Articuno is for lack of a better term, a flying snowball of nostalgia. Articuno first appeared in generation one in the seafoam islands as one of the three legendary birds and arguably, the useable one. Articuno has Pressure as an ability which is great to mess with foes as well as decent defense stats. It boasts a 125 for special defense which is great along with a 100 in defense which is passable. Sadly, its speed is the lowest of its stats rolling in at 85 which is meh at best. Unfortunately as with most ice types, it has a secondary type which in this case is Flying. With that being said, Articuno is weak to Fire, Electric and Steel while being 4x weak to Rock. This puts it in the PU tier.

Move wise there are a few routes to take. With Pressure, you can Stalli-cuno with substitute and roost to avoid those nasty types that you cannot take down with a good ice/flying STAB move. Hurricane and Ice Beam are great moves to use that will allow you to maximize on STAB moves while still getting in some damage. You need to make sure though that you max out those Special Attack EVs and then Special Defense as well. Another set is the Agili-cuno where you can use a Sweeper Articuno after an Agility or two and hit hard with Ice Beam to keep you safe, Hurricane again for STAB and then Hidden Power Fighting, if you can get an Articuno paired with those stats, to save yourself against types that may wall you. All in all, though, it has a hard time against water types where Freeze Dry is an option.

Glalie by itself is fairly meh, at best. However, it’s supped up form, Mega-Glalie, is ready to go to work. Mega-Glalie is pure ice which means it has the strengths and weaknesses from the intro paragraph. When it Mega Evolves, those 80 stats across the board become much better with Attack and Special Attack roaring up to 120 each and speed climbing to 100! Plus, it loses Ice Body, Inner Focus, or Moody, and gets Refrigerate. What is that? It’s the Ice type answer to the Fairy Type Pixelate. All normal type moves are powered up by a whopping 30% and then changed to Ice type which means one thing… STAB baby!

Mega-Glalie can fall into the RU, PU, and UU tiers with the UU being the most destructive. Slap on some normal moves and away it all goes! Max out those Attack and Speed EVs though! Double edge is a great move if you don’t mind the recoil while if you make it love you, Return is an EXCELLENT way to really hit hard. Earthquake will save you from those steel, fire, and rock types but you will need to do more as you cannot be saved from a nasty fighting type move. Explosion is another great backup move if you don’t want to use Return and Freeze-dry will help you with water types while ice shard will let you get in some cheap quick hits. Another safe backup is a spike setter when loaded up with Spikes and Taunt, it sets up and then explosion for when it is done or something is about to use rapid spin.

Rotom is weird. There we said it. You encounter it in the fourth generation as a ghost electric type, but it can inhibit (read: possess) appliances that give it a new typing and new stats! One of the better ones is Rotom-Frost which becomes an electric and ice type. As Rotom-Frost, it is weak to Fire, Fighting, Rock and Ground but the last one is only in theory as its ability, levitate, fixes that! What is really good about this typing is that it gets STAB boost off two moves that basically almost give it a perfect coverage. With a 520 in stats, Defense and Special Defense are at a 107 and the Special Attack is a 105. You know the way to go, Special sweeper.

Stack up its special attack and speed and you have something you can work within the PU tier. Volt Switch means that it is safe from things that can wall it while still getting STAB. Give it Blizzard to be safe and Thunderbolt so you are not forced out every time you want to use an electric attack. HP ice is another way to go as nothing resists both electric and ice moves in the game. Another way to go it Substitute plus Will-O-Wisp. This combined with Blizzard and Thunderbolt will piss off foes as one by one they are burned thus slashing their attack in half!.

Next up, is another one to watch out for. Swimming in at #7 is Cloyster, the shell Pokemon. Cloyster is rare because it can actually not only be used in UU tiers but also in Uber. While not perfect, it can still get some work done. Cloyster originally appears in the seafoam islands as well in generation one. Cloyster is good for many reasons such as its base stats of 525 and its defense at a whopping 180. The main reason you should consider one is its ability Skill Link. Forget everything else because Skill Link allows all two to five times hit moves to hit a full five times. You know what that means? Icy, wet death.

When talking EVs boost its attack (95) and its speed (70) because it’s defense will rise naturally since it is literally an 180 and amazing. Shell Smash is next. By dropping your astronomically high defense and special defense (45 - ouch), you speed, attack, and special attack all skyrocket. Icicle Spear + Rock Blast + Ice Shard = Death. Death everywhere. Now though if you want someone to piss off your foes, do the same EVs but give it Rapid Spin and the deeply hated Toxic Spikes along with Icicle Spear for STAB and then either Shell Smash to do some more real quick, or an explosion to take down something or at least do significant damage to it when you are out of options.

Abomasnow is bulky and our next Poke. 4x weak to fire, while being normally weak to Fighting, Poison, Flying, Bug, Rock, and Steel may make some users hesitate. Don’t worry, though, this Yeti of a grass/ice type belongs here and we will show you why.

A fat 594 in stats means that its attack and special attack are a cool 132 and it’s defenses just creep over 100 at 105 each. Speed, however, a theme here on this list, is an abysmal 30. Still, though, Abomasnow is able to take hits and dish out serious pain to walls that like to play games. Give those EVs to Special Attack and Speed & Combined with Snow Warning, it’s a force to be reckoned with. Blizzard is 100% effective during hail. Earthquake helps get those types that may try to give it a hard time. Giga Drain is to help heal itself somewhat and Ice Shard is there to hit those quick types where it hurts.

Fourth Generation took good care of us as trainers. Next up is the other snorunt evolution, the unique Ghost/Ice Pokemon Froslass. Froslass is based off the Japanese Myth of Yuki Onna. Froslass will be sure to make those other pokes fall and become ghosts like it if it is not taken care of swiftly. It is weak to Fire, Rock, Ghost, Dark, and Steel. Here is how to make the most of this dead ice lady Pokemon.

Froslass has a nice 480 base stats with a fat 110 in speed. Its attack and special attack are the same after that at 80. So…. What to do? EVs in HP and Speed. You need to take a few hits before you do the thing that everyone hates: Spikes. Taunt your way in, and then spike up. Want to be safe that you aren’t going to fall without doing some big damage? Play it safe and give a niiiiiiiiice Destiny Bond to your opponent thus ensuring that they will fall if you do. If not, there is always Icy Wind which means you will not become Taunted yourself and continue to set up spikes.

Regice is one of the rare pure Ice types on this list which does not give it more weaknesses than necessary. It is here for one reason; it has one of the highest Special Defense stats in the game (200)! That coupled with another 100 in defense and special attack and there is a lot to work with! The speed, though… the speed is a terrible 50 meaning that it can be out sped if you are not careful. However… there are ways around this!

First off, you want to drop those EVs in Special Attack and Speed. Why? Because the defenses will rise on their own naturally. Next, to fix that speed is Rock Polish. One of the reasons why Regice is so high on this list, even though it is in PU, is that it has a very diverse movepool. It has access to Ice Beam and Thunderbolt, that wonderful attack combo along with Focus Blast to help it out. If you don’t want to bother with Rock Polish, another alternative to this is thunder wave which will allow it to sweep with devastating results. Another option if you don’t want to bother with Focus Blast is to use Toxic so that your foes want to run from you.

Mamoswine to the rescue! This Mastodon of a Pokemon hails from the fourth generation when Ice themes were a bit more popular. That, combined with STAB and a fantastic Ability that helped a grass Pokemon climb high on the grass list, is why it is here. Mamoswine has base stats of 530 with a choking 130 in attack and an 110 in HP. Sadly its speed is again, a low 80, but that doesn’t mean that it cannot be an amazing wallbreaker. Mamoswine is Ground/Ice in typing. Thick Fat, its hidden ability, allows Mamoswine to avoid taking super effective damage from Fire and Water types and leaves it worrying about Grass, Fighting, and Steel. Two of which, it has STAB moves against.

The speed the speed. That is what you have to pay attention to. Allocate your EVs to Attack and Speed and Mamoswine is a wallbreaker that tough types like Tornadus and Mega Altaria. This is done with good moves like Earthquake, STAB, Icicle Crash, STAB, and Ice Shard, STAB, to let it take out weakened foes. Freeze-Dry will protect it from water types which can give it a bit of a hard time, however, it can get up Stealth Rock, Knock Off, or Superpower as well!

We know we know… No Kyurem Base? Well, what did you expect? Most people, if anyone really, are not going to have a team with three Kyurem on it. It’s just too redundant. Krurem-Black, however, is a merger with the DNA splicer and Zekrom, Kyurem-Black is a deadly snowstorm waiting to happen. Boasting a fat 700 in base stats, Kyurem-Black is problematic. Dragon/Ice in typing, its concerns really come from being weak to Fighting, Steel, and Fairy. It is also weak to Rock and Dragon, but these are not an issue with STAB moves. A beautiful 170 in attack followed by a 125 base state in HP and 120 in Special attack means that this Pokemon is a terror to behold.

The problem with Kyurem-Black, and why it did not get the #1 spot here, is that it lacks good STAB Physical type moves. Outrage can be run, which is good, but there are no good physical Ice moves that it can or will learn. Freeze shock is a physical STAB Ice move, but the problem is that it takes two turns to fire off. This means that you need to borrow from that special stat to make yourself a bit safer. Earth Power, taught in OR/AS will help you a lot. Ice Beam is about the best you can get for a good ice STAB attack so that is why EVs should go in Speed and Special Attack. Fusion Bolt as well will keep you safe in the long run and give you that nice wide coverage that you need.

You knew this was coming right? Kyurem-White is the #1 Ice Poke on our list. Much like #2, Kyurem-White is a fusion via the DNA splicer and Reshiram. Where Kyurem-Black has failed, Kyurem-White can get the job done. Let’s look at stats. The Attack and Special Attack stats have been switched from #2. Kyurem-White has a beautiful 170 in special attack and a movepool to make the most of it. Drop your EVs into Special Attack to boost it even further and Speed and let’s go!

It’s a wallbreaker. This is the poke you would not want to see coming out in an Uber tier game. What can it learn to do work you ask? Ice Beam, STAB, Draco Meteor, STAB, Fusion Flare to give it more coverage and then since it does not have an Electric Move, don’t let it be walled! Give it Earth Power or Focus Blast and watch the damage just roll in and in and in. One thing to note is that Draco Meteor will destroy your Special Attack so only back yourself into that corner if you are confident that you are going to win. The good aspect about Earth Power is it can go toe to toe with other big legendaries like Diancie and even Primal Groudon. Another way to have some fun and make sure that you are healthy is to give it Roost. It sounds crazy, but this legendary can actually learn this flying move allowing it to heal up to half its health.