Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Super Scoop Up

goliaththegreat

New Member
Is this card worth a spot in a deck?Do you think the 50/50 chance makes it worth playing?
What kind of deck does it belong in?
Discuss
 
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It depends on the deck. The flippiness is annoying, but when it does work and when played well, it can be a lifesaver. SP decks would benefit from it, except that they also have Poke-Turn, which isn't flippy - but in a deck like mine, which abuses level-up/place-on-bench powers, SSU is nice for the chance for an extra few power shots.

It's also awesome in BTS Stage 2 decks that use very little energy. It's flippy but when it works it's basically a full heal.
 
It definitely has a place in a lot of decks that are popular right now (Beedrill, Gyarados), and I like to run at least 1-of in a deck that relies purely on a Uxie drop draw engine.
 
If your main attacker's main attack takes a single energy or less, and you have BTS in play, it'll completely restore you HP and you can get it back on the field easily. Even without BTS, it's a good option because, with cheap attackers, losing energy on the field for the cost of avoiding a KO will hardly slow you down. It also allows you to re-use powers and clear bench space. It's not uncommon to see in decks like Beedrill, Kingdra, and Gyarados.

It's a good card, so even going 2/4 is good enough to warrant its use. I'll even take 1/4, which can sometimes be a strike of good luck for me :p
 
No. Cards that rely on flips to work WILL eventually fail you when you need it most.

But you got to admit, being the opponent of a Gyarados player that flips heads on a SSU with an Active Gyarados that has 10 HP left is pretty annoying, to say the least. :tongue:

Obviously, SSU is not for every deck. Stage 1 or Stage 2 decks that often have BTS in play, with attackers that require 0, 1 or 2 Energies (such as Beedrill, Kingdra and Gyarados ) can get a lot of mileage with even just a flip of heads. Sure, it is useful to get your Pokemon out of KO range but in my experience with my Beedrill deck, it can also be useful early game, especially if you have BTS in play. Getting a second Flutter Wings or a second Cosmic Power in a turn can tremendously help in setting up. Getting Expert Belt out of a Pokemon that is near-KO is also a nice bonus.

Still, players don't often like adding flippy cards in decks. Personally, if I will play SSU, I will play it as a 2-of or a 4-of card, somewhat the same way I treat Pokedex, Poke-Drawer+, or Poke-Blower+ (since ideally, you get a chance of pulling a heads on SSU every 2 cards, but it is much less reliable than Blowers and Drawers, mainly for the fact that you can still get tails after playign 2 SSUs). If you are tight for space, 1 SSU will not really make that much difference and I think you're just better off playing another Uxie or Unown G.
 
Still, players don't often like adding flippy cards in decks.

Truth.

Some players just try to avoid flips altogether. At high tier tournaments (Regionals, Nationals) I try to avoid playing a deck that might need to rely on SSU's (Or I might not play SSU's at all). I know that at some point, some game, I'm going to go 0/4 on SSU. Can't go into every single one of your 8+ matches without eventually striking some bad luck.

If you're comfortable with that or confident that you don't need SSU's to win, but you think SSU's are a nice bonus to ensure a win anyways, go for it. This is more of a personal decision.
 
SSU is a good card that doesn't have a lot to replace it in decks. There's Poke-Turn if you're running SP, but if you're not or you've got a lot of "regular" pokemon in your deck, SSU is something to be considered in a lot of decks. Many decks work with or without it. I love the card myself, flippiness aside, so a lot of the lists I make end up including SSUs as long as I have room. Remember, if you have free space and you put SSUs there, even if you flip tails you've burned through a card and you'll have an easier time getting to the stuff you really need. It's a matter of convenience for you, and frustration for the player if you can pull it off.

In speedy decks with quick recovery, SSU is more or less a staple because that Pokemon you scooped can be back in play the same turn, damage-free. Sure, these decks can take KOs and come back with Night Maintenance and Pokemon Rescue, but why give up a price when you can scoop up and keep pounding away?

So in short, in many decks it boils down to personal taste and play style, but there are some decks that should have 4 of them in every list.
 
This is actually a fairly essential card in Kingdra, Beedrill, and Gyarados, especially now that all three can and will run Expert Belt. All three attack for cheap (or nothing), and all three run BTS, allowing all three to abuse the card to its maximum potential.

SSU is also good for reusing Cosmic Power (with BTS in play), Set Up, Flash Bite, or Time Walk, or for getting an Uxie or Azelf off the bench in Beedrill so that the full swarm of bees can fit.
 
But you got to admit, being the opponent of a Gyarados player that flips heads on a SSU with an Active Gyarados that has 10 HP left is pretty annoying, to say the least. :tongue:

Try being on the recieving end of someone pulling 2 SSU's, one on his 80 damage Gyarados and one on his 60 damage Claydol, when you play Kingdra.

Yeah, I pulled that :p

At any rate though, when you play SSU you shouldn't rely on it, but consider it a bonus. Get it in your hand? Congratulations, you just got a small chance of improving the game for you. But if it hits tails, then nothing bad happened.
 
Sure its flippy. But its also such a flexable card with so many uses. Running it in my Kingdra deck allows me to -

SSU a Baltoy/Uxie/Unown G etc Active T1 if I can't draw into the Warp Point and get a quick Kingdra
Reuse Cosmic Power if I have BTS in play.
Scoop up something about the be KO'D with Belt on.
Heal a Kingdra back to no damage
Get a key Flash Bite
Scoop up something if I have my bench spammed up
If I don't have 2 cards to discard, scoop up something not needed and discard that

7 different options that all occur, and I'm probably forgetting stuff.
 
Use them only in decks that realy can work beter with cards like this, and more like a option. (bv: Magnezone LVX can move energys to other pokemons, then you can use super scoop up, and if it fail, you can re-set the energys.
 
anything that lets your bring a card back to your hand is pretty broken. Why do you think players played 1 or 2 Briney's Compassion in every deck, It's pretty insane. However being that SSU is a flip the deck really depends. In most decks you'll run pretty thin on space so it's mostly low energy or decks that can manipulate energy easily.
 
Speedrill/Gyrarados are the Main deck's that use a Play Set of SSU, Easily take back your Pokemon before it's KO'd and make your opponent ANGRY. >.<
 
Go rogue decks!

My Speed Mightyena is glad to accept 4 SSU. With such a low amount of HP, it's pretty much necessary.
 
Generally most used in speed decks (Eg. Machamp) to re-use Uxie/Claydol early game to get the quick KO. Also used in decks like Kingdra (Mentioned above), Gyarados and Beedrill for above reasons & to heal damaged active/benched. I don't use many decks that don't have atleast 2 copies in it ;)

Donz
 
Did some testing and found that SSU is absolutely needed in Kingdra, it's so sick w/ belt!!!

So it's one of those "Play 0 or 4" cards, like Call Energy or Spiritomb AR.
 
My argument would be a strong yes, if it didnt require a coin flip. If it was a discard effect, then it would be perfect.

But overal, yes. I does have its place. Usually in decks that require little to no energy to attack. However, my salamence deck runs it to prolong its beastly HP.
 
Did some testing and found that SSU is absolutely needed in Kingdra, it's so sick w/ belt!!!

So it's one of those "Play 0 or 4" cards, like Call Energy or Spiritomb AR.

Agreed, just for the look on your opponent's face when you SSU your Kingdra with Expert Belt 3 turns in a row. :lol:
 
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