How to Beat Mewtwo in Pokemon Go

The Legendary Pokemon is coming to Pokemon Go.

The popular mobile app announced that Mewtwo would be added to the game via special new “Exclusive Raids” over the next few weeks. Players will need to participate in normal Raids for the chance to battle Mewtwo. Pokemon Go will give out invitations to Mewtwo Raids based on who has recently beaten a normal Raid at the location of the upcoming Mewtwo battles.

Mewtwo will present a far different challenge than other Legendary Pokemon in the game. While most Raid Battles come down to how many people are in your Raid Group and maybe a little bit of luck, here are a few tips that could help make your battle against Mewtwo a little easier:

Few Weaknesses

So, the good news is that most of your high level Pokemon aren’t weak to most of Mewtwo’s attacks. Mewtwo is a pure Psychic-type Pokemon, which means that its main attacks are super effective against Fighting and Poison-type Pokemon. So, unless you’re bringing a Machamp or a Muk into battle, chances are you’ll have a team of Pokemon that won’t get hit with super-effective damage every time Mewtwo attacks.

Unfortunately, Mewtwo also has relatively few weaknesses. Psychic-type Pokemon are weak against Bug-, Ghost-, and Dark-type Pokemon, and there’s relatively few of those in Pokemon Go that have the stats that could really make a dent against Mewtwo.

Your best bet here is a Tyranitar with Dark-type attacks. Up to this point, Tyranitar with Stone Edge has been the “hot” Pokemon in Legendary Raids, but this time you’ll want a Tyranitar with Bite and Crunch instead.

But even Tyranitar could falter against Mewtwo. Mewtwo can use one of four charge moves, including the Fighting-type move Focus Blast. Tyranitar is doubly weak against Fighting-type moves, so this could be a situation where the scariest version of Mewtwo isn’t necessarily one with its “ideal” moveset. Think of Focus Blast Mewtwo as a scarier version of Hydro Pump Lugia.

Secondary Counters

After Tyranitar, there aren’t a lot of great Pokemon you can use to battle against Mewtwo. Both Scizor and Pinsir can use double Bug-type movesets and should be able to survive any of Mewtwo’s four potential charge moves. Gengar is also a solid possibility against a Focus Blast Mewtwo, although both of Mewtwo’s fast attacks will still do super-effective damage due to Gengar being a Poison-type Pokemon. Dragonite’s bulkiness might also come in handy, although it doesn’t have any moves that can dish out super-effective damage against Mewtwo.

Other secondary possibilities include Gyarados (which can use a double Dark moveset), Houndoom, and a Shadow Ball Alakazam. Snorlax might also have some viability as a wall thanks to its ability to use the Ghost-type move Lick.

Right now, it’s expected that it will take at least 12 or more “normal” players to beat Mewtwo. Six or seven Pokemon with teams loaded with high level Tyranitar might be enough to beat Mewtwo on their own, depending on which moveset Mewtwo shows up with.

We’ll have more Mewtwo coverage once it starts appearing outside of Japan.