Every new TCG lives or dies on how good its entry point actually is, and Cyberpunk TCG ships two different $29.99 starter decks at launch.
The Heist and Embracing Power each pack a fully playable 40-card deck, three Legends, and a complete six-die set, but they point new players toward very different playstyles.
Picking the right one before November 6 matters more than it might seem, since a starter deck is usually the first real impression a new player gets of how the whole game feels.
Here is exactly what is in each deck, and how to decide which one actually fits how you want to play.
Both starter decks contain the same core package: a ready-to-play 40-card main deck, three exclusive Legend cards unique to that specific starter, and a full six-sided dice set covering d4 through d20.
Nothing in either box requires additional purchases to be casually playable straight out of the sleeve, a meaningfully lower barrier to entry than TCGs that require buying several booster packs just to round out a first deck.
The Heist runs a Yellow and Blue crew built around V: Corporate Exile, Jackie Welles: Pour One Out For Me, and Viktor Vektor: Sit Down and Relax as its three exclusive Legends.
The deck's whole identity centers on crew synergy and tempo, built to reward players who like leaning on a tight-knit group of units working together rather than any single standout threat.
Embracing Power runs a Red and Green Arasaka crew anchored by Goro Takemura: Hands Unclean, Yorinobu Arasaka: Embracing Destruction, and Saburo Arasaka: Stubborn Patriarch.
This deck plays a heavier board-development game, equipping stronger units and working steadily toward completing seven Gigs, a slower, grindier style compared to The Heist's tempo-focused crew play.
Yellow and Blue, The Heist's colors, tend to reward players who enjoy proactive tempo plays and synergy between a small group of specific characters working as a unit.
Red and Green, Embracing Power's pairing, suit players who prefer a steadier accumulation of board presence and are comfortable playing a slightly longer game toward a defined win condition.
Even though the full game supports four colors and plenty of combinations beyond what either starter offers, starting with a complete, curated two-color deck is still the fastest way to learn how colors actually interact on the table.
Both starters are specifically built as on-ramps, meaning the included Legends and curve were chosen to teach fundamentals cleanly rather than to represent the most powerful possible two-color build in the format.
A starter deck is meant to be played immediately, not kept sealed, so cracking it open and getting reps in before November 6's broader retail wave of boosters hits is the best way to actually learn the system.
Keep the deck itself in a dedicated deck box from day one, and start sleeving the three exclusive Legends the moment you unbox them, since starter-exclusive cards tend to hold outsized value precisely because they are never found in booster packs.
Embracing Power's full decklist leans on Gear, Program, and Unit card types with a RAM cost split of 2 Red RAM and 4 Green RAM, giving a concrete look at how color identity shapes a deck's actual resource curve.
That kind of visible RAM split is exactly what a new player should study in either starter, since it shows how the game's color system translates into real deckbuilding decisions rather than staying an abstract rules concept.
Shipping two different two-color starter decks instead of one lets two new players sit down across from each other without owning an identical mirror-match deck on day one, a small but deliberate design choice most modern TCGs make.
It also gives a store running a launch-week demo two genuinely different decks to show off side by side, rather than explaining the same strategy twice to two different tables.
$29.99 for either The Heist or Embracing Power.
V: Corporate Exile, Jackie Welles: Pour One Out For Me, and Viktor Vektor: Sit Down and Relax.
Goro Takemura: Hands Unclean, Yorinobu Arasaka: Embracing Destruction, and Saburo Arasaka: Stubborn Patriarch.
Yes, each one includes a full six-die set from d4 through d20.
Whichever starter deck matches your playstyle, those three exclusive Legends are the first cards worth protecting properly. Slide them into EVORETRO graded card sleeves before they ever touch a game table.
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