View source for Strive for victory! Your guide to the world of competitive link battles

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| colspan="2" align="center" style="font-size: 150%; color:#4090D0; padding-top:5px; padding-bottom:10px" | This week, a team to counter all threats!
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<ul style="list-style: none; text-indent: 0; padding: 0; margin: 0;">
<li>'''Friday, {{Monthname/3}} 31, 1998'''</li>
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<li>{{Source/column-bn|1=Mr Psychic|2=User:George_Hutcheon|3={{{sourcename2}}}|4={{{sourcelink2}}}}}</li>
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We've talked a lot in previous weeks about the importance of a balanced team. Flexibility is key in link battles: you need something on hand to deal with any threat. Today we'll take a look at just such a team... my own, in fact!

===={{color|4090D0|Team member one: Mewtwo}}====
    {| align="center" width="350px" cellspacing="2" style="border: 3px solid #88a; background: #ccf;"
    |-
    | style="background: #eef" align="center" width="100px" rowspan="4" | [[File:Spr_1g_150.png]]<br>ミュウツー<br>Mewtwo
    | style="background: #F85888" | サイコキネシス / Psychic
    |-
    | style="background: #A8A878" | じこさいせい / Recover
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    | style="background: #F85888" | ドわすれ / Amnesia
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    | style="background: #F8D030" | １０まんボルト / Thunderbolt
    |}
The classic Mewtwo here. Thunderbolt does super-effective damage on any Water or Flying types you may encounter. Psychic does STAB damage, Amnesia boosts Mewtwo's already excellent Special stat to truly stellar proportions, and Recover lets it heal any damage taken... not that it will be taking that much. 

===={{color|4090D0|Team member two: Mewtwo}}====
    {| align="center" width="350px" cellspacing="2" style="border: 3px solid #88a; background: #ccf"
    |-
    | style="background: #eef" align="center" width="100px" rowspan="4" | [[File:Spr_1g_150.png]]<br>ミュウツー<br>Mewtwo
    | style="background: #F85888" | サイコキネシス / Psychic
    |-
    | style="background: #A8A878" | じこさいせい / Recover
    |-
    | style="background: #F85888" | ドわすれ / Amnesia
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    | style="background: #6890F0" | バブルこうせん / BubbleBeam
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And here we have something quite different. This Mewtwo is kitted out to take on any Rock, Ground or Fire types that are foolish enough to take it on. Psychic does STAB damage, Amnesia boosts Mewtwo's already excellent Special stat to truly stellar proportions, and Recover lets it heal any damage taken... not that it will be taking that much. 

===={{color|4090D0|Team member three: Mewtwo}}====
    {| align="center" width="350px" cellspacing="2" style="border: 3px solid #88a; background: #ccf"
    |-
    | style="background: #eef" align="center" width="100px" rowspan="4" | [[File:Spr_1g_150.png]]<br>ミュウツー<br>Mewtwo
    | style="background: #F85888" | サイコキネシス / Psychic
    |-
    | style="background: #A8A878" | じこさいせい / Recover
    |-
    | style="background: #F85888" | ドわすれ / Amnesia
    |-
    | style="background: #78C850" | ソーラービーム / SolarBeam
    |}
SolarBeam can be a risky move on most Pokemon, so it's fortunate that Mewtwo is as sturdy as he is. It offers another way of taking out Ground, Grass and Water types, and is an outrageously strong attack. Psychic does STAB damage, Amnesia boosts Mewtwo's already excellent Special stat to truly stellar proportions, and Recover lets it heal any damage taken... not that it will be taking that much.

===={{color|4090D0|Team member four: Mewtwo}}====
    {| align="center" width="350px" cellspacing="2" style="border: 3px solid #88a; background: #ccf"
    |-
    | style="background: #eef" align="center" width="100px" rowspan="4" | [[File:Spr_1g_150.png]]<br>ミュウツー<br>Mewtwo
    | style="background: #F85888" | サイコキネシス / Psychic
    |-
    | style="background: #A8A878" | じこさいせい / Recover
    |-
    | style="background: #F85888" | ドわすれ / Amnesia
    |-
    | style="background: #98D8D8" | ふぶき / Blizzard
    |}
Every team needs something to deal with those pesky Dragons, and this is it: Mewtwo, dragon tamer. Blizzard ensures they won't be troubling you for long, and is also useful against Flying, Grass and Ground types. Psychic does STAB damage, Amnesia boosts Mewtwo's already excellent Special stat to truly stellar proportions, and Recover lets it heal any damage taken... not that it will be taking that much.  

===={{color|4090D0|Team member five: Mewtwo}}====
    {| align="center" width="350px" cellspacing="2" style="border: 3px solid #88a; background: #ccf"
    |-
    | style="background: #eef" align="center" width="100px" rowspan="4" | [[File:Spr_1g_150.png]]<br>ミュウツー<br>Mewtwo
    | style="background: #F85888" | サイコキネシス / Psychic
    |-
    | style="background: #A8A878" | じこさいせい / Recover
    |-
    | style="background: #F85888" | ドわすれ / Amnesia
    |-
    | style="background: #F08030" | だいもんじ / Fire Blast
    |}
Fire Blast's accuracy isn't the best, but it packs a punch, and if it misses once... so what? Mewtwo can take a hit. Use it against Grass, Ice and (heheheh) Bug types. Psychic does STAB damage, Amnesia boosts Mewtwo's already excellent Special stat to truly stellar proportions, and Recover lets it heal any damage taken... not that it will be taking that much.

==={{color|4090D0|Team member six: Mewtwo}}===
    {| align="center" width="350px" cellspacing="2" style="border: 3px solid #88a; background: #ccf"
    |-
    | style="background: #eef" align="center" width="100px" rowspan="4" | [[File:Spr_1g_150.png]]<br>ミュウツー<br>Mewtwo
    | style="background: #F85888" | サイコキネシス / Psychic
    |-
    | style="background: #A8A878" | じこさいせい / Recover
    |-
    | style="background: #F85888" | ドわすれ / Amnesia
    |-
    | style="background: #C03028" | じごくぐるま / Submission
    |}
Now, I know what you're thinking. "A Fighting type move on Mewtwo? Are you insane?" Well, hear me out. Mewtwo's Attack stat is quite respectable, and he can do quite a bit of damage with Submission, especially on Rock, Ice and Normal types. Psychic does STAB damage, Amnesia boosts Mewtwo's already excellent Special stat to truly stellar proportions, and Recover lets it heal any damage taken... not that it will be taking that much.

'''So, there you have it. A team so robust that your opponents will soon be running for the hills!'''


Now there's just time to reach into the electronic mailbag for a few of your questions.


'''entropy writes:'''
''There seems to be agreement that the Psychic type is overpowered, and many Pokemon just can't compete. What would you think about a system that separated Pokemon into different divisions... or 'tiers', if you will? Mewtwo would obviously be in the top tier, but less overpowered Pokemon would become usable in lower tiers where they wouldn't have to worry about going up against Mewtwo. I think this idea would invigorate competitive battling and allow more people to use Pokemon that they liked, rather than Mewtwo all of the time.''

Well, that's an interesting idea you have there, but frankly I don't see it being very popular. Would you want to use a Pokemon that was 'lower tier'? Of course not. Real players use Mewtwo, because Mewtwo is the best Pokemon. Also, this kind of system would mean that Mewtwo players like myself would end up constantly playing other Mewtwo players, who are a lot harder to beat than kiddies who foolishly use their favorites instead. And that would be a shame.


'''Lord Numpty writes:'''
''Some people have been saying the games right now are unbalanced, with Psychic Pokemon being far too powerful and other types being nearly useless. Do you think that adding some new types to the mix would improve things?

This idea gets thrown around a lot, but I don't think you people understand how difficult balancing a game can be. It certainly isn't just a matter of tossing in a couple of new types. I've done the math, and by my estimation, a truly balanced game would need an additional ''nineteen types'', and I think we can all agree that's a bit too many. Also, if the game was more balanced, there might be less reason to use Mewtwo, and where’s the fun in that?''


'''bugcatcher writes:'''
''you seem kinda obsessed with mewtwo. why dont you ever talk about other pokemon?? i know mewtwo is great and all but really, there are other good pokemon. lets hear about them!!''

I'm not sure I understand your point. I wouldn't say I’m obsessed with Mewtwo at all. This column is all about how to win at Pokemon, and Mewtwo is by far the best Pokemon, so why wouldn't I talk about it? I don't see any point in talking about plainly inferior Pokemon when time and again I've proved that there is one foolproof way to win at Pokemon: use Mewtwo.


Until next week, '''keep striving for victory!'''
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