Why Fire Pokemon Will Always Be Middle of the Road Competitively

Competitive Pokemon battles have gone through many changes over the years, most recently incorporating all the new mechanics added in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. The landscape of the Pokemon VGC scene has seen some terrifying critters dominate the meta, such as the infamous Landorus-T, or more recently, Ogerpon from Pokemon Scarlet and Violet The Teal Mask. However, one specific type of mon has stayed pretty consistent throughout the history of competitive Pokemon, always seeming to find a niche without ever truly shining.

Most competitive Pokemon teams will center around a core of three types that complement each other and give the player a base to build their strategy. One of the most popular cores in the current meta is the Fairy-Dragon-Steel core, due to how powerful the Fairy type is in the game. Another less popular core is the classic Grass-Fire-Water core, which can still be quite powerful, but lacks the versatility of a Fairy-Dragon-Steel core because of the inconsistent nature of Fire types in the Pokemon series, who tend to fall victim to the issues of the classic glass cannon archetype.

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The Mount Rushmore of Competitive Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Explained

The meta for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet VGC has seen its fair share of monumental mons since the games’ release, and these four are the most dominant.

Fire-Type Pokemon Have a History of Being Double-Edged Swords

A major positive for Fire-type mons in competitive battling is their offensive power, being able to hit common types like Steel and Grass for super effective damage. Fire types also have the second-highest number of resistances in the game after the Steel type, including Bug, Steel, Fire, Grass, Ice, and Fairy. Additionally, many Fire-type attacks have the chance to Burn the opponent, reducing their Physical attack by half and draining their HP each turn, giving Fire types a lot of tools in their toolbox to work with during a competitive match.

The Best Competitive Fire-Type Pokemon

• Incineroar
• Arcanine
• Heatran
• Talonflame
• Skeledirge
• Torkoal
• Chi-Yu

While the Fire type generally benefits from its solid offensive and defensive capabilities, there are also several specific Fire-type mons who find their way onto many competitive teams thanks to the niche they fill in the meta. Incineroar is a terror for many competitive players, since it has access to a variety of annoying moves like Fake Out, Parting Shot, and Knock Off, as well as the Ability Intimidate, all of which can throw an opponent off their game early in a match. A mon like Torkoal has also become a competitive staple due to its bulky stats and Ability Drought, which allows players to set up the Sunny weather condition useful for certain Paradox Pokemon.

Fire-Type Pokemon Suffer From Some Major Drawbacks in Competitive Battles

Despite having a lot of things going for them, Fire-type Pokemon also suffer from some serious downsides that keep them from being anything too powerful in the competitive meta. Although they hit Steel and Grass types for super effective damage, other types they’re super effective against, like Bug and Ice, are not very common on competitive teams. To make matters worse, the main weaknesses of Fire types, such as Water, Ground, and Rock, are all very commonly used in competitive battles, meaning Fire types will almost always be threatened by an opponent’s team.

Rock is a particularly devious type for Fire types to face in a competitive setting due to the prevalence of Stealth Rock, a move that sets up entry hazards that deal super effective Rock-type damage to Fire types switching into battle. In the case of some mons like Incineroar and Torkoal, these risks are worth the reward, since players tend to lead a battle with these critters. However, the presence of a variety of common threats for Fire-type mons makes using any mons not specifically designed to fill a particular role a tough call for competitive players.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

Released

November 18, 2022

ESRB

E For Everyone Due To Mild Fantasy Violence

How Long To Beat

31½ Hours

Metascore

72