[DISCUSSION] Neglected Pokémon Spotlight: Beartic!

[0kamii]

 

Hey, everybody! It's 0kamii, and today is Friday!

I have not made a "Neglected Pokémon Spotlight" post since September. Gees, it's been a while. But I won't drone on about how work and school have gotten in the way. The reason y'alls liked the last one is because I took a pokémon that doesn't generally see a lot of attention, and present some logical reasons why you shouldn't leave it out in the cold. And this time, we're doing no different. The pokémon in question this time is none other than the Freezing Pokémon, Beartic!

 

Neglected pokémon Spotlight: Beartic!

 

Unlike the previous contender in the "Neglected Pokémon Spotlight" series, Beartic is not a pokémon that is necessarily hated. Rather, this polar bear gets the blunt end of the ignoring stick. Aside from occasional appearances in the new meta (appearing on 0.06% of teams according to Pikalytics), Beartic is currently chilling in the PU tier. This would give the impression that Beartic is utterly useless, but I beg to differ. Beartic is still a great pokémon if utilized properly, and I can prove it. Which is but one of several reasons why Beartic is a mon worthy of more attention.

Reason 1: Have you ever used one in battle?

 

 

I certainly have, and I'd do it again. Beartic can hit much harder than expected, and that's probably due to its 130 base attack. Yes, you heard that right. 130! That's the same as Garchomp. As thanks to Icicle Crash and Ice Punch, it has reliable STAB. Personally I prefer Icicle Crash because of the flinch chance, but Ice Punch can be just as good. Nintendo must've intentionally showered Beartic in some attention because prior to Gen 7, its Attack stat was only 110. A 20 point boost goes a long way, and Beartic makes great use of it. Not to mention it has enough coverage to be useful, getting moves like Aqua Jet for Swift Swim abuse, Superpower for all those Rock and Steel-Types that give it trouble, and Rock-Type attacks like Stone Edge and Rock Slide for its own shenanigans. Also, I know it got Slush Rush, but in my humble opinion, Swift Swim is still the superior Speed boosting ability. I wouldn't recommend Beartic in VGC, at least not right now (as there's no known working set), but if you want to experiment in recs with this guy, you will not be disappointed.

Reason 2: It has a great design!

 

 

What's that? You don't think Beartic has a great design? That it's just a polar bear? Well, dear reader, allow me to share with you a tale of Beartic's brethren up north. We all know that Beartic is based on a polar bear ('shirokuma' in Japanese), but what about that fact makes its design any better you ask? Simple. For those of you that don't know, the above photo was taken in 1960. It shows the hunter who successfully hunted an approximately 3.66m (12ft) tall polar bear. How tall is Beartic you ask? 8' 6". A whole 1.2m (4ft) shorter than a real-life polar bear (on its hind legs)! Not only that, but if we look at Beartic's official design, its paws are grossly ballooned, likely intended to imitate the gigantic paws of its real-life counterpart. What makes Beartic's design good is exactly what makes it so simple. It is just a polar bear, but its features are accentuated in a way that teaches you what is actually significant about a real polar bear's physiology. And I think that is pretty cool! By the way, that bear's paw is bigger than that guy's head. Just pointing that out...

Conclusion:

I know my last "Neglect Pokémon Spotlight" had three reasons why Garbodor was more likeable than we thought, but here there's really only two. I can't comment on Beartic's Shiny form, as in my opinion it's really not that great. It is suprisingly good in Double battles when paired with a Hail/Rain setter, and its real-life inspiration gives its exaggerated features a meaning outside of just looking like a fluffy triangle. What else do you need? I think Beartic is a pokémon that has potential to be a very good battler, but I'm not entirely sure what it's missing. Better defenses? Higher HP? Who knows, but as of now, Beartic is a pokémon I personally think is neglected, and I will defend this thing to that last! Wow, just realized that both these mons (Garbodor and Beartic) are from Gen 5. Coincidence...?

Thanks so much for reading, everyone! Hope I taught you something about Beartic that you didn't know previously. Also, stay tuned for updates on Amethyst 0mega's February giveaway, which (if all goes to plan) should be live next week. I'm very excited to kick things off, and I'll see you on Monday with a new, "All Our Favorite" post.

Battle onwards, friends!

- 0kamii

[PerchPond]

It's surprizingly versatile!
Also Entrainment Araquanid with Water Bubble is kinda fun with Beartic, with rain-boosted Aqua Jet getting boosted further and gaining Burn-immunity ^^

[0kamii]

@PerchPond 

Sounds a little gimmicky, but I'm sure it's lethal if it can be pulled off. Also, I don't like how many turns it takes to set-up, but I suppose no strategy is perfect.

Also, are you saying it's versatile based on experience, Perch? I've used Beartic paired with a Pelipper in a battle against @LittleFoxS, and let's just say it didn't end well for him. I think I swept his entire team with those two. Beartic also works really well with a Life Orb.

*sigh* I just wish it could be run Adamant. It loses 10 whole points, makig its Speed 204 under Rain/Hail. Good yes, but 224 (Jolly) is still better. I guess the Life Orb makes up for it.

- 0kamii

[PerchPond]

@0kamii Yeah it's not a serious strat. Hmm, theoretical experience I guess ^^ I scouted for potential mons that could be viable at the start of VGC 2017, since some mons got stat-boosts and such in gen 7, so I did some theory-crafting on Beartic, only to later realize it's unobtainable in Alola RIP.

[0kamii]

@PerchPond 

It ain't terrible now with the right team support. Ice-Type STAB is always in demand thanks to Landorus-T. I'm pretty sure it OHKOs even at -1 with Icicle Crash and Ice Punch. Not to mention it gets Superpower, so any Ttar dumb enough to come in on it is as good as dead.

- 0kamii

[PerchPond]

@0kamii Even though it isnt native to Alola, is it enough that it is bred in USUM to be elligable for VGC 2018?

EDIT: Cause "Pokémon must have the Alola symbol showing they were caught in the Alola region" (Pokemon.com) I wonder if it gets that from being bred in Alola

EDIT 2: "/.../provided they are caught or hatched in the game or received at an official event in Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun or Ultra Moon." (Bulbagarden.net) Found it ^^

Yeah it feels like Beartic has some anti-meta "Mamoswine-esque" qualities for sure, only problem is opposing weather, in both Charizard-Y and Tyranitar.

[0kamii]

@PerchPond 

Nothing a smart trainer can't work around. Anyone should come packing solutions to helping their mons work in and out of weather. And yeah, as long as it is caught or bred in Alola, and has that little black star, it's legal in VGC. I'm still trying to perfect that anti-Landorus strat, but I'd be curious to see how Beartic fairs. I have seen it sparsely on Battle Spot, so at least there's a basis on which to start.

- 0kamii

[FireTaco]

Honestly its a decent Poke around, its defences are above decent and a 130 Attack stat is nothing to shy away from.  It even has good abilitys and can work with two different types of teams, being hail and rain teams with it's SlushSwim.

I think its problem might be a lack of move pool.  Not that he doesnt get good moves, but that there is not enough that it sets him apart from other good ice types.  Superpower, Rock Slide, Icicle Crash are all moves that Mamoswine also learns, but instead of Aqua Jet, he gets a stab priority move in Ice Shard.  As far as stats go, Mamoswine has a bit more hp, the exact same attacks, and 20 more base speed points that Beartic.  Another major point is that Mamoswine doesn't require weather control to outspeed stuff.

I like Beartic a lot, however things are just better at playing the roll of a simple sweaper, BUT there is still a lot of hope for him yet,

After doing some calcs I have found out some pretty fun stuff (all of which is set to VGC standards):

252+ Atk Life Orb Beartic Icicle Crash vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Landorus-Therian: 348-421 (177.5 - 214.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Life Orb Beartic Superpower vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 187-221 (94.4 - 111.6%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
 
252+ Atk Life Orb Beartic Icicle Crash vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Charizard-Mega-Y: 126-149 (82.3 - 97.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Life Orb Beartic Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Charizard-Mega-Y in Rain: 120-143 (78.4 - 93.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Life Orb Beartic Superpower vs. 140 HP / 0 Def Kangaskhan-Mega: 198-234 (100 - 118.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Life Orb Beartic Icicle Crash vs. 240 HP / 80 Def Amoonguss: 250-296 (114.1 - 135.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Its a surprising amount of damage on a lot of the VGC Meta, and that just seems like it would be fun to use, so I guess Bearartic is going up on the pile of mons I want to try in VGC now, right under Dedenne, Mega Pinsir, and Rotom - Mow.

~ FireTaco

[PerchPond]

@FireTaco Beartic also gets Low Kick, Night Slash and Play Rough which Mamo doesnt get, aswell as a 100% accurate Ice-move in Ice Punch, but yeah all in all it's only a little.