Your priority is to have a strong early game with your Searchers, so you can prepare your Wisdom Characters and your key plays for the following turns.
Atlas EB05-050 is a very strong start. It immediately lets you search for a Wisdom card.
Charlotte Pudding OP17-109 is also valuable very early. It provides card advantage. Later, after attaching 2 DON!! to bring it to 6000 Power, you can use your Leader effect to make it Active and attack a second time.
Lilith OP13-113 is another search option. It also has a Trigger, increasing the number of cards that can generate value from your Life.
A good hand should also give you access to your 5- and 6-cost Characters, especially Gloriosa EB05-052, Nami EB05-055, and Nico Robin EB05-016.
Nami is especially important because it is one of your main healing sources. Nico Robin plus Nami is also a very strong sequence for developing your board while recovering a Life.
Silvers Rayleigh OP14-108 is mainly included in this decklist for the strength of its Trigger, so it is not a card to build your opening hand around.
Finally, Shanks OP17-022 is your late-game finisher: you do not need to have it from the start.
Look primarily for an opening hand with Atlas, Pudding, or Lilith, plus a way to continue developing with Gloriosa, Nami, or Nico Robin.
The goal is to avoid a hand full of late-game cards or cards whose Triggers only become truly useful once your Life is low enough.
Your early turns are mainly for finding your pieces and preparing your board. Atlas EB05-050 and Lilith OP13-113 give you access to your next cards, while Charlotte Pudding OP17-109 provides card advantage. Pudding can then become a real attacker: with 2 DON!! attached, it reaches 6000 Power, can attack, be reactivated with the Leader effect, then attack a second time.
This is where your board starts to gain real value. Gloriosa EB05-052, Nami EB05-055, and Nico Robin EB05-016 make up a large part of your important plays. The Nico Robin to Nami sequence is especially strong because it develops your board while recovering a Life. On the following turn, Nami and Robin can use your Leader effect to make multiple attacks as long as you do not raise them above 6000 Power. Your goal is not simply to play one large Character: you gradually want several 6000-Power attackers that can apply repeated pressure.
Trafalgar Law OP13-031 can return Nami to your hand and let you play it again. This interaction is especially valuable because the Character played by Law arriving Rested is not a real problem for Nami: if your opponent KOs it, its removal can let you heal through your Leader effect; otherwise, you can use your Leader effect to activate it. Law therefore gives you another way to use your Life-recovery effects while developing your board.
One of Robin's main strengths is being able to make a Character with 6000 Power or less Active, allowing it to attack again. This works especially well with Characters such as Pudding or Nami: instead of putting all your DON!! into one large attack, you can create several attacks around 6000 Power.
The deck has many ways to heal, but some cards become better as your Life decreases. Nojiko has a Trigger that can only be used when you have 2 Life or less. Do not treat healing as something to trigger automatically: your Life total directly affects its value.
Shanks OP17-022 is your main finisher. It becomes especially important against decks that protect themselves with several Blockers. In addition to having Rush, Shanks can rest those Blockers, then gives you another attack to use through the DON!! made Active. Against OP12 Rosinante in particular, stacking Blockers is not enough to stop Robin once Shanks is in play.
This is one of the deck's biggest weaknesses. Your Leader can only make a Character with 6000 Power or less Active. Against a Leader that reaches 7000 or 8000 Power, your first 6000-Power attack becomes ineffective. OP14 Law shows this clearly with EB04 Zoro, then OP17 Newgate: once the opposing Leader is at 7000 or 8000 Power, double 6000-Power attacks lose a great deal of value and your Leader effect becomes much harder to use.
Your healing plan works when one of your Wisdom Characters is KO'd, but not when it is sent to the bottom of the deck. This is especially problematic against cards such as Gravity Blade: you lose your Characters without receiving the expected heal. Against OP12 Kuzan in particular, several bottom-deck effects can gradually break your board and your ability to maintain pressure.
Nojiko is one of the most debatable cards in this version of the decklist. Its Trigger can provide value, but the condition tied to your Life total is regularly an issue: Robin heals enough that Nojiko is often revealed while you still have too much Life to use its Trigger. It still has the advantage of being a 2000 Counter and can be played when you do not have access to your Searchers early.
The three Silvers Rayleigh are mainly included for their Trigger. It is one of the best yellow Triggers available, with the ability to KO a Character with 7000 base Power. Its inclusion adds another threat directly from your Life.
Megalo has several roles in the deck. With 2 DON!!, it can reach 6000 Power, allowing it to attack and then use Robin's Leader effect to attack a second time. If you make it Rest with its On Play effect, it can KO a Rested Character with 8000 Power. Against OP12 Kuzan in particular, Megalo can be played as an answer to Issho.
Gloriosa requires specific management. You can trash it to prevent taking damage, but this does not trigger Nico Robin's heal: Gloriosa trashes itself, so it is not KO'd. Conversely, if your opponent attacks Gloriosa and KOs it, you can use Robin's heal. It is better not to sacrifice Gloriosa too quickly and to save its effect for situations where preventing damage is truly necessary.
Borsalino is mainly included to strengthen the deck's ability to recover Life. Together with Nami, the deck has multiple healing sources. Some situations even allow several heals in a row to quickly rebuild your Life and extend the game.
Baby 5 is a possible replacement for Nojiko, which is too often limited by its Life condition.
Cards that protect against removal are also possible, especially Bonney or potentially Laboon. The goal would mainly be to protect your Characters from bottom-deck removal or being returned to hand, because those forms of removal bypass your ability to heal when a Character is KO'd.
Teach OP16 could be interesting, but it is too slow.
Build your double attacks around Characters at 6000 Power. Pudding, Nami, and Megalo can use Robin's effect to attack, become Active, then attack a second time. Do not unnecessarily go above 6000 Power on the Character you want to make Active again.
Do not sacrifice Gloriosa too easily. Its effect trashes it and therefore does not trigger Robin's heal. If your opponent attacks Gloriosa and KOs it, you can heal instead. Use its effect to prevent damage mainly when it becomes truly necessary.
Use Trafalgar Law to reuse Nami. Law can return Nami and let you play it again to recover Life once more. The fact that it enters Rested is not a problem: if your opponent then chooses to KO it, you can use the heal again.
Do not automatically protect every Character. Some can recover Life for you when they are KO'd. Depending on the situation, letting Nami or another relevant Character be removed can be better than spending several Counter cards to keep it.
Watch your Life total before relying on your Triggers. Nami and Nojiko can be in your Life without being able to fully use their Trigger while you are still too high on Life. The deck's substantial healing makes this situation relatively common.
Adjust your attacks against high-Power Leaders. Against a 7000- or 8000-Power Leader, chaining 6000-Power attacks loses a great deal of value. This is a direct weakness of Robin because her effect can only reactivate Characters at 6000 Power or less.
Identify removal that bypasses KO effects early. Your heal works with a KO, but bottom-deck removal or returning a Character to hand can remove your Characters without giving you that compensation. Gravity Blade is especially problematic for this reason.
Keep Shanks for situations where it truly opens your offense. It is especially effective against boards full of Blockers or when it lets you secure lethal.
