Mewtwo-EX
– BW Next Destines Throwback Thursdays
Date Reviewed:
January 6, 2022
Ratings Summary:
Standard: N/A
Expanded: 3.00
Legacy: 4.25
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is horrible. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Vince
Our Throwback Thursdays is another card from the Celebrations Classic Collection, this time being Mewtwo-EX, initially released in Black & White Next Destines and getting several more prints from one of the BW Black Star promos and BW Legendary Treasures. This card has been reviewed four times:
–The best card of Next Destines,
–The 4th best reprinted card of BW Legendary Treasures,
-and the 8th best card lost to rotation when the 2014-2015 Standard format is about to end.
So, what made Mewtwo-EX warrant all the praise? After all, it was one of those cards where many players were frantically searching for (and willing to pay at least $60 for each card) because they think it would improve their chances of winning. Mewtwo-EX is a versatile card. Not as versatile as most Mew related cards, but versatile in a sense that it can be splashed into any deck. That is because it has an attack that is colorless friendly. X-Ball costs CC and does 20 damage times the amount of energies attached to both Active Pokemon. So, you’ll start out with a minimum of 40 damage (before factoring Weakness and Resistance), and it can be tailored to inflict even more damage to your liking. Psydrive isn’t used as much because of its PPC cost, but it does 120 damage and also makes you discard an Energy attached to Mewtwo-EX, so that – hypothetically – you won’t take too much damage from an opposing X-Ball attack.
I think I get it now. Players were referring to “Mewtwo wars” because both players were using Mewtwo-EX. Double Colorless Energy was released at the same set Mewtwo-EX is, so anyone can easily slap a DCE on a Mewtwo. And if the opposing Mewtwo-EX already had a DCE attached to it and you have yours with DCE, and considering that Mewtwo-EX is weak to itself, then you’ll swing for 160 damage, meaning Mewtwo is on the brink of being Knocked Out. For the first three months from the day Next Destines came out, mirror matches were running rampant; no other attackers in that set such as Reshiram-EX, Zekrom-EX, Kyurem-EX, Regigigas-EX, and Shaymin-EX come close to what Mewtwo-EX can do. When Dark Explorers came out with another wave of EX Pokemon, Mewtwo-EX has switched from being main attacker to a secondary attacker because there was a couple EX Pokemon such as Darkrai-EX and Tornadus-EX that aren’t fazed by X-Ball, though Mewtwo-EX could be used alongside them.
Though it remained a solid card for over three and a half years, power creep eventually starts to make Mewtwo-EX a somewhat underwhelming card. X-Ball heavily relies on both Active Pokemon having lots of energies attached to them and/or Psychic Weakness in hopes of dealing significant damage. Whereas before you need just five energies to Knock Out the opposing Mewtwo-EX, what about those that aren’t weak to Psychic? Considering the Expanded format is pretty expansive than the card pool six years ago, you would need a total of at least SEVENTEEN energies attached to both Active Pokemon in order to OHKO the most HP printed on a card, which is 340, and that’s before factoring HP buffs and damage reducing effects, and that could require even 20 energies, which is too much to ask for since most decks don’t run as many energies, even if Double Colorless Energy is there. I don’t think Mewtwo-EX can keep up with future game mechanics, even if it were to return to Standard. This is perhaps Mewtwo-EX’s current state in Expanded in terms of playability. Other cards like Yveltal-EX from XY and Lugia-EX from XY Ancient Origins tried to do something similar, but there was always one thing that holds them back, such as when Yveltal-EX’s Evil Ball needed at least a Darkness energy; Lugia-EX’s Colorless typing means it won’t be able to exploit Weakness; and even Tapu Lele-GX’s Energy Drive isn’t affected by Weakness.
There might be one format that Mewtwo-EX might still be an incredible card, and that’s in the Legacy Format, which is exclusive in the Pokemon Trading Card Game Online. Unfortunately, the program is slated to be shut down and give way to Pokemon Trading Card Live. Anyhow, the Legacy Format’s card pool is small, ranging from the HeartGold & SoulSilver series to the Black & White series, so whatever competitive success it had there in those times – 2012 and 2013 – will be etched forever in that format, save for the errata of Pokemon Catcher.
Ratings:
Standard: N/A
Expanded: 3/5
Legacy: 4.25/5
I didn’t mention until after the ratings that Mewtwo-EX could also be a stepping stone to Mega Evolve into one of the two M Mewtwo-EX in the XY BreakThrough expansion, though Mega Mewtwo Y’s Psychic Infinity does deliver a harder punch than X-Ball, even with it lacks exploiting Weakness. The gist of this Throwback is to showcase why Mewtwo-EX used to be an awesome card in it’s time. It is still a good card now, just being crowded out from other competition trying to justify being in a deck. The fact remains that it can fit into any deck and can help exploit Psychic Weakness if such decks need it. Just watch out from other Pokemon with abilities that protect itself from damage by Pokemon-EX (looking at you Sigilyph DRX).
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