[Machamp Raid] Ho-Oh Vs Lugia?
I heard alot of people say Lugia is better, but also heard a few say hooh is better. which one to use?
Answers
The other advantage Ho-Oh has in a Machamp raid is if you get steel moves on Machamp. Lugia is neutral, while Ho-Oh resists steel. Lugia double resists fighting moves and doesn't resist steel, Ho-Oh single resists all Machamp moves. And Ho-Oh has a higher attack than Lugia.
Personally, I never got a Lugia, so I'm using Ho-Oh. If I had a choice, don't know what I'd do, maybe use both if I had dust to power both up.
The higher DPS is important if you 'almost' finish the raid and time out. If it's in the bag either way, then it doesn't really matter.
Lugia's best generalist moveset is Extrasensory/Sky Attack. So one benefit is the best moveset against Machamp is uasable as a generalist gym sweeper or raid anchor if you want that kind of thing.
Ho-Oh though doesn't really have a good generalist moveset. The most useful is maybe Extrasensory/Solar Beam, but that is overly reliant on a 100 energy move for use as a gym sweeper. The best moveset against Machamp is its weakest charge move when used without the type advantage. I wish it had a fire fast move and Sky Attack. That would be an interesting generalist that resists Dazzling Gleam.
Sky Attack has better cycle damage AND is two bars so has less energy wasted.
The spreadsheet data at PoGoMoves.com ranks E/S first for Lugia for neutral damage. PokeBattler ranks E/S as Lugia's best moveset against Machamp raids.
GamePress ranks E/F first, but they use more subjective criteria. I think they favor single-type movesets to maximize type effectiveness, which is generally fine, but in this case it doesn't really matter because fighting is weak to both psychic and flying.
I would guess that Ho-Oh is a poor man's Lugia. It doesn't benefit from STAB on its quick moves and Brave Bird is a MUCH worse iteration of Sky Attack.
That being said, Ho-Oh does have marginally better DPS due to its much higher attack stat. It is by no means a bad option.
I personally think that a Ho-Oh is more than enough to get the job done. You'll probably need to use a glass counter or two more than in Lugia's case, where a single espeon leading to a Lugia would be sufficient, but that's about it.
I powered up my Extrasensory/Brave Bird Ho-Oh for soloing Machamp with Heavy Slam and Dynamic Punch and he's awesome for that. Before that, I could only solo Close Combat. According to Pokebattler Ho-Oh also finishes faster than Lugia. The lack of stab on Extrasensory is compensated by the higher attack stat (Ho-Oh's is 239 and Lugia's is just 193) and watching Ho-Oh tank Heavy Slams like a boss is pretty awesome.
https://www.pokebattler.com/raids/defenders/MACHAMP/cp/18144/attackers/attackerLevels/40/strategies/CINEMATIC_ATTACK_WHEN_POSSIBLE/DEFENSE_RANDOM_MC?sort=TIME&weatherCondition=NO_WEATHER&dodgeStrategy=DODGE_25&aggregation=AVERAGE
