In theory, all 18 types are equal within the world of Pokemon. They are designed to symbolize extensive balance. There are strong Pokemon of each type, as well as weak ones, cute🌠 ones, you name it. But the types themselves are built around the premise ꦍof shared power.
This holds true — to a point. Some types have too many weaknesses while their greatest aspects are highly situational, putting them at an arguable disadvantage. In the right set of circumstances, they can be an unexpected champion; but overall, they're just not quite as common in the competitive field. (In the single-player campaigns, you can usually make just about anything work.)
Another avenue through which types can be discernibly ranked involves their most powerful moves. Again, there is just cause to use each of these in specific scenarios. But — again — there exists⛦ a common hierar🌠chy for a reason.
Let's sort this hierarchy in style.
Updated February 12th, 2022 by Quinton O'Connor: Pokemon Sword & Shield continues to be the dominant force in online play over three years into its lifespan, while Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl has added a few new wrinkles into the mix. How does everything stack up? Read on to find out.
18 𒁃 Fairy: Light of Ruin (140)
There are a number of powerful Fairy-type attacks, but Light of Ruin is not only strong — it's also one of the strangest moves in the franchise. Light of Ruin, you see, is exclusive to Floette. Not just any Floette, even, but an event-specific Floette that was... well, there's no easy way to put this. It was never distributed.
Curiously, it still exists within Pokemon Home's exhaustive moves database. Will it one day make its long-awaited entrance? Probably not, but we're happy to be proven wrong. Regardless, it can't exactly sweep the type rankings when it's legally unavailable.
17 Ice: Ice Burn and Freeze Shock (꧅140)
Ice-type moves don’t often get more powerful than Blizzard, but Reshiram managed▨ to add two moves with no downsides that knocks normal Ice-type Pokemon far away. These🐻 would be Ice Burn and Freeze Shock, which only Reshiram learns after having combined with Reshiram or Zekrom, respectively.
These moves can even cause paralysis or burn depending on the Pokemon you have attached to Kyurem, m𒀰aking them unstoppably po♎werful regardless of your selection. So long as you can get your Kyruem to level 80 to learn them they’re absolutely higher than anything else you can get among Ice-types.
16 ⭕ Electric: Bolt Strike ♊(130)
While you might expect this move to belong to the bolt-loving mascot Pikachu, Bolt Strike i𝄹s the pure purview of the powerful Unova legendary, Zekrom. Many Electric-type moves have high reliabilitꦆy and the handy paralyzation percentage, so few reach power levels this high.
Funnily enough, Pikachu actually comes quite close with Volt Tackle, a signature attack with 120 ba🅰se poﷺwer. But mighty Zekrom has no time for trivial tackles.
15 ⛦ Dark: Wicke♏d Blow
Dark-type Pokemon lacked very strong moves for far too many years. In fact, 💧they lacked many moves at all wheܫn the typing was first revealed in the Johto games. The ceiling for Dark-type moves has gotten much higher since then, with Urshifu from Pokemon Sword & Shield’s Isle of Armor having the most powerful yet in the form of Wicked Blow.
While it says there's only 80 damage in the move description, an important note is that it’s always a critical hit, meaning it will almost always hit for 120 instead. While other moves will generally have as much power as their numbers, Wicked Blow is worth a special mention over its practical power.
14 💎🃏 Ground: Precipice Blades (120)
While Groudon really didn't have a signature move when it debuted, the Ruby & Sapphire remakes made sure to give the title Pokemon its own attack, and it turned out to be the current strongest Ground-type move that's out there. Enter Precipice Blades, a 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:powerful Ground-type strike to all opponents that even manages to exceed the ♏mighty Earthquake in raw dama൲ge.
It’s certainly not the strongest member of this list, but it’s still notable for its lack of risk. Previously, Groudon was mainly stuck using Fire-typꦏe moves despite its Ground-type body, so it’s a well-needed move that does a better job showcasing Groudon’s might.
13 Ghost: Astral Barrage (120) 🗹
Astral Barrage is still one of the most recent Ghost-type attacks in the series. It's a powerful move for Calyrex (and Calyrex alone) while in its Shadow Rider form on Spectrier.
Sometimes, zero drawbacks is all a move needs to come out on top. A 120/100 spread between damage and accuracy is the sort of thing clearly reserved for legendarie🌠s l✱ike Calyrex; its exclusivity puts it behind several other attacks on this list, but its power is outstanding.
12 Poison: Gunk ⛎Shot (120)
You don't want to miss when attacking the opposing Pokemon. That's one of the most basic rules of the series, and indeed, gaming in general. That's what holds back Gunk Shot, the strongest Poison-type move, from soaring ever higher.
But the 120/80 split is better than it first appears. The 30 percent chance to poison one's target can't be dismissed. Put to use against something that's weak to Poison, Gunk Shot will do the deed in no time. Even against more conventional foes, however, the chance for a status infliction can make a tremendous difference in the final telling.
11 Steel: Steel Beam (140) 🔜
Fairly new to the series is the move Steel Beam, a powerful special attack that reduces the user’s health by half its original total. This is quit💎e similar to the signature Fire-type move of Blacephalon, Mind Blown, but Steel Beam has an advantage by being teachable to any Steel-type Pokemon.
This makes it extremely risky𒀰 to use, since losing half your health can be quite significant, but the carnage Steel Beam provides (especially among Steel-type users) is n꧙igh-unparalleled. The right move for the right situation, as they say.
10 💃 Dragon: Eternabeam (160) 𝔍
Dragons have often been seen as overpowered in many circles of Pokemon, but Pokemon Sword & Shield put that into overdrive with Eternatus' signature move. This move is a Dragon-type Hyper Beam, blasting a foe with energy before needing to rest on the next turn.
It’s incredibly simple, but many powerful moves don’t need anything complex to be strong. This move is a must-run on Eternatus for its sheer power, with the only move coming close being Regidrago’s new Dragon Energy at a base 150 power. It's a shame that only Eternatus can learn it, but perhaps the Pokemon world is better off that way...
9 Bug: Megahorn 🦩(120) 🃏
Megahorn has decent power when compared to most on the list, but it is the special move of certain Pokemon and not available to most, whether they’re Bug-type or not. Megahorn lacks ideal accuracy (85 isn't terrible though), but in return it has a massive amount of power compared to nearly any other Bug-type move.
Hook Heracross up with Megah👍orn for an iconic combo, or consider surprising players with a slot for it on Dreℱdnaw or even Mew.