The type chart is the single most important reference in Pokemon Champions. Every battle decision — which move to fire, which switch to make, which team member to bring — flows from type matchups. Miss a weakness and you eat a super-effective hit. Know your resistances and you pivot in for free damage. This guide lays out the full 18-type system, the matchups that define the early competitive meta, and how to apply the chart during actual team building and battle.
What Is the Type Chart and Why It Matters
Every Pokemon and every move in Champions belongs to one of 18 types. When an attack lands, the game checks the move’s type against the defending Pokemon’s type(s) and applies a damage multiplier:
- 2x (super effective) — the move hits hard
- 1x (neutral) — standard damage
- 0.5x (not very effective) — weakened damage
- 0x (immune) — no damage at all
Dual-type Pokemon multiply those modifiers together. A Fire move against a Bug/Grass Pokemon deals 4x damage (2x for Bug, 2x for Grass). A Ground move against a Steel/Flying Pokemon deals 0x because Flying is immune to Ground, regardless of the Steel resistance. That 4x relationship and those immunities are what separates good team building from great team building.
The Full 18-Type Offense Chart
This is the standard type chart from modern Pokemon games. Pokemon Champions uses the same system established from Generation 6 onward (which introduced Fairy type). The relationships below are Pokemon canon — verified against Bulbapedia’s type chart and applicable to Champions unless an official patch note changes them.
| Attacking Type | Super Effective (2x) Against | Not Very Effective (0.5x) Against | No Effect (0x) Against |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | — | Rock, Steel | Ghost |
| Fire | Grass, Ice, Bug, Steel | Fire, Water, Rock, Dragon | — |
| Water | Fire, Ground, Rock | Water, Grass, Dragon | — |
| Grass | Water, Ground, Rock | Fire, Grass, Poison, Flying, Bug, Dragon, Steel | — |
| Electric | Water, Flying | Electric, Grass, Dragon | Ground |
| Ice | Grass, Ground, Flying, Dragon | Water, Ice | — |
| Fighting | Normal, Ice, Rock, Dark, Steel | Poison, Flying, Psychic, Bug, Fairy | Ghost |
| Poison | Grass, Fairy | Poison, Ground, Rock, Ghost | Steel |
| Ground | Fire, Electric, Poison, Rock, Steel | Grass, Bug | Flying |
| Flying | Grass, Fighting, Bug | Electric, Rock, Steel | — |
| Psychic | Fighting, Poison | Psychic, Steel | Dark |
| Bug | Grass, Psychic, Dark | Fire, Fighting, Flying, Ghost, Steel, Fairy | — |
| Rock | Fire, Ice, Flying, Bug | Fighting, Ground, Steel | — |
| Ghost | Psychic, Ghost | Dark | Normal |
| Dragon | Dragon | Steel | Fairy |
| Dark | Psychic, Ghost | Fighting, Dark, Fairy | — |
| Steel | Ice, Rock, Fairy | Fire, Water, Electric, Steel | Poison |
| Fairy | Fighting, Dragon, Dark | Fire, Poison, Steel | — |
Defensive Type Properties: Resistances and Immunities
Knowing what your own Pokemon resists is as important as knowing what your moves hit. Below are the most competitively relevant defensive profiles.
Steel is the best defensive type on the chart. It resists 11 types and absorbs Poison damage entirely. Steel is also the primary way to shut down Fairy-type attackers, which is why nearly every serious team carries at least one Steel-type or a Pokemon with Steel coverage.
Fairy introduced a hard stop to Dragon in Generation 6 and it still defines the meta. Fairy-types are immune to Dragon entirely and resist Dark and Fighting — two of the most common offensive types at every level of play. Their weaknesses to Poison and Steel are worth tracking — in standard play those types tend to appear more as coverage than as primary attackers, though the Champions meta is still early and that could shift.
Ghost grants immunities to both Normal and Fighting. Since Fighting is extremely common as coverage on physical attackers (it hits Normal, Ice, Rock, Steel, Dark), Ghost-types come in for free on a huge portion of the physical meta. The tradeoff: Ghost is weak to Ghost and Dark, and you need to watch out for opposing Ghosts clicking Shadow Ball.
Ground is immune to Electric, which matters enormously in a format where Thunderbolt is a staple coverage move. Ground-types sit on Volt Switch users and remove the threat entirely.
Key Offensive Pairings
No single type provides perfect neutral-or-better coverage across all 18 types. Competitive players combine two or three coverage types to avoid being walled. These are the most efficient pairings:
Ground + Ice covers every type except Water neutrally or better. Ground handles Electric, Fire, Poison, Rock, and Steel; Ice cleans up Dragon, Grass, Flying, and Ground. This pairing appears on bulky offensive teams that want broad wallbreaking power.
Fire + Fighting is a high-pressure wallbreaker combination. Fire hits Steel, Grass, Ice, and Bug. Fighting punches through Normal, Dark, Rock, and Ice. Together they hit almost everything for at least neutral damage, which is why these moves co-exist on so many mixed attackers.
Fairy + Ground is a pairing that early community discussion has flagged as high-priority coverage. Fairy removes Dragon and Dark threats; Ground eliminates the Electric and Steel walls that otherwise stop Fairy sweepers. If you are building a team and have no answer to this pairing, it is worth at least having a plan — coverage pairings like this tend to appear on many early team archetypes while the meta is still forming.
Type Chart in Team Building: The Cover-Your-Weaknesses Framework
Good team building does not start with picking your favorite Pokemon. It starts with the type chart and mapping weaknesses. Here is the workflow:
Step 1 — Identify your team’s defensive holes. After choosing your core two or three Pokemon, list every type that hits at least two of them for super effective damage. Those are your holes.
Step 2 — Add a pivot for each hole. A pivot either resists or is immune to the threatening type. It does not need to be a dedicated wall — a fast pivot that forces a double switch is enough.
Step 3 — Check for quadruple weaknesses. Dual-type Pokemon with a 4x weakness (like Rock/Ice being 4x weak to Fighting) are high-risk. Avoid putting them on the same team as another Pokemon with the same weakness.
Step 4 — Check your offensive coverage. Make sure your team can hit at least three or four of the most common defensive archetypes in the current meta (Steel walls, bulky Fairies, defensive Ground-types, specially defensive Dragons). If you cannot break a type, you need a move or a team member that can. Our held items guide covers Choice Band and Choice Specs as tools to punch through defensive checks.
For a deeper walkthrough of building a team from scratch, see the Team Builder Guide.
Types to Know for the Early Champions Meta
The Champions competitive community is early (as of June 2026), so usage statistics are still being collected and the meta is shifting. That said, several type-based patterns are showing up consistently in community Discord and Reddit early-meta discussions:
Electric + Flying types have surfaced frequently in early community discussion. Their offensive typing and Speed tend to reward aggressive play, and when built correctly they can carry only one weakness. Ground-immune sets are the natural answer — if you are not running a Ground move or a Ground-type, fast Electric/Flying combinations can freely Volt Switch to build momentum. Usage data will clarify how prominent they are as the meta matures.
Steel-type walls are everywhere. The standard answer to Fairy, Dragon, Ice, and Psychic pressure is a Steel-type defensive pivot. If your team carries a wallbreaker, it almost certainly needs at least one move that hits Steel for neutral or better (Fighting, Fire, or Ground are your options).
Fairy and Dragon are the offensive types that define which teams get to click their win condition. If you cannot answer opposing Fairy-types, Dragon sweepers stall. If you cannot answer Dragon-types, Fairy sweepers are free. Most competitive teams carry both an answer to Fairy (Steel or Poison) and an answer to Dragon (Fairy or Ice move). Dive deeper into the specific Pokemon filling these roles in the meta threats and counters guide.
Status Moves and Type Chart Interactions
The type chart does not apply to most status moves — Will-O-Wisp always burns regardless of type. However, there are key exceptions that matter in competitive play:
Thunder Wave cannot affect Ground-types. This is an immunity, not just a chart interaction — the Electric-type of Thunder Wave is blocked entirely by Ground immunity. Many players get caught sending in a Ground-type expecting Thunder Wave to fail, only to discover they are now facing a fast opponent that did not click it.
Toxic and Poison-type attacks cannot affect Steel or Poison-types. This includes Toxic. If the opposing team is Steel-heavy, chip damage strategies built around Toxic will completely fail. Corrosive Acid and similar moves that bypass Poison immunities are worth knowing if they appear in Champions — check the status moves guide for the current mechanics.
Leech Seed only works on non-Grass types. This is a clean type interaction that punishes Grass-reliant stall strategies.
Reading Type Interactions Mid-Battle
The type chart is reference material before the battle. Mid-battle, you need to read type interactions in real time. Here is how experienced players process it:
Assume the 2x until proven otherwise. When facing a new Pokemon, assume your weaknesses are live. Do not stay in on an unknown threat hoping it does not carry the super-effective move — the downside of being hit by a 2x is usually a trade, and a 4x KOs you.
Track revealed moves. Every move an opponent uses tells you something. If their Garchomp clicked Earthquake instead of a second type coverage, that reveals information about their set. Build a mental map of revealed coverage and use that to predict future turns.
Respect immunities above all. A 0x interaction is not just low damage — it is a free switch opportunity. If you know the opponent’s active Pokemon has Levitate or is Flying-type, any Ground move from your opponent’s team is a free pivot for your Ground-immune Pokemon. Immunities generate momentum; track them.
For the competitive context on how types interact with Trick Room and weather, see the Trick Room teams guide and the weather teams guide.
Type Chart Mistakes That Cost Ranked Games
These are the most common type-chart-related errors in lower-ranked Champions play, based on patterns that appear in early competitive discussion:
Forgetting Steel resists Fairy. Players go for Moonblast or Play Rough against a Steel-type and are surprised by the 0.5x. Fairy is strong offensively but Steel walls it completely. Always check if the opposing Pokemon has Steel typing before clicking a Fairy move.
Clicking Ground into a Flying-type. This is a complete loss — 0 damage and a wasted turn. Flying-types are common enough that you should check before clicking Earthquake.
Ignoring the secondary type. A Fire/Flying type resisting Grass AND Ground changes how you approach that matchup. Always check dual typings before choosing a move.
Underestimating Dragon neutrality on Steel/Fairy. Dragon does not hit much for super-effective, but it also has very few resistances. If you are fishing for a resisted hit to set up, Dragon might just connect neutrally when you expected 0.5x.
Applying the Chart with Terastal Megas
If Pokemon Champions includes Terastal Mega Evolution (the mechanic reported in early coverage), a Pokemon can change its type via Terastalization. This fundamentally alters the type chart mid-battle for that Pokemon. The defensive and offensive type for a Terastalized Pokemon becomes purely its Tera type — the base type no longer applies.
What this means for the type chart: You cannot assume a Pokemon’s type chart position based on appearance alone if Tera is active. A Charizard that Terastalizes to Water type no longer has a Rock weakness — it gains Water resistances and potentially new weaknesses depending on dual type. Always scout for Tera before committing to a super-effective move on a Pokemon you know can Tera.
For the full mechanics of how Terastalization interacts with type matchups in Champions, see the Terastal Megas guide.
Quick Reference: Best Offensive Types by Coverage Goal
| Goal | Best Types |
|---|---|
| Break Steel walls | Fire, Fighting, Ground |
| Counter Dragon sweepers | Fairy, Ice |
| Answer Ghost pivots | Dark, Ghost |
| Handle bulky Water | Grass, Electric |
| Pressure Fairy attackers | Steel, Poison |
| Cover Normal-type walls | Fighting |
| Punish Flying-type pivots | Electric, Rock, Ice |
FAQ
How many types are in Pokemon Champions? Pokemon Champions uses the standard 18-type system from modern mainline games: Normal, Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Ice, Fighting, Poison, Ground, Flying, Psychic, Bug, Rock, Ghost, Dragon, Dark, Steel, and Fairy.
What type is immune to Normal moves? Ghost-type Pokemon are completely immune to Normal and Fighting moves. This makes them valuable as pivots against physical attackers, but they take super-effective damage from Ghost and Dark moves.
What beats Dragon type in Pokemon Champions? Dragon types are weak to Ice, Dragon, and Fairy moves. Fairy is the cleanest answer because Fairy-types are themselves immune to Dragon, making them reliable Dragon counters even when you switch in.
What is the strongest offensive type in competitive play? There is no single best offensive type — coverage depends on your team. Ground hits Steel, Fire, Electric, Rock, and Poison for super-effective damage, making it one of the widest coverage types. Fairy and Fighting are dominant for their matchup spread against the most common meta threats (as of June 2026 early meta reports).
Does Tera or Mega Evolution change type matchups? Terastal Mega Evolution (if active in Champions) can change a Pokemon’s type entirely, overriding its base defensive and offensive type chart. Always scout what Tera type your opponent is holding before committing to a super-effective move. See our Terastal Megas guide for full mechanics.
What types have the most weaknesses? Rock and Ice are considered the most defensively vulnerable types in the standard chart. Rock is weak to Water, Grass, Fighting, Ground, and Steel. Ice is weak to Fire, Fighting, Rock, and Steel, while resisting very little. Avoid relying on these types as your primary defensive core.
What type resists the most other types? Steel is the king of resistances — it resists 11 types (Normal, Grass, Ice, Flying, Psychic, Bug, Rock, Dragon, Steel, Fairy) and is immune to Poison. That’s why Steel-types are staples on most competitive teams for their defensive utility.
What moves are immune to Ground type? Flying-type Pokemon and those holding an Air Balloon are immune to Ground moves (including Earthquake). The Levitate ability also grants Ground immunity. This makes these Pokemon critical as Earthquake checks in competitive formats.
Is there a type that has no weaknesses? No single type has zero weaknesses, but dual typings can reduce weaknesses significantly. For competitive purposes, focusing on resisting the meta’s most common attack types matters more than chasing zero weaknesses.
How do I use the type chart in team building? Start by listing your team’s defensive weaknesses, then fill in answers for the most common attackers in the meta. A well-built team covers each other’s weaknesses — if your lead is weak to Ground, your next Pokemon should resist or be immune to it. Our Team Builder Guide walks through this step by step.
