The Fairy Type and Alterations to Type Chart

[Genwunner]

And the knife goes in the heart a little deeper tonight. I was expecting them to big Fairy up and make it resist Dragon, but making it immune was even further than my worst thought.

Fairy's (Sylveon especially) are going to rule the Metagame now, and as others have mentioned, Ice and Bug, are going to go extinct.
Nintendo/Game Freak, between Fairy type, type chart alterations, Mega Evolutions, and charging people to transfer from Gen 5 to Gen 6, you are making a mess.

And have you seen the starter evos? Had to take a sit down for a minute and recover my breath, the reasons behind giving out the Kanto Starters in game suddenly all became clear.

Charmander grab your bag we're going on another adventure!

 

[Anser]

POISON IS SUPER-EFFECTIVE AGAINST FAIRY, YES.

OMG AND FAIRY IS IMMUNE AGAINST DRAGON, YES!!!!

AND-

Wait

Ice doesn't resist Fairy.

I'm out.

 

[Zeta]

Could anyone summarize the changes besides Fairy? That Serebii list is huge.

 

[Meophist]

Could anyone summarize the changes besides Fairy? That Serebii list is huge.

Steel no longer resists Dark or Ghost.

 

[Zeta]

That's actually really good news, considering that Steel fucks over both anti-dragon types.

EDIT: I was not expecting Fire to turn into a defensive powerhouse, but there you go.

 

[Extroth]

Hmm actually I think that this might work to balance out the type charts. Keeping in mind that I don't think Pokemon should ever be perfectly balanced. And hey for all we know ice could still be a good dragon cover if Pokemon that are not fairy type don't easily gain access to fairy type moves.

 

[CynthiaLover]

A shame Ice still is neglected by all. Hopefully this Gen will make up for it by giving us powerful Ice-types with a wider move selection (since Gen V really screwed that up).

Anyway, I think the chart is much more balanced now. Poison and Steel pack a bigger offensive punch now, no longer just defenders, while Fire gains another (and more useful) resistance, making it the second most resistant type in the games (Steel, obviously, is still first place, though it did lose some of its... "luster" with Ghost and Dark now neutral to it). Ghost and Dark now pack a bigger punch, too, thanks to the aforementioned Steel-type statement (Metagross better watch out now, as it's not such a high-and-mighty tank now), though Dark does lose a bit due to Fairy (though it does make sense). So, overall, with the exception of Ice still getting the cold shoulder *chuckles*, the chart seems a lot better and more balanced now. Not too shabby, Gen VI.

 

[Zeta]

A shame Ice still is neglected by all. Hopefully this Gen will make up for it by giving us powerful Ice-types with a wider move selection (since Gen V really screwed that up).

Anyway, I think the chart is much more balanced now. Poison and Steel pack a bigger offensive punch now, no longer just defenders, while Fire gains another (and more useful) resistance, making it the second most resistant type in the games (Steel, obviously, is still first place, though it did lose some of its... "luster" with Ghost and Dark now neutral to it). Ghost and Dark now pack a bigger punch, too, thanks to the aforementioned Steel-type statement (Metagross better watch out now, as it's not such a high-and-mighty tank now), though Dark does lose a bit due to Fairy (though it does make sense). So, overall, with the exception of Ice still getting the cold shoulder *chuckles*, the chart seems a lot better and more balanced now. Not too shabby, Gen VI.

Yeah, I'm mostly happy. I really wish Ice would've gotten another resistance, but I don't think it got worse perse.

The only thing that bothers me about Fairy is the Bug-type resistance. I just don't get it, even in the context of the G6 type chart changes or in terms of lore.

It still is just super weird to me for Fire to be the second most resistant type.

 

[CynthiaLover]

@Zeta: Agreed. The Bug-Fairy thing is a bit odd, as Bug is already kinda nerfed by most in terms of offensive/defensive ability, but I guess it sorta makes sense. Since most bugs by nature aren't super dangerous (usually it's the arachnids that tend to fill that slot), I guess it makes sense that the Bug-type isn't all that powerful against most others. Still, seems a little unnecessary, but whatever.

Yeah, believe it or not, Fire is the second most defensive type in terms of resistances, despite most Fire-types having mediocre defensive stats, and that fire in nature is very much the same way (symbolizing the whole "glass cannon" thing). Now that Fairy does only half damage to Fire-types, it resists six types: Ice, Steel, Bug, Grass, Fairy, and Fire itself. It is sorta ironic that one of the more "fragile" types, you could say, is actually the second most resistant of all. Weird, but true.

 

[Team Gaara]

The removal of Dark and Ghost from Steel's resistances is something I don't quite get now, but it still resists nearly everything, so, unless you competitive battle, the change isn't too staggering or too bad. Not to mention, it's 2X against Fairy and takes 0.5X from them, so I wouldn't say it's too bad at all. But it sure as hell is going to change the Metagame a whole lot. I can't wait!

As for Fairy's matchups, pretty much what the rumors said, so it shouldn't be too hard to learn for those who have trouble with that. Fairy's looking pretty OP, right now. I'm really eager to see more Fairies now to see which ones will destroy the Metagame now.

 

[Bolt Strike]

I like many of the changes made, but it's not perfect. Ground has a lot to gain from the new type chart, being SE against every major Fairy counter, so that type could end up the new OP type. Ice really missed out on gaining a desperately needed resistance, and now that Fairy has stolen its spotlight as the go to Dragon counter, it's nearly useless now. And did Fairy really need a resistance to Bug?

On the flip side, though, Dragon and Fighting are now put in their place (and while it doesn't completely surprise me, I wasn't expecting them to do anything about Fighting, so good job on that), and Poison and Steel have the offensive niche they've been lacking. Also, Steel is a bit less OP defensively with its resistances to Dark and Ghost being removed.

7/10.

 

[Meophist]

Ground seems to be the type to watch out for; hopefully it doesn't end up overpowered. Earthquake is already a very often used move and that doesn't look like something that's going to change.

 

[Nereus]

I'm super pissed off by the fact that Fairies resist Dark :/ What's the logic there? Someone said that "light beats dark", but it can work reversed as well. I'd be fine with it if Fairies and Darks were super effective against each-other, but nope... they make Fairies resist them instead :/ not fair, they're gonna be OP as hell. And don't even get me started on poor Ice types.

 

[GiraFragMich]

Don't you think it's odd that now that they revealed the chart they didn't also introduce some Fairy-type retcons? Or is that it? Or are the revealed retcons in the Kalos dex and the rest is for us to discover?

 

[bluestarfish]

I'm super pissed off by the fact that Fairies resist Dark :/ What's the logic there? Someone said that "light beats dark", but it can work reversed as well. I'd be fine with it if Fairies and Darks were super effective against each-other, but nope... they make Fairies resist them instead :/ not fair, they're gonna be OP as hell. And don't even get me started on poor Ice types.

I think it somewhat makes sense (although I feel that dark should also resist fairy). I don't think it's a "light beats dark" logic for me though, so much as fairies are often pretty dark creatures in the original folk lore. They go around stealing babies, haunting houses, and generally causing mischief, they're very similar to what ghosts are portrayed as in pokemon. (I know that so far most pokemon fairies are cute cuddly friendly pink things, but we also have a couple of forces of nature...).

It'd be neat to see some ghost/fairy types or something now that I think about it..

 

[Master Cyrus]

Could someone please explain to me why is it that ice is so utterly f***** useless now? just why? it is so useless now!!!! and why would they give fairy a resistance to bug? Didn't they know that bug was already resisted by 6 types? The new type chart is so unbalanced that now entire types will be extinct. Ice, bug, flying, grass.

You may have a point with ice.

As for bugs, scizor will be by far the dominating force of gen 6 at the beginning, even more so than it already is. Despite it being only 1 pokemon its power is not to be underestimated. Flying encompasses pokemon like Dragonite, Salamence, and Tornadus who keeps on keeping on regardless of the OP fairies. Grass types are used in sun teams and for resisting water. Stuff like venusaur and especially ferrothorn aren't going anywhere soon.

 

[Jukain]

So now we know what Fairy does, but not entirely what Fairy IS. The implication seems to point to a strange melding of all Fairy lore, and the separation from Psychic's "magic" is kinda arbitrary.

 

[NoirGrimoir]

All of the fairy pokemon seen and likely to be retyped don't exactly have monster stats or anything of the sort, not like the dragons do, so anyone suggesting fairy is going to be over powered is completely mistaken.I think they will do their job well of curbing dragons, but all you have to do is switch into something with a strong poison or steel move and they will likely bite it pretty easily. There aren't a lot of pokemon in the Meta game equipped with moves like that, but something tells me they are about to get more popular...

 

[Ampharos King]

Long story short, the pokemon that are deeply affected by the type chart changes:
Gardevoir - No longer has weaknesses to Bug and Dark. Now takes 0.25x damage from Fighting. Has a weakness to Poison (which is circumvented by its Psychic type) and Steel (which it can counter with Focus Blast).
Metagross/Jirachi/Bronzong - All three are now weak to Ghost and Dark.
Scraggy/Scrafty/Pangoro - All 4x weak to Fairy, both of their STABs deal 0.5x damage to Fairy.
Deino line - All 4x weak to Fairy, Fairy is immune to Dragon.
Sableye/Spiritomb - Both have a weakness to Fairy now.
Cobalion/Lucario - I can see both of them being used more often compared to pure Fighting types since they only take neutral damage from Fairy.
Honedge- Most fans have wanted a Steel/Ghost type because of the numerous resistances and immunities that come along with the combination. With Honedge being weak to 2 additional types now that Steel no longer resists Ghost or Dark, it won't be as strong as it could have been.
Mawile- It now takes neutral damage from Fighting, essentially reducing its weaknesses to 2. Unlike other Fairy types, it is immune to Poison type attacks and takes neutral damage from Steel. Unlike pure Steel types, it resists Dark.
Toxicroak- I can see this pokemon getting plenty of use now that Fairy has crippled most of the other Fighting types.
Tentacruel- Adding another resistance to its plethora of resistances. Its Poison STAB can be used more efficiently.
Heatran- It now has the most 0.25x resistances out of any pokemon.

 

[hehey]

Gengar is laughing all the way to the Pokemon League, it was already good before but now it has a new Resistance against the New Dragon Killer Fairy and his other Stab Sludge Bomb is actually useful now (against Fairy), not to mention steel types can no longer resist its Shadow Ball.....

Gengar is getting ready to ascend to the Throne......