Tier Lists
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Bug Type
| Specialty |
|
|---|---|
| Fast Move | Fury Cutter |
| Charged Move | X-Scissor |
| Specialty |
|
|---|---|
| Fast Move | Bug Bite or Fury Cutter |
| Charged Move | X-Scissor |
| Strength | |
|---|---|
| The top Bug moves are lightning fast, but it's one of the weakest types in GO. Both Scizor and Pinsir are fragile, though Scizor has many useful resistances. | |
| Meta-relevance | |
| Bug isn’t highly demanded. Other stronger types usually do the job better, unless the target is doubly weak to Bug, or if it's raining. | |
| Future-proof | |
| Volcarona and Genesect (Gen 5) are competitors, all of which have better stats. | |
Dark Type
| Specialty |
|
|---|---|
| Fast Move | Snarl |
| Charged Move | Dark Pulse |
| Strength | |
|---|---|
| It took a Pokemon with an Attack stat as high as Darkrai to put the top Dark attacker on parity with the top Ghost attackers. Even then, Darkrai does just as well with its Ghost type Charged Move. | |
| Meta-relevance | |
| Dark is one of the best answers to the many Psychic-type legendary Pokemon in the game. However, Ghost has the same type coverage but superior top moves and Pokemon. | |
| Future-proof | |
| The legendary Pokemon Yveltal and Hoopa (Gen 6) are quite far away. What Dark-types really have to watch out for are Ghosts, which have better moves at present. | |
Dragon Type
| Specialty |
|
|---|---|
| Fast Move | Dragon Tail |
| Charged Move | Outrage |
| Strength | |
|---|---|
| Behold, Rayquaza of House Dragon, First of Its Name, the Unburnt, King of the Dragons, Protector of the Sky, Breaker of the Meta, and Master of the Weather Trio. | |
| Meta-relevance | |
| It's the top counter to myriad Dragon type legendary Pokemon of past, present, and future, and it ranks near the top of all species in neutral DPS. | |
| Future-proof | |
| Rayquaza will continue to impress with its sky-high Dragon DPS. It may be eclipsed by Black Kyurem, but that's not a certainty. | |
Electric Type
| Specialty |
|
|---|---|
| Fast Move | Thunder Shock |
| Charged Move | Wild Charge |
| Specialty |
|
|---|---|
| Fast Move | Thunder Shock |
| Charged Move | Wild Charge |
| Strength | |
|---|---|
| Raikou is quite strong with respectable bulk to back it up. Electivire outputs higher DPS, but can struggle vs. hard hitting raid bosses. | |
| Meta-relevance | |
| Electric is one of two types that is effective to Water. It's good vs. Flying as well, but Rock-types often do better in those matchups. | |
| Future-proof | |
| Zekrom (Gen 5), a legendary Pokemon, is slated to eclipse the top Electric attackers by a huge margin. | |
Fairy Type
| Specialty |
|
|---|---|
| Fast Move | Charm |
| Charged Move | Dazzling Gleam |
| Strength | |
|---|---|
| Gardevoir isn't bad, but for any specific matchup in which it's useful, there are better options in other types. | |
| Meta-relevance | |
| See above. Fairy does have a couple of niches, which are double resisting Dragon and being boosted in the more common cloudy weather. | |
| Future-proof | |
| Gardevoir doesn't have much to fear until the advent of Xerneas (Gen 6), a legendary Pokemon, who may take the Fairy-type throne. | |
Fighting Type
| Specialty |
|
|---|---|
| Fast Move | Counter |
| Charged Move | Aura Sphere |
| Specialty |
|
|---|---|
| Fast Move | Counter |
| Charged Move | Dynamic Punch |
| Specialty |
|
|---|---|
| Fast Move | Counter |
| Charged Move | Dynamic Punch |
| Strength | |
|---|---|
| After years at the top, Machamp fell when Niantic graced Lucario with Aura Sphere, which is vastly superior to Dynamic Punch. Conkeldurr followed shortly after. Don't transfer your Machamp yet, though - the newcomers are hard to get. | |
| Meta-relevance | |
| Fighting's huge type coverage makes it the definite answer to most common gym defenders. It's the only type that's effective vs. Normal, which is one of the most common types in the game. | |
| Future-proof | |
| Though unlikely to be beat in DPS, Lucario has rather ordinary stats and relies on Aura Sphere's incredible move data to excel. Pokemon like Conkeldurr (Gen 5) will be far bulkier. | |
Fire Type
| Strength | |
|---|---|
| True its Fire type, Chandelure features powerful offense. It outpaces Moltres and Blaziken by a decent margin, but it's currently very rare. | |
| Meta-relevance | |
| Though Fire is effective against a respectable 4 types, those types are less represented among Tier 5 raid bosses in particular, hurting their meta relevance. | |
| Future-proof | |
| Reshiram (Gen 5), a legendary Pokemon, is slated to top even Chandelure. Darmanitan and Volcarona (Gen 5) may have slight edges in DPS and TDO, respectively. | |
Flying Type
| Specialty |
|
|---|---|
| Fast Move | Wing Attack |
| Charged Move | Sky Attack * |
| Strength | |
|---|---|
| Moltres is actually a slightly more potent Flying attacker than a Fire attacker, to put things in perspective. | |
| Meta-relevance | |
| Flying has even narrower type coverage than Fire, and none of its main targets are really represented at all in Tier 5 raids. | |
| Future-proof | |
| Flying is one of the most common typings in Pokemon, and as such there are many good future contenders. Up until now, few have been blessed with a competitive moveset. | |
Ghost Type
| Specialty |
|
|---|---|
| Fast Move | Shadow Claw |
| Charged Move | Shadow Ball |
| Specialty |
|
|---|---|
| Fast Move | Hex |
| Charged Move | Shadow Ball |
| Specialty |
|
|---|---|
| Fast Move | Shadow Claw or Lick * |
| Charged Move | Shadow Ball |
| Strength | |
|---|---|
| Giratina-O is a highly reliable attacker. It outclasses the Dark-types, which fill the same role. Gengar has a lot more DPS, but the huge difference in bulk puts them at about the same level. Chandelure is in between. | |
| Meta-relevance | |
| Ghost is only effective to itself and Psychic, but the latter is highly represented among legendary Pokemon across the generations. | |
| Future-proof | |
| Giratina-O actually has a quite mediocre Attack stat. Darkrai (Gen 4), Hoopa (Gen 6), and Lunala (Gen 7) are notable threats. | |
Grass Type: Roserade
| Specialty |
|
|---|---|
| Fast Move | Razor Leaf |
| Charged Move | Grass Knot |
| Strength | |
|---|---|
| Grass-types in GO are by no means weak, but they're outdamaged by top attackers in other types without a clear weather boost. | |
| Meta-relevance | |
| Grass covers some common types and is boosted in a common weather. A fair number of raid bosses have a double weakness to Grass. | |
| Future-proof | |
| Shaymin (Sky Forme) (Gen 4) is slated to have great offensive stats, but its moves and availability are likely to fall short of expectations. | |
Ground Type
| Specialty |
|
|---|---|
| Fast Move | Mud-Slap |
| Charged Move | Drill Run or Earthquake |
| Strength | |
|---|---|
| Buffs to Mud-Slap and Earthquake have made Ground a more respectable attacking type, though still slightly behind the others. It usually needs a weather boost to be the clear best. | |
| Meta-relevance | |
| Ground would be an incredibly relevant type if only it were stronger, as it covers 5 types. What keeps it relevant is its niche as an Electric counter. | |
| Future-proof | |
| Within the same generation, both formes of Landorus are set to top the Ground DPS chart. Even then, any shakeup to the pool of Ground moves can put another species on top. | |
Ice Type
| Specialty |
|
|---|---|
| Fast Move | Powder Snow |
| Charged Move | Avalanche |
| Strength | |
|---|---|
| Mamoswine boasts powerful moves and great stats. It's a little disadvantaged by a lack of good resistances. | |
| Meta-relevance | |
| The Ice-type is classically known for its coverage, although in GO there are plenty of alternative options for each role. Ice is rarely boosted by the weather. | |
| Future-proof | |
| Mamoswine's only possible competitor across all generations are Kyurem's various forms (Gen 5). It's hard to predict how they will be implemented or if their moves will be implemented in GO. | |
Poison Type
| Specialty |
|
|---|---|
| Fast Move | Poison Jab |
| Charged Move | Sludge Bomb |
| Strength | |
|---|---|
| By the numbers, Roserade is equally good a Poison attacker as it is a Grass attacker. | |
| Meta-relevance | |
| There is a niche for Poison countering Grass-types in cloudy weather, or countering Fairies in the absence of Metagross. For now, Poison is minimally useful in the meta. | |
| Future-proof | |
| Investment in Roserade as Poison attacker is quite safe. Nihilego and Naganadel (Gen 7) are its only real threats, likely many years away. | |
Psychic Type
| Strength | |
|---|---|
| It’s freaking Mewtwo! Its Psystrike is incredibly strong, and its base 300 Attack should be unmatched by any Pokemon in their base form up until Gen 7 (except Deoxys). | |
| Meta-relevance | |
| Psychic is useful in the popular Machamp raid, and that's about it. Fighting and Poison aren't well represented among raid bosses in general, both past and future. | |
| Future-proof | |
| Lunala and Solgaleo (Gen 7) are the only worthy competitors, both having lower Attack. | |
Rock Type
| Specialty |
|
|---|---|
| Fast Move | Smack Down |
| Charged Move | Rock Slide |
| Strength | |
|---|---|
| Rampardos wields an ultra high 295 base Attack with good Rock-type moves. It's glassy, but far ahead the rest of the pack. | |
| Meta-relevance | |
| Against the common Flying foes in particular, Rampardos eclipses all other counters. It's boosted in the frequent partly cloudy weather. | |
| Future-proof | |
| Even legendary Pokemon can't challenge Rampardos's base Attack, but Terrakion (Gen 5) may put up a fight if it gets a strong moveset. Archeops (Gen 5) may turn out very similar to Rampardos. | |
Steel Type
| Specialty |
|
|---|---|
| Fast Move | Bullet Punch |
| Charged Move | Meteor Mash * |
| Strength | |
|---|---|
| Meteor Mash Metagross is so strong that it beats just about every other counter in relevant matchups without weather boost in play. It's very bulky, too. | |
| Meta-relevance | |
| Steel's limited effective coverage to Fairy, Ice and Rock-types means that Metagross doesn't get to flex as much as it wants to. | |
| Future-proof | |
| Meteor Mash is so powerful that it makes Dialga, a Gen 4 cover legendary, look bad. The next Steel-type Pokemon who can compete with Metagross is Kartana (Gen 7), an Ultra Beast. | |
Water Type
| Specialty |
|
|---|---|
| Fast Move | Bubble |
| Charged Move | Crabhammer |
| Strength | |
|---|---|
| Kyogre's huge stats are only slightly held back by its moves not being similarly overpowered. Kingler has the better moves, but like many other pairs in this ranking, it has far lesser staying power. | |
| Meta-relevance | |
| Water covers some common types, and Kyogre often finds itself as the top counter in those matchups. Even when it's not the highest DPS, its bulk remains an advantage. | |
| Future-proof | |
| With no Water-type fast move for Palkia, Kyogre will stay the best Water-type. Some future starters can maybe edge out Kyogre with Hydro Cannon, like Samurott (Gen 5) and Primarina (Gen 7). | |
Normal Type
| Specialty | None |
|---|---|
| Fast Move | Hidden Power |
| Charged Move | Giga Impact |
| Strength | |
|---|---|
| Regigigas has great stats, and Giga Impact has stellar parameters, but without type effectiveness to leverage, Regigigas does not pass muster. | |
| Meta-relevance | |
| The Normal-type has generally weak candidates and zero meta relevance, being unable to hit for super effective damage. | |
