Mewtwo can Calm Mind up and Taunt away any attempts to phaze, Psych Up, status, or otherwise interfere with its setup, thanks to its blistering Speed. Taunt's new and improved duration of two to four turns makes a Recover-less Mewtwo better than it used to be, as you are no longer forced to Taunt every other move. Ice Beam and Aura Sphere hit the vast majority of the Uber metagame, but you'll need Shadow Ball to badly hurt opposing Mewtwo, Deoxys-D and Ghost Arceus. Leftovers is the safe choice, although you may need a boosting item to OHKO Tyranitar, as many of them are designed to survive a +1 Aura Sphere. Expert Belt offers a very good chance of a OHKO, while Life Orb guarantees the kill.
A Calm Mind variant, this time with Sub over Taunt. Although losing Taunt means this Mewtwo can be phazed by the likes of Lugia and Giratina (but not before they eat an Ice Beam), status attacks still pose no real threat as Mewtwo's blistering Speed means it can easily throw up a Sub before it gets hit with Toxic or Thunder Wave. As for the last slot, it depends how you want to play. If you have Forretress to set up Toxic Spikes, Mewtwo can use Recover, Sub and Pressure to stall out many slower opponents, until they are in the kill range of Ice Beam. Aura Sphere provides a more offensive option.
Mewtwo has a fun new toy in Diamond/Pearl in the form of Choice Specs. This Mewtwo makes a killer lead into the battle with the ability to do serious damage to anything in the Uber metagame, and outspeed everything but Deoxys-A and Choice Scarf abusers. Aura Sphere is a OHKO on Darkrai leads, and the EVs given outspeed it by a point. As always, Ice Beam is a great attack for hammering many opponents Mewtwo will face in Uber battles. After that, the move choices get tricky. Thunder covers Kyogre and Ho-oh, and hits Lugia harder than Ice Beam and has that handy 30% Paralysis rate. Grass Knot, however, covers both Groudon and Kyogre with the same move, which prevents the other from switching in and setting up when you're locked in to the wrong move from dealing with its opposite, and also 2HKOs Tyranitar. Flamethrower is highly recommended in the last slot if you are leading with Mewtwo, otherwise Metagross will be a problem. However, if Mewtwo isn't brought out until later in the game, you can opt for Shadow Ball to cover Deoxys-D, Ghost Arceus and other Mewtwo. Metagross is 2HKOed with Thunder, and Aura Sphere is also a likely 2HKO. This set works if you want a Choice Scarf Mewtwo as well. Besides the obvious advantage of outrunning everything, it allows for a lot more HP investment, which makes for slightly easier switch-ins. Modest, 168 HP / 252 SpA / 88 Spe is a decent spread for Scarfed Mewtwo. The minor Speed investment makes Mewtwo faster than Rayquaza with one Dragon Dance. Fire Blast is worth considering if you are using a Scarf set, as will likely OHKO Metagross without the Sun, something Flamethrower fails to do.
Physical Mewtwo is no joke, hitting most Ubers on their weaker defensive stat. Although Mewtwo lost Shadow Ball as a physical attack, and didn't get Shadow Claw to replace it, Ice Punch more than makes up for it. Earthquake covers stuff like Metagross, Heatran and Dialga; while Brick Break provides more power against Blissey, Tyranitar and Darkrai. Just like on a Calm Mind set, Taunt is a great option, but there are a few other moves worth considering. Selfdestruct will take out almost anything that doesn't resist it, especially after a Bulk Up. If you want to improve type coverage, there are a couple of good options to use in place of Taunt or Selfdestruct. ThunderPunch helps against Kyogre, Manaphy, Skarmory and Ho-oh, while Stone Edge utterly destroys Ho-oh, and gives Mewtwo a chance of 2HKOing Lugia after a single boost. Leftovers is always a good choice, although if you switch to Expert Belt Mewtwo can 2HKO max HP Groudon and OHKO Darkrai after a Bulk Up. The given EVs outrun base 110 Speed Pokémon, like Latios and Latias. Don't bother trying to outspeed Darkrai unless you have Brick Break and Expert Belt, both of which are required to OHKO after a Bulk Up. Switch to Jolly and use 216 Speed EVs if you're going that route.
A good option to deal with Blissey and still have excellent coverage. This set doesn't outrun Darkrai, but you should ideally be attacking from behind a Substitute, or hitting it with a Focus Punch as it switches in. Shadow Ball and Thunder are both great options, so choose which you prefer.
Plenty of power from both ends of attacking spectrum, and without the need to set up. Focus Punch easily OHKOs an incoming Tyranitar or Darkrai, and does a minimum of 98% to 4 HP / 252 Defense, Bold Blissey. Brick Break 2HKOs Blissey easily and does between 75% and 88% to a max HP Tyranitar. Other OptionsPsychic was left out, as it offers poor coverage in Uber battles. However, it will destroy the occasional Fighting Arceus, and also hurts Palkia more than any of Mewtwo's other special attacking options. Reflect and Light Screen can help Mewtwo as much as they can help his teammates, covering his somewhat average (by Uber standards) defenses. Will-O-Wisp cripples Metagross, Tyranitar and other physical attackers. Thunder Wave is as good a move as ever, but is difficult to fit in. Me First is interesting and Mewtwo is one of the few Pokémon with the Speed to pull it off, but aside from hitting the Lati twins back with a Dragon move, or maybe firing a Shadow Claw at Ghost Arceus, there's not much you'll be able to use it against. Power Swap and Guard Swap will screw with stat boosters and can be extremely clutch. Snatch is good for similar reasons. Mewtwo has a lot of options, the problem is finding a moveslot for them. EVsA +Speed nature and 216 Speed EVs is highly recommended on all sets, as it hits a stat of 385, outrunning Darkrai and Arceus. Max Special Attack for special sweeping sets, max Attack for physical sets. Any remaining EVs should go in HP. 204 EVs in HP reaches a stat of 404, enabling Mewtwo to make Substitutes that are unbreakable by a single Seismic Toss or Night Shade. OpinionThe classic God of Pokémon. Mewtwo is still "the best", but it arguably has to share its throne with Arceus and Deoxys-A now. Mewtwo is a combat beast and should be feared by any self-respecting trainer. CountersAs with most Ubers, it depends on the set. Any Mewtwo without Flamethrower needs to beware of Metagross and Scizor. Arceus can be built to counter it, but physical versions are somewhat better off than special versions for this task. A Blissey with Thunder can put a stop to Mewtwo without Substitute or Focus Punch, as Mewtwo hates paralysis. Kyogre and Ho-oh don't have too many problems countering Calm Mind sets. Kyogre's massive Special Defense, resistance to Ice Beam and its own ability to Calm Mind let it take on Mewtwo with ease. Furthermore, Surf really hurts Mewtwo due to the rain and its massive special attack. Ho-oh, on the other hand, bypasses Mewtwo's Calm Mind boosted Special Defense with Sacred Fire or Punishment, and with Special Defense rivaling Mewtwo's Special Attack, Ho-oh easily shrugs off Ice Beam and Aura Sphere. Both should not be hasty in switching into Mewtwo, however, for there are chances where Mewtwo might carry Thunder. Countering Mewtwo, like many Ubers, is as much about not letting it get in and set up as it is about switching something in to stop it. |
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