Full OP09 Red Shanks Guide

Introduction

The Red Shanks deck is a powerful midrange strategy that focuses on controlling the game by establishing dominance with formidable late-game characters while steadily wearing down your opponent’s resources. By utilizing a blend of removal effects and rush units, Shanks can dictate the tempo, overwhelming the opponent with relentless board pressure to secure victory.

This guide will walk you through the essential components of the deck, key strategies, and how to get started. We'll also cover the critical starting turns to give you a strong foundation in the early game. For those looking for more advanced insights, the full version of the guide will include in-depth matchup analysis and advanced metrics—exclusively available to Yonko subscribers—to elevate your gameplay even further.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths:

• Dominates longer games by deploying powerful late-game threats.

• Effective against decks that focus on mid-sized characters, due to Shanks' power reduction and KO abilities.

Weaknesses:

• Struggles against faster decks that can apply early pressure.

• Highly dependent on hitting the right curve to maintain tempo and control of the board.

Decklists

In this section, we’ll delve into various decklist options for OP09 Shanks, highlighting builds that emphasize different combinations of offensive and defensive strategies. Each deck offers distinct advantages, allowing you to tailor your approach to specific matchups. For example, adding cards like Lucky Roux can help your performance against matchups like Purple Luffy. On the other hand, including more defensive events such as Radical Beam and Guard Point can help you stabilize against aggressive decks, enabling you to reach your late-game power plays.

Adaptability remains crucial as the meta evolves. By staying flexible and making timely adjustments to your decklist, you can keep Shanks competitive in a shifting environment. Below, we’ve outlined sample decklists that have proven successful in high-level play, providing a strong starting point for further customization as the meta develops.

This first deck is a classic, well-rounded list, featuring a balanced mix of 5-cost cards along with a full playset of Rayleigh, Dragon, and 10-cost Shanks.

This next list includes 2 copies of Lucky Roux, making room by removing 1 copy of the 5-cost Rayleigh and 1 Gol D. Roger. Adding Lucky Roux provides a strong play option on your 4-DON turn, increasing early-game flexibility and pressure.

This next list includes Radical Beam and Guard Point, prioritizing defensive stability. Notably, this is the same deck that secured a 2nd place finish in the Asia Championship, showcasing its effectiveness at the highest level of competition.

Starting Turn

When it comes to starting turns, we recommend going first in most matchups. The specifics for each matchup will be covered in the Matchup Section, but generally, going first allows you to execute your curve more efficiently, maximizing early tempo. Additionally, since many decks in the current meta prefer going first, this strategy has the added benefit of denying your opponent that advantage.

Example curve going 1st:

1 Don: Pass

3 Don: 8K Leader Attack or 5K Leader Attack > 2 Don Active for Redhawk Counter to KO

5 Don: Leader Swing > 5-Cost (Preferably Ace/Marco)

7 Don: Leader/Character Attack(s) > Benn Beckman

9 Don: Leader/Character Attack(s) > Rayleigh/Dragon/Benn Beckman

10 Don: Leader/Character Attack(s) > Rayleigh/Dragon/Benn Beckman/Shanks

Example curve going 2nd:

2 Don: Sanji or Pass

4 Don: Leader Swing > Play Lucky Roux > Sanji 7K Swing

6 Don: Leader/Character(s) Swing + 1K > Play 5-Cost

8 Don: Leader/Character(s) Swing + Rayleigh/Benn Beckmann/Dragon

10 Don: Leader/Character(s) Swing + Rayleigh/Benn Beckmann/Dragon/Shanks

The curve provided above serves as a general guide for how a typical game might play out but should not be followed rigidly. Shanks is a midrange deck that excels at managing the board to stabilize before transitioning into its powerful late-game plays. Flexibility and matchup awareness are key to maximizing its potential. 

In certain matchups, it’s crucial to recognize when to shift your focus from attacking life to dealing with your opponent’s board. Your deck includes powerful reducers like Otama and Hongo, which can be paired with cards such as Marco, Benn Beckman, or Rayleigh for efficient threat removal. These combinations not only help neutralize your opponent’s key characters but also allow you to develop your own board, maintaining both pressure and control.

The most challenging part of piloting this deck often begins around your 7/8-DON turn, as this is the pivotal moment when the board state typically becomes more complex. At this stage, you’ll need to assess the situation carefully and determine which play will provide the most stability. Whether it’s prioritizing board control or continuing to apply pressure to their life, making the right decision in these moments will often determine the outcome of the match. By staying flexible and adapting your strategy to the needs of the matchup, you can effectively navigate these high-pressure turns and set yourself up for success.

Here are some important strategies and habits to adopt:

• Efficient Attacking Order: Always attack with characters already on the board before playing new ones. This minimizes the risk of your fresh units being removed by trigger effects. Against Blackbeard, for example, this prevents your characters from falling victim to cards like Liberation or Finger Pistol.

• Optimizing Dragon’s Effect: When playing Dragon on your 8-DON turn, it’s often optimal to play him first. Doing so allows you to attach 2 DON to your leader or another character via his effect, enabling more impactful and efficient attacks during your turn.

• Using Red-Hawk Early: In the early game, leaving 2 DON available for Red-Hawk can help you counter your opponent’s aggression by KOing key searchers or low-power blockers. Don’t hold onto Red-Hawk exclusively for the late game—using it proactively can stabilize the board early, allowing you to deploy your larger threats with less risk later on.

• Playing Sanji Thoughtfully: If you choose to play Sanji, remember that his ability requires you to take a life. This makes it especially important to consider countering your opponent’s attacks to minimize damage before you play Sanji. Proper timing and countering can help you maintain control of the board while mitigating the risk of falling too far behind in life.

By stabilizing early and playing adaptively, Shanks can maintain board control and transition smoothly into its mid- to late-game dominance. Always consider the unique demands of the matchup when deciding how to execute your curve and manage your resources.

Shanks Matchup Guide

In this section, we’ll explore strategies and tips for navigating the most prevalent matchups in the current meta. We’ll provide an in-depth breakdown of the overall game plan for each matchup, emphasizing key fundamentals and tactical adjustments to help elevate your win rate.

This exclusive content is available to Yonko Patreon subscribers or to anyone who purchases the Complete Shanks Guide.

Rob Lucci Matchup

The Rob Lucci matchup is a generally favorable one for Shanks, but it requires seeing your curve to avoid falling behind. Going first is ideal, as it allows you to play your 5-cost Ace on curve. Ace is a tough card for Lucci to deal with early, letting you get multiple attacks in while draining their counter cards. This sets you up for a stronger late-game where Shanks thrives.

When drawing or mulliganing for the Rob Lucci matchup, prioritize a hand that includes Ace and Benn Beckman. 

In this matchup, your goal is to attack consistently with your characters and leader while keeping their board under control. Benn Beckmann and Rayleigh are key cards here for removing threats. Benn Beckmann is especially useful against Sabo, as his effect trashes the card rather than KO’ing it, bypassing Sabo’s protection. Late-game, Dragon and Shanks are your heavy hitters, helping you close out the match with strong offensive plays.

It’s also important to counter their attacks whenever you can, especially if it only costs you one card. This helps keep your life total high and allows you to stabilize until you’re ready to deploy your bigger units. If you’re going second, Lucky Roux is a strong option on your 4-DON turn. His presence can disrupt Lucci, as removing him often forces them to lose key cards like Brook, Kaku, or even Rob Lucci himself.

In the late-game, don’t overlook Limejuice as a sneaky way to swing over Rebecca, catching your opponent off guard. Limejuice’s ability makes him an effective tool for dealing with this specific threat. Combined with your larger units, this can be a game-winning move.

By sticking to your curve, countering wisely, and using key cards like Ace, Benn Beckmann, and Shanks effectively, you can handle this matchup and keep Lucci in check.

Blackbeard Matchup

The Blackbeard matchup is generally favorable for Shanks, but success hinges on how well we manage the early and mid-game. For this strategy, we want to go first, even though it may seem counterintuitive. The reasoning is that by going first, we can stabilize our life total more effectively in the early game, putting us in a healthier position to compete in the late game. If we let Blackbeard go first, they can swing for 6K more frequently early on, forcing us to burn extra cards to defend. By taking the initiative and putting them on the back foot, we can limit their ability to build pressure. While they will still get to play their 10-drop first, our aggression will have already drained their hand, making it harder for them to defend against late-game threats like Dragon, Shanks, and Roger.

The key to this matchup is to attack Blackbeard consistently and play on curve. Early on, it’s crucial to remove their Laffitte searchers using a leader swing or a well-timed Marco. This prevents Laffitte from generating too much value by searching key cards and filling their hand. One of the biggest threats in their deck is Jesus Burgess, who often becomes a lethal attacker swinging for 7K-9K. Once Jesus Burgess get’s online, it will get harder to keep a healthy life total, this is why we opted to go 1st, so we can defend those initial leader swings with our leader ability in preparation for this. Neutralizing their tempo early will make it easier to transition into the late game. In short, if we can defend an attack for 1 card, do it. We want to reach late-game with a healthy life total.

Throughout the game, focus on swinging at their life as often as possible while keeping pressure on their board. Most Blackbeard players will start using their leader effect before our 7-DON turn to deny us Benn Beckman’s on play effect, but this shouldn’t deter us. We should prioritize playing our most powerful character on each turn to establish a strong board and prepare for a decisive late-game. The endgame typically becomes a battle of our Dragons and Shanks against their Blackbeard blockers. If we stabilize in the early game and reach the late game with 3-4 life remaining, we should have the upper hand. At this point, their hand will often be too depleted to counter our attacks, allowing us to chain together Shanks or drop Roger to secure victory.

By managing the early game well, removing key threats like Laffitte, and maintaining steady aggression, we can consistently outperform Blackbeard and turn this matchup into a reliable win.

The Doflamingo matchup is a challenging one for Shanks. While we have a strong late game, the early pressure from Doflamingo, especially with Jinbe combos, can quickly overwhelm us if they manage to establish multiple threats. Stabilizing against their relentless aggression is key, but if they have a few weak turns, the momentum can shift in our favor. In this matchup, going second is preferred, but going first works just as well. The main benefit of going 2nd, is that we can hold a Redhawk when they leader ability on 3 don, and be able to play Rayleigh on curve.

Our early-game plan revolves around using Red-Hawk in combination with our leader effect to KO threats while protecting our life. For example, if Doflamingo's leader ability reveals a 5K character off the top, we can reduce its power with our leader and then use Red-Hawk to both block the attack and remove the character. We can also apply this technique with characters already on the board. Timing this play effectively can help mitigate their pressure and preserve our resources for later turns.

The most critical card for us in this matchup is Rayleigh, as it serves a dual purpose. On play, Rayleigh can KO one of their characters and reduce the power of another, making it easier to swing into or neutralizing its offensive potential. The success of this matchup often hinges on how many Rayleighs we can deploy, as his ability to control the board is invaluable against Doflamingo's wide setup.

In this matchup, it’s essential to counter as many attacks on our life as possible. This not only helps stabilize but also prevents us from holding more than five cards in hand, which is crucial for playing around Pudding. Additionally, we should avoid dropping to 0 life whenever possible, as Perfume Feur can end the game by bypassing blockers if we’re relying on one to survive. Maintaining a healthy life total is critical to navigating their late-game plays.

Our focus should always be on clearing their board whenever possible. If the board is empty, then attacking their leader becomes the priority. Efficiently managing their pressure while defending our life in the early game is the key to turning the matchup in our favor. If we can stabilize early, control their threats with Rayleigh, and preserve our life total, we’ll be in a strong position to close out the game in the late stages.

The Purple Luffy matchup can be challenging for Shanks, as it mirrors some of the difficulties faced against Doflamingo while presenting additional obstacles. Like Doflamingo, Purple Luffy can deploy multiple threats per turn, but their threats are often higher in power, making them much harder to remove efficiently. This problem is compounded by Gum-Gum Giant, which can make damaging their life/characters in the late game extremely difficult. While Shanks typically excels in the late game, Purple Luffy not only matches that strength but also boasts a powerful mid-game with characters like Luffytaro, Zoro, and Sanji, negating much of Shanks' usual strategic advantage.

To counter this, it’s crucial to go first in this matchup, as this helps disrupt Luffy’s preferred curve. Denying them their ideal tempo gives Shanks a better chance to stabilize before Luffy’s powerful mid- and late-game threats come online.

Our strategy in this matchup revolves around applying early pressure by aggressively swinging at their life before they begin deploying their combos. The mid-game should be dedicated to controlling the board if possible, however, we will prefer to focus on their life and try to race them. The logic behind this is that they will have a much easier time defending their characters than their leader, and we should only look to clear their board if it’s free with Benn Beckman or Rayleigh.  Additionally, we should prioritize countering as many early-game hits as possible. Don’t hesitate to pitch counters when they swing for 5K or 6K, as these early exchanges are manageable. Once Luffytaro comes online later, their swings will become much harder to counter efficiently, so it’s crucial to mitigate damage early while we still have the resources to do so.

The key to victory lies in maintaining consistent pressure throughout the game while denying Luffy the chance to fully capitalize on their mid-game strengths. If we can stabilize and sustain pressure, we can turn the tide and secure the win.

The Shanks mirror match is a true battle of attrition, where the focus is on sustaining pressure while outlasting your opponent. In this matchup, we will typically opt to go second, leveraging the second-player advantage to deploy a large character before our opponent. This allows us to disrupt their early aggression and control the tempo, particularly by utilizing Red-Hawk to KO key threats while protecting our life.

Success in the mirror will often come down to which player can sustain their resources and pressure more effectively. Key cards in this matchup include Rayleigh, Dragon, and Shanks, all of which provide significant value in terms of board control and late-game dominance. Rayleigh’s ability to KO a character and weaken another is pivotal for maintaining control, while Dragon and Shanks are essential for closing out the game with overwhelming force.

In the mirror, the player who can balance early defensive plays with consistent late-game aggression will typically come out on top. Carefully managing counters and maximizing the value of your key cards will be the deciding factor in securing victory.

Conclusion

The Red Shanks deck is a formidable midrange strategy that thrives on calculated plays, precise resource management, and timely aggression. By leveraging powerful late-game threats like Dragon and Shanks, combined with efficient removal options such as Rayleigh and Benn Beckman, the deck is capable of dictating the tempo and dominating opponents across a wide range of matchups.

This guide has provided an overview of the deck’s strengths, weaknesses, and foundational strategies to help you get started. From understanding the importance of early turns to recognizing when to shift focus between life pressure and board control, these principles are key to mastering the deck. Success with Shanks relies heavily on adaptability—adjusting your playstyle to matchups and evolving with the meta will keep you competitive in any environment.

With the right preparation, practice, and understanding of its strengths, the Shanks deck will continue to shine as a powerful and flexible option in the OP09 meta. Now it’s time to take the helm, adapt to the challenges ahead, and secure your victories as the Red-Haired Pirate.