Gigantamax Machamp is making its Gigantamax debut in Pokémon Go, and given its a bit of a powerhouse, it’ll need some coordination to take down. It’s expected to hit hard, so you’ll want to bring out the tankiest of your tanks to help you out with this.
Machamp will specifically appear as part of Gigantamax Machamp Max Battle Day on Sunday, May 25, from 2-5 p.m. in your local time, appearing at power spots every 30 minutes or so. (This also comes hot off the heels of a Machop Community Day event the day before, so make sure to stock up on Machop Candy!)
Below we list Gigantamax Machamp’s best counters and weaknesses in Pokémon Go, as well as general battle tips for the big guy.
Gigantamax Machamp weakness
Machamp has a few weaknesses, though there’s only a few we can really take advantage of: flying-, psychic-, and fairy-type moves.
That being said, it’ll be resistant against rock-, bug-, and dark-type moves, so don’t use those unless they’re just fast moves to help charge the max meter.
Gigantamax Machamp best counters
Try to bring at least one of these attackers:
- Dynamax Metagross with Zen Headbutt (Max Mindstorm)
- Dynamax Moltres with Wing Slash (Max Airstream)
- Dynamax Unfezant with Air Slash (Max Airstream)
- Dynamax Charizard with Air Slash (Max Airstream)
Yep, you read that right — Dynamax Charizard, not Gigantamax. Gigantamax Charizard will always have G-Max Wildfire as its attack, regardless of what its fast move is set to, and in this case, you want a flying-type max move. That said, you can still bring a powered-up Gigantamax Charizard if that’s what you’ve got! Bring anything that can bring the damage; the list above is just the best stuff to bring.
Image: Niantic
As of this writing, there’s a Timed Research set that will reward you with a Dynamax Beldum, alongside Beldum Candy to help you prepare for this tough fight, so you should invest in that if you can.
For defenders/tanks, bring one or two of the following:
- Dynamax Blissey with Pound
- Dynamax/Gigantamax Gengar with Lick
- Dynamax/Gigantamax Venusaur with Vine Whip
- Dynamax/Gigantamax Blastoise with Water Gun
These guys’ job is just to soak up the damage from Machamp while generating as much energy as possible with their fast attacks. Note that your mileage may vary here — if Machamp knows Close Combat, your Blissey may have a harder time. If Machamp knows Payback, then your Gengar might be in trouble. If possible, bringing one of each and then swapping depending on Machamp’s moveset is going to be the to-go strategy here when it comes to tanking.
Consider just bringing the strongest Dynamax or Gigantamax Pokémon you have. If you have a maxed out Gigantamax Toxtricity and your Dynamax Metagross isn’t leveled (and you don’t have the means to power it up), just bring your Toxtricity.
General Gigantamax Machamp tips
If you’ve been struggling in Max Battles, here’s some general tips to survive — and make sure you’re an asset to your team. Gigantamax battles involve way more strategy than the usual rampant tapping that you do in raids, so make sure to know what you’re doing before jumping in.
- Make sure you have enough players. High-efficiency groups with maxed out investments can take down the Machamp with fewer people, but practically, if you don’t have hundreds of spare candy and even more Stardust laying around, this isn’t going to be an option for you. Make sure you have as many people as possible to ensure that you get your beefy muscle man.
- Don’t sleep on Max Spirit and Max Guard. Teams work best when there’s a variety of moves, not just maxed-out attacks. Each player should bring Pokémon with the defensive and healing moves unlocked as well. Max Guard will focus single-target damage towards you and reduce the damage taken; Max Spirit will heal the whole party. These moves are really important to make sure your damage-dealers can keep dishing.
- Remember to swap to super effective moves when it’s time to Dynamax. For Dynamax Pokémon, their max moves are determined by whatever type their fast move is. This means if you have a Darmanitan with Fire Fang, it will know Max Flare. A Gengar with Lick will know Max Phantasm. Take advantage of this and make sure to swap to a Pokémon that will deal super effective damage to your target before Dynamaxing, if you can.
- Focus on your fast moves. You want to spam your fast moves to build up that Dynamax meter and often times, using your charge move is actually a DPS loss when compared to the damage you could be doing with your max move will be. Spam those attacks!
- Level up a few ‘mons, but you don’t have to go too hard. Depending on your group size, you absolutely do not need to max out all your Dynamax Pokémon to level 40-50. While this will make it easier on the rest of your group, if this isn’t an investment you can make, you don’t have to stress about it. Power things up as high as you can afford to, but don’t fret if you don’t have a maxed out Pokémon.
- All of that said, make sure to come as prepared as you can be. This is a team effort and there’s a chance that a full group of four can still fail. Do not just bring your unleveled Dynamax Wooloo expecting a free ride to a powerful Pokémon. (After all, if everyone does that, then you certainly won’t clear the battle.) Again, you don’t have to completely max out your Pokémon, but it will be better for everyone involved if you bring something helpful to the table.
- Keep your eye out for a shiny Machamp! If you clear the raid, there is a chance that the Machamp you catch will be shiny — which also means it’ll be a guaranteed catch. Use a Pinap Berry to score extra candy if you get lucky enough to find a sparkly Machamp.
Graphic: Julia Lee/Polygon | Source images: Niantic
