I can't remember which strategy Ash used against Gardenia in order to win. Against Maylene he got lucky that beside activating Swift Swin, the sudden rain healed Buizel as well. Can't remember the strategy Ash used against Wake, but it seemed to me that he let Buizel do his thing. Switching it out when it was confused was smart though, though not a strategy you have when you start a battle. Against Fantina he had a strategy, it worked until to a certain point. Against Byron Ash used his battle wits again using Gliscor's Sand Attack effectivily, similar to how he used String Shot effectivily in his battle against Burgh. Against Candice pure power was the key, and Chimchar's Snowboarding skills.. Again, something I wouldn't call strategy as this wasn't planned at all. Against Volkner Ash tried really hard and basically got zip strategy. Electric attacks on a Electivire isn't strategy. Aside from that he had to rely on Blaze to win. That's not a strategy unless you use a SubBerry approach.
So only against Roark and Fantina did Ash come up with a valid tactical approach. The rest were made up on the spot, or relied on Ash's battle wits that he sometimes gets.
Chimchar's snowboarding can be compared to Oshawott using Water Gun to miraculously retrieve its shell. Gliscor using Sand Attack can be compared to Swadloon using String Shot to evade and win the match. It can even be said that Ash had a tactic to deal with Haderia's Shadow Ball's against Lenora as Tepig practiced that technique with its Ember in the Battle Club. Of course, it wasn't anything near the level of Counter Shield, but it was a technique, thought up prior to the gym battle and used effectivily.
I had forgotten this post and can't recall the original idea but I will try. Ash never makes a strategy before a gym match unless it is a rematch. So most of his strategies are made during battle. Lets see what strategies happened in those gyms that lead me to calling BW gyms(so far) funny.
Gardenia: Staravia blocking Cherubi vision using Sunlight.
Maylene: Buizel improvising Water Pulse(a newly learned move) with Aqua jet to match Lucario's power.
Wake: Can't remember anything. Maybe thats why I think it was most boring gym battle of Sinnoh.
Byron: Making Chimchar use Dig over and over which lead to Steelix falling in a pit and Chimchar finishing it off.
Candice: Only time when Ash successfully used Paul's Torterra defensive strategy. Chimchar snowboarding was awesome idea too. Wearing down your opponent and then attack is a strategy which even Hoenn league champion Tyson used.
Volkner: Not gonna talk about it. Blaze messed up the whole gym for me.
Now we can compare our BW gyms
First gym: no real strategy. Oshwott-using-water-gun-on-wall-thing was dumb. Funny thing was that Oshawott knew where to hit the wall. Maybe the rule was, no matter where the water hit the wall, the final destination was the shell.
Third Gym: String shot? Do I need to say more?
I am not saying that they are total crap but Sinnoh gyms were far more better. But at least we know that Ash will be able to handle Gigalith just as he controlled Swadloon.
Off Topic: One thing I found odd was that how is a Pokemon with so low speed supposed to use their attacks? The opponent can easily dodge a slow Pokemon. Maybe thats the reason they gave Grotle Rock Climb in the first place.
