Beating Gigantamax Machamp in Pokémon GO: How many Trainers & best counters

Gigantamax Battles are back in Pokémon GO this weekend. We're getting the Pokémon GO debut of Gigantamax Machamp on Sunday, May 25. This Pokémon will be appearing in special six-star Max Battles from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m.

The issue is, these battles are incredibly hard to take down. Gigantamax Pokémon are incredibly powerful, and you will need a lot of help to win one of these Max Battles. So, you'll want to be prepared.

Here's everything you need to know before you battle Gigantamax Machamp in Pokémon GO:

Previously, the huge number of Trainers needed to win Gigantamax Battles in Pokémon GO caused big issues for small or rural communities. However, Pokémon GO recently made a huge change to Max Battles, allowing Trainers to join them remotely. That will make it a lot easier to get the Trainers you need to win this battle.

The maximum number of Trainers is 40 for a Max Battle and it will take upwards of 35 until you find this Max Battle "comfortable" based on previous experience.

The number of Trainers to win Gigantamax Battles has a bit more give and take than Raids in Pokémon GO. This is because of two factors.

The first is the relatively small number of Pokémon we have avaliable in the Max system. There is a huge variance in what people have avaliable to them, with some Trainers investing a lot into Dynamax/Gigantamax Pokémon and others not having strong options at all. Sometimes, we don't even have Pokémon that act as very good counters.

The second is the existence of Max Mushrooms in Pokémon GO. These are pretty expensive, however they are also very powerful. They double the power of attacks from Trainers to have one active. That essentially means one Trainer counts as two.

You can absolutely win this Gigantamax Machamp battle without using any Max Mushrooms. That said, if you do have some Trainers using them it will reduce the amount of Trainers you need to win this Battle, so they might be useful for smaller communities.

Gigantamax Machamp is a Fighting-type Pokémon and has three weaknesses in Pokémon GO, that gives it a weakness to Fairy, Flying and Psychic-type attacks.

As a result, the best Gigantamax Machamp counters are:

Dynamax Charizard is better than Gigantamax Charizard for this Max Battle, as a result of Gigantamax Charged Attacks being fixed, and set to Fire-type for Charizard.

Sadly, we don't have many good tanky options for this battle. Dynamax Blissey and Gigantamax Snorlax both have weaknesses to Fighting-type attacks. The very best counter is Metagross, and that is why the weekly research grants a Dynamax Beldum encounter.

Here is the all important hundo CP number to keep your eye out for after beating Gigantamax Machamp:

Yes, the Gigantamax Machamp you encounter after the Max Battle can be shiny in Pokémon GO. The event ticket does not raise shiny odds, so everyone will have the same chance. The odds are about 1/20.

You absolutely need to be coordinated to win this Gigantamax Machamp Max Battle in Pokémon GO. Get onto Campfire, see if you have a local Community Ambassador or any other Trainers nearby. Then, in battle, you'll need to keep coordinated too. Have some Trainers use shields and healing each turn, and others attack. Don't forget you can also join remotely, with websites and Discords avaliable to coordinate.

Additionally, make sure you have good counters (if possible) and also reserve your best Pokémon for the end of the Battle. The Max Meter will charge faster at the end of the Battle. This is because once all your Pokémon are knocked out, you can stay involved in the Raid by cheering. Cheering helps the Max Meter charge faster. So, if you don't have the best counters you can still contribute to your team's success. With teamwork, everyone can get Gigantamax Machamp in Pokémon GO.

Finally, make sure to save up your Max Particles on Saturday, May 24. If you collect the daily limit on Friday, you can then collect another 1600 for free (or 3200 with the event ticket) on Saturday. This will let you do between 3 or 5 Max Battles without using any Max Particle packs.

In addition you can save particles from the GO Pass or the weekly G-Max Machamp Timed Research for even more battles that won't count towards the daily collection limit.

Good luck taking on Gigantamax Machamp in Pokémon GO, Trainer. Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest esports news and more Pokémon GO guides.