In 60 Seconds
- The plan
- counter with Events on their turn: the first one each turn adds an active DON!!. The 1-cost Sugar digs on your 1st turn, Baby 5 or the 5-cost Rosinante come next, Doflamingo on your 4th turn going 1st, Shanks on your 5th, and the kill on your 5th to 7th turn.
- The list
- 4 each of the counter Events (You Need Me, Don't You?!, Mamaragan, NoroNoro Beam Sword, Bullet String, I Can Never Forgive Anyone Who Laughs At My Family!), both Sugars, Baby 5, Monet, the 5-cost Rosinante and Doflamingo; 3 Shanks, 2 Gum Gum Giant Thrust, 1 Viola. It's in The Deck.
4
4
1
4
4
4
4
3
4
4
2
4
4
4
- Keep or redraw
- keep most hands, and keep the hands with Doflamingo or Shanks: kept, they won 52%; sent back, 34%.
- The matchups that matter
- Buggy: players won 23%, your worst; either turn order.
- Nico Robin: 54%; lean 2nd and go face.
- Sabo: 48%; go 2nd (66% going 2nd, 34% going 1st).
- Top 3 mistakes
- Sending back Doflamingo and Shanks hands.
- Missing Doflamingo on your 4th turn going 1st.
- Letting their turn go by without an Event.
Sugar in one line: players win 43% of their EB05 games with Sugar (842), and the deck turns its counters into DON!!: on their turn, the first Event you use adds an active DON!!, so Doflamingo and Shanks come down a turn early.
What Is Sugar?
In short
- On their turn, the first Event you use adds an active DON!!: your counters ramp you to Doflamingo (8) and Shanks (10).
- Players win 43% with Sugar (842 games): 46% going 2nd, 38% going 1st.
- Weak spots: Buggy (23%), Kaido (24%) and almost no Blockers.
- Which Events ramp: Mamaragan, You Need Me, Don't You?! and I Can Never Forgive Anyone Who Laughs At My Family! keep the DON!!. Bullet String and NoroNoro Beam Sword cost DON!! -1, so they only pay it back.
- A DON!! at the end of your turn too: with a Donquixote Pirates Character of 6000 or more (Baby 5, Monet, the 5-cost Rosinante, Doflamingo), your Leader sets a DON!! active.
- A turn ahead: going 1st, 86% of strong players' 4th turns started with more than the usual 7 DON!! (1.3 more on average).
- Hard to finish: from 2 Life down, strong players countered 65-72% of the attacks on their Leader.
The Deck
In short
- The engine: six kinds of counter Events, and the 1-cost Sugar and I Can Never Forgive Anyone Who Laughs At My Family! to dig.
- The bodies: Baby 5, the 5-cost Rosinante and Monet (all 6000s), then Doflamingo and Shanks.
- Doflamingo's On Play puts the 5-cost Rosinante or Baby 5 out from your hand.
The list
The most played EB05 Sugar list on MetaHub (71 games, 31 players).
| Card | Copies | Its job |
|---|---|---|
| You Need Me, Don't You?! (EB05-040) | 4 | Return a DON!!: draw 3, trash 1; +2000 counter |
| Mamaragan (OP15-078) | 4 | DON!! -2: draw 1, rest a 5000-or-less; +1000 counter |
| Sugar (OP10-065), the 1-cost | 4 | Rest it and a DON!!: look at 5 for a Donquixote Pirates card |
| I Can Never Forgive Anyone Who Laughs At My Family! (OP10-078) | 4 | Look at 3 for a Donquixote Pirates card, on your turn or theirs |
| Gum Gum Giant Thrust (ST10-015) | 2 | +2000 counter; K.O. a 2000-or-less |
| Sugar (EB05-034), the 2-cost | 4 | A 2000 counter; with 7+ DON!!, DON!! -2: -4000 on one of theirs |
| NoroNoro Beam Sword (OP07-076) | 4 | DON!! -1: +2000 and rest one of theirs |
| Bullet String (OP14-078) | 4 | DON!! -1: +2000, then +2000 more this turn |
| Viola (OP10-062) | 1 | 4000 Blocker; K.O.'d: DON!! -1 for a purple Event from your trash |
| Baby 5 (EB05-004) | 4 | 6000; reveal 2 Events: draw 2 |
| Monet (EB03-010) | 4 | 6000 Blocker; look at 5 for an Event or a small Character |
| Donquixote Rosinante (OP10-072), the 5-cost | 4 | 6000; trash an Event: draw 2; with 7+ DON!!, sets 2 DON!! active at the end of your turn |
| Donquixote Doflamingo (OP10-071) | 4 | 8-cost 9000; DON!! -1: play a 5-cost-or-less Donquixote Pirates Character from your hand |
| Shanks (OP09-004) | 3 | 10-cost 12000 with Rush; all of theirs -1000 |
- The common swap: Kamakura Jussoushi (OP10-018), in 68% of decks: a +3000 counter with no DON!! -1, so it keeps your Leader's DON!! like Mamaragan.
Mulligans
In short
- Keep most hands: players' kept hands won 48%, their mulliganed ones 39%.
- Keep Doflamingo and Shanks hands: your Leader's DON!! gets you there.
- With none of Doflamingo, Shanks or the 1-cost Sugar, sending back did a little better (45% vs 41%).
KEEP. ESPECIALLY THE HANDS WITH DOFLAMINGO OR SHANKS.
| The hand | Players keep | Won kept | Won sent back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doflamingo or Shanks | 50% | 52% | 34% |
| Neither | 62% | 45% | 44% |
| All hands | 57% | 48% | 39% |
- Both turn orders: Doflamingo or Shanks hands won 52% kept and 27% sent back going 1st, 52% and 40% going 2nd.
- These are players' own choices, not the same hands played both ways: read them as what works for players, not proof.
- Keep: Baby 5, the 1-cost Sugar, Baby 5, Mamaragan, Shanks. Mulligan: Bullet String, NoroNoro Beam Sword and three 2-cost Sugars: all counters, nothing to build your turns on.
Turn Order: Usually 2nd
In short
- Players win 46% going 2nd and 38% going 1st; our Pro AI 51% and 37%.
- Go 2nd against Sabo (by a lot: 66% vs 34%) and Xebec (55% vs 29%).
- Lean 1st against Law and Rosinante. The rest is in the table.
The Game Plan, Turn by Turn
In short
- The 1-cost Sugar on your 1st turn; Baby 5 on your 3rd going 1st, your 2nd going 2nd.
- Doflamingo on your 4th turn going 1st (your 3rd or 4th going 2nd), Shanks on your 5th.
- The kill comes on your 5th to 7th turn, most often with Shanks.
| Your turn | Going 1st (your DON!!) | Going 2nd (your DON!!) |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | The 1-cost Sugar (1) | The 1-cost Sugar (2) |
| 2nd | The 1-cost Sugar; your Leader attacks (3) | Baby 5 (4 or 5) |
| 3rd | Baby 5 or the 5-cost Rosinante (5 or 6) | Doflamingo or the 5-cost Rosinante (6 to 8) |
| 4th | Doflamingo (8 or 9) | Doflamingo or Shanks (usually 10) |
| 5th+ | Shanks, You Need Me, Don't You?! (10) | Shanks, You Need Me, Don't You?! (10) |
- Doflamingo's On Play: DON!! -1 to play the 5-cost Rosinante (77 times) or Baby 5 (55) from your hand.
- The kill: of strong players' 69 wins, 53 ended on their 5th to 7th turn. Shanks made the last hit in 20, Doflamingo 13, your Leader 11.
Fundamentals: Counters Into DON!!
In short
- Use an Event on every one of their turns you can: the first one adds an active DON!!.
- Counter early, even at 4 Life: the Events are your wall.
- On your turn, mostly face.
USE AN EVENT ON EVERY ONE OF THEIR TURNS YOU CAN. BELOW 10 DON!!, MAKE IT ONE THAT KEEPS THE DON!!.
| Your Life | Countered (unblocked) | Got through |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | 59% | 52% |
| 3 | 56% | 47% |
| 2 | 65% | 35% |
| 1 | 72% | 27% |
- How often: strong players used an Event as a counter on 80% of the opponent's turns that had an attack. A hint at why: going 1st, when the opponent attacked on their 2nd turn, those who used one won 20 of 42 games; those who didn't, 5 of 13.
- At 10 DON!!, Bullet String or NoroNoro first: your Leader adds that DON!! right back (strong players got it back on 76 of 78 such turns, and on none of 6 when another Event went first).
- No wall of Blockers: strong players blocked 3% of the attacks on their Leader. At 4 Life, strong Moria and Hancock players countered 26% and 17%; Sugar players, 59%.
- On your turn: 67% of strong players' attacks went at the opponent's Leader. Your Leader swings 4.2 times a game, Baby 5 2.0, Doflamingo 1.2.
Matchups
In short
- Good: Shirahoshi (60% for players) and Nico Robin (54%).
- Close: Sabo (48%), Xebec (46%) and Law (45%). Go 2nd against Sabo and Xebec.
- Against you: Luffy ST10 (38%), Kaido (24%) and Buggy (23%).
XebecPlayers do much better than our AI46%28%
Buggy23%24%
SaboPlayers do much better than our AI48%31%
Nico Robin (EB05)54%49%
Trafalgar Law45%48%
Shirahoshi60%53%
Luffy & Acetoo few games–43%
Rosinantetoo few games–44%
Luffy (ST10)38%31%
Kaido24%26%
Luffy (OP13)too few games–53%
Enel (OP05)too few games–31%
Enel (OP15)too few games–36%
Sugar's win % in each matchup: players on the EB05 ranked ladder, and our Pro AI in its own games. The thin line is 50%; past it, Sugar wins more than it loses. Tap a row for the number of games.
| Opponent | Players | Players 1st / 2nd | Our Pro AI | Pro 1st / 2nd | Go |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xebec | 46% (46) | 29% / 55% | 28% | 12% / 44% | 2nd |
| Buggy | 23% (105) | 28% / 19% | 24% | 24% / 24% | Either |
| Sabo | 48% (69) | 34% / 66% | 31% | 18% / 44% | 2nd, by a lot |
| Nico Robin (EB05) | 54% (71) | 52% / 55% | 49% | 38% / 60% | lean 2nd |
| Trafalgar Law | 45% (58) | - | 48% | 52% / 44% | lean 1st |
| Shirahoshi | 60% (42) | 56% / 59% | 53% | 48% / 58% | lean 2nd |
| Luffy & Ace | - | - | 43% | 32% / 54% | lean 2nd |
| Rosinante | - | - | 44% | 48% / 40% | lean 1st |
| Luffy (ST10) | 38% (45) | - | 31% | 32% / 30% | Either |
| Kaido | 24% (33) | - | 26% | 20% / 32% | lean 2nd |
| Luffy (OP13) | - | - | 53% | 54% / 52% | Either |
| Enel (OP05) | - | - | 31% | 24% / 38% | lean 2nd |
| Enel (OP15) | - | - | 36% | 34% / 38% | lean 2nd |
Players: EB05 ladder games, every bounty level, with farmed games removed (the same two accounts playing each other 8+ times, one side winning 85%+); '-' under 30 games, or under 15 a side for the split. Our Pro AI: 100 games per matchup. Bold marks where the two are 15 or more points apart.
Buggy (OP09-042)
- Either turn order: players won 28% going 1st and 19% going 2nd; our Pro AI 24% both ways. Your worst common matchup.
- The 10-cost Buggy (OP09-051) bottom-decks one of your Characters when it's played, and Gravity Blade Raging Tiger two that cost 6 or less. Their 2000 counters (Cabaji, Mohji) stop your swings.
Nico Robin (EB05-010)
Practice vs Nico Robin · Hard AI
- Lean 2nd and go face: 90% of strong players' attacks went at Robin's Leader.
- Her attacks come small: only 31% got through, the fewest of the common decks.
Sabo (OP13-004)
- Go 2nd, by a lot (66% vs 34%). Players win 48% here, far above our Pro AI's 31%.
- It swings 1.6 times a turn at your Leader, the most of the common decks: spread your Events over their whole turn.
- Loki (OP17-119) K.O.s your Characters with a total cost of 4 or less: the 1-cost Sugar, Baby 5.
Xebec (OP17-039)
- Go 2nd (55% vs 29%). Players win 46% here, far above our Pro AI's 28%.
- Gloriosa (OP17-046) bottom-decks a Character that costs 5 or less, and Shiki gives one -3000.
Law, Shirahoshi, Luffy ST10 and Kaido
- Law (45%): lean 1st. Urouge (OP14-002) K.O.s a Character with 3000 base power or less: the 1-cost Sugar and the 2-cost Sugar.
- Shirahoshi (60%): lean 2nd. Its Leader can't attack, so it swings at you only 0.8 times a turn.
- Luffy ST10 (38%): either. Its 10-cost Luffy (OP05-119) takes an extra turn, and your Leader's DON!! only comes on their turns: keep an Event for each.
- Kaido (24%): lean 2nd and go face (94% of strong players' attacks went at Kaido's Leader). The 10-cost Kaido (OP17-063) switches off and K.O.s a cost 6 or less, so Baby 5's On K.O. doesn't fire.
The Mistakes That Cost Games
In short
- Sending back Doflamingo and Shanks hands.
- Missing Doflamingo on your 4th turn going 1st (a hint).
- Letting their turn go by without an Event (a hint).
| The spot | Players | What wins |
|---|---|---|
| A hand with Doflamingo or Shanks | Kept only 50% of 260 | Keep it: 52% kept, 34% sent back |
| Doflamingo on your 4th turn, going 1st | Played it in 37 games, not in 30 | 19 of 37 won with it, 11 of 30 without (a hint) |
| An Event on each of their turns | None on 20% of the turns with an attack | On their 2nd turn: 20 of 42 won with one, 5 of 13 without (a hint) |
Cheat Sheet
- The engine: on their turn, the first Event adds an active DON!!; Bullet String and NoroNoro cost it back. With a 6000+ Donquixote Pirates Character, your Leader sets a DON!! active at the end of your turn.
- Mulligan: keep most hands, and keep Doflamingo and Shanks hands.
- Turn order: go 2nd, by a lot against Sabo, and against Xebec; lean 1st against Law.
- The curve: the 1-cost Sugar on turn 1, Baby 5 on turn 3 (turn 2 going 2nd), Doflamingo on turn 4, Shanks on turn 5.
- Defense: counter with Events, even at 4 Life. The kill: your 5th to 7th turn, Shanks last most often.
Practice It
Play Sugar against our AI, free in your browser at optcgwebsim.com, no download and no account.
Our other EB05 guides: Xebec, Sabo, Buggy, Nico Robin, Trafalgar Law, Kaido, purple Enel, Luffy ST10, yellow Enel, Luffy & Ace, red-green Luffy, Shirahoshi, Rosinante, Moria and Boa Hancock.
Players: EB05 ladder games (updated 10-26), farmed games removed; mulligans from players' 586 hands with a known result; turn plays, counters, attacks and kill turns from strong players' 179 games with every decision. Our Pro AI: its EB05 games (updated 10-25).