Is Mienshao good in Pokémon Go?

Not every Pokémon in Pokémon Go turns out to be an ideal choice for your roster. It all comes down to the Pokémon’s stats and moveset. Mienshao has some problems with its moveset, primarily its fast move, and the stats are alright. The big problem with it is the moveset, and that might change in the future. Right now, you cannot get Mienshao’s shiny type, you can only capture its base form, Mienfoo, in the Battle League, and we’ve listed out the best moveset. While Mienshao doesn’t become a heavy hitter in PvP, it’s an okay choice to see some use in specific Pokémon Go teams.

Mienshao is a Fighting-type Pokémon. It’s weak to Fairy, Flying, and Psychic-type moves, but it’s resistant to Bug, Dark, and Rock-type attacks. These typings are important to remember because of Mienshao’s best moveset. We’ve discovered that of all the moves it can learn, its fast move, poison jab, is the best option, whereas the best charged moves brick break and stone edge. Poison jab is a problematic fast move because it’s super effective against Fairy and Grass-types. The former is effective against Mienshao.

The only alternative Mienshao has for a fast move is low kick, which is never a good choice, even if it is a Fighting-type and receives a STAB modifier for Mienshao. It’s stuck in this weird place of having to use poison jab because there’s no better alternative. Poison jab does 6 damage and generates 3.5 energy per turn, doing 3 damage per turn, and it completes the attack in 2 turns. It’s a quick fast move, which is great, but the Poison-typing makes it an iffy option.

Normally, as Fighting-type, you want to use Mienshao against Dark, Ice, Normal, Rock, or Steel-types, but you can’t use it too often against Steel-types with its fast move. While its charged moves make up for it with brick break, the fast move can be critical in bringing down a Pokémon. If Mienshao receives another fast move to its attack pool, that might prove to be the big game changer for it. Still, it’s a mediocre Pokémon, even with the added buff Niantic gave poison jab during Battle League Season 8.

We don’t want to call Mienshao a bad Pokémon. It’s not terrible. But the Poison-type fast move brings it into a weird space. We believe it could be used in extremely specific Pokémon Teams in the Battle League, so if you plan to use it, we recommend using Mienshao for particular Pokémon, such as Grass, Ice, Rock, Fire, or Bug-types.