Machamp in SoulGold: No Guard plus Sheer Force

Machamp was the first ‘mon I built around an innate, and it’s still the one I’d hand a friend. No Guard makes Dynamic Punch a sure hit. Sheer Force at 75 makes that sure hit 30% harder.

Bruno’s Machamp in the first Elite Four runs No Guard Dynamic Punch. It confused half my team before I went and caught my own.

Why it’s broken

Dynamic Punch is 100 power, 50% accuracy, with a 100% chance to confuse. No Guard means every move Machamp uses lands, so the 50% stops mattering. Sheer Force makes moves with an added effect hit 30% harder and cancels the effect. Dynamic Punch has one, so from 75 it’s a sure-hit, 130-power STAB move.

The price is the confusion. Once Sheer Force is on, Dynamic Punch stops confusing. You can’t switch Sheer Force off by itself, because innates are all or nothing. So you get two Machamps, a sure-hit confusion machine before 75 and a sure-hit nuke after.

• Ability: No Guard. It’s one of the two regular abilities (the other is Guts), and Steadfast is the hidden one.
• Lv 75: Sheer Force. Moves with added effects hit 30% harder, and the effects don’t happen.
• Lv 85: Defiant. A stat drop from the other side gives you +2 Attack.
• Lv 95: Titan Grip. Close Combat lowers the foe’s stats instead of yours.

The Mega form has the same three innates.

The set

Move	Why
Dynamic Punch	Lv 54, or the tutor. Your main hit: never misses, 1.3x from Sheer Force at 75.
Ice Punch	TM100, Goldenrod Dept. Store 5F. Hits Flying types, and its freeze chance means Sheer Force boosts it.
Thunder Punch	TM63, Goldenrod Dept. Store 5F. Hits Flying and Water types, also boosted.
Stone Edge	TM71, item ball in Kitakami Well B1F. Its 80% accuracy means nothing with No Guard.

Swap Close Combat (Lv 66, or the tutor) in for Thunder Punch once you reach 95 and Titan Grip stops it dropping your own defenses. If you want priority, Bullet Punch is an egg move from the Blackthorn City egg-move master (88,888, then permanent access). Bulk Up comes at Lv 42 or from TM08, the Cianwood Gym gift. Knock Off (Lv 16, or the tutor) is the move for Ghost types, and I keep it over Stone Edge when they show up a lot.

Tutor moves come from the top-right house in Olivine City. Pay 44,444 once and you can teach any tutor move from the summary screen.

Item: Life Orb. There’s one in an item ball on Tin Tower 5F and another on Whirl Islands B1F, and the Battle Pyramid lobby mart sells it. If you’d rather keep the Orbs for someone else, the Punching Glove from the Goldenrod Dept. Store basement fits an all-punch set.

Nature and EVs: I run Adamant with 252 HP and 252 Attack, 4 in Sp. Def. Machamp’s 55 Speed is too low to chase, so I build it to take a hit and hit back. Mints are at the Olivine beach café. Vitamins aren’t capped at 100 EVs, and the EX vitamins from the Battle Tower BP shop max a stat at once.

Where to get Machamp

1. Catch a Machop on Route 33 (30%, Lv 10 to 13). If you’re past it, catch a Machoke in Mt. Mortar instead: 10% on 1F South, 15% on 1F North and 10% on B1F, Lv 21 to 27.
2. Get a Linking Cord. There’s one in an item ball on Route 38, and the Game Corner, the Safari Zone Gate mart and the Indigo Plateau mart sell them.
3. Use the Linking Cord on Machoke from your bag. It evolves on the spot.
4. Check the ability. If it says Guts, use an Ability Capsule. There are item balls on Goldenrod Shore and Victory Road B2F, and the Battle Factory lobby mart sells them.

In the postgame you can skip all that. Wild Machamp are a 30% encounter on Mt. Silver 2F and 3F, Lv 64 to 65.

The Mega form uses the Fightite, an item ball in Dark Cave North Side, and you need the Mega Ring from Prof. Oak after the Team Rocket takeover of Goldenrod. Mega Machamp has 90/140/110/65/125/75 stats and the same innates. I ran base Machamp to keep No Guard, so check the Mega’s ability on the summary screen before you give up the sure hits.

When it comes online

No Guard is on from the moment you have it, at any level. The level cap is 70 until you’re Champion, so for the whole story you have the confusion version. I never wanted more than that before the credits.

Sheer Force arrives at 75 and Defiant at 85. Level 85 is where the Elite Four rematches and Title Defense sit, so at that point Machamp has its first two innates and so do the challengers. On Hard, those fights are doubles. Titan Grip at 95 is a luxury.

In the battle facilities the levels don’t matter. Every innate is on at any level in the Battle Tower, Pyramid and Café challenges, and on Factory rentals too, so a level 50 Machamp in Classic has Sheer Force, Defiant and Titan Grip. If you want the confusion version there instead, turn innates off in the lobby’s level menu. No Guard stays, because it’s the ability.

In doubles, pair it with Mega Pidgeot. Its Windburst innate sets Tailwind on entry at 85, and doubled Speed fixes Machamp’s worst stat.

What beats Machamp

• Ghost types. Fighting doesn’t touch them, so Knock Off and Stone Edge are your only ways in. Keep a Dark or Ghost type of your own on the bench too.
• Fast Psychic, Flying and Fairy types. They hit it super effectively, and at 55 Speed they’ll usually go first.
• No Guard cuts both ways. Every Stone Edge, Focus Blast and Thunder aimed at Machamp lands too. I lost my first one to a Thunder I was sure would miss.
• Intimidate before 85. It takes a stage off your Attack. Once Defiant is on, Intimidate hands you a net +1 instead, so it stops mattering.

Once Machamp is set, look at my other innate combos for its teammates, or the full innate list if you want to check what a challenger has on.