Base Stats: 95/130/80/70/80/50
Abilities: Snow Cloak / Slush Rush / Swift Swim
Notable Moves:
Icicle Crash
Swords Dance
Liquidation
Aqua Jet
Close Combat
Earthquake
Play Rough
Superpower
Bulk Up
Ice Punch
Brick Break
Shadow Claw
Rock Slide
Stone Edge
X-Scissor
Tera Blast
Yawn
Night Slash
Encore
Heavy Slam
Taunt
Facade
Pros:
- Beartic has a massive Attack stat, access to Swords Dance, and a great offensive typing in mono-Ice.
- Beartic can function decently well under both Rain and Snow due to its access to both Slush Rush and Swift Swim
- Despite its Speed, Beartic has access to Aqua Jet which can circumvent its Speed issues occasionally and which does respectable damage under Rain.
- In Scarlet and Violet, Beartic got access to two incredibly important coverage moves in Earthquake and Close Combat. The former gives it coveted Ice/Ground coverage, and the latter is a massive upgrade over Superpower and is much safer to use.
- Despite its poor defensive typing, Beartic's 95/80/80 bulk isn't atrocious and can be bolstered further by Snow.
- For as long as Terastalization is legal, Beartic at least gets access to the ability to not remain an Ice-type defensively while keeping all of the typing's offensive benefits.
Cons:
- Beartic is extremely slow, even under Snow or Rain with the corresponding Ability. It is forced to run a Jolly nature just to ensure it can outspeed max-Speed Dragapult and Chien-Pao.
- Beartic is entirely dependent on its corresponding weather to function, although its damage output and incredible coverage can make opposing weather setters reconsider trying to overwrite its weather in front of it.
- Ice is a terrible defensive typing, and Beartic is not the best Terastalization abuser by any means.
- On Snow teams, it can be more difficult to justify running than Cetitan and has poor defensive synergy with it.
- Beartic suffers from extreme 4MSS; its coverage is fantastic, but it really wants to run its STAB, Earthquake, Close Combat, Play Rough, and Aqua Jet.
- Beartic struggles immensely against Unaware Dondozo. It struggles against bulky Waters in general, but it just cannot muscle past Dondozo and gets set up on instead.
- Did I mention that Beartic is slow? Yeah, it's enough of an issue that it warrants mentioning a second time. It doesn't have priority at the level of Kingambit, nor does it have Kingambit's fantastic typing or bulk, so that Speed is really that bad.
Terastallization Potential:
- Fairy can give Beartic resistances to Breloom's Mach Punch and the many Sucker Punches flying around OU. It can give it STAB on Play Rough, too, but it typically can't afford to run Play Rough.
- Ice, Fighting, and Ground offer less-than-stellar defensive profiles but allow Beartic to hit harder with its primary STAB or grant it a second STAB to utilize.
- Water can offer Beartic the same Ice resistance it enjoys while also giving it an otherwise superior defensive profile, and can also give it STAB on both Aqua Jet and the occasional Liquidation.
Potential Sets:
Weather Sweeper
Beartic @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Slush Rush / Swift Swim
Tera Type: Fairy / Ice / Fighting / Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Icicle Crash
- Close Combat / Earthquake
- Earthquake / Aqua Jet / Play Rough
This set is simple: if Beartic sets up a Swords Dance (and on Rain, this is a big if), it can wallbreak to facilitate a Cetitan or Barraskewda sweep, depending on the weather it's run on. A Jolly nature is run to ensure that Beartic can outspeed max-Speed, positive-Nature Dragapult and Chien-Pao while Beartic's corresponding weather is active. Adamant can be considered, but the loss in Speed is considerable. Beartic's Tera-type can be used defensively or offensively; choose it accordingly. Aqua Jet is a much better-suited move on Rain teams, but it's still useful on Snow teams. Life Orb can be considered, but it severely cuts into Beartic's longevity both by allowing it to take hazard damage it's so prone to and by virtue of 10% recoil every time it successfully attacks; the power increase, however, allows Beartic to inflict astonishing amounts of damage after a Swords Dance boost.
Choice Band
Beartic @ Choice Band
Ability: Swift Swim / Slush Rush
Tera Type: Ice / Water / Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Aqua Jet / Earthquake
- Close Combat
- Liquidation / Play Rough / Earthquake
This set is even simpler to use than the Swords Dance set due to the lack of any setup moves: Beartic simply clicks moves and inflicts very high immediate damage to anything in front of it with its strong Ice STAB and fantastic coverage. This set is better-suited for Rain teams due to its ability to inflict massive damage to Barraskewda's defensive counterplay, and due to Aqua Jet's much more respectable damage output with a Choice Band and Rain support. Earthquake, Play Rough, and Liquidation can all be considered as coverage options, and on Snow teams Aqua Jet may not be worth running depending on Beartic's team support. An offensively-oriented Tera-type helps Beartic wallbreak, although it probably won't Terastalize very often.
Other Options:
No. Choice Scarf doesn't give Beartic enough Speed to be worth the flexibility or drop in power, and Beartic's abilities are either banned under Evasion Clause (Snow Cloak) or boost its Speed under weather, so despite its now-excellent movepool it's
Overall:
Beartic has historically been a gloriously mediocre Pokemon despite its impressive Attack stat, but with a few crucial movepool additions it received in Gen IX in the form of Earthquake and Close Combat it has a lot more potential to function on dedicated Snow and Rain teams. However, its poor defensive typing and atrocious Speed even when Slush Rush or Swift Swim is active will possibly hold it back from its true potential since it's all but forced to run a Jolly Nature, compromising its peak damage output heavily.
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