Pokémon GO Machamp Raid Guide

If you haven’t kept eyes on the Niantic Support Twitter, you may be surprised when you go looking for Falinks in three-star raids in Pokémon GO, only to find Machamp instead. Yes, unfortunately, due to some manner of glitch that causes Falinks’ in-game sprite to glitch out, Niantic has been forced to take it out of the raid rotation for the duration of the third Ultra Unlock event. On the bright side, you can still find it through Field Research and in the wild, and hey, who doesn’t love a little more Machamp in their lives? I know I do. Here’s a guide for Machamp raids in Pokémon GO.

Pokémon GO Machamp Raid Guide

Just like Falinks, Machamp is a pure Fighting type (which is probably why they picked it). As a pure Fighting type, Machamp’s resistances break down like this:

• Weak against: Fairy, Flying, Psychic,
• Resistant to: Bug, Dark, Rock

These are the moves Machamp has under its belt:

Quick Moves

• Bullet Punch (Steel)
• Counter (Fighting)

Main Moves

• Close Combat (Fighting)
• Cross Chop (Fighting)
• Dynamic Punch (Fighting)
• Heavy Slam (Steel)
• Rock Slide (Rock)

While Machamp has the same resistances as Falinks, its much higher Attack stat and greater variety of types in its moves necessitates a bit of retooling for a counter. As Fairy types are weak against Steel moves and Flying types are weak against Rock moves, neither are especially advisable to bring to this fight. As such, the name of the game is Psychic, Psychic, Psychic. 

As with any Pokémon weak against Psychic types, your best friend will be Mewtwo, whose monstrous DPS and doubled-up Psychic moves can make short work of any Fighting type, Machamp included. If Mewtwo isn’t available, your next best options are either Alakazam or Espeon. Both Pokémon have similar stats and movesets, and while their stats aren’t quite as high as Mewtwo’s, their pure Psychic typing will defend them from the brunt of Machamp’s kit.