It is worth noting that while I still disagree with their complete opposition to all 2 turn moves (including when it comes to Landorus using Fly), I did modify my original Landorus movesets eventually, after a good friend of mine had suggested that I add Flyinium Z to them, so that Landorus can turn Fly into the 1 turn, 175 power Flying-type Z-Move Supersonic Skystrike:
Landorus-Therian @ Flyinium Z Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Fly - Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
Landorus @ Flyinium Z Ability: Sand Force
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Fly - Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
Still, IMO much of the criticism of Articuno is unfair, as Mind Reader+Sheer Cold is a devastating combo (when you can get away with it), and while it may be somewhat lacking in good coverage moves, Articuno still has one of the best Blizzards in Gen 3.
(Although admittedly, the much slower Regice is probably the #1 Ice-type Legendary in this gen.)
Also, although Articuno's Attack stat is very low, Fly, Aerial Ace, and a Flying-type Hidden Power may also be worth considering simply because of STAB, as well as status moves like Reflect, Mist, and Double Team, or the Speed-decreasing Ice-type move Icy Wind.
(And for those unfamiliar with the GBA games, many of these moves would be a huge PITN to actually teach Articuno, especially Water Pulse, Aerial Ace, and the different Hidden Powers.) [/Spoiler]
Compared to my Gen 3 moveset, this one takes advantage of the addition of Wide Lens in Gen 4, which increases the accuracy of both Sheer Cold and Blizzard by 10%.
Still, Sheer Cold is ideally meant to be used after
Mind Reader, and there are plenty of other good held items for Articuno in Gen 4, such as a Charti Berry, a Zoom Lens, or a Focus Sash.
I chose Air Cutter because of STAB (rather than type coverage), and its high Sp. Attack stat makes both it and Blizzard pretty good attack moves, although a more defensively oreinted one that focuses on Mind Reader+Sheer Cold is arguably better:
Icy Wind gives Articuno a way of lowering its opponent(s) Speed stat (and it still does 4× damage against Pokemon like Garchomp and Salamence), while Roost gives it a way of restoring its HP, with the added benefit of temporarily removing its Flying-type.
(Which halves the amount of damage that Rock-, Electric- and Ice-type moves inflict on it.)
Other good moves include Tailwind (which is great for Double battles), Reflect (which can replace Icy Wind, and compliments Roost quite nicely), Hail (which is an alternative to relying on Abomasnow's Snow Warning), and Defog (which lowers the opponents evasiveness, as well as clearing things like Light Screen, Safeguard, and Toxic Spikes), each of which would be excellent additions to either of these Articuno's movesets.
For those looking for an Articuno moveset that doesn't include any 1HKO moves or evasion moves, this is the best that I could come up with:
With the Charti Berry, Articuno can probably survive a Stone Edge from most non-Rock-types, and can maintain its HP as needed with Roost.
In Single battles, Stealth Rock will obviously be a problem (as will it not knowing Hail), but Icy Wind can (in conjunction with its maxed out Speed stat) be used to gain a Speed advantage against its opponents, and (hopefully) take them out with Blizzard and/or Air Cutter.
(Without Mind Reader+Sheer Cold, Articuno is definitely best on Hail weather Double battle teams, though.) [/Spoiler]
Aside from Move Tutors not being able to teach Air Cutter anymore in Gen 5 (which affects the other 2 Legendary birds a lot more than it does Articuno), not much has changed for Articuno going from Gen 4 to Gen 5.
Mind Reader+Sheer Cold still works, and other than maybe an Ice Gem, none of the new held items are particularly appealing.
Of course, this moveset might also interest some people:
Articuno @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 6 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Blizzard
- Sky Drop
- Sheer Cold
- Water Pulse
This moveset is only intended for use in Double, Triple, and Multi battles, and only in places where Sky Drop isn't banned.
(For those who may not be aware, it is banned in the PWT.)
Although there are better Sky Drop users out there (such as Aerodactyl, Dragonite, and Rayquaza), none of them has a Blizzard as strong as Articuno's, nor can they learn any 1HKO moves, which makes Articuno the ideal Sky Drop choice for Ice-type/Hail weather teams, as well as being one of the best Ice-type Choice Scarf candidates.
(And anyone who's tangled with Cynthia's Glaceon in the PWT knows just how effective a scarved Ice-type with Blizzard can be.) [/Spoiler]
For those who can get a hold of one, Articuno with their Hidden Ability Snow Cloak are an excellent addition to a Hail weather team.
Although Air Cutter is still Articuno's only good Flying-type move (well, I guess that a Flying-type Hidden Power, Sky Drop, and Sky Attack aren't THAT bad), transferring an Articuno all the way from Gen 4 to Gen 6 is an unreasonable thing for me to expect people to be able to do, and TBH Air Cutter isn't even that good of an attack move for Articuno, anyway.
(Plus having Air Cutter means giving up Snow Cloak, which just isn't worth it IMO.)
Blizzard allows Articuno to fully take advantage of Hail weather, and its high Sp. Attack allows it to fully take advantage of Blizzard, although Icy Wind or Roost and/or a maxed out Defense stat may be better options.
(And don't forget about Charti Berries, which can help deal with those pesky Rock-type moves.)
Of course, Gen 6 is also the gen that added one of my favorite (and apparently underappreciated) held items: the Assault Vest.
Articuno @ Assault Vest
Ability: Snow Cloak
EVs: 6 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sheer Cold
- Blizzard
- Ancient Power
- Hidden Power Flying
Although lacking in good coverage moves for Blizzard and Sheer Cold, Articuno is still a good Assault Vest user, both because of its ridiculously high Sp. Defense stat, and its 1HKO move.
Of course, giving up on status moves also means giving up on Mind Reader and Roost (not to mention forcing it to rely on others to create Hail), but even without those it still has its Ice-type STAB, Sheer Cold, Snow Cloak, and immunity to Sticky Web, which (combined with that crazy high Sp. Defense stat) make an Assault Vest Articuno a formidable addition to even a Single battle team.
(Just watch out for those Stealth Rocks.)
Articuno @ Assault Vest
Ability: Snow Cloak
EVs: 6 HP / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sheer Cold
- Icy Wind
- Ancient Power
- Hidden Power Flying
Similar to the previous Assault Vest moveset, this one just pours everything (except its Nature) into Articuno's Sp. Defense stat, which (at Level 50) is a mind bogglingly high 265!
Although its extreme weakness to Stealth Rocks somwhat cripple it (if/when your opponent actually puts up Stealth Rocks, anyway), its Sp. Defense stat puts even a specially defensive
Primal Kyogre's to shame, and while there's more to life than Sp. Defense, having this high of Sp. Defense AND a 1HKO move (not to mention Icy Wind) can make for quite the effective switch in in a Single battle.
(And it ain't half bad in Doubles or Triples, either.) [/Spoiler]
Although you shouldn't quote me on it, AFAIK there isn't a whole lot that changed for Articuno in Gen 7.
Mind Reader+Sheer Cold still works, and Hail weather is still good (especially with the additions of Aurora Veil and Slush Rush), and a good Gen 6 Articuno moveset is the same as a good Gen 7 one, pretty much.
With the addition of Z-Moves, using an Icium Z on Blizzard or a Flyinium Z on Air Cutter or Tailwind became options, but aside from that there isn't much too say.
(Although I'll need to check and make sure they didn't add Freeze-Dry to its movepool or something.)
Articuno @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 6 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sheer Cold
- Mind Reader
- Air Cutter
- Tailwind
If you have it use Z-Tailwind first, Air Cutter gets a 100% crit rate, which is pretty cool.
[Spoiler=#144 Articuno (Gen ]Articuno @ Assault Vest
Ability: Snow Cloak
EVs: 6 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sheer Cold
- Blizzard
- Air Slash
- Ancient Power
Without access to Hidden Power (thanks to Dexit), Articuno loses access to one of its best coverage moves, although it never really was that good of a move, anyway.
The addition of Air Slash to its movepool means that Articuno FINALLY has a good Flying-type move, and although the Assault Vest thing may seem tacky, I think that it still suits Articuno quite well, especially when combined with Dynamaxing.
Sheer Cold won't work on Dynamaxed opponents (which is annoying), and Max Hailstorm allows Artticuno to activate Snow Cloak on its own, without having to know Hail.
Max Airstream allows Articuno to increase its (and in Double battles, its allies) Speed, and although this moveset lacks Mind Reader, Sheer Cold is plenty good on its own.
(Especially when combined with Articuno's impressive Sp. Defense and its Snow Cloak.)
Although Defog+Sheer Cold isn't as good as Mind Reader+Sheer Cold, Defog is still a better move than Mind Reader overall.
With the addition of Heavy-Duty Boots in Gen 8, Articuno no longer needs to live in perpetual fear of Stealth Rocks, and it even makes a rather nice "defogger" for an all Ice-type team.
Defog has higher PP than Mind Reader, and is less likely to scare away your opponents, and although Sheer Cold still has a fairly good chance of missing after just 1 use, Blizzard is (IIRC) guaranteed to land after doing so, even without Hail weather.
You could still stick with Mind Reader+Sheer Cold if its your preference (I probably still would, TBH), but unless you're going for the high Sp. Defense that an Assault Vest provides, I'd say that Heavy-Duty Boots is Articuno's best item in Gen 8.
(Although Charti Berry still seems pretty good, too.)
Articuno @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Snow Cloak
EVs: 6 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Air Slash
- Ancient Power
- Defog
This moveset is for rulesets that ban 1HKO moves.
Not much to say here, as all I did was take Sheer Cold from the previous moveset and replaced it with the so-so coverage move Ancient Power, which (very rarely) can trigger its secondary effect of increasing all of Articuno's stats by 50%.
Roost, Icy Wind, Tailwind and lots of other moves could be used instead of Ancient Power and/or Defog, and you could also opt for high Defense EVs instead of high Sp. Attack.
(Although all of that goes for all of my Articuno movesets, really.) [/Spoiler]
]Articuno @ Assault Vest
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