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Mimikyu

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Mimikyu is a Pokemon everyone's had their eyes on since the start of the generation. What makes Mimikyu stand out so much isn't the fact that it's a Pikachu clone, but rather its unique ability, Disguise. Disguise gives Mimikyu a free opportunity to do something in the form of making the damage of the first damaging move that hits it be nullified. Many people liken this effect to being the same as Sturdy, though you should remember that Sturdy gives its users a free turn in the form of allowing Pokemon to live hits with 1 HP remaining (if the damage is taken at 100% HP), whereas Disguise gives Mimikyu a free turn through making it take no damage from the first attack, without the threat of being shot down by a priority attack on the next turn.

That said, Disguise alone isn't winning Mimikyu its battles, so what does Mimikyu use for getting wins? The two biggest sets on Mimikyu are either offensive or stally, with some overlap between the two. Offensive Mimikyu uses setup and damaging moves to act as its main source of wins, whereas Stally Mimikyu uses Curse to passively deal damage as a win condition. There are also some sets that use both Curse AND an attacking Z-move to finish off the opponent, in case Curse damage alone isn't enough.

The crux of just about every Mimikyu set relies on Disguise, giving Mimikyu a free opportunity to either set up, hinder the opponent, deal damage, or lay down a Curse. Because of how many options Mimikyu has to take advantage of that free turn, in addition to the actual free turn itself, battles against Mimikyu often don't truly "end" until the second turn, where you have an idea of what set the Mimikyu is, based on what move it used the previous turn, and how you will have likely broken its disguise by then. This kind of ambiguity gives Mimikyu users an edge over their opponents, as opponents are forced to decide whether it's best to break the disguise or do something else, whereas Mimikyu users are typically not faced with having to make as difficult of a decision. This kind of ambiguity factor gives Mimikyu ties in similarity to Charizard and (to a lesser extent) Gyarados, where players are forced to think about what to do when faced with these Pokemon, rather than immediately having a general understanding of what to expect from them, beyond obvious STABs, setup, and coverage.

What pushes Mimikyu over Charizard and Gyarados, however, is the fact that it also has ability to viably fish for RNG with the move Thunder Wave. This set allows Mimikyu to use its free Disguise turn to paralyze the opponent with Thunder Wave and follow it up by using Substitute repeatedly until the opponent is eventually immobilized, then giving Mimikyu the opportunity to use Z-Curse, which restores its HP back to 100% before Cursing the opponent (just restores back 100% if the opponent is already Cursed), and stalling down the opponent with Protect and Substitute until they faint. This strategy gives Mimikyu 5 or 6 turns (4 Subs + last chance at 1 HP (plus the possibility of the opponent being para'd on the turn Mimikyu uses Thunder Wave, if Mimikyu is faster)) of paralysis to get a single free turn for Mimikyu to set up Curse. This means Mimikyu has either a

Matchups S Rank

Charizard-Mega-X -> Majority L 1 (Max Speed Flame Charge only needs to get through 1 turn of possible paralysis before becoming faster than Mimikyu again)



Charizard-Mega-Y -> Majority L 2 (Same deal)



Gyarados-Mega -> O 1 (Wow/Bulk Up/bulky EVs)



Mimikyu -> U 1





A+ Rank



Dragonite -> O 1.5 (Will-o-Wisp/Bulk Up/bulky EVs) / % 0.5



Magearna -> C 1



Metagross-Mega -> L 3



A Rank



Landorus-Therian -> U 2 (Substitute predictions, only Offensive Mimikyu has a chance here)



Porygon-Z -> W 1



Tapu Lele -> W 2



Zygarde-Complete -> O 2 / C 1.5 (Needs LSF)



A- Rank



Greninja -> O 2.5 / % 1



Lopunny-Mega -> Majority W 3 (Needs bulk evs if you don't have Protect)



Magnezone -> L4 (You probably beat Specs with Curse, at least)



Slowbro-Mega -> Majority L5 (You can beat Rest with Thunder Wave, at least)



Venusaur-Mega -> U 3 (Both sides have to predict one another)



B+ Rank



Aegislash -> O 3.5 (Requires specifically Bulk Up/Swords Dance and Z-Shadow Claw, but a win is a win)



Altaria-Mega -> O 4 / C 2 (Needs SD + Play Rough / LSF)



Donphan -> O 4.5 / C 2.5 (WoW/Bulk Up or Curse + LSF)



Gardevoir-Mega -> O 5.5



Genesect -> C 3 / % 1.5 (Curse wins vs slow Genesect, otherwise needs Thunder Wave)



Golem -> O 5.5 / C 3.5 (WoW/Bulk Up or a carefully timed LSF if using Curse)



Jumpluff -> Majority L 6



Meloetta -> W 4



Mew -> L 7 (Fast Taunt shuts down every Mimikyu)



Naganadel -> W 5



Primarina -> W 6



Tapu Fini -> O 6 / C 4 (Taunt beats Mimikyu without any attacks)



B Rank



Aggron-Mega -> L 8 (Taunt stops Mimiyku from setting up too much, in addition to being able to OHKO)



Blaziken -> O 6.5 / C 4.5 (LSF)



Chansey -> U 4 (SD > Growl/Charm + Toxic > SD + WoW/ Sub + Curse + LSF > Charm/etc)



Ferrothorn -> U 5 (50/50 for both between Leech Seed/Attack vs Curse/Sub)



Garchomp -> O 7 / C 5 (LSF)



Heatran -> Majority L 9 (Taunt)



Heracross-Mega -> O 7.5 / C 5.5 (LSF)



Kartana -> % 2.5



Kommo-o -> O 8 / C 6



Mawile-Mega -> L 10 (Taunt)



Necrozma -> O 8.5 / % 3 (Bulky SD + WoW + LSF / Protect + Substitute spam > 8 Photon Geyser)



Pinsir-Mega -> O 9 / % 3.5



Sableye-Mega -> O 9.5 / C 6.5 (LSF)



Sawk -> W 7



Tyranitar-Mega -> O 10.5



Zeraora -> O 11.5



B- Rank



Blastoise-Mega -> W 8



Blissey -> U 6 (Same as Chansey)



Celesteela -> U 7 (Same as Ferrothorn. Loses vs Curse if non-Leech Seed)



Crustle -> O 12 / C 7 (LSF)



Diancie-Mega -> O 13



Durant -> % 4.5



Gengar-Mega -> U 8 (Gets para'd/2HKO'd if Hypnosis misses/gets a 1 turn sleep)



Hoopa-Unbound -> O 13.5 / C 7.5 (LSF. Also loses to % if you don't have Hyperspace)



Swampert-Mega -> W 9



Togekiss -> Majority W 10 (Fairium beats Curse, at least, but loses to SD + WoW).



Victini -> % 5.5



Volcarona -> O 14.5 (SD + Z-move + Sneak)



Whimsicott -> L 11 (Taunt + bulk EVs)



C+ Rank



Archeops -> W 11



Avalugg -> L 12 (Recover wins, but apparently that's low usage???)



Buzzwole -> O 15.5 (It can eat LSF + Play Rough with max phys bulk and Bulk Up/Lunge, but setup Mimi is oof)



Carracosta -> W 12



Deoxys-S -> U 9 (50/50 vs O, loses to Shadow Claw's crit rate, beats the Curse Mimis with Taunt)



Excadrill -> L 13 (Steelium wins. Bulk Up + Z-Shadow Claw > Z-Earthquake)



Gallade-Mega -> W 13



Incineroar -> L 14 (Flame Charge > O/C and Taunt > %)



Kyurem -> O 16.5 (SD > Noble Roar / Noble Roar 50/50s Curse + LSF / Beats %)



Latios -> W 14



Marowak-Alola -> W 15 (It beats Mimikyu without Shadow Claw, at least)



Medicham-Mega -> W 16



Pheromosa -> W 17



Porygon2 -> O 17.5



Scizor-Mega -> L 15



Tapu Bulu -> L 16 (TombTaunt)



Terrakion -> W 18



Umbreon -> O 18 / C 8 (LSF)



Vivillon -> Majority W 19 (has to be faster)



C Rank



Blacephalon -> O 18.5 / % 6 (eats a LSF from C)



Camerupt-Mega -> U 10 (2HKO'd after a SD / 50/50 vs Curse)



Entei -> % 7



Garchomp-Mega -> O 19 / C 8.5 (LSF)



Haxorus -> L 17 (Band Iron Tail)



Hydreigon -> W 20



Infernape -> W 21



Keldeo -> W 22



Krookodile -> O 20 (WoW/Bulk Up/bulk EVs)



Landorus -> O 20.5 / C 9 (LSF)



Latias-Mega -> O 21.5 (SD + WoW > Charm + Reflect Type)



Meowstic-M -> O 22.5 (SD)



Nihilego -> % 8



Pidgeot-Mega -> L 18



Skarmory -> L 19 (Taunt)



Relicanth -> Majority W 23 (Has to succeed at multiple 50/50s vs Curse, which are weighted in Mimi's favor)



Thundurus-Therian -> L 20 (bulk EVs)



Type: Null -> % 9



C- Rank



Cloyster -> O 23.5



Lucario-Mega -> W 24



Manaphy -> L 21



Ninetales-Alola -> O 24.5 (C has to 50/50 between Play Rough or LSF turn 1)



Pyukumuku -> L 22



Quagsire -> L 23



Rhyperior -> O 25.5



Serperior -> L 24 (bulk EVs)



Salazzle -> O 26 / % 9.5



Suicune -> W 25



D Rank



Abomasnow-Mega -> W 26



Alakazam-Mega -> W 27



Aron -> W 28



Azumarill -> W 29



Barbaracle -> O 26.5 / % 10 (Rock Tomb exists, I guess, so rip C)



Breloom -> O 27 / C 9 (LSF)



Clefable -> L 25 (Magic Guard > WoW)



Dusclops -> C 9.5 / % 10.5 (Sub > WoW)



Magneton -> O 28 (bulk EVs)



Manectric-Mega -> O 28.5 / C 10 (LSF)



Sceptile -> O 29 / C 10.5 (LSF)



Slaking -> W 30



Smeargle -> W 31



Stunfisk -> Majority W 32 (Same as Relicanth)



Talonflame -> L 26 (Taunt)



Volcanion -> % 11.5 (Flame Charge + Z-move)

Totals S Rank wins

O 1/3 (33%)

C 0/3 (0%)

% 0/3 (0%)

A Rank wins

O 6/12 (50%)

C 5/12 (41.66%)

% 6/12 (50%)

B Rank wins

O 26/41 (63.4%)

C 19/41 (46.34%)

% 13/41 (31.7%)

C Rank wins

O 29/47 (61.7%)

C 18/47 (38.3%)

% 18/47 (38.3%)

D Rank wins

O 12/16 (75%)

C 11/16 (68.75%)

% 10/16 (62.5%)



Overall

O (56.69%)

C (39%)

% (36.5%)

Mimikyu Counters S Rank

Charizard-Mega-X -> Majority L 1 (Max Speed Flame Charge only needs to get through 1 turn of possible paralysis before becoming faster than Mimikyu again)



Charizard-Mega-Y -> Majority L 2 (Same deal)



A+ Rank



Metagross-Mega -> L 3



A Rank



A- Rank



Magnezone -> L4 (You probably beat Specs with Curse, at least)



Slowbro-Mega -> Majority L5 (You can beat Rest with Thunder Wave, at least)



B+ Rank



Jumpluff -> Majority L 6



Mew -> L 7 (Fast Taunt shuts down every Mimikyu)



B Rank



Aggron-Mega -> L 8 (Taunt stops Mimiyku from setting up too much, in addition to being able to OHKO)



Heatran -> Majority L 9 (Taunt)



Mawile-Mega -> L 10 (Taunt)



B- Rank



Whimsicott -> L 11 (Taunt + bulk EVs)



C+ Rank



Avalugg -> L 12 (Recover wins, but apparently that's low usage???)



Excadrill -> L 13 (Steelium wins. Bulk Up + Z-Shadow Claw > Z-Earthquake)



Incineroar -> L 14 (Flame Charge > O/C and Taunt > %)



Scizor-Mega -> L 15



Tapu Bulu -> L 16 (TombTaunt)



C Rank



Haxorus -> L 17 (Band Iron Tail)



Pidgeot-Mega -> L 18



Skarmory -> L 19 (Taunt)



Thundurus-Therian -> L 20 (bulk EVs)



C- Rank



Manaphy -> L 21



Pyukumuku -> L 22



Quagsire -> L 23



Serperior -> L 24 (bulk EVs)



D Rank



Clefable -> L 25 (Magic Guard > WoW)



Talonflame -> L 26 (Taunt)

76.26953125% (5 turns) or 82.2021484375% (6 turns) chance of automatically winning against anything that doesn't use Taunt (and/or Encore, in some cases), non-Rest recovery, strong priority, strong multi-hit moves, is immune to Thunder Wave, the ability to bypass Substitute (sound moves/Infiltrator/etc), has an ability that allows it to get past Curse/Disguise (Magic Guard/Mold Breaker/etc), or any combination of these elements. While this may sound like a lot, I don't believe any of these actually apply to a majority of metagame-relevant Pokemon. Unfortunately, the only way to prove this is with some good old VR matchups, so let's jump right in!Universal winUniversal lossWon by Offensive MimikyuWon by Curse stallingWon by Thunder Wave rolls or the set in generalUncertainNow, while the numbers of mons that each set beats may seem low, don't forget that when you're at team preview, Mimikyu could beof these sets, thus resulting in a limited number of reliable counters, unless you happen to know the set that a person is running.11/26 of these Counters are above C+ Rank, 12 if you wanna add Incineroar, which has yet to be bumped up. Considering that B- and up is when Pokemon start becoming more generally viable, I find it highly concerning that Mimikyu has almost a single digit number of viable and reliable Counters (at least without making the assumption that you know which set your opponent's Mimikyu has). It is for this reason, that I will be votingonce I get reqs.