B+UP #11

Written by: Fusion
Editor: Terradude
Illustrator: Diddgery

Pokémon Pick: Mamoswine



Typing: Defensively, Ice/Ground's not very good; weak to all three starter types, along with the common Fighting-type. Offensively? Ice and Ground combined are only resisted by one Pokémon: Bronzong with Levitate. The other main benefit of this typing is immunity to both sandstorms and hail.

Stats: Mamoswine has an incredible 130 attack, which is the same as current most-used competitive Pokémon Scizor and just below the pseudolegendaries. Its HP of 110 is also fairly impressive, putting it above every legendary but Giratina, Arceus, and Cresselia. Its weakest stat is its Special Defense of 60, but its physical defense and speed are passable.

Moves: Mamoswine's typing gives it plenty of effective physical attacks to work with. In addition to the perennial Earthquake, you have the option for three different Ice attacks. Ice Fang is merely average. Ice Shard compensates for its meager power with STAB and priority, allowing Mamoswine to wipe the floor with unprepared Dragons. Avalanche has a base power greater than Earthquake if Mamoswine takes damage, which it can easily tank. Additional physical moves include Return, Stone Edge, and Superpower. For other options, you have Curse, Roar, Block, and Stealth Rock.

Ability: Oblivious is effectively useless, as Attract isn't used in serious competition, and anything with Cute Charm is either never used or has a better ability to work with. Snow Cloak is somewhat useful, but hail is harder to set up than other weather effects.

Additional Comments: Due to its low special defense and weaknesses, keep it away from anything wielding Surf or Grass Knot. If you're going to be using Mamoswine to counter Dragon-types, be aware that many of them carry Fire Blast; try to set up hail beforehand to activate Snow Cloak and reduce the chance of the attack hitting. Be especially careful with fighting Dragonite, as it also has a priority attack in the form of Extremespeed.

Summary: Mamoswine's a bulky physical attacker which can get the jump on an opponent.



Fail of the Week: Jynx

PICTURE REMOVED BY REQUEST OF BEATRICE WEATHERFORD

Typing: Thought Ice/Ground was bad defensively? With Ice/Psychic you lose your Electric and sandstorm immunity, and the only types you're resistant to are your own.

Stats: Fitting for an Ice-type, Jynx's physical stats can only be described as glass. 65 HP and 35 defense, not a good sign. On the other hand, you do have 95 special defense, but with few resistances... Jynx has 115 Special Attack and 95 Speed, so it can at least get in one attack before it goes down.

Moves: Jynx's attacking options are at least fair to it. You've got Ice Beam and Psychic to work with, in addition to Energy Ball or Grass Knot, Shadow Ball, Water Pulse, Signal Beam, and Focus Blast. Lovely Kiss can put the opponent to sleep, buying you time. If you're willing to gamble on Jynx lasting more than one turn, you have Nasty Plot, Calm Mind, Wish, Trick, and Trick Room for support.

Ability: As I mentioned before, Oblivious is pointless. Forewarn isn't much better. All it does is tell you the most powerful move the opponent has, which you probably knew already.

Additional Comments: Beware using Jynx if your opponent has a physical Dark-type; Pursuit will be its end.

Summary: Jynx is outdone by a lot of stronger and sturdier Pokémon.



Moves You Can Use: Ice Shard

My editor's going to kill me for not putting Toxic Spikes here. Oh well.

As you can see from my comments in the Flygon article and what I've said about Mamoswine, Ice Shard's a really good move. Yes, it's only got 40 base power and it's basically just an Ice-type Quick Attack. So why is it so good?

First of all, it's wound up in the hands of Pokémon that compensate for that low base power with tons of attack: Weavile, Mamoswine, and Donphan. Second, a lot of commonly-used Pokémon such as Salamence and Gliscor are 4x weak to Ice, allowing you to OHKO or at least severely cripple them. Thirdly, it gets priority, meaning that even slower Pokémon can get the jump on the opponent. Unless they're using Yache Berries, you will do heavy damage.

It may not look like a powerful move, but in the right hands, Ice Shard can ground your opponent's flyers and devastate their Dragon-types.

for those of you that dont know, beatrice was a bitch who cried racist on jynx and got every episode featuring jynx banned