[OVERVIEW]
Machamp is a potent wallbreaker that takes advantage of OU staples such as Tyranitar, Blissey, and Snorlax, using them to set up and fire off its explosive attacks. Its STAB Cross Chop is the strongest Fighting-type move in the metagame barring Focus Punch, and Cross Chop's boosted critical hit rate gives Machamp a decent chance of cutting through its usual checks. Machamp's physical bulk is also better than most Fighting-types, letting it more safely use its best entry point in Tyranitar, and it can leverage this further with Bulk Up, which also annoys slower teams that rely on Dugtrio to revenge kill strong Fighting-types. Status won't stop Machamp either, as Guts lets it punish the many status-spreaders of OU with a massive power boost. However, Machamp's raw strength is almost its only strength; its niche is limited by the many other Fighting-types populating the metagame, all of which have unique tools that make them more diverse threats, such as Breloom's Spore, Heracross's Megahorn, and Hariyama's Knock Off. Cross Chop is also a notably flawed STAB move due to its poor accuracy and low PP, and the latter can be exploited by common Pressure users such as Suicune that switch into Machamp anyway.
[SET]
Name: Bulk Up
Move 1: Cross Chop
Move 2: Rock Slide
Move 3: Hidden Power Bug / Hidden Power Ghost
Move 4: Bulk Up
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Guts
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 128 HP / 252 Atk / 128 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Bulk Up's ability to simultaneously boost Attack and Defense is great for Machamp, making it harder to switch into while also letting it eat various physical hits from Tyranitar, Swampert, Flygon, and other bulky Pokemon as it tries to break through them. Cross Chop is a terrifying STAB move with a 20% chance to land a critical hit when factoring accuracy. At +1 Attack, which can be achieved either via Bulk Up or activating Guts, Cross Chop becomes a 2HKO against nearly any neutral target, even physically defensive Pokemon such as Swampert and Metagross; frailer resists such as offensive Zapdos also become unable to switch in with sandstorm active. If the aforementioned critical hit rate comes into play, a boosted Cross Chop can even OHKO otherwise safe checks such as Skarmory, Milotic, and Salamence under sandstorm, although Intimidate makes it hard to maintain a boost against the latter. Rock Slide is obligatory coverage to hit Zapdos, Salamence, and Gyarados hard without needing to boost or fish for a critical hit; it also OHKOes Moltres and Charizard. Machamp's Hidden Power type should be determined based on the support its team can give it: Hidden Power Bug blasts Celebi to pieces, invalidating it as a check unless it carries an invested Psychic, which is best on teams with Pursuit support to deal with Gengar. Hidden Power Ghost is better when paired with Dugtrio to remove Celebi, or on physical offense teams that overwhelm Celebi by other means but hate Gengar's Will-O-Wisp spam. Both moves also cover Claydol, which would otherwise wall Machamp.
EVing Machamp is fairly straightfoward: maximum Attack investment with an Adamant nature is mandatory, as Machamp's entire niche is based on dealing obscene amounts of damage. Switching to Jolly will cause Machamp to miss a bevy of important thresholds, such as a 2HKO on defensive Swampert with +1 Cross Chop and an OHKO on defensive Celebi with +1 Hidden Power Bug. However, the balance between HP and Speed investment can be tweaked at will; although Machamp enjoys some bulk investment, extra Speed has a wide range of use cases; 128 HP / 128 Spe lets Machamp outrun uninvested Skarmory and Metagross. A few additional EVs can be added to Speed from here to beat variants of Claydol and Taunt Skarmory. 212 Speed EVs can turn the tables on Milotic and offensive Swampert, the former of which relies on outspeeding and Recover stalling Machamp in order to beat it. On the slower side, only 56 EVs are required to outpace mixed Metagross, uninvested Tyranitar, and Weezing.
Activating Guts is a great way to make Machamp more threatening without spending a turn on Bulk Up, so it's important to look for opportunities to switch into common status moves. This is especially great against targets that fall into KO range of Machamp's attacks after the Guts boost; for instance, Rock Slide will always OHKO bulkless Zapdos if Machamp switches into Thunder Wave, and Gengar will fall to Hidden Power Ghost if Machamp takes Will-O-Wisp on its way in. Once Machamp is on the field it should use Bulk Up whenever it forces a switch, usually against Tyranitar or Blissey; this will negate a potential Intimidate and improve Machamp's odds against physical switch-ins. However, if the opponent's answer is determined to be a special threat such as Jirachi or Suicune, firing off a Cross Chop on the switch can be more beneficial. Using Bulk Up to punish predictable uses of Protect from Skarmory, Swampert, Metagross, or defensive Jirachi is a great way to pressure the opposing team, especially if Machamp is on a timer from poison or burn; however, attempting this too often can allow the opponent to adapt and KO Machamp on what it thinks is a free setup turn.
Team Options
========
Tyranitar offers the most as a Machamp teammate of any single Pokemon. The sandstorm it summons is crucial for making damage stick to common Machamp checks, most of which are immune to Spikes. Pursuit sets can also deal with Gengar, freeing up Machamp to run Hidden Power Bug, and its Dragon Dance set is a potent wincon that enjoys Machamp's ability to weaken common checks such as Skarmory, Swampert, and Metagross. Tyranitar's physical bulk and Flying resistance is also great for checking Gyarados and pivoting into Aerodactyl and Choice Band Salamence, all of which are major threats to Machamp. Electric-types, including both Zapdos and Jolteon, pack an extensive toolbox of options to support Machamp with. Both Pokemon can check standard Gyarados, and Zapdos enjoys Machamp dealing with surprise Hidden Power Rock sets. Both of them can also pressure bulky Water-types, spread paralysis, and lure Blissey to give Machamp an entry point with Baton Pass, and their high Speed makes them good late-game cleanup options. Agility + Baton Pass Zapdos can even give Machamp a real chance at sweeping itself against offensive teams.
Spikes are the greatest source of Machamp's longevity issues, so some form of hazard control is important to get the most from it. Having Spikes on Machamp's own team can also be useful to pressure some checks, especially Jirachi and bulky Water-types, although they aren't mandatory for success. Forretress is a great one-stop shop for hazard control that enjoys Pursuit Tyranitar just as much as Machamp does, and its great defensive profile lets Machamp fall back on it against common Pokemon such as Metagross, Claydol, some Celebi, and some offensive Jirachi, which threaten to overwhelm Machamp. Forretress's Explosion is also a valuable tool for trading with offensive threats that take advantage of Machamp, such as Suicune and Dragon Dance Salamence. Offensive Starmie is worth mentioning as a potent cleaner that enjoys Machamp dealing with Blissey and weakening opposing Water-types while being able to use Rapid Spin in an emergency. Magneton is another great partner that limits the opponent's ability to stack Spikes against Machamp's team by trapping Skarmory and Forretress; it can also threaten Zapdos, Suicune, and Milotic once or twice per game, which Machamp appreciates. Magneton can be used alongside Skarmory to give the team a source of Spikes and a solid defensive backbone, or without Skarmory on spikeless physical offense teams featuring threats like Dragon Dance Salamence and Tyranitar. Continuing on the subject of trappers, Dugtrio makes itself useful to Machamp by reliably removing Celebi and Jirachi.
As a wallbreaker with great power and coverage, Machamp is compatible with a variety of win conditions; however, its limited defensive profile means it enjoys offensive teammates with more defensive utility than itself, and it especially needs a backup Rock resistance somewhere on its team to help with Tyranitar and Aerodactyl. Agility Metagross is a standout example: it provides a backup Rock resistance and its excellent Speed once boosted lets it destroy many offensive Pokemon that Machamp dislikes, such as Salamence and Aerodactyl. The two can work together in order to weaken checks such as Jirachi and various Water-types, and in matchups against slower, bulkier teams where Machamp thrives and Metagross can struggle to pull off a sweep, the latter can remove a defensive Pokemon such as Zapdos or Milotic with Explosion, opening the door for Machamp to finish the job. Aerodactyl is another naturally fast cleaner that switches into Moltres and Gyarados and enjoys Machamp pressuring common checks such as Swampert and defensive Jirachi, letting it spam Rock Slide more freely. Since Machamp exerts a massive amount of pressure on Blissey and, with Hidden Power Bug, Celebi in conjunction with Spikes, it also pairs well with various special sweepers: Suicune enjoys Machamp's offensive profile and provides a check to Salamence and offensive Swampert in exchange. Jirachi is a solid backup Rock resistance that can also help keep Machamp healthy with Wish or sweep with Calm Mind. Charizard can switch into Metagross and pressure Jirachi, and Dragon Claw sets can also help Machamp against Salamence.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Machamp's movepool has plenty of alternative moves for the standard set, but most are too high-maintenance to see common use. Encore is an infuriating tool that punishes slow Protect users such as Swampert as well as Curse Snorlax, but Machamp's poor Speed limits the amount of targets it can use Encore against without heavy prediction. Facade is a potent neutral move when Guts is active, giving Machamp a great middle-ground option against common switch-ins such as Salamence and Claydol; however, it is useless against Gengar, and it effectively leaves Machamp with an empty moveslot if it isn't statused. Earthquake scores the hardest possible hit on Metagross and Jirachi, notably OHKOing offensive Jirachi variants at +1; however, dropping any other attack for it will leave other holes in Machamp's coverage. A Choice Band set with Cross Chop, Rock Slide, Hidden Power Ghost, and either Focus Punch or Facade gives Machamp a more instant way of boosting its power compared to Bulk Up, but such a set struggles to differentiate itself from Medicham, which is faster and packs stronger coverage thanks to Pure Power.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Intimidate**: Salamence and Gyarados both resist Cross Chop and lower Machamp's Attack with Intimidate, threatening it with their powerful Flying-type attacks. Mixed Salamence 2HKOes Machamp in sand with Dragon Claw, bypassing its Defense boosts, and Choice Band variants can land an OHKO even after a boost. Gyarados is similarly threatening with its standard set, although Hidden Power Rock variants will actually lose to Machamp. An immunity to Spikes also ensures both Pokemon can switch into Machamp multiple times.
**Water-types**: Milotic easily switches into Machamp's unboosted attacks, letting it stall out Cross Chop's PP with Recover or punish Bulk Up attempts with a 3HKO from Surf. However, Milotic must be wary of faster Machamp spreads designed to beat it, or those that have already boosted before it hits the field. Defensive Suicune can stand up to Cross Chop similarly well, and its higher Speed makes it nearly impossible for Machamp to creep past it. Offensive sets can also 2HKO Machamp with Hydro Pump, and both sets have Pressure to help waste precious Cross Chop PP. Swampert struggles to weather Machamp's hits consistently, but variants with Hydro Pump can wash Machamp away with a 2HKO, especially since a boosted Cross Chop frequently knocks it into Torrent range.
**Psychic-types**: Jirachi threatens to OHKO Machamp with Psychic or stall out Cross Chop's PP with Wish and Protect, although a timely critical hit can throw a wrench into the latter plan. Standard defensive Jirachi also can't deal damage to Machamp without risk of activating Guts. Celebi can threaten Machamp while more easily switching into Cross Chop, and defensive sets will beat it if it lacks Hidden Power Bug; its Leech Seed also accelerates the timer that Machamp is frequently on to make progress. Mixed Metagross can OHKO Machamp in sand with Psychic, although it's slower and can't switch into Cross Chop. Every other Metagross set can OHKO Machamp even at +2 Defense with Explosion. Claydol doesn't beat Machamp one-on-one without prior chip damage, but its ability to consistently bait a weak Hidden Power makes it a great pivoting tool for its teammates, and Psychic can 2HKO after a layer of Spikes.
**Skarmory**: Skarmory isn't instantly threatened by Cross Chop and doesn't care about Machamp's other coverage, making it a solid answer; its Spikes also severely cut into Machamp's longevity, a problem made even worse when Skarmory can remove its boosts and force Spikes damage onto it with Roar. However, Toxic + Protect variants fare significantly worse than those using Drill Peck, since activating Guts gives Machamp a boost that puts Skarmory into 2HKO range and isn't removed with phazing.
**Residual damage**: Machamp is affected by all all three of OU's near-omnipresent Toxic + Spikes + Sandstorm combination. This combined with middling bulk means Machamp's impact on a battle will be drastically limited unless it has the proper support. Since it actually benefits more often than not from the presence of sandstorm and Toxic, the best way to minimize this weakness is to control the opponent's ability to keep Spikes on the field via Rapid Spin or Magneton support.
**Faster Pokemon**: Machamp's low Speed leaves it vulnerable to being revenge killed or forced out by other offensive Pokemon, especially those with super effective coverage for it such as Salamence, Jirachi, and Aerodactyl, as well as generally strong special attackers such as Moltres and offensive Suicune. Although respectable bulk and Defense-boosting capabilities make it difficult to OHKO Machamp from full health, it can easily be chipped into range of these threats with status and Spikes damage.
**Pressure**: Zapdos, Moltres, Suicune, and the rare Dusclops are all solid Fighting-type checks that can deplete 1/4 of Cross Chop's PP by simply switching into it. Aggressive predictions with Rock Slide can help against the former two, however, and more offensive Suicune variants can be thwarted by a Hydro Pump miss or an untimely critical hit, making them shakier checks.
**Weezing**: Weezing's massive physical bulk, Spikes immunity, and Poison typing make it one of the best Fighting-type answers in the game, and it can quickly wear Machamp down to nothing with Will-O-Wisp and Pain Split.
[CREDITS]
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/stupidflandrs48.633500/
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