Steel type
Pokémon.
Best defensive type — 10 resistances + 1 immunity (Poison).
Steel stats
What defines the Steel type
Steel is the best defensive type in the game by a meaningful margin: 10 resistances, 1 immunity (Poison), 3 weaknesses (Fire, Ground, Fighting). Pre-Gen 6, Steel also resisted Dark and Ghost — making it nearly unkillable for some matchups. Gen 6 removed those two resists but Steel remained the defensive king. Top Steel Pokémon: Heatran (Steel/Fire — 11 resists), Corviknight (Steel/Flying — 9 resists + 2 immunities), Scizor (Steel/Bug — only Fire 4× weak), Magearna (Steel/Fairy — 11 resists), Gholdengo (Steel/Ghost — 8 resists + Good as Gold blocking status).
Best Steel-type Pokémon
Top 12 by Base Stat Total across all generations
Dialga
Solgaleo
Metagross
Jirachi
Heatran
Genesect
Magearna
Melmetal
Archaludon
Iron Crown
Registeel
Cobalion
Steel offensive analysis
Steel hits Ice, Rock, Fairy super-effective. The Fairy super-effective hit is the most relevant — Steel is the only Fairy counter besides Poison. Iron Head (80 BP, 30% flinch) is the staple physical Steel STAB; Flash Cannon (80 BP) is the special equivalent. Magnezone's Magnet Pull traps opposing Steel-types — historically banned tier-defining ability.
What Steel attacks hit super-effective
What resists Steel attacks
Strongest Steel moves
Top 12 attacking moves by base power (Gen 9)
| Move | Cat | BP | Acc | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gigaton Hammer | physical | 160 | 100 | The user swings its whole body around to attack with its huge hammer. This move … |
| Steel Beam | special | 140 | 95 | The user fires a beam of steel that it collected from its entire body. This also… |
| Steel Roller | physical | 130 | 100 | The user attacks while destroying the terrain. This move fails if the ground has… |
| Make It Rain | special | 120 | 100 | The user attacks by throwing out a mass of coins. This also lowers the user's Sp… |
| Iron Tail | physical | 100 | 75 | The target is slammed with a steel-hard tail. This may also lower the target's D… |
| Spin Out | physical | 100 | 100 | The user spins furiously by straining its legs, inflicting damage on the target.… |
| Flash Cannon | special | 80 | 100 | The user gathers all its light energy and releases it at once. This may also low… |
| Iron Head | physical | 80 | 100 | The user slams the target with its steel-hard head. This may also make the targe… |
| Smart Strike | physical | 70 | 101 | The user stabs the target with a sharp horn. This attack never misses. |
| Metal Claw | physical | 50 | 95 | The target is raked with steel claws. This may also boost the user's Attack stat… |
| Gyro Ball | physical | 1 | 100 | The user tackles the target with a high-speed spin. The slower the user is than … |
| Heavy Slam | physical | 1 | 100 | The user slams into the target with its heavy body. The more the user outweighs … |
Steel defensive analysis
10 resists + 1 immunity + 3 weaknesses = net +8 defense value. The best defensive type by raw type chart math. Sand Stream weather damage doesn't affect Steel-types. Burn doesn't reduce Attack on Pokémon with Heatproof (Bronzong) or those immune to burn (Fire-types).
Steel's weaknesses, resistances, and immunities
Weak to (2×)
Resists (½×)
Immune (0×)
Best Steel dual-type combos
Steel / Flying
Examples: Corviknight, Skarmory
9 resists + 2 immunities (Ground, Poison); Defog + Roost
Steel / Fairy
Examples: Magearna, Tinkaton
11 resistances; only 2 weaknesses (Fire, Ground)
Steel / Ghost
Examples: Gholdengo, Aegislash
Good as Gold blocks all status; 8 resists + 2 immunities
Steel / Dragon
Examples: Dialga, Duraludon, Archaludon
Dragon-resistant Dragon (mirror) + Steel STAB Iron Head
Steel type history & meta shifts
Steel was added Gen 2 specifically to nerf Psychic + Dragon dominance. It worked too well — Steel-types defined competitive metagames for 4 generations until Gen 6 removed Steel's Dark/Ghost resistances. Today Steel remains the top defensive type via Heatran, Corviknight, Magearna, and Gholdengo.
Vibe in one line
The defensive king; status-immune cores; spinblock metagame.