#machamp-gx

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Pokemon Card of the Day #2529: Machamp-GX (Burning Shadows)

Machamp-GX was all about attacking. It simply did damage with only minor added effects, so you knew what you were going to get. Being a Fighting-type meant access to a ton of ways to boost damage, which was extremely helpful. It also meant having a ton of competition. Standing out against Zygarde-GX, Lycanroc-GX, Buzzwole-GX, and Buzzwole was going to be hard to do, though Machamp-GX had the bulk and power to at least give it a try.

250 HP was spectacular. Yes, you needed a high number on a Stage 2 Pokemon-GX. It also meant that an opponent had to average over 120 damage over 2 turns just to get through that HP. That was quite possible for many decks, of course, but just showed how high the bar was, and it wasn’t that rare to see 250 HP survive multiple hits. A Psychic Weakness was worth noting. Garbodor was a big threat to Machamp-GX, as was any deck running Malamar with various attackers. There were going to be some touch match-ups here. The Retreat Cost was also high, as you never wanted to throw away 3 Energy. Some way to get around that could be nice, though the competition for Pokemon Tools, especially the temptation to use Choice Band on Machamp-GX, meant that you’d probably want to pack ways to switch or even heal that didn’t require the attachment.

Cross-Cut was good against some Pokemon and not useful against others. If the opponent’s Active Pokemon was a Basic Pokemon, this was just 60 damage for 2 Fighting Energy. Against anything that had Evolved, 60 more was added, and 120 for 2 was quite efficient. This was just a match-up play, really, and you’d want to stack damage here (Choice Band, Strong Energy, Regirock-EX, Diancie Prism Star) for maximum impact. All those damage boosts, available in the BKT-On format featured in 2018, were able to make this impressive as long as you didn’t run into one of the popular Basic Pokemon. Luckily, there were other attacks.

3 Fighting Energy would be needed to access Bedrock Breaker. This one was a reliable 130 damage that discarded any Stadium in play. Yes, that included your own, which could be a pain. It could also be a benefit against an opponent that wanted their own Stadium up. 130 wasn’t too close to many big numbers, but again, Fighting was a type that could stack damage and the lower-end Pokemon-GX and Pokemon-EX could have some problems with the right set-up.

If you needed more power to take out something big, there was the GX attack. Muscle Punch GX was 180 damage that didn’t worry about Resistance for 3 Fighting Energy. This was there to take out a really bulky, important Pokemon. Yes, it used the GX attack for the turn, so you had to be really sure it was worth it. There would be times where the big damage was just what was needed, so it had some value.

Machamp-GX was a workable choice, hitting rather hard and getting all the help Fighting-types were known for. It was not to be taken lightly. It was also never seen in serious play, because if you were looking at Machamp-GX you’d probably want to look at others as well, including Zygarde-GX (a higher Energy cost, but could accelerate and was a Basic Pokemon), Lycanroc-GX (weaker, but forced switches), and Buzzwole-GX (hit harder and was a Basic Pokemon while having a single Energy attack, though it couldn’t hit hard twice in a row). Those other Pokemon just crowded out other Fighting-types that could have been good. Machamp-GX was one of those Pokemon. It was functionally solid and could be useful but just had better Pokemon in the way.

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