As we digest the new Pokémon from HS Triumphant, one card in particular has created quite the kitty kraze. I’m talking about our feline friend Mew Prime. This article is intended to give some background on this quirky cat and how he might just claw his way to the top tier this season.
Mew Review
Being relatively new (2 years) to the Pokémon card game, and NOT being a DS player, I needed to do some journalistic exploring to get up to speed on Mew. Based on some extensive, 100% reliable (wikipedia) researching, I found the following kitty kernels of knowledge. Did you know….
* Game Freak programmer Shigeki Morimoto secretly programmed Mew into the game (those crazy game designers- what mischief will they come up with next)?
* The name Mew is based on the onomatopoeia of a cat’s cry, meow (testing your high school literature- next up is alliteration)?
* A fossilized Mew hair, found in the Amazon River by a team of scientists, was used to create Mewtwo, a genetically enhanced Mew clone (Reminder: DON’T leave your hair in places where it might be genetically enhanced)?
* Its DNA combines the genetic composition of all existing Pokémon species (sounds a lot like Fusion Doritos- I like it!)?
So, what’s not to like about a fossilized, South American, covertly-designed onomatopoeia which now makes it into a new Pokémon set? I give the card a 10 out of 10 for storyline alone. By the way- you may remember one of our Venezuelan readers recently complained in my Letter to the President article about the lack of Pokémon in his country. My suggestion to him and to all of our South American readers is to scour your local rain forests IMMEDIATELY for other fossilized Pokémon. THAT might create just enough buzz to spark at least one Pokémon league on the continent. If this doesn’t work, I’m sorry, amigos- there’s probably no hope.
Mew- the Pur-r-r-r-fect Pokémon?
Now let’s get down to the nitty-gritty on our pretty kitty. The new Mew has some incredible potential. On the surface, it looks like your everyday psychadelic cat- 60 HP, x2 psychic weakness, and a really weird attack for 1 psychic energy about searching your deck for any 1 Pokémon and putting it in the Lost Zone. Now, why in the name of all that’s right in this world would anyone want to do that, especially with Gengar Prime prowling about?
pokebeach.comHere’s why: Mew has this really interesting Poké-Body called “Lost Link” which goes a little something like this:
This Pokémon can use any printed attack on the Pokémon in either player’s Lost Zone. (If it doesn’t have the necessary Energy attached to it for an attack, it can’t use it.)
So, this is when the wheels in all our Pokémon brains should start spinning….
You mean, ANY Pokémon?
Yes.
Stage 2?
Um, yes, I just said that.
Any type???
YES.
Even Level X?
YES, YOU MORON- READ THE #!!%%?!! CARD!!!! (Sorry, I talk to myself sometimes….)
So, let’s think of some possibilities. For 1 energy you could use:
* Gengar SF to snipe for 30 or 60 damage
* Gengar TR to place 1 Pokémon card from your opponent’s hand in the Lost Zone
* Marchamp SF to take out all non-evolved Pokémon- WHAT???
* Rampardos PT to smack your opponent for 80 damage- I mean, your opponent’s active Pokémon (not good to smack your opponent- please refer to Pokémon’s Spirit of the Game Guidelines)
* Jumpluff HGSS to dish out 20-120 damage
And, my personal favorite for NO ENERGY (drum roll please)…
pokebeach.comGyarados SF to dish out up to 120 damage for NO ENERGY. By the way, did I mention NO ENERGY??? Did I mention a BASIC doing 120 damage for NO ENERGY? (some restrictions may apply- must have 4 Magikarp in the discard pile. Not available in all decks. See rest of article for details.)
So, even if you are a dog lover, Mew is probably starting to look like a pretty cool cat right now. Let’s look at some strategies, risks and deck builds to give Mew its full 9 lives to survive and thrive in the current format.
Strategies, Deck Build and Setup
Here are a few key cards for your deck:
Mew: You need to have 4 in your deck.
Setup Pokémon: I suggest Smeargle UD and Unown Q, Uxie x 2, Uxie Level X; Azelf
Lost Zone Pokémon: Your main Pokémon to place in the Lost Zone (My decklist will include Machamp SF and Rampardos; see list above for other possibilities)
Supporters/Trainers: 4 Collectors to grab Mews and other cards as needed; Volkner’s to discard Magikarp; Pokémon Rescue
Energy: 4 Call for setup consistency; 4 Rainbow for Mew’s attacks; 4 Psychic for Mew’s other attacks; perhaps 1-2 Fighting for Machamp SF attack.
The rest of the list really depends on what style you want to play. Some may want to play Mew with an SP engine with Cyrus’ Conspiracy and other tech cards (which is great to grab whatever energy you need). The nice thing about Mew is that, since it isn’t SP or an evolution deck, there is TONS of space in your deck to tech things or add a plethora of Supporters and Trainers.
Setup
An ideal setup would be to start Turn 1 with an active Mew and attaching a psychic energy to immediately send a Pokémon (i.e., Machamp or Gyarados) to the Lost Zone. Then, next turn, perhaps try to send 1 more card to the Lost Zone before getting KO’ed. Continue to set up Mews and other supporting Pokémon on your bench as needed.
Strategies
After setting up, the key strategy of the deck is to hit hard and swarm with Mews, trying to KO a Pokémon each turn. A typical match will probably look like this: sending a Machamp to the Lost Zone turn 1/turn 2. Your Mew getting KO’ed. Sending up another Mew and use Machamp’s Take Out attack for the return KO while simultaneously throwing Magikarps into the discard pile with Regice or other trainers/supporters to prepare to use Tail Revenge. With Mew’s low HP, it is critical to always have a kitty on the bench ready to take its place. Grabbing Mews out of the discard pile with Pokémon Rescue will also be very important later in the game.
Matchups
Machamp. On first pass, this looks like a really bad matchup since Mew is a basic that can be 1HKO’ed by Machamp’s Take Out attack. However, since Machamp is weak to psychic, Mew can dish out a return KO, especially if Gyarados is in the Lost Zone with 4 Magikarps in the discard pile, or if you choose to play with Lucario GL and do at least 70 damage. If you can get Mew set up quickly enough, you should be able to win the KO exchange since Mew can reset so quickly.
LuxChomp. The key to this matchup will be surviving the donk and winning the prize race (stating the obvious). Since Luxray and Garchomp can 1HKO a Mew, it will be very important to return the KOs using Machamp’s Take Out attack in the Lost Zone.
Sablelock. Assuming you can survive the initial hand lock attempt (a risk against any Sablelock opponent), you should be able to make a good match of this, especially if you use Machamp’s Take Out attack frequently.
DialgaChomp. This could turn into a very BAD matchup quickly if Dialga G LV.X is setup and cancels Mew’s Poké-Body and therefore its ability to attack. To counter this possibility, it might be good to tech in a Blaziken FB LV.X or even try and set up a Gyarados to attack with for 90 damage.
Downsides/Risks
There are risks and downsides to every deck, and Mew is no exception. Here are a few:
* Mew’s low HP makes it a relatively easy target to Knock Out
* Its Poké-Body/Attack Capability can be completely shut down by Dialga G LV.X
* It is not a donk deck and needs at least 1 turn to set up; in fact, it may need 2 or 3 turns to set up fully, during which time your opponent can be snatching some easy prizes.
Conclusion
While not purrrfect, Mew could potentially be a lethal deck and will certainly put up a good fight this season. Hope you’ll give him a try!
My friend and I were just talking about the possibilities of Mew Prime last night. Great sense of humor, nice writing, and good job over all. :D
thanks!
Hey nice read and I really enjoyed reading an article with some humor in it. But I honestly have had some questions about this card.
Going up to the Gyarados SF. The card specifies ‘Magikarp in your discard pile’. . . So would that truthfully even work? Because you are using the attack, unless you randomly tech in Magikarp hoping your opponent plays Gyarados SF, I think it means from the ‘Users’ discard pile.
The other concern I had was that, Mew Prime specifies, ‘If it doesn’t have the necessary Energy attached to it for an attack, it can’t use it.’ – Does this mean he needs the same number of energies required? Or the exact same energy types and the amount of energy required.
For Example – You have Machamp SF up there, and you mentioned how you can OHKO basics with ‘Take Out’. . .From my thinking you’d need a Fighting Energy attached to Mew Prime in order for this attack to go off.
Unless I have completely missed the point in which you would play all these cards in your deck, use his attack ‘Send Off’ put them in the Lost Zone yourself and use their attacks next turn. But if thats what your really getting at. Honestly, with only 60HP I highly doubt he’d be around to see that next turn unless you had another on the bench waiting.
Another way I can possibly see this working is if you pair him with Absol Prime. You ‘Elm’s Training Method’ for an evo, put it in your hand. Attack with Absol Prime for 70 (80 if Special Dark) and discard a Pokemon from your hand to the Lost Zone and then pull Mew out with the necessary energy attached.
Even then, Absol Prime only has 80HP. In this day and age of the Pokemon TCG, 60 and 80 HP just doesnt do it. Fun Card, def unique. and once again nice article – hope this helps a little bit :)
Good points! Yes, the assumption is that you would probably lose a Mew or two before getting to use the Take Out attack by attaching a fighting energy to another benched Mew.
Mew seems to be purrrfect for using legend cards as well without the risk of giving up 2 prizes…..
I heard you can’t use legends attacks from the lost zone. I would like to get an official ruling on that.
I think it’s on the Clash at the Summit FAQ, so it’s kinda official: you can’t.
Pokepop and the website have ruled this
It was in the FAQ that was sent to TOs for the Triumphant Prerelease. You can’t use LEGEND cards’ attacks even if both are in the Lost Zone. Otherwise that would be awesome.
Well written article and interesting. However, I see some flaws with the strategy.Machamp works against SP because it usually takes two turns for the SP player to knock out one Machamp. That will not be the case here. Against Machamp if you plan on using Gyarados you need all four magikarp in the discard to knock out one machamp. I don’t see you getting four karps in the discard before I knock out two or three mew’s. Anything else – (kingdra, a real gyarados, donphan) is going to be faster then Mew and will knock out a mew a turn.
I agree- the low HP makes this deck a bit challenging. But, I think playing SnowPoint Temple or perhaps Expert Belt could help with this issue.
Use Junk Arm to get those 4 Karps in the discard!
Tony, you are not going to want to put expert belt on Mew because with snowpoint and expert he is still only 100 and you will be losing two prizes to almost anything.
2decktom – You need to have four karps, two junk arms, a mew and a way to get Gyarados into the discard. All with a 60HP pokemon in your active position. I just don’t see it working.
I can see mew being teched into gyarados and others, but not a deck built around him.
Heck if you are running four karps and three gyarados, why would you need the mew?
I agree with the expert belt- probably not the best solution. But, 80 with Snowpoint I think gives it a little more staying power. Plus, the 9 Lives Tool card I mentioned above is SO much better with Mew (assuming, of course, my friend’s 2nd cousin’s twice removed co-worker is right :))
As far as running Gyarados only, I’m sure there will be quite a few people doing that.
I agree with the expert belt- probably not the best solution. But, 80 with Snowpoint I think gives it a little more staying power. Plus, the 9 Lives Tool card I mentioned above is SO much better with Mew (assuming, of course, my friend’s 2nd cousin’s twice removed co-worker is right :))
As far as running Gyarados only, I’m sure there will be quite a few people doing that.
I heard that Pokemon is planning on banning the 9 Lives Tool because it’s too powerful. It’s a real shame, but with Lost World missing it really makes the deck too powerful. :)
This article was amazing, great job. It was very funny and entertaining throughout. Keep it up, Tony!
I personally think of Mew Prime as a tech mostly instead of the focus of its own deck, but I’d love to be proven wrong.
Thanks Dude! I’ll admit that Mew Prime as a primary attacker would be challenging and would probably need to utilize Snowpoint Temple to be viable. Even though your opponent’s cards would also get +20 HP, using Machamp’s Take Out means that it would only help you
I don’t get it, this Mew still needs THE NECCESARY ENERGIES to attack, that’s just too hard to pull off with 60 HP.
not if the cost is zero… *Cough Gyarados Cough* or one *Cough Machamp Cough Jumpluff Cough Umbreon Cough Gengar SF Cough* oof… nasty cough, excuse me…
you have to have 2 energy attached to use machamp, umbreon, and jumpluff unless you use a rainbow.. hwich leaves mew at 50 hp… the card sucks
i’m missing where you need two energies… the body says you need the energy required for the attack… because it’s the body that lets you use other attacks…
well you dont need 2 energy to use the attack you just have 2 energy attached because you have to lost zone the pokemon first which requires a psycchic energy
so yeah… you don’t need to use send off… there’s more than one way to send your own stuff to the lost zone… Absol Prime is the most obvious
Well first for the deck. Man, it stinks. No matter what upside it has its slow and has 60 HP, no chance of it ever working. Is a good fun deck though.
Second, awesome article. Your writing style is cool.
Well, first of all, thanks for the props on the article, even though the deck might have its challenges.
However, I did fail to mention that my friend’s 2nd cousin’s twice removed co-worker said that there is a new Mew Tin with the following cards:
Fat Cat (Stadium): Each of Mew in Play Has Its HP Increased by +100
9 Lives (Tool Card): If this is attached to Mew, if your Mew is Knocked Out, your opponent does not take a prize card. Return Mew and all cards attached to it to your hand.
Cat Call (Supporter): Search your deck for as many Mew as you want and attach as many energy cards to each of your Mew in any way that you want.
If my friend’s 2nd cousin’s twice removed co-worker is right about this, Mew might just be viable :)
Oh yeah, thats right, I got that Tin, thats a good one hey?
wow! You got the tin! I wonder if you know my friend’s 2nd cousin’s twice removed co-worker too!
Yeah its Eduardo Corrochio right?
Well, first of all, thanks for the props on the article, even though the deck might have its challenges.
However, I did fail to mention that my friend’s 2nd cousin’s twice removed co-worker said that there is a new Mew Tin with the following cards:
Fat Cat (Stadium): Each of Mew in Play Has Its HP Increased by +100
9 Lives (Tool Card): If this is attached to Mew, if your Mew is Knocked Out, your opponent does not take a prize card. Return Mew and all cards attached to it to your hand.
Cat Call (Supporter): Search your deck for as many Mew as you want and attach as many energy cards to each of your Mew in any way that you want.
If my friend’s 2nd cousin’s twice removed co-worker is right about this, Mew might just be viable :)
Ad Nausium:
Garchomp LV.X is a great recovery tech in this kind of deck. Send him to the Lost Zone then, whenever you need recovery (non LV. X) you can use Restore (for free) with Mew Prime. Good Tech for Stage 2 Decks!
Jumpluff to help swarm
Vile-plume next-turn recovery
Gengar (w/ 2-3 energies) Poltergeist-ing next turn
Gyarados back in play with 4 ‘Karp in the discard
Charizard with 3 energies back next turn
Kingdra…
ect…
great idea, but its hard to get garchomp in the lost zone. Maybe if Gengar Prime gets popular, you can have your opponent put him there.
And, Restore is only a great attack when you run a stage 2 that takes 3 or more energies to attack. And those decks aren’t really that good.
So its a great idea, but hard to pull off.
the other problem is that, in order to restore, you are likely sacricing your Mew after it uses the attack. Is it worth it? Probably not
Since when is Mew a cat??? hahaha. Anyway, Mew Prime is a beast. We will see lots of creativity at CCs.
Cats say, “Mew.” o:
I like this deck. Because Mew is a basic, he sets up quicker than anything else. It doesn’t matter if they’re getting quickly knocked out, if you have another one ready, it can use the attack that the mew before it set up for a revenge ko. With pokemon rescue, you’d have to take out 6 Mews, and after about the 4th one, when they’re still coming back with OHKOs and you’ve run out of cards to fight back with, 60hp might get kind of hard to do. I’d love to fight a deck with these, if played right this deck has alot of potential.
Glad you see the potential! The 60HP is definitely a problem though, but perhaps some Snowpoint Temples or Expert Belts could fix that
Very good card analysis. It’s going to be a very pain-in-the-butt deck to play against.
as a tech in gyarados. Thats all.
That might work
Such a terrible tech in Gyarados. This wouldn’t even make sense if Roseanne’s was still around. Mew SHOULD die right after you use its attack to put a Gyara in the LZ.
i was also wondering on Gyarados SF posibilities, =D
I was gonna write an article on this deck this weekend : haha
I think as main attackers though, Jumpluff, Gengar, and Machamp would be the best.
Then possibly add in a Blaziken FB X Tech as a counter to DGX if it’s big in your area.
eh
The new Absol Prime is a great companion card for Mew Prime as his attack places on card from your hand into the Lost Zone. Maxing out on Absol and Mew would speed up this deck.
Dude, you really need to get with the program here. Whoever wrote this article should have posted this about 2-3 months ago since everybody already knows about and has play tested Mew Prime in every deck.
What does it mean by NECESSARY ENERGY!!! does that mean amount or type or both.
I believe this works similarly to the Original Ditto’s ability, but with the added 1 Psychic of using the base attack.. In other words, you need the amount (+1 Psychic) not the type of energy. For example say an attack costs 3 Fire and 1 colorless, You will (I assume) need 1 Psychic and 4 of any energy type.
This is NOT an official ruling, just me taking a Guess.