OU Type Analysis: Fire

By Mannat. Art by Bummer.
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Heatran art

Overview

They're sizzling and powerful, Fire-types come in all shapes and sizes. Defensively, Fire is weak to Water, Ground, and Rock, but it resists Fairy, Fire, Bug, Grass, Ice, and Steel. Offensively, Fire is strong against Grass, Steel, Ice, and Bug while not doing very much to Water, Rock, Fire, and Dragon. The popularity of Fairy- and Steel-types makes Fire a great typing overall, as there's a solid Fairy- and/or Steel- type on almost every good OU team, not to mention that resistances to the threatening Ice-type are always appreciated, especially on offensive teams. Fire's weaknesses to Water and Ground are really unfortunate due to the prevalence of both typings, with virtually every OU team having both a Water- and Ground-type. Not only that, but Fire-types have a weakness to Stealth Rock, which really limits the viability of many Fire-types that would be much better in OU. Overall, Fire is one of the best offensive typings in OU, beating numerous popular types, but it is held back by weaknesses to multiple omnipresent typings and a very crippling weakness to Stealth Rock.

History of Fire-types

In RBY, Fire-types were very niche and seldom used, with Moltres being the only remotely usable Fire-type and teams struggling very hard to spare a slot for them due to just how badly outclassed they were in most roles by other Pokémon. Fire Spin trapping was an interesting tactic that was exclusive to Fire-types, but there was little to no reason to use them over other trappers like Agility+Wrap Dragonite. In GSC, Fire-types didn't get much better in general, but the newly introduced Steel typing did give Fire a little bit of a buff just because so many different types, including the dominant Psychic-type from RBY, were walled by it. In ADV, Fire-types still weren't very good, but they could be usable on select teams and certainly weren't as bad as they were in the first generation. In DPP, Fire-types got a breath of fresh air when Heatran and Infernape were introduced into the tier and became staples on OU teams, really skyrocketing the viability of Fire-types, and the physical/special split added many physical moves like Flare Blitz to give Fire-types more versatility offensively. However, DPP also brought the entry hazard Stealth Rock, which has been one of the biggest knocks to the Fire typing as a whole ever since then, and the two best OU Fire-types were OU partially because they had a neutrality to it. In BW, Gamefreak introduced Volcarona, which was a terrifying setup sweeper that could threaten to bust through virtually any team, and Victini, which was a versatile offensive threat that could run a myriad of movesets. Also, Ninetales was given Drought with the new Dream World abilities and thus made dedicated sun teams viable for the first time, opening up new pathways for Fire-types in OU. Heatran maintained its position as an excellent Pokémon in the OU metagame, but it got a bit worse in the transition, with Drizzle Politoed becoming a thing as well as the newly released Keldeo turning out to be one of the best Pokémon in the metagame. Sadly, Infernape got significantly worse in the transition from DPP to BW because Keldeo was introduced as an offensive Water-type that could threaten it; Latios and Latias were unbanned from Ubers, which happened to be amazing Infernape checks; and Drizzle Politoed made full rain teams very viable and much more common.

Fire-types in ORAS

Fire-types are pretty much at their pinnacle of power, being better than ever before. The offensive nature of the metagame suits them very well, since most Fire-types are offensive threats, and those that run defensive sets check dangerous offensive threats like Scizor and Bisharp. Fire-types in OU are renowned for their versatility, with most of them being able to run multiple sets effectively and fulfill several different roles. Some of the best Pokémon are weak to Fire, like Mega Scizor, which is probably the best Mega Evolution in the tier. However, Latios, Keldeo, and Rotom-W are all omnipresent in OU, so Fire-types don't exactly have free reign over the tier. Fortunately, Fire-types can usually find workarounds to a lot of their common counters with their extreme versatility, such as Heatran's ability to run Power Herb + Solar Beam to lure in and eliminate Water-types such as Rotom-W and Keldeo. Some Fire-types such as offensive Talonflame and Mega Charizard Y are pretty frail, so they don't like switching into much, but others like Heatran and bulky Mega Charizard X can function as effective tanks, checking key threats such as the aformentioned Mega Scizor. An interesting thing to note is that the three best OU Fire-types that are weak to Stealth Rock (Talonflame, Mega Charizard X, and Mega Charizard Y) all have Roost to heal off damage sustained from Stealth Rock. On the other side of the coin, Fire-types that are weak to Stealth Rock necessitate hazard removal support most of the time; Starmie and Latios are two good options to pair with Fire-types because they can take out bulky Ground- and Water-types that may wall Fire-types with their access to strong STAB moves and Thunderbolt. Overall, their great offensive typing and versatility make Fire-types an excellent pick for any OU team.

In-depth / examples

In terms of viable Pokémon in OU there are quite a few examples, and Fire-types tend to be used either for their defensive utility or their offensive firepower. Here is a short description of each of the viable Fire-types in OU:

Defensive

To start off, Heatran is arguably the best defensive Fire-type in OU, being able to run Stealth Rock utility sets, Taunt + Toxic stallbreaker sets, and even an uncommon specially defensive set that can be used if your team is super weak to certain special attackers like Mega Charizard Y. It it super useful, being able to check important offensive threats like Mega Scizor and Clefable that can be a headache to deal with. Talonflame is an excellent defensive Fire-type that can fit on a myriad of teams, being able to run a versatile stallbreaker set that switches into some of the most threatening wallbreakers in the tier like Mega Charizard Y, Mega Gardevoir, Volcarona, and Serperior, but its quadruple weakness to Stealth Rock mandates hazard removal. It is also easy to exploit, as it's Pursuit bait for popular Pokémon like Tyranitar. This set is really good because you can customize it with options like Bulk up over Taunt if you need a sweeper or Brave Bird over Acrobatics if your team appreciates the Leftovers recovery when setting up or the marginal power increase. Infernape is more commonly run as an offensive Pokémon, but its defensive set is very potent, being arguably the most consistent Dark-type check in the tier as well as being an amazing Mega Scizor check; it also has a decent matchup against stall with Will-O-Wisp + Taunt, but it has to be wary of random Toxic usage from Mega Sableye as well as the fact that Dugtrio and Suicune are being used on stall more often now.

Offensive

Mega Charizard X is the best Fire-type Mega in OU, being a super threatening Dragon Dance sweeper and having some versatility with some interesting options like Swords Dance + Tailwind, Outrage to break through Quagsire, and Earthquake to beat common checks like Heatran and Tyranitar. Mega Charizard Y is one of the most threatening wallbreakers in OU, being able to shred common bulky teams with sun-boosted Fire Blast coupled with an array of viable coverage options, but it is not without its flaws, being Pursuit trapped by the very common Tyranitar and one of its best checks in Latios being omnipresent in the metagame. Volcanion is a newer addition to OU, being another powerful wallbreaker and boasting a unique typing, solid bulk, an excellent defensive ability in Water Absorb, and it has an excellent signature move in Steam Eruption that allows it to burn through many of its counters while still having great power; however, its weakness to Stealth Rock coupled with its mediocre Speed tier holds it back from being a true offensive powerhouse. On the lower end of OU, Volcarona is a very threatening setup sweeper that can feast on unprepared teams, but its weakness to Stealth Rock really holds it back, coupled with the fact that it has to choose which Pokémon wall it based on its coverage moves. Also, Infernape is one of the most versatile Pokémon in the tier, being able to run a ton of offensive sets, from mixed attacking, to have multiple moves to use against offense, to Nasty Plot, to have a really solid stall matchup, but it has mediocre defenses and struggles against certain top-tier OU threats like Latios and Keldeo. Lastly, Victini is a fun non-Mega wallbreaker that can run several wallbreaking sets from an absolute nuke in Choice Band to a mixed lure set with Glaciate to eliminate bulky Ground-types. It can also run a Specs set to make use of Blue Flare as well as its insanely solid special movepool.

Notable moves

Conclusion

Fire has been a pretty poor type historically, but it has really improved in the past couple generations and is now one of the best types in OU. Fire-types can really put a singe into the opponent's team with their powerful attacking prowess, but they have unfortunate weaknesses to popular types and the omnipresent Stealth Rock. While Fire-types can be confusing to use just because there are so many of them, they are some of the best and most versatile Pokémon in the tier, and they will likely be OU powerhouses for generations to come.

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