"Deeper understanding of double type moves pokemon and how to use them : the example of Shadow Ball Mewtwo"

#PokemonGO: In pokemon go, there are a few pokemon that are able to use a charge move with a different type than the fast move while remaining highly effective and meta-relevant. To enumerate a few : Shadow Ball / Focus Blast Mewtwo, Solar Beam Groudon, Fire Blast Ho oh. I'm not a native speaker so i really don't know how should I call these pokemon, so let's call them double type moves pokemons.Usually when playing with a pokemon that has both moves of the same type, the best approach is to maximize the DPS (selecting the combination of fast/charge that have the most DPS). There are a few exceptions, you may prefer to have a quick fast move for a dodging strategy (Psycho Cut Alakazam) or prefer a multi-bar charge move for consistency (Flamethrow VS Overheat), but that's not the point here. I want to highlight that for double type moves pokemon, there is some subtlety that should be taken into account.I'm gonna illustrate all of this with Shadow Ball Mewtwo, as I think this is the most important double type moves pokemon around here.First, what are the common uses of a Shadow Ball Mewtwo ?As a generalist, Shadow Ball Mewtwo alone is not a good choice for clearing gym (the 3 main defenders having an immunity tier resistance to ghost) and has very few usage as a Raid Generalist (Blizzard Kyogre saving the day here).As a specialist, Shadow Ball Mewtwo is used to counter Psychic and Ghost Pokemons.The real question is : what fast move should I use with Shadow Ball ? Usually the best way to compare moveset is to use the comprehensive DPS, but for the sake of simplicity im gonna use weave DPS.Quick reminder :MoveDamageEnergyTime (ms)Psycho Cut58600Confusion20151600Shadow Ball100503000With this data, we can calculate the weave DPS of both moveset :Confusion / Shadow Ball : 20 DPSPsycho Cut / Shadow Ball : 19.44 DPSConfusion / Shadow Ball Mewtwo looks great, and I have seen many players using this moveset over Psycho Cut / Shadow Ball. What this analysis does not take into account is how the damage is distributed between psychic (fast) and ghost (charged).Confusion / Shadow Ball : 8 Psychic DPS + 12 Ghost DPSPsycho Cut / Shadow Ball : 4.63 Psychic DPS + 14.812 Ghost DPSIf you are playing against a ghost type, all your ghost damage are majored by 40%. Therefore the real DPS is :Confusion / Shadow Ball : 8 Psychic DPS + 16.8 Ghost DPS = 24.8 DPSPsycho Cut / Shadow Ball : 4.63 Psychic DPS + 20.73 Ghost DPS = 25.37 DPSAgainst a psychic type :Confusion / Shadow Ball : 4.8 Psychic DPS + 16.8 Ghost DPS = 21.6 DPSPsycho Cut / Shadow Ball : 2.78 Psychic DPS + 20.73 Ghost DPS = 23.51 DPSIn both match-ups, Psycho Cut Mewtwo outperforms Confusion Mewtwo by a fairly margin.Conclusion :For double type moves pokemon, we should not consider just DPS but also damage distribution. Depending on the usage, a lower absolute DPS may be better than a higher one. If you are not using your Shadow Ball mewtwo as a generalist, you should prefer Psycho Cut over Confusion.A few points :- Running Pokebattler simulation, it appears that PC effeclively outperforms C in specialized match-ups.- Gengar is an exception, being weak to both ghost and psychic.- A more precise notation may be useful for these pokemon, like 20|8 DPS, indicating that 8 out of 20 DPS comes from the fast move.TL;DR :- Damage distribution between fast and charged moves is very important for double type moves pokemon- Double type moves pokemon should not be ranked using just DPS- PC / SB Mewtwo overperforms C / SB Mewtwo in specialized match-ups. via /r/TheSilphRoad https://ift.tt/2lPevbn