Board 8 > Best Pokemon Generation by Type, Day 7: FIRE

(+) Yeah! (+)

It's probably gen 1, this makes it apparent to me why fire used to be a favorite type lol. Gen 5 is also a good contender though.

Gen IV: Small roster cannot afford Chimchar as one of the all-time worst starters, plus Magmortar is...not great. Heatran is almost forgettable...it's just not a lot of positive for Gen IV. Fire-types in general had diminishing returns for a LONG time.

Gen V: Gen V has some REALLY good things (Darmanitan, Chandelure), but then I look at my list of the worst Fire-types, and SO many of them spawn from Gen V. Darumaka, Simisear, Pansear, Larvesta, Heatmor, Reshiram...the good cannot outweigh the bad.

Gen III: I love Blaziken, but it cannot carry this generation on its own. Torchic and Numel are adorable, and Camerupt is cool...but Combusken and Torkoal (and Castform Sun for some reason) are not great in a relatively diminished roster.

Gen II: Slugma and Magcargo are major strikes against Gen II, as is Magby. Everything in this generation feels like a bit of a step down from its Gen I counterpart, even if things here aren't necessarily bad.

Gen VIII: It's not BAD. But like so much of Gen VIII's offerings, it's just mid. Nothing TERRIBLE, but nothing really amazing, either.

Gen IX: Some strong entries (Blaze Breed Tauros, holy shit. Ceruledge, Iron Moth), but also some weaker offerings and just general nothing entries.

Gen VII: Another really strong overall showing...except for the last two. Turtonator's design is...not great. And Blacephalon is such an unfortunate addition, timeline-wise.

Gen VI: This is the first generation to genuinely give Gen I a run for its money. The megas are all solid, and there really isn't a dud among the new stuff, even if none of it necessarily reaches the highest of highs that we get in Gen I either.

Gen I: I know I complain about mono-types a lot, but Gen I's roster is damn near perfect. So many classics, almost all of which have either gotten multiple forms in later games, or regional variations. I think Magmar is literally the only one who hasn't.

I get that Turtonator is trying to be a Bowser reference with more of a kappa look but I still hate it. Besides that, though, I went gen 7. Best starter of the fires, fire/poison being a cool type combo for Salazzle, and i think Blacephelon is neat for a UB, with the whole "demon ghostly clown who explodes it's own head at you" thing it's got going.

Side note that I find it weird Solgaleo is not part fire.

Hmm, this is basically a battle between the Vulpix/Growlithe/Ponyta lines and the Tepig/Litwick/Larvesta lines for me. Vulpix and Tepig are both very high among my top favorite Pokemon, and I probably give the edge to Vulpix. I'll take Volcarona over Rapidash, and... I think I like the Growlithe line a little more than Litwick's...

So I guess I'm Genwunning here.

Gen IX is probably third place? Fire mask is what I gave my Ogerpon, so that functionally was a Grass/Fire for me for the most part, and I love Ceruledge. For the most part, each gen only has one or two Fire types I really care about.

9. Gen IV

I never realized how devoid of fire types this Generation is. You have the starter, an unnecessary and inferior evolution to a Gen 1 mon, a meh legendary, and one of Rotom forms, which is pretty neat but I don't really give a lot of credit for Pokemon that have a lot of different forms with different types. Infernape is cool but not enough to lift the rest of this trash (including Chimchar). Magmortar sucks.

8. Gen III

I like Torchic a lot, but unfortunately don't care much for his evolutions. Castform Sun is kind of cute, but has the same problem as Rotom. The Numel line is fine and Torkoal is whatever, but they're better than Heatran and Magmortar.

7. Gen VII

Alolan Marowak and Incineroar are great, but the rest is really bad. Salazzle makes me uncomfortable, Turtornator is dumb, and Blacephalon is... I can't even put it into words.

6. Gen V

How high can Chandelure carry a generation by itself? Apparently 6th. Tepig is excellent but Emboar is a disgrace. The Larvesta line is kind of okay, I guess? I feel like it's growing on me recently. Victini could have been decent but mythicals are the worst. The fire monkeys suck and I don't care much for the rest.

5. Gen VI

Thank God for Megas because this generation is pretty rough without them. I like Pyroar, but that's about it. Two Charizards is kind of unfair though, and Mega Blaziken is a big improvement. Talonflame is solid but not great.

4. Gen IX

This is where it starts getting hard for me, cause the top 4 is all really good imo. I love Fuecoco, and while I'm not a huge fan of Skeledirge, he's still solid. Ceruledge is awesome, Chi-Yu rocks, Scovillain is neat, and Gouging Fire is really cool. Not a lot to nitpick here, but I guess I don't like Ogerpon much.

3. Gen VIII

Big boost from Arceus with Hisuian Typhlosion and Arcanine, but I also really like Cinderance, Coalossal, and Centiskorch. Really the only weak link is Darmanitan.

2. Gen II

Typhlosion is my favorite fire starter, and I'm a big fan of Houndoom, Entei, and Ho-oh. Even the Slugma line is pretty solid! Magby is the only one dragging it down.

1. Gen I

This might be the only time I rank Gen 1 number 1, but that lineup is god tier. Charizard and Arcanine alone could carry a generation, and then you throw in Ninetales, Flareon, Rapidash, Moltres, and Magmar. Fun fact: at one point long, long ago Magmar was my favorite Pokemon. Not a single miss and multiple all time classics. Fire started off hot (hehe) and kind of cooled off for a while, but things are turning around with Gens VIII and IX.

gen 5 comfortably

big fan of gen 2's set though (hi it's me probably the only one that likes magcargo

shame sunny castform is probably my least favourite castform so that knocks gen 3 out of contention for me, likewise not a rotom heat fan so gen 4 also out, 7 has blacephalon but i'm not big on the rest, i like the coalossal line but not nearly enough to save gen 8 from probably last place to me (ok hisuian growlithe is also cute but not enough for me to get over how much i disliked that one boss fight), the only gen 9 one i actually like is ogerpon and i don't even use that form, and the rest are solidly midfield to me

I never realized how devoid of fire types this Generation is.

Gen IV Fire is definitely the first time I was consciously aware that "wow, this typing just sucks this gen." Though, less from an aesthetic perspective and more of "I really need fire types and I have nothing."

Gen I. Gen V for #2.

MZero posted...

I never realized how devoid of fire types this Generation is.

Chimchar and Ponyta were the only two Fire options in Diamond/Pearl until post-game.

mnk posted...

Chimchar and Ponyta were the only two Fire options in Diamond/Pearl until post-game.

The crazy thing is...I didn't even notice that the same is true with the new Fire-types in Gen II as well, until much later one. Slugma/Houndour are both in Kanto, Magby is a baby, and Entei/Ho-Oh are legendaries. But it doesn't stand out like Gen IV because you still have Magmar, Growlithe/Vulpix, Ponyta and Flareon all accessible easily, but NEW Fire-types really do feel like they took a backseat for like, three generations before Gen V started giving them proper attention again (outside of the starters).

Bitto posted...

Gen IV Fire is definitely the first time I was consciously aware that "wow, this typing just sucks this gen." Though, less from an aesthetic perspective and more of "I really need fire types and I have nothing."

I never really got this complaint. Sure you need fire type attacks but they don't need to come from fire types; it's a weak defensive typing. Same with ice tbh. (Obviously if it's just what's fun for you that's different)

Anyway I voted gen 1 though gen 5 tries pretty hard. If gen 5 had Infernape it would probably get my vote here.

Kenri posted...

I never really got this complaint. Sure you need fire type attacks but they don't need to come from fire types; it's a weak defensive typing. Same with ice tbh. (Obviously if it's just what's fun for you that's different)

Anyway I voted gen 1 though gen 5 tries pretty hard. If gen 5 had Infernape it would probably get my vote here.

Fire-type STAB is a thing.

It's only a choice between 2 and 5. 2 is completely solid all around, while 5 has a few duds but higher highs than 2.

1 > 6 > 5 > 7 > meh

Gen 4 needed more fire types BADLY. Infernape is pretty great though.

Espeon posted...

Fire-type STAB is a thing.

So is Ice STAB but I'd still rather stick Ice Beam on a water-type.

...assuming I don't just pick whatever Pokmon is cutest which is the typical play.

Went with Gen 6, but like with dragons it kinda feels like cheating since the gen "adopts" Charizard, Houdoom, Blaziken, Camerupt, and even Groudon while adding Fennekin, Volcanion, and this guy:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/047ff6df.jpg

-hotdogturtle-- posted...

It's only a choice between 2 and 5. 2 is completely solid all around, while 5 has a few duds but higher highs than 2.

This is my take exactly.

Went with 5 because the ones I love I REALLY REALLY REALLY love. And I'll still take the duds over most fire types across other gens anyway.

7 might be in third place for me, as it also has some really high highs.

I definitely understand why people consider the lack of fire types in gen 4 a flaw, but I never really got why it felt like a deal breaker. Maybe if I actually liked the type I'd feel differently. I know for a fact that part of why gen 1 is one of my least favourite gens is that a lot of types I like got shafted.

Nearly midnight bump.

Morning bump.

Hard one

Gen 6 has two Charizards, Gen 1 has superior og Charizard, and Gen V has Theman, Volc and Chandelure.

I guess I'll go with Gen V for Theman. Best type though. So much excellence here.

I was torn between I and V so I'm glad to see those are the only two in contention really. I went with V because even though I has my absolute favorite V has so many more high quality contenders

Less than an hour left.

Yeah it's been said. This is a slam dunk for Gen I.