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Evolved Poliwrath's and Fighting prowess

I've just evolved two (lvl27 14A11D14S 87%, LVL29 14A11D15S 89%) wild Poliwag's in order to get some Fighting fit Poliwraths. Unfortunately I got Bubble and Ice Punch on both. Is it worth using a CTM?

Hoping to get Dynamic punch (if not, Hydro Pump alternative would be useful too). If DP is selected on the 1st attempt should I then use an FTM for Rock Smash?

I have only 1 Viable Lvl20 13A11D12S Machamp with Counter/DP and the 2 other Lvl20 Machamps (12A13D14S, 12ADS) have BP/HS. I could instead use the same two suggested TMs on one of two above.. thoughts?

Asked by TaCoMaBoLT7 years 4 months ago

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Answers

If you need Fighting 'mon, absolutely use the TMs on Machamp, which is magnitudes more effective than even a double-Fight Poliwrath--even if you get Close Combat instead of Dynamic Punch on the 'champ.

I think you'll regret spending resources on any of the Pokémon listed in the very near future.

Why do you need the fighting types right now? Is it something that needs to be done now and doesn't allow you to wait for a more clear option to present itself?

Mostly to take down 3k Snorlax and Blissey's holding down gyms without having to invest a lot of potions and revives on my other 'mons. I may have a rival in mind who likes to clean sweep a whole bunch of gyms which is just greedy as I live within a 10 gym radius!

I guess I'll try my luck on Machamp raids even though I can't solo them yet..

Gym sweeping is a good enough answer and it sounds like you'd use it right away. I love Poliwrath but recently transferred some 80ish IV level 30s from last Summer when I was new. He just doesn't size up and CTMs are so rare and valuable.

With that said, if you need to boost one, pick your best statistical champ and TM it as needed.

Edit: I'd set a time to wait for a better one first. If I don't have a better one in X days I'll boost ....

I'd suggest just using more potions / revives over using a TM on a Poliwrath.

TMs are much rarer and thus valuable, and even if you were to get Dynamic Punch it wouldn't make gyms significantly easier to beat compared to just using a good generalist due to Poliwrath's mediocre attack.

Try to work on being able to solo level 3 raids if you are in need of raid-exclusive items, and if you are, using a TM on a Poliwrath is a poor investment because it's not useful against anything but Porygon - although anything half-decent can beat that.

Poliwrath makes a good TTar anchor due to his superior defense and water subtyping compared to Machamp, while resisting ALL of TTars moves.

That said, Machamp is much better for DPS, but a Poliwrath in 5th or 6th slot helps out during small group raids that can't afford a Blissey

Why does any group of 6 need an anchor now for multi-trainer raids?

Consider using CTM if...
- you're not powering up that Machamp (eg. lack of candy and unable to do Machamp raids, or if you're hunting for a better IV one)
- you don't encounter a lot of Poliwags (to try and find other high level and IV ones)
- you want to have more diverse team, even if it means having to sacrifice some performance for it
- you have a lot of CTMs
You said that HP would be useful, too. If you don't have too many Vaporeons, I agree. In that case using a CTM would have only good outcomes.

I've used DP Poliwraths in gym fights against Blisseys and such, and also in raids (Tyranitar and Snorlax). They get the job done. My first Machamp had C/CCombat and I actually liked my B/DP Poliwraths better in gym fights.

I think it comes down to:
- the rate you get CTMs (raiding a lot? Do you need to use those CTMs elsewhere? Do you want to save them for gen 3 move rebalancing?)
vs.
- the rate you catch and evolve Poliwags.
For me, it's much easier to get tons of Poliwags as I live by a lake and I also have lots of Vaporeons. That's why I wouldn't use any TMs if I evolved Poliwraths with the movesets you listed. However, I don't know the specifics of your situation.

I hope that some of these ideas could be helpful!