Hey, psst, you want ice?
[Pros]
<ul>
<li>Great over all stat distribution with fantastic bulk.</li>
<li>Immunity to spikes of all kinds and sticky web.</li>
<li>Reliable recovery and a decent ability to work with.</li>
<li>Good STAB combination, especially with the addition of Freeze Dry to it's movepool can make it function as an excellent anti-rain sweeper.</li>
</ul>
[Cons]
<ul>
<li>Crippling weakness to Stealth Rock remains an issue.</li>
<li>Weakness to common special attacks hinders its ability to use it's special bulk well.</li>
<li>Steel-type as an offensive option got boosted in generation 6.</li>
<li>Lack of offensive boosting moves outside of Agility.</li>
</ul>
[Set Recommendations]
<p>name: Offensive <br />
move 1: Freeze Dry/Ice Beam <br />
move 2: Hurricane <br />
move 3: Roost/Agility <br />
move 4: Substitute/Hidden Power Ground <br />
ability: Pressure <br />
item: Leftovers/Life Orb<br />
evs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 SpD <br />
nature: Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk) / Modest (+SpA, -Atk) </p>
<p>The set aims to take advantage of Articuno's STABs while using the remaining slots to recover it health and using it's ability to pressure stall its opponents and protect itself from damage via substitutes, although Agility is a valid option especially under Drizzle. Hurricane is your main weapon, with it's 110 BP and 30% confusion rate you will be hitting a lot of targets, especially common rain pokemon. Ice Beam has higher base power but Freeze Dry has the ability to hit Water pokemon super effectively and threaten to OHKO Gyradous and Kingdra and hurting Rotom-W as well. Frost Breath is also an option as it ignored Special Defense boosts in case a set up sweeper tries to boost infront of Articuno.</p>
<p>Due to it's quadruple weakness to Stealth rock, spinner or defog support is appreciated. Hurricane becomes 100% accurate under rain, therefore a rain inducer can help make this set more deadlier. Team mates who can handle Steel pokemon and weaken special wall such as Blissey are a great synergistic choice.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>The most effective way to deal with Articuno is to have a Stealth Rock user and prevent the opponent from removing it from his field. Phazers also work great in tandem with hazards as it racks up damage against Articuno. Bulky Special walls such as Blissey and Max SpD investment Tyranitar remain an obstacle to Articuno, while pokemon with effective multi-hit moves such as Rock Blast can break it's substitutes if they outspeed such as Shell Smash Cloyster. Pokemons with priority can act as checks, for example Mega Mawile and Mega Scizor while other pokemon can outspeed and revenge kill it such as Talonflame and Scarfed pokemon with Super Effective moves. </p>
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