Competitive Pokemon History - Regice Quiz

Answer: The ability to lure in and eliminate special walls

Regice's access to Explosion is huge. While Snorlax also gets this move, special walls like Blissey aren't going to switch in on Snorlax like they would Regice; this lets Regice bait them in and blow up on them, taking them out to pave the way for an allied special sweeper to do their thing.

When paired with Dugtrio, Regice can assure the removal of at least one walling threat on the opposing team, which is huge when paired with a teammate which needs that threat eliminated to sweep. Apart from this, Regice can do the deed of a special wall while dishing out respectable damage thanks to its great overall base stats.

Answer: Metagross

Salamence can revenge kill a weakened Regice with Rock Slide, but it clearly takes a huge risk if it tries to directly switch in, due to its 4x weakness to Ice and below average Special Defense. Charizard is heavily crippled by a potential Thunder Wave and takes a lot from Thunderbolt, while also taking too much damage from Ice Beam to make it a worthwhile switch in. Tyranitar seems like a candidate until it comes onto the field and gets wrecked by a surprise Focus Punch or Superpower after Spikes damage. It also takes a good amount of damage from Ice Beam, and should refrain from manually switching in unless in a dire situation.

Metagross, on the other hand, is resilient to all of Regice's attacks- even a Hidden Power Fire on the predicted switch. Once in, Metagross can rip Regice to pieces with Meteor Mash. Metagross also resists Explosion, letting its trainer have Metagross tank the hit, rather than have Metagross' allied Snorlax or Blissey take the fall. The existence - and prominence - of Metagross messed with Regice's viability so much that this was often enough on its own to have players choose Snorlax over Regice. It should not be understated how negatively impacted Regice was by Metagross.

Answer: NeverUsed

Regice's stats sure are great, but stats alone cannot make up for its crippling shortcomings otherwise. Its mono-Ice typing is very poor for a wall, giving it big weaknesses to Fire, Fighting, Rock and Steel among others. It also only resists itself, which isn't terribly useful. Being weak to Stealth Rock and having nothing other than Rest for healing options also holds Regice back considerably.

It can comfortably wall any special attacker which cannot hit it super effectively, but this is admittedly a rather short list thanks to its common weaknesses.

As a result, it would drop all the way to NU, but would at least be viable in UU due to its being a great Venusaur and Milotic answer.

Answer: Clear Body

Clear Body renders the user immune to stat reducing effects of all kinds imposed from the opposing trainer, such as the Attack drop from Intimidate. This ability doesn't see practical use on Regice, as Attack reducing powers and abilities are really the only semi-common stat reducing methods a trainer might commonly employ, and Regice is definitely not a physical attacker to begin with.

Answer: Rock Polish

Regice's Base 100 Special Attack isn't super amazing, but it's just enough when combined with a Life Orb item to make Regice a potent NeverUsed sweeper. Its poor Base 50 Speed is rectified by Rock Polish, which doubles Regice's speed after being used. From there, Regice can consistently sweep with the excellent combination of Ice Beam, Thunderbolt and Focus Blast. With that combo, it can reliably hit the entire relevant NU metagame for good damage. Because of its far above average bulk for a sweeper, it can also afford to take a hit, making setting up far easier and making Focus Blast misses, or moments when Regice cannot OHKO its opponent, a lot more forgivable. Because of this, Regice became an excellent NU threat that teams of all kinds would do well to prepare for.

Answer: Ice Body

Ice Body regenerates 1/16th of the user's HP every turn if hail is active. As a playstyle, hail has had an awful history of being totally unviable in just about every meta it's ever been in. Sadly, Regice got virtually nothing out of this ability, and was better off utilizing Clear Body as a result.

Answer: PartiallyUsed

Regice was still viable in NU for being a tanky Ice type with a good movepool to be strong defensively and offensively. In PU, it retained its niche as an excellent offensive threat with the same Rock Polish boosting set it rain in the fifth generation.

Answer: Its Attack stat was too low

Abomasnow's Mega Evolution was banned to a higher tier, rendering it irrelevant in this context. Regice's Base 50 Attack was irreparably bad, preventing Regice from making use of its interesting physically offensive options, such as Curse, Avalanche, Superpower, or Earthquake.

Answer: PartiallyUsed's power levels were too high for Regice

Regice's Base 100 Special Attack was rather subpar compared to the competition, as well as the Pokemon it sought to try and sweep. Its Speed was also beginning to hold it back, leaving it susceptible to being revenge killed even after a Rock Polish. Out of all the Untiered Pokemon, Regice is probably one of the least hopeless, as it can at least function respectably in PU, but the fact that it was Untiered should speak volumes of how it wasn't by any means the best Pokemon around.

Answer: Lanturn

Primeape is probably Regice's best offensive check, able to equip a Choice Scarf, outspeed Regice even after a Rock Polish, and destroy it with Close Combat. Scyther can also do this with Brick Break, though it needs prior damage to OHKO with. Neither can even think about directly switching in, however, as they take far too much damage doing so. Swanna can revenge kill Regice somewhat similarly with a Choice Scarf, but it needs significant prior damage due to Regice's massive Special Defense.

Lanturn, on the other hand, doesn't even take 50% damage from an All-Out Pummeling, which Regice can only use once. It resists Ice Beam, is immune and profits off of Thunderbolt, and takes Focus Blasts easily. It can easily stall Regice out with Toxic + Protect and Leftovers, and it can do this at any point in the game as well.