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Interactive Mewtwo – Armored Counters Guide

Mewtwo – Armored

Waiting until the absolute last moment, Niantic has dropped this decked out form of Mewtwo into Pokemon go! Not only that, but Armored Mewtwo has arrived with entirely unanticipated alterations to it’s base stats and movepool making it in almost all ways an essentially brand new Pokemon! Looks like they weren’t content to give Mewtwo the “Pikachu with a Hat” treatment.

Armored Mewtwo is coming out as a tie in to the upcoming movie “Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution.” In it Mewtwo gets decked out in a fancy CGI mecha redesign of the original movies Armor-now with more spikes!

But there;s been a lot of hullabaloo about the new stats, so lets get into how tough a cookie this boy is, and how to take him down.

Armored Mewtwo will be available: July 10 1pm to July 31 2019 1pm.

NOTE: Base Catch Rate is 6% in Gamemaster, but may be updated to 2% server side.

Mewtwo – Armored in the Meta

First, lets make clear the stat changes that happen in this form:

Mewtwo (Base) Mewtwo (Armored) 300 Attack 182 Attack 182 Defense 278 Defense 214 Stamina 214 Stamina

Of the three stats, Attack is disproportionately relevant to how good a Pokemon typically is for Raiding-and Mewtwo suffering a severe drop in that stat doesn’t bode well for it’s usefulness. This does makes sense however, as the armor was meant to dampen Mewtwo’s powers to more controllable levels.

Confusion Future Sight (Raids)

Armored Mewtwo has stats that (pessimistically) more resemble Uxie (152/270/181), a Pokemon that is commonly excluded from consideration as an attacker and is outclassed by over 15 other psychic type Pokemon. More optimistically Mewtwo now has resemblance to Lugia (198/257/172), who is roughly the 7th best Psychic attacker, but has a strong niche as a tank. Particularly for being able to solo Machamp 1 v 1. This is not something Mewtwo can do, capping out around doing 1/2 of Machamp’s health before fainting in absolute best cases.

Mewtwo being strictly better than the former, and strictly worse than the latter in terms of stats leaves it somewhat underwhelming. This is not the Mewtwo you once knew, and it seems very much like the Armor it is wearing dampens it’s offensive power in exchange for better endurance to damage.

That said, it gets strictly superior forms of attacks than base Mewtwo. Future Sight is better than Psychic, and Dynamic Punch is better than Focus Blast, which does give it some position to reclaim some grace. But it performs more along the line of Pokemon like Latias and Exeggutor than base Mewtwo.

Based on Estimator Ranks @ Level 35, this is how Armored Mewtwo shapes up in Psychic-Weak raids.

NAME Moveset RANK POLIWRATH MACHAMP GENGAR VENUSAUR HITMONCHAN Mewtwo Confusion / Psychic 100% 2.14 0.69 0.72 2.35 0.83 Azelf Confusion/Futuresight 89% 2.28 0.77 0.97 2.64 0.87 Espeon Confusion/Futuresight 89% 2.36 0.78 0.91 2.67 0.88 Alakazam Confusion/Futuresight 85% 2.45 0.82 0.98 2.75 0.89 Latios Zen Headbutt/Psychic 84% 2.62 0.84 0.89 2.72 0.99 Metagross Zen Headbutt/Psychic 81% 2.70 0.90 0.87 2.75 1.05 Lugia Extrasensory/Sky Attack 80% 2.68 0.86 1.12 2.73 1.06 Mesprit Confusion/Futuresight 79% 2.69 0.87 0.93 3.00 1.06 Exeggutor Confusion/Psychic 78% 2.73 0.92 0.96 2.93 1.11 Gallade Confusion/Psychic 77% 2.72 0.89 0.95 3.12 1.06 Latias Zen Headbutt/Psychic 74% 2.96 0.97 1.02 3.04 1.17 Armored Mewtwo Confusion/Futuresight 70% 3.07 1.01 1.00 3.28 1.20 Deoxys (Normal Forme) Zen Headbutt/Psycho Boost 70% 2.97 0.99 1.20 3.28 1.13 Gardevoir Confusion/Dazzling Gleam 70% 2.41 0.82 1.28 4.22 0.93 Jynx Confusion/Psyshock 69% 3.09 1.05 1.14 3.34 1.19 Deoxys (Attack Forme) Zen Headbutt/Psycho Boost 65% 3.36 1.23 1.18 3.39 1.25 Cresselia Confusion/Futuresight 61% 3.58 1.17 1.16 3.68 1.42 Uxie Confusion/Futuresight 61% 3.62 1.18 1.22 3.71 1.39

Other Movesets (Raids)

If you were hoping it might have some niche with it’s other movesets, thats not the case. It performs worse as a Fighting type than Alakazan or Machoke, worse as a Rock type than Kabutops, and worse as a Ground type than Sandslash. This is partially due to not having Psycho Cut to charge up the off-type Charge move fast, but primarily is just due to stat drops. Dynamic Punch, Rock Slide and Earthquake are phenomenal moves, Mewtwo just can’t take advantage of them.

Gym Attacking

Armored Mewtwo’s best attack matchups are with Confusion Dynamic Punch, the common normal types of Chansey and Snorlax and Blissey are weak to it. But despite it being a tremendously better move for attacking Gyms than Focus Blast, Armored Mewtwo still on average takes longer to deal with them than Focus Blast Mewtwo does. Although it might feel better to waste less energy. You can also go with an Iron Tail Rock Slide set if you just hate Togekiss in particular.

Mewtwo – Armored Movesets Advice

Earthquake actually manages to be Mewtwo’s strongest moveset since Dark and Ghost types have no double resistance to it. Also harms Gengar.

actually manages to be Mewtwo’s strongest moveset since Dark and Ghost types have no double resistance to it. Also harms Gengar. Rock Slide Hits Bugs and Flying Types super effectively

Hits Bugs and Flying Types super effectively Dynamic Punch Hurts Dark Types, but helps Ghost, Bug and Flying types.

Hurts Dark Types, but helps Ghost, Bug and Flying types. Future Sight Get’s stab, but helps Dark types the most.

Mewtwo – Armored Weather Advice

Here is a list of Pokemon that can perform similar or better than the typical #1 option (in this case, Giratina Origin Form) with weather bonuses:

Pokemon Weather Fast Move Charge Move Estimator @ L35 Giratina Origin Form FOG Shadow Claw Shadow Ball 2.78 (Legacy) Gengar FOG Lick Shadow Ball 3.07 Tyranitar FOG Bite Crunch 3.17 (Legacy) Mewtwo FOG Psycho Cut Shadow Ball 3.19 Honchkrow FOG Snarl Dark Pulse 3.27 Weavile FOG Feint Attack Foul Play 3.32 Banette FOG Shadow Claw Shadow Ball 3.34 Absol FOG Snarl Dark Pulse 3.37 Giratina Origin Form NO_WEATHER Shadow Claw Shadow Ball 3.42 Pinsir RAINY Bug Bite X Scissor 3.43 Mismagius FOG Hex Shadow Ball 3.51



General Mewtwo – Armored Counters

Mewtwo – Armored takes 1.6x damage from Bug / Ghost / Dark .

Pure Bug Type resists Ground and Fighting, but is weak to Rock.

Pure Ghost Type double resists Fighting.

Pure Dark Type double resists Psychic, but is weak to Fighting.

Mewtwo – Armored can be beaten by 3 players in optimal weather, with max friendship and perfect level 40 counters or by 6 unfriended players using level 20 counters from this guide. When caught, Mewtwo – Armored will be between 1740 and 1821 cp without a weather boost. In Windy weather, Mewtwo – Armored will be between 2175 and 2276 when caught.

⚔️Raw Damage is based on pure TTW. 🛡️Survivability/Bulk is based on # of Deaths. 📉Consistency is based off the Range of the estimator against it’s best and worst matchup. 🌐 Accessibility Rating is made based off of personal judgement calls.

Giratina – Origin



Shadow Claw /



Shadow Ball

Requires 4 players with level 35 Giratina – Origin



Dragon Tail /



Shadow Ball

Alternative fast move

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

Giratina’s Dragon duel typing doesn’t give it any perks here, but it also doesn’t harm it. It is the #1 Choice against Earthquake and Future Sight, and only falls to number #2 otherwise. It also definitely has the most Total Damage Output against Dynamic Punch movesets, and has no specific bad matchups.

Giratina was in Raids this year, but takes a lot of candy to power up.

Gengar



Lick /



Shadow Ball

Requires 4 players with level 35 Gengar



Sucker Punch /



Shadow Ball

Alternative fast move

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

Gengar’s Poison duel typing gives him an extra resistance to Fighting, but weakness to BOTH Earthquake and Future Sight. As well as making him prefer Iron Tail as a fast move. This mixed with his glass cannon status leads him to be phenomenal against Dynamic Punch and Rock Slide with a comfortable lead, but fall very low otherwise. If you dodge however, Gengar becomes strictly the best option in all situations.

This moveset is legacy however, but was released relatively recently in Gengar Day.

Tyranitar



Bite /



Crunch

Requires 4 players with level 35 Tyranitar

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Tyranitar has double resistance to Psychic, but his rock duel typing gives him a weakness to Iron Tail and Earthquake, as well as DOUBLING his weakness to Dynamic Punch. This means he has a huge preference towards double Psychic Movesets.

Tyranitar can be acquired from Larvitar quests, and as a Raid Boss,

Mewtwo



Psycho Cut /



Shadow Ball

Requires 4 players with level 35 Mewtwo

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐☆☆☆☆

Mewtwo being a Psychic Type has perks, being resistant to both Fighting AND Psychic types, as well as no bad matchups. This lets it remain in the top 6 choices against all movesets, despite never being the #1 pick.

Shadow Ball Mewtwo was only available to people who were able to participate in Mewtwo EX Raids.

Weavile



Feint Attack /



Foul Play

Requires 4 players with level 35 Weavile

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Weavile’s Ice typing is very unfortunate, giving it weakness to Rock Slide, Iron Tail, and doubling it’s weakness to Dynamic Punch. It’s preferred situation is against double psychic moves, but it jumps to the number #2 spot against Confusion/Earthquake.

Weavile is a Sinnoh Stone evolution of a Pokemon that Nests.

Honchkrow



Snarl /



Dark Pulse

Requires 4 players with level 35 Honchkrow

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Honchkrow’s flying typing gives it double resistance to Earthquake and negates it’s Fighting weakness, but in exchange adds a weakness to Rock Slide. Honchkrow has a niche, as the #1 Total Damage Output against Confusion/Earthquake. and just loves Earthquake in general.

Honchkrow is a Sinnoh Stone evolution of a Pokemon that Nests.

Alternative Mewtwo – Armored Counters

Banette Vs.



Shadow Claw /



Shadow Ball

Requires 4 players with level 35 Banette

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Banette’s in an interesting boat, despite lacking a weakness to Psychic or Ground, Banette somehow only comes out ahead of Gengar against Iron Tail / Future Sight and Iron Tail / Earthquake. Confusion manages to harm it more than it does Gengar! So despite what it’s typing would suggest, it actually really isn’t more consistent than Gengar.

Shuppets nest and are decently common at night.

Scizor



Fury Cutter /



X-Scissor

Requires 5 players with level 35 Scizor

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Scizor’s Steel typing gives it resistance to Iron Tail and Future Sight, and negates it’s weakness to Rock Slide- but also negates Bug’s resistance to Earthquake and Dynamic Punch. This leads to cute things like Scyther actually having superior performance to it against Earthquake! As well as better overall survivability. But in all situations Scizor comes ahead of Scyther in terms of raw attack damage.

Scyther’s Nest and were featured during the Bug Out Event.

Absol



Snarl /



Dark Pulse

Requires 5 players with level 35 Absol

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

No surprises here, Absol does well against Psychic Moves and bad against Fighting moves. Absol is a pretty consistant Raid Boss, and occational Quest, but doesn’t spawn in the wild.

Mismagius



Sucker Punch /



Shadow Ball

Requires 5 players with level 35 Mismagius

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Mismagius is a pure ghost like Banette, so shares it’s lack of interaction with anything but Fighting movesets. Against Dynamic Punch it jumps into the top 6 but otherwise doesn’t make much appearance.

Mismagius is a Sinnoh Stone evolution of a Pokemon that Nests.

Pinsir



Fury Cutter /



X-Scissor

Requires 5 players with level 35 Pinsir

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Pinsir’s pure Bug typing would seem to give it quite the edge, but in practice it is normally quite outclassed. It was featured recently in the Bug Out Event though.

Houndoom



Snarl /



Foul Play

Requires 5 players with level 35 Houndoom

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Houndoom’s Fire duel typing grants it resistance to Iron Tail-but gives it weakness to both Rock Slide and Earthquake. It’s odd type interactions however lead it to have pretty similar estimator performances across the board.

Raikou



Thunder Shock /



Shadow Ball

Requires 5 players with level 35 Raikou

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Raikou’s Electric Typing grants it resistance to Iron Tail, but a weakness to Earthquake. Was featured extremely recently in Raikou Raid day.

Yanmega



Bug Bite /



Bug Buzz

Requires 5 players with level 35 Yanmega

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Yanmega’s Flying duel typing grants it extra double resistance to Ground and Fighting, but creates a double weakness to Rock. Yanmega’s notably sits as the #1 Total Damage Output against Confusion/Earthquake.

Yanmega is a Sinnoh Stone evolution of a Pokemon that Nests.

Cacturne



Sucker Punch /



Dark Pulse

Requires 5 players with level 35 Cacturne

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cacturne’s Grass Typing grants it resistance to Earthquake. Cacnea is a weather pokemon mostly only available in Sunny conditions.

Scyther



Fury Cutter /



X-Scissor

Requires 5 players with level 35 Scyther

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Scyther’s Flying duel typing grants it extra double resistance to Fighting and Ground, but a double weakness Rock Slide. It actually has pretty top tier Bulk against specifically Earthquake. Scyther actually does better than Scizor in overall bulk and there’s many situation it’s preferable here. Scyther Nest and were featured in the Bug Out event.

Drifblim



Hex /



Shadow Ball

Requires 5 players with level 35 Drifblim

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐☆☆☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

Drifblim’s Flying duel typing grants it extra resistance to Fighting and Ground, but a weakness to Rock Slide. Drifblom are very rare, mostly only showing up in Windy Weather or as a tier 1 raid boss. They were very common during the Halloween event.

Haunter Vs.



Lick /



Shadow Ball

Requires 5 players with level 35 Haunter

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐☆☆☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐☆☆☆☆

Haunter’s Poison duel typing gives him a extra resistance to Fighting, but weakness to BOTH Earthquake and Future Sight. As well as making him prefer Iron Tail as a fast move. Haunters movesets here are legacy, and that makes it incredibly inaccessible.

Alakazam



Psycho Cut /



Shadow Ball

Requires 5 players with level 35 Alakazam

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐☆☆☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Like Mewtwo, Alakazam being a Psychic Type has perks, being resistant to both Fighting AND Psychic types, as well as no bad matchups. But it’s overall frailty leads it to always be outclassed by many other Pokemon in particular matchups. Abra are a nesting Pokemon, and are significantly boosted by Windy weather.

Salamence



Bite /



Draco Meteor

Requires 5 players with level 35 Salamence

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐☆☆☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Salamance’s flying duel typing grants it resistance to Earthquake and Dynamic Punch and a weakness to Rock Slide. Salamance was recently featured in a community day, making it more accessible.

Shiftry



Feint Attack /



Foul Play

Requires 5 players with level 35 Shiftry

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐☆☆☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cacturne’s Grass Typing grants it resistance to Earthquake. Seedot are very common making Shiftry one of the most accessible pokemon if you are starting from scratch.

Crawdaunt



Snarl /



Night Slash

Requires 5 players with level 35 Crawdaunt

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐☆☆☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Crawdaunt’s Water duel typing grants it resistance to Iron Head. Corphish nest but are decently uncommon.

Gardevoir



Charge Beam /



Shadow Ball

Requires 5 players with level 35 Gardevoir

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐☆☆☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Gardevoir’s Fairy duel typing grants it additional protection from Dynamic Punch, but a weakness to Iron Tail. Ralts do not nest but are decently accessible during cloudy weather.

Deoxys – Attack



Poison Jab /



Dark Pulse

Requires 5 players with level 35 Deoxys – Attack

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐☆☆☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐☆☆☆☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐☆☆☆☆

Deoxys Attack is bizarre. Does absolutely awful against all movesets except for Earthquake-where it jumps from nowhere into the top 6. It even becomes #2 against Iron Tail/ Earthquake!

Deoxys Attack thus far can only have been aquired from EX Raids, you can’t even trade them. While the rankings don’t take into account dodging yet, if you dodge perfectly Deoxys – Attack goes from the bottom of this list to the absolute top, second only to Gengar.

Closing Thoughts

Armored Mewtwo may not be superior to Mewtwo in combat, but it sure gets points for flair! Be prepared to face this beast head on!