[OVERVIEW]
When you look at Machamp, you might struggle to find a reason to use it over Conkeldurr, which has higher Attack and access to Mach Punch. However, Machamp has the ability No Guard combined with Dynamic Punch, which lets it confuse its target without fail. Machamp does, however, still have quite a few problems. Its Speed is very mediocre, meaning Machamp struggles to outspeed key threats even under Tailwind, though it is rather solid for Trick Room. It is also weak to Fairy, one of the best offensive types in the metagame. While It does have a solid Attack stat and somewhat good natural bulk, it can still struggle to do anything due to its poor defensive typing and its Speed, often leaving it vulnerable to attacks from both opposing Pokemon before it can make a move.
[SET]
name: Dynamic Punch Tank
move 1: Dynamic Punch
move 2: Wide Guard
move 3: Stone Edge / Ice Punch / Knock Off
move 4: Protect / Ice Punch / Knock Off
item: Lum Berry / Sitrus Berry
ability: No Guard
nature: Adamant / Brave
evs: 252 HP / 188 Atk / 68 Def
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Dynamic Punch is boosted by STAB and confuses its target, and thanks to No Guard, it is not held back by its low accuracy. Wide Guard shields Machamp and its teammate from spread attacks. Stone Edge lets Machamp deal super effective damage to most Flying-types, such as Thundurus and Mega Charizard Y. Alternatively, Ice Punch allows Machamp to deal with Landorus-T, Garchomp, and Mega Salamence, while Knock Off provides utility as well as coverage for Psychic- and Ghost-types. Protect is a staple in VGC and lets Machamp guard itself from unnecessary hits and double targeting.
Set Details
========
This EV spread combined with an Adamant nature makes Machamp a hard-hitting tank. 252 HP and 68 Defense EVs make Machamp capable of surviving a Double-Edge from neutral-natured Mega Kangaskhan even without a Sitrus Berry. With 188 Attack EVs, Machamp is able to OHKO 4 HP Mega Kangaskhan with Dynamic Punch. A Brave nature is used when running Machamp in Trick Room, which is one of the better ways to use it, and must also be used in tandem with a 0 Speed IV. No Guard lets Machamp connect all its moves. Lum Berry lets Machamp ignore status once, while Sitrus Berry provides one-time recovery to heal Machamp back to a more comfortable amount of HP after taking a heavy hit. Safety Goggles also gets a mention for allowing Machamp to ignore powder moves, mainly Spore and Rage Powder, both of which can be an annoyance for it.
Usage Tips
========
Always keep in mind that when you are using Dynamic Punch, you are effectively halving the foe's accuracy in addition to dealing solid damage. This means that going for Dynamic Punch is always a safe play to make, except if you expect your opponent to switch in a Ghost-type. Machamp is often a fairly good lead to cause chaos on the opposing team with confusion and potentially get rid of items with Knock Off, but you must also be careful leading with it if your opponent has a lot of Pokemon capable of easily KOing Machamp, as leading with Machamp then can cause it to be quickly knocked out.
Team Options
========
Pokemon that appreciate Wide Guard support such as Mega Charizard Y and Hydreigon are good partners for Machamp. In order to patch up its weakness to Flying-types, Pokemon such as Rhyperior and Thundurus also make for good teammates. Steel-types such as Heatran and Aegislash help Machamp by beating Fairy-types. Machamp also enjoys various kinds of speed control. Tailwind from Pokemon such as Suicune and Zapdos, as well as Thunder Wave from Thundurus or even Trick Room from Pokemon such as Cresselia and Jellicent, is great for letting Machamp outspeed the foe and confuse them with Dynamic Punch before they get to make a move.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
An Assault Vest set is a somewhat viable option for Machamp, as it provides better special bulk, although Conkeldurr does this job better. Bullet Punch gives Machamp a form of priority and is helpful for picking off weakened foes, although it is really weak. Quick Guard allows Machamp to block priority attacks, which is helpful against Prankster users such as Liepard and Thundurus. Sadly, it is not that helpful against Fake Out, because Quick Guard and Fake Out are in the same priority bracket, and Machamp's low Speed means that it will almost never outspeed a Fake Out user. Rock Slide is an option for dealing spread damage, but Stone Edge is mostly better because it deals a lot more damage to Thundurus and Zapdos.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Flying-type Moves**: Flying-type moves from Pokemon such as Talonflame and Mega Salamence can OHKO or deal massive damage to Machamp before it can try to knock their users out.
**Fairy-types**: Fairy-types such as Gardevoir and Sylveon can OHKO Machamp or deal massive damage to Assault Vest variants with their STAB Hyper Voice. They can even go for Psychic or Psyshock if Machamp uses Wide Guard.
**Ghost-types**: Ghost-types are immune to Machamp's STAB type, and most hit back really hard. Knock Off makes Ghost-types less of a problem, but they can still pose a big threat.
**Psychic-types**: Psychic-types such as Cresselia and Mega Metagross can beat Machamp fairly easily with their Psychic-type STAB attacks. Although bulkier Pokemon like Cresselia might use two or three turns to knock out Machamp, Machamp will take longer to KO them, even with Knock Off.
**Redirection**: Redirection from Pokemon such as Clefairy and Amoonguss is a great way of dealing with Machamp, as it makes Machamp unable to spread confusion to all the opposing Pokemon or get KOs with its coverage moves.
**Intimidate and Burns**: Lowering Machamp's Attack through Intimidate from Pokemon such as Arcanine and Landorus-T or with burns from Pokemon such as Gengar and Rotom-W makes Machamp's damage output poor and leaves it with no other function than confusing the foe with Dynamic Punch.
When you look at Machamp, you might struggle to find a reason to use it over Conkeldurr, which has higher Attack and access to Mach Punch. However, Machamp has the ability No Guard combined with Dynamic Punch, which lets it confuse its target without fail. Machamp does, however, still have quite a few problems. Its Speed is very mediocre, meaning Machamp struggles to outspeed key threats even under Tailwind, though it is rather solid for Trick Room. It is also weak to Fairy, one of the best offensive types in the metagame. While It does have a solid Attack stat and somewhat good natural bulk, it can still struggle to do anything due to its poor defensive typing and its Speed, often leaving it vulnerable to attacks from both opposing Pokemon before it can make a move.
[SET]
name: Dynamic Punch Tank
move 1: Dynamic Punch
move 2: Wide Guard
move 3: Stone Edge / Ice Punch / Knock Off
move 4: Protect / Ice Punch / Knock Off
item: Lum Berry / Sitrus Berry
ability: No Guard
nature: Adamant / Brave
evs: 252 HP / 188 Atk / 68 Def
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Dynamic Punch is boosted by STAB and confuses its target, and thanks to No Guard, it is not held back by its low accuracy. Wide Guard shields Machamp and its teammate from spread attacks. Stone Edge lets Machamp deal super effective damage to most Flying-types, such as Thundurus and Mega Charizard Y. Alternatively, Ice Punch allows Machamp to deal with Landorus-T, Garchomp, and Mega Salamence, while Knock Off provides utility as well as coverage for Psychic- and Ghost-types. Protect is a staple in VGC and lets Machamp guard itself from unnecessary hits and double targeting.
Set Details
========
This EV spread combined with an Adamant nature makes Machamp a hard-hitting tank. 252 HP and 68 Defense EVs make Machamp capable of surviving a Double-Edge from neutral-natured Mega Kangaskhan even without a Sitrus Berry. With 188 Attack EVs, Machamp is able to OHKO 4 HP Mega Kangaskhan with Dynamic Punch. A Brave nature is used when running Machamp in Trick Room, which is one of the better ways to use it, and must also be used in tandem with a 0 Speed IV. No Guard lets Machamp connect all its moves. Lum Berry lets Machamp ignore status once, while Sitrus Berry provides one-time recovery to heal Machamp back to a more comfortable amount of HP after taking a heavy hit. Safety Goggles also gets a mention for allowing Machamp to ignore powder moves, mainly Spore and Rage Powder, both of which can be an annoyance for it.
Usage Tips
========
Always keep in mind that when you are using Dynamic Punch, you are effectively halving the foe's accuracy in addition to dealing solid damage. This means that going for Dynamic Punch is always a safe play to make, except if you expect your opponent to switch in a Ghost-type. Machamp is often a fairly good lead to cause chaos on the opposing team with confusion and potentially get rid of items with Knock Off, but you must also be careful leading with it if your opponent has a lot of Pokemon capable of easily KOing Machamp, as leading with Machamp then can cause it to be quickly knocked out.
Team Options
========
Pokemon that appreciate Wide Guard support such as Mega Charizard Y and Hydreigon are good partners for Machamp. In order to patch up its weakness to Flying-types, Pokemon such as Rhyperior and Thundurus also make for good teammates. Steel-types such as Heatran and Aegislash help Machamp by beating Fairy-types. Machamp also enjoys various kinds of speed control. Tailwind from Pokemon such as Suicune and Zapdos, as well as Thunder Wave from Thundurus or even Trick Room from Pokemon such as Cresselia and Jellicent, is great for letting Machamp outspeed the foe and confuse them with Dynamic Punch before they get to make a move.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
An Assault Vest set is a somewhat viable option for Machamp, as it provides better special bulk, although Conkeldurr does this job better. Bullet Punch gives Machamp a form of priority and is helpful for picking off weakened foes, although it is really weak. Quick Guard allows Machamp to block priority attacks, which is helpful against Prankster users such as Liepard and Thundurus. Sadly, it is not that helpful against Fake Out, because Quick Guard and Fake Out are in the same priority bracket, and Machamp's low Speed means that it will almost never outspeed a Fake Out user. Rock Slide is an option for dealing spread damage, but Stone Edge is mostly better because it deals a lot more damage to Thundurus and Zapdos.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Flying-type Moves**: Flying-type moves from Pokemon such as Talonflame and Mega Salamence can OHKO or deal massive damage to Machamp before it can try to knock their users out.
**Fairy-types**: Fairy-types such as Gardevoir and Sylveon can OHKO Machamp or deal massive damage to Assault Vest variants with their STAB Hyper Voice. They can even go for Psychic or Psyshock if Machamp uses Wide Guard.
**Ghost-types**: Ghost-types are immune to Machamp's STAB type, and most hit back really hard. Knock Off makes Ghost-types less of a problem, but they can still pose a big threat.
**Psychic-types**: Psychic-types such as Cresselia and Mega Metagross can beat Machamp fairly easily with their Psychic-type STAB attacks. Although bulkier Pokemon like Cresselia might use two or three turns to knock out Machamp, Machamp will take longer to KO them, even with Knock Off.
**Redirection**: Redirection from Pokemon such as Clefairy and Amoonguss is a great way of dealing with Machamp, as it makes Machamp unable to spread confusion to all the opposing Pokemon or get KOs with its coverage moves.
**Intimidate and Burns**: Lowering Machamp's Attack through Intimidate from Pokemon such as Arcanine and Landorus-T or with burns from Pokemon such as Gengar and Rotom-W makes Machamp's damage output poor and leaves it with no other function than confusing the foe with Dynamic Punch.
[OVERVIEW]
name: Dynamic Punch Tank
move 1: Dynamic Punch
move 2: Wide Guard
move 3: Stone Edge / Ice Punch / Knock Off
move 4: Protect / Ice Punch / Knock Off
item: Lum Berry / Sitrus Berry
ability: No Guard
nature: Adamant / Brave
evs: 252 HP / 188 Atk / 68 Def
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
========
========
========
Other Options
=============
===================
**Flying-type moves**: Flying-type moves from Pokemon such as Talonflame and Mega Salalmence can OHKO or deal masssive damage to Machamp before Machamp can try to knock them out (put this instead Flying-types in general because Zapdos and Thundurus and others without Flying-STAB don't threaten Machamp that much)
**Fairy-types**: Fairy-types such as Gardevoir and Sylveon can OHKO Machamp or deal massive damage to Assault Vest variants with their STAB Hyper Voice, or go for Psychic or Psyshock if Machamp uses Wide Guard
**Ghost-types**: Ghost-types are immune to Machamp's STAB and most hit really hard back. Knock Off makes Ghost-types less of a problem, but they can stull pose a big threat
**Psychic-types**: Psychic-types such as Cresselia and Mega Metagross can beat Machamp fairly easily with their Psychic-STAB. Although bulkier Pokemon like Cresselia might use two or three turns on knocking out Machamp, Machamp will use longer on KO'ing them, even with Knock Off
**Redirection**: Redirection from Pokemon such as Clefairy and Amoonguss is a great way of dealing with Machamp, since they make Machamp unable to spread confusion to all the opposing Pokemon, or get KO's with it's coverage moves
**Lowering it's Attack**: Lowering Machamp's Attack through Intimidate from Pokemon such as Arcanine and Landorus-T or with burns from Pokemon such as Gengar and Rotom-H / -W makes Machamp's damage output poor and leaves it with no other function than confusing the opponent with Dynamic Punch
- Dynamic Punch is the only thing it got over Conkeldurr, which also outclasses Machamp by having access to Mach Punch
- Bad speed tier, but decent for Trick Room
- Good Attack and somewhat good natural bulk
- Weak to Fairy, one of the best offensive types in the game
- Can quickly struggle with getting to do much at all due to bad Speed and a rather poor defensive typing
name: Dynamic Punch Tank
move 1: Dynamic Punch
move 2: Wide Guard
move 3: Stone Edge / Ice Punch / Knock Off
move 4: Protect / Ice Punch / Knock Off
item: Lum Berry / Sitrus Berry
ability: No Guard
nature: Adamant / Brave
evs: 252 HP / 188 Atk / 68 Def
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
- Dynamic Punch lets you confuse things
- Wide Guard protects your team from spread attacks
- Stone Edge gives you coverage for Flying-types
- Ice Punch is coverage for Mega Salamence, Landorus-T, and Garchomp
- Knock Off provides coverage for Ghost- and Psychic-types plus utility
- Protect guards you from status and double targeting
========
- The EV spread and Adamant nature makes Machamp a hard hitting tank, and more specifically snags the OHKO on 4 HP Mega Kangaskhan with Dynamic Punch plus lets you survive Jolly Double-Edge
- Brave is for running it in Trick Room, for that you will also need 0 IVs in Speed
- No Guard makes you never miss, and is what makes Dynamic Punch good
- Lum Berry lets you avoid status
- Sitrus gives you some instant one-time recovery
- Safety Goggles is also an option to avoid Spore and Rage Powder, as well as avoiding taking residual damage from weather
========
- When in doubt, Dynamic Punch! (I'll obviously make this sound more serious in the write up)
- Machamp often good to use for leading and causing chaos on the opposing team with Dynamic Punch or knocking items off, however, think about if you actually want to lead it if your opponent has several Pokemom capable of KO'ing Machamp straight away.
========
- Pokemon that appreciate Wide Guard support such as Mega Charizard Y, Mega Salamence, and Thundurus
- Pokemon such as Thundurus and Rhyperior that can deal with Flying-types
- Steel-types such as Heatran and Aegislash that can deal with Fairy-types
- Tailwind support from Pokemon such as Suicune and Zapdos to make Machamp outspeed opposing Pokemon to hit them before they hit you. Also a plus to confuse opponents before they make a move
- Trick Room setters such as Cresselia or Jellicent if you run it Brave
- Thunder Wave support from Pokemon such as Thundurus also help Machamp by letting it move before the opponent, and also makes for some good parafusion
Other Options
=============
- Assault Vest
- Bullet Punch
- Quick Guard
- Rock Slide
===================
**Flying-type moves**: Flying-type moves from Pokemon such as Talonflame and Mega Salalmence can OHKO or deal masssive damage to Machamp before Machamp can try to knock them out (put this instead Flying-types in general because Zapdos and Thundurus and others without Flying-STAB don't threaten Machamp that much)
**Fairy-types**: Fairy-types such as Gardevoir and Sylveon can OHKO Machamp or deal massive damage to Assault Vest variants with their STAB Hyper Voice, or go for Psychic or Psyshock if Machamp uses Wide Guard
**Ghost-types**: Ghost-types are immune to Machamp's STAB and most hit really hard back. Knock Off makes Ghost-types less of a problem, but they can stull pose a big threat
**Psychic-types**: Psychic-types such as Cresselia and Mega Metagross can beat Machamp fairly easily with their Psychic-STAB. Although bulkier Pokemon like Cresselia might use two or three turns on knocking out Machamp, Machamp will use longer on KO'ing them, even with Knock Off
**Redirection**: Redirection from Pokemon such as Clefairy and Amoonguss is a great way of dealing with Machamp, since they make Machamp unable to spread confusion to all the opposing Pokemon, or get KO's with it's coverage moves
**Lowering it's Attack**: Lowering Machamp's Attack through Intimidate from Pokemon such as Arcanine and Landorus-T or with burns from Pokemon such as Gengar and Rotom-H / -W makes Machamp's damage output poor and leaves it with no other function than confusing the opponent with Dynamic Punch
Last edited:
