Shadow Mewtwo Pokémon GO Raid Guide: Weakness & counters cover image

Shadow Mewtwo Pokémon GO Raid Guide: Weakness & counters

You don’t want to miss this one.

Shadow Mewtwo is back in Five-Star Pokémon GO Shadow Raids on March 30 - 31. Shadow Raids are incredibly hard, and can only be completed in person. You'll need lots of Purified Gems and a good squad of trainers.

But, if there was ever a Shadow Raid to make the effort for, Shadow Mewtwo is the one. This is one of the very best Pokémon in Pokémon GO. It hits incredibly hard, has a wide utility thanks to its large move pool and is an all round awesome Pokémon. The Shiny Shadow Mewtwo is also available.

So, here is your comprehensive Raid Guide to beat Shadow Mewtwo in Pokémon GO, including Mewtwo's weaknesses and best counters.

Best Shadow Mewtwo counters in Pokémon GO:

Shadow Mewtwo is so powerful, and you'll need a strong team of good counters to take them down. Shadow Mewtwo has three weakness. These are to Bug, Dark and Ghost-type Pokémon.

But, Shadow Mewtwo only has two resistances, it is resistant to Fighting and Psychic-type Pokémon.

Here are the best Shadow Mewtwo counters in Pokémon GO:

Mega Tyranitar
Bite & Brutal Swing
Tyranitar
Bite & Brutal Swing
Mega Gyrados
Bite & Crunch
Mega Rayquaza
Dragon Tail & Dragon Ascent
Hydregion
Bute & Brutal Swing
Mega Houndoom
Snarl & Foul Play
Mega Gengar
Lick & Shadow Ball
Origin Forme Giratina
Shadow Claw & Shadow Force
Guzzlord
Snarl & Brutal Swing
Mewtwo
Psycho Cut & Shadow Ball
Lunala
Air Slash & Shadow Ball
Altered Forme Giratina
Shadow Claw & Shadow Force

Particularly with Dark and Ghost-type Pokémon, there are a lot of great Shadow Mewtwo counters to pick from in Pokémon GO. Mega and regular Tyranitar are fantastic choices, so make sure to include them in your team.

Perhaps a surprise inclusion in the list of Shadow Mewtwo counters is Mewtwo themself. That's because Mewtwo can learn Shadow Ball, a powerful Ghost-type move.

Shadow Mewtwo can learn a wide range of Charged Attacks in Pokémon GO. It could have any from a range of Psychic, Electric, Fighting, Ice and Fire-type Charged Attacks in your raid battle. It also can learn Shadow Ball and Hyper Beam via Elite TM.

That can cause a bit of an issue with your Pokémon GO Shadow Raid battles. For instance, Flamethrower is strong against Bug-type Pokémon. You may have to tweak your teams to react to what move Shadow Mewtwo has, if you struggle to complete the raid.

Mega Evolutions to get you more Mewtwo candy in Pokémon GO

Mega Evolutions can help you get more candy and XL candy with every catch. Having a mega level 3 active that boosts candy for Psychic-types will give you an extra 2 candy per catch, as well as a 25% bonus to your XL candy chance.

Mewtwo is a rare Pokémon to encounter in the game, which makes additional Candy even more important.

Here are the Pokémon you can Mega Evolve to get more Shadow Mewtwo candy in Pokémon GO:

  • Alakazam
  • Slowbro
  • Gardevoir
  • Medicham
  • Latias
  • Latios

How many trainers do I need to beat Shadow Mewtwo in Pokémon GO?

Before we even consider how many trainers you need in your group, you must have Purified Gems to win this raid. Without them, Shadow Mewtwo will tear through your team relentlessly.

For high level trainers with good Shadow Mewtwo counters, a minimum of six trainers should be your benchmark to tackle this raid.

However, for lower level trainers or those without the best Shadow Mewtwo counters, aim for at least eight but ideally as many as ten trainers to take this raid down.

Shadow Mewtwo Pokémon GO 100% IV

Of course, given that this is one of the best Pokémon in Pokémon GO, a 100% IV Shadow Mewtwo would be an amazing result. The minimum IV floor for Shadow Raids is 6/6/6.

Furthermore, for a Pokémon this strong, you might even want to use your Masterball on this raid if you get a 100% IV Shadow Mewtwo. That makes knowing what values to look for even more important.

Here are the CP values to know you have a 100% IV Shadow Mewtwo:

  • 2387 CP
  • 2984 CP (Weather boosted)

Weather Effects:

Weather boost can help you save candy, get better IVs and benefit from power boosts on your team. Here are the weather effects to keep an eye on when taking on these Shadow Mewtwo raids in Pokémon GO.

Weather
Pro
Con
Sunny
-
Shadow Mewtwo's Flamethrower will be boosted.
Windy
Shadow Mewtwo will be a higher CP when caught.
Shadow Mewtwo's Psychic-type moves will be boosted.
Partly Cloudy
-
-
Cloudy
-
Shadow Mewtwo's Focus Blast will be boosted.
Snow
-
Shadow Mewtwo's Ice Beam will be boosted.
Rainy
Your Bug-type counters will be boosted.
Shadow Mewtwo's Thunderbolt will be boosted.
Fog
Your Dark-type and Ghost-type Pokémon will be boosted.
-

Unlike most Pokémon GO raid bosses, there is no 'perfect' weather to take on this raid. However, Windy weather will yield you a higher level Mewtwo so is perhaps the better weather for you this weekend.

For trainers hoping to string multiple raids together, skipping a Shadow Mewtwo raid which has a boosted Charged Attack because of the weather could save you wasting time and Pokémon fighting a hard battle.

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