect a different field, so weigh newer reps more heavily.

Final Assessment

This list does one thing extremely well. It turns a hand full of red Events into searches, Counters, and the reveal fuel for its strongest plays. It does this on a cost curve that tops out at 4. Its cheap search Characters rarely miss, and Luffy chains them for card advantage. The Haki Events double as defense, so a stocked hand is never dead.

The weakness is the flip side of that strength. Spend Events carelessly and the Leader, Jinbe, and Luffy all go quiet at once. The list put up a Top 4 at ChinoizeCup #124 MONDAY out of 128 players, played by Spartacus2224. At an estimated $96, it's an accessible entry point.

Bring it if you are willing to count Events every turn and manage DON!! precisely. Players who do that will get full value from a deck whose ceiling depends on piloting discipline more than draws.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the Silvers Rayleigh deck win games?

It is a low-curve red tempo deck that builds a board of cheap Characters hitting far above their cost, forcing the opponent to trade Life and Counters every turn. It finishes with a Leader swing they can't Block, using To Never Doubt--That Is Power! to deny Blockers on Silvers Rayleigh's attack.

Why does this deck run 18 Events?

Silvers Rayleigh, Monkey.D.Luffy and Jinbe all require you to reveal 2 Events from hand. Revealing doesn't spend them, so the same two Events can pay for all three in one turn and still serve as Counters afterward.

What are the key cards in the Rayleigh list?

Monkey.D.Luffy is the payoff that plays a second Character from hand for free, while Sanji attacks at 6000 on your turn and 8000 with the Leader buff. Searchers like Buggy, Shakuyaku and Boa Hancock keep Events flowing, and To Never Doubt--That Is Power! is the finisher.

What are the hardest matchups for Silvers Rayleigh?

Big-body late-game decks are unfavored because the deck has nothing above cost 4 and its only removal is two copies of Gum-Gum Mole Pistol. The plan there is to race, mulligan for early Characters, and treat the game as lost if it goes long.

Which matchups is the Rayleigh deck favored in?

It is favored against Blocker-reliant defenses thanks to To Never Doubt--That Is Power! stopping Blockers on Rayleigh's attack. It is also favored against wide boards of small Characters, where Color of the Supreme King Haki, Monet and Gum-Gum Mole Pistol line up well.

What budget swaps can I make for Silvers Rayleigh?

The guide suggests raising counts of cards already in the list, such as Jinbe up to 4 if short on Monkey.D.Luffy, or Monet up to 4 in place of Boa Hancock. Keep all 18 Events, and avoid cutting both Shakuyaku and Hancock at once.

What is the most common mistake when piloting Rayleigh?

Spending the Events you need to reveal, such as casting Color of Observation Haki early and reaching turn 4 with one Event and a Monkey.D.Luffy that does nothing. Treat two Events in hand as a floor before casting any Main Event.

What should I practice before taking Rayleigh to a tournament?

Practice counting how many Events will remain in hand next turn, and reaching Monkey.D.Luffy's 2-given-DON!! threshold without stranding active DON!!. Also drill when an Event is worth more as a Counter than as reveal fuel.

Metagame Context

Built from Spartacus2224's Top 4 list at ChinoizeCup #124 MONDAY (128 players, 2026-10-19), 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.