The Fighting-type in powerful Psychic-type pokémon, both of which are fairly common in the PTCG.
However, this doesn't mean that the Fighting-type should be taken lightly. The Fighting-type exhibits a brilliant potential for damage output and also comes equipped with a high base power. Furthermore, most of the pokémon belonging to this type does not carry with themselves any kind of recoil cost, meaning that players would not have to sacrifice their energy cards or suffer recoil-damage for using the attacks and abilities of Fighting-type pokémon.
Strong ers in the likes of Maxie's Hidden Ball Trick and Scorched Earth, as well as the powerful Special Energy Card Strong Energy, further bolsters the capabilities of this type. All-in-all, the Fighting-type is a powerful heavy-hitter, and players who can master this archetype using some of the most powerful pokémon belonging to it will definitely find it to be useful and capable of winning matches.
Carbink
The 90 HP of Carbink might seem like a weakness, but this Basic pokémon from the Fates Collide expansion is anything but. It is true that Carbink was extremely weak in the video game, but, in the trading card franchise, it is an absolute superstar. Decked with its impressive ability Safeguard, Carbink can thwart all attack effects of the opponent's EX pokémon, including damage. Since the meta is still ripe with myriad EX cards, Carbink comes as a welcome addition to the deck.
Being a basic stage pokémon, it can further enter the game in the very first turn and does not require evolution to reach its full potential. However, players who do want to evolve Carbink have the option of leaning towards its BREAK form; more about which would be discussed later. Furthermore, it can also deal 40 damage at the cost of 1-colorless and 1-fighting energy using its attack Power Gem.
Machamp
An extremely offensive-minded pokémon, Machamp from the Furious Fists expansion is so overpowered that it has been banned from the standard format and only finds relevance in the expanded format of the trading card game. Having a 150 HP base, this stage-two pokémon has the incredible ability of Fighting Fury, which provides to all the Fighting-type pokémon of the player in the same manner that using one Strong Energy card would provide to them.
It allows the player's Fighting-type pokémon's attacks to deal 20 extra damage to the opponent's active pokémon. Furthermore, its attack Machamp Crush for the cost of three-fighting deals a damage of 80 to the opponent, while reducing his/her attacks’ damage by 40 during the opponent's next turn.
Regirock EX
Regirock EX from the Fates Collide expansion is a wonderful pokémon to have, owing to its buffer ability Regi Power. This ability helps beef up the attack damage of Fighting-type pokémon in the player's deck by 10, allowing them to deal more damage than they would have without this .
It is a great idea for players to increase their damage potential before they can access the Strong Energy card. The Bedrock Press attack costing three-fighting energy is also quite powerful, dealing base damage of 100 and reducing damage from the defending pokémon by 20. Furthermore, the 180 HP portfolio of Regirock EX is quite impressive, which can further increase to 220 if used alongside the Fighting Fury Belt card.
Carbink BREAK
Although used primarily in Fighting-type decks where it can find its prominence, this BREAK form evolution of Carbink from Fates Collide is a brilliant pokémon that aids in quick setups, all for the cost of one fighting energy when using its 20 damage attack Diamond Gift.
Apart from the damage, using this attack allows the player to rummage through his/her discard pile and find two energy cards of any kind and attach them to one of his/her Fighting-type pokémon. The energy cards can even be attached to Carbink and may include any type of energy like DCE or Strong Energy. This ability allows players to set up Ultra Ball or Scorched Earth extremely easily and therefore makes Carbink BREAK an absolute delight.
Zygarde EX
Zygarde EX from Fates Collide is a uniquely powerful tank, especially for a Basic-EX pokémon, having a massive HP of 190, which further increases to 230 if Fighting Fury Belt is used alongside it.
Furthermore, its attack, Cell Storm further enhances this quality by recovering 30 damage from Zygarde EX and additionally dealing 60 damage to the opponent. However, its remaining attacks Land's Pulse and Land's Wrath are either weak or too costly, thereby being the only drawbacks of this card.
Machamp BREAK
Machamp BREAK is the BREAK form evolution of Machamp belonging to Evolutions expansion. While the non-evolved Machamp is a strong card in itself, it shines more on defensive departments as opposed to the offensive. Machamp BREAK, on the other hand, solves this deficit with its ultra-offensive attack Boomerang Lariat, which, for the cost of three fighting cards can deal an insane amount of damage, for the sole reason that its damage ceiling is not capped.
The reason behind this is in the intricacies of this attack, which, although deals a base damage of 100, continues to deal a further 100 damage in consecutive turns as long as the player chooses Boomerang Lariat as his/her choice of attack. The maximum damage potential of this attack can go well beyond 1000. However, it needs to be kept in mind that this is a BREAK card, as well as a stage three card, and, therefore, it needs to be used intelligently and evolved properly.
Rhyperior
Rhyperior is a stage two pokémon belonging to the Primal Clash expansion and works brilliantly as a miller-card owing to its 1DCE and 2-fighting attack Hammer Arm. Hammer Arm not only deals a base damage of 100, but also forces the opponent to discard the top card in his/her deck.
Since running out of cards in the deck results in losing in PTCG, Rhyperior is extremely useful. It further has the Rock Wall ability that reduces damage taken by 10 and further comes equipped with the incredible Omega Barrier Ancient Trait, nullifying all effects of most Trainer Cards that the opponent might play.
imian
The Sun & Moon imian is a Basic pokémon with 110 HP which has found abundant usage in the meta owing to its impressive attack Team Play. While the base damage of Team Play is only 10, it can deal extra 30 damage for every imian that the player has on the bench, thereby increasing its max damage potential to 130.
If used alongside cards like Mew from Fates Collide or Mew EX, the damage potential further increases to 170. The fact that it only requires 1DCE and that, being a basic, it can be used during the early stages of the game, makes this card is incredibly powerful.
Mega Lucario EX
Mega Lucario EX is astoundingly powerful, dealing one of the craziest ratios of energy-per-attack. Requiring only three fighting energies, this card deals a massive damage of 140 while simultaneously discarding an energy card from the opponent's Active Pokémon.
However, being a Mega pokémon, Spirit Link is a must for it to keep the player's turn from ending, and, without it, Mega Lucario EX also becomes endangered to a strong attack from Psychic pokémon. Being extremely powerful, it has been banned from the standard format of PTCG but is still widely used in the expanded format.
Primal Groudon EX
Primal Groudon EX is arguably the strongest Fighting-type pokémon available in PTCG, boasting an incredible 240 HP. Its attack Gaia Volcano is immensely powerful, requiring three fighting and one colorless energies. While the base damage of this attack is 100, if coupled with Strong Energy cards, the damage potential can be increased to as much as 280.
Furthermore, it is equipped with Omega Barrier, which renders it immune to Trainer Cards like Hypnotoxic Laser, Enhanced Hammer, and Lysandre. However, being a Mega pokémon, it still requires a basic Groudon EX to evolve, and Spirit Link to perform to its full potential.
