Gym Series Review - Fighting

At the time of the set's release, the Fighting types were actually among the most hyped cards from the new Gym sets. This may have been partially due to players comparing the cards to Base Hitmonchan and going, "Look, see how it's similar!"

Regardless, history has shown us that while some of the Fighting-type cards in this set did have staying power, none of them had the chops to become the next big thing. They're mostly just decent looking stats that didn't age well as players learned to capitalize more on synergistic effects and actual themes going forward.

Brock's Sandshrew (lv 13) is an okay Basic, but not one I'd be super excited about using. Rolling Attack is slightly inefficient, 40 HP is slightly low, and Defense Curl has a 50/50 chance of doing nothing.

Still, just having a protection effect on an evolving Basic is worth something, even when it's on a coin flip. It's not great, but it does the bare minimum.

Grade: 4/10

Brock's Sandshrew (lv 20) is an obnoxiously mediocre card. The previous version could already do 20 damage for 2 energy, so literally all you get in exchange for losing Defense Curl is 10 HP.

The divide between 40 and 50 HP is relevant, but not so relevant that I'd throw away my ability to attack on the first turn for it. I would pass on this card.

Grade: 2/10

Brock's Sandslash (lv 26) features the iconic Sugimori art, but that's where my praise for it ends. Low HP, low damage, and a bit too reliant on coin flips. It really doesn't hit any of the right marks.

Perhaps the most damning thing about this card is that neither of its attacks is capable of one-shotting a Baby, which makes it nigh-unusable in any format featuring the Neo sets.

Grade: 3/10

Brock's Sandslash (lv 34) actually sparked some buzz when the set released. At surface level it looks pretty similar to the big haymakers of the Kanto sets, and Needle Ball is a very efficient attack.

But in practice, its only claim to fame is that it resists Lightning-types, which would have been nice if Rocket's Zapdos didn't resist Fighting. It's far from a bad card, but it's far from the hot new staple some fans hyped it up to be.

Grade: 6/10

Brocks's Diglett does have a slightly tempting attack in Tremor, which can do 40 damage for 2 energy, but I'd prefer to see strong turn 2 attacks on something with more than 40 HP.

Surprise Attack, comparatively, is underwhelming. We had already seen multiple cards that could flip a coin to do 30 damage at this point. There's nothing horribly wrong with the card, but absolutely nothing great about it.

Grade: 3/10

Brock's Dugtrio is bad. Earthdrill is only slightly more efficient than attacks we've seen before at the same cost, and has the massive downside of only being usable after you set up with Lie Low.

Even with the damage reduction of Lie Low, it's never worth playing an aggro card that gives up tempo. The whole point of aggro decks is to smash your opponent's face faster than they can smash yours.

Grade: 1/10

Brock's Mankey (lv 10) is mainly used for Taunt. I normally don't go for these "Gust of Wind as an attack" style effects, but it turns out that it does work if you put it on a Basic that has free retreat.

This is a nice utility card for forcing in some benchwarmer that you really need to get rid of, like a Fossil Muk or a Base Alakazam. Just don't force in something else with free retreat or else the opponent will just switch back out.

Grade: 7/10

Brock's Mankey (lv 12) has the most laughably pointless attack in the game. "Shuffle your deck." Gee, thanks. That's a marginally more useful effect than "you may look at your own hand" or "you may rearrange the cards in your discard pile."

There are some super janky applications for it, which would normally get me excited, but really you should just retreat out until you have enough energy for Karate Chop (which, to his credit, is a decent attack).

Grade: 5/10

Brock's Primeape can remove a Stadium from the field, which can come in handy, and it pairs nicely with Focus Band since its Pokémon Power will shuffle it away and deny your opponent a prize automatically if Focus Band successfully triggers.

But really, the main selling point of this card is that the Pokémon Power is simply called "Scream." I'm sad that there isn't an attack with that name instead. It's just so perfect.

Grade: 5/10

Blaine's Mankey is...wait, Blaine has a Mankey? Anyway, its attacks are nothing to write home about. Potentially disrupting your opponent's draw is cute, but that's not worth playing on a coin flip.

It would be below average if it were a pre-evolution, but the real kicker is that there was never a Blaine's Primeape. Seriously, did a third gym set get secretly cancelled or something?

Grade: 1/10

Giovanni's Machop is a solid foundation for its Evolutions to build off of. Decent HP, a low Retreat Cost, and a simple Colorless-costed first turn attack.

It even has Fury Punch as a bonus. You won't be in a hurry to use this attack, but it's at least safer than another attack we're going to see on this line shortly. Avoid situations where you have to rely on a coin flip to turn the game around though, if possible.

Grade: 5/10

Giovanni's Machoke reads like a threat to both players. Risky Attack is either doing a massive 60 damage for 1 energy...or knocking out the user. Ouch. It sure does live up to its name, at least.

As for Headlock, on a good day it's a debilitating attack that keeps your opponent tied up until they lose the game. On a bad day, you spent 3 energy on a glorified Jab. This is definitely a card meant for gamblers.

Grade: 6/10

Giovanni's Machamp is the king of coin flips. Hurricane Punch averages out to 60 damage, but can also do anything from whiffing completely to easily one-shotting a Stage 2.

Meanwhile Fortitude is basically just the effect of Focus Band, but printed onto a Pokémon Power. Where this card really shines is in formats featuring Focus Band, where the two effects stack to make this guy obnoxiously hard to take down.

Grade: 8/10

Brock's Geodude (lv 15) just feels like a fixed version of the original Geodude to me. It now has a reasonable cost for the attack and a decent average damage output, but isn't able to rack up theoretically infinite damage at a mathematically insignificant probability (which is fine).

It's really only a generically solid Basic, but that's all it needed to be as the first member of an evolutionary family. Sadly, this family as a whole doesn't see much play.

Grade: 4/10

Brock's Geodude (lv 17) gives up a little bit of damage from the previous version for a way to potentially snipe a Baby on the bench with Lucky Shot. This honestly isn't a bad deal, since most games in the Neo formats will have plenty of babies in play.

I'd put it at around the same overall value as the previous version, but again it's let down by its Evolution cards just not being meta-relevant.

Grade: 4/10

Brock's Geodude (lv 13) wants to be the consistency piece in a Brock-themed deck. But it requires a coin flip. And Brock's 'mons don't actually have that much synergy with each other.

So basically you gave up the higher HP of the other versions for Hook Shot, which is an unnecessary attack, since Pewter City Gym turns off Resistances anyway. Not worth running, even in a dedicated Brock deck.

Grade: 2/10

Brock's Graveler (lv 30) practically demands that you put a Double Colorless Energy on it. The payoff is only passable, though. Rock Toss does an average of 30 damage, so I'd consider the attack over-costed.

It has respectable stats for a Stage 1, but is ultimately outclassed by a good number of big Basics you could be using instead.

Grade: 4/10

Brock's Graveler (lv 32) is destructive, but the design choices here are questionable. Tackle is either inefficient for 2 actual Energy Cards, or is asking you to put a Double Colorless Energy on a card whose other attack doesn't synergize with it.

As for Detonate, it does do massive damage, but I don't love these symmetrical attacks that they liked to slap on exploding 'mons from the early generations. I think the other Graveler is marginally better.

Grade: 3/10

Brock's Golem is respectable, but just not worth setting up for. If you were going to set up an entire Stage 2 line, then why not one of the various starters with their meta-relevant Pokémon Powers? Or a Giovanni's Machamp or a Dark Crobat or something?

There's nothing inherently wrong with the card, but there's nothing about it that would compel a serious player to gravitate toward it.

Grade: 4/10

The most important thing about Brock's Onix (lv 30) is that it appears to have some sort of mystical watermelon-shaped barrier in the card art. Aside from that, it's a pretty underwhelming card.

If it could attack on the first turn, even just for 10 damage, it would've been respectable, at least. It does have solid HP and usable attacks. But it just doesn't vibe with any of the top-performing decks in any format. Also, it should have resisted Lightning.

Grade: 3/10

Brock's Onix (lv 41) is actually a bit more tempting to me. 100 HP for a basic is very high and Bellow could be a decent stall tactic. I wouldn't be against using this in a Base-Gym Damage Swap build, although I think Base Chansey is ultimately a much better card.

Things only go downhill from there, though, since these cards are permanently locked out of evolving into Steelix in later sets due to their naming conventions.

Grade: 4/10

Rocket's Hitmonchan tried so hard to be a good side-grade to Base Hitmonchan! It has a lower Retreat Cost and Magnum Punch hits harder than Special Punch for the same energy, but Crosscounter is...weird. Not bad, just weird.

It's ultimately going to sit on your bench charging up for Magnum Punch, if you even choose to use it, but it's not like it's a bad card. And it's not like it locks you out of the original Hitmonchan, to be fair to it.

Grade: 6/10

Brock's Rhyhorn (lv 25) is a little underwhelming, but it can be powered up with a Double Colorless Energy to do 20 damage on the first turn. That's not terrible, by any stretch. And 60 HP is nice.

Take Down is absolutely not worth charging up though, so don't bother with that. I'd only consider running this if I'm going for the Evolution, but it's a pretty good Basic, especially for an evolving Basic.

Grade: 5/10

Brock's Rhyhorn (lv 29) is almost a flat no from me. That 70 next to Drill Tackle might be tempting, but it only has a 25% chance of actually landing the attack. Those are downright ugly odds.

It does have higher HP than the counterpart, but an even clunkier Retreat Cost as a penalty. If you must run Brock's Rhyhorn, I would recommend the other version in almost every case. But with a Lightning resistance and 70 HP, it does earn a few points.

Grade: 3/10

Brock's Rhydon has a really neat ability in Bench Guard. If that's not the main reason you're running this line, then don't run this line. Bench Guard can absorb the damage from a Blizzard or Earthquake and put it all in one place to protect your attackers.

But even better, it can potentially nullify all that damage if it has a Metal Energy or Defender attached to it. That's...kind of all this card does, though.

Grade: 5/10

Blaine's Rhyhorn doesn't have an associated Evolution card. It would be above average as an evolving Basic, but as a standalone card it just doesn't do enough to matter. It's not terrible, though. Just not good.

I'd also like to take this moment to ask: Why is there no Giovanni's Rhyhorn or Rhydon? It feels super weird to me that the guy whose highest level 'mon was a Rhydon isn't represented here, yet Blaine gets a Rhyhorn!?

Grade: 3/10

One of the big things people wanted at this time was for a solid lightning-resist to hopefully emerge, which might be why cards like Brock's Sandslash and the new Rhyhorn cards initially turned heads.

But really, none of these ever became "the meta." Some do have a place in the wider world, most notably Giovanni's Machamp, but they mostly fall into the space of "sub-optimal but usable."