Hello, battlers. I’m still working on an overview of the entire Fantasy Cup meta ahead of next week, but in the process of doing that, I’ve run across a huge problem. Put simply: Mimikyu is about to absolutely destroy this format.
Mimikyu
GhostFairy
Now, I’ve written about Mimikyu before, before it was even allowed in GBL, and came the conclusion even then that it was completely busted. And while it hasn’t completely broken GBL in half, it has become a big part of even Open formats, emerging as a Top 10 Pokémon in the rankings {and at multiple levels) and in actual usage (per the already awesome GoBattleLog), and again, across multiple Leagues. With a unique and potent defensive typing that is weak to only Ghost and Steel damage (and double resists Dragon, Normal, and Bug damage, and triple resists Fighting damage), and its extremely powerful third shield mechanic, it has a LOT going for it.
And now we arrive at Fantasy Cup. Like other Fairies, that double resistance to Dragon damage is a big deal in a format with only three typings, and one of them being Dragon. I’ll show the sims in a moment, but despite having only one move that deals super effective damage to Dragons (Play Rough), there is only ONE Dragon in the entire format that can sometimes overcome Mimikyu, and even that one is IV-dependent (and realistically you’re never going to actually see it anyway).
Now here’s where things start getting crazy. There is also only one single Fairy that reliably beats Mimikyu, and that one is Wigglytuff which, of course, resists Ghost damage thanks to Wiggly’s Normal typing.
So that leaves us with Steels, and even there, not many manage to best Mimikyu! Accounting for the Wigglytuff and Appletun we just mentioned, there are less than 10 Steel types that can reliably overcome Mimikyu in 1v1 shielding: Steelix (regular and Shadow), Forretress, Galarian Stunfisk, Ferrothorn, Corviknight, Melmetal, and then a couple things there’s basically no chance of encountering (Aron and Shadow Probopass). Additionally, Aggron and Lairon with Metal Sound can force a tie. But that’s it… Mimikyu can defeat a whopping 93% of the entire Fantasy Cup format.
Admittedly, Mimikyu is not quite that dominant in other even shield scenarios, but 0shield still hits an 86% winrate, and 2shield drops down to 79%. I mean, when about 80% winning is your LOW point, that’s not ideal. That’s like Aerodactyl-in-Flying-Cup, Bronzor-in-Little-Cup levels of domination.
The only Fantasy Cup Pokémon that consistently beat Mimikyu in all even shield (well, as “even” as you can get when Mimikyu cheats with its third shield)? WIGGLYTUFF, FORRETRESS (regular, not Shadow), and MELMETAL. That’s it… that is the entire list.
STEELIX (both regular and Shadow) wins in the 1shield and 2shield matchups, but not with shields down. EMPOLEON loses in 1v1 shielding, but wins otherwise. Same with CARBINK, who also wins with shields down and with both shields up, but loses the 1shield showdown. CORVIKNIGHT gets 1shield and 0shield matchups, but loses the advantage when the battle pushes to both shields.
And uh… that’s really about it. There are a handful of others that win one specific even shield battle scenario against Mimikyu, but that’s about the extent of it. Oh, and there’s even one more wrinkle that can mess with the above, as Mimikyu could come packing Thunder instead of Play Rough and flip some of those results above like Corviknight and Empoleon, giving up only a couple Dragons (sometimes Zweilous, Hydreigon, and/or Turtonator) to do it and otherwise remaining just as domineering.
Scopely, if you’re reading my analyses like I know Niantic used to… any chance you could just ban this thing in Fantasy Cup and be done with it? 🥺 The meta has a much healthier look without it. (Not to mention GBL in general, while we’re at it. 🙏)
If not, dear readers, then get whatever few Mimikyu hard counters you have ready. You’re gonna need ’em.
I’ll still try and push out an analysis on other new and improved stuff in this meta (like Melmetal, which does a LOT more than just consistently outrace Mimikyu) in the coming days, but I didn’t want to wait on this one. Scopely, you know what to do! (Please!)
Anyway, until next time, you can often find me on Twitter for Pokémon GO analysis nuggets, or Patreon. Thank you for reading, and good luck in your Fantasy Cup prep (or avoidance! 😅) next week. Catch you next time, Pokéfriends!
