What's up friends! I'm back today to talk more about the Gundam Card Game. Bandai has now released the card list for every deck, so we are going to be going through each of the four starter decks! These were shown on the official website; however, we still do not know the quantity of each card in the various starter decks. But this gives us a great launching point to talk about each starter deck, and which one might be the best to use for the starter deck launch events! Let's get into it.

ST01 - Heroic Beginnings

Heroic Beginnings - Full Decklist:

• 2x Gundam (ST01-001)
• 4x Gundam (MA Form) (ST01-002)
• 4x Guncannon (ST01-003)
• 4x Guntank (ST01-004)
• 3x GM (ST01-005)
• 2x Gundam Aerial (Permet Score Six) (ST01-006)
• 4x Gundam Aerial (Bit on Form) (ST01-007)
• 3x Demi Trainer (ST01-008)
• 3x Zowort (ST01-009)
• 4x Amuro Ray (ST01-010)
• 4x Suletta Mercury (ST01-011)
• 3x Thoroughly Damaged (ST01-012)
• 3x Kai's Resolve (ST01-013)
• 2x Unforseen Incident (ST01-014)
• 3x White Base (ST01-015)
• 3x Asticassia School of Technology, Earth House (ST01-016)

I've pictured the cards that are being released in this starter deck above! Let's talk about some of the key cards of ST01 Heroic Beginnings! First, these starter decks contain 2 Legendary Rares that are foil. The 2 Legendary Rare or LR as it is shown on the cards are Gundam RX-78-2 and Gundam Aerial (Permet Score Six).

The Gundam RX 78-2 is one of the best cards in the set along with his pilot, Amuro Ray. Amuro allows you to rest any unit with 5 Health Points (HP) or less, when you pair him with one of your units. This is very good ability that can allow you to rest active units so that you can attack into them or even resting troublesome blockers.

The Gundam RX is very good for clearing the board and attacking into those units you may have rested with Amuro, due to its repair 2 ability. How this works is, when you move to your end step, you get to remove damage from the Gundam. This makes for some good exchange! There are also the appropriate tokens in each deck as well, along with an ex resource and resources. There will also be an alternate art pack that comes with one foil alt art of a card from Heroic Beginnings.

ST02 - Wings of Advance

Wings of Advance - Full Decklist:

• 2x Wing Gundam (ST02-001)
• 4x Wing Gundam (Bird Mode) (ST02-002)
• 4x Gundam Heavyarms (ST02-003)
• 3x Gundam Sandrock (ST02-004)
• 3x Maganac (ST02-005)
• 2x Tallgeese (ST02-006)
• 4x Leo (ST02-007)
• 3x Aries (ST02-008)
• 3x Tragos (ST02-009)
• 4x Heero Yuy (ST02-010)
• 4x Zechs Merquise (ST02-011)
• 3x Simultaneous Fire (ST02-012)
• 3x Peaceful Timbre (ST02-013)
• 2x Siege Ploy (ST02-014)
• 3x Saint Gabriel Institute (ST02-015)
• 3x Corsice Base (ST02-016)

ST02 features both blue and green cards, with the Legendary Rares being Wing Gundam and Tallgeese! On paper, the Wing Gundam is one of the best cards of the set. He has breach 5 which is described as "When this Unit's attack destroys an enemy Unit, deal the specified amount of damage to a card in that opponents shield area." This ability would be good enough on its own, however it has another ability. It's allowed to attack active enemy units that are Level 4 or lower. This allows the Wing Gundam to clear through units while dealing damage to your opponent's shield - essentially making this a 2-for-1 value.

The other Legendary Rare is Tallgeese. What makes this Gundam unique is that he can re-stand and become active again for 4 resources. This is a good ability but it's hard to know just how good it is until we get into some organized play.

Other interesting cards from this starter deck are Siege Ploy, Heero Yuy, and Wing Gundam (Bird Mode). Siege Ploy allows you to rest 1 of your enemy's units with 5 or less HP. It also has a burst effect that allows you to activate this card's effect. The fact that this card could potentially save you by resting a unit from it's burst effect just makes it even better.

Heero Yuy is a very good pilot, especially for link units. Heero boosts unit by 2 attack and 1 hp however, if it is a link unit it gets an additional +1 AP and +1 HP. This allows some cards to just get some crazy stats and cause a lot of problems.

Lastly, we have Wing Gundam (Bird Mode). This card allows you to get an extra EX resource which helps you ramp up to your Legendary rare Wing Gundam. The faster that card can hit the board, the better your chances are for winning. This ends our discussion on ST02 - Wings of Advance but be sure to check out which cards you can pull in your alternate art foil pack.

ST03 - Zeon's Rush

Zeon's Rush - Full Decklist:

• 2x Sinanju (ST03-001)
• 4x Angelo's Geara Zulu (ST03-002)
• 4x Geara Zulu (ST03-003)
• 3x Gaza D (Sleeves) (ST03-004)
• 3x Dra-C (Sleeves) (ST03-005)
• 2x Char's Zaku II (ST03-006)
• 3x Zaku I (ST03-007)
• 4x Zaku II (ST03-008)
• 3x Gouf (ST03-009)
• 4x Full Frontal (ST03-010)
• 4x Char Aznable (ST03-011)
• 3x Indignation (ST03-012)
• 3x Close Combat (ST03-013)
• 2x The Blue Giant (ST03-014)
• 3x Rewloola (ST03-015)
• 3x Falmel (ST03-016)

Zeon and Neo-Zeon Gundam's are on the attack with this starter deck! This starter features Char's Zaku and Shanju as the Legendary Rare cards. Char's Zaku is particularly good and the stand out card of the deck. Right now in the Gundam Card Game there is not much draw - making Char's Zaku great because of its ability. When Char's Zaku is destroyed you get to look at the top 3 cards of your deck and choose 1 Zeon/Neo Zeon type Unit and add it to your hand. So essentially this card can replace itself as a card in your hand.

Shanju however is a very aggressive and powerful card. Shanju is a strong Unit with 5 attack and 4 health and link's with a pilot called Full Frontal. When linked this card will have 7 attack and 6 defense! And when he is paired, he gains High-Maneuver which makes this unit unblockable. But the good stuff doesn't stop there! During your turn, when this card deals damage to your opponent's shield area, choose 1 enemy unit and deal 2 damage to it! This card gets a lot of value!

Other good cards from this set are Char Aznable, Zaku II, and Falmel. Char Azanable is a pilot that grants your unit it's paired with an additional strength during your turn but if it's link unit it gains High-Maneuveur and can get around those pesky blockers.

Zaku II is one of the best early cards in the game. On your turn he get +2 attack power allowing it to clear an early Ex Base!

Lastly, we have the base Falmel. When played during your turn you get to create a char zaku token. This helps you to be able to establish a base and some board presence at the same time. This wraps up ST03 - Zeon's Rush and be sure to check out those Alternate arts!

ST04 - SEED Strike

SEED Strike - Full Decklist:

• 2x Aile Strike Gundam (ST04-001)
• 4x Strike Gundam (ST04-002)
• 4x Moebius Zero (ST04-003)
• 3x Moebius (ST04-004)
• 3x Strike Dagger (ST04-005)
• 2x Aegis Gundam (ST04-006)
• 4x Aegis Gundam (MA Mode) (ST04-007)
• 3x Ginn (ST04-008)
• 3x Miguel's Ginn (ST04-009)
• 4x Kira Yamato (ST04-010)
• 4x Athrun Zala (ST04-011)
• 3x Striker Pack (ST04-012)
• 3x Hawk of Endymion (ST04-013)
• 2x The Magic Bullet of Dusk (ST04-014)
• 3x Archangel (ST04-015)
• 3x Vesalius (ST04-016)

ST04 - SEED Strike features characters and units from the popular Gundam Seed series. The Legendary Rare cards in this set are Aile Strike Gundam and Aegis Gundam! I believe Aile Strike Gundam is the best unit from what has so far been revealed. It has 4 attack power and 4 health, has blocker, and when paired with a level 4 pilot or high allows you to return one of your opponent's units with 5 HP or lower back to their hand. This is only right when you pair it, but it can create a huge tempo swing.

Lasty, we have the Aegis Gundam, which is still a good card. This unit has 4 AP and 3 HP and has an ability that when it attacks if it has more than 5 AP you can choose 1 enemy unit that is level 5 or higher and deal 3 damage to it. This can help you clear some bigger units in the game.

Some of the other good cards in this set are Kira Yamato, Strike Gundam and Archangel. Kira Yamato may just be the best pilot in the game. He gives units an additional 2 AP and 1 HP and has an ability that on attack allows you to choose an opposing unit and reduce its attack power by 2. This helps make for some great trades.

Strike Dagger is good because on play you get to draw 1 card and discard 1 which helps you see more of your deck and can also link with Kira.

Lastly, we have the best base in the game, Archangel. Archangel is level 3 and only costs 1 resource unlike most bases and has one of the best abilities in the game. For 2 resources you can choose one of your blocker units and make it active. It cannot attack after doing this so you would attack first then use Archangel so that the unit would be able to block during your opponent's next turn. Let's take a quick look at the alternate arts for this starter deck and talk about what I think is the best starter deck!

So what starter deck is the best? I believe it is ST04 - SEED Strike. It has arguably the best unit, best pilot and best base for what has been revealed so far and here you get all of those things in one starter deck. If you are out there opening product hopefully you can pull the alternate art card you're looking for! That's it for now, and thanks for reading!

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Garrett Farrington

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