It’s Time to Talk Mew (Again)

Hello everyone! As the Silver Tempest/Crown Zenith format finally draws to a close, [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] remains as dominant as ever. Many people are already looking towards rotation, but for competitive players, there’s still a few events left in this format. This may be my final article about this format, though.

At the recent Vancouver Regionals, I wanted to play [card name=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Aerodactyl VSTAR” set=”Lost Origin” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card], but my testing group as a whole decided to go with vanilla Lugia. I wanted to try out Lugia at a tournament at least once, but I felt that Mew was the better play. I went 7-1-1 in Day 1, but I had a miserable Day 2. That’s neither here nor there, but my one loss in Day 1 was against Mew / Aerodactyl.

[cardimg name=”Aerodactyl VSTAR” set=”Lost Origin” no=”93″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

When Xander Pero first unveiled Aerodactyl VSTAR, I thought it was just a bad gimmick. I’ve always been critical of how Mew lists are built, and this was no exception. However, after a bit of time, I have come around on the deck. Not only do I think it’s the right way to play Mew, but I think it’s the right way to play the format.

The reason for this is Lugia’s dominance. Lugia has no bad matchups, except for Aerodactyl. In other words, Mew with Aerodactyl is the only real deck in the game that has a positive Lugia matchup.

When Mew goes first, it can fairly consistently get the turn-two Ancient Star attack, winning the game immediately. The only major impediment to this is when Aerodactyl VSTAR is prized, which is only a ten percent chance. ([card name=”Hisuian Heavy Ball” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”146″ c=”name”][/card] can retrieve the Basic Aerodactyl V from the Prize cards if needed.) In any case, even when Lugia goes first, it has to draw the absolute nuts in order to win. Lugia is not very consistent and, as such, does not often draw the absolute nuts. If Lugia only sets up one [card name=”Archeops” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card], Mew will swiftly KO it and checkmate them. Lugia must go first and get the full combo on exactly turn two. If it whiffs, Ancient Star seals up the game. The numbers greatly favor Mew here.

I mentioned that I originally thought Aerodactyl was bad, but I think my problem was with the traditional lists at the time rather than Aerodactyl itself. Since Aerodactyl seems like a gimmick, I attributed my disdain of the list to it alone. However, I’ve come around on it because it is what swings the Lugia matchup. This attribute is the most important thing you can possibly have in this format.

I’ve never been a fan of multiple [card name=”Path to the Peak” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Lost Vacuum” set=”Lost Origin” no=”162″ c=”name”][/card] in Mew, because the hand disruption gimmick severely hinders the consistency of the deck. Mew’s explosiveness and consistency allow it to straight-up beat other decks either by bullying them with hyper-aggressiveness or by consistently applying Aerodactyl’s Ancient Star on turn two as a win condition. In other words, cards that not only don’t help Mew with its aforementioned win conditions, but actively hinder the deck as well, make no sense at all. I’ll elaborate upon this shortly, but let’s look at my current list first:

[premium]

[decklist name=”mew” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”114″][pokemon amt=”14″]3x [card name=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”114″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Mew V” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Genesect V” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”185″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Oricorio” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”42″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Aerodactyl VSTAR” set=”Lost Origin” no=”93″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Aerodactyl V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”42″]1x [card name=”Serena” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”164″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Cyllene” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”138″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Judge” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”235″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Battle VIP Pass” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”225″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Cram-o-matic” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”229″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Power Tablet” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”236″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”150″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Rotom Phone” set=”Champion’s Path” no=”64″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Switch” set=”Shining Legends” no=”67″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Choice Belt” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”135″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Big Parasol” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”157″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”172″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Hisuian Heavy Ball” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”146″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Echoing Horn” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”136″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Forest Seal Stone” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Lost City” set=”Lost Origin” no=”161″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”PokéStop” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”68″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”4″]4x [card name=”Double Turbo Energy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist]This deck functions as normal turbo Mew in matchups where you don’t use Aerodactyl. It still functions similar to normal when using Aerodactyl, but of course you are spending considerable resources to use Aerodactyl, and so you will be drawing fewer cards with [card name=”Genesect V” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”185″ c=”name”][/card]. There are several downsides to Aerodactyl, but they are well worth it when it insta-wins you the game. The real question is when you should (and shouldn’t) use Aerodactyl in other matchups, which I’ll also talk about more in a bit. First, let’s talk about the list.

[card name=”Oricorio” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”42″ c=”name”][/card] is not entirely necessary. It’s annoying in games where you start with it and want to use Aerodactyl, or vice versa. This is because you don’t really have board space for both of them. Matchups-wise, it is quite helpful against [card name=”Regigigas” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Rayquaza” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Arceus VSTAR” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] variants. In other matchups, it is usually what you want to sacrifice in the Active Spot on turn one in the games that you have to go second. Overall, this deck has enough space that I think Oricorio is worth the inclusion, but it is also a fairly easy cut if you want space for something else.

[card name=”Serena” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card] might seem a bit weird. Basically, in matches where you only need to gust single-Prize Pokemon, two [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Lost Origin” no=”TG24″ c=”name”][/card] plus the [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”172″ c=”name”][/card] is plenty. The games are longer, but you are using [card name=”Judge” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”235″ c=”name”][/card] several times as well, so you won’t be playing a gust Supporter every turn. Serena is an extra option for gust in other matches: oftentimes, you want to gust three times against decks with multi-Prize Pokemon, especially in combination with [card name=”Echoing Horn” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card]. The draw effect from Serena is also something I use way more than expected. Aside from generally unclogging your hand, Serena’s draw effect is a pseudo-out to opposing Path to the Peak. Furthermore, the draw effect can help get games started out of the opening hand.

Switch is preferred over [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] because Escape Rope screws you over too often with the nature of Mew’s draw engine. It basically has anti-synergy with the deck because you have to play thinning cards in order to draw more cards. You either want to KO your opponent’s Active Pokemon or Boss something else up. Escape Rope does neither. It actively hurts you if you want to KO the Active, and it can’t be used to thin the hand after you’ve used Boss.

[cardimg name=”Big Parasol” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”157″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

[card name=”Big Parasol” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”157″ c=”name”][/card] is my trump card against Lost Zone decks. It baffles me that Mew decks play one copy of the card and never two. Just give up and play zero if you’re only going to play one! With two in play, they cannot use Escape Rope to get around it. Therefore, they can never make use of [card name=”Sableye” set=”Lost Origin” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card]’s Lost Mine. Without Lost Mine, it’s basically impossible for them to take six Prize cards. Psychic Leap erases their attacks if they try to pile damage onto Mew, and Judge ensures that they will never have meaningful combo turns.

[card name=”Echoing Horn” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card] has waffled in and out of favor. Currently, [card name=”Arceus VSTAR” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”176″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Duraludon VMAX” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Hisuian Goodra VSTAR” set=”Lost Origin” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card] are rising in popularity (even though they are both terrible), and Echoing Horn completely trivializes those matchups. Of course, it’s a game-winning card in any two-Prize matchup, so it makes sense to include. It can be used against Lugia, but isn’t as useful with Aerodactyl being a cheat code in that matchup. It can also punish Regi players in some situations.

[card name=”PokéStop” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card] is the third Path counter of choice because it doubles as a consistency card. Two [card name=”Lost City” set=”Lost Origin” no=”161″ c=”name”][/card] is sufficient for its purposes, and Lost Vacuum isn’t consistency. PokéStop is an extra out to help set up on turn one, though of course it carries some risk. It is primarily used as a Path counter, and its effect only applied when necessary.

With that, let’s talk about Path. I will probably need to make a compelling case why Path isn’t good in Mew, as 100% of Mew sheep have been playing the card over the past six months. First of all, Path is obviously just bad for Mew. For several formats, it was used as the Mew counter because it shuts down the entire draw engine based around Genesect V. You don’t want this hindrance in your Mew deck. Whenever Path is in your hand, you are drawing one fewer card with Genesect for the rest of the game until you voluntarily lock yourself.

You then hope that it bricks your opponent, and then you need another card (Lost Vacuum) to unlock yourself. And of course, 90% of the time it does nothing to your opponent. Seriously, track the number of games where Path wins you a game you wouldn’t have otherwise won. Don’t forget to keep count of the number of times you wish it wasn’t in your hand for journalistic integrity. Been there, done that. Not to mention, this elaborate dance of Paths and Vacuums takes up a lot of deck space. Vacuum isn’t exactly the most useful card either, but at least it doesn’t shut down your entire draw engine. When I play Mew, I like drawing a million cards and always having what I want. I also like winning. I don’t like having Path or Vacuum in my hand.

There are some counter-arguments. Some of them are good; most are bad. Path does not actually increase your win rate against Lugia — at least, not in any meaningful way. I tried testing a one-of Path to see if it would make a difference in the games where Lugia goes first. Spoiler: it doesn’t. Playing a second Path would marginally improve your chances of getting turn-one Judge / Path, but the opportunity cost of deck space and liability cards starts to get too high with more Path. Play zero Path, take your free Aerodactyl wins, take your free wins when Lugia doesn’t draw the nuts, and accept the loss when they go first and get the setup. A couple Path won’t save you. The numbers against Lugia are just fine as it is.

Now, Path plus [card name=”Roxanne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”150″ c=”name”][/card] is meaningful in the mirror, and Roxanne alone is good against Lost Box. That said, we are talking about at least five cards (two Path, two Vacuum, and Roxanne), none of which are good, and three of which are active liabilities more often than not. The opportunity cost of consistency and deck space is too high for me to justify these cards. I find that all of my matchups are very playable when Mew is able to function as intended, which these cards severely inhibit. Now, I get why sheep like the idea of “Judge, Path, my opponent bricks,” but if you’re a competitive player you will realize that this is a ridiculous strategy, and Mew’s tournament win rate accurately reflects that. Mew wants to explode with aggressiveness and run your opponent off the board. The supplementary hand disruption of Judge helps in many situations, and it also refreshes your hand, so you play it — but you don’t base your entire strategy around it.

[cardimg name=”Luxray V” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”50″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Now, this entire argument gets turned on its head if you introduce some sort of X factor such as [card name=”Luxray V” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card]. Luxray is a card that has highly piqued my interest, but I can’t say if it’s the best option because I haven’t tried it. I would be remiss if I did not mention it at this point, but again, it’s just theory for now. The idea is that Luxray is a trump card against Lugia and certain other matchups (like the mirror) when going second. You go turn-one Judge / Path / Luxray when forced to go second. It’s insanely unlikely that your opponent will draw well off of it, giving you the tempo as if you went first. You get rid of Path and go full steam ahead as a regular Mew deck at that point. Although Path is part of that strategy, it is 1) more reliable combined with Luxray and 2) only used as a one-turn stopgap tool for tempo. There are downsides to Luxray as well, such as not being able to reasonably play Aerodactyl alongside it. Luxray also flips the Escape Rope / Switch argument, because you’d prefer the option of Rope to keep the opponent off attacks such as Trinity Charge or Read the Wind.

Matchups

Lugia – Favorable

Surprisingly, Lugia is one of the more simple matchups (in most games). What once was a brain-blasting exercise of going beat-for-beat and playing around each other’s options is now greatly simplified by Aerodactyl VSTAR. Going first, get that bad boy into play, ideally with [card name=”Double Turbo Energy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”151″ c=”name”][/card] attached. If you start Genesect, you’ll want that attachment on Aerodactyl (or the Active Genesect) so you don’t have to find one of your two Switch.

That said, you don’t always search for Aerodactyl first. Often, it is better to grab a bunch of Fusion Strike Pokemon so you can draw more cards off Genesect and ensure a stable follow-up.

Of course, if the VSTAR is prized, you ignore Aerodactyl entirely and start to improvise like crazy. Although the Mew deck is a little unfavored in a fair fight against Lugia, it is far from unwinnable.

If Lugia goes first, they either draw the nuts or don’t. If they don’t, you apply pressure like normal and KO whatever is most important and you’ll win. If they go single Archeops you simply KO it and easily win. The worst-case scenario is if they get double Archeops in the discard pile on turn one and complete their setup. Then you have to evaluate your best way to win and go from there. It’s usually either blitzing KOs on two-Prize Pokemon and trying to win quickly (using Echoing Horn as needed), or taking out one or both Archeops very quickly. If they have to use Primal Turbo to retreat something, they may not be able to establish enough Energy in play and you can gun down the Archeops. Whether or not you use Judge on turn one depends on their turn and your evaluation of the situation.

Mew Mirror – Even

They have Paths, but you have a way more consistent deck. Conserve Path counters like your life depends on it. Don’t attach [card name=”Forest Seal Stone” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] until you need something (or need to thin), as it is also a valuable Path counter and will be swiftly Vacuumed if left in play. If you go first, try to take two Prizes every attacking turn and ignore Aerodactyl. If you go second, you may as well go for Aerodactyl. It will probably be gust-KO’d, but it’s your best option. If they don’t KO it, you go Judge / Ancient Star and you’ll probably win. Your attacking strategy basically ignores anything that isn’t an easy two-Prize target. Go 2-2-2 and win in three attacks.

In the event you end up Knocking Out a one-prize Pokemon for some reason, you need to conserve damage mods to OHKO a Mew VMAX. This somewhat salvages the situation so that you can go 1-3-2 or 1-2-3 on Prizes and still win in three attacks. Disrespect your opponent and assume their list will whiff something. You always have a chance to win when cards like Path and Vacuum are clogging up their deck.

Lost Box – Depends

[cardimg name=”Drapion V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”118″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Okay, this one basically just depends on what stuff they have. [card name=”Drapion V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”118″ c=”name”][/card] with [card name=”Sky Seal Stone” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card] is always going to be a tough matchup that you just have to accept if you play Mew. In all honesty, I have no idea if using Aerodactyl’s Ancient Star is worth it against Lost Box with Drapion. It probably is, but they can still attack with it if they get two [card name=”Mirage Gate” set=”Lost Origin” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card]s. Against Drapion, you try and gauge when they’ll be able to use the combo and then pre-emptively counter with Judge and/or Psychic Leap accordingly. [card name=”Power Tablet” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”236″ c=”name”][/card]s ensure that Psychic Leap gives you value. Remove key Pokemon (such as [card name=”Radiant Greninja” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card]) with Boss and Lost City very aggressively. Parasols keep Sableye from doing anything, so the opponent may find it difficult to actually take Prize cards. This matchup isn’t quite as bad as you might think, but it definitely isn’t sunshine and roses.

On the other hand, anything without Drapion is a walk in the park in comparison. The other main variant is [card name=”Rayquaza” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card]. Rayquaza’s main strategy will be to blow up two Mew VMAX, and they’ll just wait until they have the pieces to do so. They may poke with [card name=”Cramorant” set=”Lost Origin” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card] to set up an easier KO when they have nothing better to do. Again, KO Radiant Greninja with Lost City ASAP. Otherwise, save Lost City for the Rayquaza and/or [card name=”Raikou” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card]. Neutering [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card]’s capability to recover key Pokemon also severely limits their Lost Zone options.

Judge and Parasol are absolute menaces for the opponent in this matchup. Parasol shutting off Sableye makes Raikou lines nearly impossible, and Judge makes building the Rayquaza combo extremely difficult. If they ever bench Rayquaza prematurely, Lost Zone it. Oricorio forces them to have [card name=”Galarian Zigzagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card], which doesn’t sound like much, but forcing that extra piece can be the difference between life and death. Again, this also limits their Lost Zone selections.

Duraludon and Goodra – Easy

You actually get to sit there and laugh in your opponent’s face because they decided to play a terrible deck that loses to Mew. You usually don’t go Aero against Duraludon. Only do so if you’re in an extenuating circumstance that forces you to actually fight through a [card name=”Duraludon VMAX” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”220″ c=”name”][/card]. The general strategy against these guys is to chase two-Prize KOs and abuse the heck out of Echoing Horn. Do not use Lost City for this reason; you need those cards to go to the discard. Oftentimes, you even use [card name=”Cyllene” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] to recover Echoing Horn to do it again.

Goodra often packs Drapion V, but no Seal Stone, so it’s fine. I don’t know if using Aero is correct against Goodra, but it probably is because then they just have zero win conditions. If you can blitz two-Prize KOs, though, then you don’t even need it.

Regis – Slightly Favored

This matchup can go either way. I always seem to win as Mew and lose as Regis, so I think Mew is favored, but Regi players will tell you otherwise. Save your Path counters, slam-attach Forest Seal Stone, and don’t use it unless you need to set up. They don’t play Vacuum, so that Seal Stone can just hang out until it’s needed. Slam Lost City against Path and go ham on Lost Zoning Regis. Aggressively go after Regigigas because it’s the attacking one. If you Lost Zone something else and Gigas starts attacking you, you can’t take advantage of that earlier Lost Zone because you have to deal with the attacking Gigas. That said, if you do Lost Zone something else and have the opportunity to Lost Zone the extra copy of the same Regi, you win. Lost Zoning random Regis is good for sure, but Lost Zoning Gigas is best.

Conclusion

I really want to play Mew at one of these last two Regionals before rotation, so I’ve been messing with the deck a lot lately. That’s all I have for now. Thanks for reading!

[/premium]