>>55816159>it made a lot of things viable that disappeared laterIf by "viable," you mean "only the type is valuable," then yes.
Pokemon that were only viable because of the physical/special typings had no reason to remain that way.
Let's just look at Charizard, Arcanine and Sneasel just as examples.
Charizard is the extreme example of being useful for both ends of the spectrum; capable of both physical and special, and with a robust pool to draw from for both setups.
Arcanine boasts greater physical damage and with a solid physical movepool to draw from, but a modest special to make its typing valuable still.
Now, Sneasel, only boasting raw attack and dismal special, has to rely on non-STAB moves to carry it. It is the primeval example of the special typing going completely awry. It is literally irredeemable in this regard, for if the intention is to bring Ice or Dark typings, you would be better suited to bringing a Piloswine or Houndoom, as they both fit the role Sneasel would have brought, and then some, as both of these pokemon simply have better movepools and statlines. Having better speed just doesn't cut it.
