The raid many have been waiting for is here! In Pokemon GO, Mewtwo will be appearing in the 5-star raids from July 16 to 23. Mewtwo is one of the strongest Pokemon existing in Pokemon GO. As a Psychic-type Pokemon, its max CP is 4,178 at level 40 and 4,724 at level 50 which is the third-highest among all Pokemon excluding the mega evolutions.

The best counters to capturing this legendary Pokemon are bug, ghost, and dark type Pokemon. As there aren’t that many top-tier bug Pokemon, the best Pokemon are as follows.

Once you’ve captured Mewtwo, you’ll need to teach it the best possible skillsets. Mewtwo can learn two fast moves and eight charged moves. The two fast moves are Psycho Cut and Confusion. The efficiency for the two moves isn’t that different, but Psycho Cut is usually used as its attack speed is much faster than Confusion — it makes it easier to evade attacks.

Among the eight charged moves, there are four efficient paths you could take for your Mewtwo. Most Pokemon need to stick with their own type skills, but as Mewtwo has a transcendent attack stat at 300, other skills are viable as well.

Psystrike Mewtwo (Psychic Mewtwo)

The first path is Psystrike. The performance of Psystrike Mewtwo is ridiculous. For example, the DPS of a level 20 Psystrike Mewtwo is similar to that of a level 40 Meteor Mash Metagross. Level 20 Psystrike Mewtwo is more efficient than level 40 Espeon or Latios as well. Unfortunately, to learn Psystrike, you need an Elite TM. For those who don’t have an Elite TM to spare, there’s Psychic. The DPS isn’t as high as Psystrike, but it’s still quite alright.

Despite its overwhelming attack stats, Mewtwo has a natural weakness — that the type is Psychic. Psychic-type attacks are only super effective against Fighting or Poison type Pokemon. The problem is that there aren’t that many Fighting/Poison-type Pokemon to face in PVEs. It’s as if the creators gave Mewtwo a substantial penalty for being so strong.

Shadow Ball Mewtwo

Before Psystrike appeared on Mewtwo's skillset list, the best move was Shadow Ball. It was the best Ghost-type attacker until Giratina origin form was released. The best way to utilize Shadow Ball Mewtwo is putting it up against Psychic Pokemon — one of Mewtwo's strongest counter is Mewtwo.

However, Shadow Ball Mewtwo's tier descended significantly after more Dark-type attackers were released. Shadow Ball also needs an Elite TM to learn as well. It may be better to learn as a secondary move now.

Ice Beam Mewtwo

Before Mamoswine appeared, the No.1 Ice-type attacker was Mewtwo. It was the best pick to attack Dragonite and other legendary dragon-type raids. Even with Mamoswine at the top of the list for Ice attackers, Ice Beam Mewtwo remains at 3rd on that list, following Weavile. 

Another advantage with Ice Beam is that you don't need an Elite TM to learn it. For that reason, Ice Beam is the most preferred for the secondary charged move. This direction is especially strong against raids like Landorus or Rayquaza.

For a week, one of the strongest-existing Pokemon will be available in the raids. Have you caught yours yet? It’s still dangerous out there, so stay safe in your endeavors to catch’ em all!