Overview
This month, Beartic serves as a setup sweeper, being tied for the highest attack stat with Scizor and Copperajah. Its bulk (95/80/80) doesn’t quite make it tanky, but it can take a hit or two if needed. Its typing of pure Ice isn’t the worst, being resisted by 10 pokemon (11 if you count Shedinja), but hitting 10 different pokemon for super effective damage. Its weakness to Stealth Rock however, usually gives it only one chance to set up. But one chance is all it needs.
Abilities
Beartic has three simple abilities, however one of them is banned and the other, Slush Rush, doesn’t have a use on most teams. Which leaves it with the hidden ability, Swift Swim, which doubles its speed under Rain. On its own, Swift Swim doesn’t make Beartic notable, however once we factor in that two other pokemon learn it, and that they are great teammates for it, rain teams are where Beartic becomes a threat, even if no pokemon has the ability Drizzle.
Moves
There is one move that Beartic is inseparable from, that being Swords Dance, which doubles its already enormous Attack stat, making it able to OHKO most pokemon, depending on the moveset. That leaves the other 3 slots for attacking moves, which don’t truly have right or wrong answers. It has a couple options for stab, Icicle Crash having the highest base power(85) but 90% accuracy. Ice Punch is a weaker, but more reliable move having only 75 base power. There’s also Icicle Spear, mostly used on Loaded Dice sets. For coverage, there’s Liquidation, an 85 base power water type move, which means it has a 1.5x power bonus under rain, there’s Close Combat/Brick Break/Low Kick for fighting coverage, Stone Edge/Rock Slide for rock coverage, Shadow Claw for ghost, Throat Chop/ Crunch for dark, X-Scissor for bug, Earthquake for ground Heavy Slam for steel, and Play Rough for Fairy. Aqua Jet is a priority water move (which again, 1.5x power under rain) that can be used to pick off low HP pokemon that threaten back with their own priority, Trailblaze can be used to boost your own speed (however it isn’t needed most of the time), and Facade can be used as an insurance against Will-o-Wisp.
Items
Beartic uses mostly defensive items, as its damage output doesn’t need to be boosted. One of those items, is Lum Berry, protecting it against opposing Will-o-Wisp and Thunder Wave. Whether it’s used to set up against Incineroar and the like, or when you just forget the opponents coverage, Lum Berry is always a nice insurance. Clear Amulet is also great, as there are four pokemon that have access to Intimidate, and switching between those pokemon is a good way to stop a Beartic in its tracks. Heavy Duty Boots can be used to prevent Stealth Rocks from being problematic. Babiri Berry is interesting, as it can be used to tank a Choice Band boosted Bullet Punch, however beartic doesn’t have any fire coverage, meaning that it has problems OHKOing Scizor back. The only way that an adamant Beartic can do that is by using Liquidation under rain after using a Swords Dance, which is still a roll on full HP-invested Scizor, however Aqua Jet can be used to follow up. On the offensive side of items, the aforementioned Loaded Dice makes Icicle Spear not only usable, but the best option for Beartic’s stab. Life Orb provides a 1.3x bonus to Beartic’s attacking power, which can push unboosted beartic over some damage thresholds and frees up the fourth move slot, but ultimately using Swords Dance is just better. Choice Band is a similar case, but being locked into one move can, and will be abused.
Notable teamates
Beartic, as any rain user, needs another pokemon to set up the rain, however this month doesn’t have a drizzle pokemon. The solution? Rain Dance, of course! The best pokemon for this is Uxie as its bulk lets it survive even some powerful supereffective moves, set up rain and pivot using U-Turn into Beartic or the other rain abusers. Defensive Scizor and Cobalion can also do this, however they can be OHKO’ed before setting rain/ blocked from leaving by Volt Absorb or a ground type. A very interesting pokemon that can also use Rain Dance is Liepard, which is guaranteed to set up rain because of prankster, however it doesn’t have great pivot options, the only one being baton pass, which goes before the enemy which can hurt your sweeper as it comes in. That leads to the better option being letting Liepard die, to safely bring in something else. Speaking of, the other two pokemon with Swift Swim are: Overqwil and Basculegion, which Beartic compliments nicely. Basculegion resists both of scizors stabs, which makes it a good option again a Bullet Bunch Happy opponent. Beartic meanwhile, helps Overqwil against his main opponents, like Flygon or Cobalion. Overqwil then helps Basculegion against Dark and Grass types, creating a nice core for rain teams. Toxicroak and Heliolisk both benefit from rain using Dry Skin, making them considerably more bulky than normal. Oricorio can also use rain to make its Hurricanes 100% accurate, finally giving it a consistently powerful flying type move.
Important Opponents
The most oppressive opponent that Beartic can face by himself is Scizor, which can almost always OHKO the bear with Bullet Punch. Other problematic opponents are Incineroar and Arcanine, both slowing it down with Intimidate and Will-o-Wisp, Incineroar also has access to Parting Shot, which just becomes more painful than it should be. Liepard can also become extremely problematic, having access to both Encore and Thunder Wave, both boosted by prankster, making it a very effective disruptor. Gardevoir may cause problems, tracing Beartics Swift Swim to outspeed it, however it has trouble OHKOing the bear from full health. Shedinja is a pokemon to look out for, it is vital to have one move that can hit it (or a pursuit user in the back), otherwise beartic can turn into a sitting duck.
Written by Aryecki