Machamp Solo Raid Guide

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A comprehensive guide on how to solo a Machamp Raid, written by Kristy. Be warned, this is a huge guide.

A Machamp solo raid can be effectively performed starting around Level 31, with a team of carefully selected Machamp counters. With high level Mewtwo, Espeon, Moltres, or even Alakazam, you have a good chance of taking down this raid boss.

Machamp’s raid boss CP is 19707 and we would describe the difficulty of a Machamp solo raid as challenging, but fair. It becomes much easier to pull off if using Mewtwo.

Quick fact sheet

  • Reliably soloable around Level 31, possibly earlier in windy weather
  • Requires a full team of high level (31+) Psychic, Flying or Fairy counters: Mewtwo, Alakazam, Espeon, Moltres, and so on
  • Difficulty: challenging, but fair

Solo Machamp Counters

Machamp is weak to Psychic, Flying and Fairy types. We recommend using the counters from the table below, powered up to level 31/32 and without dodging.

# Pokemon Fast Move Charge Move Time to win Deaths
1. Mewtwo Psycho Cut Psychic Psystrike Psychic 91.48s 2.00
2. Hoopa (Unbound) Confusion Psychic Psychic Psychic 97.46s 3.70
3. Hoopa (Confined) Confusion Psychic Psychic Psychic 114.04s 2.20
4. Latios Zen Headbutt Psychic Psychic Psychic 115.47s 2.80
5. Alakazam Confusion Psychic Psychic Psychic 110.75s 4.10
6. Moltres Wing Attack Flying Sky Attack Flying 115.99s 3.40
7. Tapu Lele Confusion Psychic Future Sight Psychic 120.53s 2.38
8. Espeon Confusion Psychic Psychic Psychic 114.60s 3.80
9. Metagross Zen Headbutt Psychic Psychic Psychic 121.24s 3.00
10. Ho-Oh Extrasensory Psychic Brave Bird Flying 126.77s 1.88
11. Gardevoir Confusion Psychic Psychic Psychic 123.39s 3.00
12. Azelf Extrasensory Psychic Future Sight Psychic 118.82s 3.90
13. Xurkitree Spark Electric Dazzling Gleam Fairy 118.07s 4.38
14. Rayquaza Air Slash Flying Hurricane Flying 122.72s 3.40
15. Gallade Confusion Psychic Psychic Psychic 123.17s 3.40
16. Exeggutor Confusion Psychic Psychic Psychic 123.52s 3.70
17. Braviary Air Slash Flying Brave Bird Flying 127.41s 5.00
18. Zacian Metal Claw Steel Play Rough Fairy 131.69s 2.50
19. Yveltal Gust Flying Hurricane Flying 127.40s 3.63
20. Lugia Extrasensory Psychic Aeroblast Flying 136.88s 1.14
21. Beheeyem Confusion Psychic Psychic Psychic 130.65s 3.00
22. Honchkrow Peck Flying Sky Attack Flying 116.64s 6.00
23. Tornadus (Incarnate) Air Slash Flying Hurricane Flying 128.66s 3.60
24. Togekiss Charm Fairy Dazzling Gleam Fairy 135.15s 1.80
25. Jirachi Confusion Psychic Psychic Psychic 138.01s 2.00
26. Latias Zen Headbutt Psychic Psychic Psychic 133.97s 2.67
27. Zacian (Hero) Quick Attack Normal Play Rough Fairy 133.93s 2.83
28. Meloetta (Aria) Confusion Psychic Psyshock Psychic 131.33s 3.14
29. Zapdos Charge Beam Electric Drill Peck Flying 134.19s 2.80
30. Staraptor Wing Attack Flying Brave Bird Flying 125.60s 4.50
31. Victini Confusion Psychic Psychic Psychic 138.54s 2.00
32. Celebi Confusion Psychic Psychic Psychic 138.65s 3.00
33. Tornadus Air Slash Flying Hurricane Flying 126.55s 4.00
34. Delphox Zen Headbutt Psychic Psychic Psychic 133.89s 3.00

Without any surprise, Mewtwo is easily the best Machamp counter. Incredible stats, a solid move set and arguably the best TTW / deaths ratio across all Machamp’s moves. If you don’t have Psystrike, Psychic will work as well.

Alakazam is a budget Mewtwo, solid DPS, a bit lower TTW, dies a bit more. It needs the legacy move Psychic to be viable, but it’s not worth the elite TM.

Moltres is one of the strongest non-mega Flying-type attacker currently available, deals a lot of damage and takes reduced damage from Machamp’s Fighting sets.

Pidgeot is the best Mega choice to raid Machamp. It takes neutral damage from Machamp’s Fighting sets, so it won’t last long. Its strength rivals Mewtwo’s, however

Machamp raid movesets difficulty

Machamp has access to the following moves:

  • Bullet Punch (fast, Steel type)
  • Counter (fast, Fighting type)
  • Close Combat (charge, 1 bar, Fighting type)
  • Dynamic Punch (charge, 2 bars, Fighting type)
  • Heavy Slam (charge, 2 bars, Steel type)
  • Rock Slide (charge, 2 bars, Rock type)
  • Cross Chop (charge, 2 bars, Fighting type)

Bullet Punch and Heavy Slam is a surprisingly difficult moveset to go up against, as the normal Psychic type counters that would be used do not resist it, and therefore go down very quickly. Counter is the easier of the two fast moves. Rock Slide makes for the second most difficult charge move, for similar reasons, and your Flying types will not appreciate it very much! Being a two bar move, like Dynamic Punch and Heavy Slam, it can fire off a lot faster than you would like. Close Combat, being a Fighting type, 1 bar move, can be countered by your Psychic and Flying types, and since it is 1 bar, it will fire off less frequently than the other two. Cross Chop is pretty weak outside of PvP, so it’s one of the better options for safety.

Solo Machamp weather influence

Windy weather would be the best weather to attempt soloing Machamp, as it boosts the power of both Psychic and Flying, but if you do not encounter any Windy weather, it would be best to attempt it outside of Cloudy weather in any other neutral weather. Although Cloudy boosts Fairy type moves, it would also boost the Fighting moves. If it is Cloudy and Machamp has a double Steel move set it could be worth trying, but not in any other instance.

Overall, Windy or neutral weather would be best.

Weather Benefits Harm
Cloudy Boosts Fairy type moves Boosts Machamp’s Fighting moves
Windy Boosts Psychic and Flying moves No cons
Snowy No pros Boosts Machamp’s Steel moves
Sunny No pros No cons
Partly Cloudy
No pros Boosts Machamp’s Rock Slide Rock
Rainy No pros or cons
Foggy

Additional Notes

If you are alone and below Level 30, soloing a raid might be difficult for you, but the levels of your Pokémon matter as much as your trainer level. It might take some candy and stardust to get your Pokémon up to par to take on a powerful raid boss, such as Machamp, by yourself.

Weather is important! Use it to your advantage when you can — Windy weather is a huge help.

The moves that Machamp has also plays an impact on your success in the raid, and it is usually hard to tell what moves it has until you have already used up your raid pass and saw what counters the game set for you.

Otherwise, this should not be too difficult of a raid boss to beat, as Machamp’s defensive stats are not particularly high, and the right Pokémon will resist its attacks. Glass cannons such as Alakazam are useful, but so are the bulkier Pokémon such as Lugia. It has been soloed many times before, so good luck!

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