Gundam Card Game Starter Decks and Products - Every ST Deck, What Is Actually in the Box, and What Ships Next

Fourteen starter decks in thirteen months. That is where Bandai's Gundam Card Game sits as of 1 August 2026, and four more of those decks land on the same day in September. If you are standing in front of a shelf trying to work out which box gets you playing, "buy a starter deck" is no longer useful advice on its own.

So here is the actual product line, pulled off Bandai's own product pages and card database rather than a retailer listing. Every name, date and MSRP below is what gundam-gcg.com published. Where Bandai has not said something, I say that instead of guessing.

The shelf is more crowded than it looks

There are five distinct things Bandai sells that will get cards into your hands, and only two of them are what most people mean by "starter":

• Starter Decks (ST codes). A sealed, ready-to-play 50-card deck plus the bits you need to actually play. ST01 through ST14.
• Booster Packs (GD codes, plus EB for extra boosters). Randomised 12-card packs. GD01 through GD07, plus EB01.
• Ultimate Deck. So far exactly one - Destiny Ignition [ST09]. It carries an ST code but Bandai labels it "ULTIMATE DECK" on its own product page, and it costs and contains something different.
• Deck Build Box (SC code). A bulk reprint box aimed at deckbuilding rather than playing out of the packaging.
• Premium Bandai and collection products (PB / PC codes). Accessory-and-card bundles. Collector goods, not entry points.

Getting those categories straight matters, because two of the highest-priced boxes on the shelf are the ones least suited to a new player.

What's actually inside a starter deck

Bandai prints the contents list on every product page, and it is more specific than most publishers bother with. Aquatic Assault [ST11], releasing 25 September 2026 at $15.99 MSRP, contains:

• 1 ready-to-play 50-card deck
• 10 Resource Cards
• 4 Token Cards
• 1 Paper Damage Counter
• 1 Rule/Playsheet
• 1 Bonus Pack

Line that up against the rules and it maps exactly. The Comprehensive Rules (Ver. 1.8.0, updated 10 July 2026) require each player to bring a deck of exactly 50 cards, a resource deck of exactly 10 Resource cards, and one EX Base plus one EX Resource token. The starter deck box is not a sampler - it is a legal, complete kit for one player, right down to the paper damage counters.

Two details worth noticing on that box. First, the colour band across the top tells you the deck's colour pair before you open anything - ST11 reads BLUE / PURPLE. Second, it says "English ver." Bandai prints the game in multiple languages and the printing is on the packaging, which matters if you are buying import stock.

Token counts vary between decks and Bandai does not explain why. ST11 and Silent Barrage [ST13] each list 4 Token Cards; Raging Onslaught [ST12] and Heavy Dominion [ST14] list 2. The four launch decks from July 2025 - Heroic Beginnings [ST01], Wings of Advance [ST02], Zeon's Rush [ST03] and SEED Strike [ST04] - each listed 8. Since the rules only require an EX Base and an EX Resource per player, everything above two tokens is deck-specific.

The 16-card-type problem

This is the number nobody tells you at the counter, and it is printed right on Bandai's pages: an ST starter contains 16 distinct card types. The rarity breakdown published for ST01 through ST08 is identical every time - 2 Legend Rare and 14 Common. Bandai then adds the giveaway line: "Due to the type of the product, all boxes have duplicate cards."

So a 50-card deck built from 16 card types means you are holding a lot of playsets. That is not a rip-off, it is the point - the deck construction rules allow up to four copies of any card number, so a preconstructed list leans hard on fours. But it does mean a second copy of the same starter deck gives you almost nothing new.

The card database backs this up. Filter it to Heroic Beginnings [ST01] and you get card numbers ST01-001 through ST01-016 plus three shared token cards. Filter to Iron Bloom [ST05] and you get fifteen new ST05 numbers plus a reprint of ST01-014 - fifteen plus one is the same sixteen.

Bandai has not published the rarity breakdown for ST11 through ST14 yet. The four September pages list contents but leave the rarity block off entirely, so whether the 2-and-14 pattern holds is genuinely unknown right now.

What's actually inside a booster pack

A booster pack is $4.99 MSRP and, on the current sets, 12 cards. The Freedom Ascension [GD05] display box prints the maths on the side: 12 cards per booster pack, 24 packs per booster box.

One inconsistency worth flagging rather than smoothing over: GD01 through GD04 list pack contents as "12+1 Cards", while GD05, EB01 and the upcoming GD07 list "12 Cards". Bandai has not published an explanation for the change in wording, and I am not going to invent one.

The set sizes are large. Dual Impact [GD02] is listed at 130 card types plus 13 - 50 Common, 36 Uncommon, 32 Rare, 12 Legend Rare, 3 Token and 10 Resource. Steel Requiem [GD03] grew to 139 plus 20, adding a 7-card Special rarity and a 10-card token block. Newtype Rising [GD01], the July 2025 launch set, is listed at 130 plus 6, though its rarity list on the site labels two separate tiers "Common", which reads like a typo given every later set labels the second one Uncommon.

The practical difference from a starter is blunt: a booster pack cannot be played. Twelve random cards do not make a 50-card two-colour deck, they do not include a resource deck, and they do not include the EX Base and EX Resource tokens the rules require. Boosters are what you buy after you can already sit down at a table.

The one exception is Sealed Battle, which Bandai has published rules for. In Booster-only Sealed you open 4 packs and build a deck of exactly 30 cards. In Starter Decks + Booster Packs Sealed you open 1 starter and 4 boosters and build exactly 50. Both formats drop the colour restriction entirely and let you run any number of copies of a card number. Worth knowing that the official page prints the same "48+4 cards" figure next to both formats, which only adds up for the booster-only version.

Every ST deck so far, and what colours it plays

Bandai does not put a tidy colour chart anywhere, so this is assembled from the official card database - filtering each product code by colour - and from the colour bands printed on the boxes themselves. Every deck is a two-colour pair, which lines up with rule 6-1-1-2: a deck must be built entirely from one or two colours.

Iron Bloom [ST05] is the one with historical weight: its product page says Iron-Blooded Orphans joining the game brought Purple in as a new colour. That is why the four launch decks between them only cover Blue, Green, Red and White.

Destiny Ignition [ST09] is the odd one out. Its own card code covers ten new card numbers - eight Purple, one Red, one White - which is more colours than a single legal deck can use. Bandai does not publish a decklist for it, so what the finished 50 looks like is not something I can tell you from the official pages.

The four decks landing 25 September 2026

All four September decks share one line on their product pages, and it is the actual news: "In addition to being strong in 1-on-1 battles, it also contains many cards that truly shine in multiplayer matches." The Comprehensive Rules carry a full multiplayer section - battle royale for three or more players, team battle for four - and this is the first time a whole starter wave has been built around it. Eternal Nexus [EB01] in June was the first product Bandai described that way.

Each of the four is $15.99 MSRP and comes with the same battle-style tagline from Bandai:

• Aquatic Assault [ST11], Blue/Purple - underwater combat units including Char's Z'gok.
• Raging Onslaught [ST12], Red/Purple - close-combat units including Gundam Epyon.
• Silent Barrage [ST13], Green/Red - bit and funnel units including Qubeley.
• Heavy Dominion [ST14], Green/White - heavily armed units including The-O.

Three accessory products share the 25 September date: Official Card Case Set 02, Official Card Sleeves 02, and the Official Playmat and Card Set for Mobile Suit Gundam 00. Bandai has not published MSRP for any of the three.

The products that look like starters but aren't

Destiny Ignition [ST09] is $39.99 and Bandai calls it an ULTIMATE DECK on the box copy. Contents are a 50-card deck, 10 Resource Cards, 22 Extra Cards, 2 Token Cards, 6 Damage Counter Dice, a playsheet and a bonus pack. Those 22 extra cards and the real dice instead of a paper counter are what you are paying the extra $24 for. It is a fine product; it is not the cheapest way to start.

Deck Build Box Freedom Ascension [SC01] is $39.99 and is the most interesting product on this list for anyone who wants to build rather than pilot a precon. It contains 125 reprinted cards - 25 per colour across all five colours - plus 4 sealed GD05 packs, a half storage box, 10 Resource Cards, 2 Token Cards, a playsheet, a paper damage counter, and a bonus pack containing one of three exclusive EX Base cards. Bandai notes every reprint inside is a standard non-foil.

Since a legal deck uses one or two colours, that 25-per-colour spread is deliberate: pick any two colours and you have 50 cards to work with immediately.

The Premium Bandai and collection products - the 1st Anniversary Set at $139.99 (shipping 27 July 2026), and the two Premium Card Collection GUNDAM ASSEMBLE Sets at $39.99 each from February 2026 - are accessory bundles. The 1st Anniversary Set, for instance, ships 10 card types, resource and token cards, two sleeve packs, a synthetic leather card case, a leather playmat, six dice and a storage box. Lovely. Not a deck.

GUNDAM ASSEMBLE Starter Sets were a July 2025 thing, and only for ST01 through ST04. Each was $34.99 against the $11.99 regular version and added three unpainted miniature Gunpla - ST01A shipped TP-001 Gundam, TP-002 Guncannon and TP-003 Guntank - which Bandai says can be placed on token cards during play. No ST deck since ST04 has had an ASSEMBLE version.

Which entry point suits which player

Cutting through it:

• You have never played and want one box. Any current ST deck. $15.99, complete, legal, done. Colour pair is the only real decision, and it is mostly a "which show do you like" decision at this stage.
• You and a friend both want in. Two different ST decks, not two of the same one. Same total cost, twice the card variety, and you avoid the 16-card-type duplicate problem entirely.
• You want to build your own deck immediately. Deck Build Box [SC01] at $39.99. 125 reprints across five colours plus four packs is a genuinely better deckbuilding start than three boosters.
• You are getting into a group that plays multiplayer. Wait for 25 September and take one of ST11 through ST14, all four of which Bandai explicitly built with multiplayer cards.
• You already have a deck. Boosters, and only boosters. Freedom Ascension [GD05] is the 1st-anniversary set and the one that brought Strike Freedom Gundam and Nu Gundam in.
• You want the collector item. Premium Bandai. Just do not confuse it with a way to learn the game.

Starter deck cards are not training wheels

Here is the detail that says the most about how Bandai treats starters. Look at the current banned and restricted list, updated 24 July 2026: ST02-016 Corsica Base is restricted to 2 copies. ST01-010 Amuro Ray appears in a banned pair with ST05-010 Mikazuki Augus, meaning those two cannot be used together. And ST01-005 GM, ST04-008 Ginn, ST05-004 Graze Custom, ST05-009 Graze, ST06-004 Gelgoog, ST09-005 Zaku Warrior and ST10-005 Nemo all appear in the "banned pair" group covering Lv.2, cost 1, 2 AP, 2 HP vanilla units - no more than four copies total across that whole group.

Only one card is outright banned right now: GD01-020 Anksha, from the launch booster.

A game does not restrict starter deck cards unless people are actually playing them. If you were expecting precon filler, adjust. Compare that to how Pokemon TCG treats its theme decks and the difference in intent is obvious.

The confirmed slate as of August 2026

Everything below is on gundam-gcg.com right now. Nothing beyond January 2027 has been announced.

Stardust Trails [GD06] brings in Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ and Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory. Blazing Fist [GD07] brings in Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team. Both list 12 cards per pack. Neither has a published rarity breakdown or MSRP yet.

What Bandai has not published

Being honest about the gaps, because most product guides quietly paper over them:

• No decklists. Bandai publishes featured cards for each starter, not the 50-card list. Anyone showing you a full ST11 through ST14 decklist right now is working from leaks or guesses.
• No rarity breakdown for ST11 through ST14. The 2 Legend Rare / 14 Common pattern held from ST01 to ST08. Whether it holds in September is unconfirmed.
• No pull rates, ever. Bandai does not publish them for any Gundam Card Game product, so any percentage you see quoted is someone's spreadsheet, not a fact.
• No MSRP for GD06, GD07 or the September accessories. The pages carry a dash where the price goes.
• No explanation for the "12+1" to "12" pack wording change.

That is the whole confirmed picture as of 1 August 2026. If you want the mechanics that make these boxes make sense - what a Resource actually does, why six shields is your entire life total, and what a Link Unit is - that is the how to play the Gundam Card Game walkthrough.