Getting into the world of competitive Pokémon can be a frustrating endeavor if you’re not ready for it, especially if you expect it to be anything like battling computer-controlled trainers from the games. For one thing, most legendary Pokémon are banned from typical battles, so you have to leave Mewtwo behind in PC storage. Additionally, you might be surprised by how frequently pros switch out their Pokémon. At its core, Pokémon is a game of prediction; a good trainer won’t leave his Gyarados on the field against a Pokémon he suspects knows Thunderbolt.
Where things get really complicated is choosing the right types of Pokémon to put on your team of six. There’s more to it than dealing super effective damage and avoiding it in return: a trainer has to carefully craft his or her team to cover as many bases as possible, and it’s no easy task. Does your team rely on Garchomp to thin out the other team? If so, then you’ll probably need another Pokémon that can deal with Skarmory, unless Garchomp knows Fire Blast. Moreover, you’ll need a Pokémon that can shrug off Ice moves so you can switch to it when your opponent inevitably tries to stop Garchomp with an Ice Beam.
There are strong and weak Pokémon of every type, but some types just bring more to the table in general. You could spend hours weighing all the different factors... or you could just read on for a handy overview of some of the most (and least) popular types among competitive Pokémon players!
16 Use: Fairy
Pokémon’s newest type shook up the Dragon-dominated meta and it’s given a lot of power to trainers who try to keep their team's cuteness level high. Not only are Fairy moves super effective against Dragon Pokémon, but Fairies also have total immunity to Fairy attacks. That is a massive blow to Dragon sweepers who can no longer depend on the reliable damage output of Dragon moves; Togekiss can safely switch into both of Garchomp’s hardest hitting moves, for example.
Beyond just countering Dragons, the Fairy type is just plain powerful.
Offensively, Play Rough and Moonblast hit hard, and few types resist them. It is a blow that Fairy moves can’t help take out hardier Steel types, but Fire and Poison Pokémon are hardly insurmountable (Ground moves handily deal with all three types, too). Fairy moves are extremely difficult to deal with when paired with another move with good coverage; very few Pokémon can safely stand in the way of both Fairy and Water attacks from an Azumarill.
Defensively, Fairy Pokémon only have to fear Steel and Poison attacks, neither of which were especially common before it became so necessary to come to every Pokémon battle packing answers to Fairies. When you add all of that to the generally good stats that some Fairy types come with, you have one of the best types in Pokémon history.
Art by Meyly.
15 Avoid: Ice
Ice has taken quite a few hits over the years. The addition of Steel typing gave Ice Pokémon their biggest counter since Fire, and to make it even worse, Steel and Dark both indirectly made Fighting moves a lot more common. Ice’s defensive weakness is only exacerbated by the fragility of most Ice pokémon, making them too much of a liability on most teams.
Defensively, Ice has way too many weaknesses to common types, but things are less grim for Ice on offense. Water and Steel Pokémon are common types, so not being very effective there hurts, but Ice also hits super effective against the incredibly common Flying type, in addition to the powerful Dragon Pokémon that absolutely need to be stopped before they can lay waste to their opponents.
Unfortunately, countering Dragon Pokémon is not what it used to be ever since Fairy arrived on the scene. Fairy moves may not hit for quadruple damage like Ice does in the case of Flying/Dragon Pokémon like Salamence and Dragonite, but Fairy moves provide such a wide coverage that Ice ends up being redundant for most teams. It isn’t so much that Ice Pokémon are not worth using, but that they generally don’t do anything that other Pokémon can’t do better.
14 Use: Water
The most common type remains a staple in the Pokémon meta. Back in the days of Red and Blue, it was hard to avoid filling up your team with Water types because there were so many good Water Pokémon in the first generation. Nowadays, there are a lot more Pokémon to choose from, but it’s still difficult to fit just one Water type onto your team. Water Pokémon typically have diverse movepools with frequent access to Ice moves, which nicely cover its weakness to Grass. Water also resists common types like Fire and Ice, and doesn’t come with a lot of weaknesses, and that works out well for the hardier Water Pokémon who want to stand against hard-hitting threats. It’s so common for Water Pokémon to have solid defensive stats that their role has its own term among competitive players: Bulky Water.
It gets even better on the attack: Water is only resisted by three types, putting it just behind Ghost and Dragon (both of which have to deal with immunities from Normal and Fairy types, respectively). Water has always been a powerful type, and with so many Water Pokémon to choose from, it's easy to find the perfect one to compliment your team.
13 Avoid: Rock
Rock Pokémon have always struggled, given their plethora of weaknesses. Most Rock Pokémon logically sport a high physical defense, but that doesn’t count for much when most physical attackers know a Fighting or Ground move. On the special side, most Rock Pokémon fall even harder to the plethora of Grass and Water moves thrown their way. To make matters worse, most Rock Pokémon come with a second type that makes them even more frail, sometimes giving them multiple quadruple weaknesses. Arguably worse than any of these flaws is the fact that the role Rock Pokémon tend to fill is better filled by Steel types.
Much like Fairy replaced Ice as a dragon counter, Steel has replaced Rock as the premier type for physical walls.
Steel and Rock even share a lot of the same resistances and weaknesses, so it’s not much of a stretch to say that Steel is just better, given that it comes with much more resistances to key types. Because of these similarities, it’s going to be hard to find a spot for a Rock type when most teams already have a spot reserved for a durable Steel Pokémon like Magnezone or Skarmory.
Rock fairs better offensively because it hits for double damage against Fire and Flying types, so it’s still a good backup for Pokémon that need answers to those types. Generally, though, Rock is pretty low on the list of types to bring to a Pokémon battle.
12 Use: Poison
Poison has had quite a journey over the years. In Pokémon’s first releases, having the Poison typing was almost 100% drawback because it only provided restances to types that weren’t strong to begin with, in addition to absolutely no super effective moves against anything. Things almost improved for Poison Pokémon when early Psychic dominance faded: it became less risky to bring Poison Pokémon into battle, and simultaneously made resistance to Fighting more valuable.
Unfortunately, the downfall of the Psychic type led to an era of Steel supremacy, and Poison Pokémon fare just as poorly in an environment where some of the biggest threats are immune to Poison damage. Arguably, the Steel meta was even worse because Poison Pokémon exist to counter tanky Pokémon by poisoning them for slow and steady damage over time, but the most durable Steel Pokémon are also totally unmoved by this approach.
Fortunately for Poison pokémon, adding the Fairy type to the mix shook things up in a few beneficial ways, the first of which being that Fairy Pokémon themselves are weak to Poison. Now that Fairy Pokémon are everywhere, it helps to be one of only two types that can threaten super effective damage against them. It’s also given Poison a lot of value as a defensive type, so durable Pokémon like Mega-Venusaur and Toxapex can enjoy a safe switch-in on Fairy moves.
11 Avoid: Normal
For such a common type, Normal Pokémon are surprisingly rare in competitive teams. Being super effective against absolutely nothing is a huge weakness offensively; typically its only use is to compliment another type like Water to ensure at least normal effectiveness against most Pokémon, and that’s only if that Pokémon has limited options. Ghosts being immune is a huge strike against it as well.
This is not to say that Normal is worthless: Return rivals the base damage of Earthquake and can be taught to every Pokémon, so it’s not unheard of for non-Normal pokemon to learn Return for reliable type coverage. Normal Pokémon enjoy their same-type-attack-bonus on such a powerful move, and they usually come with a wider variety of moves available to them, but that isn’t enough to offset their disadvantages.
Defensively, Fighting is common enough to negate the value of being immune to Ghost (many Ghost pokemon know Focus Blast anyways). When frequent switching is required, not having any real opportunities to safely switch in a Normal Pokémon is a huge strike against it. The big outlier here is Blissey, who sports such a massive special defense and hit point pool that it can take virtually any special attack. Blissey is so difficult to get past that it demands powerful, physical Fighting moves on virtually every team, which unfortunately leaves other Normal Pokémon countered-by-association.
10 Use: Steel
Unsurprisingly, Steel Pokémon are as tough as nails. Sporting by far the most resistances, Steel has been a dominant defensive type since its inclusion in the Pokémon series. Steel Pokémon tend to have high defense and low special defense, but that’s largely offset by how infrequently Ground and Fighting moves are special attacks. Additionally, Steel pairs exceptionally well with other types, so many of the more dominant Steel Pokémon mitigate the few weaknesses that Steel typing brings: Skarmory gains has immunity to Ground, Scizor loses its vulnerability to Ground and Fighting, and Heatran doesn’t have to worry about fire. Due to the wide variety of dual-typed Steel Pokémon with narrow weaknesses, it’s impossible to have one single counter to all Steel Pokémon.
Fire is the most reliable counter to Steel, but even that won’t be helpful against Heatran.
Steel has grown even stronger with the inclusion of the Fairy type. Not only is Steel a great counter to Fairy Pokémon, but they also serve as great teammates because Steel Pokémon can absorb any Poison moves thrown at Fairy Pokémon, and the reverse is true for Fighting moves directed at Steel Pokémon. The same is true for plenty of other dominant types: Water and Dragon Pokémon can absorb threatening Fire attacks, and Steel Pokémon can absorb Grass and Fairy attacks. There will always be at least one Pokémon on your team that desperately wants a Steel Pokémon to defend it.
9 Avoid: Psychic
Psychic used to be the supreme element in the days of Red and Blue. Even if you don’t count Mewtwo (who remains one of the strongest legendaries), Psychic was an unstoppable type because it didn’t have any real counters. The game advised players to use Bug and Ghost moves against them, but those moves were rare, and the only Pokémon with access to those moves (Gengar and Beedrill) were themselves weak to Psychic attacks because they also had the Poison typing. You’re not much of a Psychic counter when the move, “Psychic” literally makes you faint in one hit. Psychic Pokémon had a short reign on top of the food chain, however.
That top-tier typing never recovered from the introduction of Dark and Steel types, which have immunity and resistance to Psychic moves, respectively. The only beneficial thing about this meta shift is that it strengthened Fighting Pokémon, which indirectly gave Psychic Pokémon value as the counter to Dark’s and Steel’s counter. That isn’t enough to offset having such a weakened offensive typing, and Psychic has weakened considerably on defense as well with the increasing pool of powerful Bug and Ghost moves. Ghost moves are especially prevalent because so few types resist them.
Strong Psychic pPkémon do exist (usually legendaries or Mega Evolutions), and Poison being increasingly common (thanks to Fairy Pokémon) does make Psychic more relevant, so things are looking up for Psychic types. Still, Psychic doesn’t rank highly on the list of types trainers want to bring into battle.
Art by miaow.
8 Use: Ghost
Rarely resisted and seldom hit with super effective attacks, Ghost is arguably the best Pokémon type from a sheer numbers perspective. Because of how often you want to switch away from your counters in competitive Pokémon battles, having immunities is incredibly valuable, and Ghost is the only type with two immunities. If you can predict your opponent's Fighting or Normal attack, then you get a free switch in for your Ghost Pokémon (giving the frail Gengar a surprising amount of safety). This makes Ghost Pokémon excellent additions to any team that fears Fighting moves, which is virtually every team; Blisseys in particular attract Fighting moves with predictable consistency.
Ghost Pokémon also have a hidden niche in competitive battles: they prevent Rapid Spin from clearing hazards.
The greatest of Ghost’s strengths is its offensive coverage. With only two types that shrug off Ghost moves (Normal and Dark), Ghost ties with Dragon as the least-resisted type (and is a good deal more reliable, given the prevalence of Fairy and Steel pokémon). A Pokémon can have nearly perfect coverage just by pairing Shadow Ball with a move that hits Dark and Normal types. There isn’t a single Pokémon that resists both Fighting and Ghost moves, making that specific pairing the most reliable combo in the entire series. Despite their incorporeal nature, Ghost Pokémon are solid additions to any team.
7 Avoid: Fighting
Fighting definitely has a place in Pokémon teams offensively, and every team should absolutely come to battle packing some Fighting moves to deal with Steel types and Blissey. However, the fact that Fighting moves are such a useful counter to relevant threats does little to compensate for the severe problems that the Fighting type has.
With a whopping five types that resist Fighting moves, in addition to Ghost Pokémon totally ignoring any and all forms of martial arts, Fighting is among Pokémon's least reliable offensive types.
Fighting moves may be valuable for powering through a number of threatening Pokémon, but Fighting is also one of the easiest types to switch into. Almost every competitive team has multiple instances of Flying, Poison, and Fairy types, and you do not want to give your opponent’s Mimikyu a free turn to Swords Dance. Even worse, many Steel Pokémon have such a high defense that Fighting moves tend not to hurt them that badly, even with their damage doubled.
Defensively, Fighting Pokémon tend to be on the fragile side, and this problem is only exacerbated by hard-hitting Flying and Fairy moves, as well as a lack of relevant resistances. That is not to say that Fighting Pokémon have no place in the meta, only that those Pokémon excel in spite of their type, rather than because of it.
Art by sonicx908.
6 Use: Flying
Flying Pokémon are a boon to any team, and they only become more valuable as Grass and Fighting types see more use. Immunities are always useful for safe switch-ins, and Earthquake is a great move to be immune to because every team brings it to deal with Steel Pokémon. Flying brings a lot of bad weaknesses in Electric Ice, and Rock, but its resistances to Grass, Bug, and Fighting have become increasingly valuable over time. Really, immunity to Ground is valuable enough on its own; anything else is just a bonus.
Offensively, Flying has unique coverage that can be difficult for some teams to deal with. Like many types, Flying moves struggle to break past a Steel wall, but many common Steel Pokémon lose their resistance with their second typing in Grass or Bug. Bulky Grass Pokémon may not be as common as Bulky Water types, but they particularly struggle in the face of powerful Flying Pokémon; little else is going to take down a Mega Venusaur.
Beyond being situationally powerful, Flying is a type that just comes bundled onto many powerful Pokémon. You don't have much choice if you want that Gyarados or Dragonite on your team.
5 Avoid: Bug
Bug's biggest strength in generation 1 was being super effective against Psychic Pokémon, and that didn’t even come with a resistance to Psychic attacks. Despite gaining a wider pool of Bug moves in later generations, Bug Pokémon haven’t really ever been as valuable as they were a liability. Psychic Pokémon fell from dominance, and Steel Pokémon offset any gains the Bug type might have made with Dark’s inclusion. The meta hasn’t been kind to Bugs on defense either: Fire is more useful than ever, Flying types are everywhere, and Stealth Rock still hurts them extra hard. Bug moves do bring relevant damage against specific threats, but the reality is that other types handle those threats better.
Fairy moves deal with Dark, Ghost moves deal with Psychic, and they both have vastly better type coverage than Bug does. As far as Grass Pokémon are concerned, too many of them come with a second type that resists Bug; it’s better to stick to Fire, Ice, or Flying to deal with them.
Bug is okay defensively, but Flying has the exact same resistances (and more), making them redundant on teams with Flying Pokémon. Volcarona is the only non-Mega Bug Pokémon seeing use in the current meta, and that’s because of its amazing stats.
4 Use: Ground
Like Water, Ground has been a consistently strong type since Pokémon’s beginning. Immunities are amazing, and Electric moves are common enough that you definitely want a ground type on your team to swap to. Your Water and Flying Pokémon (and you definitely have those) will be especially grateful to have a Ground Pokémon on their team when lightning strikes.
Ground isn’t perfect, obviously; having a weakness to Water, Ice, and Grass moves can make it a difficult take to keep Ground Pokémon up. Fortunately, all of Ground’s resistances are valuable nowadays. Resistance to Stealth Rock is great on its own, but when you combine that with Electric immunity, Ground Pokémon can safely switch in on two out of three types that threaten Flying types. Additionally, teams are bringing Poison moves to battles to deal with Fairy Pokémon, so the value of Ground’s resistance to Poison has skyrocketed.
Ground Pokémon are great on the attack as well. A hard-hitting Earthquake is tough for most Pokémon to handle; once a team runs out of Flying types, a powerful Pokémon with Earthquake can clean up. As far as coverage goes, the fact that Flying Pokémon are immune to Ground is largely offset by the super effective damage Ground deals to five other types, especially Steel Pokémon.
3 Avoid: Dark
The power level of Dark Pokémon has gone through frequent shifts with each generation. They were instrumental in removing Psychic Pokémon from power, but created room for Fighting Pokémon to flourish as a consequence. Aside from this weakness to Fighting, the Dark type has few weakness, but also few resistances, and Dark is similarly bland on the attack. Dark is a reliable damage type, but it has nearly identical coverage to Ghost, except that Dark is resisted by more.
Both offensively and defensively, Dark is inferior to Ghost in virtually every way, and it got even weaker after Fairy came along as another counter to Dark Pokémon.
It’s almost unfair that Fairy counters Dark, when the whole point of the Fairy type was to stem the tide of unstoppable Dragon Pokémon; Dark just got caught in the crossfire. With the arrival of Pokémon’s latest, adorable type, a Dark Pokémon has to bring something significant to the table to warrant bringing it into battle over a Ghost.
Tyranitar’s ability to create a Sandstorm is powerful enough that some trainers build entire teams around it, but a quadruple weakness to Fighting attacks is no joke. All the most powerful Dark Pokémon would likely be stronger with a different type; in fact, Greninja’s best strength is that it doesn’t have to keep its Dark type.
Art by pixelated-takkun.
2 Use: Dragon
Dragon has always been a powerful type, and not just because it resists all of the major "starter" elements (water, grass, fire, and electric). Dragon types tend to have the highest stats of any non-legendary Pokémon, and you can bet that even the Dragons that don’t see competitive play have amazing stats. As if that weren’t enough, Dragons come with a wide move pool to handle Steel and Fairy Pokémon that try to stand in their way. They hit hard, too: Dragon moves have high base damage, and Dragon Pokémon usually have access to moves like Dragon Dance to set themselves up for disgustingly destructive assaults on the enemy team. Finally, Dragon Pokémon tend to be versatile and can be built a variety of ways, which makes them impossible to plan for. By the time you realize your opponent's Dragonite has Fire Blast, it’s already too late for Skarmory.
Dragon did take a major hit with the introduction of Fairy typing (and Dragons already had a strong counter in Ice moves), but they continue to dominate despite the popularity of their cute new rivals. Dragons can usually learn Fire or Ground moves to deal with Steel types, so all it takes is a Fairy counter to clear the way for a clean sweep. They aren’t as unstoppable as they used to be, but it would be a mistake to underestimate Dragon Pokémon.
1 Avoid: Grass
Grass has historically struggled despite countering the ever-powerful Water type. Part of the problem is that Grass doesn’t do well against other common types like Flying and Steel, and Grass Pokémon rarely have a diverse movepool to pull from. Being super effective against Water has been its one saving grace, but Water types usually pack strong Ice moves to punish them. Nowadays, "Bulky Grass" has become a thing, but the prevalence of Steel, Fire, and Flying Pokémon gives these vegetables a hard time finding a place in teams when they’re competing with durable Water and Steel Pokémon for the same role.
Adding insult to injury, many of the strongest Grass moves rely on Sunny Day, which makes that weakness to Fire even harsher.
Another problem Grass Pokémon face is that much of their strength is in status afflictions, which just aren’t as dependable as pure damage in a Pokémon battle. A Grass Pokémon can spread sleep paralysis with ease and spend turn after turn draining away the life of its opponent, but that gives the other player too much time time to counter it. It’s almost always better to just use a strong, super effective attack and remove a Pokémon in a single turn.
There are still plenty of Grass Pokémon worth using, and scaring Water Pokémon will never go out of style, but poor offensive coverage and abundant weaknesses hold Grass back.