Ruling Slaking vs. Giratina

The Almighty Bidoof

Just your everyday MtF trans Bidoof worshipper
Member
Would Slaking (CST) shut-off Giratina (LOT)'s ability? Slaking just effects "Pokemon in play" and makes no mention of the discard (unlike A-Muk and Garbotoxin) so I assume it isn't shut-off. But if anyone has a definitive answer please let me know!
 

Nyora

A Cat
Member
Well, I’m no expert, but it says in play, not from discard, so I’d say it will NOT cancel Giratina’s Ability. It also wouldn’t shut off something like, say, Wonder Tag. This could also be the same with Jirachi Prism Star vs. Alolan Muk/Garbodor, as neither of them shut off Abilities from the Prize cards.
 

snoopy369

Aspiring Trainer
Advanced Member
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Per the Pokemon Rulebook (https://sm2.pokemontcg.com/assets/pdfs/en-us/SM2_Web_Rulebook.pdf), page 7 shows the play zone, and clearly indicates that the Active Pokemon and the Benched Pokemon are the only pokemon considered "In Play".

In Play
The in-play zone is shared by
the players. Each player has two
sections, divided into two rows,
for their Pokémon…

Active Pokémon
The top row of a player’s in-play section is for the Active Pokémon.
Each player starts with (and must always have) one Active Pokémon.
Each player may have only one Active Pokémon at a time. If your
opponent doesn’t have any more Pokémon in play, you win the game!

Bench
The bottom row of a player’s in-play section is for the Benched Pokémon.
Each player may have up to 5 Pokémon on the Bench at any one time.
Any Pokémon in play other than the Active Pokémon must be put on
the Bench.

The discard pile is _not_ in the In Play area, so it would not qualify for Slaking's ability.
 

PokeMedic

Don't talk to me or my Pokemon ever again
Articles Staff
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I was writing this as snoopy posted his -this always happens.

The basic rules document states that "Cards taken out of play go to the discard pile, unless a card is played that says otherwise.", so that means the discard pile is not in play. Slaking's ability Lazy wouldn't have any effect on Pokemon in the discard pile.

There are other cards with abilities that specify effects on the discard pile in a similar way, in particular Glaceon-GX with 'Freezing Gaze'. Slaking though just says states in-play.
 

snoopy369

Aspiring Trainer
Advanced Member
Member
@PokeMedic One thing I'm trying to confirm, but haven't been able to (it's not in the Compendium as far as I can tell for some reason nor mentioned in the rules) - for things like Wonder Tag, how would they interact ("When you play this pokemon from your hand...")? Do they technically occur when in hand, or technically occur when played and thus in play? Garbotoxin very specifically calls out 'in your hand', so I think this counts as in your hand, but not 100% sure.

Either way Giratina doesn't specify it this way - it clearly is an ability that is fully activated when Giratina is still in the discard pile.
 

The Almighty Bidoof

Just your everyday MtF trans Bidoof worshipper
Member
@PokeMedic One thing I'm trying to confirm, but haven't been able to (it's not in the Compendium as far as I can tell for some reason nor mentioned in the rules) - for things like Wonder Tag, how would they interact ("When you play this pokemon from your hand...")? Do they technically occur when in hand, or technically occur when played and thus in play? Garbotoxin very specifically calls out 'in your hand', so I think this counts as in your hand, but not 100% sure.

Either way Giratina doesn't specify it this way - it clearly is an ability that is fully activated when Giratina is still in the discard pile.
As a Slaking player I can safely say Lele is shut-off
 

PokeMedic

Don't talk to me or my Pokemon ever again
Articles Staff
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@snoopy369 In the past there were cards that had abilities that you could play from your hand. Audrino 126/149 from Boundries Crossed had the ability "Busybody: Once during your turn (before your attack), if this Pokémon is in your hand, you may reveal it. If you do, heal 10 damage and remove a Special Condition from your Active Pokémon. Then, discard this Pokémon." This tells us that there are specifically abilities that can or could be played straight from the hand.

Wonder Tag, as its written, only occurs when it's played from the hand to the bench. Because of that it can only be actived when first put into play, but Slaking would prevent that.

The tricky part with Giratina is that the ability says it can come from the discard pile. This seems like it's a scenario where you 'do as much as you can' until Slaking shuts it down. It's not in play until it's on the bench, and after that, Giratina's ability should be shut down. There is precedence throughout Compendium where 'do as much as you can' is the ruling on actions or abilities.

Also, this isn't an English card and it isn't legal yet blah blah blah grain of salt etc. Never hearts to try and figure it out, though.
 

snoopy369

Aspiring Trainer
Advanced Member
Member
@snoopy369 In the past there were cards that had abilities that you could play from your hand. Audrino 126/149 from Boundries Crossed had the ability "Busybody: Once during your turn (before your attack), if this Pokémon is in your hand, you may reveal it. If you do, heal 10 damage and remove a Special Condition from your Active Pokémon. Then, discard this Pokémon." This tells us that there are specifically abilities that can or could be played straight from the hand.

Wonder Tag, as its written, only occurs when it's played from the hand to the bench. Because of that it can only be actived when first put into play, but Slaking would prevent that.

The tricky part with Giratina is that the ability says it can come from the discard pile. This seems like it's a scenario where you 'do as much as you can' until Slaking shuts it down.

Makes sense; so Wonder Tag activates once it's on the table. Torn Door activates in the discard pile, so at minimum you can put it on the table; but it's unclear if the 2 damage counters can be put on it?

I'm still surprised there hasn't been anything in the Compendium about this (either of these, really) yet. It doesn't seem 100% covered by the rules, even the timing of Wonder Tag, though your/Bidoof's explanation seems logical there.
 

PokeMedic

Don't talk to me or my Pokemon ever again
Articles Staff
Member
Makes sense; so Wonder Tag activates once it's on the table. Torn Door activates in the discard pile, so at minimum you can put it on the table; but it's unclear if the 2 damage counters can be put on it?

That's right. Everything I've seen when it comes to 'do as much as you can' says that the buck stops when it gets to your bench. Compendium doesn't rule on cards that aren't in English or pending release. I would wager though this would be correct as it's consistent with 'do as much as you can' rulings.
 
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