Articuno

Articuno carves itself a good niche in the PU metagame, as it has good offenses, respectable bulk, a useful ability in Pressure, and a decent Speed tier. These traits allow Articuno to run effective offensive and defensive sets, capable of breaking weaker teams or stalling out defensive threats such as Audino. Articuno's good bulk also allows it to blanket check many offensive Pokemon like Victreebel, Skuntank, and Swanna and deal with them with its STAB moves in return. However, Articuno does have a 4x weakness to Stealth Rock, which limits its opportunities to switch in freely. As a result, Articuno must be partnered with a teammate that can remove entry hazards. In addition, Articuno's poor defensive typing prevents it from being a fully defensive wall, and its average offenses make it too weak to be a fully offensive sweeper. Articuno competes with other Ice-types in the tier, namely Aurorus, Jynx, and Abomasnow, all of which are more versatile and stronger offensively. Despite outspeeding the likes of Skuntank and Stoutland, Articuno sits in a slightly awkward Speed tier, leaving it outpaced by common threats like Kangaskhan, Primeape, and Dodrio. Finally, Articuno has trouble in some matchups versus more offensively based teams, as it can be more easily pressured by strong wallbreakers. Those teams also tend to set up Stealth Rock more easily and are able to apply more pressure to the hazard remover.