Not really a question, but...
As soloing Level 3 raids is one of the interesting things in PoGo, and many people solo Pokemon like Alakazam, Gengar and such, I just wanted to tell you guys that I finally managed to solo my nemesis Machamp! In the last 6-9 months, I tried a couple times to solo Machamp, but always failed. Was quite frustrating despite Machamp being categorized as easy. It was most likely due to me not having good Pokemon, mostly Espeons and Alakazam between Level 25 and 30, some likely with unoptimal moves. But today, I finally did it, and Machamp was even weather boosted! My squad was the following:
Espeon, 2743 CP, C/FS
Alakazam, 2628 CP, PC/FS
Mewtwo, 2690 CP, C/SB
Alakazam, 2053 CP, PS/FS (wild caught, mediocre IVs, used it just because of moveset)
Rayquaza, 2554 CP, AS/O
Rayquaza, 2032, AS/AA
Didn‘t even need the second Ray, as my first one needed just 3 Outrages to defeat Machamp. Had about 40 seconds left I believe. And Machamp was C/CC (at least I believe it was Counter, I couldn‘t differentiate the quick move that good). Although, now I actually have a question: do you think I could also win against a DP or HS Machamp with this team (also Champ weather boosted)? Those were the best 6 I could get together. I know DP and HS are more difficult two to being more spammed, so what do you guys think?
Sidenote: the Raid Boss list is wrong in terms of weather boosted CP of the bosses. I looked it up and it said 1980 would be 100%, and I caught one with 1973, so I thought sweet, even a good one. But when I checked it, it turned out to be a lousy 69%, the lowest would be 1967, the highest 2063 (according to the IV calculator website I use). So just a heads up that that should be changed.
Answers
I can easily solo Machamp with CC using two Alakazams, an Espeon and two Exeggutors with CP in the 2400s, with no need for my DT/Hu Dragonite. In other words, your team is seriously overkill for Machamp with CC.
What makes DP and HS challenging is that they hit like trucks (and Psychic-types do not resist HS). Good dodging is crucial, especially for the glass cannons; fainting just before firing off a FS may be the difference between success and failure. Three legendaries should give more than enough bulk though.
Yeah, I got a few good reads on Machamp firing it‘s CC (mostly with my Zams though, thanks to Psycho Cut). Could have probably dodged one with Mewtwo aswell, but Confusion denied me that one. Yeah, I just used the first Ray because it was a weather boosted catch. And the second just because it had the Flying moveset by default, IVs are not that outstanding.
Congrats on your Machamp raid winning, unfortunately the most interesting one (Alakazam) is gone now
But you still can play around with Machamp (Different moveset, try to beat it with non legendary mon, unique challenge without legendary and using all 6 mons in battle, time attack challenge)
Sadly the new ( since gen 2 tier 3) is not as interesting as the first one..
The newest one are also not challenging at all.
Doing my first solo Jynx and Pilloswine using no duplicate mons, no legendary and win in my first try. After that i lost interest and quit the solo tier 3, only doing it if my free raid pass is almost expired, so no premium pass for solo raid now...
You just started the soloing Machamp journey, and I just finished it. Yesterday I soloed a weather boosted Machamp with Counter and Dynamic Punch. My team:
Espeon L36, CP 2792, Cf/FS
Mewtwo, L26, CP 2902, Cf/Psychic
Mewtwo, L33, CP 3518, PC/SB
Ho-Oh, L31, CP 3327, Ex/BB
Rayquaza, L25, CP 2584, AS/AA
Dragonite, L33, CP 3215, DT/H
(I've since TMd the Dragonite to Outrage, since the Rayquaza can take over that role).
Fought dynamic punch, took all 6, but finished it off with 20+ seconds on the clock. Non weather boosted, the Ho-Oh usually doesn't get KOd.
I don't mean to belittle your accomplishment - I remember my first Machamp solo fondly too, with a team similar to yours (well, more espeons). This will give you something to work towards. And of course, I still need to power up the Psychic Mewtwo and Rayquaza.
It's also good because Machamp is the most meta-relevant non legendary raid pokemon after Tyranitar, so being able to take it down solo is useful, and not just a thing to do for the sake of doing it.
Congrats.
Excellent work! I remember my first Machamp solo. I had failed a couple times before and I was over the moon with my first success. And to top it off, I got a 96% Machamp out of it.
I would say that with that much time left and without using your second Ray, you ought to have a good shot at the others. A slightly unconventional option against Heavy Slam is a fire attacker like Moltres, Entei, or Flareon. Since they resist Steel moves and give good neutral dps, they are very forgiving if you struggle with dodging.
