Pokemon GO: Is Machamp’s Payback Move Good?

Pokemon GO‘s January Community Day is coming up on January 17 from 11 AM to 5 PM Local Time. Machamp is this month’s feature Pokemon, with the exclusive Community Day move called Payback. You might be wondering how this Dark move stack up against the competition. We took a look at it to give some insight. So, if you’re wondering if Machamp’s Payback move is any good in Pokemon GO, continue reading.

Pokemon GO January Community Day begins on January 16 at 11 AM Local Time and ends at 5 PM Local Time. During this time, trainers will see increased spawns of Machamp, higher Shiny chance, three times more catch Stardust, and three-hour incense. It’s a good chance to stack those XL Candy’s if you’re looking to build up a powerful Machamp. 

What is Payback in Pokemon GO?

Payback is an exclusive Community Day Dark-type move for Machamp, beneficial against Psychic and Ghost-type Pokemon. The charge move does 110 damage and costs 60 energy in PvP encounters. In PvE, Payback costs 100 energy and does 100 damage. 

Is Payback Good for Machamp?

Now to answer the question: is Payback any good for Machamp? The typical moveset for Machamp in Great League and Ultra League before Community Day is Cross Chop and Rock Slide for the coverage move. Let’s take a look at the comparison of coverage moves, Rock Slide versus Payback. 

Usual the original moveset with Rock Slide, you can pick up Froslass, Meganium, and Skarmory. With Payback, you can pick up Skarmory, Deoxys, and Jellicent.

Payback can be a good move in a specific meta when combined with Cross Chop. In the Great League, it may cost you some wins against Pokemon like Altaria, Tropis, Nadibuzz, and Froslass. In that sense, it doesn’t necessarily make Machamp any better, per se, but it is a viable alternative to Rock Slide.

For Ultra League, we see similar results, with Payback potentially also picking up a win against Giratina. However, Flying-types like Charizard, Articuno, Dragonite, and others again prove troublesome for this setup. It could be worth having a Payback Machamp at some point, but for now, you may want to stick with your current moveset.

Payback doesn’t prove too useful in Master League, as sacrificing Rock Slide or Stone Edge makes it challenging to go up against Dragonite or Togekiss. Again, your current Machamp may prove more useful in the long run.

One thing to consider is the introduction of Payback into the current meta. Players may change their lineups and think you have a Payback Machamp on hand, forcing them to shield since it can be an instant knockout. I’d recommend prioritizing a Great League followed by an Ultra League Machamp over all others, but you may want to try and get a decent one for each league. There’s always a chance the move gets buffed or becomes dominant in a future meta.