Machamp -- Guardians Rising Pokemon Card Review

Pokemon Card Overview:
Today's Pokemon Card Review is of Machamp from the Guardians Rising Pokemon Card Set.  Machamp is a Stage 2, Fighting type Pokemon card, with a HP of 160.  It has a x2 weakness to Psychic type Pokemon, no resistance type, and a three Colorless Energy card retreat cost.  This card does not have an Ability but it does have two moves.  The first move on this card is called Settle the Score, for two Fighting Energy cards, this move does 20 damage plus 80 more damage for each Prize card your opponent took on their last turn.  Submission is this card's second move, for three Fighting Energy cards this move does 150 damage, however it also does 30 damage to Machamp.

Pokemon Card Strategy:
So as far as strategy goes, since Machamp is a Stage 2 Pokemon card, you'll first have to get Machop into play and then evolve it into Machoke before you can evolve Machoke into Machamp, both of those Pokemon are from this set and I've reviewed both of them the last two days.  If you've read my reviews of those cards you'll know that I thought both cards were average overall.  I liked Machop as a starter type Pokemon for a Fighting type deck since it could do 50 damage for only two Energy cards, but it was limited in having just one move, and having a HP of 60.  I also though Machoke from this set was average overall, but I really liked the Ability on that card which made it so none of your Benched Pokemon could be attacked by your opponent, essentially preventing a spread attack type deck from doing anything at all.  So knowing this about the first two Pokemon in this line and looking at this Machamp card, I would only recommend using this card if you're using Machoke from this set for its Ability.  You could therefore keep Machoke on the Bench, utilizing its Ability, then if for some strange reason you get two of your Pokemon knocked out at once, or you want an easier way to knock out your opponent's Active Pokemon, you could move Machoke into the Active Pokemon spot, evolve it, and then use Machamp's Settle the Score move.  Other than that, Submission does do major damage, but you'll either have to use a lot of Potion cards, of have another way of consistently removing damage from Machamp when attacking.

Pokemon Card Rating:
I would give this card a 3 out of 5 rating.  In my opinion this is an average Stage 2 Pokemon card from the Guardians Rising set.  Although this card does have potentially to do major damage every single turn, I'm still only giving this card an average rating overall, mainly due to the fact it inflicts damage on itself when attacking, plus its first move, Settle the Score only works in certainly situations.  But like I mentioned above, overall all three cards in this set are average, so the three cards get a 3 out of 5 rating combined from me.

Tomorrow's Pokemon Card:
So thanks for reading today's Pokemon card review of Machamp from the Guardians Rising set, stay tuned for tomorrow's card review of Sudowoodo, which is from this same set.  Make sure to check below for the Free Pokemon TCG Online Codes!

Free Pokemon TCG Online Code Cards:
Today's Quiz for a Pokemon TCG Online Code Card --
True or False?  In Base Set, a Machamp holo can not be pulled from a booster pack.
Please respond with the correct answer and a link to your YouTube channel. 24 hours from now I will be randomly selecting a correct response to my question and sending a private message to this person with a free code on YouTube.

Machamp -- Evolutions Pokemon Card Review

Pokemon Card Overview:
Today's Pokemon Card Review is of Machamp from the XY Evolutions Pokemon Card Set.  Machamp is a Stage 2, fighting type Pokemon card, with a HP of 160.  It has a x2 weakness to psychic type Pokemon, no resistance type, and a two colorless energy card retreat cost.  Machamp's Ability is called Counterattack, this Ability says any time Machamp is attacked when in the active Pokemon spot, put 3 damage counters on the attacking Pokemon.  Besides the Ability, Machamp only has one move called Seismic Toss, for three fighting energy cards this move does 120 damage.

Pokemon Card Strategy:
So as far as strategy goes, since Machamp is a Stage 2 Pokemon card, you'll first have to get Machop into play and then evolve it into Machoke before you can evolve Machoke into Machamp, both of those Pokemon are from this set and I've reviewed both of them the last two days.  Machamp does have an evolution in Machamp BREAK, which I'll be reviewing tomorrow.  If you read the reviews of Machop and Machoke from this set, I gave both cards a below average rating, individually and combined.  Machop did have a solid HP and could do up to 40 damage per turn, but it was slow on the attack and its only move was based off of coin flips.  Machoke also had a solid HP and it had two moves, both doing a fair amount of damage originally, but both moves counteracted each other making each worse the longer Machoke was in the active Pokemon spot.  So knowing this about the first two Pokemon in this line and looking at Machamp, it makes most sense to set this line up on the bench, once you get three energy cards on Machamp you can then do at least 120 damage per turn just by using Seismic Toss and utilizing its Ability.  Essentially, if you're building a fighting type deck, this is a line to consider, mainly because of how powerful Machamp is.  Because the first two Pokemon in this line aren't that great, I would only use a 1-1-1 line of this Pokemon family, or use more Machamp in your deck and use a Rare Candy trainer.

Pokemon Card Rating:
I would give this card a 4 out of 5 rating.  In my opinion this is an above average Stage 2 Pokemon card from the XY Evolutions set.  Other than requiring 3 energy cards to attack, this card has a very good HP, an amazing Ability, and a powerful move.  So if you have the patience to get this card set up, it is a great attacker for a fighting type deck.  Altogether, I would give the line of Machop, Machoke, and Machamp a 3 out of 5 rating.

Tomorrow's Pokemon Card:
So thanks for reading today's Pokemon card review of Machamp from the XY Evolutions set, stay tuned for tomorrow's card review of Machamp BREAK, which is from this same set.  Make sure to check below for the Free Pokemon TCG Online Codes!

Free Pokemon TCG Online Code Cards:
Today's Quiz for a Pokemon TCG Online Code Card --
True or False?  The Base Set Machamp was only available in 1st edition print.
Please respond with the correct answer and a link to your YouTube channel. 24 hours from now I will be randomly selecting a correct response to my question and sending a private message to this person with a free code on YouTube.

Machamp -- Furious Fists Pokemon Card Review

Pokemon Card Overview:
Today's Pokemon Card Review is of Machamp from the Furious Fists Pokemon Card Set.  Machamp is a stage 2, fighting type Pokemon card, with an hp of 150.  It has a x2 weakness to psychic type Pokemon, no resistance type, and a two colorless energy card retreat cost.  Machamp's Ability is called Fighting Fury and gives all of your fighting type Pokemon 20 more damage to their attacks when attacking your opponent's active Pokemon.  Besides the Ability, Machamp just has one move called Machamp Crush, this move requires three fighting energy cards and does 80 damage.  Plus during your opponent's next turn, any attacks done to Machamp are reduced by 40.

Pokemon Card Strategy:
So as far as strategy goes, since Machamp is a stage 2 Pokemon card, you'll first have to get Machop into play and then evolve it into Machoke before you can evolve Machoke into Machamp, both of those Pokemon are from this set and I've reviewed both of them the last couple of days.  If you've read my reviews of those cards you'll know that I thought both cards were below average, both cards had good HP but were limited on what they could do and had high retreat costs.  So knowing this about both of those cards and looking at this Machamp card, if you're building a fighting type deck, this card is a must have in your deck.  Not only can it do above average damage for only 3 energy cards, but its Ability will make all of your fighting type Pokemon that much better.  Because the first two Pokemon in this line aren't that great, I would set up this line on the bench, putting a 2-2-2 line in my deck.  I would try and keep one Machamp on the bench to use its Ability and I would use this other one in the active Pokemon spot.  When you do get Machamp in the active Pokemon spot your only choice is to use Machamp Crush every turn.  A good thing about this card is that if you decide to retreat Machamp, you'll only have to give up two energy cards, so you'll still have one energy card on it when it is on the bench.

Pokemon Card Rating:
I would give this card a 5 out of 5 rating.  In my opinion this is an excellent Stage 2 Pokemon card from the Furious Fists set, and a card that can be used to build a fighting type deck around.  There isn't anything that I dislike about this card, it has a high HP, decent retreat cost, and amazing Ability, and a very good move.  However, when you combine this card with Machop and Machoke from this set, I would only give the entire line a 4 out of 5 rating, you still want to use this line in a deck, but just make sure you know that Machop and Machoke aren't the greatest in this set.

Tomorrow's Pokemon Card:
So thanks for reading today's Pokemon card review of Machamp from the Furious Fists set, stay tuned for tomorrow's card review of Hitmonlee, which is from this same set.  Make sure to check below for the Free Pokemon TCG Online Codes!

Free Pokemon TCG Online Code Cards:
Today's Quiz for a Pokemon TCG Online Code Card --
True or False?  The Machamp card in Base Set is always a 1st edition one.
Please respond by including your YouTube username and link to your YouTube channel.  If the question is quite tough, the first correct comment will win, otherwise I'll use a random number generator to choose a winner.

Machamp #50/101 -- Plasma Blast Pokemon Card Review

Pokemon Card Overview:
Today's Pokemon Card Review is of Machamp from the Plasma Blast Pokemon Card Set.  This is the second of two Machamp cards I've reviewed from the Plasma Blast set.  Machamp is a stage 2, fighting type Pokemon card, with an hp of 140.  It has a x2 weakness to psychic type Pokemon, no resistance type, and a three colorless energy card retreat cost.  This Machamp card does not have an Ability but it does have two moves.  The first move that this card has is called Knock Off, for three energy cards, two colorless and one fighting, this move does 60 damage plus you get to randomly discard a card from your opponent's hand.  Machamp's second move is called Reinforced Lariat, this move requires four energy cards, two each of colorless and fighting, and does 80 damage, plus 40 more damage if you have a Tool card attached to Machamp.

Pokemon Card Strategy:
So as far as strategy goes, since Machamp is a stage 2 Pokemon card, you'll first have to get Machop into play and then evolve it into Machoke before you can evolve Machoke into Machamp, both of those Pokemon are from this set and I've reviewed both of them the last couple of days.  The previous two Pokemon in this family are average at best, both have high retreat costs so if you want to use Machamp in your deck, I would recommend setting this line up on your bench.  And remember, this is the second card of Machamp from this set, later in this blog post I'll be comparing the two.  If you want to use this Machamp card in your deck, like I mentioned set it up on your bench, this card is a bit quicker than yesterday's Machamp card and it doesn't have an Ability so there is no reason to keep it on your bench was you have enough energy cards on Machamp to attack.  Because this Machamp card requires so many energy cards to attack and has a high retreat cost, if you want to use this line in your deck, I wouldn't use more than a 2-1-1 line of Machop, Machoke, and Machamp.

Pokemon Card Rating:
I would give this card a 3 out of 5 rating.  In my opinion this is an average stage 2 Pokemon card from the Plasma Blast Pokemon card set.  I have given both Machamp cards from this set a 3 out of 5 rating, but I actually prefer yesterday's card more, it has a higher hp, can do more damage consistenty, and has a pretty good Ability.  So if you're looking to use the Machamp family in your deck, use the other card from this set.  I would give the entire line of Machop, Machoke, and this Machamp card a 2 out of 5 rating, overall it is just slightly worse than this line with the other Machamp card.

Tomorrow's Pokemon Card:
So thanks for reading today's Pokemon card review of Machamp from the Plasma Blast set, stay tuned for tomorrow's card review of Throh, which is from this same set.  Make sure to check below for the Free Pokemon TCG Online Codes!

Free Pokemon TCG Online Code Cards:
Today's Quiz for a Pokemon TCG Online Code Card --
What original (Kanto Region) Gym Leader in the Pokemon Anime owned a Machamp?
Please respond by including your YouTube username and link to your YouTube channel.  If the question is quite tough, the first correct comment will win, otherwise I'll use a random number generator to choose a winner.

Machamp #49/101 -- Plasma Blast Pokemon Card Review

Pokemon Card Overview:
Today's Pokemon Card Review is of Machamp from the Plasma Blast Pokemon Card Set.  This is the first of two Machamp cards I'll be reviewing from the Plasma Blast set.  Machamp is a stage 2, fighting type Pokemon card, with an hp of 150.  It has a x2 weakness to psychic type Pokemon, no resistance type, and a three colorless energy card retreat cost.  Machamp's Ability is called Badge of Discipline and says that the damage of each of your fighting type Pokemon's attacks is not affected by resistance.  Besides the Ability, Machamp just has one move called Close Combat, this move requires four energy cards, three colorless and one fighting, and does 120 damage, unfortunately if you get a tails when you flip a coin while using this move any attack your opponent does to Machamp during their next turn is increased by 30.

Pokemon Card Strategy:
So as far as strategy goes, since Machamp is a stage 2 Pokemon card, you'll first have to get Machop into play and then evolve it into Machoke before you can evolve Machoke into Machamp, both of those Pokemon are from this set and I've reviewed both of them the last couple of days.  The previous two Pokemon in this family are average at best, both have high retreat costs so if you want to use Machamp in your deck, I would recommend setting this line up on your bench.  And remember, this is the first of two Machamp cards from this set so in tomorrow's review I'll be stating which one I like better from this set.  So like I said, if you want to use this line in your deck, I would set it up on the bench since Machamp requires four energy cards to attack and while on the bench you can utilize Machamp's Ability.  I would use this card in a fairly heavy fighting type Pokemon deck to make best use of Machamp's Ability, I would then put four energy cards on Machamp, and when in the active Pokemon spot I would use Close Combat every turn.  Personally I wouldn't use this line in a deck just because most of the Pokemon in it are average to below average.  But if you do choose to use this line, I wouldn't use more than a 2-1-1 line of Machop, Machoke, and Machamp.

Pokemon Card Rating:
I would give this card a 3 out of 5 rating.  In my opinion this is an average stage 2 Pokemon card from the Plasma Blast Pokemon card set.  I do like that this card has a high hp, pretty decent Ability, and one good move, but the reason I'm only giving this card an average rating is because the retreat cost is high, and the only move this card has is extremely slow, so if you get it into the active Pokemon spot without four energy cards on it, its 150 hp won't seem so high, plus if you flip a tails when attacking, the 150 hp will go faster as well.  Overall, the line of Machop, Machoke, and the first Machamp card from this set gets an average 3 rating from me, Machop was a 2, Machoke and Machamp was a 3.

Tomorrow's Pokemon Card:
So thanks for reading today's Pokemon card review of Machamp from the Plasma Blast set, stay tuned for tomorrow's card review of the second Machamp card from this set.  Make sure to check below for the Free Pokemon TCG Online Codes!

Free Pokemon TCG Online Code Cards:
Today's Quiz for a Pokemon TCG Online Code Card --
Which other English sets has Machamp been in at least twice?
Please respond by including your YouTube username and link to your YouTube channel.  If the question is quite tough, the first correct comment will win, otherwise I'll use a random number generator to choose a winner.