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Written by Grand Master Scyther
November 17th, 2003
Welcome trainers to another TCG article. This week, I'll be giving info on the final type of the original six (not counting colorless), Fighting.
For a lot of people, if you wish to make a good haymaker deck, Hitmonchan (Base Set) is the way to go. However, since Hitmonchan was not reprinted in the Legendary Collection expansion, he is not allowed in a modified format deck. Then again, this will give you a good excuse to make a non-modified deck now won't it? This bad boy has 70 HP, a retreat cost of two, and a nice jab that will make Jackie Chan jealous (well, not really). You may think, "Okay, so it does 20 damage. So what?" Well, aside from the damage, it only costs one Fighting energy, and with an HP of 70, that'll take a while to knock down.
If you would like a bit more defense in your deck, then Base Set Onyx is the way to go. With 90 HP, it's not really a haymaker Pokemon, but it can use Harden to protect itself against weaker Pokemon and stall the game a little bit so you can beef up your other Pokemon. Beware however not to use this in a two-on-two battle, unless your other Pokemon is ready to take some punishment.
I'm gonna go off the deep end on this pick, but Dark Machamp from the Team Rocket expansion can be a nice addition to a Fighting themed deck. It may only have 70 HP for a Stage 2 Pokemon, but the ability to totally remove the active Pokemon for 3 Fighting and 1 Colorless energy is nice. Keep it on the bench until your opponent puts a real powerful Pokemon out, then simply use a switch to place Dark Machamp on the field and Fling him out.
Scanning through my collection of cards it's hard to find a Pokemon capable of handling a modified environment while holding it's own, until I came across Hitmonlee. Hitmonlee made it's debut in the Fossil expansion but was reprinted in the Legendary Collection, thus making it legal in a modified tournament. Hitmonlee has only 10 less HP than its Base Set counterpart, but has a retreat cost of 1 and an attack that for two Fighting energy you can deal 20 damage to a benched Pokemon. This is very useful in a Fighting and Grass type deck that features Hitmonlee and Nidoking, which coincidentally was also reprinted in the Legendary Collection. For those who can't see the connection I'm making, simply poison the opponent with Nidoking. If they try to switch off their Poisoned Pokemon, move Hitmonlee into position (if not already) and use Stretch Kick to hit it some more and possibly knock it out. A High Jump Kick for 50 damage can be used for just one more energy.
My last pick for this article will be Dugtrio from the Skyridge expansion. For 70 HP and a retreat cost of only 1, it would make a great haymaker Pokemon if it weren't a stage 1. Burrow is okay, as it may prevent damage from attacks and deals 20 damage for one Fighting and one Colorless energy. Its main attack however is Dig Under. For three Colorless energy, you may deal 30 damage to any one of your opponent's Pokemon, active or benched. A nice move in my opinion. Kind of like an all-around Stretch Kick when you think about it.
Whew! This is definitely my longest article yet, but I feel it covered what needed to be covered here. In my next article, I'll discuss Colorless Pokemon. That ought to be very interesting, but I'll do my best to assist you in your training. Until next time, keep training.