Best Counters for Armored Mewtwo in Pokemon GO Raids

armored mewtwo best counters

Niantic

Pokemon GO just welcomed Armored Mewtwo into Raid Battles.

Update: Armored Mewtwo has returned to Raid Battles in Pokemon GO to celebrate Pokemon Day and the release of Pokemon: Mewtwo Strikes Back – Evolution on Netflix. According to Niantic, the Legendary Pokemon will be available to fight and catch from now until March 2, 2020 at 1:00 p.m. PST. We have updated our original list with new and better counters to use in Raid Battles.

Here are the best counters you can use to beat Armored Mewtwo in Pokemon GO Raids.

Armored Mewtwo is a pure psychic-type Pokemon just like its unarmored counterpart according to GamePress, so it is weak to bug-, dark- and ghost-type moves and resistant to fighting- and psychic-type moves. It has the Fast Moves Confusion and Iron Tail as well as the Charge Moves Rock Slide, Dynamic Punch, Earthquake and Future Sight. During the Pokemon Day event from now until March 2, Armored Mewtwo will have the exclusive and incredibly powerful Charge Move Psystrike.

Darkrai with Snarl and Shadow Ball is the best choice. It has one of the highest DPS (damage per second) against Armored Mewtwo out there according to GamePress’ DPS spreadsheet. Not only does it have surprisingly decent bulk, but it’s dark typing makes it double resist Armored Mewtwo’s Psystrike and Future Sight. Just don’t use it against an Armored Mewtwo with Dynamic Punch or you’ll be sorry. Snarl and Shadow Ball is the moveset with the most DPS according to GamePress, but you can also use Snarl with Dark Pulse.

Mewtwo with Psycho Cut and Shadow Ball is wonderful as well. Funny how an unarmored Mewtwo is one of Armored Mewtwo’s biggest threats. Mewtwo has access to the powerful Shadow Ball which when combined with its gigantic attack stat will make short work of Armored Mewtwo. It also resists Armored Mewtwo’s fighting- and psychic-type moves, which is especially important when fighting against an Armored Mewtwo with Psystrike. And unlike fighting regular Mewtwo, you don’t have to worry about Armored Mewtwo hitting your Mewtwo with its own Shadow Ball. The only downside is that both of Mewtwo’s Quick Moves are resisted by Armored Mewtwo. GamePress recommends using Psycho Cut over Confusion because while Confusion deals more damage, Psycho Cut is easier to dodge with and provides more energy so you can use Shadow Ball sooner. Though keep in mind that Mewtwo with Shadow Ball is only available from EX Raids. If you don’t have Shadow Ball, your next best bet is Thunderbolt as it does the most neutral damage out of any other of Mewtwo’s Charge Moves. Ice Beam is not far behind Thunderbolt in therms of neutral damage, however, so if you don’t want to spend a valuable TM then you don’t have to.

Giratina (Origin Form) with Shadow Claw and Shadow Ball is the second best choice. It doesn’t have enough DPS (damage per second) as Gengar in terms of ghost-type damage according to GamePress, but it’s not weak to psychic-type moves like Gengar is. In fact, it’s resistant to Armored Mewtwo’s fighting-type moves. Plus, it has really high stamina as well as a great attack stat with decent defense. The Altered Form is okay to use if you don’t have anything else, but with reversed attack and defense stats and a lacking ghost-type Charge Move in the form of Shadow Sneak means it’s significantly worse than its Origin Form.

Tyranitar with Bite and Crunch is another excellent counter. Tyranitar has a massive attack stat of 251 with strong defenses as well according to GamePress. It also double resists Armored Mewtwo’s psychic-type moves thanks to it being dark type. Not only can it deal tons of damage, but it can take it as well. There’s no real downside to using Tyranitar.

Chandelure with Hex and Shadow Ball is also fantastic. It has significantly less staying power than Giratina but more DPS. It’s also resistant to Dynamic Punch without being weak to psychic-type attacks like Gengar is. However, its secondary fire-typing makes it weak to Armored Mewtwo’s Rock Slide and Earthquake.

Gengar with Lick/Shadow Claw and Shadow Ball should not be underestimated. Gengar has one of the highest damage per second (DPS) stats in the game according to GamePress, and its ghost-type moves hit Armored Mewtwo like a truck. He also has a double resistance against Dynamic Punch. Unfortunately, its secondary poison typing makes it weak to ground- and psychic-type moves. That combined with the fact that it has even lower defenses than Weavile means that it won’t be sticking around for long. Plus, both Shadow Claw and Lick are Legacy Moves. It’s regular ghost-type Quick Move, Hex, is still usable but noticeably inferior.

Weavile with Feint Attack and Foul Play is also a great choice. It has slightly more DPS than Tyranitar while still having a double resistance to psychic-type moves according to GamePress. However, it’s defenses are pretty weak. Zoroark with Snarl and Foul Play is pretty comparable to Weavile.

Scizor with Fury Cutter and X-Scissor is a great choice as well. Its respectable attack stat paired with quick bug-type attacks makes it an effective combatant against Armored Mewtwo, according to GamePress. It’s defenses are also decent and it resists psychic-type moves.

Other great counters include but are not limited to…

  • Deoxys (Attack Form) with Poison Jab and Dark Pulse – Glass cannon
  • Hydreigon with Bite and Dark Pulse – Great DPS and bulk
  • Honchkrow with Snarl and Dark Pulse – Strong dark-type damage and resistant to psychic-type attacks but weak to Rock Slide
  • Houndoom with Snarl and Foul Play – Same as Honchkrow, but weak to Rock Slide and Earthquake
  • Giratina (Altered Form) with Shadow Claw and Dragon Claw – It’s a worse Origin Form Giratina but still usable
  • Banette with Shadow Claw and Shadow Ball – It’s a worse Gengar as it’s even more frail even without the weaknesses from the poison typing and with worse attack according to GamePress, but still usable
  • Alakazam with Psycho Cut and Shadow Ball – A worse Mewtwo but not that far behind in terms of damage
  • Pinsir with Bug Bite and X-Scissor – Great bug-type damage and resists Earthquake, but weak to Rock Slide
  • Heracross with Struggle Bug and Megahorn – Respectable bug-type damage with resistances to Dynamic Punch and Earthquake, but weak to psychic-type moves
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    Fog weather will boost the attack of your ghost- and dark-type attackers while Rain will boost the attack of your bug-type attackers, according to Eurogamer. However, if you want your Armored Mewtwo to have a higher CP when caught, you need to fight it in Windy weather. Expect a tougher fight if you do, though.

    As for the recommended group size, you definitely shouldn’t go by yourself. User XLVIIISeahawks recommends between four to eight and above while Pokebattler recommends three to six. That may change depending on the levels of your group members and what Pokemon they have access to.

    Happy hunting!

    See also: