Ice-types in PU: A Look into the Metagame's Coolest Threats!

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Introduction

In many metagames, the Ice typing has been looked down upon as detrimental. This is due to its numerous weaknesses to common types like Fighting, Fire, and Steel, as well as only a singular resistance that happens to be to itself. However, in the PU metagame, Ice-types have established themselves not only as prevalent on nearly every team, but also as a dominant offensive force in the tier.

How did this happen? Well, for a while now, PU has been a meta full of Flying-types like Oricorio-E and Grass-types like Lilligant, meaning Ice-types are better than ever. Hail is also very prominent even without Aurora Veil. The metagame started to favor Ice-types even more with the emergence of Mudsdale and Dodrio as top threats, but it's not just the metagame that favors them; PU's Ice-types are truly powerhouses in their own right. Let's take a look at the Pokémon themselves!

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Froslass

Froslass is PU’s top Spiker that is very widespread due to its blistering base 110 Speed and great utility moves in Will-O-Wisp and Taunt, allowing it to weaken physical attackers and cripple bulky titans like Kangaskhan and Audino. Froslass also has a great dual typing; its Ice typing gives it a good matchup against entry hazard removers like Lurantis, while its Ghost typing allows it spinblock its own entry hazards. Its bulky set invests in HP to make it easier for it to get up multiple layers of Spikes. Cursed Body can also mess with Pokémon like Gurdurr and allow Froslass to set up another layer of Spikes. On the other hand, its offensive Spikes set invests into Special Attack and runs an offensive item like Ghostium Z or Life Orb to pressure or knock out opposing Defoggers. However, its longevity isn't the greatest. Besides spinblocking, its typing does no favors; it's vulnerable to every form of hazard, especially Stealth Rock, it can be Pursuit trapped, and while it can ease this weakness with Will-O-Wisp, Pokémon like Stoutland take full advantage of burns with Facade and can still Pursuit trap Froslass if it doesn't burn them. Froslass can be hit pretty hard by coverage like Gurdurr’s Knock Off and Primeape's Stone Edge as well. On top of this, Froslass lacks any notably high stat except for Speed, so it can struggle to inflict or take damage if it has to. However, Froslass is still a strong option due to how versatile and potent it is.

Alolan Sandslash

Due to it dropping with Aurorus, Alolan Sandslash was immediately seen as a solid offensive threat with its access to Swords Dance, good typing that gives it setup opportunities against Pokémon like physical Skuntank and defensive Mesprit, and ability in Slush Rush, which allows it to outspeed most of unboosted metagame under hail. However, this set has fallen out of favor due to Pokémon like Jellicent and Quagsire becoming prevalent. A specially defensive set later saw a ton of usage due to its insane role compression using Alolan Sandslash's defensive typing to become an utility Pokémon able to set and remove entry hazards as well as soft check and cripple threats like Aurorus, Mesprit, and Oricorio-E. However, while its typing has some useful resistances, it leaves Alolan Sandslash tremendously weak to opposing Fire- and Fighting-type attacks from the likes of Simisear and Gurdurr. This also means that coverage moves such as Hidden Power Fire on Lilligant, Earth Power on Aurorus, and Hidden Power Fighting on Oricorio-E prevent Alolan Sandslash from checking them reliably. Its typing also can hamper its sweeping prowess against the likes of Hitmonchan and Gurdurr, as they can dispose of it with Mach Punch. Its Speed tier also isn't the greatest, leaving it fairly easy to revenge kill after hail ends and susceptible to fast Choice Scarf users like Manectric even when hail is active. However, due to its typing, ability, and utility, Alolan Sandslash is a fantastic Pokémon in the current metagame.

Jynx

Since the start of SM PU, Jynx has been one of the scariest breakers in the metagame. Jynx is the epitome of a high-risk, high-reward Pokémon, with its incredible coverage between its dual STAB attacks and ability to put any Pokémon that resists them to sleep with Lovely Kiss. Nasty Plot allows it be an even greater menace to bulky teams, making it nigh impossible to safely switch into. Furthermore, the introduction of Z-Moves allow it to boost its Speed with Z-Lovely Kiss and threaten to sweep entire teams. Surely a Pokémon with all these incredible traits would be too much for the tier, but Jynx itself has plenty of drawbacks. For one, it's very frail and is massively chipped down by entry hazards and priority moves ranging from Kangaskhan's Fake Out to Hitmonchan's Mach Punch. In addition, it is quite reliant on sleep turns from Lovely Kiss for sweeping and breaking teams. If Lovely Kiss happens to miss or an opposing Pokémon happens to wake up earlier than expected, Jynx can easily topple over to even the weakest of physical attacks. If Jynx isn't running Focus Blast, it can also struggle with the prevalence of Alolan Sandslash and other Steel-types.

Rotom-F

• Rotom-Frost @ Icium Z
• Ability: Levitate
• EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
• Timid Nature
• - Blizzard
• - Thunderbolt
• - Defog
• - Will-O-Wisp / Volt Switch

Everyone's favorite fridge was among the best Pokémon in ORAS PU, and here in SM it is again rising to prominence. Rotom-F was originally overlooked earlier in the metagame due to Lanturn being at its peak, but over time, people noticed that many bulkier Pokémon in the metagame were weak to its fantastic BoltBeam coverage and Subzero Slammer. The addition of Defog to Rotom-F's moveset has allowed Rotom-F to become one of the tier's more reliable hazard removers, as it can reliably Defog against Qwilfish and Mudsdale on forced switches. Between Thunderbolt and Blizzard, Rotom-F can easily poke holes in cores of Pokémon such as Jellicent, Mudsdale, and Oricorio-E. This along with its above-average Speed tier, its access to Will-O-Wisp to cripple walls like Regirock, and the threat of Volt Switch makes Rotom-F a massive annoyance to switch into for any team that doesn't have Lanturn. Rotom-F's only moderate Speed and Stealth Rock weakness mean it is often not too tricky to revenge kill, but it certainly should not be underestimated.

Aurorus

Ever since it first dropped to PU, Aurorus has proven itself as a solid Ice-type Pokémon. It also has good coverage such as Earth Power and Freeze-Dry to hit its would-be checks such as Alolan Sandslash, Metang, and Lanturn. With a Choice Scarf, Aurorus can improve its offense matchup and excel against weather teams, while with Choice Specs, Aurorus acts as a powerful special wallbreaker due to its solid Special Attack, fantastic offensive typing, and access to Snow Warning, which allows it to use Blizzard with perfect accuracy as well as break potential Focus Sashes and chip Pokémon into KO range. Snow Warning is also useful, since it activates Alolan Sandslash's Slush Rush. It even has a suicide lead set for Stealth Rock support on hail teams, but its damage output can be underwhelming on this set. All of it's sets struggle with priority such as Bullet Punch, Aqua Jet, and Mach Punch due to Aurorus's unimpressive defensive typing. Aurorus is susceptible to being revenge killed due to its low Speed and the fact that all relevant Choice Scarf users easily outspeed it, and it is easy to wear down between its Stealth Rock vulnerability and common weaknesses to Fighting and Ground. Current Choice Specs users like Jellicent also give it competition as a special breaker due to its better defensive typing and better Speed tier. However, with Pokémon that resist Ice other than Alolan Sandslash not being as common as they used to be, Aurorus is in a decent place in the metagame.

Abomasnow

Abomasnow, like Aurorus, is most known for setting hail and spamming Blizzards. For a long time, however, it has been overshadowed by the ice dinosaur, which is moderately stronger with a Choice Specs equipped and is bulkier. However, Abomasnow is able to secure a niche for itself in important ways. For one, it can switch into Water-types like Quagsire or Grass-types like Tangela with less fear. It also has access to Ice Shard, which can revenge kill Pokémon such as Oricorio-E and Lilligant that are at low health. Being able to revenge kill Lilligant is also a huge plus, as it is one of the most threatening sweepers in the tier. Abomasnow usually runs a mixed offensive set with Blizzard, Giga Drain, Focus Blast, and Ice Shard. This coverage allows it to threaten almost every Pokémon in the tier if it predicts right. It can also run a Swords Dance set, which can often take advantage of slower teams unprepared for a +2 Ice Shard. Like Aurorus, Abomasnow pairs well with Alolan Sandslash for hail sweeping as well as popular Fighting- or Fire-type answers like Mesprit and Lanturn. While it's strong if it can get into play for free, Abomasnow can be handled by most faster Pokémon fairly easily due to its massive number of weaknesses.

Articuno

Articuno differs from the aforementioned Pokémon due to its defensive nature. The legendary bird's main selling points are its fantastic bulk, especially specially, as well as access to reliable recovery in Roost. This allows Articuno to beat many of the metagame's staple threats one-on-one, including Mesprit, Skuntank, and Lilligant. Articuno is most often found on stall teams, where it uses Roost and Pressure to stall out special attackers and runs Heal Bell for supporting the stall team. Articuno is no slouch offensively either, with a decent Special Attack and solid coverage between Freeze-Dry, Hurricane, and Hidden Power Fighting if it chooses to run a more offensive set. However, Articuno has a very obvious weakness that makes it difficult to fit on teams and severely hinders its defensive capabilities: a 4x weakness to Stealth Rock. Even when paired with the most reliable hazard removal like Skuntank, it can be a pain to get Articuno into play without taking massive chip damage from Stealth Rock. Furthermore, despite Articuno's titanic bulk, it still possesses a myriad of weaknesses to common types like Rock, Steel, and Electric, which makes it struggle massively against common Pokémon like Regirock and Alolan Sandslash.

Crabominable

The ice crab has long been a terrifying threat that can tear apart unprepared teams under Trick Room with its powerful dual STAB moves of Ice Hammer and Close Combat. An Assault Vest set has also seen some popularity, since Crabominable can counter prominent special attackers like Aurorus and is hard to take down with its special bulk boosted to absurd levels. However, the prevalence of Qwilfish, Froslass, and Jellicent has decreased its potency, and as a special tank, Crabominable's weaknesses to Flying, Psychic, and Fire can often be counterproductive.

Regice

• Regice @ Icium Z / Leftovers
• Ability: Clear Body
• EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
• Modest Nature
• - Rock Polish
• - Ice Beam
• - Focus Blast
• - Thunderbolt

Being a member of the legendary Hoenn trio has blessed Regice with incredible stats. Regice can easily take on most of the tier's special attackers one-on-one, and its near-perfect coverage between Ice Beam, Focus Blast, and Thunderbolt is difficult to switch into. Despite its amazing upsides, Regice often falters as a wall in practice. Due to its low Speed and Stealth Rock weakness, it could suddenly be sitting at 50% health after a few poorly predicted switches and become dead weight. Regice also isn't very strong and really struggles to break bulkier teams.

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Final Thoughts

There are a ton of great Ice-type Pokémon in the PU metagame just waiting for you to use, each with their own special set of skills. Don't let the reputation of Ice-types in other metagames dissuade you from using these cool customers because these Pokémon are sure to put a chill down your opponent's spine. Get out there, and don't mind the cold!

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