Ice has had a tumultuous path to success over the course of Pokemon's history. What once started as a rare type hampered by low availability and some questionable stat spreads and type pairings is now a genuine threat, with a large roster of great Pokemon.

If you're a fan of the coolest Pokemon around, you're in luck, Pokemon Scarlet & Violet's roster of Ice-types is pretty great, and there are some powerhouses to pick from.

Updated January 17, 2024 by Quinton O'Connor: Ice is among the best offensive types in Pokemon, and handily among the worst defensive types. This puts it in a perpetual paradox. Is it worth using an actual Ice-type Pokemon to take advantage of that delicious Same Type Attack Bonus for moves like Ice Beam? Oftentimes, the answer is no. But with these 16 Scarlet & Violet pals, there's reason to consider changing things up and bringing a frigid friend along for the ride.

Beartic

If you need a lumbering hunk of ice to make a hole in whatever annoying Pokemon you find yourself before, Beartic is a good shout. With a stupendous Attack stat and fantastic coverage moves, Beartic can unleash hell on command.

Self-buff with Swords Dance and then let rip with whatever works. That's the general gist of Beartic's strategy. With coverage moves of types often lacking in Ice-type Pokemon, Beartic can give the enemy a nasty shock. The likes of X-Scissor, Crunch, Heavy Slam, Earthquake, and Rock Slide won't be expected.

Cetitan

It's obviously not a great idea to start things off on a negative bent, but Cetitan is an Ice-type that also attempts to be a wall, with a massive amount of HP. Ice is possibly the worst defensive typing in the game, with a ton of common weaknesses.

The thing is, Cetitan shines even though its niche isn't very viable in high-level play. It has a great Attack stat and a powerful roster of coverage moves, including Play Rough, Earthquake, Body Press, and Stomping Tantrum. Add in high-power Ice-type attacks like Ice Spinner or Avalanche (which will often be powered up thanks to Cetitan's low Speed) and you have a great attacker with more HP than your average attacker.

Thanks to Thick Fat, Cetitan actually gets to cut out one of its weaknesses, letting it go up against Fire-types with ease.

Iron Bundle

If you're playing Pokemon Violet, you have the chance to catch this neat Paradox Pokemon; if you're on Scarlet, you'll have to trade. This knock-off Delibird is notable merely as it makes the second generation Santa-themed disappointment quite viable.

It has extremely high Special Attack and Speed, so you might not even need to worry about Iron Bundle's low defensive stats as it could pull off a clean sweep without being hit once! Make sure to include Freeze-Dry as that's your only way of hitting Water-types.

Crabominable

Ice is one of the best offensive types in Pokemon. Fighting is also one of the best offensive types in Pokemon. Smash them together, and you get an aggressive hairy crab with one problem, it will eventually run out of Pokemon to clobber.

With Ice Hammer, Crabominable is going to put a dent in anything thrown at it, and if it ends up pitted against something ridiculously bulky, you can bet that its high-powered Fighting-type moves will serve as plentiful backup.

It even has the useful Stomping Tantrum, with which it can turn annoying Ice Hammer misses into superpowered Ground-type annihilation.

Glaceon

A devastating special attacker with respectable defensive stats? That's Glaceon. This icy Eeveelution doesn't win many popularity contests for one reason or another, but it's absolutely worthy of consideration if there's an Ice-type needed in your team.

Ice Beam was made for this Pokemon, and it even has some neat coverage options in Shadow Ball and Chilling Water, and it can even run a Calm Mind/Stored Power combo. Another option would be to teach it Wish through Egg Moves and enjoy a sweeper with a surprising amount of self-healing.

Frosmoth

Bug isn't often hailed as one of the best types in the game, despite having some incredibly tough Pokemon. For Frosmoth, it makes a pretty great secondary typing as it helps cover Ice's weakness to Fighting and adds some STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus) to another great offensive typing.

With Quiver Dance, Frosmoth has the potential to be a devastating setup sweeper. Using it will boost its Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed. Use it once or twice, go to town with powerful STAB moves such as Bug Buzz or Blizzard, and save the fourth move slot for something more utilitarian, like U-Turn or Feather Dance. Ice Scales even gives Frosmoth some survivability, which is always appreciated.

Rotom Frost

Once you win the Rotom Catalogue in Porto Marinada's auction house, you'll be able to change the form of any Rotom you catch. Use the Refrigerator setting, and you have yourself an Ice/Electric-type with considerable bulk and a nice Special Attack stat.

This works really well for a Rotom, which thrives with Thunderbolt and Blizzard as STAB moves, bolstered by great utility moves. Slap Confuse Ray and Thunder Wave on it, and your opponents will not know what hit them.

Froslass

Everyone's favorite creepy lady is back in Scarlet & Violet, and she's as strong as ever. While a bit on the fragile side, Froslass is another fantastic attacker thanks to its great Speed and Special Attack.

Utility is the name of the game with Froslass. With access to Will-O-Wisp, Thunder Wave, Confuse Ray, Taunt, Trick, Destiny Bond, and Double Team, you're totally free to pick your own brand of annoying the opponent with Froslass.

Pair one of the status moves with Hex for even more cruelty.

Weavile

High Speed and Attack make Weavile the very definition of a physical sweeper. You want it to come in and spend as little time destroying your opposition as possible, and it has to tools to pull this off consistently.

The strategy is pretty similar to Beartic's, set up a Swords Dance and use Weavile's incredible selection of moves to take on every challenger who comes your way. What puts Weavile so much higher than Beartic is its Speed. It's far more reliable at pulling off a clean sweep, and it has the tempting option of Baton Pass to give those juicy Attack boosts to a different teammate if your foe sends out something Weavile can't deal with.

Baxcalibur

Any Pokemon on the receiving end of a Glaive Rush is going to be feeling that pain for days. Baxcalibur is this generation's pseudo-legendary, and it's worthy of the title. It has fantastic offensive typing in Ice and Dragon, a movepool full of top-tier attacks, and a sleek design.

It's on the slower side, but it's a brutal dragon with Dragon Dance; you can't really ask for more than that. Keep it away from tough Fairy and Fighting-type threats, and you'll have little to worry about.

Calyrex-Ice

Calyrex-Ice is in the Uber tier for a good reason. This beast has a gargantuan 165 Attack, and has great bulk both physically and specially. Calyrex-Ice is the purest form of an offensive tank.

While its Psychic-type does not add much to its power, its Ice-type is an incredible offensive typing, letting it hit opponents like a truck. With Glacial Lance, Close Combat, and Zen Headbutt, Calyrex-Ice is neigh unstoppable, terrible pun intended.

Glastrier

Glastrier is like the lesser version of Calyrex-Ice, but that doesn't mean it's weak at all. It's still a very powerful physical tank, and can do so much damage in the right circumstances. It only struggles to show off due to Calyrex-Ice's existence.

Still, Glastrier is a strong wallbreaker in its own right, and could be your only ice-horse option depending on the format. One issue with Glastrier is its weak defensive typing and weakness to Stealth Rocks, so a Heavy-Duty Boots may be useful.

Chien-Pao

While old powerhouses like Calyrex-Ice are strong, Scarlet & Violet also introduced some offensive beasts as well. A prime example being Chien-Pao. This Dark/Ice-type has 120 Attack and 135 Speed, begging to be used as a fast physical sweeper.

Its ability Sword of Ruin is also amazing, as it lowers the other active Pokemon's Defense stat by 25 percent. As long as you vary Mach Punches and the like, Chien-Pao can tar a whole team apart by itself.

Cloyster

Going all the way back to the first generation, Cloyster is not to be overlooked in its power. While not as clearly strong as some other Pokemon on this list, it can function in a variety of roles.

You could run a utility set with Spikes and Toxic Spikes, taking advantage of Cloyster's amazing Defense stat sitting at 180. Or you could switch it up and use Shell Smash, hopefully catching your opponents off-guard and sweeping through their teams. Make sure to have Skill Link and multi-hit moves if you're going the offensive route.

Articuno

Articuno is an interesting Pokemon in terms of how powerful it is. It's got the stats of a legendary Pokemon, but due to a lack of coverage moves and very bad typing, it's been left by the wayside alongside Moltres, when compared to the amazing Zapdos. An unbalanced Legendary trio, unfortunately.

Luckily, with the introduction of Heavy-Duty boots, Articuno is absolutely viable nowadays. In fact, having access to Freeze-Dry, Ancient Power, and Air Slash makes it a respectable special attacker. Terastalizing into a Rock or Ground-type can also make Articuno an amazing trump card, potentially turning the tide of a battle.

Regice

Returning via Pokemon Scarlet & Violet's Indigo Disk DLC, the super-solid Sinnoh Ice-type Regice is back - and so is its outlandishly high 200 Special Defense stat. It's the rare example of a pure Ice-type Pokemon that might just be able to withstand a hit from the type's many natural enemies, like Flamethrower and Rock Throw.

It might be tempting to saddle Regice with Ice Body, so it can heal its HP by a sixteenth every turn, and indeed, if you're playing Scarlet & Violet's expansive single-player mode, you'll probably appreciate the assist. Against more formidable foes, however (and really, against the Indigo Disk Elite Four as well), you're better off with Clear Body, which prevents Regice's stats from being lowered. Desperate foes will no doubt attempt to whittle away at that 200 Special Defense if pushed, so let's not give them the chance.