As ofPokemon Scarlet and Violet, there are 18 Pokemon types available, though they are not all created equally. Historically, Ice-types have been underused, in part because of their weak defensive capabilities. This has been somewhat mended withPokemon Scarlet and Violet, which brings weather condition changes that raise the Defense of Ice-types. However, there are very few new Ice-type Pokemon to show off this important buff.
The new Ice-types aren’t bad, though.Cetoddle is one of the cutest Pokemonever made, and Baxcalibur is a fierce-looking pseudo-Legendary. Nevertheless, the shortage of new Ice-types makes players less likely to use this type and realize that it is not as defensively weak as it once was.
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How Ice-types Got Buffed In Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
Ice-type Pokemon have been around since Gen 1, and although the type has its weaknesses, it packs enough advantages to still make it worth using. They can often use multiple Ice-types moves that can trigger the Frozen status condition on hit, rendering opponents unable to act for multiple turns.Ice-type movesare also 2x effective against Dragon-type creatures, which comes in handy because dragons are powerful foes that can deal a great deal of damage in a short time.
Many Trainers tend to neglect Ice-type Pokemon, in part because the type performs poorly defensively. It has no immunities, and its only resistance is to other Ice-types. InScarlet and Violet, players are given more reason to use Ice-types thanks to the buff it gets. Snow replacesPokemon’s weather condition Hail. With Hail, all Pokemon that aren’t Ice-type lose 1/6 of their HP at the end of every turn. This is useful, though Snow is even more useful, as it instead grants Ice-types a 50% Defense boost. This gives players a lot more reasons to use Ice-types, as they can stay on the battlefield for longer. This would have been the perfect opportunity to introduce plenty of new Ice-types, butScarlet and Violetdon’t do this.
The Ice-types of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
Although there are a few Ice-types from past generations to be found, there aren’t too many new cold creatures to discover. The only new pure Ice-type evolutionary line introduced belongs to Cetoddle. This adorable Pokemon waddles everywhere, and it eventually evolves into Cetitan, which is a much bigger creature with a mean face. Players also get the half-Ice evolutionary line belonging to Frigibax. This Dragon/Ice evolves into Arctibax and eventuallyBaxcalibur, which is a pseudo-legendary Pokemon. This is about it as far as new regular Ice-type Pokemon go.
There are two additional Ice-types introduced, but they fall into special categories. This includes Chien-Pao, a Dark/Ice dual-type that is one of the three Treasures of Ruin. The other creature isIron Bundle which is a Paradox Pokemonthat is the future form of Delibird. It is an Ice/Water Pokemon, and while Delibird isn’t a competitive team member, Iron Bundle has high stats that make it lethal on the battlefield. The lack of new Ice-types is disappointing, as it means that many players won’t get the opportunity to use Ice-types and discover that they have become a lot more competitively viable.
Despite there being very few new Ice-type Pokemon, the well-needed buff to the type is welcome. Furthermore, the overall Pokemon designs from this generation are quite satisfying and include cute creatures like Tinkaton and mighty monsters like Iron Thorns. With rumors of there beingScarlet and VioletDLCin the works, there could be more opportunities for Game Freak to introduce more Ice-types.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violetare available on Nintendo Switch.
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