Mewtwo is one of the very strongest Pokémon currently in the meta game, and will remain so for generations to come. Its match-ups in the future are therefore worth considering so that you can choose which movesets will be the most useful, once certain Pokémon start to become dominant in the meta game.
So before we have a look at which of Mewtwo’s charge moves will have type advantage over which future meta-relevant Pokémon, let’s quickly have a look at Mewtwo’s Fast Moves. Both of Mewtwo’s Fast Moves are Psychic type, so as well as benefiting from STAB, they deal super effective (x1.4) damage to both Fighting and Poison type Pokémon.
Mewtwo’s Fast Moves
| Fast Move | Damage (STAB) | Duration (ms) | DPS | EPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psycho Cut | 6 | 600 | 10 | 13.33 |
| Confusion | 24 | 1600 | 15 | 9.38 |
Psycho Cut does 33% less damage than Confusion but it generates 42% more energy than Confusion.
Confusion does 50% more damage than Psycho Cut but generates 30% less energy than Psycho Cut.
To conclude, Confusion deals more damage but doesn’t charge energy as quickly. You should therefore always be using this move in conjunction with the charge move ‘Psychic’ against Fighting and Poison types, as they will take 1.4x damage from both moves. Confusion is also the best fast move to use in neutral damage match ups, as it generally results in a higher total damage output than Psycho Cut.
When battling Pokémon which are weak to your Mewtwo’s charge move, Psycho Cut would be a better choice as it will allow you to use the charge move more often (thus dealing more damage overall). Against any of the Pokémon listed below, Psycho Cut would be the better fast move.
Mewtwo’s Charge Moves
Shadow Ball
As a Ghost type move, Shadow Ball is super effective (1.4x damage) against Ghost and Psychic type Pokémon. As there are many strong Psychic type Pokémon in future generations, Shadow Ball will be one of Mewtwo’s most useful moves. The following table shows Defenders / Raid Bosses that will take at least 1.4x damage from Mewtwo with Shadow Ball:
| Gen | Pokémon | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Mew Psychic (Mythical) |
| 3 |  |
Latios Psychic Dragon |
| 3 |  |
Latias Psychic Dragon |
| 3 |  |
Deoxys Psychic (Mythical) |
| 4 |  |
Gallade Psychic Fighting |
| 4 |  |
Giratina Ghost Dragon |
| 6 |  |
Hoopa Psychic Ghost (mythical, Confined form) |
| 7 |  |
Solgaleo Steel Psychic |
| 7 |  |
Lunala Psychic Ghost |
Hoopa (confined form), and Lunala are dual Ghost and Psychic types, so they will take double super effective damage (1.96x) from Shadow Ball. Just watch out for them throwing Ghost type moves back at you else Mewtwo will take increased damage from them too.
Psychic
As with Mewtwo’s Fast moves, Psychic is only Super Effective against Fighting and Poison type Pokémon. While there aren’t many meta-relevant Poison types, there are a few strong Fighting types, especially in Gen 5. As an added advantage, Psychic benefits from STAB (1.2x damage against everything) when used by Mewtwo. Defenders / Raid Bosses that will take at least 1.4x damage from Mewtwo with Psychic:
| Gen | Pokémon | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 |  |
Roserade Poison Grass |
| 5 |  |
Conkeldurr Fighting |
| 5 |  |
Terrakion Rock Fighting |
| 5 |  |
Virizion Grass Fighting |
| 5 |  |
Keldeo Water Fighting (mythical) |
| 7 |  |
Nihilego Poison Rock |
Focus Blast
Another very useful move for countering upcoming meta-relavant Pokémon in the near future, is the Fighting type move Focus Blast, as it’s super effective against five different types; Dark Normal Rock Steel and Ice
| Gen | Pokémon | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 |  |
Regirock Rock |
| 3 |  |
Regice Ice |
| 3 |  |
Registeel Steel |
| 4 |  |
Mamoswine Ice Ground |
| 4 |  |
Rhyperior Ground Rock |
| 4 |  |
Regigigas Normal |
| 4 |  |
Heatran Fire Steel |
| 4 |  |
Dialga Steel Dragon |
| 4 |  |
Arceus Normal |
| 5 |  |
Cobalion Steel Fighting |
| 5 | |
Terrakion Rock Fighting |
| 5 |  |
Hydreigon Dark Dragon |
| 5 |  |
Kyurem Dragon Ice |
| 6 |  |
Avalugg Ice |
Hyper Beam
Hyper Beam is a Normal type move and so it is not super effective against other types. When being used by Mewtwo, it should always be TM’d to swap it for a more useful charge move that utilises type advantage.
Conclusion
If we get Deoxys, Latias, or Latios as the next Tier 5 raid boss, then Mewtwo will be one of the main counters against these with Shadow Ball. If however, we see Regirock, Regice or Registeel next, then Mewtwo will also be a strong counter to them, but with Focus Blast.
If you’re lucky enough to have multiple Mewtwos, there are plenty of opportunities to use it as a counter over the next few years of the Pokémon Go meta game. It’s safe to say that having one with Shadow Ball, one with Psychic and and one with Focus Blast would be sound stardust investments for your long term attacking team.
As we don’t yet know what moves the meta-relevant Pokémon in Generations 4, 5, 6, and 7 will have, Mewtwo may become a less useful counter to them if they have Bug, Ghost, or Dark type moves, but overall, Focus Blast and Shadow Ball Mewtwo will most likely be prominent counters to lots of different Pokémon in the future meta game, with Psychic picking up several niche match ups in Generation 5.
