Ice Beam's accuracy and greater PP make it superior to Blizzard, unless used in Hail (Blizzard never misses in Hail). Hidden Power Fighting, used in concert with Ice Beam, allows Glaceon to score at least a neutral hit on nearly every Pokémon (notable exceptions include Starmie, Froslass and Slowbro) as it is super effective against Steel and Ice. With Fake Tears and Wish, Glaceon can decimate the defenses of special walls like Blissey and Snorlax, healing itself along the way (its 110 base Defense is the only reason is can survive a bout with Snorlax). This forces your opponent to risk taking heavy damage to bring in something that can force Glaceon to switch out. Wish has the added benefit of supporting the rest of your team should Glaceon find itself in an unfavorable situation.
Glaceon has the luxury of adding Shadow Ball to its repertoire when using a Choice item to guarantee a minimum of neutral damage on every Pokémon in the game. A base Special Attack of 130 and STAB on Ice Beam (again, Blizzard on Hail teams) rivals the firepower wielded by Alakazam and will severely maim anything that does not resist it outright or is named Blissey or Snorlax. Sleep Talk allows Glaceon to absorb Hypnosis, Sleep Powder, etc. and maintain its usefulness. The EV spread is for the Choice Specs set. If you want to use Choice Scarf and make an investment in Speed, you will be able to reach 334 while Modest to outspeed Jolly Garchomp; with Timid, you will be able to outspeed +Speed base 120 Pokémon (Alakazam, Dugtrio, and Sceptile) Other OptionsLike most members of the Eevee family, Glaceon's other options are few, but it does have some. The only other offensive options worth noting are other types of Hidden Power: Fire and Electric. Hidden Power Fire damages some of the Steel-types that the Fighting version of the move doesn't, but in general it provides inferior coverage. Hidden Power Electric hits Water-types hard (Gyarados most importantly), but again, has inferior coverage. In the category of support: Yawn is available to encourage your opponent to switch and might even put something to Sleep in the process. If you are looking to outright force a switch, Roar is an option, but there are multitudes of Pokémon that make better use of that move. Hail could be used to boost Evasion with Snow Cloak and make Blizzard usable, but it is difficult to justify using a moveslot on that, especially when Abomasnow is available to give permanent Hail. Mirror Coat has novelty value but little utility. And as with most every other Pokémon, Toxic and Substitute are available for general annoying and stalling purposes. EVsRunning 252 EVs in HP makes use of Glaceon's respectable defenses and allows it to actually take a hit or two. Glaceon should always be Modest and the rest should be spent in Special Attack, unless you want to outspeed Tyranitar. Glaceon's base 65 Speed just barely exceeds Tyranitar's base 61, so if you want to guarantee that you will go first against a neutral nature Tyranitar, it would require the significant investment of 224 EVs. OpinionOn the positive side: Ice really is a fabulous offensive type, and Glaceon is fully capable of taking advantage of that with its monstrous Special Attack. If your opponent is overly reliant on Blissey or Snorlax to sponge special assaults, they will be in for a rude awakening when you bring Fake Tears Glaceon into the battle. Also, once Glaceon is in the match, it is quite difficult to switch to something that can force it out without risking a big hit. The primary problem with Glaceon is that its movepool is shallow even by "Eeveelution" standards; Glaceon doesn't even get a move worth Baton Passing! Also, because Glaceon is Ice-type with exactly one resistance (Ice) and a Stealth Rock weakness, it can be quite difficult to bring into a match. You will have to rely heavily on your prediction skills to get it into the fray. In sum, Glaceon is a niche Pokémon that has the potential to be downright devastating in certain situations while offering a refreshing change of pace from the bog standards. CountersSurprisingly, when considering which Pokémon counter Glaceon, there are very few that fit the strict definition of being able to switch in with impunity and pose an immediate threat. Metagross, Jirachi and Bronzong are three that do make the cut since a neutral, non-STAB hit is the best Glaceon can hope to do against them while all three commence with their respective set-ups. Lucario can come in on a predicted Ice Beam and force you out as well, but it does not enjoy absorbing a Hidden Power. As mentioned previously, Starmie, Froslass and Slowbro beat all non-Shadow Ball variants. Blissey and Snorlax dominate you if you lack Fake Tears. Regice and Tentacruel also handle Glaceon with ease thanks to their Clear Body trait. If Glaceon finds itself up against any sweeper that uses Fighting or Rock moves, it must switch. Fortunately, most all Pokémon of that kind (Heracross, Salamence, Infernape, Garchomp, Aerodactyl, and Medicham come to mind) don’t have the stomach to switch into Glaceon’s potent Ice Beam. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
