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Pojo's Pokémon Card of the Day

 

 Mew-EX
- XY126 Promo

Date Reviewed:
Jan. 26, 2017

Ratings & Reviews Summary

Standard: 2.90
Expanded: 4.0
Limited: Promo

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale.
1 being horrible.  3 ... average.  5 is awesome.

Back to the main COTD Page


aroramage

A bit strange that we're reviewing a card that's the same card as before again, but its reprint makes it just recent enough to include it in Standard. So what potential decks can use it now that Night March is out of the way? 

Well keeping in mind the same parameters as before - Versatile allowing Mew-EX to use any attack in play and Replace giving him any Energy he needs for said attacks - there may be merit in his usage in a couple of decks. Using the popular ones here in today's format, he could be used as an alternate attacker or as a counter against M Mewtwo-EX, though most of these decks will frequently run Garbodor (BKP) to nullify it. It's about the only obvious input though - M Gardevoir-EX might also make use of Mew-EX as an alternate attacker, but she'd rather have bench space for discarding Pokemon with come into play effects to benefit most off of recycling them. In a pinch, a M Gardevoir-EX could switch with Mew-EX and discard it, but that's all I can think of in terms of combinations. 

Other than that, there's not a lot to look around at. Volcanion-EX and Greninja don't really need any other Pokemon that would otherwise clutter the deck and make them slower, Vileplume and Giratina decks are more focused on locking down the opponent's moves, and Rainbow Road...well, I suppose there's another deck for Mew-EX to fit into, if one has the room for it. 

Mew-EX still has a lot of versatility, and chances are strong that a deck could come around with just the right attack to take advantage of - I can already think of using him with a certain bat Pokemon's attack. We'll have to see though if he'll be usable with GX attacks - since those are only once per game, I wonder what the ruling is on copying it? 

...then again, he is technically using it... 

Rating 

Standard: 2.5/5 (the current flow of Standard has made Mew-EX pretty weak)

Expanded: 4.5/5 (but that's simply the nature of his card - he'll have ebbs and flows) 

Limited: N/A (by which I mean he'll be great sometimes and bad at others)

Arora Notealus: I'd hang onto your Mew-EXs, cause he'll continue to be a popular pick in some decks. And given that he has limitless potential, it wouldn't surprise me to see him get paired with another Pokemon and dominate the scene. We just need to find the right Pokemon. 

Next Time: Chances are it's not this next one...but who knows?


Otaku

Today we will once again discuss Mew-EX (BW: Dragons Exalted 46/124, 120/124; BW: Legendary Collections RC24/RC25; XY: Black Star Promos XY126).  Why cover it again?  It was our ninth place pick for BW: Dragons Exalted, giving Mew-EX its first review about four and a half years ago.  When it was re-released in BW: Legendary Treasures, it received its second review, just over three years ago.  Thanks to being re-released as a promo, Mew-EX is going to remain Standard legal at least until the next rotation, probably September 1, 2017, as set rotation has been pretty consistent the last few years.  This promo is numbered so that it immediately falls before the pre-release promos for XY: Fates Collide, so at this point, I am guessing odds are even that it will either survive another rotation or leave.  Plus… I missed the second review and thought we hadn’t looked at it since the card was new.  As only Baby Mario weighed in that second time and it was still three years ago, I probably could have skipped confessing my error, but I like to set the bar low be honest.  So let’s run through the fundamentals of the card, then discuss how it has been/currently is/may soon be used. 

Psychic Weakness is found on many Psychic and Fighting Type Pokémon and exploiting it is a major benefit for Mew-EX.  Psychic Resistance is quite abundant, found on most Darkness Type Pokémon and nearly all Metal Types, but is usually a small hurdle and not a major wall.  The best Psychic Type support - Dimension Valley - is only legal in the Expanded Format.  Being a Basic Pokémon is the best, as far as Stages of Evolution go.  This is the best-supported Stage in terms of game mechanics and possibly actual support cards (hello Fighting Fury Belt!), to the point that even the better counters like Jolteon-EX and Silent Lab can’t bring them down.  As a Pokémon-EX, Mew-EX is worth two Prizes when KO’d and has to deal with effects that punish Pokémon-EX usage.  Mew-EX does get a few benefits from that, like its HP of 120.  This is much lower than the typical scores found on Basic Pokémon-EX but it is also a sizable increase over what contemporary Mew cards possess: Mew (XY: Black Star Promos XY192) is the largest of these at 70 HP, while Mew (XY: Evolutions 53/108) with only 40.  So that means a +50 to a +80 HP bonus, and varying from nearly double to actually tripling its HP.  The Psychic Weakness is a concern, but perhaps not from where you would expect; damage focused Psychic Type attackers won’t need it for a OHKO, but the more technical ones focused on attack effects will.  Lack of Resistance is typical, so even though it would help at least a little, it isn’t a major issue.  The Retreat Cost of [C] is easy to pay, both up front and in the long term; good for Mew-EX. 

Mew-EX has one Ability and one attack, with the former being the reason the card is used.  “Versatile” allows Mew-EX to use the attack of any Pokémon in play: Active or Benched, any Stage, and either player’s side of the field.  Mew-EX does have to pay the costs to use said attacks, but the variable nature of what it can do is usually its strength, whether you’re finding a way to more effectively use the attack found on something on your side of the field, or frustrating your opponent as suddenly what he or she puts into play may backfire.  The attack, “Replace” costs [P] and allows you to move around the Energy you have attached to your Pokémon.  This is far less useful but not useless; it is a good failsafe for when Versatile is offline and you are stuck attacking with Mew-EX, namely allowing you to at least salvage the Energy attached to it and move them elsewhere.  The big issue is actually that it costs [P] and not [C]; not every deck that runs Mew-EX runs a source of [P] Energy and even those that do might not have one in a bind.  In fact, most decks where I remember Mew-EX playing a role lack [P] Energy. 

Mew-EX is the best of the attack copying Pokémon currently available.  Let us look at some of these rivals.  Mew (XY: Fates Collide 29/124), which also copies attacks via Ability but only from your own Basic Pokémon.  Zoroark BREAK can use its “Foul Play” attack to copy without paying the usual Energy cost up front, but is restricted to copying from your opponent’s Active and is the BREAK Evolution of a Stage 1 card (a Stage 2 without all the perks).  Clefairy (XY: Evolutions 63/108) can use its “Metronome” attack to do the same thing, but instead of being a pseudo-Stage 2 and paying [D] you have a Basic that must pay [CCC].  I believe this leaves plenty of room for Mew-EX, given its historic usage.  While in Standard play we won’t have Dimension Valley to get an immediate, easy discount of [C] off of attack costs, or Prism Energy to avoid self-damage, copying from Evolutions on your side of the field can still provide a nice, nice discount.  It just saves you on cards played versus Energy spent, and this was a pretty big deal for certain lock decks, like those based on Accelgor (BW: Dark Explorers 11/108).  Mew-EX used to see play in Night March decks, copying from Joltik (XY: Phantom Forces 26/119) so it could use the “Night March” attack for just [CC] without being a 30 HP Basic or having Dimension Valley in play.  If you did have that Stadium, then the cost dropped to just [C]!  Mew (XY: Fates Collide 29/124) might be a better fit due to its stats and the focus on copying your own Basics, but something like Vespiquen (XY: Ancient Origins 10/98) may want to give Mew-EX a try.  Maybe… I’m not sure if I’ve actually seen someone do that before. 

If you can’t tell, I am drawing a bit of a blank on current Mew-EX usage.  Allowing otherwise non-Psychic decks to exploit Psychic Weakness, Accelgor locks, and being in Night March are probably the notable entries on this card’s resume.  A bit of a stretch, but it could/can be quite handy when facing off against an attack based lock: Seismitoad-EX and its “Quaking Punch” are probably the best example because Seismitoad-EX decks were often Item heavy, Quaking Punch only does 30 base damage, and it only costs [CC].  What has me curious about this card’s future are GX attacks.  It is not about getting extra GX attacks off because that doesn’t work; we already have an official ruling that copying a GX attack with a card like Mew-EX or the others named above does use up your GX attack for the game.  No, the key here is (appropriately enough) versatility.  This may be from catching your opponent off guard as a Basic Pokémon, potentially easier to power up than the Pokémon-GX in question, performs the move, especially if you are copying from your opponent.  It is still hard to say because the SM-era cards to feature the GX attack mechanic aren’t out in force yet; as a PTCGO player, I’ve only had to deal with Snorlax-GX so far.  Mew-EX doesn’t seem too likely to copy “Pulverizing Pancake GX” given the attack costs [CCCCC] and Snorlax-GX is also a Basic Pokémon, so you cannot get much of a card investment savings.  Some of the pending Pokémon-GX are Evolutions, and some have low-cost GX attacks, so this could be the future for Mew-EX in Standard play. 

So that basically explains what I see for Mew-EX in Standard play.  In the Expanded Format Mew-EX can assume the various roles it has held in the past, sometimes still be the best choice, and may be handy for having potential access to a GX move without actually running a Pokémon-GX.  Unlike the other cards this week, Mew-EX has appeared in the Limited Format, as all but the latest release were part of TCG expansions.  It isn’t the kind of Pokémon-EX around which you build an entire, but it is something you’ll include in almost any deck; basically anything that is not built around a different Basic Pokémon-EX to the point it runs no other Basic Pokémon.  Given that Pokémon-GX are replacing Pokémon-EX, a true future re-release isn’t on the table, and as the sets where Mew-EX is included are quite old, you probably won’t be able to enjoy it in Limited play anyway. 

Ratings 

Standard: 3.35/5 

Expanded: 3.5/5 

Limited: 4/5 

Summary: Mew-EX is a famous glass cannon, even though it must borrow the attacks in question from another source.  Reviewing it yet again reminds us that it can be awesome, or it can just sort of be there: functional but impractical.  We’ll see if something new - like Pokémon-GX - make Mew-EX into a major power player, give it another successful niche deck, or whatever else may come.  At least if you were unaware, you know it was reprinted again and thus is Standard legal.


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