I have been wanting to write this blog for a long time, ever since E3. But the problem was I did not have enough information on Pokemon X and Y's new Fairy type to actually say what kind of impact it would have on the metagame. Finally, however, we not only got a type chart for Fairy type Pokemon, but we got info on some new changes which are sure to be to accomodate for it. 

So for those of you who haven't been following X and Y news religiously like me, but still have an interest, Fairy type Pokemon are the first new type to be added to the game in the past thirteen years when Steel and Dark were made to balance out Psychic. See in the original games, Psychic was strong against everything but Psychic, and with the move...Psychic (yeah, it's the move's name, I know it's confusing) being on every Pokemon of that type and super powerful, something needed to balance it out. That came in the form of Dark type Pokemon who were immune to Psychic and hit them hard and Steel who resisted Psychic along with nearly everything else in the game.

So what does this have to do with Fairy? Well, everything really since it's Game Freak balancing out the metagame once again. If anyone tries telling you that there's a better type than Dragon, Fighting, and Steel in today's metagame, they're wrong. Sure, there's types like Flying which are abundant everywhere, but Flying's more because it has so many good Pokemon with that type, not because the type itself is good (though a Ground immunity certainly helps). 

Dragons meanwhile are beasts. An Ice weakness hurts, but the only other weakness is Dragon which is only carried by other Dragons. So basically if you need to switch into a Dragon, you need an Ice user. Meanwhile only Steel resists it. Meaning a Steel type is mandatory and unless it has Levitate can probably be taken care of by Earthquake or a Fire move for anything but Heatran. The combo of Dragon/Fire/Ground beats everything in the game so they can always have a fourth moveslot to support these well or two extra if you can handle the few Pokemon that can stand up to Dragon/Fire or Dragon/Ground. 

Get on this guy's bad side and you're in some serious shit

Dragons also have insanely powerful moves with Outrage and Draco Meteor which will even hit many Steel types hard. They also have a fantastic boosting move with Dragon Dance which needs to be used once then is almost guaranteed to take out most Pokemon. Add in that Dragons have much higher stats than the average Pokemon and they dominate the series today.

Fighting meanwhile only really has to worry about Ghost and Flying types attacking and need to worry about defending against Psychic and Flying. Let me tell you something about Psychic and Flying: I can count the number of guys in the overused metagame who use them on one finger. Those moves are rare. Add in that Fighting physically gets good coverage and there's a ton of strong Fighting moves and they're incredibly dominant on the field.

Steel meanwhile resists everything. If you don't have a Steel type on your team, your team's no good. Period. They're not a force physically as their coverage is below average, but they're the only reasons Dragons are not banned and add to the Fighting centric metagame as they are weak to the type.

So onto Fairy with that out of the way. Offensively it is weak against Fire, Poison and Steel and strong against Fighting, Dark, and Dragon. Defensively Fairy's weaknesses are Steel and Poison. Meanwhile it resists Fighting, Bug, and Dark and is immune to Dragon. That last one is the real key to all of this. 

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I know, it makes no fucking sense.

See if you use a Dragon type there is a 95% chance it either has Draco Meteor or Outrage. These are very powerful attacks and are spammed without thought because no matter what switches in, it's almost guaranteed to take a punishment even if it wins. Fairy being immune and not resistant means there needs to be caution on them the same way there is caution on Fighting, Electric, and Ground moves.

This means Dragons are no longer gods among Pokemon they once were, my theory is Fairy types will be popular just because Dragons are so powerful and with this perfect counter, they'll have to find ways around their counter just like every other type. Before they could just spam enough attacks or predict right and they'd eventually win. Now they need to either give up yet another slot or compromise. There are no Poison/Dragons and only one Steel/Dragon (and it's only in the tier with all the really strong Legendary guys).

Fighting meanwhile will finally have something counters it without being too much of a liability or unviable. There aren't many good Flying moves and Dark counters Psychic too well so having something to both resist it and hit it hard will put Fighting down a peg. However, many popular Fighting types such as Lucario, Infernape, and Toxicroak resist Fairy with their other types so many will perhaps stay viable.

Steel is the interesting one because while it gave the type a much needed offensive boost, they traded its Fairy advantage for something that will hit it hard. They no longer resist Dark and Ghost. Without this resistance, they have a harder time staying as the end all be all defensive typing. Steel still offers enough resistances combined with it new one that it will still be strong, but it will be nerfed. However, due to being the best type which counters Fairies, I think its popularity will go up despite this, just different Steel types may be enjoying it. The faster, stronger ones that aren't part Psychic.

So out of this, I think the types which will be hurt the most are Dragons hands down. They'll still be popular, but it'll be like Pixar today vs Pixar when they made Up. Steel popularity will go up I believe as it seems like the best counter to Fairy type. Fighting I think will stay the same because while it will be hurt by the Fairies, more Steels will be used used which it can always be called on to help. 

Despite Dark countered by Fairies, I think it will benefit a little from this new type thanks to Steel's balancing. Steel types are a very common way to counter Dark types and without this resistance, they only have to worry about Fighting, Fairy, and Dark resisting them. This means that a Fairy move can be their coverage of choice with maybe a Steel or Poison for good measure, which seems to be better for them than the mostly inaccurate Fighting moves they now have. Meanwhile they will love playing their usual mind games with frail or weakened Steel types.

Ghost meanwhile will get the greatest boost. Without needing to worry about Steels, Dark and Normal are the only things they need coverage for. While Fighting can still hurt these, Normals don't have a leg on them either so I think they will opt for a powerful Fairy or Bug move to take out those pesky Dark types. I could even see Ghost becoming at least one of the most favoreds, though there's one that I think will really benefit.

Bug may take a huge hit however with yet another resistance. Fighting, Flying, Fire, and Poison already resist it, two of which I think will get a power boost from Fairies. Poison will definitely gain a boost and no longer be the type you avoid at all costs. I do not think anyone will opt for Poison as a type over Steel, but Poison types and those with stronger Poison moves without a good Steel alternative will put them to good use. 

Fire will gain the second biggest boost from Fairy type. An increase in the number of Steel types combined with another resistance means it will have an easier time than ever switching in then having its fun.

Happy Gengar is happy over this.

As far as Pokemon types indirectly affected, Ground I think will benefit most from this. Fairy is weak to Poison, Steel, and Fire offensively. Ground meanwhile hits every single one of those hard while Fairy hits all of what it's weak to neutrally, giving it a good synergy move. All those types will see an increase in usage as well in my opinion, making Ground a lottery winner out of this.

Flying and anything with Levitate will benefit from that to be immune to Ground types. Water will get a slight boost from more Fire types without anything strong with it getting an edge. In fact, Grass may be really hurt from more Steel and Poison types out there. Ice and Psychic types will continue to wish they'd been born another type. Electric is a bit of a wild card, it depends on how dominant Ground is and whether Flying is the preferred choice to take it on or Levitate users with other resistances. I don't see any real changes to Normal or Rock though, more Steel won't affect them that much.

If you guys enjoyed this, let me know and I'll do a rundown of how many individual Pokemon may be affected by Fairy types.