Fighting-types continue to be the "just does damage" type. Still, it's sometimes nice to have something simple to fall back on. It also feels like the designers started to realize that a type who only specializes in dealing damage should probably be pretty good at it.
As a result, we'll see some noticeably above-rate attacks in this small group of cards. None of them took the metagame by storm, but I do think they meet the design principles for the type fairly well.
Geodude is a solid evolving Basic. It actually has the same stats as Base Staryu, just with a different typing and weakness. Hitting for 20 damage on the first turn will always be nice, although the Fighting type isn't quite as solid in the Neo formats as it was in earlier formats.
The biggest issue is that there's no good Golem card, so you're going to hit a dead end halfway through the line.
Grade: 6/10
Graveler is so good that it's almost worth considering on its own merits, even without a solid Golem. Earthquake can do a very impressive 40 damage on turn 2, and Rock Tumble can get around annoying resistances.
Everything about this card is solid for a Stage 1 and it would have been an excellent midgame attacker if it had a strong enough Stage 2 to evolve into. Sadly, the buck stops here. Golem just isn't worth evolving into.
Grade: 6/10
Aerodactyl's Prehistoric Memory is one of the most fascinating Pokémon Powers of the era. You could spend a whole afternoon coming up with gimmicky applications for it, though my personal favorite is allowing Base Gyarados to use Base Magikarp's Flail.
But most attacks are designed with the evolutionary stage in mind, so it's actually pretty rare for a Basic's attack to be a good fit for its Evolution cards. Still a very cool card, though.
Grade: 7/10
Sudowoodo's Mimic looks really tempting, until you realize that it requires you to have the correct energy to use the copied attacks. You could maybe work around this with Rainbow Energy and Porygon2, but that's a lot of commitment just to make some jank work for you.
The best use is probably to counter a powerful Colorless attacker, since it will be able to copy their best attack and do double damage. But even that's iffy.
Grade: 6/10
Shuckle can be a respectable way to buy time on the first few turns, since Hard Shell will reduce all damage to 10 at first. Just keep in mind that any attack doing 50+ will one-shot Shuckle instantly.
I also don't love the energy cost of Toxic Saliva. You normally want to use your walls in the early game, but then you won't be able to attack on the first turn. It's fine, but you're probably better off just buying time with Cleffa.
Grade: 6/10
Swinub is pretty average. The Pokémon it evolves into is pretty powerful, but we can only award so many points for that. Still, this is typically the preferred Swinub for the Fighting-type Piloswine just because of the typing.
It's ultimately a very similar card to something like Base Pikachu or Base Charmander, and the Lightning resistance may occasionally come up. It's nice that it can attack for a single Colorless energy, too.
Grade: 4/10
Piloswine looks like a strict downside from Base Arcanine. It has 10 less HP and its attack is essentially Take Down with an additional downside. But it's actually a pretty annoying card to deal with, thanks mostly to Nap.
A Piloswine with a couple of Metal Energy attached to it can alternate between massive attacks and healing for a surprisingly resilient playstyle. This can make for a pretty scary tank strategy, though it is pretty slow.
Grade: 7/10
Honestly, the biggest issue with the Fighting-type in most eras is that it usually doesn't have many cards with that crucial "something special" that sparks the player's creativity. They get in, do their job, then move on to the next fight. It's not a playstyle that appeals to most players.
I do have to respect the straightforwardness of the designs, though. It really does feel like the Fighting-type slowly became the measuring stick for what constitutes a "good but not overpowered card."
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