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Machamp solo is underrated

I have managed to beat solo some T3 like Onix, Granbull, Omastar, Kabutops, Porygon, Scyther, Piloswine, Azumarill and FB Gengar.

But still cant beat Champ. Last time i tried him 2 months ago and did 80% his hp with average team like Espeon, Unpowered Lugia, Eggys Zams.

Now i faced C/DP one in sunny weather with following team:

35 lvl 15/15/15 PC/FS Alakazam
35 lvl 15/15/15 C/FS Alakazam
33 lvl 15/15/11 PC/FS Alakazam
33 lvl 13/14/15 C/DG Gardevoir
35 lvl 15/13/13 DT/O Rayquaza
39 lvl 14/13/12 FS/O Moltres( used cause Sunny wheather but i can only replace him in other neutral weather with 34 lvl 15/6/9 ZH/PB Espeon)

Tried 6 times and always fainting with less than 5% Champ HP. Dunno i have chance with this team but i can power Lugia to lvl 30 if need. Some tips are welcome here.

For me its weird, that he is called as "Easy" while Omastar or Onix "Intermediate".

Asked by Ziperro7 years 3 months ago
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Answers

That team should handily beat Machamp. The only explanation I can think of is you aren't dodging with your Alakazams and they are getting between 0 and 1 Futuresights off. Give that 2nd one PC and start dodging!

The Moltres really doesn't have a place here, especially in the last slot because of how slow he is. Powering up your Lugia and putting him last (with Sky Attack) would seal the deal

Edit: Also congrats on having 2 perfect Alakazams. Im jealous

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At high levels Moltres has the DPS to solo Machamp so nothing wrong with it in the last slot if OP lacks any other anchor, but of course Lugia, Hu Dragonite etc. are better.
EDIT: And just noticed OP had clear weather, which makes Moltres an extremely good counter.

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That's fair. Like I said, his existing team should wreck Machamp as is with double-digits to spare. Just needs to keep those Alakazams alive as long as possible.

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Well, true that usually Zams get 1 FS off, rarely 2. I havent bad connectivity and phone. Just hard for me is dodge some moves like DP. Have same problems with Sludge Bomb in Gengar solo.

MVP in this battle is Gardevoir. She stand long and fire off lots DG with minimal dodging.

Those Zams have funny story. I Caught both Abras during one walk for some shop. First one caught when going to, second when i ended and almost reached home. Both 35 lvl in Windy weather in less than one hour. It was 3 months ago, but i made them Zams thx to Kanto event. Abra candy is really hard to get. Both had after evolve FS so i ended up with 2 Perfect Zams with 0 dust and TMs invested :D

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Everything else on your list, with the exception of onix and omastar, can only be described as 'laughably easy'. In that sense, machamp is harder. Machamp's difficulty lies more in fainting out rather than timing out, which seems to be your problem as well.

Alakazam/espeon may be the best 'mainstream' counters of machamp, but if you don't dodge, they will get wiped out. Only attempt no dodging if you are rocking mewtwo, dragonite or gengar yeams.

As Solid_snake mentioned, try to aim to get 2 future sights per alakazam. If you are having problems dodging, try to anticipate a boss move well in advance and don't be afraid to swipe more than once in a desperate attempt to dodge. Spending a second to pause and dodge, to get an extra charge move off, is better than not being able to hit it at all.

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Next time you get a chance, practice going in and trying 2 get those 2 Futuresights off with the 1st Zam. If you can't get off 2, back out, revive him, and start over. Once you get the hang of it, you'll have Machamp deep in the yellow before your 3 Zams faint, then Gardevoir, Rayquaza and whoever else can finish him off with ease. You may not even use your 6th mon.

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its even easier now with the yellow flash appearing in raids. no need to spam dodges.

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I use a team of just Mewtwo's, don't dodge and I have no problem soloing Machamp! I usually only have the first 2 or 3 Mewtwo's faint... So that's my advice, use Mewtwo's but if u don't have Mewtwo's max out your strongest psychic Pokémon and keep trying!

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I wouldn't say "problem" because a team with 2-3 Mewtwos probably doesn't need dodging, but it's definitely a not-so-subtle humblebrag.

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by gibell 7 years 3 months ago

Do you have an old phone, or did the gym have poor signal? These can easily cost you 20 seconds, dooming your win.

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Dodging is much more critical for Machamp raids, and this reason is why I've TM'ed Confusion off all my Mewtwo/Alakazam/Espeon I use against it. Dodging with Confusion sucks and the increased DPS isn't worth missing out an extra Future Sight in my opinion. If you have a Lugia with ES/FS or SA that should be your anchor.

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For reference, here's roughly my team:
-Mewtwo lvl low-30's PC/SB
-Espeon lvl 30 ZH/PS
-Espeon lvl 32.5 ZH/FS
-Alakazam lvl 30 PS/FS
-Dragonite lvl 30.5 DT/H
-Lugia lvl 30 ES/FS

I've been meaning to TM my other Espeon to FS but keep forgetting to. I've been able to solo any Machamp variant with half a minute or less remaining, depending on its moves and how well I pull of my dodges.

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I second this. I'm new in the "solo lv3 raids" thing and I did find it harder to solo champ with Confusion since it was way harder to dodge.

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If you're fainting, you need to dodge more or power up the Lugia. The Lugia at level 30 probably puts you over the edge pretty easily, but as others have said, you should aim to hit 2 FS with each of your Alakazams. Their DPS is so good that you can afford to lose a bit by being careful with spamming attacks to make sure you hit your dodges. Generally each Zam needs to dodge 2-3 DP/HS.

In neutral weather you should replace the Moltres with the Espeon and if you fight in clear again, you should keep the Moltres but replace the Rayquaza with Espeon.

As for difficulty, generally the hardest thing in raids is not timing out and in that regard Machamp is easy due to its low defense. However, the moveset has huge effect on how hard it is to survive through the raid, CC Machamp is overall one of the easiest raids while DP Machamp could easily be argued to be harder than Omastar.

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That team SHOULD be good enough to Solo a Machamp. I've solo'd Weather Boosted Machamps with teams fairly similar to yours. (2 Esperon, 2 Alakazam, 1 Lugia and 1 Legacy Gengar; it wasn't an intentional Solo, but somehow when 3 of us went in, I got put into a different lobby.) Are you having any lag issues, or phone issues?

The only thing I would suggest is putting in the Lugia (without Hydropump) or if Lugia w/o Hydropump isn't available, a Gengar as both are heavily resistant to Fighting. (Gengar isn't optimal, but if you're fainting, Gengar might be helpful) Latios (Pyschic moves) are good to put in as well, if possible.

But this seems to be more of a case of how you're battling or some technological issues rather than what Pokémon you're using - that's a good team.

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Using Alakazam, Gardenvoir, espeon is high risk high reward. You could beat Machamp in record time but I could go the other way say machamp could do the same thing.

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Tell me about it. I barely pulled this one off because Kokonutz had a boost due to clear day. Failed to solo a DP one a second time though because it was partly cloudy.

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Honestly I've done a fair number of challenge solos and I think you deserve a medal for using that team to beat DP Machamp.

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If it weren't for clear weather i'd probably not be able to do so though. I'll try to do it again whenever the sun's out, or if windy weather is available to see just how much my psychic and wind attackers are influenced.

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out of curiosity I checked GoBattleSim with your pokemon against C/DP machamp. I used perfect level 35 pokemon and guessed/remembered the moveset (psybeam on Espy and AA on last Xatu). Turns out you have 4-10% to win without dodging which is amazing.

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The movesets of them all are:
Exeggutor: E/SoB
Dragonite: DT/Hu
Espeon: C/PB
Vaporeon: WG/HP
Xatu x 2: AS/AA

I wonder if one of the Xatus had FS if it would make a difference.

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Here is the link to the simulation, you can play with it and see what makes a difference.
https://pokemongo.gamepress.gg/gobattlesim?%7B"atkrSettings"%3A%5B%7B"party_list"%3A%5B%7B"pokemon_list"%3A%5B%7B"species"%3A"exeggutor"%2C"copies"%3A1%2C"level"%3A"35"%2C"fmove"%3A"Extrasensory"%2C"cmove"%3A"Solar%20Beam"%7D%2C%7B"species"%3A"dragonite"%2C"copies"%3A1%2C"level"%3A"35"%2C"fmove"%3A"Dragon%20Tail"%2C"cmove"%3A"Hurricane"%7D%2C%7B"species"%3A"espeon"%2C"copies"%3A1%2C"level"%3A"35"%2C"fmove"%3A"Confusion"%2C"cmove"%3A"Psybeam"%7D%2C%7B"species"%3A"xatu"%2C"copies"%3A1%2C"level"%3A"35"%2C"fmove"%3A"Air%20Slash"%2C"cmove"%3A"Aerial%20Ace"%7D%2C%7B"species"%3A"vaporeon"%2C"copies"%3A1%2C"level"%3A"35"%2C"fmove"%3A"Water%20Gun"%2C"cmove"%3A"Hydro%20Pump"%7D%2C%7B"species"%3A"xatu"%2C"copies"%3A1%2C"level"%3A"35"%2C"fmove"%3A"Air%20Slash"%2C"cmove"%3A"Aerial%20Ace"%7D%5D%7D%5D%7D%5D%2C"dfdrSettings"%3A%7B"species"%3A"machamp"%2C"fmove"%3A"Counter"%2C"cmove"%3A"Dynamic%20Punch"%2C"raid_tier"%3A3%7D%2C"generalSettings"%3A%7B"weather"%3A"SUNNY_CLEAR"%2C"simPerConfig"%3A100%7D%7D

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Seems I got more chances to win with AA on both than with FS on one. But if I replace Vaporeon with an Alakazam... I might gain some extra time.

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It made all the difference when I fought the same moveset champ under partly cloudy and lost before the end with the same lineup.

Windy weather would probably be even more in my favor, but that's rare where I live. It would help my 2 Xatu, my Espeon, my Exeggutor's fast move, and my Dragonite. Champ would be screwed.

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by DrAzzy 7 years 3 months ago

I would replace the Zam's with Espeons and add in a Ex/SA Lugia powered past lvl 31.5ish breakpoint.
I can do everything except cloudy weather DP with Lugia, 4 lvl 31 Espeons, lvl 30 AS/AA ray or a lvl 35 C/FS zam. I am not happy with Zam performance - it is just too squishy. I'm shocked at the high levels of the stuff you're throwing at it without success - you're using much higher level mons than I am and still failing...

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by mahzza 7 years 3 months ago

I don't like Zam in this matchup: too squishy. And since that's half your team, your result doesn't surprise me.

Gardevoir, Espeon, Mewtwo (if you have it), and Rayquaza are much more forgiving choices. Lugia has a breakpoint with EX at level 31.5 (with 15A), so I'd take it there for sure. I even put a C/P or C/SB Exeggutor on my team (depending on weather) because I can reliably get off at least two charged moves every time due to its bulk. Both have times to win of about 155 seconds, so you're getting more consistency for the loss of a little power vs. Zam.

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I dont have other Espeons than i posted: 15/6/9 ZH/PB
Also if i have more Gardevoir, i would put them for sure. For me the best counter vs non Heavy Slam Champ.( dont have Ho-Oh)

I have 3 Mewtwos but IVS are 76, 80 and 72 and highest attack stat is 11. Have invite on Monday and hope get better.

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I would honestly replace one of those 'Zams with one of those Mewtwo's, TM'd to psycho cut/psychic. Even with a 10 attack stat, powered up to the breakpoint of 27.5 will give the same fast move damage as a level 34 perfect 'Zam. Get in a couple extra hard hitting psychic moves as well, compared to the glass cannon 'Zam.

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Like everyone just said, Alakazams are too frail. DP machamp is a beast, thats why I use only 1 Alakazam in the first slot. I use a psybeam espeon which works great, and also a solar beam eggy (its better than you think, to compensate for the frailty of alakazam and espeon). You should try some tankier options.
Or just take the easy road and power up lugia.

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Last time I soloed machamp I only used lv28 alakazam and 30 Espeon, lv32 lugia. It wasn't that hard as you make it sound

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Dodging is the Key. My old Team, L 33

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Wow this team is really good you should solo ez.Its all on the Alakazams to push you ahead of the clock. Ya gotta get 2 at least. Even 3 is amazing if its something like close combat. I did my first solo machamp on my lvl 27 alt 3 days ago with 3 lvl 26 Alakazams PC/FS, 1 lvl 26 espeon C/FS, 1 ray lvl 26 AA/AA, and a lugia lvl 26 E/SA.

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This team soloed Machamp today with over 55 sec to spare. I think it’s rated “easy” because it’s easy to get a team of level 30+ counters without spending dust. Only spent dust on Lugia.

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The times I failed to solo Machamp were when I used Alakazams and Lugias. I find powered up (level 34) DT/O dragons work better than those two, as alkazam doesn't last long enough in battle while lugia lingers in battle with a lower damage output. Leading off with the three dragons I have, I can get the champ down to about 25%.

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