**Draft Order**: Round 7 onwards
**Price Range**: 2-3 points
**Overview**: Beartic is a unique Pokemon in that it possesses both Slush Rush and Swift Swim, allowing it to take advantage of teams that utilize either the snow or rain archetype. It's strong offensive STAB, access to Swords Dance, and good coverage can also make it a cheap secondary Tera captain that can break past unsuspecting foes when well supported. However, Beartic has no recovery options to offset its terrible defensive profile, faces stiff competition from faster weather sweepers, many of whom can pivot, and can find itself worn down quickly by strong priority attacks and hazards, especially Stealth Rock.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Snow Sweeper**: Beartic fits onto snow teams due to the speed increase from Slush Rush, while also benefiting from the increase to its defense due to snow.
**Swift Swim Sweeper**: Thanks to Swift Swim, Beartic can also be added as a budget sweeper on rain teams. It will usually Terastallize into a water type to turn Liquidation and Aqua Jet into STAB attacks that are strengthened by the rain while also possessing Ice STAB to increase its threat potential.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Icicle Crash, Icicle Spear
**Setup Moves**: Bulk Up, Swords Dance
**Utility Moves**: Brick Break, Endeavor, Encore, Substitute, Taunt
**Coverage**: Aqua Jet, Body Press, Close Combat, Crunch, Earthquake, Heavy Slam, Liquidation, Play Rough, Rock Slide, Shadow Claw, Stone Edge, Throat Chop, X-Scissor
Niche Moves
========
**Trailblaze**: One of the ways Beartic is accounted for is with a faster revenge killer, so using Trailblaze on weather teams can be useful to deny this option. It also has the chance to make Beartic slightly more usable should either snow or rain run out.
**Yawn**: Beartic can force switches by using Yawn on a potential switch in. This offers it the chance to grab extra momentum by setting up with Swords Dance or by damaging a switch in.
**Snowscape / Rain Dance**: Should Beartic need to set up for itself in emergency situations, Beartic can use either Snowscape or Rain Dance to accomplish this.
Common Items
========
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Beartic can protect itself from entry hazards such as Stealth Rock by holding Heavy-Duty Boots to avoid being worn down as easily.
**Damage-boosting Items**: When able to keep hazards off the field, Life Orb, Never-Melt Ice, and Expert Belt can make good items to make Beartic hit significantly harder, especially when boosted by Swords Dance.
Niche Items
========
**Choice Band**: In scenarios where Beartic doesn't need to switch moves, Choice Band can be useful to have more immediate power for Icicle Crash and its coverage options, including a stronger Aqua Jet to pick off faster foes.
**Resistance Berries**: Beartic can use Chople Berry and Charti Berry among others in order to survive a super effective attack and prevent a revenge kill.
**Loaded Dice**: When holding Loaded-Dice, Icicle Spear becomes Beartic's strongest STAB attack and can help break past Pokemon protected by a substitute or Focus Sash.
Tera
========
While flawed, Beartic can make for a cheap secondary Tera captain when paired alongside a stronger primary captain, as Tera fixes many of its biggest issues. Tera Water is an obvious choice on rain teams to make Liquidation and Aqua Jet STAB attacks that are boosted by rain while also giving it a far better typing. Tera Fighting or Ground can be useful to boost its coverage options, while defensive types such as Fairy, Steel, and Grass can ease set up with Swords Dance, the latter also boosting Trailblaze. Finally, Tera Ice can sometimes be useful to keep the defense boost on snow teams while also strengthening Icicle Crash.
Draft Strategy
========
Beartic is a cheap secondary wallbreaker for either snow teams or rain teams. If Beartic wants to justify being drafted, it needs to be paired with strong support to be worthwhile.
**Weather Setters**: Without weather, Beartic is going to fall short due to its otherwise bad speed. For rain teams, Pelipper can provide momentum with U-turn and reliably heals with Roost, with Politoed as a cheaper substitute. For snow teams, Alolan-Ninetales is the best choice since it can set up Aurora Veil reliably due to its high speed which helps Beartic use Swords Dance. However, Abomasnow can be a cheaper option should you elect more expensive teammates.
**Strong Pivots**: Since Beartic doesn't want to hit the field directly due to its bad defensive profile and weakness to hazards, it greatly appreciates being paired with Pokemon that can bring it onto the field safely. This includes Tornadus-T, Landorus-T, Alomomola, the latter of which can heal it back up with Wish even if Stealth Rock is active. Galarian Slowking and Slowking stand out as great options because they can pivot with Chilly Reception, which guarantees that Slush Rush will be active.
**Faster Offensive Wallbreakers**: Beartic isn't that fast even with snow, so faster partners can take a lot of pressure off its shoulders. For this reason, Zapdos, Greninja and Thundurus can synergize well with it on rain teams, while Ogerpon, Baxcalibur and Latias can make ideal choices for snow teams since they help patch the defensive core on such teams.
**Entry Hazard Control**: Beartic enjoys a lot more freedom when it is less restricted to wearing Heavy-Duty Boots. While Pokemon such as Corviknight and Iron Treads can offer Defog or Rapid Spin support respectively, they also stack a weakness to Fire and Fighting types which is less than ideal. Therefore, Pokemon such as Quaquaval, Galarian Weezing and Mandibuzz can make ideal choices as they stack less weaknesses.
Checks and Counters
========
**Entry Hazards**: Without Heavy-Duty Boots, entry hazards will cause Beartic to be worn down quickly over the course of a battle. Furthermore, the chip damage it accumulates from Life Orb will mean that Beartic only has a few opportunities to be effective.
**Priority Attacks**: Aqua Jet can only get Beartic so far, as common priority attacks such as Mach Punch, Vacuum Wave and Bullet Punch do heavy damage to Beartic and can negate its speed even under weather.
**Faster Foes**: Beartic relies on rain or snow to function, so fast threats such as Urshifu-R, Darkrai and Hawlucha can prove bothersome, though they do have to watch for Tera beforehand. Even with weather, Pokemon such as Latios and Roaring Moon are so fast when boosted that they can defeat Beartic even under such conditions.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/patar136.571123/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/theuncultured.629845/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user2.200000
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user3.300000
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user4.400000
**Price Range**: 2-3 points
**Overview**: Beartic is a unique Pokemon in that it possesses both Slush Rush and Swift Swim, allowing it to take advantage of teams that utilize either the snow or rain archetype. It's strong offensive STAB, access to Swords Dance, and good coverage can also make it a cheap secondary Tera captain that can break past unsuspecting foes when well supported. However, Beartic has no recovery options to offset its terrible defensive profile, faces stiff competition from faster weather sweepers, many of whom can pivot, and can find itself worn down quickly by strong priority attacks and hazards, especially Stealth Rock.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Snow Sweeper**: Beartic fits onto snow teams due to the speed increase from Slush Rush, while also benefiting from the increase to its defense due to snow.
**Swift Swim Sweeper**: Thanks to Swift Swim, Beartic can also be added as a budget sweeper on rain teams. It will usually Terastallize into a water type to turn Liquidation and Aqua Jet into STAB attacks that are strengthened by the rain while also possessing Ice STAB to increase its threat potential.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Icicle Crash, Icicle Spear
**Setup Moves**: Bulk Up, Swords Dance
**Utility Moves**: Brick Break, Endeavor, Encore, Substitute, Taunt
**Coverage**: Aqua Jet, Body Press, Close Combat, Crunch, Earthquake, Heavy Slam, Liquidation, Play Rough, Rock Slide, Shadow Claw, Stone Edge, Throat Chop, X-Scissor
Niche Moves
========
**Trailblaze**: One of the ways Beartic is accounted for is with a faster revenge killer, so using Trailblaze on weather teams can be useful to deny this option. It also has the chance to make Beartic slightly more usable should either snow or rain run out.
**Yawn**: Beartic can force switches by using Yawn on a potential switch in. This offers it the chance to grab extra momentum by setting up with Swords Dance or by damaging a switch in.
**Snowscape / Rain Dance**: Should Beartic need to set up for itself in emergency situations, Beartic can use either Snowscape or Rain Dance to accomplish this.
Common Items
========
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Beartic can protect itself from entry hazards such as Stealth Rock by holding Heavy-Duty Boots to avoid being worn down as easily.
**Damage-boosting Items**: When able to keep hazards off the field, Life Orb, Never-Melt Ice, and Expert Belt can make good items to make Beartic hit significantly harder, especially when boosted by Swords Dance.
Niche Items
========
**Choice Band**: In scenarios where Beartic doesn't need to switch moves, Choice Band can be useful to have more immediate power for Icicle Crash and its coverage options, including a stronger Aqua Jet to pick off faster foes.
**Resistance Berries**: Beartic can use Chople Berry and Charti Berry among others in order to survive a super effective attack and prevent a revenge kill.
**Loaded Dice**: When holding Loaded-Dice, Icicle Spear becomes Beartic's strongest STAB attack and can help break past Pokemon protected by a substitute or Focus Sash.
Tera
========
While flawed, Beartic can make for a cheap secondary Tera captain when paired alongside a stronger primary captain, as Tera fixes many of its biggest issues. Tera Water is an obvious choice on rain teams to make Liquidation and Aqua Jet STAB attacks that are boosted by rain while also giving it a far better typing. Tera Fighting or Ground can be useful to boost its coverage options, while defensive types such as Fairy, Steel, and Grass can ease set up with Swords Dance, the latter also boosting Trailblaze. Finally, Tera Ice can sometimes be useful to keep the defense boost on snow teams while also strengthening Icicle Crash.
Draft Strategy
========
Beartic is a cheap secondary wallbreaker for either snow teams or rain teams. If Beartic wants to justify being drafted, it needs to be paired with strong support to be worthwhile.
**Weather Setters**: Without weather, Beartic is going to fall short due to its otherwise bad speed. For rain teams, Pelipper can provide momentum with U-turn and reliably heals with Roost, with Politoed as a cheaper substitute. For snow teams, Alolan-Ninetales is the best choice since it can set up Aurora Veil reliably due to its high speed which helps Beartic use Swords Dance. However, Abomasnow can be a cheaper option should you elect more expensive teammates.
**Strong Pivots**: Since Beartic doesn't want to hit the field directly due to its bad defensive profile and weakness to hazards, it greatly appreciates being paired with Pokemon that can bring it onto the field safely. This includes Tornadus-T, Landorus-T, Alomomola, the latter of which can heal it back up with Wish even if Stealth Rock is active. Galarian Slowking and Slowking stand out as great options because they can pivot with Chilly Reception, which guarantees that Slush Rush will be active.
**Faster Offensive Wallbreakers**: Beartic isn't that fast even with snow, so faster partners can take a lot of pressure off its shoulders. For this reason, Zapdos, Greninja and Thundurus can synergize well with it on rain teams, while Ogerpon, Baxcalibur and Latias can make ideal choices for snow teams since they help patch the defensive core on such teams.
**Entry Hazard Control**: Beartic enjoys a lot more freedom when it is less restricted to wearing Heavy-Duty Boots. While Pokemon such as Corviknight and Iron Treads can offer Defog or Rapid Spin support respectively, they also stack a weakness to Fire and Fighting types which is less than ideal. Therefore, Pokemon such as Quaquaval, Galarian Weezing and Mandibuzz can make ideal choices as they stack less weaknesses.
Checks and Counters
========
**Entry Hazards**: Without Heavy-Duty Boots, entry hazards will cause Beartic to be worn down quickly over the course of a battle. Furthermore, the chip damage it accumulates from Life Orb will mean that Beartic only has a few opportunities to be effective.
**Priority Attacks**: Aqua Jet can only get Beartic so far, as common priority attacks such as Mach Punch, Vacuum Wave and Bullet Punch do heavy damage to Beartic and can negate its speed even under weather.
**Faster Foes**: Beartic relies on rain or snow to function, so fast threats such as Urshifu-R, Darkrai and Hawlucha can prove bothersome, though they do have to watch for Tera beforehand. Even with weather, Pokemon such as Latios and Roaring Moon are so fast when boosted that they can defeat Beartic even under such conditions.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/patar136.571123/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/theuncultured.629845/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user2.200000
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user3.300000
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user4.400000
Last edited:
