With the coming of the new generation, I was really excited to hear that the Pokedex would be cut down, because that means that Pokemon of old and new generations would be able to shine. I was also excited about 1v1, as a new meta would form around the lucky few who were able to avoid Dexit. Little did I know that Mew gained Imprison in Generation 8, allowing it to effectively suffocate a vast majority of the meta game. In this post I will explain my personal reasoning as to why I believe Mew is unhealthy for the meta and 1v1 tier as a whole, and why I believe Mew should be banned.
1. Imprison + Transform
Mew's combination of the move Imprison and Transform allows for it to function as one of the best stall breakers in the game, and for bad reasons. The ability to cripple your opponent in two turns is a frightening prospect. It's existed before in the form of Smeargle, but it was not very good due to Smeargle's frailty and lackluster speed stat. Meanwhile due to Dexit, Mew is one of the fastest Pokemon in the tier when unscarved, and one of the only Pokemon with a dizzying BS100 in every stat. This means that a Max speed, max HP set has the potential to become the most disruptive Pokemon in the meta. By no means is Mew banworthy for this reason alone, but it leaves Mew in the unique position of invalidating Pokemon who encourage unique gamestyles and laying waste to the remarkably slower metagame than last generation.
2. Vast movepool
Mew gets access to one of the largest overall movepools in the game. This means that Imprison Transform Mew has access to two extra move-slots, which allows for Mew to run coverage moves. This makes Mew an even larger threat because it allows for it to shutdown it's most common check, Taunt. Slower taunt users can't rely on Taunt to shut down Imprison Mew because it becomes trapped by Imprison, and in conjunction with a Mental Herb has the potential to shut down faster Taunt users, and most importantly, Sabeleye who is undoubtedly also one of the best Pokemon in the meta at the moment. The last slot can be used to cover substitute, or run an attacking move, which is problematic for reasons I'll get into later.
3. Offensive & Defensive Potential
Mew can take full advantage of the comparatively more frail metagame due to the previously mentioned BS100 in each stat. This means that you can run a full wallbreaker Choice/Specs set and demolish anyone who expects Imprison Mew, or Pokemon built around other metagame threats. Since Mew is also hard to knock out on the defensive side, if you invest you can beat some of Mew's hardest counters, such as Dragapult and Hydregion by soaking up a hit and returning with a Choiced Play Rough or one boosted by Weakness Policy, depending on personal preference.
Technically any Pokemon in the metagame can do this over their most common sets, but Mew does it to a degree where it can fit on almost any team, and not in a manor which encourages creativity. As an example of a very good Pokemon who encourages creativity, let's look at the MegaZard Twins of yester-gen. While I detest the Zard Twins for their unpredictability, I can't deny that they are both not banworthy. The existence of Z-Moves allowed for creative sets which could counter the Zard Twins, such as Torrent Primarina, Torrent Greninja, Outrage Zeraora, and other off meta picks which could beat most Zard Twin sets. These Pokemon were diverse in the ways they took care of each Zard, such as Primarina's typing being just right, Zeraora's speed and offensive coverage clicking all the right boxes, and Torrent Greninja having a really powerful offensive niche. Not to mention the Zard Twins could not run an item, so their omnipresence was less predictable past the Mega Evolution. Not to mention the Zard twins hardly had much coverage outside of their Fire, Dragon and Flying STABs, which allowed for proper preparation.
That being said, composing a Mew set is largely uncreative because of how Mew fits on a team. A Mew counter's primary objective is to play around Imprison in some shape or form, either by preventing the move from activating, or being able to overtake Mew through the effects of Imprison. Not only is this linear in terms of teambuilding, but a Pokemon designed to beat Imprison Mew can either be OHKO'd by Choice Mew, or be so specifically dedicated to beating Mew that it lacks coverage against a vast majority of the meta. (There are few exceptions to this at the moment, but upon looking at the roster, it doesn't look like many will present themselves) If the Zard-twins attempted to deviate too far from the well beaten path, they would stumble into unviable territories. Meanwhile Mew has the bulk and offense to function as whatever it so pleases.
4. The Shape of the Meta
While the meta is always changing, I feel Mew will encourage the meta to not change because of what it demands and what it offers. Sabeleye can defeat almost every choice user in the game due to Protect --> Disable, who also beats many non-choice Pokemon if running Trick --> Disable. This encourages Fairy and Dark type coverage in order to deal with Sabeleye. Dark types such as Hydregion have the best chance against Mew, but lose if Mew carries any shape or form of fairy coverage (dark pulse can flinch though, which can clutch out a win on occasion). Not a single Fairy Type in the tier can reliably defeat Mew, except for Mimikyu and Specs Sylveon. Maybe Trick Togekiss can beat Mew, but it functions entirely on hax to defeat most opponents. Sylveon doesn't have a chance unless it's specs, which leaves it vulnerable to Sabeleye's Disable. Mew can tank a Modest Max SpAttk Pixilate boosted Hyper Beam, Imprison, Transform, then tank the subsequent Struggles if Sylveon lacks Specs. Other dedicated Mew counters are usually dedicated to Imprison Mew, so Mew has a different set that can counter that and many other metagame threats simultaneously. (Please note that if Mew's sets to counter it's own counters were bad against the rest of the meta game, then this would be a non issue). Mew synergizes perfectly with uncreative strategies, encourages hax, and can be edited to beat some of its counters depending on what's on ladder. I may change my mind on this ban if in the coming months a definite flaw in Mew's game plan is identified and capitalized on, but as it stands currently, Mew seems too centralizing for my taste.
In conclusion (tl;dr):
Mew is unhealthy due to its unique roll of having great bulk, a win condition against most of the Meta, and sets which can counter Mew's most common counters. Mixed with the frailty of the Meta game, Mew can function as a sweeper with a choice item or be the ultimate anti stall, while simultaneously functioning as a stall Pokemon if it isn't OHKO'd or 2HKO'd. It also synergizes perfectly with Pokemon like Sabeleye, who encourage boring strategies to beat Mew's counters. It also encourages Togekiss usage, which inadvertently encourages hax as a predominant strategy. If Mew stays unbanned, so be it, I'll deal, but I don't think it's within our best interests as a community.
Bias Check: I am an adamant hater of stall in this format, as I feel it isn't a fun way to play. However, I see valor in stall's use defensively in conjunction with offense, like Milotic or Serperior in Gen 7. I also hate unpredictability to the extent that laddering is Inherently random in itself, so additional randomness makes teambuilding especially difficult. As of making this post I am ranked #4 on the ladder at 1673 ELO, so I feel I am at least somewhat qualified to give my input on this matter. (Although everyone's input is valuable at the end of the day, the requests of the few carry little weight over the requests of the masses). I should also mention I was active in Gen 7 for a while as well, which is where I got my fill of the Mega Zard Twins.
Edit: Fixed some grammar and fixed an error I made in my explanation
Edit 2: Fixed a mixup on my part and elaborated further.
1. Imprison + Transform
Mew's combination of the move Imprison and Transform allows for it to function as one of the best stall breakers in the game, and for bad reasons. The ability to cripple your opponent in two turns is a frightening prospect. It's existed before in the form of Smeargle, but it was not very good due to Smeargle's frailty and lackluster speed stat. Meanwhile due to Dexit, Mew is one of the fastest Pokemon in the tier when unscarved, and one of the only Pokemon with a dizzying BS100 in every stat. This means that a Max speed, max HP set has the potential to become the most disruptive Pokemon in the meta. By no means is Mew banworthy for this reason alone, but it leaves Mew in the unique position of invalidating Pokemon who encourage unique gamestyles and laying waste to the remarkably slower metagame than last generation.
2. Vast movepool
Mew gets access to one of the largest overall movepools in the game. This means that Imprison Transform Mew has access to two extra move-slots, which allows for Mew to run coverage moves. This makes Mew an even larger threat because it allows for it to shutdown it's most common check, Taunt. Slower taunt users can't rely on Taunt to shut down Imprison Mew because it becomes trapped by Imprison, and in conjunction with a Mental Herb has the potential to shut down faster Taunt users, and most importantly, Sabeleye who is undoubtedly also one of the best Pokemon in the meta at the moment. The last slot can be used to cover substitute, or run an attacking move, which is problematic for reasons I'll get into later.
3. Offensive & Defensive Potential
Mew can take full advantage of the comparatively more frail metagame due to the previously mentioned BS100 in each stat. This means that you can run a full wallbreaker Choice/Specs set and demolish anyone who expects Imprison Mew, or Pokemon built around other metagame threats. Since Mew is also hard to knock out on the defensive side, if you invest you can beat some of Mew's hardest counters, such as Dragapult and Hydregion by soaking up a hit and returning with a Choiced Play Rough or one boosted by Weakness Policy, depending on personal preference.
Technically any Pokemon in the metagame can do this over their most common sets, but Mew does it to a degree where it can fit on almost any team, and not in a manor which encourages creativity. As an example of a very good Pokemon who encourages creativity, let's look at the MegaZard Twins of yester-gen. While I detest the Zard Twins for their unpredictability, I can't deny that they are both not banworthy. The existence of Z-Moves allowed for creative sets which could counter the Zard Twins, such as Torrent Primarina, Torrent Greninja, Outrage Zeraora, and other off meta picks which could beat most Zard Twin sets. These Pokemon were diverse in the ways they took care of each Zard, such as Primarina's typing being just right, Zeraora's speed and offensive coverage clicking all the right boxes, and Torrent Greninja having a really powerful offensive niche. Not to mention the Zard Twins could not run an item, so their omnipresence was less predictable past the Mega Evolution. Not to mention the Zard twins hardly had much coverage outside of their Fire, Dragon and Flying STABs, which allowed for proper preparation.
That being said, composing a Mew set is largely uncreative because of how Mew fits on a team. A Mew counter's primary objective is to play around Imprison in some shape or form, either by preventing the move from activating, or being able to overtake Mew through the effects of Imprison. Not only is this linear in terms of teambuilding, but a Pokemon designed to beat Imprison Mew can either be OHKO'd by Choice Mew, or be so specifically dedicated to beating Mew that it lacks coverage against a vast majority of the meta. (There are few exceptions to this at the moment, but upon looking at the roster, it doesn't look like many will present themselves) If the Zard-twins attempted to deviate too far from the well beaten path, they would stumble into unviable territories. Meanwhile Mew has the bulk and offense to function as whatever it so pleases.
4. The Shape of the Meta
While the meta is always changing, I feel Mew will encourage the meta to not change because of what it demands and what it offers. Sabeleye can defeat almost every choice user in the game due to Protect --> Disable, who also beats many non-choice Pokemon if running Trick --> Disable. This encourages Fairy and Dark type coverage in order to deal with Sabeleye. Dark types such as Hydregion have the best chance against Mew, but lose if Mew carries any shape or form of fairy coverage (dark pulse can flinch though, which can clutch out a win on occasion). Not a single Fairy Type in the tier can reliably defeat Mew, except for Mimikyu and Specs Sylveon. Maybe Trick Togekiss can beat Mew, but it functions entirely on hax to defeat most opponents. Sylveon doesn't have a chance unless it's specs, which leaves it vulnerable to Sabeleye's Disable. Mew can tank a Modest Max SpAttk Pixilate boosted Hyper Beam, Imprison, Transform, then tank the subsequent Struggles if Sylveon lacks Specs. Other dedicated Mew counters are usually dedicated to Imprison Mew, so Mew has a different set that can counter that and many other metagame threats simultaneously. (Please note that if Mew's sets to counter it's own counters were bad against the rest of the meta game, then this would be a non issue). Mew synergizes perfectly with uncreative strategies, encourages hax, and can be edited to beat some of its counters depending on what's on ladder. I may change my mind on this ban if in the coming months a definite flaw in Mew's game plan is identified and capitalized on, but as it stands currently, Mew seems too centralizing for my taste.
In conclusion (tl;dr):
Mew is unhealthy due to its unique roll of having great bulk, a win condition against most of the Meta, and sets which can counter Mew's most common counters. Mixed with the frailty of the Meta game, Mew can function as a sweeper with a choice item or be the ultimate anti stall, while simultaneously functioning as a stall Pokemon if it isn't OHKO'd or 2HKO'd. It also synergizes perfectly with Pokemon like Sabeleye, who encourage boring strategies to beat Mew's counters. It also encourages Togekiss usage, which inadvertently encourages hax as a predominant strategy. If Mew stays unbanned, so be it, I'll deal, but I don't think it's within our best interests as a community.
Bias Check: I am an adamant hater of stall in this format, as I feel it isn't a fun way to play. However, I see valor in stall's use defensively in conjunction with offense, like Milotic or Serperior in Gen 7. I also hate unpredictability to the extent that laddering is Inherently random in itself, so additional randomness makes teambuilding especially difficult. As of making this post I am ranked #4 on the ladder at 1673 ELO, so I feel I am at least somewhat qualified to give my input on this matter. (Although everyone's input is valuable at the end of the day, the requests of the few carry little weight over the requests of the masses). I should also mention I was active in Gen 7 for a while as well, which is where I got my fill of the Mega Zard Twins.
Edit: Fixed some grammar and fixed an error I made in my explanation
Edit 2: Fixed a mixup on my part and elaborated further.
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