Mimikyu PvP Analysis

MIMIKYU is here! Mimikyu is here! This is not a drill, people! It’s been 3000 years! ALL the memes!

Ahem. Excuse me. But I think it’s fair to say that players the world over have been waiting (and waiting… and waiting….) for this moment. Mimikyu has an extremely loyal fanbase. So today we examine: was the wait worth it? Weeeeeeeelllllllll… yes and no. Come with me as we explore this truly unique new release and how it might look in PvP. Let’s go!

MIMIKYU Stats and Moves

Mimikyu GhostFairy

Great League Stats

• (Highest Stat Product IVs: 1-14-15, 1500 CP, Level 25.5)

Ultra League Stats

• (Highest Stat Product IVs: 14-14-15, 2497 CP, Level 50)

Master League?

What, are you nuts? This thing barely hits 2500 CP. No no no.

So the obvious part first: the unique typing. Until and unless we get Flutter Mane in GO (like, in 2029 or something!), Mimikyu is the only Ghost/Fairy type we get to play with. It’s one of the better type combinations defensively, with Fairy cancelling out the usual Ghost weakness to Dark, Ghost negating the usual Fairy weakness to Poison, and with both typings resisting Bug and Fighting, you end up with a 2x resistance to Bug and a rare 3x resistance to Fighting (since Ghost comes with a double resistance itself). Interestingly, Mimikyu has NO single-level resistances, with both Dragon and Normal also being 2x resistances, and it’s left with just two single-level weaknesses: Ghost and Steel.

…that all sounded confusing reading it back, sorry. To make it REALLY simple: 2x resistances to Bug, Dragon, and Normal, 3x resistance to Fighting, weak to only Ghost and Steel. Get it? Got it? Good!

The stats are… meh, okay. Among Ghosts, the closest comparisons in terms of Attack and bulk are Skeledirge (same Attack and with Defense and HP basically flip-flopped) and Spiritomb (Mimikyu has very slightly less Defense and very slightly more HP) in Great League, and it sits between Decidueye and Annihilape in Ultra League. Among Fairies, it’s in the same neighborhood as Florges, Dedenne, and especially Togekiss. Not great, but far from awful. It’s really the typing that’s the much bigger story, I think.

Well, that and the unique way in which it is purported to function. But first, we have to consider the moves….

Fast Moves

• Shadow Claw – Ghost type, 3.0 DPT, 4.0 EPT, 1.0 CoolDown
• Hex – Ghost type, 2.33 DPT, 4.33 EPT, 1.5 CD

There are things that have Hex and another good move like Astonish where Hex’s superior energy gains win out. But uh… there’s really no comparison when the other option is Shadow Claw. You see that fast move, you run it and don’t look back. I really don’t think you need any analysis here beyond that, do you?

Charge Moves

• Shadow Sneak – Ghost type, 75 damage, 50 energy
• Play Rough – Fairy type, 90 damage, 60 energy
• Thunder – Electric type, 100 damage, 60 energy

Nice and simple here. Thunder is, on paper, a better move than Play Rough, but that’s before factoring in the math of Play Rough alone benefitting from the Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB), which means that Play Rough will still end up dealing more damage when neither have an effectiveness advantage over the other. (In other words, when both are dealing neutral damage or both are super or not very effective, and so forth.) 9 times out of 10, Play Rough is just the best way to go.

…alongside the underwhelming-but-necessary Shadow Sneak. It’s a move with the same stats as Rock Tomb but without the Attack debuff on the opponent. It’s also the same stats as the once-great-but-underwhelming-for-years-now Sky Attack. I mean, it’s far better than Shadow Sneak used to be until Season 25 (formerly 45 energy for only 50 damage), but still typically a move you’ll use only when you have nothing better. Prior to release, Mimikyu was coded with Shadow Ball, which obviously would have been FAR better, but here we are.

In the end, it may not matter much though. Because there’s a major wrinkle with this specific Pokémon that has it currently banned from GBL, the Play! Pokémon circuit, and even GO Rocket and Team Leader battles. Mimikyu comes with a second form, its “Busted Form” which is triggered in a first-of-its-kind way in battle. Let me just repeat the way it’s been described in the game itself:

“Once per battle, the shroud that covers the Pokémon can protect it from a Charged Attack, after which Mimikyu’s Defense will be lowered until the end of battle.”

Or as players have already taken to calling it, “the third shield”. Now at first, I thought that was too good to be true. That the little-known mechanic of shielding a move but still taking 1 damage even though the shield meant that if you used a shield normally and tried to save Mimikyu’s bonus shielding effect until later in the battle, that the 1 damage it still takes through a normal shield could “bust” it and flip it to its Busted Form. However, as confirmed to me by several folks (including Mr. PvPoke himself when we were discussing his implementation of Mimikyu on the site), during the brief period that Mimikyu was available in GO Rocket battles, you can indeed use your standard two shields normally and Mimikyu WILL indeed remain in un-Busted mode… so yes, in the end, it literally DOES have a third shield, and you can keep its Defense from dropping. And PvPoke’s site now reflects that.

So with all that out of the way, let’s get into some analysis, which may actually end up being the short part of this article, since obviously having a third shield is… well, a little busted, hence why Mimikyu is currently banned everywhere….

GREAT LEAGUE

Yeeeeeeah. So when I started this analysis days ago, before Mimikyu was fully done baking, I ran it without the Busted Form mechanic implemented at all. And it was looking a bit dull, to be honest. There were some very convincing wins, mostly over Dragons (which it dominated, not surprisingly) and Fighters (though not perfectly, as Primeape could outrace it with Rage Fisting… uh… that sounded wrong, so moving on!). Other wins included, interesting, lots of fellow Fairies (Galarian Weezing, Togekiss, Florges, and Alolan Ninetales), as well as Charjabug, Quagsire, Politoed, Malamar, and owing to its Ghostly side, Galarian Corsola and Cresselia as well. Had it released with Shadow Ball, obviously that would have helped, but only to a degree, with new wins against Corviknight and Forretress, but not much else of note.

So consider that the low point for Mimikyu. Because with that “third shield”, it’s a completely different story. Yes, that’s an over 80% winrate. The list of losses now is traditional Ghost-countering Normals like Lickilicky, Furret, and Wigglytuff, a few Steels like Steelix, Galarian Stunfisk, Forretress, Scizor, and Corviknight, and then Morpeko (because of course the equally busted Morpeko survives). It beats every meta Ghost (even tricky ones like Sableye and Gourgeist), every meta Fairy but Wigglytuff, every meta Dark but that darn Morpeko, every meta Poison, every meta Water and/or Grass type, and every single Fighter in Great League but Single Strike Urshifu, among many, many others. This thing is completely and utterly broken with this new mechanic, and with basically a free shield to play with, that is true in 0v0 shielding as well. About the only way to bring it back to earth is to wait it out and burn both shields, breaking through its extra shield and finally being able to somewhat exploit its subpar bulk, similar to how Aegislash finally flops in 2shield matchups. Only Mimikyu STILL retains a 50% winrate, even then.

ULTRA LEAGUE

Same story here, yes: Mimikyu is massively better with its built-in bonus shield. Just on stats and moves and typing alone, it would again beat all meta Dragons and Fighters aside from Primeape, with bonuses that include Stunfisk, Golisopod, Malamar, Corviknight, Florges, and Armored Mewtwo. WITH what is essentially a third available shield, it’s just bonkers in Ultra League, just as it was in Great League. Primeape slides into the win column, as well as ALL meta Ghosts and many others like Cresselia, Togekiss, Talonflame, Galarian Moltres, Greninja, Blastoise, Shadow Empoleon and Feraligatr, Tentacruel, Shadow Nidoqueen, Ampharos, Bellibolt and more. And it remains just as good with (normal) shields down, and unlike in Great League, retains the same competitive record even in 2v2 shielding, with only a couple thijngs like Corviknight, Florges, Greninja, Tentacruel, and Stunfisk slipping away (both others like Clefable, Gastrodon, and Alolan Ninetales moving into the win column).

Mimikyu does have to be maxed out to reach the right size for Ulra League, but were it allowed, it would be totally worth the investment… if implemented as-is.

But that right there is the problem, and I’d like to close this analysis out with a word on that point.

EXCITEMENT TO HORROR TO DISAPPOINTMENT

Players have been asking for Mimikyu in Pokémon GO for many years, and your friendly neighborhood author here has looked forward to it being released for the last several Halloween events. So of course, now we finally get it as part of an otherwise unremarkable Electric-centric event. And despite having literally a decade to work out its release and mechanics, now it comes to us broken and banned. You can’t use it anywhere in PvP, Rocket battles, or even PvE. And with its out-of-control third shield mechanic, it SHOULD be banned, as much as it pains me to say it. Hopefully this analysis has shown you why… it’s just way too powerful.

The analysis also showed that without its special mechanic, it would be a subpar, disappointing Pokémon that never exceeds a 40% winrate in Open metas and languish on most players’ benches. Either way, it’s one to check off in the Pokédex and that is literally the extent of it. Somehow, Team Niantic took one of the most (and longest) anticipated releases in GO ever and completely killed all the hype and excitement around it. They had 10 years to work it out and still dropped it in such a manner that it literally cannot be used by anybody for anything. How does this happen?

Now, they have said (retroactively, post-release) the following: “Initially, you will not be able to bring Mimikyu into battle. Beware that in the future Mimikyu will creep into battles, and it might just change your strategy! Stay tuned for a future game update to use it in battle.” This indicates that they DO intend for it to have a mechanic akin to its current one down the line and be used in PvP. But I again ask: how did they release it like this when they could have released it basically any time they wanted with a viable, playable mechanic? They’ve had many errors in the past, but man, this one is up there near the top, isn’t it? Mindboggling… and such a disheartening blow to Mimikyu fans everywhere. Such a shame.

IN SUMMATION

So, if they implement it as is, hold onto your butts… Mimikyu will BUST PvP everywhere it’s eligible. More than likely we’ll get some rework of its 10-years-developed-but-somehow-still-rushed third shield mechanic, and I’ll come back with a further analysis as needed when they get around to that. But for now, hopefully you at least understand WHY it rightly remains on the sidelines for the time being. I agree with the decision to keep it out of PvP, but am scratching my head over the release here and now. Like, what was the point? 🤷‍♂️

Anyway. JRE is on vacation with the kids this first full week of April, so I may be a little quiet for a few days, but I DO plan to get Tinkaton Community Day analysis out on time! 🔨 Until then, you can always find me on Twitter with regular GO analysis nuggets or Patreon.

Catch you next time, Pokéfriends!