GCG EXPO Tokyo: Hiro Wins the 1on1, Team NEET Takes the 3on3

GCG EXPO 2026 in Tokyo ran two World Championships 26-27 qualifiers at Makuhari Messe on September 26 and 27. ヒロ(Hiro) won Saturday’s 1on1 event with Barbatos / Strike Freedom, while team ニート (NEET) won Sunday’s 3on3 with Shining Gundam, Barbatos / Strike Freedom and Green/Purple Zeon.

This is Hiro's list:

Full deckBarbatos / Strike Freedom (EXPO Tokyo 1on1 Winner)Barbatos / Strike Freedom / ヒロ×2×4×4×2×4×4×3×4×1×2×4×4×4×4×4

Red/White was the most-played color pair in the 1on1 at 19.6% of the field, ahead of Blue/White (18.9%) and Blue/Green (18.1%), according to Bandai’s official usage breakdown. The Top 8 had a different field. Blue/Purple made up only 13.5% of the field, but Barbatos / Strike Freedom took four spots, including Hiro’s win and a Top 4 finish for 龍一. The finalist, じょか, played the Victory Gundam version of Strike Freedom, while the other Top 8 spots went to Green/Purple Zeon, Shining Gundam and Nu Gundam.

Red/White dominated on Sunday, taking 25.5% of the 3on3 field in Bandai’s preliminary numbers, with Green/Purple close behind at 23.0%. Shining Gundam was the most common deck in the Top 8, with 6 of the 24 published lists, followed by Green/Purple Zeon with 5 and Blue/White Strike Freedom with 4. NENE played Shining Gundam for the winning team, alongside よしけん on Barbatos / Strike Freedom and ででん on Green/Purple Zeon. The top cut also had a few less common builds: Barbatos paired with Sazabi in Red/Purple, Barbatos with Nu Gundam in Green/Purple, and a Blue/White Unicorn Gundam list from team ネオ・広峰.

These are the winning lists:

Full deckGreen/Purple Zeon (EXPO Tokyo 3on3 Winner)Green/Purple Zeon / ででん×2×3×4×4×3×4×4×4×4×4×4×4×2×1×3

Full deckBarbatos / Strike Freedom (EXPO Tokyo 3on3 Winner)Barbatos / Strike Freedom / よしけん×2×4×3×4×4×4×3×4×1×2×4×4×4×3×4

Full deckShining Gundam (EXPO Tokyo 3on3 Winner)Shining Gundam / NENE×4×4×4×3×1×1×4×4×3×4×4×4×4×3×3

The two days tell different stories. Barbatos / Strike Freedom converted best in the 1on1 bracket, while Shining Gundam and Green/Purple Zeon made up almost half of the 3on3 top cut. Barbatos / Strike Freedom had only two lists there. Across all 32 published lists, the most common cards were A Show of Resolve (15 decks), followed by the Barbatos core of Mikazuki Augus and Gundam Barbatos Adapt (14 each).

Tokyo did not knock Strike Freedom out of the center of the format, but it showed that Red/White, Green/Purple Zeon and Shining Gundam can fill the top tables around it.

Sources:

• GCG EXPO 2026 in TOKYO (official)
• EXPO Qualifier 1on1 results (BANDAI TCG+)
• EXPO Qualifier 3on3 results (BANDAI TCG+)