Richard's Reasoning - Machamp

Welcome to the fifteenth installment of Richard's Reasoning, where we discuss Pokemon in Crystal Clear's unique metagame. This time we'll be talking about a Pokemon that has received substantial buffs in the latest patch. Let's talk about Machamp.

Base Stats: 90 HP / 130 Attack / 80 Defense / 65 Sp. Attack / 85 Sp. Defense / 55 Speed

Machamp was the benefactor of a great many new tools that make it a terrifying threat to be facing down. Shadow Ball, Agility, and Swords Dance, as well as Double-Kick and Perish Song have been added to its movepool via tutor. Fighting Machamp is now harder than ever before, especially if you're not aware of what moveset it's using. The real fear of fighting Machamp, however, comes in what teammates it's being paired with, and what archetype that team itself is.

To be specific, Baton Pass teams that pass Machamp some boosts (usually Agility) can turn Machamp into a nigh-unstoppable destructive force if it's packing Swords Dance. Here's what I'd recommend for using Machamp.

-The Champ-

Machamp@ MiracleBerry / PrzCureBerry / Leftovers / King's Rock
Cross Chop
Shadow Ball / Earthquake / Rock Slide
Earthquake / Rock Slide / Double-Kick
Swords Dance / Agility / Rock Slide / Double-Kick

Cross Chop is your main STAB attack here, and as unfortunate as that is, Machamp's natural bulk is usually enough for you to withstand a single miss without it being devastating. The 25% crit chance adds a lot to making this even harder to switch into. Machamp is so strong that even something that resists Cross Chop switching into a critical hit is usually losing at least half of their health.

Shadow Ball is your secondary move here, but I'd argue it's for use only if Machamp has Agility or is being Baton Passed Speed. Machamp is naturally slower than almost every Psychic type you're likely to encounter, and therefore the effectiveness of the move isn't as useful if Machamp's Speed isn't being boosted in some manner.

Earthquake is my next move recommendation for a few reasons. It gives you a super-effective move to hit most Poison-types, which resist Fighting. But also, it gives you a powerful 100% accurate move with great coverage for use when finishing off a weakened opponent. Having a means of breaking through Weezing, especially if you're packing Swords Dance, is essential if you aim to sweep.

Rock Slide is a crucial consideration, given that Flying-types resist Fighting as well, but I'd say this is the least necessary move on the list for a few reasons. Teammates can help fend off Flying types with a variety of tools, and if you're using a Baton Passer to pass Speed, a wide amount of Pokemon that have tools to hit Flying-types Super-effectively pair well with Machamp, such as Tyranitar, Nidoking, Ampharos, Lapras and more. Scouting the opponent's team during team preview to see which Pokemon to pair with Machamp will be essential without Rock Slide, but you absolutely can use Rock Slide instead of Shadow Ball for perfect coverage at the cost of not having Super-Effective coverage on Psychic-types.

Double-Kick is a weird option to consider, especially when Cross Chop is already a necessity, but sometimes Double-Kick is strong enough to KO the opposing Pokemon, especially if you're boosting with Swords Dance or being passed Attack boosts, and Double-Kick has perfect accuracy. It also has the niche benefit of the possibility of breaking a Sub and still landing a hit, though this is much less significant. The problem with using this is that you're giving up on valuable coverage for the ability to remove a 20% miss chance (Cross Chop missing), and that isn't always going to be worth it.

Finally, Machamp has both Agility and Swords Dance. Swords Dance is my preferred option here for multiple reasons. Besides the potential for Agility-passers to give Machamp the Speed boost it needs, Swords Dance gives Machamp the ability to break through opposing walls that would otherwise be impenetrable for it, even if you aren't passing Speed. Given Machamp's natural bulk, it can usually find time to set that up and power through those walls, especially if they have to switch into a full-health Machamp as it's setting up.

Agility is certainly an option, though, and I think the best way to utilize this is with a more offense-oriented team. The aim when using Agility with Machamp itself should be to punch holes in as many Pokemon as possible before Machamp goes down so that another powerful teammate can come in and clean up afterward. Building your team with a more offensive slant is the way to go here. Good teammates when going this route would be Alakazam, Aerodactyl, Gyarados, Nidoking, and even Heracross. It might sound redundant to double-down on Fighting types, but overwhelming an opponent with the same kind of Pokemon can be incredibly effective, since most people will only bring one Pokemon to counter a specific archetype of Pokemon and can't always deal with two of them.

As you can see, every decision when building a team for Machamp is crucial. When utilized properly, it's overwhelmingly potent. Another important thing to consider is the held item. I am always a big proponent for MiracleBerry on any Fighting-type as the go-to item to block any and all status effects once, because they're some of the easiest to render useless through status-effects, given how easy it is to play around a Burnt or Paralyzed Fighting-type. PrzCureBerry can be used if the MiracleBerry is already being taken, and I'd say Ice Berry isn't worth it, given how few rare Burn is, even in our metagame compared to Paralysis. Leftovers is the last option here, and well-worth considering given how good Machamp's natural defenses are. Finally, King's Rock is an option if Machamp is using Agility or is being Baton Passed Speed for an added chance to Flinch the opponent on top of its overwhelming power, which can sometimes just win the game for you.

Machamp has even more options as well. Protect with Leftovers is an obvious play, but finding room for it is extremely difficult and probably means dropping your boosting move to retain coverage. Substitute can be used instead of a boosting move if you're relying on a Baton Passer to pass you a boost, but I'd say if you're going that route, having a MiracleBerry and being passed Agility before using your turn to use Swords Dance is more valuable. Still, preventing status outright can be very valuable, so consider your options carefully. Hidden Power Bug was the old standby for Machamp and can still be used over Shadow Ball, but it's weaker against everything but Exeggutor, so there's no real reason to use it anymore. Curse is an option to use over Swords Dance, but usually yields lesser results, given how much faster 3v3 is and how slow Curse is to start snowballing. Perish Song is a gimmicky option that Machamp can use to both phaze opponents or as a win condition against an opponent's final Pokemon, but it's extremely unreliable and Machamp has better things to do. Finally, Fire Blast can be used to hit some Steel types like Scizor, Skarmory, and Steelix, but since Machamp has access to Swords Dance now, it's hardly necessary.

-My Opinion-

Machamp is a classic design in Pokemon at this point. Machamp is highly recognizable, very cool, and exudes power from its design alone. It struggled a lot in these early generations, and quickly became outclassed in later generations, but it eventually carved out an iconic niche for itself through No Guard DynamicPunch. I love those kinds of things, where a Pokemon is so synonymous with a move that they become intrinsically linked. For now, though, he's just The Champ, trying to regain his title from the Blue Beetle.