Buy a starter deck before you buy any boosters. A starter is a complete, legal deck: 50 cards from one title, 3 Action Point cards and a playsheet, for a US MSRP around $11.99. Boosters are random packs and a poor first purchase for a new player.
Every English starter deck
The table lists every English starter (ST) and advanced (DC) deck, with how often its title appears in recent tournament results (620 decklists from the last 60 days). A title that's played a lot is easier to upgrade, because winning lists show you which cards to add.
| Code | Title | Release | Meta share |
|---|---|---|---|
| UE27ST | Umamusume: Pretty Derby | Feb 5, 2027 Upcoming | - |
| UE10DC | Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War Advanced | Nov 6, 2026 Upcoming | 4.7% |
| UE24ST | Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- | Sep 18, 2026 | 9.7% |
| UE18ST | Tokyo Ghoul | Apr 24, 2026 | 2.3% |
| UE15ST | Evangelion: New Theatrical Edition | Jan 30, 2026 | 15.5% |
| UE11ST | Rurouni Kenshin | Sep 26, 2025 | 10.8% |
| UE10ST | Attack on Titan | Aug 29, 2025 | 4.4% |
| UE09ST | FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST | Jul 18, 2025 | 1.3% |
| UE08ST | Black Clover | May 30, 2025 | 1.0% |
| UE07ST | Sword Art Online | Apr 25, 2025 | 1.8% |
| UE06ST | One Punch Man | Feb 28, 2025 | 0% |
| UE05ST | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba | Jan 17, 2025 | 0% |
| UE03ST | Jujutsu Kaisen | Nov 22, 2024 | 1.6% |
| UE01ST | BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War | Sep 27, 2024 | 4.7% |
| UE02ST | HUNTER X HUNTER | Sep 27, 2024 | 0.2% |
How to choose
All starters are built to a similar power level, so the best pick is the anime you enjoy most: you'll play it a lot while learning. If you're torn between two, take the one whose title has more tournament results, because:
- its booster cards are easy to find as singles, since players are buying them;
- you can copy upgrade ideas straight from winning decklists;
- you'll have opponents at store events who know the matchup.
The most-played titles right now
Over the last 60 days, these titles appeared most often in tournament results:
- EVANGELION: 15.5% of decklists, 19 tournament wins
- SOLO LEVELING: 13.2% of decklists, 16 tournament wins
- Rurouni Kenshin: 10.8% of decklists, 8 tournament wins
- Re:ZERO: 9.7% of decklists, 14 tournament wins
- CHAINSAW MAN: 9.0% of decklists, 12 tournament wins
Not every popular title has a starter deck. If yours doesn't, buy the cheapest singles list for it from the decklists page instead.
What to buy second
- Singles for your title. Open a winning list of the same title in the deck builder, remove the cards your starter already has, and buy the rest (see where to buy singles).
- A booster box of your title only after that: fun to open, but random.
What to avoid
- Mixing titles. A legal deck uses a single title, so cards from two different starters can't share a deck.
- Building from scratch before 10 games. Play the starter as-is first to learn the turn flow and energy curve.
- Copying a top deck on day one. Tournament lists can cost far more than a starter; upgrade step by step.
New to the rules? Read the how to play guide first, or try a few games free in a browser simulator (see playing online).