[Overview]
<p>Mr. Mime has two main roles in NU. The first is its role as a powerful and fast sweeper thanks to Nasty Plot, Calm Mind, and great offensive stats. It has a decent base 90 Speed coupled with base 100 Special Attack and base 120 Special Defense to give it merit as a special sweeper. However, this role is highly contested and arguably done better by Jynx, which as access to the same coverage and stat boosting moves, but with higher offensive stats. Mr. Mime shouldn't be overlooked though. With access to Baton Pass and Soundproof, Mr. Mime isn't as vulnerable to Pursuit and phazing as Jynx is. This leads to Mr. Mime's second role in NU: that of a dominant Baton Pass user. Soundproof makes it harder for Mr. Mime to be phazed away thanks to an immunity to Roar, and Mr. Mime has access to powerful stat boosting moves. Mr. Mime's Speed allows it to successfully use Taunt or Encore to stop opponents from setting up against it or removing its boosts via Haze or similar methods. Because it is a capable sweeper and a dominant Baton Pass user, one shouldn't be so quick to overlook Mr. Mime.</p>
[SET]
name: Baton Pass
move 1: Baton Pass
move 2: Nasty Plot / Calm Mind
move 3: Substitute / Encore / Taunt / Barrier
move 4: Psychic
item: Leftovers
ability: Soundproof
nature: Timid
evs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>When anyone sees a Mr. Mime in OU, it is most likely part of an obvious Baton Pass chain. This is no surprise, as with Soundproof and a wide variety of stat boosting moves, Mr. Mime is also a top candidate for a Baton Pass chain in NU, where there are even fewer Pokemon that can prevent it from setting up. Nasty Plot and Calm Mind are the primary stat boosts to pass. Nasty Plot is primarily used for a quick +2 in Special Attack, which is then Baton Passed to a fast sweeper for a potential sweep. This is more likely to be seen outside of an all-out Baton Passing team. Calm Mind boosts Special Attack less than Nasty Plot, but the additional +1 to Special Defense is very useful. Calm Mind is the move of choice for Mr. Mime if it is part of an all-out Baton Pass chain, as the extra Special Defense allows Mr. Mime to get more Calm Minds in against special attackers. The third moveslot has a myriad of options. Substitute and Taunt are both great ways to avoid status. Taunt allows Mr. Mime to avoid phazing from Whirlwind and Haze while preventing the opponent from setting up as well. Substitute is nice to potentially get the Baton Pass receiver in unscathed. With Encore, one hopes that the opponent sets up hazards or boosts so Mr. Mime can get free stat boosts while the opponent is forced to switch. However, this option is more situational. Barrier offers another stat boost to be passed on, and it also patches up Mr. Mime's pathetic Defense, which might allow it to get in more stat boosts. Finally, Mr. Mime gets a STAB attack in the form of Psychic so it doesn't become Taunt bait and will be able to abuse the stat boosts itself.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EVs are designed to tank hits a little better and make Substitutes a little bulkier while maintaining maximum Speed. The only attacking move Mr. Mime gets is Psychic and, although there are no Special Attack EVs, it can still do major damage after a Nasty Plot boost. Psyshock can also be used to deal with special walls better, but Psychic is generally better for a higher damage output considering the boosts Mr. Mime will accumulate. This set is designed to Baton Pass anyway, so wallbreaking should be left to designated sweepers. Charge Beam can be used for a possible Special Attack boost and with Technician it has decent power behind it; however, Mr. Mime loses Soundproof, which makes it more susceptible to phazing. Good partners for Mr. Mime include Pokemon that can take advantage of its boosts, such as Magmortar, Electabuzz, Jynx, Kadabra, and Rotom-S.</p>
[SET]
name: Special Sweeper
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Psychic / Psyshock
move 3: Focus Blast / Signal Beam
move 4: Baton Pass / Substitute
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
ability: Filter
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Although Jynx appears to outclass Mr. Mime as a sweeper, Mr. Mime is still a very capable sweeper thanks to certain advantages. Mr. Mime can avoid Pursuit and Sucker Punch with Baton Pass and allow another sweeper to take its place; this secondary Baton Pass role is probably its biggest advantage over Jynx. If the situation isn't very favorable, just bring in another sweeper. A mono-Psychic typing also gives Mr. Mime fewer weaknesses than Jynx. Access to Nasty Plot and great type coverage means that Mr. Mime will be able to deal with many threats thanks to its insane Special Attack stat. Psychic is the main STAB move of choice, but Psyshock is an option worth noting to hit Altaria and Articuno harder. Focus Blast hits the Steel-types that would otherwise wall Mr. Mime. Signal Beam, on the other hand, still allows for super effective coverage on Absol but removes Mr. Mime's ability to deal with Steel-types. Substitute is another option over Baton Pass because it also allows Mr. Mime to avoid Sucker Punch and status, but it will still be vulnerable to Pursuit.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Hazards would go well with this set to net more OHKOs and break through Sturdy. Probopass is one of Mr. Mime's best partners as it offers Stealth Rock and paralysis support and resists any super effective hits targeted at Mr. Mime. Absol is a good offensive partner to take out opposing Psychic-types if you choose not to run Signal Beam, as Mr. Mime will otherwise be completely walled by them. Technician Icy Wind and Thunderbolt both are inferior options because pseudo-BoltBeam coverage will only hit a few Pokemon better than the Psychic- and Fighting-type coverage. Mr. Mime could also run Technician Hidden Power Fighting as the accuracy of Focus Blast might be unappealing, but the power of Focus Blast allows Mr. Mime to score many OHKOs after a Nasty Plot boost. Mr. Mime can also run an all-out attacking set with Nasty Plot, Focus Blast, and Signal Beam for maximum coverage, but this will only be effective once all opposing Pokemon with Pursuit and Sucker Punch are eliminated. Furthermore, Baton Pass is the one major advantage Mr. Mime holds over Jynx, so an all-out attacking set would arguably be performed better by Jynx. Filter could allow Mr. Mime to take a Pursuit when it is not switching out and take a super effective special attack. Soundproof can also be used to stop phazers from being able to Roar it out.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Mr. Mime has a wide variety of options, but looking closer at its sets reveals that they are outclassed by other Pokemon or outclassed in the primary sets. Its access to Technician allows it to run a set consisting of Charge Beam, Icy Wind, and an array of Hidden Powers with a Base Power of 60, along with a STAB attack. This set is unfortunately inferior to the Nasty Plot set, which offers better coverage and more power even with the Technician boost factored in. Mr. Mime can also run a dual screens set with Healing Wish, but this is outclassed by Mesprit, which has more bulk and can set up Stealth Rock. A Trick set with a Choice item allows Mr. Mime to cripple an opposing wall, but this limits Mr. Mime when it comes to attacking as it is easy to become Pursuit bait. It doesn't have enough power to abuse a Choice Scarf effectively, and Nasty Plot gives Mr. Mime more versatility than a Choice Specs set. Confuse Ray, Thunder Wave, and Trick Room are all good support moves that Mr. Mime can use. However, the cost of using them is usually too great as they will hinder Mr. Mime's type coverage or force it to drop its most coveted quality, Baton Passing, from its sets. Most of the time Mr. Mime will be too frail to really abuse any of those support moves anyway.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Mr. Mime has the ability to Baton Pass out of most unfavorable situations. Fortunately, Mr. Mime is easy to check and easy to force out. Psychic-types will wall any sweeper sets that lack Signal Beam. Therefore, Exeggutor and Mesprit can both cripple any Mr. Mime without Signal Beam with status. If Mr. Mime chooses not to run Baton Pass or Substitute, Absol and Skuntank can both use Pursuit and Sucker Punch on Mr. Mime and fear little damage in return thanks to an immunity to Psychic-type moves. Altaria, Mantine, and Articuno can take on Mr. Mime without Psyshock and attempt to cripple it with status or phaze out variants without Soundproof. However, most checks should be careful to not let Mr. Mime get too many Nasty Plots in. Murkrow can stop the Baton Pass set with Prankster Taunt and can use Thunder Wave on the sweeper set. Steel-types in general will wall any sweeper set without a Fighting-type move. Quagsire can negate any stat boosting attempts on the sweeper, but must be careful of Mr. Mime Baton Passing its boosts to a Pokemon that can beat Quagsire.</p>
