Reign Supreme with Machamp Prime!

Donphan Prime (HeartGold & SoulSilver, 107/123) set the stage for the rise of Pokémon Prime in the series—it had strong attacks and even better defense. But the drawback to Donphan Prime was that its cheapest attack, Earthquake, also hit the Pokémon on your Bench. As the line of brawny Pokémon Prime in the Pokémon TCG: HS—Triumphant expansion continues with Machamp Prime (95/102), now you can turn that flaw into an incredible advantage. Together, these two Fighting-type Pokémon make for a fantastically powerful duo that will force any opponent to think twice before stepping into the ring!

The combination works simply. First get Donphan Prime into action, and begin loading it up with Energy. Even though you'll mostly want to use the Earthquake attack, you'll still want plenty of Energy attached to Donphan Prime. And, given that it does 90 damage, Donphan Prime's Heavy Impact attack is wickedly powerful. However, you're really getting as much Energy onto Donphan Prime as you can so that you can pass it off to Machamp Prime when the time is right. Make sure to keep Interviewer's Questions (HS—Unleashed, 77/95) and Flower Shop Lady (HS—Undaunted, 74/90) at the ready to retrieve Energy from your deck and discard pile, respectively.

While Donphan Prime hammers away at your opponent, get Machamp Prime onto your Bench as quickly as possible. As illogical as it may sound, you'll also want to get plenty of other Pokémon onto your Bench so that they can take damage from Donphan Prime's Earthquake attack. Aside from Machamp Prime, don't expect the other Pokémon to participate in battle. However, they do need to survive while Donphan Prime hits with Earthquake, so fill out your Bench with Pokémon with high HP. Sudowoodo (HS—Unleashed, 9/95) has 90 HP and benefits a lot from having plenty of Fighting Energy, making it an excellent fit for this deck. And, at 70 HP and 80 HP respectively, Hitmonchan (HS—Undaunted, 51/90) and Hitmonlee (HS—Undaunted, 52/90) make good choices, too: they're Basic Pokémon, they're Fighting-type Pokémon, and they can hold their own if they have to.

Once you have Machamp Prime on your Bench, and you have at least 3 Fighting Energy attached to Donphan Prime, you can put your combination into action. Use Machamp Prime's Fighting Tag Poké-Power to move all of Donphan Prime's Fighting Energy onto Machamp Prime. Then, make Machamp Prime your Active Pokémon. Thanks to Fighting Tag, you don't have to pay Donphan Prime's steep 4 Energy Retreat Cost.

Machamp Prime has two attacks, but one fits your situation better than the other. Champ Buster does 100 damage plus 10 more damage for each of your Benched Pokémon that has any damage counters on it. So all of the Pokémon that took damage from Donphan Prime's Earthquake attack are now helping power up Champ Buster! Donphan Prime will now hit for upward of 150 damage as soon as it comes into play—enough to Knock Out all but the most resilient Defending Pokémon! However, the Champ Buster attack isn't your only option. If the Defending Pokémon has a Special Energy attached to it that's giving you problems, get rid of that Special Energy card by using the Crushing Punch attack. It does a hefty 60 damage itself, and it's cheaper to use than Champ Buster.

One last consideration: try to get multiple Machamp Primes into play at once. As one of them starts to take damage or gets hit with a Special Condition, swap it out using the other's Fighting Tag Poké-Power. That way you can keep a refreshed Machamp Prime in play at all times.

With a couple of key Pokémon Prime and an uncomplicated plan, this is a one-two punch that's hard to beat!