Pokémon Ice Guide, Types Strategy and Analysis

Ice Pokémon Guide with Type FAQ, Strategies, and Pokémon Moves

Aug 12, 2009 Bradley Kairis

Ice Pokémon contain great strengths offensively, but suffer from numerous defensive weaknesses. Learn more about Ice Pokémon and Ice moves in this detailed Ice Guide.

Ice Pokémon can use powerful Ice attacks to put the freeze on strong Pokémon - particularly Dragon types. However, Water Pokémon can also learn Ice attacks, so the real question is if the Ice type stands out enough to warrant using an Ice Pokémon.

Read this beginner's guide to Pokémon to learn more about the Ice Pokémon type.

Ice Pokémon FAQ

What are Ice attacks strong against?

Super-effective (x2): Dragon, Flying, Grass, Ground
Weak (x0.5): Fire, Ice, Steel, Water

What attacks are strong against Ice Pokémon?

Super-Effective (x2): Fighting, Fire, Rock, Steel
Resistances (x0.5): Ice

What are some common characteristics of Ice Pokémon?

Ice attacks are the only reliable Dragon counter
Most Ice Pokémon are Ice/Water
Ice is a rare Pokémon type
Ice Pokémon are immune to the Freeze status

General Strategies for Ice Pokémon

An Ice attack is an absolute must-have for any Pokémon party. Defeating Dragon Pokémon becomes exceedingly difficult without a strong Pokémon with Ice Beam or Blizzard, since Ice typically deals x4 damage (as most Dragons are either Dragon/Flying or Dragon/Ground). However, while having at least one strong Ice attack is a must, having an Ice Pokémon in the party is not always necessary.

The obvious benefit to having an Ice type in the team is for the added +50% damage from STAB (same type attack bonus). Countering powerful Dragon Pokémon becomes even easier with STAB.

However, since Ice Pokémon only resist one type (itself, Ice), dual-types result in numerous weaknesses, and considering the Ice type's rarity, there's less variety to choose, so finding an Ice Pokémon that fits well with a particular team may be difficult.

Aside from the Dragon counter, Ice also benefits from super-effective hits on Flying, Ground, and Grass - all powerful types. But while Ice Pokémon have an excellent offensive spread, they only resist one type (Ice). Also unfortunate, Ice Pokémon's stats are typically focused on defenses, meaning their excellent spread of super-effective hits cannot always be fully utilized.

Ice Pokémon - Dual Types

Since Ice Pokémon are rare, the type does not enjoy the same type combo variety when compared to a more common type. The following are all the dual types associated with Ice: Ice/Water, Ice/Ground, Ice/Psychic, Ice/Ghost, Ice/Dark, and Ice/Grass.

When it comes to type advantages, unfortunately, Ice is plagued with bad matchups. Every Ice Pokémon in existence is weak to at least 4 types, and some even hold x4 weaknesses.

The worst of the worst, Abomasnow's Ice/Grass combination, suffers from a x4 weakness to Fire, and x2 weaknesses to Flying, Poison, Bug, Fighting, Rock, and Steel.

Even Sneasel / Weavile's Ice/Dark combination is less than stellar, with a rare (but significant) x4 weakness to Fighting. Ice/Ground, Ice/Ghost, and Ice/Psychic all also carry five or more weaknesses.

The best bet for the Ice type is either the Legendary Articuno Pokémon, as a Ice/Flying, or simply Ice/Water or just plain Ice. No type suffers more from type combos than Ice.

Powerful Ice Pokémon

Aside from the Legendary Pokémon Articuno, strong Ice Pokémon are even more rare than the type itself. If it weren't for such widespread weaknesses, Pokémon like Abomasnow and Jynx could be useful. But unfortunately, the numerous weaknesses associated with the Ice type dooms most Ice Pokémon.

As a straight Ice type, Glalie has less bad matchups to worry about than most Ice Pokémon. But unfortunately, the straight average in every stat means Glalie has no true strengths and has difficulty excelling in any particular category. Glaceon, an Eevee evolution, is a better choice overall for a straight Ice type, with good defense and special attack.

Lapras and Walrein are both good Ice/Water types, but both focus on defensive stats, and Ice isn't the best type for defense. Even still, both work well and benefit from a STAB Ice Beam or Blizzard, and Walrein's Thick Fat ability helps defensively by halfing the damage received by Fire and Ice attacks.

Dewgong is another decent Ice/Water Pokémon with Thick Fat, but Walrein has better stats overall. And Cloyster, another Ice/Water, has incredible physical Defense, and a plethora of defensive moves like Toxic Spikes and Spikes, but it loses easily against a Pokémon with high special attack.

Sneasel, and its evolution Weavile, as a Ice/Dark is one of the better Ice types, since it focuses on Speed and Attack. The combo, though, results in a x4 weakness to Fighting, but if it comes down to a one-on-one against a Fighting Pokémon, Sneasel should at least have enough Speed to get in the first attack.

Other Ice types like Mamoswine and Frosslass can be good, but it's difficult to recommend any Pokémon with five or more weaknesses. Sneasel and Weavile both have 5 weaknesses, but at least the Pokémon's huge speed can help avoid the weaknesses.

Advanced Ice Strategies

There's not much to say about Ice as far as advanced strategies are concerned. Ice's main strength is in it's four super-effective hits - Dragon, Flying, Ground, and Grass - particularly so if any of these types combine, resulting in x4 strengths. Most notably, this happens against most Dragon Pokémon, considering almost all Dragons are a combination of Dragon/Flying, or Dragon/Ground.

Aside from utilizing STAB Ice attacks for all its worth, using an Ice Pokémon is all about knowing the weaknesses and avoiding them whenever possible. It's also important to build a team with an Ice Pokémon in mind - creating a team that counters some of the Ice Pokémon's weaknesses. And, having a Pokémon in the team that can baton pass speed and or attack/special attack is immensely beneficial to an Ice Pokémon.

Ice Pokémon Conclusion

Ice Pokémon are rare, weak against numerous types, and don't have enough variety in both moves and abilities to make it an effective type. Unfortunately, except in rare circumstances when a particular Ice Pokémon may fit perfectly into a team, the Ice type should be reserved solely for Ice attacks. In other words, just teach Ice Beam to a strong Water Pokémon and skip out on this type altogether.

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The copyright of the article Pokémon Ice Guide, Types Strategy and Analysis in Video & Online Games is owned by Bradley Kairis. Permission to republish Pokémon Ice Guide, Types Strategy and Analysis in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Ice Pokémon Glalie learns Hail	Ice/Water Pokémon Dewgong learns Ice Beam	Ice/Water Pokémon Walrein has Thick Fat
Ice/Dark Pokémon Sneasel learns Icy Wind	Ice/Water Pokémon Cloyster learns Spikes