TCG Jump: Featured Card- Shaymin EX (Roaring Skies)

[Crossroads Bulletin]

art by Ryo UedaThe skies are roaring loudly right now! It is a race to make sure that everything is set up just in time. If you are not ready then you may end up getting blown away. That is why this week on Featured Card we are going to spotlight a card that has changed the way we make decks. This card has flown from the skies with many things on it’s currents. All you need to do is play it down and a strong wind will come to help bring you that win. The skies are roaring and you want to make sure that you can handle these strong gusts of wind! This week we will be featuring, Shaymin EX from Roaring Skies!
Shaymin EX is an EX Pokemon from Roaring Skies. It is a Colorless type Pokemon with 110 HP with a single energy retreat cost. Shaymin EX only has one attack which cost two energy to use called Sky Return. This attack does 30 damage and has an effect where Shaymin EX and all cards attached are returned back to the player’s hand. Shaymin EX has an ability called Set Up which allows you to draw cards from your deck until you have six in your hand after you place Shaymin EX on the bench from your hand. Lastly, it has a resistance to Fighting type Pokemon and a weakness to the Lightning type.
The Pros
Shaymin EX doesn’t have a powerful attack but it does have one powerful ability. The Set Up ability is an ability which allows you to draw cards from your deck until you have six in your hand. This could mean you may only draw two cards from your deck after placing Shaymin EX on the bench. Though, there are times when you could draw up to six cards in your hand. That is amazing draw power.
What makes Shaymin EX even better is that you can use this ability as many times as you want as long as you have a Shaymin EX in your hand. You can do this by using cards like Super Scoop Up/Scoop Up Cyclone to retrieve a Shaymin EX on your bench and put it back in your hand. You can use Ultra Ball to search for a Shaymin EX and play it down. This method will also make your hand size smaller in order to help you draw even more cards from Shaymin EX’s Set Up. You could even chain Shaymin EX by top decking them from another Shaymin EX’s Set Up draw. Playing down a few Shaymin EX will surely help you run though your deck in order to find the card that you need.
Another plus for using Shaymin EX is that it allows you to play other Supporter during your turn. The majority of the Supporters in a deck are usually used as draw support. Most players tend to play a heavy line of Professor Juniper/Professor Sycamore, Corless, N, or other cards that help a person gain a new hand. This method of deck building has left little room to use other Supporters that have useful abilities to help gain an upper hand. Now that players can play Shaymin EX as their draw support, players can now use other Supporters that don’t focus on drawing cards such as Team Flare Grunt, Xerosic and AZ. If a player feels especially rushed then they can play Shaymin EX to draw more cards then use another draw Supporter to gain a new hand. Shaymin EX gives players a bit of flexibility and speed depending on the player’s situation.
The Cons
One of the cons to playing Shaymin EX is depending on it as draw support. Sometimes you can’t get your hand down to one of two cards because the cards in your hand aren’t disposable or highly needed. So you have to settle on drawing two cards. Maybe you can draw something big from those two cards but sometimes you may not.
In addition, you are relying on Shaymin EX to be your draw support for the turn. Set Up is an ability which means that it can be turned off by your opponent. You may find yourself against a Garbordor with an item attached or the stadium Silent Lab in play. If that happens then you can’t draw any cards using Shaymin EX’s Set Up.
The final drawback to using Shaymin EX and it’s ability is that it make you run though your deck quickly. This may not sound like a bad thing at first but you need to remember one important thing: Once you run out of cards to draw from your deck then you lose the game.
That means you need to manage your deck and ensure that you don’t deck yourself out. We saw that this was a problem at the 2015 Madison’s Regionals where people played their hand down to almost nothing to get several big Set Up draws from Shaymin EX. Players were able to save themselves by using Lysandre’s Trump Card but now that trump card has been banned. So players need to use some restraint when playing Shaymin EX in the future.
How to Play It
You want to start with Shaymin EX in your hand but not set it down. This is a card that you want to keep hidden in your opening hand but play it when your hand is down to only a few cards. You will do this by playing what cards you can and putting down whatever Pokemon you need on the bench. Then at the last minute place Shaymin EX on the bench to use Set Up and draw big from your deck. Then do it all again and play your Supporter or another Shaymin EX.
If you do not start with Shaymin EX in your hand then make sure you have ways to get it into your hand. Some of these ways include using Ultra Ball and Winona.
Ultra Ball will allow you to lower your hand size to get Shaymin in your hand then play it down to draw more cards from your deck. Meanwhile, Winona will allow you to search your deck for three Colorless type Pokemon from your deck and put them into your hand. That may make your hand bigger but the idea is to play the two other Pokemon on the bench and then put Shaymin down to use Set Up. Both methods are possible and worth doing it if you want to ensure that you have Shaymin EX in your hand as quickly as possible.
If you have to start with Shaymin EX then it isn’t the end of the world. You will most likely play at least two of them. So you can always search for another one. Though you will most likely want to get Shaymin EX out of the active and into your hand. You can do this a few ways such as: Super Scoop Up, Scoop Up Cyclone, or AZ. If worst comes to worst, you can attach two energy or a Double Colorless Energy on to Shaymin EX and use Sky Return to do thirty damage and return Shaymin EX and the attached DCE back to your hand.
The number of Shaymin EX you play depends on you but you may want to run at least two or three of them. It can be a one-of if you need a quick pick-me-up. Either way, you may want to play cards to help you pick up Shaymin EX from your bench to use it again. If anything, to get the card out of harm’s way. That draw for four cards can end up being a two prize win for your opponent who used Lysandre to pull Shaymin EX into the active. So in order to save your Shaymin EX and/or reuse it, then I suggest you use cards like Super Scoop Up, Scoop Up Cyclone, or AZ. That way you can save this Pokemon and maybe use it as a final gambit to draw the cards you need to pull a win.
Shaymin EX can fit into any deck. You will most likely see people replace their Jirachi EX (if they haven’t already) if the rotation is announced to be XY-on. Though, if you want to try to run a deck using Shaymin EX as an attacker then there is something. You can pair up Shaymin EX with Trevenant from XY.
The idea of this deck is to evolve Trevenant on turn one using Wally. That way you can use Trevenant’s Forest Curse ability to keep your opponent from using items. You can then place Shaymin EX to use Set Up to draw cards and attach a Double Colorless Energy to it. Lastly, attach a Float Stone on to Trevenant to retreat it and put Shaymin EX in the active to attack with Sky Return. This will put Shaymin EX back into your hand to use Sky Return in your next turn. Then promote Trevenant into the active and put your opponent in an item lock.
You will want to use items like HypnoToxic Laser and Muscle Band on Shaymin EX to do more damage to your opponent’s active Pokemon. Maybe some Enhanced Hammer and Crushing Hammer to slow your opponent down.
The only downside to this deck is that your run though your deck so quickly so you risk decking out. That is why you may want to not use Shaymin EX’s Set Up ability every time you play it to keep your deck at a decent size.
Shaymin EX is a powerful card that many players will be using. So keep an eye out for this card as there will be many people wanting to ride on on Shaymin EX’s winds towards a quick victory.
The post TCG Jump: Featured Card- Shaymin EX (Roaring Skies) appeared first on Pokémon Crossroads.


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[Kentucky Fried Torchic]

Strictly worse than Uxie (LA) in my opinion.

[Noblejanobii]

I love it purely because it's shaymin.




And this should surprise literally no one.

[MC Elesa]

I didn't play the game during Uxie but I have heard tales of what it did. Yeah. This card really made the game fast.

Cute art though.

[Kentucky Fried Torchic]

I suppose Uxie was born into a different metagame, one shaped largely by the presence of Level Xes and of no wide-spread Trainer Locks. The former contributed in a huge way because the metagame was really shaped up to focus on evolution decks, at least until SPs were released with Platinum. But even then, Basic Pokemon-focused strategies, from AMU to SP-focused strategies, still required significant infrastructure in the deck to work with, making splashing in four Uxies and all of the tricks that went with it more difficult. With evolution decks obviously, there was just a lot of Pokemon that you had to make room for, and Uxie, while quick, faced serious competition in the form of Claydol (GE) who provided constant card drawing power. Today, on the other hand, decks are built around EXes and those require very little in the way of support to keep hitting, leaving plenty of room on the bench and in the deck to dump Shaymin EXes and recovery cards for them. EXes also don't face any kind of serious counters like SPs did during the 2008-2010 seasons when cards like Machamp (SF), Mightyena (LA), and more provided some form of check. EXes don't face any serious competition to their dominance aside from Night March (my personal deck), but it's still easier to join them than beat them.

The lack of a significant trainer lock like Seismatoad also contributed to keeping Uxie from becoming the omnipresent force that Shaymin EX is today. It was entirely plausible in those days to eschew Pokemon with draw powers in order to focus on what was dubbed "the Ball Engine" of using cards like Quick Ball to search for Pokemon and narrow your deck. I myself used four copies of Poke Drawer + in my state-winning Tangrowth deck. Although the loss of Lysandre's Trump Card has dulled the appeal of Seismatoad EX for the time being, there is still a scar on the metagame left by the impact of a turn one trainer lockdown for several months. Furthermore, the focus of Supporters nowadays has shifted from searching to drawing as well, leaving fewer chances for Trainer cards (Items for you newer folks) to fill the gap.

Ultimately, I do not bemoan Shaymin EX, for it is doing what it is meant to do in today's game environment. But I do mourn the loss of the metagame of my youth, where things were slower and less flashy, where there was a reason why one would use evolved Pokemon as the main attackers in their deck, and when EXes and the ridiculous price tags they bore were nothing more than a bygone relic of the past, replaced first by Level Xes and then by Pokemon Prime. Enjoy Shaymin EX, but do not forget its heritage, and sing the song of Uxie (LA), and do not let its spirit perish from this earth.

[MC Elesa]

Sounds like a fair song of the ghosts of the past.

Yeah. Personally, I don't like Shaymin EX too much. I am sure it is useful but I felt like it encourages a quick metagame as we saw with Seismatoad EX at Regionals. I came into the game right at the tailend/beginning of BW when the game was slowly beginning to speed up.

I don't think any of the future or current decks will want to play Shaymin-EX. I already run a deck that focus on evolution but right now most evolutions seem to be focus as support Pokemon. It would be nice to use Shaymin EX but really it just become a bench sitter and I have plenty of those in my main deck.

[Kentucky Fried Torchic]

Playing online, I've been seeing a lot of people splashing Shaymin EX, but I think when people realize how much more vulnerable to Lysandre and Pokemon Catcher that it is, especially over Uxie considering that Shaymin EX gives two prizes when knocked out and requires two energy instead of one to get itself out of danger, I think that it will start to diminish in popularity. Which is ironic since it will apparently be one of the Fall 2015 tins. I think that the only deck where Shaymin EX is necessary is in Mega Rayquaza decks where filling up the bench is a necessity not so much a hindrance.

One interesting rogue idea I've seen is using Shaymin EX as the main attacker and using its ability to return to the hand to place a blocker like Trevanant at the front and center, then retreating and attacking with Shaymin again. While it's an interesting idea and poses another way to get a trainer lock going, I don't think that Shaymin EX has the raw hitting power to stop an EX-dominated metagame, even with Muscle Band and Laserbank helping it out.

[MC Elesa]

I feel that after Jirachi EX leaves the format then we will see Shaymin EX in more decks. You are right that people will Catcher/Lysandre in Shaymin EX but I think it will be used as the final knock out. I know that has happen a few times when I play Jirachi EX and it is annoying. After all, that is what I do when I see Shaymin EX. It won't attack my Pokemon and it won't hurt them either.

I do not remember if it was said that Shaymin EX is going to be in a tin for the Fall. If I recall, it was reported that Rayquaza EX, Hoopa EX and Latios EX. It would have been nice if they had made a Shaymin EX tin to help keep the price of that card low but I guess the powers-at-be decided not and it will be just like Virizion EX and Genesect EX.

Yeah. I have seen that deck in action. It is annoying and can be hard to counter. Shaymin EX-Trevanant deck is mention in the article. Personally I think the problem is that it can go though the deck too quickly if not careful. Also as you mention, it doesn't hit too hard and you may need to consider using Trevanant as an attacker which isn't too bad.

[Kentucky Fried Torchic]

One thing I've been playtesting is Latios EX, and while it still is definitely second-tier in terms of popularity, in the games that I've played Mega Latios being able to snipe for 120 has made people a lot more reluctant to play their Shaymin EXes, especially I won a couple of games by only attacking their benched EXes like Shaymin and Jirachi.

Ah, that's what I get for reading internet rumors haha. Lovely that they chose to do that though. Kind of weird considering just how little the Pokemon TCG encourages collecting now that they've changed their motto from "Gotta Catch 'em All". Between rotation, no sanctioned alternatives to Standard, and the ups and downs of the standard metagame, the second-hand card market isn't exactly what Magic the Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh enjoy, so I guess this means Shaymin EX will retain its price for maybe a year instead of a few months haha.

Trevenant is definitely not too shabby as an attacker, but I think he lacks a bit of bulk and speed to be considered as a main attacker in a world of EXes. Seismatoad could intimidate and attack on turn one, but Trevenant requires a little more set-up between the evolution and the colored energy requirement, and lacks as much HP on top of that. If I was playing a damage and return deck like Shaymin EX or Shuppet (PL) I would definitely try to pin my hopes on them to make the knockout, but I think that, especially in light of Pluspower's rule change and rotation, there's just too much HP in the format to make a hit and run strategy viable.

[MC Elesa]

M Latios EX is a pretty nice card and I would love to use it but the problem is the fact that you need to discard energy after using the attack. With all the Shaymin EX running around, it is tempting to snipe them off using M Latios EX. I guess it needs a bit more play testing and some fancy Mega Turbo to get it going. You will need to tell me how you been playing it for I can get a good idea on how to properly use M Latios EX.

It does seem that Pokemon is trying to have some control on the second hand market and making the game somewhat easy to get into. Especially with what is getting Tin Promos. They were really good at price control during the BW days with the Mewtwo-Rayquaza-Darkrai and Plasma Tins. Even the Xerenas EX and Yvetal EX got their own tins after being out for just a short time. Maybe Shaymin EX will get a tin in the future. Either that or M Latios EX is going to see some big play soon.

I did saw/heard that Trevenant got some play at Nationals. It didn't make it to the Top 8 but there was a lot of it there. It saw a good use in Gengar EX decks who would use Dark Corridor and then swap to Trevenant to put an item lock up. It was really annoying to face but as you said, it doesn't have a lot of HP. Once I had power up an Aegislash EX and was able to get Keldeo EX with a Float Stone, then the deck became easier to handle as Aegislash EX literally sliced though Trevenant.