Following the worldwide release of Pokémon Sword and Shield two weeks prior were five 60-card pre-constructed starter sets focusing on five of the eleven Types in the Pokémon Trading Card Game. These sets include:
- V Starter Set Grass (Japanese: スターターセットV 草)
- V Starter Set Fire (Japanese: スターターセットV 炎)
- V Starter Set Water (Japanese: スターターセットV 水)
- V Starter Set Lightning (Japanese: スターターセットV 雷)
- V Starter Set Fighting (Japanese: スターターセットV 闘)
Each starter set premiers one Pokémon V for each of the featured five types and contains a fixed selection of cards. The decks include a number of basic Trainer cards to start out the new Generation of the Trading Card Game, plus supporting basic Energy cards. Every set also comes packaged with a sheet containing 44 damage counters and 2 status markers, a play guide, a coin, and a playmat.
Customers who purchased any two of the five V Starter Sets at participating retailers received a sealed pack of two copies of S-P Promo Rayquaza until supplies were exhausted. The decks were also the focus of several Limited format events held early in the Sword & Shield Era, the first of which was the Pokémon V Start Battle ~Get Wooloo~, where participants could earn a Wooloo promotional card. Another of these was the Pokémon Card Challenge, held in and around Tokyo on the weekend of December 14 and 15, 2019. Participants of these events could earn themselves Meowth V and Meowth VMAX promotional cards. The Meowth V and Meowth VMAX cards could be earned again in V Deck Battle side events held at Champion's League 2020 venues.
Three related deluxe products were also made available from the same day. One of these was the Toys "R" Us Limited Triple V Starter Set (Japanese: トイザらス限定 トリプルスターターセットV), which could only be purchased at participating Toys "R" Us stores. It includes 1 copy of the Grass, Fire, and Water V Starter Sets, plus an exclusive deck box featuring Grookey, Scorbunny, and Sobble. The second was an enhanced version of the V Starter Set Fire: the V Starter Set Fire 7-Eleven Limited Special Set (Japanese: セブン-イレブン限定スペシャルセット スターターセットV炎), which was only available from participating 7-Eleven stores. This version includes a limited design card box and set of sleeves. The third product was the V5 Starter Set Complete Battle Box (Japanese: スターターセットV5 コンプリートバトルボックス), which contains all five V Starter Sets, their respective deck coins, and an exclusive playmat.
