aroramage |
We've talked a lot about the Mewtwo-EXs
and their various Mega forms - from #4 on our list, M
Mewtwo-EX and his Psychic Infinity, to yesterday's two
versions of Mewtwo-EX that came out in this set. And now
we look at the final form of Mewtwo-EX...well, the other
final form: M Mewtwo-EX!!
The first thing that's readily
apparent about this card is its attack's cost: it's 1
Psychic Energy, 2 Fighting Energy, and then 1 other
Energy of any color. Now we're no stranger to having
differently costed attacks - aside from the entire
Dragon Type being various mixings of two Types on every
card, there are some cards like Abomasnow (PLB) or
Ho-oh-EX (DEX) that require completely different Energy
than their original Typing (or in the latter's case,
more than just their original Typing). Still, the
distinction of having 2 different Types on a card isn't
usually utilized very much outside of Dragons, and it's
clear to see why - it looks really really awkward. I
mean, how many Psychic decks are running Fighting
Energy? Probably none, because most of those decks can
fulfill their Energy requirements with just the Psychic
Energy!
Alright, so an awkward cost that
demands Energy that isn't normally run in the deck must
mean something for this attack. I mean, if the other M
Mewtwo-EX can get a balanced version of the original
Mewtwo-EX's X Ball, what can this M Mewtwo-EX offer in
exchange for demanding more out of the player? Vanishing
Strike is a pretty powerful attack; at 4-for-150, it's
already pretty high up even amongst Mega EXs, hitting
what is for most of them the "cap" for base damage (the
only real exceptions being the M Charizard-EXs). On top
of that, if there's a Stadium card in play, M Mewtwo-EX
can hit for an extra 50 damage AND the attack isn't
affected by Resistance or any other effects on the
Defending Pokemon.
In other words, M Mewtwo-EX will
guarantee 200 damage if there's a Stadium in play. On
either side. And you are NOT having to discard it.
So does M Mewtwo-EX deliver on
making the attack worth it? Absolutely! It's not
uncommon to have The Stadium Wars going off in the midst
of combat, and with the wild variety of Stadiums about,
it's nice to have something on your side. In fact,
Dimension Valley already is an ally for M Mewtwo-EX
since it can take off that extra Colorless Energy in the
cost, making this a 3-for-200 unblockable strike!
But...there is that awkward PFF that makes things
difficult.
...well, normally, it would. But
then along came Smeargle from this set - remember how I
mentioned in that review that he could be useful for
different Energy costs? Welcome to M Mewtwo-EX's new
best friend! Combine the two with some Battle Compressor
to toss Fighting Energies into the discard, and watch
the opponents crumble beneath your awesome might as you
deliver unto them a strike so powerful, the Earth
beneath their feet trembles at the sight!
...okay, maybe not that much, but M
Mewtwo-EX is much more viable with Smeargle than
without.
Rating
Standard: 3.5/5 (normally, the
awkward cost would put him down to a 2.5 or even a 2,
but the presence of Smeargle offsets it such that an
incredibly potent attack is exceptionally doable)
Expanded: 3/5 (that being said,
there aren't many other forms of Energy acceleration for
Psychic Types, so be wary of your opponent getting the
upper hand before you can really let Mewtwo loose on
them)
Limited: 5/5 (...if you can get
Mewtwo-EX, this card, and the Spirit Link played in this
format, I will applaud you)
Arora Notealus: Between the two
Mega Evos for Mewtwo, this one...always looked kinda
goofy to me. I mean, it's a brawny form of Mewtwo, one
of the strongest Psychic Pokemon ever...why add in that
extra Fighting-type and make him buff? It's so bizarre,
and yet I can't look away...
Next Time: And now for the return
of a madman...or a cool man, depending on your
viewpoint...actually he's really not that mad, just
wants to take over the wor-never mind.
|
Otaku |
As promised, today we’ll finish up our Mewtwo
coverage for the set with the last of them from this
set, M Mewtwo-EX (XY: BREAKthrough 63/162,
159/162)! As a Mega Evolution, you’ll need to go
through a Mewtwo-EX to get to it, hence covering
all that
yesterday,
though I’ll recap it after we finish with today’s M
Mewtwo-EX. Unless you use Mewtwo Spirit
Link, you’ll have to give up at least an attack (and
possibly more) of a turn as natural Mega Evolution
instantly ends said turn. In addition to that
serious drawback, there are a few cards that are harder
on Mega Evolutions, though they do get some help from
the pretty potent Mega Turbo. There is also
the usual drawbacks of being a Pokémon-EX: giving up an
extra Prize when KOed, being the target of certain
detrimental card effects and being excluded from a
select few beneficial card effects. All of this
comes with the potential (but not the guarantee) of
better card attributes and effects. So does M
Mewtwo-EX claim that promise?
Well, being a Psychic-Type isn’t a bad thing but it
isn’t spectacular. We’ve covered it multiple times
this week but there are no cards that specifically
reference Psychic-Types in a negative manner, a few
cards that explicitly help (or spare, in the case of
negative effects) them, and a good deal of Resistance
and a decent amount of Weakness to exploit.
Specifically, you’ve got Dimension Valley,
Gardevoir (BW: Next Destinies 57/99; BW:
Dark Explorers 109/108), Mystery Energy, and
Wobbuffet (XY: Phantom Forces 36/119) for
Type-specific support, with Dimension Valley and
Wobbuffet often showing up in mixed company, plus
some cards that just have a bit more synergy in a
Psychic-Type deck but can work anywhere, like
Sigilyph (BW: Dragons Exalted 52/124; BW:
Plasma Freeze 118/116; BW: Legendary Treasures
66/113). The referenced Resistance shows up on
nearly all Darkness-Types and Metal-Types, but even if
-20 damage wasn’t often negligible, we’ll see this card
doesn’t have to sweat it anyway. The “true”
Fighting-Type and Psychic-Type cards (that is, the ones
that aren’t just those Types in the TCG but in the video
games as well) are the cards that will usually take
double damage, like Lucario-EX and the various
Mewtwo-EX and M Mewtwo-EX.
The 230 HP is where we first see M Mewtwo-EX
living up to the name “Mega Evolution”: while even this
much HP isn’t safe from a OHKO, it is high enough that
most decks will either fall short or at least really,
really have to commit to hitting it. That doesn’t
apply to decks with Psychic-Types that are doing the
damage as M Mewtwo-EX has the typical Psychic
Weakness. Speaking of typical, the card lacks
Resistance, and I’m repeating myself enough I’ll just
accept it and move on to the Retreat Cost of [CCC]: this
is chunky and a potential pain as it can be difficult to
even pay in the first place and losing that much in one
shot is hard unless the deck has a lot of Energy
acceleration. As such, pack some alternative
options. As this card has no Ancient Trait, all
that leaves is the one attack so far found on all Mega
Evolutions: this time it costs [PFFC] and is known as
“Vanishing Strike”. Its base damage is 150, which
is only reasonable given all that must be invested to
reach it, but it contains an effect that helps put it
over the top: if there is a Stadium in play the damage
jumps by 50 to 200 and the damage from Vanishing
Strike isn’t affected by Resistance or any other effects
on your opponent’s Active Pokémon. The wording
means Weakness should still apply but does mean the rare
occasion when an effect on the opponent’s Active would
increase your damage, it won’t apply. While a
Stadium in play adds another card to the combo, Stadiums
are often in play right now so it is a pretty reasonable
demand to get an almost guaranteed OHKO of anything that
is not a Mega Evolution or Wailord-EX.
So about those other Mewtwo-EX, you’ve got three
to pick from in Expanded: BW: Next Destinies
54/99 (also available as BW: Next Destinies
98/99, BW: Black Star Promos BW45 and BW:
Legendary Treasures 54/113), XY: BREAKthrough
61/162 (also available as XY: BREAKthrough
157/162 and 163/162), and lastly XY: BREAKthrough
62/162 (also available XY: BREAKthrough 158/162
and 164/162). All three are Basic Psychic-Type
Pokémon-EX with 170 HP, Psychic Weakness, no Resistance,
Retreat Cost [CC], no Ancient Trait, no Ability and two
attacks. BW: Next Destinies 54/99 is the
original and has had such an impact on the game we’ve
reviewed it
on
four
separate
occasions,
with each being part of a separate Top 5 or 10 list.
This is due to its “X-Ball” attack: for the low, low
price of [CC] it can smack the opponent’s Active for 20
damage times the number of Energy attached to both
Active Pokémon. Though used much less often, when
you’ve got the Energy the second attack “Psydrive” is
actually pretty good as well: for just [PPC] and
discarding an Energy from itself, Psydrive allows
Mewtwo-EX to deal a flat 120 damage. X-Ball
only does 60 for that plus whatever is supplied by the
Energy attached to the opponent’s Active, so against big
HP, low Energy attackers, it is greatly appreciated.
Again repeating myself, XY: BREAKthrough 61/162
and XY: BREAKthrough 62/162 were already covered
in depth yesterday, and the options that are Standard
legal. The former can use “Photon Wave” for [CC]
for an okay 30 damage while also placing an effect on
the Defending Pokémon, dropping the damage it can do on
the next turn by 30 before Weakness and
Resistance. It also has “Psyburn” for [PPCC] to
hit for 120 damage, should you actually have that much
Energy attached. 120 for four is adequate, but only
just barely since we are most likely using this card for
Mega Evolving and not as a stand alone attacker. XY:
BREAKthrough 62/162 sports the attack “Scatter Shot”
for [P], which does 30 damage times the amount of [P]
Energy attached to whatever is using Scatter Shot
(usually Mewtwo-EX). Again, decent damage
for the Energy invested but nothing brilliant, though
being able to scale things helps. The big attack
is “Damage Change” which requires [PPC] and allows you
to swap the amount of damage counters on Mewtwo-EX
(again, itself) with however many are on the opponent’s
Active. Done well this enables an amazing offense
and self-healing. Done poorly it can backfire. XY:
BREAKthrough 61/162 is a bit better when you’re
going to be dealing with mostly non-Psychic-Type Energy,
otherwise XY: BREAKthrough 62/162 does it better.
Both are at best one-ofs in Expanded because the
original Mewtwo-EX is just that much better.
There is also another M Mewtwo-EX, M Mewtwo-EX
(XY: BREAKthrough 64/162, 160/162); game relevant
differences between it and today’s version are that it
has 20 less HP (so just 210), a Retreat Cost that is one
less (so only [CC]) and a totally different attack.
The attack is another scalable one: “Psychic Infinity”
costs only [CC] to use but it does 10 damage plus 30 per
Energy attached to both Active Pokémon. It does
have a bit of a drawback in that Weakness does not apply
to the damage, but it still takes the best of the
classic Mewtwo-EX and (unless could have attacked
Psychic Weakness) and does it better. This version
is easily used alongside today’s, provided you have room
for both, thanks to its Colorless Energy costs and
pretty straightforward nature. It also has already
been reviewed,
here
where it was part of our Top 10 countdown for this set.
So… can you use M Mewtwo-EX (XY: BREAKthrough
63/162, 159/162) successfully in competitive play?
According to tournament results a decent enough number
of folks have so unless XY: BREAKpoint shakes
things up enough, I think so. The newest set isn’t
legal for almost three weeks, so unless you’re on the
PTCGO, you have decent odds of not having to sweat it
yet. The PTCGO just updated the day I wrote this
(and seemed to be taking a lot of time) so I’d be
completely guessing on how things will change… and I’d
rather save that for our pending Top 10 list. I
will share what I know about today’s M Mewtwo-EX
in competitive play though. I was thinking of
trying to use it alongside Crobat (XY: Phantom
Forces 33/119, to supply whatever extra bit of
damage was needed for a OHKO, but it doesn’t look like
that saw success during the recent City Championships.
Instead, Landorus (XY: Furious Fists
58/111) and Smeargle (XY: BREAKthrough
123/132) helped to set it up, probably with some Mega
Turbo. I don’t know if Giovanni and
Muscle Band are used for extra damage or if it just
isn’t worried about… I am beginning to suspect the
latter as M Mewtwo-EX would be hard to OHKO and
if you can give up a Landorus, you might be able
to safely soften something up for M Mewtwo-EX to
finish off. Either of them, as more than a few
decks ran both. Oh… and for Limited play, if you
pull this you can risk it but losing a turn could be
really really dangerous and either of the Mewtwo-EX
in this set have pretty good attacks.
Ratings
Standard:
3.75/5
Expanded:
3.5/5
Limited:
3/5
Summary:
If you’re wondering why I rated this one so much higher
than I scored its set-mate which has been outperforming
it, I’ve realized I scored M Mewtwo-EX (XY:
BREAKthrough 64/162, 160/162) too low for Standard
by a good margin (probably a quarter of a point) and
possibly scored it a little low for Expanded play.
While not as easy to use, M Mewtwo-EX (XY:
BREAKthrough 63/162, 159/162) actually seems to
bring enough to avoid the fate of many other cards that
have multiple Mega Evolutions already released.
While not every deck should run both together, we’ve got
proof that a successful deck can run them both.
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