"Demystifying Mewtwo's DPS"

#PokemonGO: Mewtwo's base stats were recently reduced. As a result, one often sees statements such as "Alakazam still has the highest Psychic-type DPS." These are generally unsourced, but make reference to Future Sight being better than Psychic (which it is).On the other hand, Mewtwo has 29 more attack than Alakazam. Which factor is dominant?The following graph shows Alakazam's DPS (yellow) vs. that of Mewtwo (purple) against a range of opponents whose defense ranges from 91 (Ditto) to 396 (Shuckle). The DPS was calculated by making 1000 quick moves and the corresponding number of charge moves, then dividing by total time.http://ift.tt/2iG4aj0 facts:Mewtwo has higher DPS than Alakazam for 219 of the possible Defenses in that range.Alakazam has higher DPS than Mewtwo for 87 of the possible defender Defenses.The maximum difference in DPS between Mewtwo and Alakazam is 0.64 in Mewtwo's favor.Major caveats for this approachThe results are for Mewtwo and Alakazam with perfect attack IV. When IVs are 0, say, Mewtwo does better than it does here (as we'd expect, a constant upwards shift favors the Pokémon with lower attack)Pokébattler simulations generally favor Mewtwo for speed even for Defense values where Alakazam is better according to the chart. For example, a perfect Blissey has a Defense of 244, which the chart predicts will make Alakazam faster. However, Pokébattler predicts a team of Mewtwo , no dodging, knocking out Blissey 3 seconds faster than a team of Alakazam.This can almost certainly be attributed to Mewtwo's defense. Mewtwo has a defense of 182, whereas Alakazam's is 194. This causes Mewtwo generates more energy from being hit.In light of those considerations, we should view the graph as indicating just how close Mewtwo and Alakazam are in the smaller number of cases where Alakazam is better. This causes Mewtwo to be faster in most practical cases, due to higher energy gain from taking damage.Thus, Mewtwo with Confusion/Psychic seems to have the edge over Alakazam with Confusion and Future Sight by 0.1 to 3 seconds, depending on the opponent.However, under some circumstances, Alakazam can be better. Alakazam will pull ahead for speed/DPS in a medium-length fight. If the fight is too short, both Mewtwo and Alakazam don't have time to use their charge move. Mewtwo wins here, because if both attackers are using only Confusion the one with 29 more attack is better. If the fight is too long, the defender uses its charge move, and Mewtwo's extra energy gain gives it the edge. The ideal situation for Alakazam is one in which it can knock out the opponent with Future Sight before it can get off a charge move. Then, depending on the opponent's Defense stat, it may be faster than Mewtwo. via /r/TheSilphRoad http://ift.tt/2gm7jUN