[2000-2017] The oldest shining card is a Shining Magikarp, it was 2000 (Magikarp has 2 types with the same artwork)
If you just want to stomp the game I think things are easiest with Squirtle and friends by far, since you can build it into a Rain Dance deck later and have something that's out of any of the CPU trainers' league, whereas Charizard and Venusaur aren't as competitively powerful(though Pokemon Center cheese with Venusaur is pretty entertaining...), but you can really get away with doing a decent version of whatever you feel like running so I'd just go with whatever you think sounds fun
Plus well dive into the best Lorcana accessories for playing sleeves, deck boxes, play mats, dice, and more
Finally, for Ganondorfs first card I focused on his identity as a thief
This is a change from the previous rules for split cards
Unlike standard prints, the lenticular effect makes it feel rare and special