[Overview]
<p>Meet Vanillite, the wee little snow cone. Appearances can be deceptive though, as it can dish out quite some hurt with its high Special Attack and great special movepool. Sadly, that is pretty much all that Vanillite has going for it, as its poor Speed and relatively low defenses make it easy to KO. Vanillite also finds itself outclassed most of the time by faster and more powerful threats such as Misdreavus and Carvanha. Still, Vanillite packs a punch, and should always be considered when building a team.</p>
[Set]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Ice Beam / Blizzard
move 2: Flash Cannon
move 3: Water Pulse
move 4: Hidden Power Grass / Hidden Power Fighting
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Ice Body
nature: Modest
evs: 72 HP / 36 Def / 160 SpA / 120 SpD / 88 Spe
[Set Comments]
<p>Vanillite's decent Speed, high Special Attack, and large special movepool makes it a fine Choice Scarf user. Ice Beam is Vanillite's most reliable STAB attack, hitting anything that doesn't resist it pretty hard. Blizzard can be used on hail teams and is very powerful, but its
inlow accuracy makes it a poor choice. Flash Cannon smashes Rock-types to bits, and also hurts opposing Ice-types significantly. Water Pulse deals with Fire-types such as Houndour who pose a massive threat to Vanillite, making it harder for the mentioned threats to switch in safely. There are two options for the last moveslot. While Hidden Power Grass hits Water-types who sponge Vanillite's other moves easily, Hidden Power Fighting allows it to deal with Steel-types such as Ferroseed.</p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>The EV spread maximizes Vanillite's Special Attack while also buffing up its defenses and allowing it to outspeed most unboosted Pokemon. This set also needs some team support to make any impact. Wooper, Staryu, and Carvanha pose problems if Vanillite lacks Hidden Power Grass, meaning a Grass-type such as Snover makes a great teammate. Snover also sets up hail, allowing Vanillite to fire off accurate Blizzards and activating Ice Body. Chinchou can also deal with Water-types easily, making it a fine partner as well. A Rapid Spin user such as Baltoy also aids Vanillite immensely, removing Stealth Rock while also dealing with Fighting-types such as Timburr.</p>
[SET]
name: Autotomize
move 1: Autotomize
move 2: Ice Beam / Blizzard
move 3: Hidden Power Grass / Hidden Power Fighting
move 4: Substitute / Taunt
item: Life Orb
ability: Ice Body
nature: Modest
evs: 240 SpA / 248 Spe
ivs: 27 HP / 30 Def / 30 SpA / 30 SpD / 30 Spe
[Set Comments]
<p>Vanillite can also run a boosting set to decent success. Autotomize doubles Vanillite's Speed, allowing it to sweep after just a single turn of setup. Ice Beam and Blizzard are both options for a STAB move. While the former is much more reliable and makes for the better choice overall, Blizzard has a much higher Base Power and is accurate in hail, though support from Snover is mandatory for it to be usable. The choice of Hidden Power depends on what threats bother Vanillite more. Hidden Power Grass decimates any Water-types switching in to sponge Ice Beam, and also smacks most Rock-types hard, while Hidden Power Fighting deals with the pesky Steel-types who laugh at Vanillite's other moves. There are two options for the final moveslot. Substitute prevents Vanillite's sweep from being cut short by status conditions and also grants it an easier setup, making it the better option most of the time. However, Taunt renders attempts to phaze Vanillite useless, and also stops entry hazards from being set up.</p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>The EV spread is very simple, maximizing Vanillite's Special Attack and Speed. 27 HP IVs give Vanillite 19 HP, minimizing Life Orb recoil. If Hidden Power Grass is used, however, an IV spread of 27 HP / 30 Atk / 30 SpA should be used. Snover once again makes a fine teammate for Vanillite, eliminating Grass-types and setting up hail. Baltoy is also a fine partner, removing entry hazards with Rapid Spin and dealing with Fighting-type priority users such as Timburr and Croagunk.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Explosion can be used to break through special walls such as Munchlax and Mantyke, but the nerf which Explosion received in BW,
as well ascoupled with Vanillite's low Attack, make it a poor choice. Ice Shard can give Vanillite a useful priority move, but as mentioned, Vanillite's Attack stat is unimpressive. Vanillite can also run a Choice Specs set thanks to its high Special Attack and great special movepool, but its poor Speed makes it easy to revenge kill Vanillite. Focus Sash can go over Life Orb on the Autotomize set to prevent priority attacks such as Mach Punch from ruining Vanillite's fun, but the ubiquity of entry hazards and weather render it useless more often than not. Finally, Vanillite also has access to support options such as Reflect, Light Screen, Toxic, Acid Armor, and Protect, and can run a decent defensive set with an Eviolite, but it is better off just attacking.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Vanillite's low Speed and weaknesses to common Fire- and Fighting-type a
re the bane of its existencettacks make many common Pokemon a good check. Powerful priority users such as Meditite and Timburr make reliable checks to Vanillite regardless of how many Speed boosts it has obtained. Special walls such as Munchlax can take all of Vanillite's attacks with ease and hit back hard with their STAB attacks. Bronzor makes a fine check
s as well, as it sponges all of Vanillite's attacks while dishing out massive damage with Gyro Ball. If Vanillite lacks Hidden Power Grass, bulky Water-types such as Slowpoke and Tentacool can wall Vanillite with ease. Finally, Fighting-types such as Mienfoo, Meditite, and Timburr smash Vanillite to bits with their STAB attacks while not taking too much damage from Ice Beam.</p>
