Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket players have, poetically, discovered Mew ex to be the perfect counter to Mewtwo ex, and one that can be slotted into every deck.
Mythical Island arrived as the first major expansion for Pokémon TCG Pocket and with it came a meta shake up. Pikachu ex appears to have fallen off thanks to a number of cards being added which appear designed specifically to take it down, while Mewtwo ex received a subtle boost.
Celebi ex has also emerged as a new threat to the meta, but now the initially overlooked Mew ex is also entering the spotlight.
Mew ex is a Psychic type with 130 hit points, a weakness to darkness, and a one Energy retreat cost. It has a simple, one Psychic Energy for 20 damage attack, but where things get interesting is in its second attack: Genome Hacking.
"Choose one of your opponent's Active Pokémon's attacks and use it as this attack," it reads. This means Mew ex can copy even the best attacks in the game, such as Charizard ex's 200 damage Crimson Storm and Mewtwo ex's 150 damage Psydrive, which both cost four Energy but come at the cost of discarding two.
Every aspect of the attack is copied, so Mew will also lose two Energy when using either of these, but what makes Genome Hacking particularly interesting is its cost at three Colorless Energy. This allows Mew, despite being a Psychic type Pokémon itself, to work in every deck without compromise.
This is so poignant because of how Mewtwo ex works. It dominated the Genetic Apex meta alongside Pikachu ex but thanks to the Mythical Island boost and PIkachu ex's fall off, it seemingly now stands alone at the top.
Mewtwo ex has 150 HP and its Psydrive attack does 150 damage. Pikachu ex could get in quick enough to stop it reaching this explosive attack, but the only other real counter to Mewtwo ex was the similarly powerful Charizard ex, which struggled to gain traction in the meta for other reasons, and Mewtwo ex itself.
Mirror matches between two Mewtwo ex players were therefore essentially races to see who could draw the supporting Gardevoir cards first, thus unleashing Psydrive and essentially ending the game. But thanks to Mew, every single deck in the game can now have its own version of Mewtwo ex, and one that can be activated quicker given its three Energy cost compared to Mewtwo ex's four.
Players can simply insert Mew ex into their decks and deploy it if coming up against a Mewtwo ex, removing its previously straightforward means of victory and, at the very least, allowing for a more dynamic match.
Mewtwo ex decks will slot in Mew ex for the same reason, to have more control in the mirror match, and this already appears to be having a positive effect on the Pokémon TCG Pocket meta by injecting some diversity.
The digital trading card game arrived October 30 and is a certified hit for Creatures Inc. and The Pokémon Company, having earned an estimated $200 million in its first month across more than 60 million downloads.
This huge amount of money comes as Pokémon TCG Pocket follows the standard mobile and free to play game model, flooding players with rewards in the first few days before soon drying up, with spending real world money the only real way to re-experience that early thrill outside of the occasional set drop like Mythical Island.
Completing Genetic Apex, the first set of cards which totals 226 officially but also contains 60 rare alternate art cards, will take players not spending money around two years according to one estimate, while those looking to make it rain can wrap up the collection after dropping around $1,500.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
