Mewtwo: The Tyrant of RBY!
Jul 24, 2011 19:02:13 GMT -8
Post by t3h Icy on Jul 24, 2011 19:02:13 GMT -8
Mewtwo is the mighty Psychic that everyone loves using and everyone fears facing. While Mewtwo is almost always banned in RBY, I thought it would be interesting to analyze him thoroughly.
For starters, let's compare the other super Psychic, Alakazam with Mewtwo. Mewtwo has a huge 38 extra Special over Alakazam's already massive stat, 20 more Speed which ties Jolteon and Aerodactyl and gives Mewtwo a 25.4% CH chance, 102 more HP, 90 more Defense and even has 120 more Attack. Mewtwo also has all of Alakazam's moves except for Dig, Kinesis and Psybeam, which could all be interesting, but each being gimmicky.
Mewtwo is basically Alakazam on crack.
The key to unleashing even more power is Amnesia, which doubles his Special in one turn. One question that probably floats around often is if Mewtwo should use Amnesia twice. Mewtwo naturally has 406 Special, 812 after one use and 999 after the second Amnesia. 187 Special is quite a jump, but is it useful? We'll discuss that in each match-up.
Mewtwo also has Recover, so if he gets hit either hard or repeatedly, he can heal. Alternatively due to stalling power, Rest may be of interest due to PP, completely healing (which can be important if Mewtwo is Paralyzed), and it removes status problems. Most people will say Recover, but Rest can be useful.
So those two are set in stone for Mewtwo, and it'd be a bit weird not to use them. However, Mewtwo has two slots left and a few moves that can all work. Psychic is his main and strongest attack, lowers Special, and is STAB. Thunderbolt covers pesky Waters like Starmie and Slowbro that can stall Mewtwo otherwise. Blizzard takes out Exeggutor, while Ice Beam helps Freeze as Mewtwo is often stalling. But which ones? Let's go over the match-ups.
Tauros is powerful and a possible threat to Mewtwo with his hard hitting moves and his dangerous CH chance.
Tauros's Body Slam - 117-100 (29%-24%)
Tauros's Hyper Beam - 205-174 (49%-42%)
Excluding CHs, this gives a 19449/59319 (32.8%), which is pretty brutal coming from the game's deadliest Physical Pokemon.
Psychic vs Tauros - 196-167 (56%-47%) (1190/1521 chance to 2HKO (78%))
Psychic CH vs Tauros - 392-334 (111%-95%) (2/3 chance to OHKO)
1x Amnesia + Psychic vs Tauros - 389-331 (110%-94%) (24/39 chance to OHKO (61.5%))
2x Amnesia + Psychic vs Tauros - 478-407 (Dead)
This is a good case where the second Amnesia may be worth using, but only beforehand as Tauros can be dangerous if you spend too much time battling him. The best method is just to attack, and if either Psychic CHs, or the first is a Special fall, Mewtwo will 2HKO:
OHKO: 16.9%
2HKO: 75.02%
3HKO: 8.48%
Mewtwo has this match-up easily. The only problem is if Tauros gets both a CH and Paralysis. Otherwise, Mewtwo handles that match-up with ease. So eliminating Tauros with great odds takes away many other Physical Pokemon that could be interesting. The only other interesting Pokemon are Dodrio and Snorlax (and Bugs).
Dodrio is still slower than Mewtwo like Snorlax, but Dodrio has a high CH chance and Hyper Beam could OHKO with one.
Dodrio's Hyper Beam CH - 438-373 (106%-90%) (14/39 chance to OHKO (35.9%))
Mewtwo's Thunderbolt/Ice Beam - 301-256 (93%-82%)
Mewtwo's Blizzard - 379-322 (117%->100%) (38/39 chance to OHKO (97%))
So you can see that the odds do not support Dodrio working. If Mewtwo has Blizzard, it should be over, and if not, Mewtwo can 2HKO with any other common Special move. Dodrio must be at full health, dodge a CH/Blizzard, hit with Hyper Beam, get a CH and get high damage. Don't count on it.
But Snorlax however is very interesting, and a very common solution to defeating Mewtwo. Snorlax has the game's strongest attack, and while it can't quite finish off Mewtwo:
Snorlax's Selfdestruct - 377-321 (91%-77%)
...it leaves Mewtwo with little HP. The idea is to have Mewtwo Paralyzed beforehand, so after the Self-Destruct, Mewtwo can't heal. Also due to Mewtwo, Mew and their counters, Ghosts and Rocks are a lot less common in Ubers matches, so this is very safe. The only worry is booming on something that isn't Mewtwo, which is easy to anticipate. With Snorlax, prediction is key. The only reason why this works at all is because:
2x Amnesia + Psychic vs Snorlax - 499-425 (95%-81%)
...there is no possible way for Mewtwo to OHKO a fresh Snorlax. So as the Mewtwo player, watch out for Snorlax, but be careful with what you switch to (if at all), or you could lose Mewtwo. This is easier said than done as Mewtwo gets Paralyzed a lot.
Bugs are gimmicky, but Mewtwo can beat them too.
Beedrill's 3x Swords Dance + 5x Pin Missile - 426-363 (103%-87%)
Not a threat at all. Psychic will also OHKO with ease, while even Blizzard is a 2HKO. Thunderbolt/Ice Beam may 2HKO (281/1521 (18.5%)), but Mewtwo's CH chance and Amnesia will help out. Even then, Beedrill's damage isn't permanent and you can heal. Do watch out for Beedrill if you are Paralyzed though. If Beedrill does start to get scary, a tough Normal like Tauros or Snorlax can take him out anyway.
There's also a Parasect set designed to beat Mewtwo, but it involves Spore (plus Substitute, Swords Dance, Leech Life), and you shouldn't be letting Mewtwo fall asleep in the first place. Don't worry about it.
And beyond that, there's no real Physical threats besides Specialists that have Explosion. Just one more calculation (though unviable) as a means to show off Mewtwo's toughness:
999 Attack (via Swords Dance) + Hyper Beam vs Mewtwo - 454-387 (22/39 chance to OHKO (56.4%))
And if you're really that worried about Physical attacks, Mewtwo learns Barrier, which is one of the best Physical defensive moves in the game. Plus it's Psychic typed for style points.
So that's the Physical side, and now for the Special side. With Mewtwo and Mew's presence in Ubers, other Specialists increase too to absorb their attacks. Can Mewtwo handle them?
Alakazam, while basically a mini-Mewtwo, can still stop Mewtwo pretty effectively by having tough Special, Recover and resists Mewtwo's Psychic, but can Alakazam do anything back? One thing Alakazam can do is spam Kinesis. While there are other Accuracy lowering moves, they either have bad accuracy (Flash), or don't have any Pokemon that can stall (Sand-Attack, Smokescreen). Kinesis isn't that much better than Flash at 80%, but it still helps. Ideally, Alakazam will be unparalyzed, Paralyze Mewtwo and spam Kinesis enough to force a switch and spread Paralysis. Alakazam has no real way of KOing Mewtwo though, but you can try to stall by wasting PP. Otherwise, Mewtwo will tear Alakazam apart.
1x Amnesia + Blizzard vs Alakazam - 224-190 (72%-61%)
1x Amnesia + Thunderbolt/Ice Beam vs Alakazam - 178-151 (57%-48%) (1411/1521 chance to 2HKO (92.8%))
So Alakazam isn't much of a serious problem, but may force Mewtwo to switch. Chances are you can KO Alakazam before he becomes a problem or have other Pokemon to switch out of.
Next is Slowbro. The famous "Tobybro" set used in general works quite well against Mewtwo:
Slowbro's 3x Amnesia + Surf - 297-253 (72%-61%)
2x Amnesia + Thunderbolt vs 3x Amnesia Slowbro - 163-139 (41%-35%)
And while Slowbro can Paralyze Mewtwo while powering up, Mewtwo has a much better recovery move, and it won't be long before Mewtwo gets a CH Thunderbolt:
CH Thunderbolt vs Slowbro - 510-434 (Dead)
And while we're at it:
2x Amnesia + Thunderbolt vs Light Screen Starmie - 271-231 (84%-72%)
CH Thunderbolt vs Starmie - 442-376 (Dead)
Only a handful of Pokemon that are weak to Electric can take on Mewtwo, but most can't do anything worthwhile back (Articuno, Tentacruel, etc).
However, if Mewtwo is lacking Thunderbolt, they're a problem.
Exeggutor is another powerful Pokemon that resists both Electric and Psychic, and has Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, Explosion, Toxic/Leech Seed and a lot of HP and Special.
Blizzard vs Exeggutor - 239-203 (61%-52%)
Ice Beam vs Exeggutor - 190-161 (48%-41%)
Exeggutor's Explosion - 297-253 (72%-61%)
Exeggutor is a bit of a threat. Hopefully something else is Asleep and you have an Ice move. If you think Exeggutor has Stun Spore and is eager to use Explosion, I'd suggest healing if necessary and using Blizzard right away. But, Exeggutor will get stopped by other Psychics and they can also take the Explosion for Mewtwo. If you aren't able to take out Exeggutor quickly, I strongly suggest you switch out. The Toxic and Leech Seed combo can also be a problem if you don't switch out immediately.
What about the game's best Special staller Chansey? Chansey unlike the last few Pokemon isn't Psychic, meaning Mewtwo can use his best move. However, Chansey has a ton of moves that can cause problems including Flash, Light Screen, Ice Beam, Thunder Wave, Sing and Softboiled.
2x Amnesia + Psychic vs Chansey - 370-315 (53%-45%) (359/1521 chance to 2HKO (23.6%))
CH Psychic vs Chansey - 304-259 (43%-37%)
Let's not forget about Light Screen either. Chansey can meanwhile drain your PP, put Mewtwo to Sleep or try for a Freeze. A Thunder Wave + Flash variant is the worst. Fortunately, Psychic lowers Special, and with enough drops, Chansey will have to switch. Chansey will likely come right back, but Mewtwo can get a heavy hit on something else, or take a turn to heal, etc. Chansey is a bit of a problem though and stalls Mewtwo a lot. Thus, Physicals are not completely abysmal in Ubers if you don't want to play Mewtwo vs Chansey.
There's another scary Specialist though, but works like a Physical. Being Ubers, you're bound to face Mew on occasion.
Mew has nothing really interesting for Mewtwo on the Special side, but the danger is the unique combination of Swords Dance with Explosion. After one Swords Dance, Mew already outdamages Snorlax's Self-Destruct, and not by just a little bit:
Mew's 1x Swords Dance + Explosion - 614-522 (Dead)
This is a serious problem, and switching out isn't much better.
Mew's 3x Swords Dance + Explosion vs Rhydon - 423-360 (102%-87%) (7/39 chance to OHKO (17.9%))
And Mewtwo can't fight Mew back too well either.
2x Amnesia + Blizzard vs Mew - 339-289 (84%-72%)
Unless Mewtwo is already fully powered, unparalyzed and has Blizzard, Mewtwo will have to switch out vs Mew. The scary thing is Mew has other Physical attacks too that can beat up other Pokemon, and even Gengar will fall to Earthquake after one Swords Dance. Mewtwo makes a fairly good sacrifice to force Mew to use Explosion though, as Mew has the potential to sweep entire teams otherwise.
There's also opposing Mewtwos. Mewtwo can't really KO another Mewtwo and they both just stall each other. However, getting into a Freeze war is scary as Mewtwo is incredibly valuable and your next Pokemon will either take a colossal hit, or you lose Freeze immunity. Be careful about getting yourself into a Mewtwo Freeze war, since it's a risk for the whole game. If you're feeling lucky, go for it, but I recommend you don't and learn to outplay your opponent instead. If Mewtwo is switched into your own, it won't be powered up and you can switch out yourself if you want.
So based on the damages of common Pokemon we've gone over, one Amnesia is usually fine, but a second doesn't hurt if you have an opportunity and it's worth boosting for it. And that leaves the moveset.
I strongly recommend Amnesia with a healing move (most likely Recover), but you have to pick two attacking moves. I would suggest Psychic and Ice Beam, though most pairs will work. Psychic is Mewtwo's main damaging move and even vs other Psychics, Mewtwo can get through the resistance with his power and Psychic's Special drops. It's a great move in general. Ice Beam is also helpful for Freezing many Pokemon that will attempt to stall Mewtwo, however, you may want to focus on Freezing something better, such as the opponent's Mewtwo (if that's a part of your gameplan). Thunderbolt is mostly for Starmie and Slowbro only, but one helpful thing is having 8 more PP than Ice Beam and Psychic. Blizzard is Mewtwo's most damaging move vs Specialists, but the accuracy and PP bite for something so stally.
So I would suggest Amnesia, Recover, Psychic, Ice Beam. This can easily be mixed up with Thunderbolt, and Mewtwo has many other moves that could be helpful including Body Slam, Hyper Beam, Barrier, Flash, Counter and Rest. The Ubers metagame is mostly stalling, and certain sets will be better against others, but a lot of what Mewtwo should use runs on what the opponent will have (unlike Zapdos, Tauros, etc).
In OU, Pokemon become specialized to handle fighting Mewtwo, Physicals disappear ever further and very few Pokemon can fight him back. Otherwise, Mewtwo will destroy entire teams without effort or much strategy. Mewtwo is definitely Uber and is the best Pokemon in the game.
