Saint Gunko Leader OP18-060: Effect, Deck Plan & Key Cards

Saint Gunko card details

Saint Gunko, OP18-060, Leader, Purple/Black

• Life: 4
• Power: 5000
• Attribute: Special (reported)
• Types: Celestial Dragons / Holy Knights of God (reported)

Reported text (16 October 2026):

[Once Per Turn] When a Character is played from your trash, draw 2 cards and trash 1 card from your hand.

[Activate: Main] [Once Per Turn] You may trash 1 card from your hand: If you have a Character with 8000 base power or more, add up to 1 DON!! card as active from your DON!! deck.

TCGplayer lists 1 printing of the Saint Gunko Leader so far, the standard one; an alternate art would appear here and on the leader page once it is listed. Some early lists put Spandam at OP18-060; TCGplayer has Saint Gunko there and Spandam, the set's Black/Yellow Leader, at OP18-079. Bandai's own list will settle it.

What the effect means in plain English

Half 1: playing from the trash draws cards

Whenever a Character is played from your trash (not from your hand), you draw 2 and trash 1. That improves your hand, and the card you trash can be another target to bring back later. It is once per turn, so one well-timed trash play a turn is what you aim for.

Half 2: big bodies give you extra DON!!

In your Main Phase you may trash a card from your hand. If you control a Character with 8000 or more base power, you also add an active DON!! from your DON!! deck. “Base” power is the number printed on the card (Comprehensive Rules 4-9-2), so temporary boosts do not count. [Activate: Main] means you choose when, in your Main Phase and not during a battle; our keywords guide explains every bracket.

Why the two halves fit together

• The cards you trash with both halves fill your trash with Characters to bring back.
• The extra DON!! pays for bigger plays sooner.
• The draw keeps your hand stocked, because the DON!! half costs a card every time you use it.

The trap: the DON!! half takes its card from your hand whether or not you have an 8000-power Character out, and without a trash play that turn there is no draw to make up for it. Trash too eagerly and you run out of plays.

Why Purple/Black?

• Purple is the DON!! colour, with effects that add, return and spend DON!!. That suits the Leader's ramp half.
• Black has long leaned on the trash and on cost-based removal. That suits the recursion half.

Key cards to watch (reported, not final)

The OP18 cards TCGplayer lists so far that matter most to this Leader, with their reported text (16 October 2026):

• Saint Shamrock (OP18-119, SEC, cost 8, 9000 power): “[On K.O.] You may trash 1 card from your hand: Play this Character card from your trash. [Activate: Main] [Once Per Turn] If this Character was played on this turn, play up to 1 {Holy Knights of God} type Character card with a cost of 6 or less from your trash.” At 9000 printed power it meets the Leader's 8000 condition by itself, and both of its abilities play a Character from the trash, which is the Leader's draw trigger (once per turn).
• Cerberus (OP18-085, UC, cost 1, 0 power): “[Activate: Main] You may return this Character to the owner's hand: Up to 1 of your [Saint Shamrock] Characters gains [Rush], [Banish], or [Unblockable] during this turn.” Cheap support for Saint Shamrock: [Rush] lets it attack the turn it lands, and [Unblockable] gets it past a Blocker.
• Shark Submerge 3 (OP18-076, UC, cost 5): “[On Play] Draw 1 card, then add up to 1 DON!! card as rested from your DON!! deck. [On Your Opponent's Attack] You may rest this Stage: Your Leader with 5000 power or less and up to 2 of your Characters gain +1000 power during this turn.” A purple Stage that draws and adds a DON!!; typed Straw Hat Crew, it suits the Green/Purple Franky Leader's Stage deck as much as this one.

What to watch for

• Which Characters reach 8000 base power? The Leader's condition counts any Character you control, not only Holy Knights of God. Of the 2 Holy Knights of God Characters TCGplayer typed for OP18 on 16 October 2026 (Cerberus and Saint Shamrock), only Saint Shamrock has 8000 power or more. Across every set, 96 purple or black Character card numbers in our catalogue have 8000 printed power or more, before checking each for Standard legality.
• The rest of the Holy Knights of God. Only part of OP18 is listed. How many other cards play Characters from the trash decides how often the draw fires; the OP18 card list fills in as cards are listed.

How a Saint Gunko turn might look

Illustrative only: a reading of reported pre-release text, not a tested line.

1. Early turns: use the Leader's Activate: Main to trash cards you want back later, and build your board.
2. Get a Character of 8000 or more base power out (Saint Shamrock, cost 8). From then on the same ability adds an active DON!! once a turn, for a card from your hand, keeping you a turn ahead on resources.
3. Play Characters from the trash: on the reported text, Saint Shamrock returns itself from the trash when it is K.O.'d (for a card from your hand), and on a turn it was played it can play a Holy Knights of God Character of cost 6 or less from your trash. Each trash play can trigger the Leader's draw 2, trash 1, once per turn.

Saint Gunko vs the other OP18 leaders

• Green Luffy is about attacking: his Leader can attack twice in one turn. Gunko is a resource engine.
• Karoo is Rush aggro. Gunko is the slower, value-grinding counterpart.
• Spandam (Black/Yellow) shares black but, on its reported text, spends CP cards to add to its Life.

Where to buy Saint Gunko and OP18

• Pre-order boxes: The cheapest OP18 booster box pre-order we track in the United States today is US$284.99 (3 tracked sellers listing it), before postage. The OP18 pre-order board ranks every tracked store in your market, cheapest first, under eBay's and TCGplayer's listings. Bandai's MSRP is US$4.99 per pack.
• The Leader: The cheapest Saint Gunko OP18-060 listing we track in the United States is US$9.99, and TCGplayer's market price is US$9.99. Before release these are pre-order prices, and they move daily. The Saint Gunko leader page lists every printing.
• Chase cards: the OP18 card list prices every printing as it is listed, and our OP17 chase cards review shows where the value sat in the last set.
• Rarity guide: unsure what SR, SEC or a parallel is? Read One Piece card rarities explained.
• Stores: see the stores directory for the retailers we track in each market.