Hi, trying to get my best team assembled for eventual Mewtwo raids. The optimal counters seem obvious (Ttar, Hounddoom etc) but in case of Focus Blast Mewtwo it seems we must bolster our teams with either: Dragonite, Gyarados or the bugs (all which do not get crushed by Fighters). However, I am confused by the results suggested by the "Raid Damage Calc" spreadsheets which Silph Road and others have circulated. Assuming an attacker is level 30 and 15 attack factor, Dragonite and Gyarados are showing very good damage simulations: Dragonite (87 damage for both Outrage and Hurricane; 99 (?) for Hyperbeam) and Gyarados (93 for hydropump, 59 Crunch and 66 Outrage). However, the simulations for the bugs look weak as X scizzor for both Scizor and Pinsir are only 45 (??); which seems poor given that both are being touted as "good" Mewtwo counters.
So, please let me know if I am doing something wrong with the sims and the if results are somehow better for the Bugs which get a 1.4x effectiveness. As X scizzor is a 3 bar move, maybe its damage stat is not comparable to Hurricane and Hydropump (both 1 bar) or Outrage (2 bar) ... BUT it appears really weak compared to Gyarados Crunch (also 3 bar) with damage of 59 or Tyranitar Crunch at 74.
Thanks for your comments!!
X-Scissor's main benefit is it is fast and easy to use in between dodges. I'm not sure how it is going to measure up in a raid without the yellow flashes and with the dodge bug going crazy.
I have a 90+ Scizzor that was a lv28 catch I will be trying out.
Scizzor will be at its best against movesets with Psychic or Hyper Beam. Scyther (bug flying) might actually be better against Focus Blast though.
I have a 2100+ CP FC/XS Scizor that can take down an Exeggutor raid all by himself, but only if I utilize dodging, I know it's a low level raid but the point remains that he's taking on a 6x CP mon all alone.
I'm pretty sure the dodge bug is mostly prevalent when your mon's HP is low enough that taking the direct hit would knock your mon out, it then triggers and automatically kills it regardless of if you dodge. I would also argue that there can be instances where your charge move is close to being ready that it may be worth the risk of trying to dodge and possibly get off one more charge move rather than take the hit and only land maybe 2-3 fast moves. Though they should just fix the bug already.
Those breakpoint levels assume a 15 attack IV, and for the bug fast moves, the attack IV makes a huge difference. Powering up to the correct breakpoint also makes a huge difference for these mons/moves.
For example, my best Pinsir has an attack IV of 10, and therefore, I had to power it up to level 33 to reach the maximum damage for fury cutter. Upon reaching that level, it became, according to Pokebattler, my best Mewtwo counter (since surpassed by a Gengar) against the C/FB moveset. At one-half level lower (32.5), it wasn't even in my top six.
Yes. I have one of each powered up to the breakpoint for maximum fast move (fury cutter) damage, and according to Pokebattler, they are among my top six Mewtwo counters against most movesets.
I also find it more fun to have a diverse team, i.e. use more different mons rather than a team of six Tyranitars, as long as the mons chosen are legitimately good counters.
Here's my top 12, according to Pokebattler, for taking on Mewtwo with C/FB, which is rated as the toughest moveset for my team to counter.
To your original question of damage output, e.g. comparing x-scissor to crunch, x-scissor is a faster move (1.6 seconds vs. 3.2 seconds), which means x-scissor allows you to use 3-4 more quick moves in the same amount of time. And the bug quick moves, especially fury cutter, build energy much faster than bite, so you will be able to launch x-scissor more frequently.
I hate to burst the bubble, but scizor won't survive a mewtwo focus blast. it does over 100 damage to scizor! Scizor is very much a glass cannon. Its moves are great for dodging though.
Pinsir will probably take too much damage beforehand to survive it, it's not resistant to psychic moves.
Dragonite is probably the best thing to use against a focus blast mewtwo.
Against PC/FB, you are correct, but against C/FB, the bugs outperform Dragonite.
Example:
Before getting knocked out by the first focus blast, my level 33 10a/14d/11s Pinsir will land 24 fury cutters @ 4 damage each, plus 5 x-scissors @ 46 damage each, for a total damage of 326.
My level 35 15/15/15 Dragonite, which also gets knocked out by the first focus blast, will land 10 dragon tails @ 13 damage each, plus 2 outrages @ 90 damage each, for a total damage of 310.
Note that the Dragonite is two levels higher, and has a 15 attack IV compared to 10 for the Pinsir.
Against PC/FB, the Dragonite does indeed outperform the bugs, as it is able to survive until the second focus blast.
X-scissor does not a lot of damage but is fast, so you can use it many, many times. Even more so with the fast moves Fury Cutter, and to a lesser extent Bug Bite, which charge the energy bar for X-Scissor very fast. Bug Bite does more damage than Fury Cutter, which makes up for its lower energy gain.
Also, 87 for Outrage and Hurricane but 99 for Hyperbeam isn't a mistake. Those are the base powers that the charge moves do to Mewtwo. Outrage is better because you can do 87x2 damage with 100 energy, Hurricane is also better because you can get more fast moves off.
