Pokemon GO's raid battles can be difficult, and that's why most of them are completed with large groups of trainers each sporting a full team of six Pokemon. Even after this, many players find themselves having to use revives and potions to stay in till the end, but not Mlberry1991.
The currently available tier 3 Machamp raids are certainly not the toughest available, but even so most guides recommend at least two max level players in order to take him down. With more people it becomes easier, but only the most skilled of Pokemon GO players can take him down by themselves.
Mlberry1991 doesn't only manage to pull this off, but defeats the raid boss with only one Pokemon, a Shadow Mewtwo. To make things even more impressive, his Mewtwo isn't even at its maximum CP value yet and he still manages to defeat his opponent, albeit just barely.
There are a couple reasons why he is able to pull this off, some of which are tactical while others are purely skill based. The first thing to note is that Mewtwo is one of the best Pokemon in the game, as it has the sixth highest attack stat. Pair this with the fact that its Psychic type moves are super effective against the fighting type Machamp and the setup is starting to look good. On top of this, the trainer uses a Shadow Mewtwo, which boosts its attack by 20% at the expense of 20% defense. This provides the raw attack power needed to take the brute down.
Of course, that 20% defense debuff to Shadow Pokemon is no joke either, and even Mewtwo wouldn't be able to survive the onslaught of Machamp without some help. This is where the skill comes in, as Mlberry1991 is able to perfectly dodge many of the raid boss' attacks while timing his own powerful attacks in between the enemies'. In this way he is able to minimize the damage his Shadow Mewtwo takes, thereby negating much of the drawback of the attack buff. Even with all of this, he still only barely manages to win, as his Mewtwo is close to KO.
This kind of feat just goes to show how strategic planning and skill can come together in Pokemon GO to make what seems impossible possible. If the Shadow Mewtwo's CP was higher this might have been even easier, so those that find themselves impressed by this may want to keep an eye on Mlberry1991 to see if he goes on to achieve more astonishing victories.
Pokemon GOÂ is available now exclusively on Mobile.