You fight with exactly three pets in Catch a Monster, so a team isn't about one god-tier monster — it's about a trio that covers its matchups and balances its roles. This guide covers the element chart, why coverage matters when you only have three slots, how to think about roles, and a few sample teams you can build toward.
The element matchup chart
Each pet has one of six elements, and most elements are strong against two others. Hitting an enemy with the element it's weak to means you do more; hitting into a resist means you do less. Here is the full offensive chart:
| Element | Strong against | Weak into (avoid) |
|---|---|---|
| Fire | Grass, Ice | Water, Ground |
| Water | Fire, Ground | Ice, Grass |
| Grass | Water, Ground | Fire, Ice |
| Ice | Water, Grass | Fire, Ground |
| Ground | Fire, Ice | Water, Grass |
| Normal | — (neutral) | — (neutral) |
Normal is the odd one out: it isn't strong against anything, but nothing is strong against it either. Normal pets earn their slot on raw stats rather than matchups — which is exactly why several of the strongest pets in the game are Normal.
Why coverage matters with only three slots
With three pets you can't counter everything — but you can avoid being walled. The trap is stacking one element: a triple-Fire team melts grass and ice content, then hits a water-heavy zone and has no good answer on any of its three pets. Spreading your elements means that whatever you run into, at least one teammate hits it hard.
The Team Builder makes this visual: as you add pets it draws a radar of your offensive coverage across all six elements, so you can see at a glance which enemy types your trio threatens and which it leaves open. Aim to light up as many axes as possible rather than spiking one.
Roles: carry, bruiser, tank
Beyond elements, look at each pet's base stats (every wiki page lists them):
- Carry / glass cannon — high damage, lower HP. Your main source of kills; keep it alive.
- Bruiser — balanced damage and HP. Reliable in most content, the safe default.
- Tank — high HP, lower damage. Soaks hits in longer fights like bosses and Nightmare dungeons.
A common shape is one carry plus two bruisers, or a carry, a bruiser, and a tank for boss fights. Remember that rank multiplies these stats — an SS bruiser can out-damage an un-ranked "carry," so factor rank in when you assign roles.
Sample teams to build toward
Treat these as coverage templates rather than gospel — swap in whatever you've actually caught and ranked:
- Balanced coverage (endgame): Marigon (Water), Mentawolf (Grass), Avalanchewyrm (Ice). Between them they hit Fire, Ground, Water, and Grass hard — and all three are top-tier meta pets.
- Raw-power carry core: Void Lunafox (Normal) as the SS carry, with Marigon (Water) and Mentawolf (Grass) covering the matchups Normal can't. Big damage that still isn't walled.
- Early game: don't over-think it — pick three different elements from whatever you can catch, and favour the one with the highest base damage as your carry. Check the tier list before sinking rank into any of them.
Putting it together
Open the Team Builder, drop in three pets, and watch the coverage radar. If it spikes on one or two axes and leaves the rest dark, swap an element. Save the builds you like, and cross-reference picks against the community tier list. New to the game? Start with the Beginner's Guide first.