Typing Review: An Overview of Fairy Types for Raids in Pokemon Go (2024)

Fairy; one of "those" types. Fairy is currently the newest type in Pokemon afterbeing released in Generation 6, and it's a very, veryimportant type in PvP. But how is it in PvE? Well, it has the potential to be one of the best types in the game, but it's pretty unlikely that it will ever live up to the hype. So let's take a look at Fairy Type, current and future, and see if we can project a shining future for this elusive type.

Note on Errors

While the Gamepress team strives to be as accurate as possible with our information, we are in no way perfect anddomake mistakes. And we also do our best to address these mistakes for the sake of transparency, as we feel that the community deserves the most accurate information that we can possibly present. As the Reddit user Elastic_Space graciously pointed out in our reddit post about this article and the comments below, this article had several major errors on release. Using the information that he presented, we have fixed these errors andthe current article is accurate to the best of our knowledge. We'd like to thank Elastic_Space for pointing out these errors, and would like to apologize to our readers for the misinformation that we unknowingly presented. For those interested in understanding the reasoning behind our errors, feel free to check the content below:

Fairy is one of the types that has always had issues. To start with, it has three types that it counters: Dragon, Fighting, and Dark. These types arealsocountered by Dragon, Psychic, and Fighting, respectively, and these arethree of the absolute strongest Pokemon Types in the game!Add to that the fact that most of the Fairy Types that we have right now arepretty underwhelmingand it becomes pretty obvious that Fairy is one of those types that most players will only utilize when a double weakness shows up. For an example of this, Xurkitree actually works as one of the better Fairy Type attackers despite not being Fairy itselfandlacking a Fairy fast move... remember those words, they're about to become a running theme.

The main exceptions to the rule is Mega Gardevoir, Shadow Gardevoirand Xerneas, which have the the power to carve out a bit more of a niche for Fairy Types thanks to their various advantages and relatively high power. That said, these Pokemon aren'tquiteenough to really cause Fairy to have a large niche all its own.

So is Fairy abadtype? No, but it's definitely on the low end of the spectrum when compared toother options. Its primary advantage is the fact that it double-resists Dragon Type attacks, which means Fairy Types can beveryvaluable against specific Dragon movesets like the infamous Dragon Tail/Outrage, but it's ultimately a type that newer players can wait a long time to work on building a raid group for and probably not miss it for the most part.

The Good Moves

Among the Fast Moves, the big one that most attackers tend to utilize isCharm.This is a hard-hitting move of kin to Confusion that takes some time to execute, but racks up a lot of damage in-and-of itself. Coming up right beside it it isFairy Wind,which sacrifices some sheer power for additional energy generation. Both have the potential to be optimal in different situations, making both great moves to be certain. However, both of these moves are eclipsed by the power of Xerneas' Signature Move,Geomancy,which is basically Charm but with higher energy generation.

For Charged Moves,Play Roughand Dazzling Gleamarepretty closeto one another, with the former sporting a faster damage window and the latter more power. Either one isgreatto have on an attacker, as these are the optimal Fairy Type attacks. Moving down the list,Moonblastis also a decent move, but its higher energy cost and lower average performance puts it a notch below the above.

The Bad Moves

For the bad Fast Moves, we have.... nothing. Fairy has two Fast Moves right now, and both are perfectly good moves with no major draw-backs."What about Hidden Power?", I hear some ask. "Don't we have Hidden Power Fairy, just like the other types?". Well, here's the story there: Hidden Power actually released before Fairy Type was even created in the main series, and its type was based on a complex formula that looked at a Pokemon's IVsto assign a type that would never change, even through evolution or other large changes. When Fairy Type was released,this formula was already set in stone, so Gamefreak didn't make room for Hidden Power Fairy in their calculations, meaningHidden Power: Fairy does not exist.Admittedly, Niantic could create this move if they wanted to as it's apparently 100% randomized with no factors on the Pokemon themselves seeming to tie into the ultimate type, and in Pokemon Go and we already have precedent for unique variations of attacks with the "+" and "++" variants of Aeroblast and Sacred Fire, but it's still pretty unlikelyand wouldn't help much at all in truth.

Moving on,Draining KissandDisarming Voiceare both pretty underwhelming. A Fairy Type Pokemon would have to have ahugeAttack Stat to make them work, so these are the moves that Fairy Type attackers want to stay the heck away from.

Currently Unreleased Fairy-Type Moves

• Moonlight
• Sweet Kiss
• Aromatic Mist**
  • Aromatisse
• Baby-Doll Eyes
• Crafty Shield**
  • Klefki
• Fairy Lock*
  • Klefki
• Flower Shield
• Judgment*
  • Arceus
• Light of Ruin*
  • Eternal Flower Floette
• Misty Terrain
• Multi-Attack*
  • Silvally
• Fleur Cannon*
  • Magearna
• Floral Healing*
  • Comfey
• Nature's Madness*
  • Tapu Koko
  • Tapu Lele
  • Tapu Bulu
  • Tapu Fini
• Sparkly Swirl*
  • Eevee (Let's Go Eevee)
• Decorate*
  • Alcreamie
• Spirit Break**
  • Grimmsnarl
• Strange Steam*
  • Galarian Weezing
• Misty Explosion
• Springtide Storm*
  • Enamorus - Incarnate
  • Enamorus - Therian

*: Signature Move
**: Formerly a Signature Move

The Non-Threats

Aside from the Pokemon that aren't fully evolved, we can pretty safely rule out Mega Mawile, Mega Audino,Silvally, Alcreamie, Dashsbun,Tinkaton, Fezandipiti,andScreamtail. Their low stats or lack of realistic Fairy Type moveset potential leaves them in the dust, unfortunately.

Otherunlikely candidates start withArceus.Despite being a potential savior to a number of under-represented types, Arceus has no access to any existing Fairy Type Fast Moves, meaning it would take a full moveset update and/or averystrong Judgment to be good. The other in this case isGrimmsnarl,who has what was once a Signature Move in Spirit Break, but its lower Attack stat and lack of a potential Fairy Type fast move means it doesn't have much potential.

For Signature Moves that probably won't pan out in the future (if we get them at all), we have Aromatic Mist, Crafty Shield, Fairy Lock, Floral Healing, Sparkly Swirl, Decorate, and Strange Stream. For various reasons, these attacks would need to beabsolutely broken beyond brokento make the Pokemon that they're attached to good.

The Existing Threats

Pokemon in this section have already been released into Pokemon Go, but their future is still bright. Due to moveset updates or other bonuses, they have the potential to rise on the list to varying degrees.

Note that we may treat select unreleased Mega Evolutions and alternate formes as Existing Threats, where applicable, due to their base-formes already existing in-game.

The Future Threats

These are the Pokemon that we don't currently have in-game, but have the potential to join our Top Attackers by Type list if Niantic does them justice. Note that this list won't necessarily order Pokemon according to their potential, as we will take likelihood of a good implementation into consideration as well.

The Looming Shadows

As we sit right now, we don't havea lotof realistic potential for Shadows to come in and disrupt Fairy Types. The biggest threats would have to beShadow Xerneaswith its powerful mono-Fairy typing and excellent moveset. After that areShadow Tapu LeleandShadow Tapu Kokoifthey're given access to Fairy Type Fast Moves. And even then, they won't be genuinely outstanding, sitting around Shadow Gardevoir unless they also get access to a powerful Nature's Madness. The same would go for a future Shadow Hattereneif given a favorable moveset, sitting as a slightly less bulky Shadow Gardevoir similar to how its base form is currently projected to be a less bulky Gardevoir. Moving down a step,Shadow PrimarinaandShadow Florgeswould both be "good", but not great.

If we want to theorycraft a bit and go outside of the realm of what's currently "normal", the biggest threat would have to beShadow Zacian - Crowned Sword,as its SHEER POWER would allow it to hit very hard despite its lack of a Fairy Type Fast Move.

Going even deeper off the deep-end,Shadow Flutter Manewould take the type by storm, but that's reaching fairly deep into the realm of the unlikely, or at the very leastvery, very far off.

The Gigantamax Factor

While not extremely likely, it'spossiblethat Niantic could release the Dynamax/Gigantamax system first introduced in Generation 8/Galar into Pokemon Go. For those unaware, this system turns Pokemon giant, gives them new/overpowering moves, and grants atremendousHP boost while active. And while the release of this feature isn't super likely, we thought it best to at least list the possible candidates with unique formes just to cover all bases,so these are all of the BugType Pokemon with a Gigantamax forme:

• Gigantamax Grimmsnarl
• Gigantamax Hatterene

Fairy is a type that hashugepotential to be absolutely outstanding, but it's not super-likely to be able to punch on the same level as the Dragon, Fighting, and Psychic Types that rival it any time soon. It's likely to remain in a bit of a type-limbo as we move forward, if only becausegenuinely goodFairy Types have the potential to make Dragon obsolete as a type, but the potential to rise still remains.

Niantic:GIVE US MISTY TERRAIN AS A GOOD FAST MOVE!That one move could make this entire type waymore viable and give justice to a number of Pokemon thatdeserve it!