Gundam ST12 Raging Onslaught: Full Card List & Deck Review

ST12 Raging Onslaught is the Red/Purple entry in the four-deck wave — see the full ST11–ST14 comparison for how the four line up. Its theme is close-quarters combat, and of the four it is the one most likely to change what people actually play.

What Is ST12 Raging Onslaught?

The deck is headlined by Gundam Epyon and a new Unicorn Gundam 02 Banshee (Destroy Mode) in purple, and it is built around melee: units that reward destroying things in battle, and pilots that finish off damaged units. Where ST11 gives you a thin archetype and good splash cards, ST12 gives you cards that are immediately better than things people are already playing.

It also does the wave's signature trick — moving an existing archetype into a new colour — more usefully than any of the other three. Marida Cruz previously existed in one colour. Ple-Twelve is also treated as Marida, in purple, which means a Marida deck can now run eight copies of its pilot and reach across two colour pairs.

A note on copy counts: every card below — name, number, rarity, stats, traits and effect text — comes from the official GUNDAM CARD GAME card database. Bandai publishes the deck size (50 cards) but not how many copies of each card a deck contains, so the Copies column is blank for ST12. We will fill it in once it is confirmed from a physical deck.

Full Card List

ST12 Raging Onslaught — 16 different cards making up a 50-card deck. Card data from the official GUNDAM CARD GAME card database.

Effect text quoted from the official card database. Released September 25, 2026 · MSRP $15.99.

Deck Composition

Bandai built all four decks to the same skeleton — 10 units, 2 pilots, 2 commands, 1 command/pilot and 1 base, 16 different cards making up the 50-card deck. What separates them is the curve and the colour split. ST12 splits its colours dead evenly, eight cards each, and puts both Legendary Rares at level 6 and above. The Red half is the Epyon package, the Purple half is the Banshee package, and the Purple half is the stronger of the two.

The Two Legendary Rares

Unicorn Gundam 02 Banshee (Destroy Mode)

This is the card. Level 6, cost 5, 5/4, linking to Marida Cruz, with two abilities that both cost four cards exiled from your trash:

• During pair, activate main — exile 4 from trash, gain First Strike this turn
• Activate action — exile 4 from trash, gain Suppression this battle

The second one is why it is strong. Because it is action-speed, your opponent has to commit to blocking or not blocking before you choose. You can attack with a loaded trash and simply present the threat: block it and eat First Strike, or let it through and eat Suppression into your shields. There is no good answer, and at 6 HP with a pilot attached it is hard to remove in response.

Two further details make it better than it reads. The exile cost has no colour requirement, so it slots into any deck that fills its trash. And unlike the older blue Banshee, which needed twelve cards returned for its restand, four is a cost you can pay every single turn the unit lives. Several reviewers independently rated it above the blue version for that reason alone.

The cards that feed it are already in the format: Gundam Exia Repair mills two when destroyed, Kapool adds one, and bases that dig and bin do the rest.

Gundam Epyon

Level 7, cost 6, 5/5, linking to Zechs Merquise. On deploy, deal 5 damage to an enemy base — enough to break one outright, with no attack required. While paired with a level 5 or higher pilot, when it destroys an enemy unit with damage during your turn, deal 2 damage to every enemy unit with 5 or less AP.

The two halves pull in slightly different directions. The deploy effect clears a base; the pair effect wants you attacking units rather than shields. In practice the deploy is the reason to play it, and the board-clearing rider is upside on the turns it happens to line up. Note that the sweep is once per turn — the initial reading that it chained until nothing else died was corrected before release.

Milliardo Peacecraft is its pilot, at a rare +3 AP / +1 HP, and is also treated as Zechs Merquise — so it links to Epyon and to the older Zechs cards from earlier sets. An 8/6 Epyon is a funny number with no durability to match. Milliardo's own activate-action ability, dealing 2 to a damaged unit already battling this one, is awkward: used on the attack it often destroys the unit you were attacking and fizzles the battle. Its real value is as a deterrent on the opponent's turn.

Tallgeese III — the one people overlook

Sitting under the two Legendary Rares is Tallgeese III, a level 5, cost 4 at 4/4 with a once-per-turn version of Epyon's sweep: when it destroys an enemy unit with damage during your turn, deal 1 damage to every enemy unit with 3 or less AP. One damage is a smaller number than Epyon's two, but it arrives two levels and two resources earlier, and it is enough to clear a token board outright — League Militia tokens, Zeon tokens and the 2/2 grunt tier all die to it.

For a deck whose top end is genuinely expensive, having a mid-curve body that punishes going wide is more practically useful than the card above it on the rarity sheet.

First Strike vs Suppression vs Breach

ST12 is the deck where these three keywords all matter at once, and they are commonly confused:

• First Strike — deals damage before the opposing unit does. If the target dies, it never deals damage back. This is how a smaller unit kills a larger one for free.
• Suppression — damage gets through to the shield area even when the unit is blocked. This converts a stalled board into a clock.
• Breach — deals damage to the shield area when the unit destroys an enemy unit in battle. Conditional on winning the fight, where Suppression is not.

The purple Banshee choosing between First Strike and Suppression is effectively choosing between “I win any fight you pick” and “blocking me does not help.” Making that choice after blockers are declared is the whole design.

One non-obvious rules point, since ST12 contains the card that depends on it: First Strike does apply during forced-battle effects. The Final Victor makes you and your opponent each choose one of your own units and perform only the damage step — and a First Strike unit still strikes first in that exchange. That is the entire appeal of the card. Its weakness is that your opponent chooses which of their units takes part, so unless they have exactly one unit you are rarely hitting the target you wanted, and at level 6 it can sit dead in hand. Treat it as a combo piece, not a staple.

Ple-Twelve and the Eight-Marida Deck

Ple-Twelve is a level 4 pilot at +1 AP / +2 HP, and the card text notes it is also treated as Marida Cruz. Two things follow.

First, the stat spread. +1/+2 is generally more useful than +2/+1 once a unit is past the AP breakpoints that matter — extra HP buys immunity to ping damage and to bounce effects keyed on low HP, while extra AP above about 6 does little until you are swinging into the largest units in the game. On a Kshatriya it finally pushes past 5 HP.

Second, and more importantly: a Marida deck can now run eight copies of its pilot, split across two colours. Consistency of that kind is usually worth more than raw power, and it is the reason to expect a red/purple Marida build rather than a straight upgrade to the existing one.

The link effect scales with the game state. Look at the top two, keep one on top, bin the other — a clean filter early. Once any player is at three or fewer shields, you add the card to hand instead, so the same card becomes real card advantage exactly when the game is closing out. Paired with the Banshee Unicorn Mode's trash recursion, the deck bridges its hands together well.

Two Unicorns deserves a caveat. Action speed, level 4, cost 1: destroy a level 2 or lower enemy unit, or deal 2 damage to one friendly and one enemy unit at level 5 or higher. Per the official FAQ, a mode that requires targets can only be chosen if those targets exist — and the second mode needs a legal level 5+ unit on both sides. That will almost never be true. Read it as a premium grunt-and-token killer with occasional upside, and consider it a sideboard card against aggro rather than a maindeck staple.

What It Upgrades in Your Decks

This is the deck with the most cards that improve lists you are already playing — the reason it ranks first of the four:

Is It Worth Buying?

If you buy one starter deck from this wave, buy this one.

ST12 is the only deck of the four whose headline card is immediately better than what people are already playing. The purple Banshee is a genuine format card, Ple-Twelve is a consistency upgrade for an existing archetype, and the Banshee Unicorn Mode's “return a level 6+ unit from trash” is an effect previously locked behind archetype requirements, now available to any purple deck that wants its boss card back.

One copy gets you two Banshee Destroy Mode, four Ple-Twelve and four Banshee Unicorn Mode — most of the value. Two copies get you four of each Legendary Rare and a red/purple shell you can actually sleeve up. Marida players wanting the full eight pilots will want two regardless.

The deck as printed is not a tournament deck. Epyon is expensive and its two halves do not quite cohere, and the close-combat theme is more flavour than engine. But the individual cards are the best in the wave by a clear margin.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is ST12 the best of the four starter decks?

For constructed value, yes. The purple Banshee Destroy Mode is the strongest standalone card in the wave and Ple-Twelve is a real consistency upgrade for Marida decks. If you are only buying one deck, this is it.

Why is the purple Banshee better than the blue one?

It costs four cards exiled from trash rather than twelve returned, so you can pay every turn it survives; it needs no link; the cost has no colour requirement; and it picks First Strike or Suppression at action speed, after your opponent has already decided whether to block.

What does “also treated as Marida Cruz” mean?

Ple-Twelve counts as Marida Cruz for every rule that checks the name, exactly as Quattro counts as Char. Anything that links to Marida links to Ple-Twelve, so a deck can run four of each and effectively play eight copies of the pilot.

Does First Strike work with The Final Victor?

Yes — the comprehensive rules apply First Strike during forced-battle effects. Your opponent chooses which of their units takes part, though, so you usually will not hit the best target.

Was Gundam Epyon errata'd?

Its damage sweep is once per turn. The early reading that it would repeat until nothing else could be destroyed was corrected before release — verify the printed text on your copy, since this wave saw more than one late change.

Which ST12 cards will see play in other decks?

The purple Banshee Destroy Mode in any trash-filling purple deck, Ple-Twelve in Marida and Kshatriya builds, Banshee Unicorn Mode in any purple deck with an expensive boss card, GQuuuuuuX (Omega Psycommu) in Clan, and Two Unicorns as an anti-aggro sideboard card.

Disclaimer: The card list is compiled from the official product reveal and is being confirmed against the English printing — entries marked “name TBC” are still provisional, and effect summaries are our reading of each card rather than official rules text. Card evaluations are pre-release and early-format analysis, not tournament results. Verify current prices before buying or selling. This is not financial advice.