Pokémon: 'Unnerve Your Foes with Mewtwo'

With access to its Unnerve Ability, the first restricted Pokémon is now more powerful than ever.

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Pokémon

Unnerve Your Foes with Mewtwo

Players who have earned at least one Play! Point during the 2016 season are about to receive a fantastic reward: a Shiny Mewtwo with its Hidden Ability, Unnerve! (Check out the full details of the distribution on Pokemon.com.). When a Pokémon with the Unnerve Ability is on the field, opponents are unable to eat held Berries such as Sitrus Berry, Lum Berry, or Chesto Berry. This Mewtwo is more than just a rare Pokémon to add to your collection. It has the power to be a major contender in the remaining tournaments using the 2016 Video Game Championships format.

If you’re looking to build a Video Game Championships team around your new Mewtwo, the best way to take advantage of its Unnerve Ability is by combining Mewtwo with Pokémon that know moves that can put opponents to Sleep. Smeargle’s devastating Dark Void move is probably the first that comes to mind for many Trainers since Unnerve prevents Dark Void’s targets from using a Berry to wake up right away.

Let’s expand a little more on this strong partnership. Smeargle is most frequently given a Focus Sash to hold to keep it in battle a little longer, but some Trainers give it a Choice Scarf instead to increase its Speed. Mewtwo opens up some interesting strategic options for this type of Smeargle through its own natural Speed and the move Gravity, which raises the accuracy of all Pokémon in play. Since Mewtwo is faster than most other popular Pokémon, Trainers can train their Smeargle to be just a bit slower than Mewtwo after the boost from Choice Scarf. Even when it moves a little slower than its maximum speed, Smeargle should be quick enough to outpace most other Pokémon. Letting Mewtwo move first allows it to use Gravity to increase Smeargle’s accuracy. If your opponent doesn’t lead with a Pokémon that knows the move Fake Out or that has the Ability Prankster, you’re almost guaranteed to put both of your opponents to Sleep with this strategy.

Another pair of Pokémon that Mewtwo’s Unnerve can assist are Liepard and Purrloin. Both of these Pokémon can use the rare combination of the Assist move and the Prankster Ability. Assist causes the user to randomly use one of its teammates’ moves, but there are certain moves Assist will never call. With careful planning, you can build a team where Assist will only call Dark Void. Plus, Prankster gives Assist increased priority, and Mewtwo’s Unnerve Ability can prevent opponents from stopping Dark Void with Lum Berry or Chesto Berry. It’s almost unstoppable! If you make your own version of this team, consider giving Mewtwo a Mewtwonite X to hold and teaching it Focus Punch, which can’t be called by Assist (but be careful not to Mega Evolve until you no longer need Unnerve!). A more conventional Smeargle can be used with few adjustments, as Follow Me and King’s Shield can’t be called by Assist. Transform can be a great final move to let Smeargle help go on the offense late in battles. But don’t forget, once Smeargle uses Transform, Assist can call any new moves it learns.

Focus Punch isn’t an attack you’ll see used by most Mewtwo. Instead, a majority of the Mewtwo we’ve seen players bring to tournaments so far have known the moves Psystrike, Ice Beam, and Protect. Mewtwo can dish out huge damage to most Pokémon that aren’t Steel-type Pokémon with just Psystrike and Ice Beam, so it normally doesn’t need to be taught more attacks. With its offense complete, adding Protect will make opponents think twice about targeting Mewtwo with both of their Pokémon to quickly take it out of battle. As a Psychic-type Pokémon, Mewtwo is weak against the priority move Sucker Punch. Teaching Mewtwo a fourth non-damaging move lets it keep accomplishing something when an opponent with Sucker Punch is on the field and Mewtwo can’t risk using Protect in consecutive rounds, so most Trainers have it learn Gravity, Substitute, or Safeguard. We normally see Trainers give Mewtwo a Life Orb to hold, which further increases its trademark power.

With a team centered around a Mewtwo with the Unnerve Ability, Gary Qian finished in 11th place of the over 400 Trainers who competed in the Masters Division at the US Pokémon Video Game National Championships. Gary’s Mewtwo team didn’t focus too much on the Genetic Pokémon’s Unnerve Ability. Instead, this team focused on Mewtwo’s inherent power, some surprising tactics, and making clever reads about what moves the opponent was likely to make. Mewtwo teamed up with a Mega Venusaur that knew Sleep Powder, a Raichu that evolved from one of the special Pikachu distributed after the Pokémon Global Link’s Pikachu Cup Online Competition, and the team even featured three different Pokémon that knew Substitute. This team excelled at offensive power and trickery at the expense of being weaker on defense, making it one of the most fun and exciting teams we’ve seen in the Top Cut during the 2016 Pokémon Video Game Championship season.

Even before it gained access to the powerful Unnerve Ability, Mewtwo always seemed to be able to find a place in the upper echelons of the International Challenge Online Competitions. One team that made it to the top 10 of an earlier International Challenge featured a Mewtwo that knew the move Gravity. That Trainer paired Mewtwo with three different teammates that knew the move Hypnosis: Crobat, Bronzong, and Gengar. A Mewtwo with the Unnerve Ability could make this strategy even stronger—not only does Gravity increase the accuracy of Hypnosis, but Unnerve also prevents opponents from stopping Hypnosis with a Berry. We’ve also seen players experimenting with using Mewtwo next to other Pokémon with Sleep-inducing moves, such as Jumpluff and its Sleep Powder.

With access to its Unnerve Ability, the first restricted Pokémon is now more powerful than ever. The tactics we’ve listed here are just a few of the options that have been opened up for Mewtwo. Try pairing your new Mewtwo with your favorite Sleep-inducing Pokémon to find out what strategies you prefer for your own team. All of the details for the Shiny Mewtwo distribution can be found here, and remember to check out Pokemon.com/Strategy for more Pokémon TCG and video game strategy and analysis.

Source: Pokémon.