Are dragon types really worth having?

Question

In competitive battling, specifically. I know dragon types tend to have high stats and all, but having more weaknesses than advantages (offensively) and a massive weakness to the fairy type, aren’t pure dragon types completely obsolete by this point?

Comments

Is there any specific Gen 9 format you're talking about?

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There are only 13 pure Dragon-Type Pokémon and most of them aren't competitively viable to begin with. Nine of them are pre-evolutions. Calling them obsolete "by this point" is suggesting they've ever been prevalent to begin with. Gens 2, 4, and 9 didn't even introduce one. I think Haxorus was the only relevant one ever.

Answer 1

1 word. Terastallization lol. Fairy, Steel, Water, and even Electric are great Tera options for pure Dragon types. Tera single handedly keeps many Pokémon relevant, that would otherwise be obsolete. I know he's not pure Dragon type but Dragonite was considered unplayable in competitive until the Tera Normal-> Extreme Speed set came about. I would say Goodra especially has potential if at the very least as a special wall. It's all about finding the right ability + item + Tera Type combination.