Okay, this guy's got some good points, but he seems to overlook the obvious:

THERE ARE LOTS OF GREAT COMMONS WITH MUCH BETTER ATTACKS AND HIGHER HP!!

Here's a few:

Name:        Blaine's Kangaskhan
Type:        Basic Pokemon
Rarity:      Uncommon
Color:       Colorless
HP:          80 HP
Weakness:    F
Resistance:  P -30
Retreat:     3
Attack:      [1]  Child's Punch  (10)
             Flip a coin.  If tails, this attack does nothing.
Attack:      [3]  One-Two Punch  (30+)
             Flip a coin.  If heads, this attack does 30 damage plus 10 more
             damage; if tails, this attack does 30 damage.

Child punch isn't great, but one-two puch in good and can be used second turn
with a DCE...and this guys colorless!  80 HP is nice too.

Name:        Blaine's Magmar
Type:        Basic Pokemon
Rarity:      Uncommon
Color:       Fire
HP:          60 HP
Weakness:    W
Resistance:  none
Retreat:     2
Attack:      [R]  Firebreathing  (10+)
             Flip a coin.  If heads, this attack does 10 damage plus 10 more
             damage; if tails, this attack does 10 damage.
Attack:      [RRR]  Lava Burst  (20x)
             Discard the top 5 cards of your deck.  (If there are fewer than 5
             cards in your deck, discard all of them.)  This attack does 20
             damage for each R Energy card you discarded in this way.

Not bad, the first attack is okay, and the second can be great...If you have
a lot of fire energy in your deck.

Name:        Brock's Lickitung
Type:        Basic
Rarity:      Uncommon
Color:       Colorless
HP:          80 HP
Weakness:    F
Resistance:  P -30
Retreat:     3
Attack:      [2]  Tongue Slap  (20)
Attack:      [3]  Slam  (30x)
             Flip 2 coins.  This attack does 30 damage times the number of
             heads.

Both reasonable attacks and can attack on turn 1 with DCE.  80 HP is great.

Name:        Sabrina's Jynx
Type:        Basic Pokemon
Rarity:      Uncommon
Color:       Psychice
HP:          60 HP
Weakness:    P
Resistance:  none
Retreat:     1P
Attack:      [P]  Good Night  (10)
             The Defending Pokemon is now Asleep.
Attack:      [1P]  Good Morning  (20)
             If the Defending Pokemon was Asleep, it is no longer Asleep.    
      
       
Neither attack is *great*  but it does have a turn 1 attack and can inflict
status effects...

Name:        Blaine's Tauros
Type:        Basic Pokemon
Rarity:      Common
Color:       Colorless
HP:          70 HP
Weakness:    F
Resistance:  P -30
Retreat:     2
Attack:      [1]  3-Pronged Tail  (10x)
             Flip 3 coins.  This attack does 10 damage times the number of
             heads.
Attack:      [3]  Full Speed Charge  (20x)
             Flip 4 coins.  This attack does 20 damage times the number of
             heads to the Defending Pokemon and 20 damage times the number
             tails to Blaine's Tauros.     

This guy's a COMMON????  3-pronged tail is reasonable, and Full speed charge
is awesome if you use defenders.  This guy's amazing.   Oh yeah, he's
colorless too...

Name:        Brock's Onix
Type:        Basic Pokemon
Rarity:      Common
Color:       Fighting
HP:          100 HP
Weakness:    G
Resistance:  none
Retreat:     3
Attack:      [1]  Bellow
             Flip a coin.  If heads, the Defending Pokemon is now Paralyzed.
Attack:      [1FF]  Rock Throw  (30)                    

This guy's okay, and he's a common.  100 HP is great.  His first attack can
stall and his second can do some resonable damage.  However, he's scyther
fodder...

Name:        Erika's Tangela
Type:        Basic Pokemon
Rarity:      Common
Color:       Grass
HP:          60 HP
Weakness:    R
Resistance:  none
Retreat:    
Attack:      [G]  Vine Slap  (10)
Attack:      [1GG]  Stretch Vine
             If your opponent has any Benched Pokemon, choose 1 of them and
             this attack does 20 damage to it.  (Don't apply Weakness and
             Resistance for Benched Pokemon.)            

Not bad, first attack is average, second is reasonable too.  60 HP isn't too
bad either And this guy IS a common...

Well, that's my review of the TRUE poor man's haymakers of the Gym set.  All
these cards are commons or uncommons, but all have high HP and reasonable
attacks.  They're all basics and can all hold their ground in battle. 
There's no reason to go into pokemon with 40 or 50 HP when these guys are
just as availiable.  Get it?  Got it?  Good.

                                                    -FossilMagikarp
                                            email: Edestus360@aol.com