Fighting
After 6 generations of Pokémon, Machamp finally gets a meta-analysis before this month’s community day.
Machamp was and will probably always be a good choice for all Pokémon Go. It’s great for taking down gyms, it’s great for many legendary raid bosses and raid bosses, and it’s also a very solid choice at all levels in the Go Battle league.
January Community Day features Machop with the highly coveted TRIPLE star dust bonus. If you developed a Machoke during the community day, then you received a Machamp with the Payback charge movement, a powerful Dingy like moving. This offers incredible neutral damage and nuisance coverage Ghost and Psychic guys who give Machamp problems in battle.
The only other type of fight that gives Machamp a run for his money is Conkeldurr. However, in terms of movepool, Machamp has the best coverage.
- Machop is currently very rare in the game outside the community day. It is a Pokémon of the old generation 1 and the Pokémon of the new generation dominate the current spawns.
- Machop currently hatches 5 km eggs
- Machop evolves into Machoke for 25 candies.
- Machoke evolves to Machamp for 100 sweets or for free if traded.
- Due to the trading function of the Machoke evolution, a lucky Machoke will save a ton of candy when looking for that perfect or tall Machamp XL of IV maxed.
Shiny Machop, Machoke and Machamp
Let’s take a look at Machamp and its usefulness in Pokémon Go.
Statistics
|
Fighting |
|||||
| Level 50 CP 3455 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATK 234 | DEF 159 | HP 207 | |||
| Weak for | Strong against | ||||
| Psychic Fairy Rock | Steel Rock Ice Dingy | ||||
These statistics clearly show that Machamp is a force to be reckoned with with a very good attack and solid defensive statistics.
Again, while Conkeldurr has better stats, Machamp has access to a much better moveset, which we will talk about below. After 6 generations, Machamp is still the most relevant Fighting type Pokémon.
Moveset Analysis
Machamp can learn these moves in Pokémon Go:
| Fast movements | Charged movements |
|---|---|
|
|
* Legacy movement
I think this is the longest list of moves I’ve made for a Pokémon guide to date. Obviously, you have a lot of options and that makes Machamp quite versatile.
In most, if not all, cases, you will always go against your fast movement, but Bullet Punch is also a decent choice for niche games. Karate Chop technically has the best energy gain, but Counter is only more efficient (offers more damage than the energy gained from Karate Chop).
Now let’s talk about these cargo movements. As you can see, Machamp has access to many different Fighting type attacks. The best being melee combat for damage and Cross Chop for shield bait in PVP and Dynamic Punch being the best in raid and gym battles. Do not use Submission at all.
You also have access to the best Rock types of attacks in the game, Stone Edge and Rock Slide. Stone Edge will cost you an elite cargo TM if you don’t have one with the legacy move. Rock Slide is better in PvE and is the preferred movement in PvP as well. Stone Edge is technically stronger in PvP, but requires more energy.
Heavy Slam is good Steel move type, but it is not a common choice. It provides cover for fairy types, but you are not likely to survive long enough to use it in PvP. There are better types of steel if you need strong PvE steel.
Finally, Machamp is learning Payback this month during Community Day, a new movement and now the strongest Dingy type attack. This will likely disrupt some PvP goals and can also be potentially decent in PvE (depending on the specific Pokémon you battle), as there are not many strong types of dark to attack other than Tyranitar. The feedback will be extremely useful in gym battles, as people often hire mediums to fight Machamp specifically. You now have a super effective move to exclude those psychic types in red and yellow gyms.
What is the best moveset for Machamp?
The best moveset will depend on whether you are fighting gyms, raids or other coaches. It will be up to you to choose a moveset that works best for your style of play, but you can see the most common below based on the game mode.
PvP:
- Counter with Payback and Rock Slide
- Counter with Cross Chop / Close Combat and Rock Slide / Payback
PvE:
- Counter with Dynamic Punch and Return
PvE performance
In goal where powerful Dingy, Steel, Rock, and Ice Pokémon type are often in raids, Machamp is often a very common choice in raids. In fact, it’s number 1 for many legends and you’ve probably already won some Machamp because of it. If you are new, then you had the perfect chance to create a Machamp Payback without having to use an elite charge TM on one that is already on. It will probably remain relevant for all future versions, unless changes are made to the attacks. Fighting is a very effective offensive type, especially since dark, steel and rock Pokémon are typically very tanky.
Normal guys dominate the gym battle scene, like Chansey and Snorlax. Therefore, Machamp has always been a common Pokémon to quickly take down opposing gyms. With the introduction of Payback, Machamp can eliminate the hassle Psychic types that resist Machamp quickly, making gym battles much easier.
If you don’t have a Machamp on, we recommend that you take advantage of the January community day to make one. Swap with a friend to make startup and evolution a lot cheaper. Given his moveset and typing, Machamp is extremely useful and versatile in the PvE game.
PvP performance
Great league
Machamp does very well in the big league. It is very good against common defensive tanks, including Umbreon, Bastiodon, Steelix, Snorlax, Galarian Stunfisk and even Alolan Marowak. He has an impressive 73.1% win rate for his shadow and regular form. This is for the 1 shield scenario. Shadow Machamp is ranked 14th in the big open league.
The introduction of Payback actually reduces your win rate to 69.5% when combined with Cross Chop and 59.4% with Rock Slide and Payback.
The best moveset remains Counter, Cross Chop and Rock Slide according to the win rate metric from pvpoke.com.
Machamp is a really good choice for the Great League and I would encourage you to make one and look for a Machop with good PvP IVs. The top 5 PvP IVs according to stage IV are as follows:
Ultra League
Machamp is also another solid choice in the Ultra alloy. With a winning rate of 72.6% according to pvpoke.com in the simulation of 1 shield and is ranked 44th in the open Ultra League. It is ranked 6th in the Premier Ultra League. The main wins in the ultra league are against Registroel, Swampert, Melmetal, Obstagoon, Escavalier, Magnezone and Lapras. It will also destroy some potential Pokémon XL such as Abomasnow, Drifblim, Dewgong, Umbreon and Galarian Stunfisk.
The new community movement, Payback, may be more relevant in the Ultra goal and still offers a strong gain rate of 69.8%. Rock Slide is mainly to cover like weakness, but flyers are not common in the Ultra league, so Payback may be the best choice for this league.
Look for the top 5 PvP IVs when creating your Machamp, reaching 2500 cp around level 31:
Master League
Machamp XL has a similar role in the Master League, with a winning rate of 83.5% in the open Master League. It is ranked # 43 in open and # 20 in Premier. The shadow shape is technically better, but the likelihood of having a 100% shadow is very rare and also extremely expensive. Machamp can beat Dragonite, Gyarados, Snorlax, Swampert and Rhyperior, Mamoswine, Excadrill and Magnezone.
The new move, Payback, actually raises its winning rate to 86.3%. However, you lose your victory matches against Dragonite and other types of flight. It will be up to your team to decide how you play Machamp XL, because there are several high-performance movesets in this goal. Obviously, at lvl 50, you will want as close to 100% IVs as possible. Get as much Machop as possible to get as many XL candies as you can.
Conclusion
Machamp is a beast and if you don’t already have one, then you definitely want to make one as soon as possible. You may have to do two, one with the new community day change and one with the Rock Slide.
Make a good exchange with a friend on a shiny Machop on this community day and give the nickname Hulk, because you will use him in all facets of the game. Your star dust is not wasted on this big guy.