If you could pick any two types for a Pokémon, which pair would take the least damage? We scored every pair a real species holds, using only the type chart. Steel/Fairy and Ghost/Steel tie for the top spot at 11 points. Ice/Rock is last at -6.
The score looks at defence only. It does not say which Pokémon wins a battle.
How we scored it
Each attacking type hits a defending pair for 4×, 2×, 1×, ½×, ¼× or 0×. We count how many attacking types land in each group. Then:
Score = resistances + 2 × immunities − weaknesses − 2 × (4× weaknesses)
A resistance is any attacking type that does ½× or ¼×. A weakness is any attacking type that does 2× or 4×. A 4× weakness is counted as a weakness and then penalised by two more points, so it costs 3 in total. An immunity (0×) is worth 2.
Ties go to the pair with fewer weaknesses, then fewer 4× weaknesses, then alphabetical order. The ranks inside a tie are therefore a convention, not a finding.
The score ignores:
- Abilities, such as Levitate removing a Ground weakness.
- Base stats. A fragile pair with a great typing is still fragile.
- Moves, speed and STAB, the same-type attack bonus.
- How many Pokémon hold the pair.
We scored the 136 pairs that at least one species holds in the pokee.si data. Eight more pairs have pages on the site but are held only by alternate forms (Alolan Ninetales is Ice/Fairy, for example), so they are left out. The 18-type chart used here is the current one, with Fairy included. Checking the chart figures against Pokémon Database for Mawile, Spiritomb and Frosmoth gave the same weaknesses and immunities.
The top 15
"1 of 6" in the last column means six species share the pair. We show the one with the highest base stat total. The pair name links to its full matchup page.
| Rank | Type pair | Weaknesses | of them 4× | Resistances | Immunities | Score | Example species |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steel/Fairy | 2 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 11 | Magearna (1 of 6) |
| 2 | Ghost/Steel | 4 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 11 | Gholdengo (1 of 4) |
| 3 | Flying/Steel | 2 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 10 | Celesteela (1 of 3) |
| 4 | Dragon/Steel | 2 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 9 | Dialga (1 of 3) |
| 5 | Water/Steel | 3 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 9 | Empoleon |
| 6 | Dark/Steel | 3 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 8 | Kingambit (1 of 3) |
| 7 | Electric/Steel | 3 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 8 | Magnezone (1 of 4) |
| 8 | Ground/Steel | 4 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 8 | Iron Treads (1 of 3) |
| 9 | Bug/Steel | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 7 | Genesect (1 of 5) |
| 10 | Grass/Steel | 2 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 7 | Kartana (1 of 3) |
| 11 | Poison/Steel | 2 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 7 | Revavroom (1 of 2) |
| 12 | Fighting/Steel | 3 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 7 | Cobalion (1 of 2) |
| 13 | Psychic/Steel | 4 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 7 | Solgaleo (1 of 8) |
| 14 | Ghost/Dark | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | Spiritomb (1 of 2) |
| 15 | Electric/Ghost | 3 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 6 | Rotom |
Steel is in the first 13 places. Pure Steel has 10 resistances, more than any other type, plus an immunity to Poison, so a second type only has to avoid adding too many weaknesses.
Steel/Fairy wins on the tie-break. Pure Steel is weak to Fire, Fighting and Ground. Adding Fairy removes Fighting from that list, because Fairy resists it, and adds an immunity to Dragon next to Steel's Poison immunity. That leaves only Fire and Ground. Ghost/Steel has twice as many weaknesses but makes up for it with three immunities: Normal, Fighting and Poison. Aegislash and Gholdengo hold that pair.
Electric/Steel has the most resistances of any pair, 11. Its one 4× weakness is Ground, and it loses points for that.
The two pairs without Steel are Ghost/Dark and Electric/Ghost. Ghost/Dark has a single weakness, Fairy, plus immunity to Normal, Fighting and Psychic. Spiritomb and Sableye show the pair.
The bottom 15
Rank 136 is the lowest. The table runs from the very worst upward.
| Rank | Type pair | Weaknesses | of them 4× | Resistances | Immunities | Score | Example species |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 136 | Ice/Rock | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | -6 | Aurorus (1 of 2) |
| 135 | Grass/Ice | 7 | 1 | 4 | 0 | -5 | Abomasnow (1 of 2) |
| 134 | Grass/Bug | 6 | 2 | 5 | 0 | -5 | Leavanny (1 of 6) |
| 133 | Ice/Bug | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | -5 | Frosmoth (1 of 2) |
| 132 | Grass/Dragon | 6 | 1 | 4 | 0 | -4 | Hydrapple (1 of 5) |
| 131 | Ice/Psychic | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | -4 | Mr. Rime (1 of 3) |
| 130 | Grass/Psychic | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | -3 | Celebi (1 of 5) |
| 129 | Ground/Rock | 6 | 2 | 5 | 1 | -3 | Rhyperior (1 of 9) |
| 128 | Ice/Dark | 6 | 1 | 3 | 1 | -3 | Chien-Pao (1 of 3) |
| 127 | Ice/Fighting | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | -3 | Crabominable |
| 126 | Psychic/Rock | 7 | 0 | 5 | 0 | -2 | Iron Boulder (1 of 3) |
| 125 | Grass/Fighting | 6 | 1 | 6 | 0 | -2 | Virizion (1 of 3) |
| 124 | Psychic/Bug | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | -2 | Orbeetle (1 of 3) |
| 123 | Grass/Flying | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | -2 | Jumpluff (1 of 6) |
| 122 | Flying/Bug | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | -2 | Yanmega (1 of 13) |
Ice/Rock is the worst pair. Aurorus takes 4× from Fighting and Steel, takes 2× from Water, Grass, Ground and Rock, and has no immunity. Ice and Grass are each in six of the bottom 15, and Bug and Psychic in four each.
Ice on its own has one resistance (to Ice) and four weaknesses, and it is the weakest single type in the next table.
Which types help and which hurt
This table shows each type's average score across every pair it appears in, and how often it shows up at each end.
| Type | Pairs it is in | Average score of those pairs | In the top 15 | In the bottom 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steel | 15 | 7.9 | 13 | 0 |
| Ghost | 15 | 4.5 | 3 | 0 |
| Fairy | 13 | 3.5 | 1 | 0 |
| Electric | 14 | 3.1 | 2 | 0 |
| Poison | 16 | 3.0 | 1 | 0 |
| Water | 17 | 2.6 | 1 | 0 |
| Fire | 14 | 2.6 | 0 | 0 |
| Normal | 12 | 2.3 | 0 | 0 |
| Flying | 17 | 2.2 | 1 | 2 |
| Dark | 17 | 1.9 | 2 | 1 |
| Ground | 16 | 1.5 | 1 | 1 |
| Dragon | 15 | 1.3 | 1 | 1 |
| Fighting | 17 | 0.7 | 1 | 2 |
| Bug | 15 | 0.3 | 1 | 4 |
| Psychic | 16 | -0.1 | 1 | 4 |
| Grass | 16 | -0.8 | 1 | 6 |
| Rock | 15 | -0.9 | 0 | 3 |
| Ice | 12 | -2.8 | 0 | 6 |
Steel averages 7.9 and Ghost 4.5, far ahead of everything else. Ice is the only type that averages below -2.
Single types for comparison
We ran the same formula on the 18 single types.
| Rank | Type | Weaknesses | Resistances | Immunities | Score | Species with only this type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steel | 3 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 10 |
| 2 | Ghost | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 16 |
| 3 | Fairy | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 21 |
| 4 | Poison | 2 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 16 |
| 5 | Fire | 3 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 36 |
| 6 | Electric | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 35 |
| 7 | Water | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 74 |
| 8 | Flying | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 9 | Normal | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 75 |
| 10 | Dark | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| 11 | Dragon | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| 12 | Ground | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 17 |
| 13 | Bug | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 23 |
| 14 | Fighting | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| 15 | Psychic | 3 | 2 | 0 | -1 | 39 |
| 16 | Grass | 5 | 4 | 0 | -1 | 47 |
| 17 | Rock | 5 | 4 | 0 | -1 | 17 |
| 18 | Ice | 4 | 1 | 0 | -3 | 16 |
Pure Steel scores 9. Only three dual pairs beat it (Steel/Fairy, Ghost/Steel and Flying/Steel), and Dragon/Steel and Water/Steel tie it. At the other end, pure Ice scores -3, and six dual pairs do worse. A second type can rescue a weak first type, and it can also make a bad type worse.
What the score leaves out
A good typing does not make a good Pokémon. Gholdengo and Aegislash share Ghost/Steel, one of the two top pairs, and their stats and Abilities are very different. A Pokémon with a flat 4× weakness can use an Ability to cancel it.
If you want the maths behind the numbers, dual-type weaknesses explained shows how two types multiply. The 4× cases are in Pokémon with 4× weaknesses, and the immunities article covers all eight 0× matchups. For Steel on its own, see Steel-type weaknesses. Stats are explained in base stats explained.