Community POTW #048

[Serebii]

Time for the next Pokémon, and this week for Halloween we have one of the new Ghost-types, one that is perpetually in fancy dress!

It's Mimikyu!

https://www.serebii.net/pokedex-sm/778.shtml

Go nuts

 

[generic villager #5]

Too bad, I was hoping Mimikyu would show up in the RNG after Ultra comes out, since there's talk of a unique Z-move. Oh well.

Mimikyu is one of those Pokémon that has one good trick it bases its strategy around, but it's a really good trick. Since there's not a huge amount of set flexibility, here's the common set:

Swords Dance Mimikyu
Item: Life Orb / Ghostium Z
EVs/Nature: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe, Jolly or Adamant
Ability: Disguise
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- Shadow Claw
- Play Rough

The set is pretty self-explanatory. Disguise likely buys you at least one free turn, so you can easily set up with Swords Dance. Mimikyu has middling stats overall, so Shadow Sneak is a must to overcome Mimikyu's unimpressive speed and defenses. Shadow Claw and Play Rough are STABs, and pretty much the best options for the remaining moveslots. The set's flexibility is mostly limited to item choice and nature: choose your item based on whether you want a little more damage overalll or want one big hit for an emergency, which Mimikyu could easily run into. For nature, Mimikyu relies heavily on Shadow Sneak so you can go Adamant to make that priority a bit scarier, but Jolly is always an option for obvious reasons. For other options, Mimikyu is a decent Trick Room setter and has access to Will-o-wisp, but bear in mind that you'll lose Shadow Claw and in the latter's case, Mimikyu isn't very fast and if disguise is broken, Mimikyu may have to eat a strong physical attack before getting off a Will-o-wisp.

 

[Missingno. Master]

Pika Boo
Mimikyu@Life Orb
Jolly nature
Disguise
252 Attack/252 Speed/4 HP
~Swords Dance
~Shadow Sneak
~Play Rough
~Shadow Claw/Leech Life

I'm actually kinda surprised Mimikyu's being covered now, as opposed to when we have more info on the Mimikium Z. I mean, makes sense for Halloween, no question, but still, y'know? But yeah- Mimikyu. Good friggin' stuff right here. Swords Dance to boost that Attack, Shadow Sneak for STAB priority, Play Rough for STAB, and last slot's your call- Shadow Claw is hard-hitting STAB, but Leech Life is coverage and HP recovery.

Item powers up Mimikyu. Ability is non-negotiable, but no complaints on this one.

Z-mikyu
Mimikyu@Normalium Z/Ghostium Z/Fairium Z
Jolly nature
Disguise
252 Attack/252 Speed/4 HP
~Splash/Swords Dance
~Shadow Sneak
~Play Rough
~Shadow Claw/Leech Life

This is so similar to the previous set I legitimately copied and pasted it here and just made a few adjustments here and there. So yeah- Mimikyu is a great user of Z-Moves, even without this exclusive Z-Crystal it's getting that we totally could've delayed this one until after its release so it could be covered here. Z-Splash gives a greater immediate Attack boost than Swords Dance, though if you feel like going on the offensive with it instead, swap out Splash for Swords Dance and Normalium Z for the STAB Z-Crystal of your choice.

Item should be painfully obvious. Ability, again, only one possible.


Other options:
*There's... Wood Hammer, I guess.
*Actually, a low-level Mimikyu could pull off a Trick Room setup set complete with suddenly very fast Destiny Bond. Worth consideration.
*Mimikyu also has the distinction of being able to use Curse and not have to worry about being KO'd on the same turn, for whatever that's worth.
*Also gets Thunder Wave and Will-O-Wisp.
*Bulk Up can replace Swords Dance. Only one stage of Attack boosting per use, but it also helps with that Defense.

Abilities:
*Disguise: Mimikyu's one and only Ability. When taking an attack in Disguised Form, Mimikyu takes no damage, instead changing to Busted Form. It essentially comes with a free Substitute of sorts that only blocks one move, blocks sound moves, and doesn't block status moves, which is still very, very awesome. Mimikyu basically gets a free turn once per battle, and oh, the things it can do with that one free turn.

Partners:
Mimikyu is gonna attract Will-O-Wisps like Honey attracts Heracross, so have stuff waiting that either likes to be burned (like Heracross, for that matter!) or has something like Flash Fire. Or even just a Fire-type looking for a free switch. And for the Trick Room set, obviously, pair it with slow stuff that hits hard, such as Seviper, Octillery, Incineroar, and Vikavolt.

Counters:
Weezing has the physical bulk to take Mimikyu's attacks, can land a Will-O-Wisp in spite of Disguise, and does some solid damage with STAB Sludge Bomb, and non-STAB yet super effective Shadow Ball.

Opinion:
My absolute favorite Fairy-type. It's cute, it's cool, it's sad, and I just want to pick it up and hug it all day, and, and, and- *faints*

Prediction for next week:
Weezing

 

[GeeGee]

Pros:
+Unique ability in Disguise acts as a free substitute, allowing for a chance to set up or get free damage in
+Unique Ghost/Fairy typing provides checks for many strong threats in its tier, and provides good STAB coverage
+55/80/105 bulk is decent, when backed by 3 immunities and Disguise

Cons:
-90/50/96 offenses are less-than-stellar, making Mimikyu easy to outspeed after disguise, and it won't hit very hard without a swords dance
-Only one resistance, (x4 bug) and two weaknesses, (ghost and steel), both of which are popular in the tier
-Relies on Life orb or a Z-crystal to break through walls
-50 base special attack rules out any chance of a special set, despite a decent special movepool
-50/80/105 bulk is pretty poor physically, leaving Mimikyu especially vulnerable to priority moves
-Upcoming Z-move in Ultra Sun/Moon hasn't been revealed yet so we can't cover it here

Abilities
Disguise:This ability blocks the first attack that Mimikyu takes in battle, and as many of us found out the hard way during our playthroughs of Sun and Moon, that includes Z-moves. It allows Mimikyu to either set up a free swords dance, tank a Z-move, or force a switch. However, once it's broken, it won't reset during battle, and leaves Mimikyu vulnerable to be picked off due to it's low bulk.

Sets

Since the most Basic set has already been covered, I will instead cover a VGC set:

Trick room
Ability: Disguise
Hold item: Ghostium-Z
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252Atk/4Def/252Spe
Moves:
-Shadow claw
-Play rough
-Taunt
-Trick room

This set was used to win the 2016 San jose regional championship. Jolly Nature and max speed allows Mimikyu to outspeed base 95 or less speed pokemon outside of trick room, including Arcanine, Tapu lele, and Krookodile. Ghostium-Z shadow claw OHKO's 252HP/4Def Tapu Lele. Play rough is a 2HKO on Garchomp, with a chance to OHKO Salamence (as long as it isn't intimidated). Taunt shuts down opposing supports such as Tailwind setters or even enemy trick room setters, if you don't want trick room active just yet. Trick room can be used despite Mimikyu's higher base speed, if porygon-2 or Oranguru aren't your cup of tea. It also gives Mimikyu the advantage against hard trick room teams by having the ability to outspeed outside of trick room as well as switching it on or off at a whim.

Other Options:
Will-o-wisp: Burning a target to drop their attack is significant, but the nerf to Burn this gen makes it less useful for chip damage, so against special attackers it loses significance.
Z-Splash: More of a "Gimmick" set, Z-splash gives +3 attack in a single turn, but takes a Z-crystal, an entire moveslot for a useless move, and if you switch out or get forced out you lose the boost.
Wood Hammer: Can be used to hit water types for super effective damage, and the recoil damage does not break disguise.
Leech Life: Provides super-effective coverage against grass types as well as providing recovery.
Z-destiny bond: Forces all opponents to focus Mimikyu for the turn, making it more likely to succeed in taking down an enemy pokemon with it.

 

[Zarxiel]

would not be better make Mimikyu afterwards? Since it will have a signature Z move in USUM

 

[Mestorn]

Dissing the Disguise

Mimikyu's greatest strength is it's Disguise ability which gives it numerous setup opportunities, can be used for scouting and can waste Z-Moves. Mimikyu is defined by it's disguise ability, and bypassing it leaves Mimikyu a frail shadow of itself.

Status is by far the best way to bypass Disguise. Toxic puts Mimikyu on a timer, Burn makes it a non issue, Sleep is sleep, Paralysis makes Mimikyu much easier to handle (unless it has Trick Room!). Just be aware this weakness is well known: Mimikyu can run Lum Berry (giving it a disguise for status!) and Tapu Fini can ruin the plan to with Misty Terrain.

Speaking of status, Flinching Mimikyu is the worst case scenario for it, breaking its disguise, and depriving it of the free turn it would normally going to be. Scrappy Fake Out (from Mega Lopunny or Kangaskhan) and Fling + King's Rock are the most surefire ways of inducing Flinch and breaking disguise. Otherwise, any fast Pokémon with a flinching move (i.e. Aerodactyl and Greninja with Rock Slide, etc.) can play a game of chance and try screwing Mimikyu over.

One way to "bypass" Mimikyu's Disguise is multi hit moves. Yes the first hit will be wasted busting the disguise, but the follow up hits will tear Mimkyu to shreds. Skill Link users like Shell Smash Cloyster, Cinccino will outspeed Mimikyu and do severe damage to it. Mega Heracross and Toucannon also deserve honorable mentions, but they are both slower than Mimikyu and Mega Heracross is at risk of OHKO by Play Rough. Breloom and Marowak also commonly carry Bullet Seed and Bonemerang respectively, but both are slower outside of Trick Room (and Breloom hates Play Rough). Mega Kangaskhan can also strike past disguise, but note the follow up blow would be exceedingly weak.

Mold Breaker interacts with Disguise pretty interestingly. Mold Breaker as expected, will ignore Disguise, meaning that Mold Breaker users can damage Mimkyu without issue, but they cannot break the disguise for their teammates. The good: most Mold Breaker users are strong enough to OHKO Mimikyu easily with their coverage moves. The bad: aside from the Rampardos line and Basculin, ALL of them are weak to Play Rough... (Reshirom, Zekrom, Lunala and Solgeo are all weak to Mimikyu (save Reshiram) and will easily OHKO it without disguise).

Taunt is the final item of note. Taunt prevents Mimikyu's worst abuses of Disguise (barring Z-Splash), but does not break disguise and Mimkyu hits hard enough to be a problem for most tanks.

 

[dementeddurian]

Dissing the Disguise

Mimikyu's greatest strength is it's Disguise ability which gives it numerous setup opportunities, can be used for scouting and can waste Z-Moves. Mimikyu is defined by it's disguise ability, and bypassing it leaves Mimikyu a frail shadow of itself.

Status is by far the best way to bypass Disguise. Toxic puts Mimikyu on a timer, Burn makes it a non issue, Sleep is sleep, Paralysis makes Mimikyu much easier to handle (unless it has Trick Room!). Just be aware this weakness is well known: Mimikyu can run Lum Berry (giving it a disguise for status!) and Tapu Fini can ruin the plan to with Misty Terrain.

Speaking of status, Flinching Mimikyu is the worst case scenario for it, breaking its disguise, and depriving it of the free turn it would normally going to be. Scrappy Fake Out (from Mega Lopunny or Kangaskhan) and Fling + King's Rock are the most surefire ways of inducing Flinch and breaking disguise. Otherwise, any fast Pokémon with a flinching move (i.e. Aerodactyl and Greninja with Rock Slide, etc.) can play a game of chance and try screwing Mimikyu over.

One way to "bypass" Mimikyu's Disguise is multi hit moves. Yes the first hit will be wasted busting the disguise, but the follow up hits will tear Mimkyu to shreds. Skill Link users like Shell Smash Cloyster, Cinccino will outspeed Mimikyu and do severe damage to it. Mega Heracross and Toucannon also deserve honorable mentions, but they are both slower than Mimikyu and Mega Heracross is at risk of OHKO by Play Rough. Breloom and Marowak also commonly carry Bullet Seed and Bonemerang respectively, but both are slower outside of Trick Room (and Breloom hates Play Rough). Mega Kangaskhan can also strike past disguise, but note the follow up blow would be exceedingly weak.

Mold Breaker interacts with Disguise pretty interestingly. Mold Breaker as expected, will ignore Disguise, meaning that Mold Breaker users can damage Mimkyu without issue, but they cannot break the disguise for their teammates. The good: most Mold Breaker users are strong enough to OHKO Mimikyu easily with their coverage moves. The bad: aside from the Rampardos line and Basculin, ALL of them are weak to Play Rough... (Reshirom, Zekrom, Lunala and Solgeo are all weak to Mimikyu (save Reshiram) and will easily OHKO it without disguise).

Taunt is the final item of note. Taunt prevents Mimikyu's worst abuses of Disguise (barring Z-Splash), but does not break disguise and Mimkyu hits hard enough to be a problem for most tanks.

Mimikyu also hates Confusion. Its Disguise will break if it hits itself. Confusion is also unaffected by Misty Terrain and can stop Mimikyu from setting up if you're lucky.

 

[Djura]

Mimikyu has an extremely hard time getting past physically defensive Pokemon, most notably Ferrothorn, Landorus-Therian, Mega Scizor, and Toxapex. The last one in particular can remove its Swords Dance boosts and threaten it with Scald. Mimikyu isn't fast, either, and in a metagame with 130+ speed Pokemon such as Tapu Koko and Mega Lopunny, it's going to be held back by that. Mimikyu does well on webs offense, but that's it.

 

[Sceptile Leaf Blade]

Mimikyu is amazing. It currently holds the top spot in most used pokémon on the Rated Battle Spot overall, beating even Tapu Koko and Landorus. Mimikyu can do so many things. It can try to be a physical attacker, it can spread status with Will-o-Wisp and Thunder Wave, it can get annoying supporting moves like Trick Room and Destiny Bond, and it is usually good at pulling them off thanks to Disguise. Although in Singles it usually runs Swords Dance + 3 attacks with a Z-Crystal, in Doubles it runs a large variety of things, with almost 40% of Mimikyu running moves that aren't in the top 10 moves for it (the top 10 being Trick Room, Play Rough, Shadow Claw, Shadow Sneak, Protect, Swords Dance, Curse, Taunt, Destiny Bond, and Wood Hammer) and almost 80% runs Trick Room in doubles. So almost 40% of Mimikyu runs something other than that, like Psych Up, Will-o-Wisp, or Thunder Wave. As a Trick Room setter Mimikyu stands out from the competition with its Fake Out immunity and Disguise blocking powerful nuking attempts, so it's perhaps the most reliable Trick Room setter available. It's almost impossible to prevent Mental Herb Mimikyu to set up Trick Room aside from niche options like Roar, Whirlwind, and Imprison + Trick Room.

Mimikyu is particularly popular in Singles, where it's even more popular than the likes of Mega Salamence, Blaziken, Mega Charizard X, Tapu Lele, and Tapu Koko.

 

[xenonim2013]

Mimikyu is one of my favorite Pokemon. I,m feel pity Mimikyu in anime as it feel lonely. Mimikyu want someone to feel his loneliness that why Mimikyu jealous to Pikachu which become popular time and time and time again from Kanto to Alola. that in anime but in game Mimikyu better than Pikachu almost everything. Tournament player love Mimikyu. Casual player also love Mimikyu. Everybody love Mimikyu in gaming so Mimikyu are not lonely in our world.

CALLING THE SUICIDE SQUAD
1- Protect
2- Shadow Claw
3- Play Rough
4- Destiny Bond

Item: Focus Sash
Nature: Adamant / Jolly
EV: attack 252, speed 252, hp 6

If your don want other valuable Pokemon died due to unexpected move from enemy team. Deploy your suicide squad Mimikyu to check 1 by 1 what move enemy team have. The strategy is your need retain your disguise as long as possible. The longer you retain the more annoying enemy have to deal it. Mimikyu is the best wall Pokemon if your now how to switch and used protect correctly . If enemy team decide to Finish Mimikyu off, this is the time your used Destiny Bond to finish them off at least minimum 1 Pokemon. However If your can utilized your protect correctly your might able finish at least 2 to 3 enemy Pokemon.

SENDING OUR SECRET WEAPON
1- Protect
2- Shadow Claw
3- Play Rough
4- Destiny Bond

Item: Fairium Z / Ghostnium Z
EV: attack 252, speed 252, hp 6

This Move is same like Suicide Squad set but the different is your will not retain your disguise like Suicide Squad set. Your job is to launch Powerful z-move finish off at least one most important enemy Pokemon, Disguise allow a guarantee z-move attack to be launch so don waste it. Once your launch Z-move is up to your either your keep using Mimikyu to check using protect or finish up another enemy Pokemon by using destiny bonds. This set guarantee your to secure to 2 kills, if your used z-move correctly.

 

[Ask]

Just wanted to comment on something kind of small, but really useful in the end: you should NEVER USE Z-SPLASH. Though getting +3 over +2 in attack may seem appealing, getting +2 with Swords Dance as well as the boost in Life Orb will actually allow you to do more damage than the +3 with Z-Splash, as shown by the calcs below. On top of this, you can use Swords Dance multiple times if you have the chance and you can choose a different teammate to run a z-move.

+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Mimikyu Shadow Claw vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mimikyu: 611-720 (243.4 - 286.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+3 252+ Atk Mimikyu Shadow Claw vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mimikyu: 588-692 (234.2 - 275.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Being able to bypass Taunt and the tiny percent of chip damage from Life Orb is not worth wasting your z-move on. If you want to use a z-move on Mimikyu, run Ghostium Z because it allows you to break through some things that beat you without relying on setting up multiple Swords Dances.

 

[HeatEdgeSword]

Z-splash isn't worth it on Mimikyu as it can only be used once per battle and Swords Dance got it covered.

Anyway, here's a set for Doubles OU:

Brave Nature
252 HP/ 252 Attack/ 4 Sp.Def
0 Speed IV
Item: Focus Sash/ Mental Herb/ Sitirus Berry
Ability: Disguise

Protect
Trick Room
Shadow Claw/ Shadow Sneak
Play Rough

With Disguise, it's pretty difficult to prevent Mimikyu from setting up Trick Room outside of Taunt or Roar (which isn't seen very common in DOU). That's about it, really.