There were days when Pokemon types were categorized as physical or special. That's since changed; Pokemon can now choose to be physical or special no matter the type; it now depends on the moves.
When paired with 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:high Special Attack, these moves can be absolutely deadly. But for competitive v𒅌iability, it takes more than good base power. Some moves are better than others not just due to strength, but also accuracy, secondary effects, and general utility. All things considered, these moves have hailed supreme over their respective types, at least in the 🐬Special Attack space.
18 ꧑ Bug: Bug Buzz
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Honorable Mentions
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Infestation, Pollen Puff
Special Bug-types don't have many options for attacking moves, but the few they've been given fare well enough competitively. The go-to in that little kiddie pool is Bug Buzz, a solid move.
It deals 90 base power damage with 100% accuracy, while also dropping the target's Special Defense 10% of the time; it's essentially a Bug-type Psychic. Pollen Puff is the same but without the Special Defense drop, though if it's 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:targeted at a Double battle ally, it heals instead of attacking.
17 🌠 Dark: Dark Pulse
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Signature Moves
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Night Daze, Fiery Wrath
For 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:how important the Dark-type is, its Special movepool is pretty barebones. There's only one move Special Dark-types can rely on for damage, and it isn't a spectacularly good one.
Dark Pulse deals 80 base power at 100% accuracy, with a 20% chance of flinching its target. While a Pokemon with high Special Attack like Hydreigon doesn't mind the mediocre base power, it isn't strong or useful enough to be reliable for everyone, hence why physical moves like Knock Off and Foul Play get more traction.
16 Dragon:ꦉ Draco Meteor
Honorable Mentions |
Dragon Pulse |
Signature Moves |
Clanging Scales, Spacial Rend, Core Enforcer, Dynam♕ax Cannon |
One of the most popular competitive moves of all time, Draco Meteor is the undisputed master of Dragon-type moves in general. It's so good that even usually 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:physical Dragon-types sometimes run Special movesets with it, and it can't even be replaced by uniquely strong signature moves.
At 130 base power and 90% accuracy, no move is a more powerful Dragon-type grenade than Draco Meteor. While it lowers the user's Special Attack by two stages after use, that's nothing switching in and out can't fix.
15 𒀰 Electric: Discharge
Honorable Mentions |
Thunderbolt, Volt 🐼Switch, Thunder, Electro Ball, Ris🌄ing Voltage |
Signature Moves |
Overdrive, Thunder Cage |
There are quite a few really good Special Electric-type moves, and no one move has significant advantages over another, even when including𝓡 signatures.
That said, Discharge has the most utility while dealing a similar level of base power to some of the other stronger moves in the Electric-type field. 80 base power isn't that much, but it has a 30% chance to paralyze its target compared to Thunderbolt's 10%, and without Thunder's egregious inaccuracy. Volt Switch provides more utility, but Discharge is a bit less situational.
14 Fairy: Moonblast 🦩 ꦅ
Honorable Mentions |
Dazzling Gleam, Misty Explosion, Draining Kiss |
Signature Moves |
Strange Steam, Fleur Cannon |
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Fairy-type wouldn't be as dominant as it is if it didn't have a strong go-to attacking move. For Special Pokemon of that particular sort, their go-to is Moonblast, with other widely accessible Special Fairy-type moves being perfectly fine but decidedly inferior.
Moonblast deals 95 base power's worth of damage at 100% accuracy. As it stands, it's the strongest non-signature Fairy-type move aside from the highly situational Misty Explosion. It also drops the target's Special Attack 30% of the time, but that's more of a bonus than anything.
13 🎶 Figಞhting: Focus Blast
Honorable Mentions |
Vacuum Wave, Aura Sphere, Final Gambit |
Signature Moves |
Secret Sword |
The Fighting-type's Special movepool needs some help, because having its best move being one of the most inaccurate attacking moves ever isn't great. Focus Blast's 120 base power is awesome, but its 70% accuracy is far from it.
The problem is, its alternatives aren't great either. Aura Sphere's somewhat meager 80 base power isn't complemented by a great secondary effect like Discharge is, and Vacuum Wave's 40 base power makes its priority far too situational. That said, neither miss as often as Focus Blast, so pick your poison.
12 Fi💧re: Overh💖eat
Honorable Mentions |
Heat Wave, Fire Blast, Lava Plume, Flamethrower, My🍷stical Fire, Fire Spin |
Signature Moves |
Fiery Danc💞e, Magma Storm, Searing Shot, Fusion Flare,💝 Blue Flare |
Overheat isn't a consensus winner here. At least five or six moves could make a case for the best Special move from the Fire-type, and that's not even including signature moves.
That said, Overheat deals an impressive amount of damage at 130 base power, while carrying respectable accuracy (90%) and a very fixable adverse effect (lowering the user's Special Attack by two stages). It's essentially a Draco Meteor for Fire-types, and that makes it arguably the most useful Special move, even though it's not consistently reliable all the time.
11 Flying: Hurricane 🧸
Honorable Mentions |
Air Slash |
Signature Moves |
Chatter, Aeroblast, Oblivion Wing |
Hurricane is another case of "super strong move with super low accuracy that gets used anyway because there aren't any other options." Its 110 base power is offset by the same terrible 70% accuracy.
It does carry an okay secondary effect of a 30% chance to confuse its target, but in competitive battles, confusion doesn't do much to opponents long-term. The other option, Air Slash, doesn't compare at all in base power, and its 30% chance to flinch is too RNG-reliant for just any Flying-type to comfortably rely on it.
10 Ghost: ♌Shadow Ball 💧
Honorable Mentions |
Hex, Night Shade |
Signature Moves |
Moongeist Beam, Astral Barrage |
The classic Shadow Ball stands as the most immediately reliable source of Ghost-type damage. Its 80 base power is merely good but not great, though there aren't any super high-power options that have as much immediate impact.
To be specific, Hex at its fullest potential (i.e. when used on a target with a status condition) deals an incredible 130 base power, but having to infl꧋ict a status condition first makes it 🍌a bit too niche to really take over as a go-to.
9 ඣ Grass: Giga Drain ꧂
Honorable Mentions |
Leaf Storm, Grass Knot, Energy Ball, Solar Beam, Pꦗetal Dance |
Signature Moves |
Apple Acid, Seed Flare |
Grass-type Pokem💟on have a solid variety of Special moves. Crucially, though, they have access to a health-absorbing move: Giga Drain. The move deals 75 base power and absorbs 50% of the damage dealt as HP. While other moves are more powerful, adding longevity via recovery is so important, and being able to do so while attacking is so helpful.
While health absorption isn't exclusive to the Grass-type (see: Drain Punch), it's rare enough that Grass-type Pokemon's access to Giga Drain becomes a popular niche in and of itself.