'Pokemon Go' Nerfs Mewtwo's Moveset

Pokemon Go has given Mewtwo some unusual new moves for its month-long foray into normal gym battles.

The Legendary Pokemon is set to appear in Raid Battles later today, and players have already discovered that its move pool received a major change. Mewtwo can now learn the moves Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, and Ice Beam as charge moves. The moves replace Shadow Ball and Hyper Beam, which part of Mewtwo's movepool when it was an EX Raid Boss.

The three moves seem a bit unusual, since Mewtwo is a Psychic-Type Pokemon and can only learn one of the moves (Thunderbolt) in the main Pokemon series. However, Mewtwo's high attack stat makes ANY charge move dangerous. In fact, a Mewtwo with Ice Beam immediately becomes the most powerful Ice-Type Pokemon in the game.

For players looking to do the most damage, a Mewtwo's most effective moveset is Confusion and Thunderbolt, as it does the most amount of damage per second. However, players will likely find the Ice Beam and Psychic Mewtwo equally as useful, depending on the situation.

Of course, a Mewtwo with Shadow Ball (which is only available by trading a player who already has it) remains the game's most powerful attacker.

The biggest disappointment is that Mewtwo doesn't have a very effective Psychic-Type move in its charge move arsenal. Many players were hoping that Mewtwo would learn Psystrike with the big move shakeup, but it appears that developers considered that move to be too OP.

Mewtwo can also still learn Hyper Beam and Focus Blast as its charge moves, while its Confusion and Psycho Cut quick movepool remains unchanged.

Mewtwo will appear as the sole Legendary Raid Boss between now and mid-October. Players are encouraged to get this Legendary Pokemon before it disappears for good.