Which Types Are Best? What the Type Chart Really Says

Every Pokémon player learns the type chart, but few ever count it. We did: for each of the 18 types we counted, using the Mar7ianWeb type chart, how many types it resists, how many it is weak to, how many it is immune to, and how many types its attacks hit for super effective damage.

In defence, Steel is in a class of its own: it resists ten types, is immune to Poison and is weak to only three (Fire, Fighting and Ground). Fire resists six types but is weak to three. At the other end, Grass and Rock are each weak to five types, which makes them hard to use as a single type. Normal has just one weakness, Fighting, and is immune to Ghost.

Some types have a special role because of their immunities. Ghost is immune to Normal and Fighting. Ground is immune to Electric, Flying to Ground, Dark to Psychic, Fairy to Dragon and Steel to Poison. A Pokémon of one of these types can switch into the matching attack for free.

In offence the picture changes. Fighting and Ground each hit five types super effectively, the most of any type. Fire, Ice and Rock hit four. Dragon hits only one type (Dragon itself) and Normal hits none, so those types rely on their stats and on coverage moves rather than on their own type.

The type also tells you something about a Pokémon’s raw numbers. Averaging the base stat total of the non-legendary Pokémon that have each type, Dragon is first (468), followed by Steel (461) and Fighting (450). Bug is last (372), then Normal (394) and Fairy (398). It is only an average, but it explains why Dragon and Steel keep showing up in competitive teams.

Among the 1,025 species, Water is the most common type (154), followed by Normal (131) and Grass (127). Ice is the rarest (48).

To see how a real team handles these matchups, build it in the Mar7ianWeb team builder: it highlights the weaknesses and resistances the team shares. And the Pokédex shows the full type matchups of every single Pokémon.