Machamp Meta Discussion: Will 4 biceps keep it strong for long?

Machamp… Oh the infamous Machamp. Machamp rapidly became one of the most (if not the most) useful Pokémon in the Meta when the first gym rework took place in the summer of 2017 and only got stronger with the introduction of raids.

Some of you (myself included, and probably more than what was required) invested a lot of time and resources into building a powerful Machamp team; which turned out to be very useful in terms of raids, but also in terms of gym control. However, in the face of new competition in new generations, will this Pokémon’s biceps help it remain a strong contender of its type, or will Machamp have to throw the towel considering the upcoming fighters it’ll have to face?

Machamp holds on to its title, for now…

Trainers, rest assured, although there are better Fighting type Pokémon to come, Machamp will remain among the strongest candidates of its type. That being said, it doesn’t mean that Machamp will get to hold the title of best Fighting type Pokémon when other Generations are introduced into the game. Below is a summary of a few of the upcoming challengers (excluding Mythicals) to the belt.

Unfortunately, it’s possible that some of these Pokémon will not be able to learn all available fast and charged Fighting moves currently in the game, and all have stats that are somewhat even with, or exceed Machamp’s own stats.

Fighting Type Contenders

Pokémon	Max CP	Potential Fast Moves	Potential Charge Moves
Lucario Steel Fighting	2461 (Gen 4)	Counter Fighting Low Kick Fighting Metal Claw Steel Bullet Punch Steel	Close Combat Fighting Aura Sphere (?) Fighting Flash Cannon Steel Cross Chop Fighting
Gallade Psychic Fighting	2964 (Gen 4)	Low Kick Fighting Confusion Psychic Psycho Cut Psychic	Close Combat Fighting Focus Blast Fighting Psychic Psychic
Conkeldurr Fighting	3305 (Gen 5)	Lock Kick Fighting Rock Throw Rock Pound Normal	Focus Punch (?) Fighting Dynamic Punch Fighting Focus Blast Fighting
Cobalion Steel Fighting	3009 (Gen 5)	Quick Attack Normal Metal Claw Steel	Close Combat Fighting Sacred Sword* (?) Fighting
Terrakion Rock Fighting	3468 (Gen 5)	Quick Attack Normal	Close Combat Fighting Stone Edge Rock Sacred Sword* (?) Fighting
Machamp Fighting	2889	Counter Fighting Bullet Punch Steel	Close Combat Fighting Dynamic Punch Fighting Heavy Slam Steel

* : Signature Move
(?) : Not yet in the game

Analysis: Was it/ Will it be worth the dust?

The answer to that question is simple. Yes it was, yes it still is, but it might not be as much worthy of dust investment it in the future. Machamp currently plays a tremendous role in the Metagame. There are, of course, other useful Fighting type Pokémon such as Hariyama or Heracross, but nothing compares to Machamp when it comes to taking down a Blissey, Chansey, Snorlax or Slaking in a gym. Furthermore, Machamp still remains, to this day, a very important Pokémon when it comes to raids, mainly for Tyranitar and Aggron Raids.

In sum, Machamp was and still remains very much worthy of dust investment. Whether it is for gym control and/or raids, Machamp plays a very important role in the most important aspects of the game. However, Machamp will have soon to face some very strong contenders as illustrated above, so if you already have invested a large amount of dust into a decent number of Machamps, we suggest that you hold off until Gen 4, for Gallade, or even until Gen 5, for Terrakion (260 ATK is huge) before investing further dust into a Fighting type Pokémon.

If you haven’t already invested dust into a Machamp, our advice would be that you do so, even considering the upcoming contenders. Why? Simply because Machop candies (or even Machamp itself) are easier to come by than Ralts’ candies; and also that Gen 5 is far from being released. Having a decent Fighting type team is a necessity in the current Metagame.

Stay tuned for our Fighting type article where we discuss statistics more in depth.

We might not have as many good Pun[che]s as ProHitman001, but the battle isn’t over yet…