As a Pokémon trainer, you don’t simply choose to be a Fighting type Gym Leader. Fighting Pokémon choose you! Only the toughest, most spirited trainers can channel the strong wills of Fighting Pokémon to achieve victory in battle. Known for their significant bulk and low maintenance damage output, Fighting decks have the potential to rush into battle and flatten any deck that doesn’t set up quickly.
Support Pokémon
The first rule of fight club is: you do not talk about support Pokémon. Listen – there’s not much here, okay?! But don’t let that deter you. Fighting Pokémon aren’t known for their consistency. They are known for their raw, low maintenance damage output. Coalossal‘s Tar Generator Ability is the saving grace for Fighting support, pumping Energy from the discard and allowing you to power up more expensive Fighting type attacks. It is completely possible, however, to build a successful Fighting deck without any support Pokémon at all. While not draw or search support, Fighting does have a unique set of lock Pokémon in Kabutops, Archeops, and Omastar, making for a very unique deck.
Attackers
What Fighting does not lack is a large variety of attackers. Just look at these magnificent Fighting Pokémon! They’re HUGE! They do a ton of damage! With cards like Buff Padding, Muscle Band, Strong Energy and Stone F Energy you can make these guys EVEN BIGGER, and do EVEN MORE DAMAGE! Now that’s what Fighting Pokémon are all about.
Decklists
Fight Guys
Credit: Tricky Gym
You can trace the DNA of this deck all the way back to Hitmonchan from Base Set with it’s era defining Jab for 20. Things have changed a lot since then, but it turns out, you can still do a lot for just a single Fighting Energy. Now, Donphan is doling out 120 damage, Lucario revenge attacks for 150, Palossand spreads 30 to all the opponent’s Pokémon and Annihilape can hit up to an absurd 350 damage, all for just one Energy. Hitting hard and fast is the Fighting way, and this list does just that.
Last Update: December 2023
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1 Machop LOR 86
1 Machoke GRI 64
1 Machamp LOR 88
1 Mankey SVI 107
1 Primeape SVI 108
1 Annihilape SVI 109
1 Phanpy PLS 71
1 Donphan VIV 87
1 Riolu UPR 66
1 Lucario SVI 114
1 Sandygast SIT 99
1 Palossand SIT 100
1 Slither Wing PAR 107
1 Battle VIP Pass FST 225
1 Escape Rope BST 125
1 Evosoda GEN 62
1 Field Blower GRI 125
1 Heavy Ball BKT 140
1 Hisuian Heavy Ball ASR 146
1 Level Ball BST 129
1 Nest Ball SVI 181
1 Pokégear 3.0 SVI 186
1 Professor's Letter BKT 146
1 Quick Ball FST 237
1 Rare Candy SVI 191
1 Rescue Stretcher GRI 130
1 Super Rod PAL 188
1 Switch SVI 194
1 Timer Ball SUM 134
1 Town Map BKT 150
1 Trainers' Mail ROS 92
1 Ultra Ball SVI 196
1 VS Seeker PHF 109
1 Float Stone BKT 137
1 Luxurious Cape PAR 166
1 Muscle Band XY 121
1 Brooklet Hill GRI 120
1 Martial Arts Dojo UNB 179
1 Parallel City BKT 145
1 Avery CRE 130
1 Boss's Orders (Ghetsis) PAL 172
1 Colress's Experiment LOR 155
1 Cynthia UPR 119
1 Green's Exploration UNB 175
1 Guzma BUS 115
1 Iono PAL 185
1 Korrina FFI 95
1 Marnie CPA 56
1 Professor's Research (Professor Sada) SVI 189
1 Raihan CRZ 140
1 Teammates PRC 141
7 Fighting Energy CRZ 157
1 Stone Fighting Energy VIV 164
1 Strong Energy FCO 115
Ancient Power Combo
Credit: Tricky Gym
Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, and Hitmontop boast one of the most unique combos in Gym Leader Challenge, culminating in a massive attack that does 60 damage to all of the opponent’s Pokémon for just a single Energy. To make the most of Hitmontop’s finishing combo, this list plays Archeops with it’s Ancient Power Ability which completely stops evolution while it is in play. If the opponent manages to evolve some Pokémon up before you get Archeops out, Technical Machine: Devolution allows you to devolve them!
Last Update: November 2023
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1 Carbink LOR 108
1 Hitmonchan TEU 74
1 Hitmonlee TEU 73
1 Hitmontop UNB 101
1 Sandygast SUM 74
1 Palossand SIT 100
1 Archen UNM 120
1 Archeops NVI 67
1 Acro Bike CES 123
1 Battle Compressor Team Flare Gear PHF 92
1 Cram-o-matic FST 229
1 Earthen Vessel PAR 163
1 Escape Rope BST 125
1 Evolution Incense SSH 163
1 Evosoda GEN 62
1 Fossil Excavation Map FLI 107
1 Hisuian Heavy Ball ASR 146
1 Level Ball BST 129
1 Lillie's Poké Doll CEC 197
1 Nest Ball SVI 181
1 Pokégear 3.0 SVI 186
1 Quick Ball FST 237
1 Rare Candy SVI 191
1 Rescue Stretcher GRI 130
1 Revive ROS 88
1 Robo Substitute Team Flare Gear PHF 102
1 Super Rod PAL 188
1 Tag Call CEC 206
1 Trainers' Mail ROS 92
1 Ultra Ball SVI 196
1 Unidentified Fossil SIT 165
1 VS Seeker PHF 109
1 Float Stone BKT 137
1 Focus Sash FFI 91
1 Technical Machine: Devolution PAR 177
1 U-Turn Board UNM 211
1 Brooklet Hill GRI 120
1 Silent Lab PRC 140
1 Viridian Forest TEU 156
1 Arven OBF 186
1 Cynthia UPR 119
1 Cynthia & Caitlin CEC 189
1 Green's Exploration UNB 175
1 Guzma BUS 115
1 Guzma & Hala CEC 193
1 Iono PAL 185
1 Korrina FFI 95
1 Lusamine CIN 96
1 Marnie CPA 56
1 Maxie's Hidden Ball Trick PRC 133
1 N FCO 105
1 Teammates PRC 141
6 Fighting Energy XY 137
1 Stone Fighting Energy VIV 164
1 Strong Energy FCO 115
Coalossal
Credit: Castela
Ironically, Coalossal is pretty easy to set up in a Fighting deck despite the lack of other supporting options available thanks to Korrina. Korrina can grab the Rare Candy & Coalossal combo, allowing you to stream hefty attacks with big Fighting Pokémon turn after turn!
Last Update: October 2023
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1 Carbink LOR 108
1 Groudon PAR 93
1 Hisuian Growlithe ASR 70
1 Hisuian Arcanine ASR 71
1 Machop LOR 86
1 Machoke GRI 64
1 Machamp LOR 88
1 Riolu UPR 66
1 Lucario SVI 114
1 Rolycoly BST 78
1 Carkol BST 79
1 Coalossal RCL 107
1 Sudowoodo BKP 67
1 Terrakion SIT 97
1 Battle Compressor Team Flare Gear PHF 92
1 Battle VIP Pass FST 225
1 Earthen Vessel PAR 163
1 Eco Arm AOR 71
1 Evolution Incense SSH 163
1 Hisuian Heavy Ball ASR 146
1 Level Ball BST 129
1 Nest Ball SVI 181
1 Pokégear 3.0 SVI 186
1 Professor's Letter BKT 146
1 Quick Ball FST 237
1 Rare Candy SVI 191
1 Rescue Stretcher GRI 130
1 Super Rod PAL 188
1 Timer Ball SUM 134
1 Trainers' Mail ROS 92
1 Ultra Ball SVI 196
1 VS Seeker PHF 109
1 Fighting Fury Belt BKP 99
1 Float Stone BKT 137
1 Focus Sash FFI 91
1 Muscle Band XY 121
1 Technical Machine: Turbo Energize PAR 179
1 Brooklet Hill GRI 120
1 Martial Arts Dojo UNB 179
1 Arven SVI 166
1 Ball Guy SHF 57
1 Colress PLS 118
1 Green's Exploration UNB 175
1 Guzma BUS 115
1 Klara CRE 145
1 Korrina FFI 95
1 Marnie CPA 56
1 N FCO 105
1 Professor's Research (Professor Sada) SVI 189
1 Raihan EVS 152
7 Fighting Energy XY 137
2 Fire Energy XY 133
1 Strong Energy FCO 115
Looking for more ideas or feedback on your deck?
Head over to Tricky Gym Discord’s glc-decklists channel for threads on every archetype to discuss strategy, get suggestions, and browse decklists!
