Machop Raid Guide

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Machop

Machop is available in raids as a Tier 1 raid boss in Pokémon GO, and it can be caught with the following CP values:

  • 678 – 730 CP at Level 20, no weather boost
  • 848 – 913 CP at Level 25 with Cloudy weather boost

It is a Fighting type Pokémon, which makes it weak to Psychic, Flying, and Fairy type moves. It is featured in both normal, and shadow raids.

Machop is available as a shiny from both normal, and shadow raids!

Shadow Raid Information

As a shadow raid, it will hit harder than the normal raid boss, so make sure your counters are powered up, have the right moveset, and aren’t weak to the raid bosses moves. Lower levels trainers and those without top counters may need to bring a friend. Shadow Raid Bosses will grow enraged as you battle them, boosting their attack and defence. Continue to hold your ground and weaken the Shadow Raid Bosses to subdue them.

You can subdue Shadow Raid Bosses using Purified Gems, a new item that can be assembled from Shadow Shards.

Shadow Shards are mysterious gem pieces that may be dropped by Team GO Rocket. You will need to gather enough shards to use Professor Willow’s newly invented Shard Refiner, and in return you’ll be rewarded with a Purified Gem.

There are multiple ways Purified Gems can assist your battle against enraged Shadow Raid Bosses:

  • When you use a Purified Gem during a Shadow Raid, the enraged Shadow Raid Boss’s attack and defence will be lowered temporarily. This can give you the opening you need to take them down.
  • You and your fellow Trainers can use more than one Purified Gem during a Shadow Raid. If used at the same time, their effects will stack.
  • If enough Purified Gems are used, the enraged Shadow Raid Boss will be subdued—returned to its non-enraged state—which might give you the edge you need to defeat it!

Machop Raid Counters

Since Shadow Pokémon are extremely expensive to power up and require specific events to remove Frustration with a Charge TM, they will NOT be listed as raid counters in this article. That being said, if you have the shadow form of a listed raid counter Pokémon powered up and TMed, use it.

Machop best raid counters are listed below:

# Pokémon Fast Move Charge Move Time to win Deaths
1. Alakazam (Mega) Psycho Cut
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
5.28s 0.00
2. Gardevoir (Mega) Charge Beam
Electric
Psychic
Psychic
5.90s 0.00
3. Mewtwo Confusion
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
6.78s 0.00
4. Latias (Mega) Zen Headbutt
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
7.00s 0.00
5. Latios (Mega) Zen Headbutt
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
7.00s 0.00
6. Hoopa (Unbound) Confusion
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
6.97s 0.00
7. Gengar (Mega) Shadow Claw
Ghost
Psychic
Psychic
7.10s 0.00
8. Slowbro (Mega) Confusion
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
7.37s 0.00
9. Pidgeot (Mega) Gust
Flying
Aerial Ace
Flying
7.59s 0.00
10. Charizard (Mega Y) Air Slash
Flying
Flamethrower
Fire
7.70s 0.00
11. Banette (Mega) Shadow Claw
Ghost
Dazzling Gleam
Fairy
7.90s 0.00
12. Hoopa (Confined) Confusion
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
7.90s 0.00
13. Lunala Confusion
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
7.90s 0.00
14. Alakazam Confusion
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
8.08s 0.00
15. Espeon Confusion
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
8.12s 0.00
16. Blaziken (Mega) Counter
Fighting
Blast Burn
Fire
8.30s 0.00
17. Articuno (Galarian) Psycho Cut
Psychic
Brave Bird
Flying
8.68s 0.00
18. Deoxys (Attack) Zen Headbutt
Psychic
Psycho Boost
Psychic
8.74s 0.00
19. Sceptile (Mega) Bullet Seed
Grass
Leaf Blade
Grass
8.98s 0.00
20. Gardevoir Charm
Fairy
Psychic
Psychic
9.08s 0.00
21. Deoxys (Normal) Zen Headbutt
Psychic
Psycho Boost
Psychic
9.20s 0.00
22. Salamence (Mega) Dragon Tail
Dragon
Outrage
Dragon
9.30s 0.00
23. Staraptor Wing Attack
Flying
Brave Bird
Flying
9.33s 0.00
24. Latios Zen Headbutt
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
9.40s 0.00
25. Moltres (Galarian) Wing Attack
Flying
Brave Bird
Flying
9.70s 0.00
26. Togekiss Charm
Fairy
Dazzling Gleam
Fairy
9.80s 0.00
27. Groudon (Primal) Mud Shot
Ground
Precipice Blades
Ground
9.88s 0.00
28. Honchkrow Peck
Flying
Brave Bird
Flying
9.95s 0.00
29. Beedrill (Mega) Poison Jab
Poison
Sludge Bomb
Poison
9.99s 0.00
30. Yveltal Gust
Flying
Psychic
Psychic
9.99s 0.00
31. Ho-Oh Extrasensory
Psychic
Brave Bird
Flying
10.05s 0.00
32. Gallade Confusion
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
10.10s 0.00
33. Altaria (Mega) Dragon Breath
Dragon
Dazzling Gleam
Fairy
10.11s 0.00
34. Exeggutor Confusion
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
10.11s 0.00
35. Charizard (Mega X) Dragon Breath
Dragon
Blast Burn
Fire
10.30s 0.00


Machop has plenty of weaknesses so the list could go on forever. If you don’t have any of the Pokémon listed above powered up, you can always use:

  • Generalist” Pokémon such as powerful dragon type Pokémon
  • Other heavy-hitting megas

Machop shouldn’t take more than a couple of seconds to beat if you’re using the right counters, but don’t worry too much if you don’t have strong attackers powered up.

Stats and Max CP

Machop Fighting
Max CP at Level 40 1278 | Max CP at Level 50 1445
ATK 137 DEF 82 STA 172
Weak to Strong Against
Psychic Flying Fairy Normal Rock Steel Dark Ice

Moveset

Fast Moves Charge Moves
  • Karate Chop Fighting
  • Rock Smash Fighting
  • Low-Kick Fighting (legacy)
  • Cross Chop Fighting
  • Brick Break Fighting
  • Low Sweep Fighting

Machop doesn’t have any niche uses unless you want to power a purified one up to level 50 (and potentially even best buddy it). Extremely spicy, but some people like to run it in some restricted PvP metas. It needs to be purified as Machop’s movepool only has fighting type moves.

Machamp on the other hand is one of the best Pokémon in the entire game. Need a good gym sweeper? Use Machamp. A good fighting type attacker to use in raids? Use Machamp. A good fighter/counter user to use in PvP? Guess what? You can also run Machamp.

If you want to use it in raids, its best moveset is Counter and Dynamic Punch. Its shadow variant is significantly better, so if you have one with decent IVs just power that one up. And if you don’t, power it up anyway. Seriously, shadow Machamp is awesome and will reign supreme until shadow Conkeldurr, shadow Lucario or Mega Lucario/Blaziken/Heracross are released.

In PvP, you want to run it with Counter, Cross Chop and either Rock Slide or Payback. Rock Slide is usually the best option, but Payback can work in some metas such as the Kanto Cup where Hypno is everywhere. Shadow Machamp is probably even better in PvP as well, so if you have one with good IVs I’d recommend trying it out. Just make sure you cover its weaknesses, preferably with a steel type Pokémon as it resists fairy, flying and psychic type moves.

We hope you found this raid guide useful, happy hunting!

Author & tags

Kratos
Kratos
Pokémon fan since 2000. Played every single game without exception. I'm an engineer, a tech lover and also a big sports fan. Science is my religion :)

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