Discussion Shaymin EX Starts

[PizzaIsAwesom]

Hi. One of the problems I have with my decks is when I start with only Shaymin EX. I can't attack or I lose, and it has low hp for an EX. Does anyone have advice for what to do? Thanks for helping

 

[bbninjas]

Moved from TCG Help & Advice to TCG Competitive Play as the OP is looking for more opinionated, strategy-based advice rather than general advice. ~bbninjas

 

[festizzio]

If you run them, AZ and/or Super Scoop Up work. Otherwise, get some Pokemon on your bench and attack with it, or attach float stone or one energy to retreat. Shaymin starts are bad, but there have been much worse Pokemon to start with in the past and always the same answers.

 

[bbninjas]

If you want to minimise the likelihood of starting with Shamyin-EX, you can add more Basics, but that may not be an option/good option depending on the deck.

 

[Perfect_Shot]

Hi. One of the problems I have with my decks is when I start with only Shaymin EX. I can't attack or I lose, and it has low hp for an EX. Does anyone have advice for what to do? Thanks for helping

Well, first I start with frantic screaming and moping, then I beg my opponent to let me technically illegally reshuffle everything back.

But seriously, it's basically AZ/Scoop Up/Cassius, or add more basics to the deck.

 

[SaliosGnome]

I am not sure how many Shaymin you are running in your deck; however, most competitive decks average two of them. Yes-there are exceptions based on specific decks. So if you are running more than two, I would consider testing your deck with less, given that there are plenty of resources that allow you to get a Shaymin in your hand. There is always the option of running a couple float stones in your deck. Most likely they will not appear in your hand right away, but that's where trainer's mail and Skyla come into play. The only downside is that Shaymin does not come back to your hand so the Set-up ability is temporarily useless.

 

[TuxedoBlack]

In addition to the aforementioned Trainers (i.e., AZ, Cassius and super Scoop Up), also consider running an "ample" number of Level and/or Ultra Balls along with Switch and/or Float Stone(s) to get that highly vulnerable shaymin EX back to your bench on T1.

 

[bbninjas]

Okay, so you're mostly saying Switch or Float Stone to get it on the bench, ultra and level ball to get more pokemon on the bench, and/or AZ and super scoop up to get it back into my hand. Thank you for all these suggestions! I will try to incorporate them into my decks

Oh, it hasn't been mentioned yet, but sometimes an "attach energy and retreat" or even "attach a Double Colorless Energy and Sky Return" are viable options, and for the latter, particularly if you already run DCE.

 

[Yo-yos]

Bench a pokemon (2 is optimal), attaché DCE, sky return, keep your AZ for when it's more relevant, don't waste a float stone or switch on a shaymin if you can help it.