Machamp Discussion

[BlazingCold]

In OU, the one named Machamp lies. Nowadays, you barely even see this guy, do to 2 new friends coming to town; Conkeldurr and Scrafty. First, Conkeldurr's bulk is better, as well as it's attack. However it's speed is lower, but does that really matter? Scrafty has worse bulk and attack but has access to DD, Bulk Up, and Swords Dance so don't put him down. Also he has excellent typing in Dark/Fighting. His speed is 3 points better then Machamp, and access to Mach Punch, Drain Punch, Dragon Tail, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch, Toxic and others, this is excellent.

So let's see: is machamp literally outclassed?

 

[kaiser soze]

The thing is, of the three Fighters you listed (Champ/Conk/Scrafty), only Scrafty has the speed (if using the DD set). Champ and Conk are usually going to attack second, so the better one will be able to absorb hits better. The Conk BU+Drain Punch set does this well.

Scrafty often runs a different niche with DD to match the speed of offensive threats. Moxie also pairs nicely with this.

Not an expert with the BU+Rest+Shed Skin combo though, but it's an attempt at copying the other two.

 

[Soperman]

Machamp has really nice attack and the punches, as well as no guard, but Conk is more bulky, has greater attack, and Mach Punch. Not only that, but he can absorb statuses and hit like a truck while doing so. The both play similar roles either way.
Scrafty plays a different role altogether as a sweeper. He is in no way related to the other two besides his defenses, but that isn't why people use him.
Both of these two new fighting types outclass Machamp, both with strength and bulk. Sorry Machamp, even though you have No Guard, no one likes you as much as the other two.

 

[Magnificent Faiyaz]

The one thing that Machamp has over Conkeldurr is that it can beat Gliscor one-on-one with Ice Punch. But other than that it terms of Bulk,Power and Priority Conkeldurr easily outclasses Machamp.
When it comes to Scrafty i think its Bulk Up set pales in comparison to Conkeldurr's. Scrafty has a poor HP stat and a weakness to fighting which means it can be demolished by the million powerful fighting types that inhabit OU such as Conkeldurr itself, Breloom, Terrakion, Mienshao, Machamp and even Lucario. As for its Dragon Dance set, it requires at least 2 turns of setup to sweep while Machamp can provide immediate power with No Guard Dynamicpunch and also priority in the form of Bullet Punch.
Overall the main thing thats preventing Scrafty from being a mega threat is its mediocre HP stat and weakness to fighting.
So when im building a team i'll always prefer Bulk Up Destroyer Conkeldurr > Lead Machamp with confusion hax > Bulk Up+Shed Skin Scrafty or Dragon Dance Scrafty.

 

[CraZy RudOlF]

hes not outclassed, and scrafty doesnt get Mach punch. machamp has a great 100% stab dynamic punch, which can be a bch to many pokes like ferrothorn & tar, as the mon they switch to will get confused. scrafty barely has higher bulk thn it and not close as high attack. machamp also has a massive movepool with SE dynamic punch, element punches and Bullet punch as priority [even tho it sucks]

u'd might aswell add virizion and terrakion as theres as many differances between all three.

theyre all different, wether what the team needs id say.

 

[Haru Glory]

Sadly, the only things that only Machamp has is 100% accuracy Dynamic Punch, and Close Combat. Other than that, it is totally outclassed by Scrafty and Conkeldurr.

Maybe he could work in a TR team, 55 base Speed is enough for that... I think I'll give him a try.

 

[Zachmac]

I've been using machamp and my DW lead. I think it still works pretty well, not much can swap in on it out of fear of confusion.

I use it and scrafty in the same team.

 

[Magnificent Faiyaz]

@ Crazy Rudolf- Ok "outclassed" might have been too strong a word. All im saying is Conkeldurr is generally better than Machamp because it can absorb burns and has better bulk and priority. Although it all depends on your team whether you want a powerful lead Machamp that can cause extreme confusion hax when you switch out your Tyranitar into a fight resist or a general pain in the butt powerhouse Conkeldurr. Both work well in OU.
As for Scrafty i personally wont use it due to its FIGHTING weakness but thats just me.

 

[ParaChomp]

Barely use Machamp bar my Mummy-King team. Fighting types haven't had much of an appeal to me lately.

 

[jesusfreak94]

Hey guys, Machamp actually has a good chance of dropping to UU once the new tiers are drawn up! Can you imagine Machamp throwing it's No Guard Dynamic Punches all over the place in UU? No more dominance of stall, I'll say that.

 

[Pichu47]

^Chansey won't be happy about that

 

[Soperman]

Hey guys, Machamp actually has a good chance of dropping to UU once the new tiers are drawn up! Can you imagine Machamp throwing it's No Guard Dynamic Punches all over the place in UU? No more dominance of stall, I'll say that.

That will throw off UU so badly, and Machamp will be boosted up to BL.

 

[Blue Harvest]

That will throw off UU so badly, and Machamp will be boosted up to BL.

I doubt it. Deoxys, Mew, Dusclops, Nidoqueen, Mummy-ghost-thing, Sigylph, Zapdos and Spiritomb all do well against it. It will do as well as it did last gen.. Hell to switch in on but not very fast and easy to revenge kill. It gained nothing new but lost Payback working 2x on the switch. If anything its far weaker than it was.

 

[Vandslaux]

Scrafty has worse bulk and attack but has access to DD, Bulk Up, and Swords Dance so don't put him down.

Scrafty doesn't learn SD.

 

[AudinoGlitch]

Those two aren't the only competitors for the champ. There's also Mienshao who acts as a dynamite lead with Fake Out, Hi Jump Kick, U-Turn, and Stone Edge/ Hidden Power (Ice). The fox can also run a special set to surprise the opponent. Then there's Terrakion who's ready to tear s--- up with Rock and Fighting STAB.

 

[3.14kachu]

Machamp's niche right now can be found in

a) Doubles and Triples, where its No Guard applies to other team members, allowing them to fire off Blizzards and (spoilers, this will be my next RMT) Dark Voids.

b) Anti-Lead positions: it can oppose virtually any lead or anti-lead besides the rarely-used Azelf. Some could even use Focus Sash to ensure its survival, and then decimate the opposition with DynamicPunch. Switching into Machamp has always been, since 4th Gen, incredibly risky.