Good evening, everyone. It's been a while since I've came here. Something you might not have known about me is that I really, really enjoy statistical analysis. Usually it's in sports that I enjoy this the most, but in recent years I've unironically had more fun analyzing the ins and outs of the games I grew up playing than I have... actually playing them. Oops. Looks like I took the whole "metagaming" thing a bit too far. But, for what it's worth, I've always enjoyed looking at graphs and charts and as much as I usually try and avoid getting too, too deep into competitive multiplayer events- that is to say, you'll never see me play for an actual cash prize- the Pokémon games actually have quite a lot for me to dig my teeth into. Right out of the gate one of the first things these games try and teach players is about how different Types work, and for as long as this franchise has been around there have been debates over which Type(s) are the best in the game.
I want to put a unique spin on this and try and figure out the answers to some questions I've had my eyes on for quite some time now. You know how with stuff, like, say, a series of fighting games, you'll have situations where a playable character's viability varies wildly between games? To name a popular example, Meta Knight is by far at his strongest in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, his debut for the series, than either game that's come out after it. In that same game, however, you have characters such as Jigglypuff, Captain Falcon, and Ganondorf, their iterations here being widely considered to be some of their worst (or in Falcon's case, the worst) versions of them from any Smash game. See where I'm going with this yet? It's usually pretty easy to figure out what makes Pokémon types viable in competitive settings. Type matchups, extra passive benefits, move distribution, all that neat stuff- but to my surprise, I haven't really seen that much discussion on when the various Types were at their best and worst across the generations. So let's fix that!
I don't really have any rhyme or reason in mind for this kind of thread. I just think it could make for some fun discussion as I try and fuel my insatiable appetite for knowledge. Who knows? Maybe something actually interesting comes out of this thread. Allow me to get the discussion started off with a few Types I think could be in the running for their Best iterations.
The Fighting-Type after Gen 4
Fighting-Types have always been emblematic of raw strength, high attacking stats, and strong offensive type coverage. In spite of how moves of this Type are typically designed, Fighting's Type matchups actually suggest more of a defensive focus, however, and when Fairy-Types arrived on the scene, many people thought the rise of Fighting-Types during the DS generations (Gens 4-5) was coming to an abrupt end. Because of the new Type it's hard to mathematically pin down when the Fighting-Type was at the peak of its power, but I feel like anything following the fourth generation could suffice for this honor. Black & White saw the first Fighting-Type to be banned from OU in Speed Boost Blaziken and since then every generation has had at least one Ubers-level Fighting-Type. The fifth generation games were also among the first to expand upon the idea of faster, more specialized Fighting-Types and gave new tools to existing Pokémon. In the lower tiers Fighting-Types have been excellent as well, and it's not uncommon to see at least one Close Combat spamming menace causing headaches in the playerbase and the opposing Pokémon alike. The Nintendo Switch games of all places have also placed a very intentionally strong emphasis onto Fighting-Type Legendary Pokémon, most notably with Koraidon and DLC mascot Urshifu but even Zamazenta eventually got some time in the spotlight in both Singles and VGC. What makes this interesting to me is how it came after seven straight generations without a single "Restricted Legendary" that was a Fighting-Type, and yes, I know Urshifu isn't a restricted Pokémon, but... it's Urshifu, have you seen how hard this thing can hit?
The Steel-Type in Pokémon X & Y (specifically in 2014)
"Steel got nerfed this generation because it no longer resists Dark and Ghost", they said. "Their Dragon resistance is much less valuable now that Fairy-Types exist", they said. Yeah, Kalos was having none of that. One of my biggest gripes with the sixth generation games that I'll save for other threads is that this is the only generation where we spent more time outside of the new region (two years in Hoenn) than actually in it (only one year in Kalos). Did you ever notice that? This can primarily be blamed on all of the behind-the-scenes drama surrounding and ultimately cancelled "upper version(s)" of Pokémon X & Y, and with Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire on the horizon, it's safe enough to say with the benefit of hindsight that the two "eras" of this generation both had vastly different metagames in both Singles and VGC. If the Steel-Type was going to succeed in its newly reworked assignment of checking Fairy-Types and having most of their defensive benefits intact, it was going to have to do so fast. And BOY, did this Type deliver. Hidden behind the mainstream media hype of Mega Kangaskhan, Gale Wings Talonflame, and ridiculously power stall teams in early XY OU, the Steel-Type was, statistically speaking, crafting one of the most dominant years any Type has ever had since even the original games all the way back in the '90s. Leading the charge was newcomer Aegislash and the broken Mega Evolutions of Mawile and Lucario, the latter of which gained infamous levels of notoriety for its dominance in Pokémon X & Y's already easier single player campaign than games that came before them that were only further exasterbated by the idea that Mega Lucario was a Steel-Type that could help against other Steel-Types that, incidentally, weren't also those other two. Being one of the most reliable offensive checks to the most controversial Pokémon of the era, Xerneas, was a massive help too, as was Mega Lucario and Mega Mawile's roles on hyper offense teams that came to dominate the generation behind the hazards set by dedicated leads and even other Steel-Types, especially when the newly buffed Defog started decreasing in usage. It wasn't just those three, either- Magneton and Magnezone were back, Bisharp had probably its best generation prior to the introduction of Kingambit later down the line, Mega Scizor combined Technician Bullet Punch with Groudon's Attack and Defense stats, Klefki was committing actual war crimes in VGC and in the lower tiers of Smogon, Ferrothorn was newly immune to Spore which is... insane, Heatran was back with assistance from Pokémon Bank and Poké Transporter a full year before it became VGC legal again, and even Excadrill eventually rose to become a top Pokémon in spite of the nerfs to Sand Stream and Rapid Spin being less noteworthy due to Defog. Ghost-Type offense ended up not being as strong in 2014 as it would be in later generations and many Steel-Types didn't mind Knock Off and the other Dark-Type moves flying around- Aegislash could even punish Knock Off with King's Shield!- and the newly valuable matchups against Poison and Fairy were both shown off at many points during this era. Do I even need to continue explaining how dominant Steel was in 2014, because if I didn't have time constraints tonight I absolutely could. (I have work in the morning. Lol.) Basically everything went in the Steel-Type's favor in Pokémon X & Y on all fronts, and the results speak for themselves.
I want to put a unique spin on this and try and figure out the answers to some questions I've had my eyes on for quite some time now. You know how with stuff, like, say, a series of fighting games, you'll have situations where a playable character's viability varies wildly between games? To name a popular example, Meta Knight is by far at his strongest in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, his debut for the series, than either game that's come out after it. In that same game, however, you have characters such as Jigglypuff, Captain Falcon, and Ganondorf, their iterations here being widely considered to be some of their worst (or in Falcon's case, the worst) versions of them from any Smash game. See where I'm going with this yet? It's usually pretty easy to figure out what makes Pokémon types viable in competitive settings. Type matchups, extra passive benefits, move distribution, all that neat stuff- but to my surprise, I haven't really seen that much discussion on when the various Types were at their best and worst across the generations. So let's fix that!
I don't really have any rhyme or reason in mind for this kind of thread. I just think it could make for some fun discussion as I try and fuel my insatiable appetite for knowledge. Who knows? Maybe something actually interesting comes out of this thread. Allow me to get the discussion started off with a few Types I think could be in the running for their Best iterations.
The Fighting-Type after Gen 4
Fighting-Types have always been emblematic of raw strength, high attacking stats, and strong offensive type coverage. In spite of how moves of this Type are typically designed, Fighting's Type matchups actually suggest more of a defensive focus, however, and when Fairy-Types arrived on the scene, many people thought the rise of Fighting-Types during the DS generations (Gens 4-5) was coming to an abrupt end. Because of the new Type it's hard to mathematically pin down when the Fighting-Type was at the peak of its power, but I feel like anything following the fourth generation could suffice for this honor. Black & White saw the first Fighting-Type to be banned from OU in Speed Boost Blaziken and since then every generation has had at least one Ubers-level Fighting-Type. The fifth generation games were also among the first to expand upon the idea of faster, more specialized Fighting-Types and gave new tools to existing Pokémon. In the lower tiers Fighting-Types have been excellent as well, and it's not uncommon to see at least one Close Combat spamming menace causing headaches in the playerbase and the opposing Pokémon alike. The Nintendo Switch games of all places have also placed a very intentionally strong emphasis onto Fighting-Type Legendary Pokémon, most notably with Koraidon and DLC mascot Urshifu but even Zamazenta eventually got some time in the spotlight in both Singles and VGC. What makes this interesting to me is how it came after seven straight generations without a single "Restricted Legendary" that was a Fighting-Type, and yes, I know Urshifu isn't a restricted Pokémon, but... it's Urshifu, have you seen how hard this thing can hit?
The Steel-Type in Pokémon X & Y (specifically in 2014)
"Steel got nerfed this generation because it no longer resists Dark and Ghost", they said. "Their Dragon resistance is much less valuable now that Fairy-Types exist", they said. Yeah, Kalos was having none of that. One of my biggest gripes with the sixth generation games that I'll save for other threads is that this is the only generation where we spent more time outside of the new region (two years in Hoenn) than actually in it (only one year in Kalos). Did you ever notice that? This can primarily be blamed on all of the behind-the-scenes drama surrounding and ultimately cancelled "upper version(s)" of Pokémon X & Y, and with Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire on the horizon, it's safe enough to say with the benefit of hindsight that the two "eras" of this generation both had vastly different metagames in both Singles and VGC. If the Steel-Type was going to succeed in its newly reworked assignment of checking Fairy-Types and having most of their defensive benefits intact, it was going to have to do so fast. And BOY, did this Type deliver. Hidden behind the mainstream media hype of Mega Kangaskhan, Gale Wings Talonflame, and ridiculously power stall teams in early XY OU, the Steel-Type was, statistically speaking, crafting one of the most dominant years any Type has ever had since even the original games all the way back in the '90s. Leading the charge was newcomer Aegislash and the broken Mega Evolutions of Mawile and Lucario, the latter of which gained infamous levels of notoriety for its dominance in Pokémon X & Y's already easier single player campaign than games that came before them that were only further exasterbated by the idea that Mega Lucario was a Steel-Type that could help against other Steel-Types that, incidentally, weren't also those other two. Being one of the most reliable offensive checks to the most controversial Pokémon of the era, Xerneas, was a massive help too, as was Mega Lucario and Mega Mawile's roles on hyper offense teams that came to dominate the generation behind the hazards set by dedicated leads and even other Steel-Types, especially when the newly buffed Defog started decreasing in usage. It wasn't just those three, either- Magneton and Magnezone were back, Bisharp had probably its best generation prior to the introduction of Kingambit later down the line, Mega Scizor combined Technician Bullet Punch with Groudon's Attack and Defense stats, Klefki was committing actual war crimes in VGC and in the lower tiers of Smogon, Ferrothorn was newly immune to Spore which is... insane, Heatran was back with assistance from Pokémon Bank and Poké Transporter a full year before it became VGC legal again, and even Excadrill eventually rose to become a top Pokémon in spite of the nerfs to Sand Stream and Rapid Spin being less noteworthy due to Defog. Ghost-Type offense ended up not being as strong in 2014 as it would be in later generations and many Steel-Types didn't mind Knock Off and the other Dark-Type moves flying around- Aegislash could even punish Knock Off with King's Shield!- and the newly valuable matchups against Poison and Fairy were both shown off at many points during this era. Do I even need to continue explaining how dominant Steel was in 2014, because if I didn't have time constraints tonight I absolutely could. (I have work in the morning. Lol.) Basically everything went in the Steel-Type's favor in Pokémon X & Y on all fronts, and the results speak for themselves.