One of the main gimmicks of the Pokemon franchise is that each Pokemon has its own type or type combination, with some of them being rather common and others more unique. There are also many unused type combinations in Pokemon games, and Pokemon Legends: Arceus made up for one of the seventeen missing ones in the form of Hisuian Zorua and Zoroark, which are the very first Normal and Ghost Pokemon ever created. Because each type and type combination has its own pros and cons, like being super effective against some and weak against others, every Pokemon in the series is the result of a balancing act when it comes to its stats, abilities, and types.
For a long while now, Ice-type Pokemon have been considered one of the worst types in the whole franchise, maybe on par with - or slightly better than - Bug-types. While this analysis takes into consideration single types and not all the possible combinations, Pokemon that have Ice as one of their two types are often weaker than others precisely because of it, with probably the worst combinations of all being Ice and Bug. The problem with Ice-type Pokemon doesn't come from their offensive side, which is generally considered decent or even good in competitive play, but rather from the fact that this type has far too many weaknesses compared to its resistances. Pokemon Legends: Arceus makes great changes to Ice Pokemon, even in the competitive scene, but they are not enough.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus' Frostbite and Snow in Competitive Pokemon Battles
Ice as a type is strong against Flying, Ground, Grass, and Dragon, but it deals reduced damage to Steel, Water, Fire, and Ice-types. This is relatively balanced, but the problem kicks in on the defensive side, where Ice-types are only resistant to other Ice Pokemon, and they take increased damage from Fighting, Steel, Rock, and Fire-type - fairly common types that are also quite strong in competitive play. Ideally, the best way to fix Ice Pokemon would be to add more resistances to the type and/or reduce the number of weaknesses it has because being only resistant to other Ice-types is exceptionally situational and rather worthless.
It would make sense for Ice-type Pokemon to be resistant to Flying, Grass, and Bug moves, at least from a thematic standpoint, and that could add more viability to Ice in the competitive scene - be it in Generation 8 or moving forward with Generation 9 games. Still, Pokemon Legends: Arceus does make meaningful changes to Ice-types that make them more competitive both in casual play and competitive play, assuming that these features will be part of future games.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus introduces new status conditions and weather effects, and in this specific case, the ones worth mentioning are Frostbite and Snow. Normally, Ice moves can cause their targets to become Frozen, and the type's associated weather condition is Hail, which causes damage at the end of the turn to all non-Ice Pokemon in battle. Both are replaced in Pokemon Legends: Arceus by Frostbite and Snow, respectively, with Frostbite causing residual damage at the end of the turn and reducing the afflicted Pokemon's Special Attack, whereas Snow makes all Pokemon more inclined to get Frostbite.
Snow has two more interesting effects, which make all Drowsy Pokemon less likely to act, while also boosting the Speed of Ice Pokemon on the field. If the latter were to replace Hail in Pokemon Gen 9 games and beyond, Pokemon with the ability Snow Cloak would see their Speed increased and also their evasiveness, making them much stronger and a priority target - especially if they can cause Frostbite too, reducing the damage output of special attackers. Unfortunately, these changes are still not enough for Ice-types to be good in competitive Pokemon battles, but here's to hoping that this is just a tiny start.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is available now for the Nintendo Switch.
