Is Mismagius any good in Pokemon GO?

With Pokemon GO's Shining Pearl event finally here, many Pokemon exclusive to that game have been given a boosted spawn rate to celebrate the release of the new Pokemon Diamond and Pearl remakes.

Misdreavus is one of these Pokemon exclusive to Pokemon Shining Pearl and thus has received a boosted spawn rate. With the use of 100 Misdreavus candies and a Sinnoh stone, Misdreavus can evolve into Mismagius.

Before going through the effort to get all of the Misdreavus candy, players may want to know if Mismagius is any good in Pokemon GO. What makes a Pokemon good in Pokemon GO comes to more than just its stats, the role it plays on a team as well as its moveset and typing also play a part in determining a Pokemon's viability.

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The various uses for Mismagius in Pokemon GO

Mismagius is one of the Pokemon introduced in the fourth generation of the Pokemon franchise despite its pre-evolved form being from the second generation (Image via The Pokemon Company)

While Mismagius is typically underused due to the power creep of the Pokemon franchise, this does not mean that it lacks any viability in the right hands. Mismagius' pure Ghost typing gives it some niche defensive capabilities due to the type's relatively low amount of weaknesses. Pure Ghost-type Pokemon only take super effective damage from Dark and other Ghost-type attacks.

Mismagius will perform better in some leagues in Pokemon GO than others due to its combat power cap as well as the combat power cap of other leagues. Mismagius is a standard glass cannon attacking Ghost-type which is something players have seen several times in Pokemon GO, since fellow Ghost-types Gengar and Chandelure entered relevance in competitive play.

Mismagius' biggest weakness is its lack of speed. With its only viable moveset being Hex and Shadow Ball, Mismagius is a very slow and situational Pokemon but can have some value as a tank-buster. Mismagius has some decent defenses of its own for being a Ghost-type, however, it simply falls short whenever it is hit too often by even neutrally effective attacks. Switching in and finishing weakened tanks is the best thing Mismagius can be used for.

Some ways Mismagius would improve in Pokemon GO is by giving more seasonal Battle League cups to the players. These seasonal cups like the recent Halloween Cup give more Pokemon a turn in the spotlight due to the reduced roster of Pokemon players have to choose from.

A Sinnoh Cup would undoubtedly boost Mismagius' usage as it gets rid of other Ghost-types used over it, like Gengar and Chandelure, meaning it would only compete with Dusknoir for a spot on teams looking for Ghost-types.

While Mismagius is not the best Pokemon in Pokemon GO, it still has its uses. Being a glass cannon Ghost-type, there will always be a small group of people who choose to use it over the original Ghost-type sweeper, Gengar.