**Draft Order**: Round 7 onwards
**Price Range**: 2-3 points
**Overview**: Beartic is a unique Pokemon in that it possesses both Slush Rush and Swift Swim, allowing it to fit on two types of weather-based drafts and potentially take advantage of opposing weather. Its strong offensive STAB moves, access to Swords Dance, and good coverage can also make it a cheap secondary Tera Captain that can break past unsuspecting foes when well supported. However, Beartic has a terrible defensive profile without Terastallizing, and it faces stiff competition from faster or more flexible weather sweepers, including Alolan Sandslash, which is far better defensively, and Cetitan, which can potentially function without weather. Finally, Beartic can find itself worn down quickly by strong priority attacks and entry hazards, especially Stealth Rock when not running Heavy-Duty Boots.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Snow Sweeper**: Beartic fits onto snow teams due to the Speed increase from Slush Rush while also benefiting from the increase to its Defense due to snow. This Defense boost can provide it the chance to use Swords Dance and break through teams more efficiently.
**Swift Swim Sweeper**: Thanks to Swift Swim, Beartic can also be added as a budget sweeper on rain teams. It will usually Terastallize into a Water-type to turn Liquidation and Aqua Jet into rain-boosted STAB attacks while also possessing Ice-type STAB moves to increase its threat potential.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Icicle Crash, Icicle Spear
**Setup Moves**: Swords Dance
**Utility Moves**: Brick Break, Endeavor, Encore, Substitute, Taunt
**Coverage**: Aqua Jet, Close Combat, Crunch, Earthquake, Heavy Slam, Liquidation, Play Rough, Rock Slide, Shadow Claw, Stone Edge, Throat Chop, X-Scissor
Niche Moves
========
**Trailblaze**: One of the ways Beartic is accounted for is with a faster revenge killer, so using Trailblaze on weather teams can be useful to deny this option. It also has the chance to make Beartic slightly more usable should either snow or rain runs out.
**Yawn**: Beartic can force switches by using Yawn on a potential switch-in. This offers it the chance to grab extra momentum by setting up with Swords Dance or by damaging a switch-in.
**Snowscape / Rain Dance**: Should Beartic need to set up for itself, Beartic can use either Snowscape or Rain Dance to accomplish this.
Common Items
========
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Beartic can protect itself from entry hazards such as Stealth Rock by holding Heavy-Duty Boots to avoid being worn down as easily.
**Damage-boosting Items**: If your draft is able to keep hazards off the field, Life Orb, Never-Melt Ice, and Expert Belt can be good items to make Beartic hit significantly harder, especially when it's boosted by Swords Dance.
Niche Items
========
**Choice Band**: In scenarios where Beartic doesn't need to switch moves, Choice Band can be useful to have more immediate power for Icicle Crash and its coverage options, including a stronger Aqua Jet to pick off faster foes.
**Resistance Berries**: Beartic can use items like Chople Berry and Charti Berry to survive a super effective attack and prevent a revenge kill.
**Loaded Dice**: When holding Loaded Dice, Icicle Spear becomes Beartic's strongest STAB attack and can help break past Pokemon protected by a Substitute or Focus Sash.
Tera
========
While flawed, Beartic can make for a cheap secondary Tera Captain when paired alongside a stronger primary Captain, as Terastallization fixes many of its biggest issues. Tera Water is an obvious choice on Swift Swim sets to make Liquidation and Aqua Jet STAB attacks that are boosted by rain while also giving it a far better defensive typing. Tera Fighting or Ground can be useful to boost its coverage options, while defensive types such as Tera Fairy, Steel, and Grass can ease setting up with Swords Dance, with the latter also boosting Trailblaze. Finally, Tera Ice can sometimes be useful to keep the Defense boost from snow while also strengthening Icicle Crash.
Draft Strategy
========
Beartic is a cheap secondary wallbreaker for either snow teams or rain teams. If Beartic wants to justify being drafted, it needs to be paired with strong support to be worthwhile.
**Weather Setters**: Without weather, Beartic is going to fall short due to its otherwise bad Speed. Galarian Slowking and Slowking stand out as great options because they can pivot with Chilly Reception, which guarantees that Slush Rush will be active, and provide much greater flexibility in the teambuilder, since they don’t stack multiple Ice-types together. Should you elect to use a guaranteed rain or snow setter, Pelipper and Abomasnow are possible candidates you can use to make Beartic easier to pilot.
**Faster Offensive Wallbreakers**: Beartic isn't that fast even with snow, so faster partners can take a lot of pressure off its shoulders. Pokemon such as Enamorus, Ogerpon, and Infernape can make good choices, as they can offer great speed control while also pivoting in and out of battle.
**Entry Hazard Control**: Beartic enjoys a lot more freedom when it is less restricted to wearing Heavy-Duty Boots. Pokemon such as Corviknight and Iron Treads can offer Defog or Rapid Spin support. Cheaper options such as Galarian Weezing and Mandibuzz are possible options as well.
Checks and Counters
========
**Entry Hazards**: Without Heavy-Duty Boots, entry hazards will cause Beartic to have few opportunities to enter the battle and set up safely.
**Priority Attacks**: Common priority attacks such as Mach Punch, Vacuum Wave, and Bullet Punch do heavy damage to Beartic and can negate its Speed even under weather, cutting its sweeps short.
**Faster Pokemon**: Beartic relies on weather for Speed, so many wallbreakers like Urshifu-R and Gouging Fire can outspeed it while weather is down and apply a lot of pressure. Furthermore, most faster Pokemon like Iron Valiant and Keldeo can outspeed and revenge kill Beartic even while its ability is active due to Choice Scarf or Booster Energy.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/patar136.571123/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/theuncultured.629845/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/scionicle.599989/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-blue-banana.649096/
**Price Range**: 2-3 points
**Overview**: Beartic is a unique Pokemon in that it possesses both Slush Rush and Swift Swim, allowing it to fit on two types of weather-based drafts and potentially take advantage of opposing weather. Its strong offensive STAB moves, access to Swords Dance, and good coverage can also make it a cheap secondary Tera Captain that can break past unsuspecting foes when well supported. However, Beartic has a terrible defensive profile without Terastallizing, and it faces stiff competition from faster or more flexible weather sweepers, including Alolan Sandslash, which is far better defensively, and Cetitan, which can potentially function without weather. Finally, Beartic can find itself worn down quickly by strong priority attacks and entry hazards, especially Stealth Rock when not running Heavy-Duty Boots.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Snow Sweeper**: Beartic fits onto snow teams due to the Speed increase from Slush Rush while also benefiting from the increase to its Defense due to snow. This Defense boost can provide it the chance to use Swords Dance and break through teams more efficiently.
**Swift Swim Sweeper**: Thanks to Swift Swim, Beartic can also be added as a budget sweeper on rain teams. It will usually Terastallize into a Water-type to turn Liquidation and Aqua Jet into rain-boosted STAB attacks while also possessing Ice-type STAB moves to increase its threat potential.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Icicle Crash, Icicle Spear
**Setup Moves**: Swords Dance
**Utility Moves**: Brick Break, Endeavor, Encore, Substitute, Taunt
**Coverage**: Aqua Jet, Close Combat, Crunch, Earthquake, Heavy Slam, Liquidation, Play Rough, Rock Slide, Shadow Claw, Stone Edge, Throat Chop, X-Scissor
Niche Moves
========
**Trailblaze**: One of the ways Beartic is accounted for is with a faster revenge killer, so using Trailblaze on weather teams can be useful to deny this option. It also has the chance to make Beartic slightly more usable should either snow or rain runs out.
**Yawn**: Beartic can force switches by using Yawn on a potential switch-in. This offers it the chance to grab extra momentum by setting up with Swords Dance or by damaging a switch-in.
**Snowscape / Rain Dance**: Should Beartic need to set up for itself, Beartic can use either Snowscape or Rain Dance to accomplish this.
Common Items
========
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Beartic can protect itself from entry hazards such as Stealth Rock by holding Heavy-Duty Boots to avoid being worn down as easily.
**Damage-boosting Items**: If your draft is able to keep hazards off the field, Life Orb, Never-Melt Ice, and Expert Belt can be good items to make Beartic hit significantly harder, especially when it's boosted by Swords Dance.
Niche Items
========
**Choice Band**: In scenarios where Beartic doesn't need to switch moves, Choice Band can be useful to have more immediate power for Icicle Crash and its coverage options, including a stronger Aqua Jet to pick off faster foes.
**Resistance Berries**: Beartic can use items like Chople Berry and Charti Berry to survive a super effective attack and prevent a revenge kill.
**Loaded Dice**: When holding Loaded Dice, Icicle Spear becomes Beartic's strongest STAB attack and can help break past Pokemon protected by a Substitute or Focus Sash.
Tera
========
While flawed, Beartic can make for a cheap secondary Tera Captain when paired alongside a stronger primary Captain, as Terastallization fixes many of its biggest issues. Tera Water is an obvious choice on Swift Swim sets to make Liquidation and Aqua Jet STAB attacks that are boosted by rain while also giving it a far better defensive typing. Tera Fighting or Ground can be useful to boost its coverage options, while defensive types such as Tera Fairy, Steel, and Grass can ease setting up with Swords Dance, with the latter also boosting Trailblaze. Finally, Tera Ice can sometimes be useful to keep the Defense boost from snow while also strengthening Icicle Crash.
Draft Strategy
========
Beartic is a cheap secondary wallbreaker for either snow teams or rain teams. If Beartic wants to justify being drafted, it needs to be paired with strong support to be worthwhile.
**Weather Setters**: Without weather, Beartic is going to fall short due to its otherwise bad Speed. Galarian Slowking and Slowking stand out as great options because they can pivot with Chilly Reception, which guarantees that Slush Rush will be active, and provide much greater flexibility in the teambuilder, since they don’t stack multiple Ice-types together. Should you elect to use a guaranteed rain or snow setter, Pelipper and Abomasnow are possible candidates you can use to make Beartic easier to pilot.
**Faster Offensive Wallbreakers**: Beartic isn't that fast even with snow, so faster partners can take a lot of pressure off its shoulders. Pokemon such as Enamorus, Ogerpon, and Infernape can make good choices, as they can offer great speed control while also pivoting in and out of battle.
**Entry Hazard Control**: Beartic enjoys a lot more freedom when it is less restricted to wearing Heavy-Duty Boots. Pokemon such as Corviknight and Iron Treads can offer Defog or Rapid Spin support. Cheaper options such as Galarian Weezing and Mandibuzz are possible options as well.
Checks and Counters
========
**Entry Hazards**: Without Heavy-Duty Boots, entry hazards will cause Beartic to have few opportunities to enter the battle and set up safely.
**Priority Attacks**: Common priority attacks such as Mach Punch, Vacuum Wave, and Bullet Punch do heavy damage to Beartic and can negate its Speed even under weather, cutting its sweeps short.
**Faster Pokemon**: Beartic relies on weather for Speed, so many wallbreakers like Urshifu-R and Gouging Fire can outspeed it while weather is down and apply a lot of pressure. Furthermore, most faster Pokemon like Iron Valiant and Keldeo can outspeed and revenge kill Beartic even while its ability is active due to Choice Scarf or Booster Energy.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/patar136.571123/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/theuncultured.629845/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/scionicle.599989/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-blue-banana.649096/
Last edited:
