Machamp Raid Boss

Machamp is, without a doubt, one of the most interesting Tier 3 Raid Bosses to look for due to several reasons.

With a Boss CP of 19707 and a maximum Capture CP of 1746 (Level 25, 100% IV, No Weather Boost) and 2183 [Level 25, 100% IV, Weather Boosted), Machamp is one of the best offensive options to counter some of the best Tier 4 Raid Bosses, such as Tyranitar and Snorlax.

It has been proven to be soloable by high-level players with the right attacking options against it, but the minimum recommended group size is 2 or 3 people.

Machamp Raid Counters

#	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

Machamp is a fighting type Pokémon. Therefore, it is weak to Psychic, Flying, and Fairy. The best attackers to fight Machamp are Mewtwo, Alakazam, and Espeon, followed by Lugia, Moltres, and Rayquaza.The best movesets of the Pokémon just mentioned are:

• Mewtwo: Confusion/Psychic 
• Alakazam: Confusion/Futuresight and Psycho Cut/Futuresight are the best movesets for this battle. Psychic (Legacy move on Alakazam) can also be a viable option. Alakazam is a glass cannon, with one of the best attack stats of the game, but keep in mind that it can be taken down pretty easily and dodging Machamp’s charge moves might be mandatory.
• Espeon: Confusion/Futuresight and Zen Headbutt/Futuresight have the greatest STAB DPS values, but yet again do not forget Psychic as a potential alternative. Psybeam as a charge move is not recommended, since it is the worst attacking move for Espeon in terms of DPS. Espeon is also a glass cannon like Alakazam. Although both of them resist Machamp’s Fighting moves due to their Psychic typing, they can still be easily defeated.

Final Tips

Machamp is a great Raid Boss to look for. Some people might want to reserve their raid passes for Tier 5 Raid Bosses only, but the truth is that Machamp is as valuable in the current meta as some Tier 5 Raid Bosses or even more.

Getting Machop candy is usually not an easy task unless you are lucky enough to find a nest nearby. Having a chance to catch a Machamp with a good chance of it having good IVs is a unique opportunity that should be considered.

Machamp has been proven to be the best attacking option to take down Blissey and Snorlax in opposing gyms.

Some people might argue that Tyranitar is one of the most desired Tier 4 Raid Bosses. Well, Machamp is the most viable option to take it down due to Tyranitar’s 4x weakness to Fighting-type moves, and it will receive 196% damage from them without even considering the STAB bonus. Furthermore, Machamp is one of the best options against Absol (Dark-type), another Tier 4 Raid Boss, since it is weak to Fighting-type.

Keep in mind that if you want to solo a Machamp, several things matter. Not only your trainer level is important, but also the current level of your attacking lineup and their movesets. If you are planning on trying to solo a Machamp, you will definitely need to invest some stardust and candies on your attackers.

Machamp is the perfect example of why movesets are extremely important. The only viable movesets (ignoring potential combinations of legacy moves and current moves) for Machamp are Counter/Dynamic Punch and Counter/Close Combat, in this order. You might want to consider using a TM on Machamp if you get a Steel type move!