Under the Rag - Analysis of Mimikyu in Battle Spot Singles

By DMDW. Released 2018/08/07.
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Art

Art by Falgaia.

Introduction

The Disguise Pokémon, Mimikyu, is mostly known for its similar appearance to Pikachu, and it has many background stories about being a lonely Pokémon that struggles to be accepted by other Pokémon and trainers. However, when it comes to the competitive environment in Battle Spot Singles, Mimikyu is far from being unsavory or being comparable to Pikachu. Mimikyu has been consistently keeping its position as an S-ranked Pokémon in the BSS viability rankings, and along with Landorus-T and Tapu Lele, it is one of the only Pokémon with a history of exiling Garchomp from the top usage position that lasted for generations. Mimikyu is currently #1 in usage in Battle Spot Singles and is one of the best Pokémon in the metagame.

General Overview

"A lonely Pokémon, it conceals its terrifying appearance beneath an old rag so it can get closer to people and other Pokémon."

This is the description of Mimikyu in Pokémon Moon's Pokédex entry. The text alludes to one of Mimikyu's invaluable traits, Disguise. This signature ability allows Mimikyu to take a single hit and remain unharmed. This is especially important in Battle Spot Singles, where only three Pokémon can be employed in every game and preparing defensive counterplay for rampaging threats like Mega Salamence and Mega Blaziken is very difficult without using dedicated defensive teams. The general difficulty of role compression results in the overall offensive nature of Battle Spot Singles, where shutting down a foe is heavily reliant on revenge killing. In this environment, Mimikyu shines as a top-tier threat that can blanket check almost every setup sweeper apart from Mega Gyarados due to Mold Breaker, which it can still revenge kill with a bulky EV spread or with Focus Sash intact.

Even though Mimikyu's amazing ability in Disguise is the cream of the crop, its other strengths should not be overlooked. In Battle Spot Singles, a relevant Pokémon that resists Mimikyu's STAB combination of Ghost and Fairy is nowhere to be found, and this makes Mimikyu difficult to properly handle, especially when it is boosted. While Mimikyu's mediocre Attack stat may make it seem easy to keep in check by simply using physically defensive Pokémon, Mimikyu has an option to instead lure and heavily damage them with sets employing Curse. Additionally, Mimikyu has access to various utility moves like Trick Room, Destiny Bond, Thunder Wave, Will-O-Wisp, and Taunt that allow it to fulfill variety of roles in Battle Spot Singles other than solely being a revenge killer or a cleaner.

All of these factors combine to make Mimikyu indeed a terrifying threat in Battle Spot Singles. Its versatility makes it quite unpredictable and easy to fit into teams. While other Pokémon in the metagame may not be so fond of Mimikyu, it sure did get closer to people over the SM generation.

Sets

Mimikyu

Much like it is in OU tier, Mimikyu can effectively function as a sweeper and a cleaner with Swords Dance, thanks to Disguise almost guaranteeing a turn it can safely set up. Because Mimikyu immediately turns into a threat after a Swords Dance, opponents often have physically defensive foes like Porygon2 and Celeteela in their teams. Utilization of Z-Crystals allow Mimikyu to heavily damage them or even KO them after prior damage. Focus Sash, on the other hand, essentially allows Mimikyu to survive two hits from almost any foe and potentially make a trade using Destiny Bond, thus further amplifying its ability to revenge kill.

Mimikyu

Mimikyu can alternatively use a bulkier EV spread to meet a number of important benchmarks; the given EV spread allows Mimikyu to survive powerful attacks it otherwise cannot, such as Adamant Mega Blaziken's Flare Blitz, +1 Mega Gyarados's Waterfall and Crunch, Psyshock from Modest Tapu Lele, and Foul Play from Analytic Porygon2 when Mimikyu is at +2. The spread also helps Mimikyu's chances of surviving Jolly Mega Salamence's Double-Edge most of the time and makes Porygon2's Download give an Attack boost. The increase in bulk allows Mimikyu to also be a reliable user of Trick Room, which can make it a great lead in tandem with Curse. In general, bulky Mimikyu trades its decent Speed for increased bulk to fit utility options.

Mimikyu

As mentioned, opponents are inclined to send physically defensive foes to check Mimikyu. Curse Mimikyu can take advantage of this tendency to wear down defensive foes for its teammates to defeat them more easily. While Curse alone may seem insufficient to cause notable damage to defensive Pokémon, Mimikyu can use Curse on a switch-in and take advantage of the forced switch to reliably set Substitute and start softening up switch-in with Pain Split. Steel-types and physically defensive foes, which are good checks to offensive Mimikyu sets, find themselves eventually overwhelmed after being lured in.

Metagame Trends

Mimikyu once used to be the most dominant force in Battle Spot Singles. It had the highest usage from season 2 to season 8, and it once had a record for hitting 45% usage. However, as prevalent Mimikyu is, the metagame has been adapting to its presence. Increased usage of Landorus-T, which easily fits in almost every team, proves to be one of the best checks to Mimikyu, as it has sufficient bulk to take boosted attacks after Intimidate, leaves Mimikyu vulnerable to revenge killing with a combination of Rock Tomb and Earthquake or even merely Rocky Helmet damage, and sets Stealth Rock that breaks Mimikyu's Focus Sash. Mega Gyarados also has been steadily around top 10 usage throughout the generation, and the fact that most teams with Mega Gyarados employ a reliable Stealth Rock user makes it difficult to stop even with Mimikyu using Focus Sash or a bulky EV spread. Multi-hitting moves are also one of the annoyances for Mimikyu, as they can bypass Disguise. Mamoswine and Breloom can offensively check Mimikyu with their Focus Sash intact, and Cloyster after a Shell Smash can simply OHKO Mimikyu. As the metagame has been progressing, Ferrothorn, which is one of the best checks to Mimikyu, started employing Bullet Seed over Power Whip to deal with Mimikyu and Focus Sash users. Even when Disguise is intact, Mimikyu is less effective against foes that can attack and pivot at the same time. Primary examples include extremely common Pokémon like Greninja and Tapu Koko, which can retreat unharmed after breaking Mimikyu's Disguise with U-turn or Volt Switch. The continued prevalence of Tapu Lele is also detrimental, as Psychic Terrain hinders Mimikyu's ability to pick on weakened foes with Shadow Sneak, and Choice Scarf variants can easily dispose of Mimikyu once Disguise has been broken. Although none of these factors affect Mimikyu's viability in a significant way, it should be noted that most competitive teams are well aware of Mimikyu's presence and generally prepare for it.

Mimikyu Outside of BSS?

Mimikyu's viability in Battle Spot Singles unfortunately does not translate to other tiers. In the OverUsed tier, most teams are naturally prepared for Mimikyu due to the role compression becoming much easier with six Pokémon available in the team. Similarly to Battle Spot Singles, Mimikyu suffers from prevalence of Toxapex, Ferrothorn, and Celesteela and offensive checks like Landorus-T and Kartana. In VGC, Mimikyu is a solid pick for similar reasons as it is in BSS, but its susceptibility to two attacks in a turn can limit its effectiveness to a degree. The prevalence of Intimidate in VGC is also bad news for Mimikyu.

Conclusion

Mimikyu has been consistently keeping its position in the highest places of usage stats in Battle Spot Singles. Ever since it was released, it was viewed as one of the premier threats the SM generation has to offer due to its exclusive ability, Disguise. As the metagame progressed, many sets for Mimikyu were discovered, all of which are very effective in their own right. Unless there is a significant change in the metagame, Mimikyu will remain as one of the best Pokémon in Battle Spot Singles. However, who knows what change the next Pokémon will bring that may affect Mimikyu? Only time can tell.

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