Water/Ground vs Steel/Fairy vs Dragon/Ground: Which Core to Start With

Start with Steel/Fairy, and write a Ground immunity in the next slot before you name a sweeper. That is the Generation 6–9 answer, Fairy included, when the attacks you switch are Dragon, Dark, Fairy, or Ice Shard. Water/Ground replaces it when the job is Electric immunity, or Water STAB into Great Tusk, Excadrill, or Landorus-Therian, and a Grass answer is already named. Dragon/Ground replaces it when the wall is Gholdengo, Kingambit, or Heatran and Grass has made Water/Ground's 4× the worse emergency, with an Ice resist named second.

Swampert, Gastrodon, and Quagsire share one chart. Magearna, Tinkaton, and Crowned Zacian share the next. Garchomp is the Dragon/Ground you bring. Open the presets on the Dual Type Calculator: Water/Ground, Steel/Fairy, and Dragon/Ground. The long pages are Water/Ground, Steel/Fairy, and Dragon/Ground. Multiply with the dual-type chart guide, then place the pair on a sheet with the team-building guide. Ice Shard, Freeze-Dry, and the other 4× lines are in every 4× weakness in Gen 9.

Pokémon GO uses 1.6× and 2.56×, and an immunity does not deal 0×. Raids belong on the Pokémon GO type chart.

One defensive frame

A weakness count flatters Water/Ground. Its only weakness is 4×. Steel/Fairy's two weaknesses are ordinary 2× hits. Dragon/Ground adds Dragon and Fairy at 2× on top of an Ice 4×. On the dual-type chart, sort by Fewest weaknesses and turn on Has a 4× weakness. That filter is what separates these three.

Incoming	Water/Ground	Steel/Fairy	Dragon/Ground
Grass	4×	0.5×	1×
Ice	1×	0.5×	4×
Ground	1×	2×	1×
Fire	0.5×	2×	0.5×
Electric	0×	0.5×	0×
Dragon	1×	0×	2×
Fairy	1×	0.5×	2×
Dark	1×	0.5×	1×
Fighting	1×	1×	1×
Poison	0.5×	0×	0.5×
Rock	0.5×	0.5×	0.5×
Bug	1×	0.25×	1×
Water	1×	1×	1×

Water and Ice into Water/Ground are 1× because each is 2× into Ground and 0.5× into Water. Water and Grass into Dragon/Ground cancel the same way. Fighting into Steel/Fairy is 2× into Steel and 0.5× into Fairy, so Close Combat is neutral. A Steel move into Steel/Fairy is 0.5× into Steel and 2× into Fairy, so Iron Head is neutral before STAB. Ghost is 1× on this chart. Before Generation 6, Steel also resisted Ghost and Dark.

Stealth Rock does not pick a winner. Rock is 0.5× into all three, so each takes one sixteenth on entry. The dual-type guide has the rest of that table. Spikes and Sticky Web hit all three: none of these typings is Flying, and none brings Levitate. Toxic Spikes poison the two Ground cores. Steel is immune to poison, so Steel/Fairy switches in clean and leaves the spikes up.

STAB, then the Pokémon that change the product

Water hits Fire, Ground, and Rock. Ground hits Fire, Electric, Poison, Rock, and Steel, and misses Flying. Steel hits Ice, Rock, and Fairy. Fairy hits Fighting, Dragon, and Dark. Dragon hits Dragon and misses Fairy. Grass resists both Water and Ground. Steel resists Dragon, and Fairy is immune to it. The extra 1.5× in the STAB guide does not invent a super-effective hit, and coverage leaves when that Pokémon faints.

The second type moves the product. These are the rows that change which core you lock. "Comes back" is the damage into Water/Ground, then Steel/Fairy, then Dragon/Ground.

Target	Water/Ground	Steel/Fairy	Dragon/Ground	Comes back
Rillaboom	both 0.5×	both 1×	Dragon 1×, Earthquake 0.5×	Grass 4×, 0.5×, 1×
Ferrothorn	Water 0.5×, Earthquake 1×	both 0.5×	Dragon 0.5×, Earthquake 1×	Grass 4×, 0.5×, 1×
Great Tusk	Water 2×, Earthquake 1×	Fairy 2×, Steel 1×	both 1×	Headlong Rush 1×, 2×, 1×
Landorus-Therian	Water 2×, Earthquake 0×	both 1×	Dragon 1×, Earthquake 0×	Earthquake 1×, 2×, 1×
Heatran	Water 2×, Earthquake 4×	both 0.25×	Earthquake 4×, Dragon 0.5×	Fire 0.5×, 2×, 0.5×. Earth Power 1×, 2×, 1×
Gholdengo	Earthquake 2×, Water 1×	both 0.5×	Earthquake 2×, Dragon 0.5×	Make It Rain 0.5×, 1×, 1×
Kingambit	Earthquake 2×, Water 1×	Steel 0.5×, Fairy 1×	Earthquake 2×, Dragon 0.5×	Iron Head 0.5×, 1×, 1×
Flutter Mane	both 1×	Steel 2×, Fairy 1×	Dragon 0×, Earthquake 1×	Moonblast 1×, 0.5×, 2×
Weavile	both 1×	both 2×	both 1×	Ice 1×, 0.5×, 4×
Dragapult	Water 0.5×, Earthquake 1×	Fairy 2×, Steel 1×	Dragon 2×	Dragon moves 1×, 0×, 2×
Pelipper	Water 0.5×, Earthquake 0×	Steel 0.5×, Fairy 1×	Dragon 1×, Earthquake 0×	Electric is the 4×, and none of these STABs is Electric

Excadrill takes both Water/Ground STABs and Garchomp's Earthquake at 2×, and both Steel/Fairy STABs at 0.5×. Its Earthquake back is 1×, 2×, 1×. Corviknight takes no STAB here at 2×: Waterfall is 1×, Earthquake is 0×, and Steel, Fairy, and Dragon are 0.5×. Rotom-Wash takes Earthquake at 2× on the chart and at 0× with Levitate. Volt Switch is 0× into both Ground cores and 0.5× into Steel/Fairy.

Water/Ground

Grass is 4×, because it is 2× into both types. Electric is 0×. Fire, Poison, Rock, and Steel are 0.5×. There is no ordinary 2× line. Swampert is the bulky shape on the site: Earthquake, Waterfall, Ice Punch, Stealth Rock, Torrent or Damp. Gastrodon's Storm Drain and Quagsire's Water Absorb turn the 1× Water hit into 0×. Unaware ignores stat boosts and leaves the type line alone. Storm Drain and Water Absorb still show Grass at 4×.

Freeze-Dry is the second Grass. It treats Water as weak to that Ice hit, so the factors are 2× and 2×. A resistance Berry halves one super-effective hit, and the 4× lands at 2× once.

Waterfall is the STAB the other cores lack: 2× into Tusk, Excadrill, and Landorus-Therian, with their Ground move coming back at 1×. Heatran's Fire move is 0.5× while Earthquake is 4×. The Grass bill is Grassy Glide at 4× into a core whose own STABs are 0.5× into Rillaboom. Amoonguss takes Waterfall at 0.5× and Earthquake at 1×, then Spore. Ferrothorn's Grass move is 4× and Earthquake into it is only 1×. Ice Punch is 2× into Rillaboom and Amoonguss, 1× into Ferrothorn, and 4× into Garchomp and Landorus-Therian. It leaves when Swampert faints. Pelipper takes Waterfall at 0.5× and Earthquake at 0×, so the rain mirror needs the Electric or Grass partner from the team-building guide.

Pick Water/Ground over Steel/Fairy when you would rather take Earthquake at 1× than at 2× and still threaten Tusk, Excadrill, and Landorus-Therian. Pick it over Dragon/Ground when you want the Electric immunity with Ice at 1×. Rain is the clean sheet: Pelipper powers Water STAB, halves Fire, and this core absorbs the Electric moves rain clicks. Mega Swampert, where that form exists, adds Swift Swim on the same chart. Name the Grass answer anyway.

Steel/Fairy

Fire and Ground are the only weaknesses, both 2×. Fighting and Steel cancel to 1×. Poison and Dragon are 0×. Bug is 0.25×. Dark, Fairy, Ice, and Grass are among the 0.5× resists. This is the only core of the three that switches into Ice Shard, Moonblast, and a Dragon move.

Tinkaton is the Generation 9 version: Gigaton Hammer, Play Rough, Knock Off, Thunder Wave. Gigaton Hammer cannot be clicked on consecutive turns, so the chart is the reason it stays. Magearna is Fleur Cannon, Flash Cannon, Volt Switch, and Focus Blast. Crowned Zacian is Fairy/Steel while it holds the Rusted Sword, the form the Pokémon page lists. Hero Zacian is pure Fairy: Dragon is still 0×, and the Steel resist, Poison immunity, and Behemoth Blade are not.

Click Steel into Flutter Mane: the Fairy move is only 1× into Ghost/Fairy. Iron Valiant takes both STABs at 2× because it is also Fighting, then answers with Moonblast at 0.5× or Close Combat at 1×, often moving first. Weavile takes both STABs at 2× and hits back for 0.5×. Dragapult takes Fairy at 2×, and Dragon Darts do 0×. Rillaboom's Grass is 0.5×, and neither STAB is super effective back.

Ground is the stay-in you cannot offer. Headlong Rush and Earthquake from Tusk, Garchomp, Landorus-Therian, and Excadrill are 2×. Fairy is 2× back into Tusk and 1× into Landorus-Therian. Crowned Zacian at 148 Speed clicks Play Rough before Garchomp at 102 Speed clicks Earthquake. Tinkaton at 94 and Magearna at 65 take the Ground hit first. Sun multiplies Fire by 1.5×, the same modifier as the 4× guide, so the Fire weakness lands at 3× before stats. Rain halves it.

Heatran takes both STABs at 0.25×. Flash Fire changes Fire aimed at Heatran and leaves Earth Power at 2×. Gholdengo takes both at 0.5×, and Fighting coverage is 0× into that Ghost. Kingambit takes Fairy at 1× and Steel at 0.5×, the neutral the team-building guide already separates from a resist. Ferrothorn, Corviknight, and Scizor take both STABs at 0.5×. Water/Ground takes Steel at 0.5× and Fairy at 1×, blanks Volt Switch, and Earthquakes this core at 2×.

Pick this over the other two when one slot has to meet Dragon, Dark, Fairy, and Ice Shard. The next name is the Ground immunity: Corviknight, Landorus-Therian, or Rotom-Wash while Levitate holds. If the Ground move ignores abilities, the switch is the Flying type. A later Water or Dragon can resist Fire. Dragon/Ground resists that Fire and still takes Ground at 1×.

Dragon/Ground

Ice is 4×. Fairy and Dragon are 2×. Electric is 0×. Fire, Poison, and Rock are 0.5×. Water and Grass cancel to 1×. Garchomp's listed set is Earthquake, Outrage, Stone Edge, and Swords Dance. Stone Edge is 4× into Charizard, 2× into Pelipper, 1× into Corviknight and Landorus-Therian, and 0.25× into Tusk. It leaves when Garchomp faints.

Earthquake is the reason to start here. It is 4× into Heatran and 2× into Gholdengo, Kingambit, and Excadrill, the Steel shapes Steel/Fairy's STAB does not break. Outrage is 2× into Dragapult, 0.5× into Steel, and 0× into Fairy. Into Steel/Fairy, Outrage does nothing and Earthquake is 2×. Click the Ground move.

Ice Shard still removes Garchomp on the stay-in. The 4× guide puts Kingambit on the 0.5× switch and keeps that priority line. Yache Berry makes one Ice hit 2×. Tera Steel resists Ice, Fairy, and Dragon only while it is up. The rest of the team still plays this chart.

Fairy is a second job. Moonblast from Flutter Mane or Iron Valiant is 2×, Dragon STAB into them is 0×, and Earthquake is 1×. Kingambit resists Ice and takes Fairy at 1×. A Steel/Fairy partner can be both answers, and your Earthquake is then 2× into that partner, which still leaves you without a Ground switch.

Grass is why this core beats Water/Ground as a start. Rillaboom and Amoonguss hit Dragon/Ground at 1× and Water/Ground at 4×. Earthquake into Rillaboom is still 0.5×. Ferrothorn's Grass is the same split, and Earthquake into Ferrothorn is 1× from either Ground core.

Pick Dragon/Ground over Steel/Fairy when those Steel walls are the STAB job and slot two is already an Ice resist. Pick it over Water/Ground when Rillaboom, Ferrothorn, or Amoonguss makes the Grass 4× the emergency you refuse. Bench it when the Ground-type you must threaten is Great Tusk or Landorus-Therian. Waterfall is the move that hits them. Garchomp's STAB does not.

Which name you write first

Lock the core by the attack you have to switch, then spend the next slot on the hole that choice opened. Clear the sample team in the team calculator before you search. The green banner only checks that some resist exists. The team-building guide already has a green sheet that loses Garchomp to Ice Shard.

The format's problem	The start	The next slot
Dragon, Dark, Fairy, or Ice Shard	Steel/Fairy	A Ground immunity: Corviknight, Landorus-Therian, or Levitate
Electric, or Tusk, Excadrill, and Landorus-Therian	Water/Ground	The Grass resist, already named
Gholdengo, Kingambit, or Heatran, and Grass is common	Dragon/Ground	An Ice resist. Fairy is a second name
Sun	Water/Ground if Grass is quiet. Dragon/Ground if Grass is common	Fire into Steel/Fairy is 3× before stats
Rain	Water/Ground beside Pelipper	A Pokémon that hits Water/Flying
Doubles, and the core would click Earthquake	Steel/Fairy, unless rain already won	Flying, Levitate, or Wide Guard if the Ground core stays

Rocks are one sixteenth on all three. Toxic Spikes are the hazard that actually separates them, toward Steel/Fairy. Setting Stealth Rock with Swampert or Garchomp is a role, and it leaves Grass and Ice at the same numbers. In doubles, Earthquake hits the ally, so a Ground core needs a Flying or Levitate partner, or Wide Guard. The opponent's spread Ground move is still 2× into Steel/Fairy.

After the six are loaded, read Grass, Ice, Ground, and Fire in the weak-member column. One resist means a switch exists. The Pokémon that stayed in still takes the 4×. The type coverage calculator is the attacking side, and the balanced team guide is the speed and item pass.

FAQ

Which core should you start with?

Steel/Fairy, then a Ground immunity, when the switch is Dragon, Dark, Fairy, or Ice Shard. Water/Ground when the job is Electric or Water STAB into Great Tusk, Excadrill, or Landorus-Therian, with Grass already answered. Dragon/Ground when Gholdengo, Kingambit, or Heatran is the wall and Grass makes the Water/Ground 4× the worse hole, with Ice resisted by slot two.

Why is Water/Ground's single weakness still a reason to pass?

Grass is 4×, and it is the only super-effective type. Grassy Glide is that product at priority, while both STABs are 0.5× into Rillaboom. Freeze-Dry is the same 4×. See Water/Ground.

Does Steel/Fairy have a 4× weakness?

No. Fire and Ground are 2×, and Dragon and Poison are 0×. See Steel/Fairy. Heatran still takes both STABs at 0.25×, and Gholdengo takes both at 0.5×.

When is Dragon/Ground the right first core?

When Earthquake into Heatran, Gholdengo, or Kingambit is the job, Grass retires Water/Ground, and an Ice resist is already second. Into Great Tusk both STABs are 1×, so Water/Ground is the start instead. See Dragon/Ground.

Do Stealth Rock or Toxic Spikes choose among them?

Rocks are one sixteenth on all three. Toxic Spikes poison Water/Ground and Dragon/Ground. Steel/Fairy switches in unpoisoned and does not clear the spikes.

Do these cores work in Pokémon GO?

No. This is the Generation 6–9 chart. Pokémon GO uses different multipliers, and an immunity does not deal 0×. Use the Pokémon GO type chart.