aroramage |
Ahhh, we're never going to truly be
rid of a Mewtwo-EX, are we? I mean, he's iconic if for
nothing else but his status as one of the first
Pokemon-EX, so I guess it means he gets a new card every
couple of years or so in some form - Next Destinies,
Legendary Treasures, BREAKThrough, and now Evolutions.
That being said, don't fret over
this one being as dominant as the original. Much like
his BREAKThrough counterparts, he's been dumbed down a
bit so as not to be as overbearing on the competition,
but he does retain some features from an older Mewtwo:
notably a promo version of Mewtwo!
Course he's a major power boost
over the original, which only had 70 HP and two attacks
whereas Mewtwo-EX has 180 HP and THREE attacks! The
first is more or less a direct copy of the original's
Energy Absorption, but it's nerfed in that it only grabs
1 Energy from the discard pile instead of 2. That's the
trick with that, since the original could instantly
power up into its 3-for-40 Psyburn attack, whereas
Mewtwo-EX can't quite hit his 4-for-110 Psyburn attack.
So what addition makes this more
than a glorified reprint? Well, the addition of
Regeneration actually makes him far more sustainable. At
the same cost as Energy Absorption - at 1 Energy, though
notably this costs 1 Psychic Energy compared to the
Colorless 1 for EA - Regeneration is effectively a free
Super Potion that only costs the attack for the turn but
gives Mewtwo-EX 60 HP back. That's a pretty substantial
number and can prevent your opponent from 2HKO-ing
Mewtwo-EX effectively.
With that little addition, this may
make Mewtwo-EX a tad more viable overall, and that means
he's probably going to see play in a few builds, notably
any M Mewtwo-EX builds that run Shrine of Memories. I
can already imagine people running this one for his
Energy Absorption to power up Psychic Infinity faster or
using Regeneration to stall out opponents from getting
the KO as they power up their back-up attacker. Needless
to say, I think Mewtwo-EX will leave a good enough
impact on the game that lends him a lot of credibility
in the long run.
Rating
Standard: 3.5/5 (a couple of good
moves that while on his own lead up to an okay attack,
in combination they can promote other cards even more)
Expanded: 3.5/5 (he won't be as
dominating as the original, but Energy Absorption can
grab back any Energy - even Special Energies - to work
with himself)
Limited: 4.5/5 (so keep that in
mind as you consider whether or not to build with him in
mind)
Arora Notealus: He's definitely a
notable addition to the card pool, but it may end up
being short-lived. He's a slower Pokemon in general and
has to contend with the likes of M Rayquaza-EX, Primal
Kyogre-EX and Primal Groudon-EX, and more recently
Volcanion-EX. He might be more composed around the BREAK
Evolutions and the Megas, but it'll be tough on his own
to stand up to their colossal HP scores - and Psyburn
isn't exactly my go-to option at the moment.
Next Time: What we really need is
rock-hard determination.
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Otaku |
Note:
I finally had a chance to glance at the results from the
Regional Championship that took place in Philadelphia,
PA on November 5th and 6th, courtesy of The Charizard
Lounge. Which means reviews prior to this one
clearly had not been written with the knowledge
the results of said tournament has provided. Go
ahead and
give it a look for yourself; you’ll notice I was wrong about the demise of Night
March. Bad for my reputation, but possibly good
for me since I’ve been including Karen in my own
decks on the PTCGO, and trying to learn how to use her
well.
Today we review our lucky
number seven finisher, Mewtwo-EX (XY:
Evolutions 52/108, 103/108). That’s right, two
Mewtwo based cards in the top 10, and this is our
fourth distinct Mewtwo-EX, and including
reprints we now have 15 cards named “Mewtwo-EX”
in the Expanded cardpool. That is skipping
variants where a card might receive an alternate
holofoil pattern because it is a later printing of an
earlier release (so it has the same set and card
number). We began with the original (BW: Next
Destinies 54/99, BW: Next Destinies 98/99;
BW: Black Star Promos BW45, BW: Legendary
Treasures 54/130). It was part of the first
set to contain Pokémon-EX, BW: Next Destinies, a
set that officially released back on February 8, 2012.
Late last year (official release date of November 4,
2015) in XY: BREAKthrough we received a second
version of Mewtwo-EX (XY: BREAKthrough
61/162. 157/162,163/162; XY: Black Star Promos
XY125, XY183) and a third (XY: BREAKthrough
62/162, 158/162, 164/162; XY: Black Star Promos
XY107). That same set also gave us M Mewtwo-EX
(XY: BREAKthrough 63/162, 159/162) and a second,
distinct M Mewtwo-EX (XY: BREAKthrough
64/162, 160/162). Part of me wants to skip over
the others as you should be so familiar with them, but
when I explain where you should and shouldn’t be using
today’s Mewtwo-EX, I’ll have to bring them up
anyway.
Mewtwo-EX
is a Psychic Type, which shouldn’t be a surprise as
Mewtwo is a Psychic Type in the video games, with only
“Mega Mewtwo X” being Psychic/Fighting. Based on
card art, that means everything but M Mewtwo-EX (XY:
BREAKthrough 63/162, 159/162) has no other option.
In Expanded being a Psychic Type means access to some
nifty tricks like Dimension Valley and Mystery
Energy, access to some solid attackers, relevant
here because while they might work off Type, they are
just that much more effective in a partial or totally
Psychic Type deck, and hitting most a major chunk of the
Psychic and Fighting Types for double damage due to
Weakness. It comes with the drawbacks of nearly
all Darkness Types and Metal Types being Psychic
Resistant. There are some non-issues in the good
way (no explicitly anti-Psychic effects) and the
not-so-good way (Psychic Energy based support is weak
enough we can gloss over it), and Standard loses the
best pieces of Psychic Type support but faces a smaller
card pool with fewer foes. Being a Basic Pokémon
means one card equals one copy, no waiting to Evolve,
can act as your opening Basic (sometimes not a good
thing), natural synergy with certain card effects, and
access to Basic Pokémon Stage support, versus… an
inability to access certain bits of Evolution support
(or at least not directly) and a few anti-Basic Pokémon
effects which have proven effective. Yeah, it’s
good to be a Basic.
180 HP is good; nothing is
safe from being OHKO’d, and this isn’t especially safe,
just more likely to survive a hit than not with the
“more likely” side including decks which aren’t trying
for a OHKO and the “not” side including decks which
nearly always score OHKOs, so make of that what you
will. It is the higher of the two typical Basic
Pokémon-EX scores, at the very least. Psychic
Weakness is not a happy thing to have; not only do you
have some decks which are focused upon a Psychic Type
attacker, but you’ve got a few that are easy to splash
in off Type, less so in Standard than Expanded however.
“No Resistance” is the worst Resistance, but as the
mechanic isn’t very strong (defensively) it also isn’t a
big deal. The Retreat Cost of [CC] is low enough
you can afford to pay it but high enough you’d prefer to
avoid it; some alternatives to manually retreating at
full Price. At least at this level it is low
enough that a single Mystery Energy (at least in
Expanded play) can zero it out entirely.
What makes Mewtwo-EX
(XY: Evolutions 52/108, 103/108) really stand out
though is the attacks; while it lacks an Ability or
Ancient Trait, it brings three attacks to the
table. “Energy Absorption” costs [C] and allows
Mewtwo-EX to attach an Energy card from your discard
pile to itself; no damage done, but it can be any Type
as well as being either a Basic Energy card or Special
Energy. This can be helpful for fueling up its own
attacks, or building to M Mewtwo-EX. It
isn’t a tremendous amount of Energy acceleration and is
really hurt by the inability to attack first turn.
Considering the various Energy acceleration options
available, I am somewhat skeptical of it being worth
giving up an attack to come out just one Energy ahead.
“Regeneration” costs [P] and allows Mewtwo-EX to
heal 60 damage from itself. The low cost means it
might help by wiping out half the damage from a typical
attack, but in a format of OHKOs and 2HKOs (including of
much larger targets), again it’s only going to come in
handy under select circumstances. The third and
final attack is “Psyburn” for [PCCC], which does 110
damage; a decent enough return for the Energy required,
given that only one is a specific Type. Dimension
Valley brings Psyburn down to [PCC], which means a
Max Elixir plus Double Colorless Energy
for your manual Energy attachment of the turn gets this
card swinging immediately. It also means Energy
Absorption is free, but not as thrilling as it might
sound; handy if you’ve got an Energy to attach from the
discard pile and think Mewtwo-EX can survive up
front, but if you’re focused upon building up Mewtwo-EX
you probably attached an Energy to it… which means you
could afford Energy Absorption without the discount.
So… what about the other
Mewtwo-EX? All are Basic, Psychic Type
Pokémon with 170 HP, Psychic Weakness, no Resistance,
Retreat Cost [CC], no Ability, no Ancient Trait, and two
attacks. 10 less HP matters, but not tremendously. Mewtwo-EX
(BW: Next Destinies 54/99, BW: Next Destinies
98/99; BW: Black Star Promos BW45, BW:
Legendary Treasures 54/130) is an Expanded only
option, sporting the now iconic “X Ball”; for [CC]
Mewtwo-EX attacks to do 20 damage for each Energy
attached to all Active Pokémon (yours and your
opponent’s). With just the minimum investment
(often provided via Double Colorless Energy)
that’s 40 damage, which is quite respectable even today,
and most of the time your opponent’s Pokémon is
supplying another 20 to 40. Where this card still
proves amazing is when a deck specializes in loading it
with extra Energy to hit key damage amounts, needs a
counter for another deck that runs Energy heavy
attackers, needs a generic attacker to exploit Psychic
Weakness but which works with any Energy Type, or some
combination of the the preceding. Its second
attack is “Psydrive” for [PPC] delivers a 120 damage but
requires you discard an Energy from Mewtwo-EX
itself. Even with a discard cost, 120-for-three is
fairly good. This attack is rarely used though, as
Mewtwo-EX is heavily played in decks with little
or no Psychic Energy. Power creep has eroded some
of this card’s niche, plus Lugia-EX (XY:
Ancient Origins 68/98, 94/98) and Yveltal-EX
possess attacks similar to X Ball, as often as not being
a better choice. It was our
top pick
from BW: Next Destinies,
number one for all of 2012,
fourth most important
reprint
for BW: Legendary Treasures, and
eighth most significant
card
lost to the 2015-2016 rotation.
Mewtwo-EX
(XY: BREAKthrough 61/162. 157/162,163/162; XY:
Black Star Promos XY125, XY183) has similarly priced
but very different attacks from its predecessor.
For [CC] it can use “Photon Wave” to do 30 damage while
soaking 30 damage from attacks by your opponent’s
Pokémon (before applying Weakness/Resistance).
That’s reasonably good, it just seems lackluster
compared to X-Ball. I like it better than
Regeneration (the second attack on today’s Mewtwo-EX).
This card also has Psyburn, but it costs [PPCC]
and does 120. I like hitting harder, but if doing
just 10 less allowed the Energy cost to also drop to
[PCCC], it is probably worth it. Especially in
Standard, where you can’t stack multiple damage bonuses
as effectively to hit key damage totals. It’s
set-mate Mewtwo-EX (XY: BREAKthrough
62/162, 158/162, 164/162; XY: Black Star Promos
XY107) brings “Shatter Shot” to the table, which does 30
damage per [P] Energy attached to itself. 30 for [P] is
decent, as is 60 for [PP]. 90 for [PPP] is low (many
cards can hit that hard with some or even mostly
Colorless Energy costs), and past that you’re
overpaying, but the flexibility is appreciated.
Not a great attack, but decent. The second attack
is “Damage Change” which costs [PPC] but allows you to
exchange all damage counters between Mewtwo-EX
itself and your opponent’s Active. A bit pricey,
but when you can time it right you’ll heal all damage
from Mewtwo-EX while scoring a OHKO against the
opponent’s Active; net result is a good attack. We
ended up reviewing both Mewtwo-EX from XY:
BREAKthrough at the
same time.
Experience has proven I was a bit generous with both,
but XY: BREAKthrough 61/162 (and its reprints)
more so than XY: BREAKthrough 62/162 (and its
reprints) as the former has seen little to no successful
competitive play while the latter is important to M
Mewtwo-EX decks, as at least in Standard play they
make excellent use of Damage Swap via Shrine of
Memories.
Speaking of M Mewtwo-EX,
both are Psychic Mega Evolutions with Psychic Weakness,
no Resistance, no Ability, no Ancient Trait, and a
single attack. Being a Mega Evolution isn’t great,
but it is probably the fourth best Stage right now;
Basic is best, while second and third best is a tie
between Stage 1 Pokémon and the BREAK Evolutions of
Basic Pokémon. That is actually pretty respectable
as Mewtwo Spirit Link allows your Mega Evolution
to function as only a slightly more demanding Stage 1.
Being a Mega Evolution includes access to tricks like
Mega Turbo but also a vulnerability to things like
“Wonder Lock” - the Ability on Klefki (XY:
Steam Siege 80/114), but what makes it a good thing
here is how it gives all of these Mewtwo-EX an
out to dealing with Basic counters, plus combos to
exploit generic Evolution support and/or Mega Evolution
support. Plus the HP and attacks found on that
respective Mega Evolution. Speaking of which, M
Mewtwo-EX (XY: BREAKthrough 63/162, 159/162)
brings 230 HP, the second highest we see on Mega
Evolutions, making it pretty sturdy. Its Retreat
Cost is [CCC], high enough that if you use it, more
cards for changing out your Active, allowing it to tank,
etc. are probably a good idea. Its attack is
“Vanishing Strike” for [PFFC] to do 150+ damage, where
the “plus” is another 50 damage while ignoring
Resistance and effects on the opponent’s Active so long
as there is a Stadium card in play. That’s a hefty
Energy cost, and it falls just a bit short of
threatening most Mega Evolutions, but it saves you
needing something like Hex Maniac, Lysandre,
Pokémon Ranger, etc. to deal with problematic
protective effects. We looked at it
here
and again, I was too generous considering the
competition it faces for deck space.
M Mewtwo-EX
(XY: BREAKthrough 64/162, 160/162) has just 210
HP, a bit low for a Mega Evolution but still fairly
durable: OHKOs still happen, but the average deck is
lucky to pull it off once per game. Its Retreat
Cost is back down to the usual [CC] of its kin, so onto
its lone attack, “Psychic Infinity”. This is a
beefed up version of X Ball; it costs [CC] and does 10
damage plus 30 more for each Energy attached to either
player’s Active Pokémon. Weakness does not
apply to this damage, per the text of the attack; at
first I thought this was a serious drawback, but it’s
benefits may actually outweigh its drawbacks.
While it would be nice to enjoy double damage while
attacking the Psychic Weak, as this card itself is also
Psychic Weak it prevents something like Mew-EX
from scoring easy, low cost OHKOs for your opponent
against your own M Mewtwo-EX. As decks
built around this Pokémon have proven fairly successful
in Standard play, where Mew-EX is still legal due
to its latest reprint (XY: Black Star Promos
XY126), this goes from being obscure to badly needed
protection. We looked at this M Mewtwo-EX
here.
So what does all of this
mean for Mewtwo-EX (XY: Evolutions 52/108,
103/108)? As far as I can tell, it may have niche
usage in M Mewtwo-EX decks (either version), as
accelerating Energy while attacking might be needed by
them. As they have other Energy acceleration
options, it might be more of an Emergency fallback for
them, and it comes with the other two attacks should you
need to heal a bit or use Psyburn. Mewtwo-EX (XY:
BREAKthrough 62/162, 158/162, 164/162; XY: Black
Star Promos XY107) is however the proven and
preferred option, so we are talking about maybe a niche
position, and mostly only relevant to Standard play.
So try it out in Standard and (with less promise) in
Expanded, and enjoy it in Limited where you can probably
just run it and skip including any other Pokémon.
This Mewtwo-EX is patterned after Mewtwo (DP:
Majestic Dawn 9/100), a Psychic Type Basic Mewtwo
with 90 HP, Energy Absorption for [0] and capable of
attaching up to two Energy, Recover for [P] but now
requiring you discard a [P] Energy to remove six damage
counters from itself, and Psyburn for [PPC], doing 60
damage. This would be an odd choice for XY:
Evolutions except except Mewtwo (DP:
Majestic Dawn 9/100) is patterned after Mewtwo
(WotC Black Star Promos 3, 14). Not
something from the original Base Set, but WotC
Black Star Promos 3 was one of the promos you could
get with your ticket to Pokémon: The First Movie -
Mewtwo Strikes Back, while WotC Black Star Promos
14 was included with your purchase of the original home
release of said film. This Mewtwo has 70
HP, Energy Absorption that costs [P] but attaches two
Energy, and Psyburn for [PPC] and doing 40 damage… and
all of that was amazing when it first released, and for
a decent amount of time afterwards. The CotD crew
of the time (I was on hiatus) reviewed Mewtwo (DP:
Majestic Dawn 9/100)
here,
while Ness (the original CotD reviewer) covered
Mewtwo (WotC Black Star Promos 3, 14)
here.
Ratings
Standard:
3/5
Expanded:
2.5/5
Limited:
5/5
Summary:
Mewtwo-EX (XY: Evolutions 52/108, 103/108)
is a reasonably good Psychic Type attacker that might
score higher except we’ve got two other options that are
as good or better in Standard, and one more that is
definitely better in Expanded. This is whether we
focus on it or use it as a stepping stone into an M
Mewtwo-EX card.
I can’t put this on others
though; Mewtwo-EX received eight voting points
and three of those are from me, as I had it as my eighth
place pick, above Hitmonchan (XY: Evolutions
62/108) and another card we haven’t reviewed yet (which
may or may not have made the actual Top 10). It
beat out
yesterday’s
Electrode (XY: Evolutions 40/108) by two
points and only missed tying tomorrow’s sixth place
finisher by a single point. Mewtwo-EX isn’t bad,
but it making either the site or my personal Top 10
tells you that I should have had us do only a Top 5 for
this set.
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Who doesn’t like Mewtwo? We 90s
kids were fortunate enough to experience the Pokémon
craze that quickly swept America and the rest of the
world, complete with the first movie that allowed us to
learn Mewtwo’s dark past. We competed to beat Red, Blue,
and Yellow Versions to make it to the Unknown Dungeon to
battle and catch the ultimate Pokémon so that we could
gloat to friends and show it off in battles during
recess. While Pokémon has certainly evolved over the
years, adding hundreds of new creatures in the process,
Mewtwo has remained my favorite Pokémon and will
continue being so. I am glad they decided to print
Mewtwo-EX in Evolutions, and even more so that it was
given the treatment it deserves, complete with three
decent attacks and amazing artwork.
M Mewtwo-EX (Y) is probably the
strongest deck in the format right now for a number of
reasons. First, there are virtually no Psychic-types to
counter it besides M Gardevoir-EX. Second, unless you
can deal 210 damage to OHKO M Mewtwo-EX, then it can
just heal it off using its Damage Change attack thanks
to the Shine of Memories Stadium. Lastly, its Psychic
Infinity attack can deal a ton of damage depending on
how much Energy are attached to both Active Pokémon. And
as an honorable mention, Garbodor pairs nicely because
the deck doesn’t use Abilities, so cards like Greninja
BREAK and Volcanion-EX will struggle against M Mewtwo-EX.
The new Mewtwo from Evolutions may
not be a complete replacement for the one with Damage
Change, but I think it’s easily a one-of in the deck.
Energy Absorption is a great form of Energy acceleration
– you can’t evolve on your first turn anyway, so you
might as well attach an extra Energy. Doing so puts a
ton of pressure on your opponent, as it makes them
second guess whether or not they should attach to their
Active in fear of a Psychic Infinity the following turn.
Regeneration can be a solid way to stall as you find
that Double Colorless to one-shot an opponent’s Pokémon.
Keep in mind Shine of Memories will let you use these
attacks even as M Mewtwo-EX, so that is why this Mewtwo-EX
is strong. Finally, its Psyburn attack might seem
lackluster because of the cost, but now M Mewtwo-EX has
a way to deal with the mirror matchup, doing just enough
damage after Weakness is applied to score a OHKO against
an opponent’s M Mewtwo-EX.
Again, I’m not saying this card is
a full-on replacement for the Damage Change Mewtwo-EX,
but look no further if you want a one-of that can
potentially win you the mirror.
Expanded doesn’t exactly have a
place for this Mewtwo-EX, however. Night March and
Trevenant BREAK decks are widely popular, both hitting
Mewtwo-EX for Weakness. In addition, the X-Ball Mewtwo-EX
is overall a much stronger choice because it can be
powered up in a pinch with a Double Colorless Energy.
Ratings
Standard: 3.5/5
Expanded: 1/5
Limited: 4.5/5
Summary: Mewtwo will always
be a big part of the Pokémon franchise, having been
featured in a number of movies and video games over the
past 20 years. It is perhaps the most interesting
Pokémon in terms of backstory, and that is why it will
remain my favorite for years to come. The Mewtwo-EX in
Evolutions pays tribute to the Pokémon by making it one
of the more playable cards in the set and by giving it
some incredible artwork to boot. And the best part is
that it is currently pretty cheap, sitting at only about
two to twelve bucks! Do yourself a favor and buy the
full art while it is affordable. You know you want to.
J
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