Monotype: A history of Dark and Grass

Over the years of Monotype, the metagame has shifted drastically. New sets were discovered, new strategies were used, and a few Pokémon even got some more time in the limelight. The most remarkable thing about the changing metagame, however, is how the usability of certain types fluctuated. In this article, we will be going over how Dark and Grass all changed over the course of the metagame and why these things happened.

General Overview

Now seen as one of the best types in the metagame, Dark was given a great chance to be amazing in this generation with it now being able to use both Greninja and Mega Sableye after them being banned in the previous generation. Along with a new tool in Alolan Muk, Dark was able to make a great mark on the metagame and over time become a staple of the Monotype scene.

Tournament Success

SM

As a tournament type, Dark started off as an anti-metagame pick against the omnipresent Psychic threat in the beginning of the generation. Even when Mega Medicham was banned (which was a big part of why Psychic was used so much), Dark found itself still netting consistent results. Looking at MPL3, which was the only major team tournament before USM, Dark had solid results and a 55% win ratio out of the 12 games it was played. The quality of the matches that were played was also very high and showcased Dark being able to beat strong types like Poison and Flying thanks to its solid team composition and teambuilding flexibility. Examples of this can be seen in the match between Rnbs and TheThorn as well as Clearly vs Level 56. These two matches are good examples of how Dark was able to beat other common types without having to drastically change its team composition, a trait that some extremely solid types at the time (Normal and Fairy) had. Overall, Dark did alright for the little amount it was played but still had noticeable flaws, and certain Pokémon (most notably Magearna) were keeping it from becoming a common type brought to tournaments.

USM

In USM, Dark had a 6-6 record in the Monotype Winter Premier, an 11-8 record in Monotype Premier League 4, and an 8-5 record in Monotype Winter Premier 2 (disregarding mirror matches). As you can clearly tell from its records, it became a more popular type and a little more consistent as well. After the ban of Magearna, Dark was explored more as a type, and it was found that it had very good potential in the metagame with the previously mentioned Pokémon gone. It most notably had a more solid defensive core now that Magearna was gone, so Steel and Fairy teams had a harder time breaking it. While it did start off a little shaky in the first iteration of the Monotype Winter Premier, it showed later on that it had very consistent matchups with many top-tier types and also did well against high- and mid-tier types. More recently, its become even stronger thanks to the popularity of Curse + Recycle Muk and Choice Scarf Drapion, allowing Dark to beat Fairy reliably while still being able to handle other types just as effectively.

The Progression of Teambuilding

In early SM, Dark was thought to have gotten many buffs due to its new immunity to Prankster, getting two of its Pokémon unbanned from ORAS (Mega Sableye and Greninja), and a great new addition in Alolan Muk that would help the type skyrocket in viability. Unfortunately, this was not the case, as it was overwhelmed by the influx of Fairy-types present in the tier, most notably Magearna and Mega Diancie, which soon got released. Even with the eventual ban of Magearna and the beginning of USM, Dark wouldn't see a surge of usage and viability until much later on in the metagame.

Defensive Core

During Gen 7, Tyranitar, Mandibuzz, Alolan Muk, and Mega Sableye were the most integral parts of successful Dark teams. This defensive core has really good synergy and is able to not be passive at the same time. Its ability to cover virtually any weakness that Dark has is incredible, and many defensive cores look in awe to be as functional as this one. Now we will go through each Pokémon on the core in a little more detail and see how they have gone through changes over time.

Tyranitar at first might not seem like the kind of Pokémon that plays a defensive role, but rest assured that investment in Special Defense and HP allows Tyranitar to take a plethora of special attacks. Taking attacks from the likes of Volcarona and Tapu Koko with ease is something Dark heavily appreciates. On top of this, Tyranitar also checks a plethora of threats to Dark as well thanks to its bulk and offensive presence, allowing it to KO most of the aforementioned threats with moves like Earthquake and Stone Edge. While it can naturally do this with any standard offensive set, it can still be an effective defensive Pokémon with these moves. This is most notably highlighted by Tyranitar being the best Stealth Rock user for balance Dark teams. Overall, Tyranitar can heavily benefit Dark teams defensively and is a major reason for the type's success in the metagame.

A newcomer from Gen 7, Alolan Muk boasts good bulk and Special Defense along with a relatively decent defensive typing. However, it's not the defensive qualities that Dark teams like the most about Alolan Muk; instead, it is its offensive potential that makes it a selling point for Dark teams. There have been a few Pokémon with Poison / Dark typing in the past, but they didn't work due to not synergizing particularly well with standard teams. The reason why Alolan Muk works for Dark is because of not only its superior defensive qualities but also its ability to effectively weaponize its defensive typing to help Dark teams deal with Fairy-types. It started off in SM using an Assault Vest set that was more suited to Poison teams but still worked very well on Dark, as it helped check Magearna before it got banned. A couple of weeks into USM changed this, however, as it would now find itself running a bulky setup sweeper set with Curse and Recycle. Thanks to its ability Gluttony, Muk is able to somewhat reliably recover its health with a pinch Berry, which was a huge problem for it in most cases on Dark teams. This set not only gave Alolan Muk recovery, but it also allowed it to become a wincon against certain types, namely Fairy and, before Zeraora was released, Electric. The effects that this set had on Alolan Muk also transferred to all Dark teams, as it made the type more reliable to use now that Fairy was a much easier matchup. Overall, Alolan Muk's presence on Dark was humble at first, but then went on to become one of the most important and prevalent Pokémon that Dark teams could use.

Mandibuzz has remained relatively unchanged from itself in ORAS and transferred into SM working exactly the same as it did prior. As a physically defensive wall with a handy neutrality to Fighting and access to Defog, Mandibuzz found itself still being able to deal with new Fighting-types like Buzzwole and Kommo-o (which did not have Clangorous Soulblaze in SM) relatively fine. Its basic set of tools in Foul Play, Taunt, and Toxic allows this Pokémon to threaten physical attackers while also threatening walls as well. Foul Play is especially important, as it stops setup sweepers like Azumarill from running over its team. U-turn allowed Mandibuzz to be a handy pivot and Roost allowed Mandibuzz to have reliable recovery. Defog also allowed it to remove entry hazards while walling opposing Pokémon, further improving its role on the team. It could have stayed unchanged throughout the entire generation as well if it was not for one metagame trend: Jolly Azumarill. Due to Mandibuzz no longer naturally outspeeding Azumarill and Azumarill's prevalence in the metagame, it was forced to put investment into Speed in order to prevent Azumarill from sweeping the rest of its team, as it was able to take a +6 Aqua Jet from full health. This Pokémon may not be as stellar or as diverse as the other members of its team, but it does what it does really well and is still a big reason why Dark is as prevalent as it is currently.

After having its shackles released from its ORAS days, Mega Sableye came back into Monotype explosively. With its awesome immunity to Fighting-types, great bulk and defensive stats, and ability to beat out other walls with Magic Bounce, Mega Sableye was bound to be one of the best Pokémon to use for balanced Dark teams. Mega Sableye still uses Will-O-Wisp to cripple physical attackers and Recover to keep itself healthy; it also uses Knock Off to remove key items such as Eviolite from Chansey and Porygon2. Magic Bounce allowed it to beat out opposing walls as well, which no longer could use a status move on it or set up entry hazards. Along with those constants, it also has a variety of options for its last move, with these being Metal Burst, Protect, and Foul Play. In the beginning of the generation, most people used Foul Play until it was seen how important scouting Pokémon with Protect such as Choice Band Victini was for Dark. While Foul Play is still a decent niche move to use for Mega Sableye, Protect is often used in the final slot for the previously mentioned reasons. Metal Burst is a more recent option that is seeing more competitive usage due to its ability to take out unsuspecting Mega Diancie for Dark teams, which is absurdly key to Dark winning the matchup. Overall, Mega Sableye is an omnipresent force on Dark that has barely changed over the course of this generation.

Offensive Pokémon

Even though Dark has a very strong defensive core, the type wouldn't be nearly as effective as it is were it not for its stellar offensive Pokémon. Pokémon like Greninja, Hydreigon, Mega Tyranitar, and Krookodile are arguably the most influential offensive Pokémon on the type, and there are a few others that, while niche, are still effective at performing their niche very well. With one of the best defensive cores in Monotype backing them up, these offensive Pokémon are less strenuous to use than those on types like Fighting and Bug. That being said, let's take a look into some of the most influential offensive Pokémon Dark teams have to offer.

Greninja is hands-down one of the best offensive Pokémon Dark teams have to offer. Now that it was no longer banned, nothing was going to hold this thing back from making Dark a great type. Its great Speed tier and handy ability in Protean along with an incredible movepool allow Greninja to offensively pressure a plethora of types for Dark. In the beginning of SM, Greninja used an all-out attacker set that utilized Life Orb and 4 moves. Most of the popular options for Greninja on Dark teams were Ice Beam, Hydro Pump, Gunk Shot, Extrasensory, Grass Knot, and Hidden Power Fire. These moves often allowed Greninja to turn certain matchups the team struggled with in their favor, such as Grass Knot and Extrasensory drastically improving the Water matchup and Hidden Power Fire improving the Steel matchup. As time went on in SM, Choice Scarf Greninja became another popular set to use on Dark teams. This set became popular due to some of the omnipresent Fairy-types in the tier usually outspeeding Greninja, such as Tapu Koko and Choice Scarf Tapu Bulu, making it hard for it to use Gunk Shot on them to KO them. Using a Choice Scarf not only eliminated this issue but also allowed Dark to better keep faster foes in check. Despite these benefits, Greninja was still limited in what moves it could use, especially on its Choice Scarf set, since it was most effective with U-turn and Gunk Shot. USM would come and not initially change much for Greninja, but after some time it took some elements from the past and would soon become a more dangerously diverse Pokémon. There are many sets that Greninja used over the course of USM, but the most popular ones were its Expert Belt set and its Z-Move set. The Expert Belt set was made so that Greninja could use pseudo-BoltBeam coverage with Ice Beam and Hidden Power Electric to heavily pressure Flying teams. It would also use Grass Knot to deal with Swampert and other Water- and Ground-types. The Z-Move set was geared towards beating Water teams, as it ran Extrasensory for Toxapex and Keldeo, Grass Knot for any Water- and Ground-types, and Hidden Power Electric. The former two moves could be enhanced by their respective Z-Crystals in order to nuke specific targets. For example, Grassium Z would be used to catch unsuspecting Rotom-W and Mega Diancie by surprise in order to remove them from the game, allowing Dark to have an easier time beating both Fairy and Water. These lure sets would become extremely popular, and there are probably countless others that have or have not been used yet, but it speaks to how great of a Pokémon Greninja is for Dark teams and why all successful Dark teams have a Greninja on it.

While not as influential as Greninja, Hydreigon still played an important role in the development of Dark teams. In SM, much like Greninja, it ran an all-out attacker set with a choice of Life Orb, Choice Specs, and Expert Belt. Its main selling point was the fact that it had an extremely threatening STAB move in Draco Meteor. This along with moves like Dark Pulse, Fire Blast, Focus Blast, and Earth Power allowed it to be a threatening wallbreaker and sweeper. While this set was the standard for a bit, eventually a small optimization in Choice Scarf Hydreigon became popular, since Dark struggled to have a consistent way of keeping faster foes in check before Choice Scarf Greninja took off. While this set didn't remain the standard, it did at least acknowledge a problem with Dark at the time, which eventually led to Choice Scarf Greninja being used. Once USM came out, a few weeks of metagame development gave birth to a new Hydreigon set, the stallbreaker set. This was part of a huge metagame shift where breaking down the bulky metagame was the most important thing on players' minds, so Taunt + Roost Hydreigon became a popular set during that time, as it helped break down walls like Toxapex and Mantine, giving Dark teams a much easier time dealing with balance teams. It often ran dual STAB attacks in Draco Meteor and Dark Pulse along with this combo, or it ran Fire Blast over one of those moves in order for Dark to have a very easy time against Steel teams. In fact, more recently a three attacks Roost Hydreigon has gained some traction in the metagame with Dark Pulse, Fire Blast/Flamethrower, and Earth Power, which allows Dark teams to easily pressure Steel teams. This along with later metagame shifts would help Dark become the solid type it is considered today, and it cannot be understated how important Hydreigon was to this process, as it helped make Dark teams more consistent as time went on in the generation.

Hyper Offensive Dark

Krookodile, Mega Tyranitar, Dragon Dance + Z-Stone Edge Tyranitar, and Bisharp would appear on this alternative archetype of Dark that relied solely on its offensive presence to break down teams. It was far more popular in the beginning of the generation but fell in popularity as USM came out and other types began to catch up offensively. These Pokémon sometimes make rare appearances on balance Dark, but still overall are not relevant enough on that archetype to be considered a main part of it.

Community Opinion

I asked a few people in the Monotype community about their opinions on Dark and Grass; for Dark, here is Eien, Monotype Tier Leader and established tournament player.

What do you think of Dark as a type?

Solid. Even against Fairy it's solid. Between Mega Sableye balance and Mega Tyranitar offense, it has a ton of options and can beat a lot of types with good preparation.

What do you think makes Dark so great?

Greninja's ability to take out any 2 types you want it to is just so good. In addition, all Dark's Mega Evolutions are very powerful in Monotype, and the type is backed up by a solid defensive core in Mandibuzz + Alolan Muk, which beats up Fairy.

What do you think Dark would like in Gen 8?

Dark needs a real Water switch-in so badly. Water STAB just destroys Dark even through Hydreigon. It could also use a Pokémon that outspeeds Keldeo and has an actual Attack or Special Attack stat. Right now, your options are basically Greninja or die. An Electric switch-in would be nice too.

Do you think Dark is overcentralizing?

Not even close.

What types/archetypes do you think Dark struggles the most with and why?

Water has always been one of the hardest matchups for Dark. It also struggles with Electric for a similar reason. It doesn't really "need" anything. A strong Dark / Fighting type would be really nice though as well for Dark offense.

Is it hard to be diverse with balance Dark? If so, why?

Balance needs certain Pokémon. Mega Sableye is one of the best walls in Monotype and is immune to Fighting, Mandibuzz helps cover the Fighting weakness by being ultra fat and can Defog, Alolan Muk covers the Fairy weakness. Then you have Greninja, which is one of the best Pokémon in Monotype period, and then you want Stealth Rock, so that's probably going to be Tyranitar for the reliability and nice bulk. That's 5 Pokémon you're basically always using. There is just such a huge gap between these five amazing Pokémon and the rest of the gang for balance.

Closing Thoughts

Over the course of the generation, Dark has risen from its anti-metagame roots and established itself as a solid type that even its former counters need to be wary of. The rise of Curse Muk and the popularity of Psychic allowed this type to flourish and succeed during Gen 7, and it was truly one of the biggest positive changes seen in the viability of a type in the entire 7th generation.

General Overview

Once considered one of the weakest types in the game, Grass in its debut was not entirely impressive. However, due to the popularity of Fairy, Electric, and Water in tournaments, Grass suddenly became a decent anti-metagame type, as it has very good matchups against these types. This is mainly because its staple Pokémon in Mega Venusaur and Ferrothorn wall most of the offensive Pokémon on these types, making it extremely easy to win these matchups.

Tournament Success

SM

Grass got a lot of new Pokémon that could have potentially helped the type, but due to the dominance of Z-Bounce Gyarados on Water teams, Magearna's prominence on both Steel and Fairy, and the popularity of Psychic and Flying, it was not able to gain much traction in the metagame as a whole. This means that Grass was unused during the reign of Mega Medicham, and following its ban, it saw sparse amounts of usage. It only won 1 of the 3 games it was used in, and its only victory was won with a gimmicky team. When it came to viable team compositions, seager vs terrors is the only game played that showed Grass using a viable playstyle, and it shows just how much Grass couldn't keep up against certain types, like Normal at the time. So while Grass did still have anti-metagame capabilities, it was not fully realized at the beginning of the generation.

USM

In USM, Grass had a 1-2 record in Monotype Winter Premier, a 2-2 record in Monotype Premier League 4, and a 2-0 record in Monotype Winter Premier 2. Grass still received pitiful usage in the tournament, but it still did really well when it got the desired matchup it was trying to get. Chaitanya vs Wincon in MWP2 shows just how powerful Grass could be as a general pick due to the way the metagame was shifting towards types like Ground and Electric at the time. With offensive options like Z-Stone Edge Breloom and Swords Dance + Spooky Plate Decidueye, Grass was able to sway some matchups into its favor while still serving a generally useful role, leading it to be a somewhat effective anti-metagame type. While Grass had matchups that it could win absolutely, it also had some that it was completely useless in, such as Flying and Poison. These types were relatively common in the metagame, and because of that, it was never brought often by a serious player. However, Chaitanya is the most notable Grass user in the competitive scene, as he shows in multiple tournaments that using Grass along with solid play and good teambuilding allows it to be a deceptively powerful type. Overall, this statement holds true to the performance of Grass in general, and it went from an underwhelming type to a niche anti-metagame type that can make a major upset if used wisely.

The Progression of Teambuilding

Grass originally had more things going for it when new Pokémon like Tapu Bulu and Decidueye were announced and looked promising for the type. However, many realized during the course of SM that this was all unfortunately overhyped and Grass stood as a mediocre type overall. Tapu Bulu and Decidueye remained as solid Pokémon on the type, but they did not give the type the viability boost that it needed. During USM nothing really changed except for the metagame, with the ban of Magearna and Shadow Tag and the metagame becoming increasingly more unfriendly to it archetype-wise, it was benefiting as a counterteam type. If it were not for the prevalence of Water and Fairy, Grass would not have gotten as much attention as it has. Let's take a deeper look into the Pokémon that make Grass work as a counterteam type.

Mega Venusaur is arguably one of the best Pokémon Grass teams have, period. Due to its incredible defensive utility thanks to Thick Fat along with its incredible bulk and its handy Poison typing (which is mainly useful for checking Fairy and absorbing Toxic Spikes), Mega Venusaur finds itself as the main selling point of Grass teams in general. Its ability to completely dominate some matchups for Grass such as Fairy and Water (both of which are relatively good types in the metagame) single-handedly makes it one of the most threatening Pokémon on the type. While this trait may also carry over to Poison teams, Mega Venusaur still has other abilities that help Grass specifically, such as its ability to absorb Toxic Spikes and immunity to poison status (bar from Salazzle). As far as its movepool goes, it generally finds itself running the same Sludge Bomb, Hidden Power Fire, Leech Seed, Synthesis, and Giga Drain sets all the time. Its EVs were only optimized once in order to make sure it outsped and checked Jolly Azumarill easier; besides this, however, it generally remained the same for the entire metagame, and it never needed to change otherwise.

Ferrothorn's defensive role on Grass is nearly unparalleled, as its great defensive typing along with a great supportive movepool is unmatched to any other Pokémon on the type. Over the course of the generation, Ferrothorn found itself running varying forms of the same set, which would be a mixed defensive set that could deal with Kyurem-B's Ice Beam. Ferrothorn can be very effective with its defensive role on the team by wearing down opposing Pokémon with moves like Toxic and Leech Seed while also checking certain threats to Grass like Kyurem-B or Weavile with Gyro Ball. Its ability to set entry hazards like Spikes or Stealth Rock has always been appreciated, as it allowed Cradily to be replaced by another Pokémon that helped with a certain type matchup like Whimsicott for Dragon and Dark or Celebi for Poison and Steel. As time went on and Cradily started fading away from more common Grass teams, Ferrothorn was still able to use its solid bulk and defensive qualities to pull off a hazard stacking set with both Stealth Rock and Spikes, bypassing the need for Cradily while still having the main benefit that it gave to the team. Overall, it never really changed over the course of the generation and was always a solid defining Pokémon on every Grass team.

Breloom's presence can be very threatening for an opposing balance team, as its powerful move in Spore allows it to completely shut down a single non-immune Pokémon on the opponent's team by putting it to sleep. However, it also helps Grass with its offense problem, as the type is usually passive and does not synergize well with most offensive options that are available, a problem that is still prevalent with some of the other viable offensive Pokémon on the type. Breloom does not fall victim to this, however, as while it may be slow, its ability to use its priority and Technician-boosted Mach Punch and Bullet Seed allow it to break down some walls and revenge kill quite a few offensive Pokémon. It also uses Rock Tomb to sometimes catch a Flying- or Fire-type like Staraptor or Victini off guard on the switch. Another option was also Swords Dance, which took advantage of Spore's utility and allowed Breloom to have sweeping potential against weakened teams. Over the course of the generation, these moves were generally the go to for Breloom, with the first three being required, while the last two were up to the player. More recently, Breloom has started to drop Spore for a 3 attacks Swords Dance Z-Stone Edge set that allows Grass to have a better time beating non-Mega Charizard Y Flying teams. Overall, Breloom performed solidly for the entirety of Gen 7, and because of its solid role on the team it was almost always on a successful Grass team.

Tapu Bulu was a newcomer in Gen 7 and provided Grass teams with Grassy Terrain, a decent physical attacker, and a Choice Scarf user all in one. With moves like Wood Hammer, Horn Leech, Stone Edge, Zen Headbutt, Megahorn, and Superpower, many at the beginning of the generation used Tapu Bulu excessively on Grass, some even saying that it was downright required in order for the type to function. As USM came out and as time has gone on, the hype around it died down as more Pokémon have begun to outspeed it and many other Pokémon are able to scout it much more easily as well. However, due to the low usage of Grass, it cannot be said for sure whether or not Tapu Bulu is not as integral to the type anymore. It can be said that it definitely had a huge impact on the type during the beginning of the generation, and while it may not have been a driving force for its viability, it cannot be understated how solid and useful it was for the type as a whole during that time.

Honorable Mentions

Decidueye, Whimsicott, and Celebi all share a common trait on Grass teams, and that is that their niche typically revolves around beating a certain matchup for the type that it can usually struggle with. Decidueye pressures Psychic teams with its Ghost-type STAB moves in Shadow Sneak and Spirit Shackle. At the same time, it is also useful for beating walls like Celesteela and Toxepex thanks to its ability to trap them with Spirit Shackle and use moves like Roost or Swords Dance to effectively take down the opposing Pokémon. Whimsicott is used to pressure Dragon teams specifically, as Breloom already takes care of most Dark-types. Thanks to its STAB Moonblast and high Speed stat, it's able to pick off most threats on Dragon like Kyurem-B, Hydreigon, Dragonite, and Kommo-o. Its typing also allows it to create mind games with Kommo-o's Clangarous Soulblaze, which makes it harder for Dragon to win against Grass. Similarly to Decidueye, Whimsicott also has a second niche in its ability to stop setup sweepers with its Prankster-boosted Encore, which can be very useful for Grass, as it tends to suffer against most setup sweepers like Dragonite and Mega Scizor. Lastly, we have Celebi, which is useful for covering Poison teams. Its STAB Psychic and access to Earth Power and Hidden Power Fire allows it to be extremely good against Poison and Steel, which otherwise have an easy time wearing down Grass. All of these Pokémon are very important as to why Grass is able to be the anti-metagame type that it is, though they are not staples of the type by any means, as they are constantly swapped out for one another. Their effect on Grass's viability, however, is anything but niche, so that is why they are all worthy of being honorable mentions.

Cradily was once considered a must-have on Grass teams during early SM, but as time went on and the metagame progressed fewer and fewer people used it. While it was still a solid Stealth Rock setter and a good way of dealing with Flying-types, its usage declined as a result of Pokémon like Decidueye, Whimsicott, and Celebi becoming more popular on more competitive teams. So while it may not have as much usage as it had before, Cradily is still a solid Pokémon that works well on Grass teams, but it is just not as popular as it once was.

Community Opinion

I asked a few people in the Monotype community about their opinions on Dark and Grass; for Grass, here is Chaitanya, notable user of the type and established tournament player.

What do you think holds Grass back from being a top-tier threat?

The lack of a real offensive presence to fill out teams. Tapu Bulu doesn't offer you much on Grass, Decidueye, Whimsicott, and Rotom-C are all weak, and Decidueye is only good in 1 matchup, so that 6th slot can be almost anything for certain matchups but useless in a lot of them.

What do you think Grass [realistically] should get in gen 8?

I don't know; I don't pay attention to the games, and I don't know what I want either, hopefully something will be good or Kartana will be freed.

Do you feel like Grass is underrated?

Yes.

Which types that are top tier do you think Grass struggles against and why?

Poison, Steel, and Flying. Crobat is a pain, Mega Scizor goes in a lot of the time, Tornadus-T is dangerous because it's the only thing running Flying STAB, and with Taunt it becomes super annoying, but Flying has fallen off with Dark and Electric getting better, so that's good for Grass. Again you can build for like one of these, but, like, you give up a lot.

How hard is it to teambuild with Grass and why?

Not too hard in my opinion, I think Venusaur, Ferrothorn, and Breloom are mandatory, other than that you can pick your matchups you want to target and build with other Pokémon, and because there aren't too many, it's not that hard.

Closing Thoughts

While it is was seemingly one of the worst types in the game, Grass has come a long way and is quite a threat to an unsuspecting player that uses certain types very frequently. With its select Pokémon in Whimsicott, Decidueye, and Celebi, as well as its solid defensive core, Grass is able to hold its own against the greatest types in the metagame.