In-depth look at how Legendaries will affect the game, part 2 of 4: The Mew Duo

This article is the second entry in the In-depth look at Legendary Pokémon in Pokémon GO. The original author of this analysis is /u/DavidKSA, a very talented redditor. Previous entry: In-depth look at how Legendaries will affect the game, part 1 of 4.

• Contents
• The Mew Duo
  1. Mew
     1. Defender
     2. Attacker
     3. Moves
  2. Mewtwo
     1. Defender
     2. Attacker
     3. Moves

In-depth look at how Legendaries will affect the game: The Mew Duo

~ Part 2 of 4 ~

Mew in Pokémon GO

Stats: 3090CP, ATK 210, DEF 210, STA 200

In the original games, Mew had an evenly distributed 100/100/100/100/100/100 stat spread with a 600 base stat total. So it comes as no surprise that it has very even Pokémon GO stats and a relatively high CP.

Though Mew suffers from “Lack-of-STAB” syndrome, and even Psychic is not optimal because it has a very low DPE (100 damage for 100 energy isn’t very good these days).

Mew’s best moveset will be Pound/Solar Beam. To compare it to another Psychic type, Mew with this moveset will do similar damage as a Starmie with Tackle/Hydro Pump.

Mew as a gym defender

In addition to “Lack-of-STAB” syndrome, Mew also has a bad case of “lower-CP-than-Vaporeon-itis”. Thus, I’m going to have to quarantine Mew and recommend that you do not approach if not needed.

Pound doesn’t have very good DPS on defense, and Mew can only learn predictable 100 energy (1 bar) charge moves. That aside, Pound/Solar Beam Mew has a higher defensive damage output than Water Gun/Aqua Tail Vaporeon, and is on par with Rock Smash/Hydro Pump Poliwrath.

Psychic typing used to be decent on defense, but nowadays there are plenty of counters. Pinsir and Scizor can handle Mew and Houndoom gets the job done nicely as well. But those Pokemon aren’t the problem, Gengar is. After the Halloween event, I’d expect many people to have Gengar at this point.

Mew is Gengar’s ideal matchup: a psychic type that can only learn a Non-STAB normal (NVE against Gengar) type quick move. If you come across this rare matchup, you will finally be able to deal SE damage with Gengar without fear of taking SE damage from Confusion or Zen Headbutt.

Mew as a gym attacker

Mew has decent bulk, just shy of Rhydon, and a very diverse movepool. It could be used as an adequate generalist with many of its movesets, but it will never be the best attacker for the job, and it is not even the best generalist.

Mew is usable, but hardly a game-changer as an attacker. Though I should mention that Pound/Focus Blast Mew has the damage output and bulk to beat a similarly leveled Blissey in time.

Mew Moves

Mewtwo in Pokémon GO

Stats: 4760 CP, ATK 330, DEF 200, HP 200

Mewtwo is OP. It was OP in the main games, and it should come as no surprise that a Pokemon with a 680 base stat total is OP in Pokemon Go. Mewtwo with any Confusion moveset will out DPS any other Pokemon in Gen 1 or Gen 2. Confusion/ Shadow Ball and Hyper Beam will both have a similar DPS output, and be Mewtwo’s best offensive/defensive movesets.

Mewtwo as a gym defender

Mewtwo has the highest CP of Gen 1 and Gen 2. That much is obvious. What may not be obvious is that a 0% IV Level 31 Mewtwo will have guaranteed placement above any other currently available Pokemon.

A 0% IV Level 31 Mewtwo has 3698CP and places above a 100% IV Level 40 Tyranitar (3670CP). Now in addition to automatically topping any gym in existence, Mewtwo has the stats and moveset to back it up.

Currently, Blissey has the best defensive damage output in the gym meta. Well, Blissey will need to step aside because Confusion/Shadow Ball Mewtwo will have the best defensive output of any Pokemon. Mewtwo has the tankiness of Tyranitar and Rhydon and more DPS output than Gengar and Alakazam. As a result, almost no Pokemon (currently obtainable) can go toe-to-toe with Mewtwo without dodging.

Even Blissey could lose to some Mewtwo movesets without dodging (Focus Blast), depending on how the AI charge move RNG plays out. Gengar is not a good idea here. Houndoom and Scizor struggle, you will basically have to weave your attacks and dodge perfectly. Tyranitar is the best counter in terms of overall DPS and durability, but it is exceedingly difficult to produce. However, all is not lost.

You can still beat Mewtwo with generalists like Dragonite, Snorlax (SE Lick), Blissey, Gyarados, and Vaporeon. Don’t expect to finish with much HP left if you use something that isn’t Blissey or Snorlax. Even with the AI’s attack pattern as a handicap, Mewtwo could still take out a similarly leveled Snorlax in less than 30 seconds if you just stand around. It is worth mentioning that you can guarantee an Umbreon evolution. Dodging mostly everything, Umbreon reliably beats Mewtwo, and can wind up with more HP to spare than some of the other options.

I’ll also mention that if you find yourself in need of a prestiger for Mewtwo, Umbreon and Steelix can reliably net you that max 1000 gain (though it will take a while). Houndoom has the possibility to get you 1000 prestige much faster, but feels inclined to die if you don’t land all of your dodges, so keep that in mind.

Mewtwo as a gym attacker

Mewtwo is the best generalist. Need I say more? Confusion/Focus Blast Mewtwo can beat Blissey faster than any Pokemon with minimal dodging (Machamp must dodge a lot to win). And even more amazing, Mewtwo (Confusion/Focus Blast) can beat Blissey without dodging (as long as it doesn’t have Hyper Beam or ZH/DG).

Mewtwo moves