Fairy-type Pokemon: Weaknesses & Strengths explained

❘ Updated: 2024-03-05T17:31:00

The Pokemon Company

Pokemon’s meta changed when Fairy-type creatures were introduced to the franchise with Gen 6, as they have a very powerful move pool as well as key resistances to Dark and Dragon types. So here are their weaknesses, strengths, and counters to help you survive these elusive fairies.

Introduced in Gen 6, Fairy-types have swiftly carved a niche for themselves with their interesting resistances and only a few weaknesses for enemies to exploit.

Even though they are cute and fluffy Pokemon, don’t be fooled by their looks, as in the right hands they can be deadly mostly due to their efficacy against Dragon types.

So, if you find yourself facing off against a Fairy-type Pokemon and want a chance at winning, here are their weaknesses and resistances, as well as the best counters available.

Contents

What is a Fairy-type Pokemon?
Fairy-type Pokemon weaknesses
Fairy-type Pokemon strengths & resistances
Best counters for Fairy-type Pokemon
Best Tera Types for Fairy-type Pokemon
All Fairy-type moves

Fairy types might look cute, but they can be difficult to defeat.

What is a Fairy-type Pokemon?

Fairy-type Pokemon were introduced in Gen 6 with X & Y, making them the newest type in the franchise. It’s usually quite easy to recognize a Fairy, as they often feature cute appearances as well as pink color schemes.

This isn’t always the case, though, as there are some Pokemon like Galarian Weezing and Grimmsnarl that have a scarier appearance that’s more likely inspired by ‘evil’ fairies from traditional fables and folklore.

There also aren’t that many pure Fairy-type Pokemon, which is partly because a lot of Pokemon released before Gen 6 were revisited and given Fairy as a secondary typing, like the Water/Fairy-type Azumarill.

This means you’ll often need to take a second type into account when fighting a lot of Fairy-type Pokemon, which can affect their weaknesses and the best counters you’ll need to take them down.

Fairy-type Pokemon weaknesses

Fairy-type Pokemon are weak to Poison and Steel-type attacks, which makes these types the perfect offensive choices to take into battle.

It’s not enough to just have Poison and Steel-type Pokemon on your team, though, as they’ll also need to have strong movesets that match their type to be effective.

Knowing every Fairy-type Pokemon weakness will make defeating them a breeze.

Fairy-type Pokemon strengths & resistances

Fairy-type Pokemon are strong against Dark, Dragon, and Fighting-type opponents, so it’s best to avoid taking these into battle wherever possible.

When it comes to resistances, Fairy-type Pokemon are totally immune to Dragon-type attacks and resistant to Bug, Dark, and Fighting-type attacks.

Best counters for Fairy-type Pokemon

Some of the best counters to use against Fairy-type Pokemon are powerful Steel-types like Metagross, Melmetal, and Dialga. Paired with Steel-type moves, they’ll make light work of Fairy-types.

As well as being super-effective against Fairy-types, Steel-type Pokemon don’t have any major weaknesses or vulnerabilities that Fairy-types can easily exploit, which makes them very reliable counters.

There are also loads of Poison-type Pokemon like Roserade, Gengar, and Salazzle that can take down Fairy-types. Again, they’ll need a set of Poison-type moves to be effective.

If you’re going to use Poison-types, though, it’s important to consider that many Fairy-type Pokemon can learn Psychic-type attacks, which are super-effective against Poison-types, so be careful.

Azumarill is one of the most iconic Fairy-type Pokemon in the franchise.

Best Tera Types for Fairy-type Pokemon

With the addition of Tera Types in Gen 9’s Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, players should know the best combinations available for Fairy-type Pokemon, as this mechanic bends the battling rules a little bit.

Fairy: They get an extra boost of power on top of the STAB.
Fire: Helps them resist Steel-type moves.
Steel: Helps them resist Steel-type moves.
Ground: Help them resist Poison-type moves.