Mew, the New Specie Pokémon. It's very intelligent and can use an incredible variety of moves. Many believe that all other Pokémon are descendants of this one. This mythical Pokémon is said to be extinct, but sightings of it are still being reported to this day. Because it can use all kinds of moves, many scientists believe Mew to be the ancestor of Pokémon.
Overview
Mew returned to the ninth generation in spectacular fashion, being the star Pokémon for the Mewtwo raids. Mew shines brightly too, possessing an absurd movepool of every TM in the game, and with base 100 stats across the board, Mew poses to be a master of all, capable of running any role one can think off, being endless customizable to suit yours and your team’s needs. 100 HP is well above average and with 100 defenses Mew can tank hits appreciably well. Add in the gold standard base 100 Speed, which is fast for such a bulky Pokémon and Mew’s absurd disruptive options can leave opponents tearing their hair out. Offensively, Mew has no blindspot, having coverage for every type, both physically and specially, and the boosting moves to match, adding to the insane flexibility Mew boasts. Its ability to run all sorts of sets further adds to its potency. Play passively in front of Mew expecting a defensive set and suddenly it starts boosting. Play aggressively and find your attacker permanently crippled from Thunder Wave, Will-O-Wisp or Taunt. It is difficult to be truly safe from Mew until its entire set is known.
The passing generations have not been kind to Mew. While Mew does get stronger as stronger TMs, Tutors and TRs are added, they just don’t compare to the signature moves doled out to many new Pokémon. Rampant power creep is also a concern for Mew, leaving its base 100 stats looking less and less impressive as Pokémon keep getting stronger and stronger, especially its offensive stats paling in comparison to many offensive stars. Psychic typing is also a massive let down, boasting few resistances and poor coverage, while being weak to Knock Off and the potent Ghost type that further worsens Mew’s worth. What is most shocking of all is the gaps in Mew’s moveset. Specially offensive sets lack a move boasting Special Attack and Speed, which Mew desperately needs both to excel. Defensive sets have taken a drastic downturn this generation with the inability to transfer or learn Roost and Softboiled, leaving Mew stuck with Life Dew or draining moves for recovery, which just does not compensate for the increased power. Four moveslot syndrome strikes Mew harder than any other Pokémon too. It is never able to run all the moves it wants and gaps will inevitably form from what it is missing. Yet for sheer variety, Mew remains nigh peerless, able to use all its moves to great effect and making a strong argument for while a jack of all trades can beat a specialist.
Positives
Truly absurd movepool. With access to every TM, Mew can pull off a wide variety of strategies with ease.
100 defenses across the board grants Mew respectable bulk, especially with investment that allows it to tank a few hits before falling.
100 Speed is good, getting the jump on most defensive Pokémon and some offensive ones, allowing Mew to reliable act in the face of such targets.
Negatives
Pure Psychic typing is underwhelming, offering poor coverage and next to no resistances.
Base 100 offenses are unimpressive without boosting.
Lost reliable recovery in Roost and Softboiled, reducing the efficacy of its defense sets
Mew cannot fit all the moves it wants on a single set.
Movesets
Genesis Dragon
Drain Punch
-Supercell Slam
-Ice Punch
-Swords Dance
Ability: Synchronize
Item: Life Orb
EVs and Nature:
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
Dragon Dance Mew makes the most of its absurd coverage while squeezing as much utility as it can out of its moves. Dragon Dance is vital for this set, giving Mew the extra power and speed it needs to be truly threatening while its good bulk makes find setup opportunities for Dragon Dances easy. Drain Punch synergizes well with Mew's excellent bulk, allowing it to recover damage taken while setting up and threatening any Dark types expecting Psychic STAB or looking to remove Mew quickly. Knock Off synergizes nicely with Drain Punch hitting the Ghost and Psychic types that look to nullify Drain Punch while allowing Mew to offer potent utility for its team, Knock Off removing any target's item, reducing their effectiveness at their roles. Gunk Shot rounds out the set, obliterating the Fairy types that resist both Drain Punch and Knock Off, with the extra power making up for Mew's initially unimpressive attack.
Tera Types:
With how poor base Psychic is, Mew is a strong candidate for Terastalization, to both shed its base typing for more defenses and to receive a boost on any of its moves. Dark is probably the closest to a universally good Tera type for Mew, as it turns both Mew's Ghost and Dark weaknesses into resistances, while this particular set benefits even further from the boost to Knock Off. Tera Fighting is also strong for this set, given the resistance to Dark and boost to Drain Punch, Mew's main form of healing. Otherwise, offensive Teras that match one of Mew's moves are recommended. If running Flare Blitz, Tera Fire is greatly preferred given the immunity to Burns it provides.
EVs and Items:
Standard sweeper investment of max Attack and max Speed is recommended. Attack investment is highly recommended given Mew's Attack is so low compared to other attackers. Speed investment is also highly recommended given how crowded Base 100 is as a Speed tier, so Jolly is vital important for Mew to outrun base 100 Scarf users like Salamence, as well as not being outsped by base 88 and up Pokémon before Dragon Dance like Lokix, Hisuian Arcanine, Excadrill, Hydreigon, and Krookodile. Life Orb is recommended for the item, giving Mew as much power as possible while retaining move flexibility.
Partners:
:
Allies that can handle physical walls and wear down the opposing team into KO range for Mew are greatly appreciated. Specs Greninja is notable, being a fast and hard hitting Water type with great matchups into Garganacl and Skeledirge, while threatening big damage on anything that switches in. Thundurus-Therian also works well, being fantastic into Skarmory. Both are also excellent pivots that maintain positioning while wearing down the opposing team.
Hazard setters also work well with this set, forcing damage and pushing enemies into KO range for Mew. Tyranitar is particularly excellent at this, between Sandstream causing a lot of extraneous chip damage, and its ability to cripple with Thunder Wave to give Mew even more setup opportunities. Ogerpon also deserves mention as a Spikes setter that also helps force direct damage with its power.
Other Options:
Psychic Fangs is Mew's best physical STAB option, but it has poor coverage, though the Screen breaking is nice.
Close Combat is a much stronger Fighting STAB option compared to Drain Punch.
Flare Blitz is a great option for opposing Steel types, especially prominent physical walls like Skarmory and Corviknight.
Earthquake is strong and boasts incredible neutral coverage in its own right while threatening physical walls like Skeledirge and Garganacl.
Ice Spinner provides incredible coverage and has niche utility with Terrain removal.
Play Rough is good Fairy STAB and offers a good reason to use Fairy Tera.
Grass Knot is good for luring Dondozo and Great Tusk, otherwise difficult foes for Mew.
AMewsement
-Taunt
-Spikes
-Stealth Rock
-Misty Explosion
Ability: Synchronize
Item: Red Card
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
Mew makes for a potent lead, its high speed compared to most hazard setters makes Mew reliable at denying setup with Taunt while establishing its own Hazards. Spikes is absurd as a hazard, while missing ungrounded Pokémon, at 3 layers rips a full fourth of a targets HP on switch in, greatly limiting the number of pivots a team can do. Stealth Rocks is arguably even more potent, requiring far less setup and hitting everything not wearing Heavy-Duty Boots or boasting Magic Guard. Misty Explosion is for when Mew’s job is done, ripping a hole into the opponent, denying any hazard removal they were going to try to do while allowing a free switch for Mew’s teammate to start cleaning up the opposing team.
Tera Types:
Despite Mew’s struggles with its Psychic typing, this Mew should not be Terastalized. This set’s role is to setup hazards while denying opposing hazards and remove itself with a bang. It is far preferable to save Terastalization for Mew’s teammates, who can better take advantage of the benefits of Terastalization. If one must absolutely Terastalize, Fairy is recommended for this set, granting resistances to Dark and Bug to prevent opponents from one shotting Mew while buffing up Misty Explosion for a bigger boom.
EVs and Items:
Max HP and Max Speed are recommended here. Mew needs to get the jump on as many opponents as possible to deny their own setup, so as much speed as possible while maintaining move flexibility is imperative. Mew also needs hit taking ability, so it can better establish multiple hazards which full investment in HP serves well. Item is up for more flexibility. Red Card outright punishes setup sweepers looking to get easy boosts on Mew by forcing them out and wiping away their boosts. Mental Herb works wonders against the few naturally faster Taunt users, allowing Mew to win the Taunt war and setup its hazards unabated. Colbur Berry is great for punishing Dark moves, especially Knock Off users which one of the most consistent ways to break through Mew in a single shot
Partners:
:
Allies that can take advantage of the hazards Mew sets work great for this set, which is meant to synergize with extremely aggressive teams that can’t afford to set hazards multiple times. Polteagiest loves Mew’s simultaneous hazard setup and denial, allowing it to run Focus Sash to safely Shell Smash, while able to block further Rapid Spin attempts post Mew’s expiration. Thundurus-Incarnate is another extremely powerful attacker that takes full advantage of Mew’s efforts.
Given Mew often draws Dark Pokémon in to handle it quickly, answers to them are recommended for when Mew finally expires to maintain momentum. Lokix is a fantastic revenge killer with First Impression annihilating any Dark type looking to answer Mew. Quaquaval can also use said Dark types as an entry point for relatively safe setup and sweep attempt.
Other Options:
Status moves like Will-O-Wisp, Thunder Wave and Toxic boast some merit, allowing Mew to cripple physical attackers, speedsters and sturdy walls respectively, turning them into setup fodder for Mew’s teammates.
Toxic Spikes is the third hazard Mew gets access to, though Toxic does deny other, potentially more debilitating status moves and can be effortlessly wiped by grounded Poison types switching in.
Doubles and VGC Options
Mew’s insane flexibility extends to Doubles as well, thanks to the large number of excellent Support moves in TM form pairing nicely with Mew’s good bulk and speed, allowing Mew to find new and exciting ways to ruin your day. However, its status as a mythical means Mew finds no use in official formats beyond just for fun and fan ones. Mew is an odd duck in such formats, as while it is no slouch at supporting with its truly massive movepool, it can falter against other dedicated support Pokémon like Tornadus, Whimsicott, Sableye, Grimmsnarl and more who boast the excellent Prankster ability to guarantee their setup and/or disruption and shutdown Mew with their own Taunt. While Mew's disruption isn't shutdown by Dark types the way Prankster users are, Dark types are still very much a problem given their super effective STABs removing Mew quickly. If you are using Mew in such circumstances, it should be for unique combinations not found on other Pokémon, filling in gaps for the team.
Mix and Mewtch
-Tailwind
-Coaching
-Snarl
-Pollen Puff
Ability: Synchronize
Item: Sitrus Berry
Tera Type: Dark
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
This Mew set boasts incredible role compression, fitting in Speed control, damage mitigation and ally buffing all in a single set, cutting down on the number of slots one must dedicate to support Pokémon and even enabling said support Pokémon themselves. Tailwind is absurd speed control, as doubling the team’s speed for several turns completely turns speed interactions on their heads and enables normally slower Pokémon to outrun Pokémon they otherwise have no right to be outspeeding. Mew too can make good use of this Speed buff as well, allowing it to support more proactively and reactively being more assured in that it can outrun the competition. Coaching is amazing, being both physical damage reduction and ally buffing in a single move, allowing Mew to escalate its physical teammates to new heights and even making more specially offensive Pokémon harder to remove all while they can continuously apply pressure. The fact that Coaching works through Protect is just amazing, meaning even down turns where a Pokémon should Protect for a variety of reasons allows them to continuously become more dangerous. Snarl is the special damage mitigation to Coaching’s physical, dumping opposing special attacker’s power to manageable levels and making both Mew and its partner all the harder to remove. Pollen Puff synergizes greatly with this set, being a healing move that isn’t blocked by Taunt, allowing Mew’s boosted partner to endure multiple assaults while having an incidentally good matchup into Dark types looking to remove Mew quickly.
Tera Dark is strongly recommended, for both turning both of Mew's weaknesses into resistances on top of granting an immunity to Prankster Taunt. Tera Dark pairs nicely with Pollen Puff as a result, allowing Mew to completely turn the tables on Dark types. Max HP and Speed are recommend for investment, making Mew fairly bulky and as fast as possible so it can get its support up quickly. It is hard to deviate from Max Speed unless running Trick Room.
Preferred Partners:
Allies that benefit from Coaching work wonderfully with this set. Ogerpon, Kingambit and Iron Hands can spiral out of control after a few boosts. Even Incineroar and Rillaboom who tend to be more Fake Out support appreciate both the boosts from Coaching and the increased durability Mew provides to become win conditions.
Bulky attackers love Mew for the speed control and damage management it provides, enabling them to both strike fire and keep them around longer to continuously apply pressure. Raging Bolt and Archaludon are key beneficiaries of this kind of support, though Landorus and Gholdengo work well too in part thanks to the myriad of resistances supplied by their typings.
Encore remains one of the scariest moves in Doubles. Locking a Pokémon into a move that does nothing can easily lead to a 2v1 situation.
Will-O-Wisp is persistent chip damage while ruining any non-Guts, non-Fire typed attacker, working even after Mew is long gone.
Icy Wind pairs well with Tailwind, allowing Mew to wrest Speed control if the opposing side matches Tailwinds.
Trick Room is the other great Speed control option Mew has and is certainly a surprise given its normally great speed, allowing for mind games in closed team sheet environments.
Imprison with Trick Room is nice on faster teams, given Mew is one of the faster users of the combination that isn't obscenely frail.
Life Dew is nice guaranteed healing for both Mew and its partner, keeping both of them around longer.
Countering Mew
By dint of movepool alone, Mew is impossible to counter. It has access to a move for every situation, there is no type coverage out of its reach. Its sheer flexibility means trying to play around more conventional sets is dangerous as that can open one up to a surprise move or enable Mew to get free setup.
Much like Smeargle, the best defense against Mew is a good offense, eliminating it pre-emptively so one does not have to worry about what set Mew is running. This is easier said than done given Mew’s good defenses and speed, but not impossible. Any First Impression user is a nightmare for Mew, forcing it to Terastalize, flee or be KO’d. Choice Band Lokix is especially adept given its Tinted Lens ensures Mew will be taking a brutal hit even if it does Terastalize, as can more offensive Slither Wing. Choice Band Roaring Moon and Weavile can also manage with Knock Off while naturally outspeeding Mew. Maushold, Palafin-Hero, Ribombee and Hisuian Zoroark also can OHKO Mew if it isn’t fully invested in HP and the appropriate defense. Taunt can be potent against Mew, especially defensive sets, but offensive sets may not care if already setup and Mew can often respond with its own Taunt leaving only faster and Prankster users like Cobalion and Tornadus viable.
Offensive sets can be checked by the appropriate wall, though Mew’s insane variety means one must be sure it is an offensive set before committing. Dondozo is a hard wall to any physical set, but is easily 2HKO’d by Grass Knot. Great Tusk can’t handle boosted Super Effective coverage, but otherwise reliably 2HKO’s physical Mew. Skarmory and Corviknight fear only Flare Blitz, while Garganacl does poorly into boosted Drain Punches or unboosted Close Combats and Earthquakes, but performs well in absence of such moves. Special Sets find Blissey and Hisuian Goodra immovable walls, though the former must be wary of Stored Power variants who can boost over Calm Mind and out heal Seismic Toss.
Locations in Games
Red/Blue/Yellow:
Event Distribution
Gold/Silver/Crystal:
Event Distribution
Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Faraway Island (Emerald)
Event Distribution
FireRed/LeafGreen:
Event Distribution
Colosseum/XD:
Event Distribution
Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
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HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Event Distribution
Black/White:
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Black 2/White 2:
Event Distribution
X/Y:
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Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
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Sun/Moon:
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Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon:
Event Distribution
Let's Go, Pikachu!/Let's Go, Eevee!:
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Sword/Shield:
Event Distribution
Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl:
Floaroma Town
Legends: Arceus:
Event Distribution
Scarlet/Violet:
Event Distribution
Anime Appearences
