Why are so many Ice Types slow and defensive?

[BettyN]

Four weaknesses (to very common types), one (useless) resistance, and no immunities.

Strong against four (very common) types.

The Ice Type seems to be the very definition of "glass cannon," if not the embodiment of it. It's good against a lot of things, but can't take a hit to save its life. Basically, the opposite of Steel. This seems balanced on paper.

But, then, you look at actual Ice POKEMON, and you see a different story. Very few of them have Speeds or even attacking stats in the triple digits, while the majority of their Stat Points are distributed into HP and/or defenses. Again, with one resistance and a buttload of weaknesses.

Here are the average stats of all fully-evolved Ice Types (per Bulbapedia):

HP: 81.89
Attack: 83.26
Defense: 83.26
Sp.Atk: 90.37
Sp.Def: 93.26
Speed: 79.21
Total: 511.26

Yes, their highest average stat is Special DEFENSE. You know, with one resistance and four weaknesses that are majority Physical. And, their lowest stat? Speed. Real glass cannons, there.

Looking at individual Ice Types, the situation looks even worse:

Dewgong: It looks sort-of bulky until you remember its typing. And, evenly split Base 70 Attack/Sp. Attack/Speed? And, no reliable recovery or status moves? This is a Pokémon that literally can't do anything but go out and die.

Cloyster: What is the point of having Base 180 Defense on a Pokémon with only 2 resistances (to its own types), four weaknesses, and Base 50 HP? Thank goodness it got Shell Smash later on.

Jynx: Finally, something that looks like a glass cannon... Wait, Base 95 speed? Really, GF?

Lapras: With that BST, you'd think it'd have better stats than this. Why does it need evenly split Base 85 Attack/Sp. Attack? That's not a mixed attacker, that's something that can't attack, period. And, all of that HP is useless with that typing and no recovery. Such a waste of a great design and movepool.

Glaceon: What a pointless Pokémon. They give it all of that Sp. Attack while funneling the rest of its stats into defenses and giving it nothing besides Ice Beam/Blizzard to use that Sp. Attack with. Which, Vaporeon still uses better. It's a sad day when you're outclassed by a member of your own family.

Articuno: All three of the Legendary Birds had a Base 125 Special in RBY. When the stat was split in GSC, the old stat became Sp. Attack for Zapdos and Moltres, while it became Sp. DEFENSE for Articuno. You know, the bird with the worst defensive typing. Talk about getting screwed over.

Weavile: Now, THIS is what an Ice Type should look like. Great Speed, great Attack, and bad defenses. A true glass cannon. Wait... It doesn't have any Physical STAB stronger than 75-85 BP?

Mamoswine: Slow and bulky, yes, but look at that Base 130 Attack. It can do something that poor Lapras and Articuno can't do--hurt things. The Ground typing also helps.

Glalie: The Ice Type seems to be unfortunately plagued with Jacks of All Stats, and Glalie is the most literal example--Base 80 across the board. Combine that with its blah monotyping and horrible movepool, and you have a completely useless Pokémon.

Froslass: It's got Speed and even, a useful sub-typing (Ghost), but that's about it. It still has the same ugly 80/80 offenses as Glalie. So close, but not quite enough.

Walrein: Look, it's Lapras Jr. Without the good movepool. And, the necessity of Hail (a horrible weather condition) to even function. Next.

Regice: Oh, look, another Trio Legendary with more Sp. Defense than it needs. Why, GF?

Abomasnow: Oh, joy, another slow, bulky Jack of All Stats. And, with a whopping seven weaknesses, to boot. And, the Mega doesn't help it as much as you'd think. And, again, Hail is a terrible weather.

Frost Rotom: Groan, another Jack of All Stats. At least, it has an okay type combo, though.

Vanilluxe: Ah, the infamous Ice Cream Cone... And, it's ANOTHER slow, bulky Jack of All Stats. You know, like Dewgong, Lapras, Glalie, Walrein, and Abomasnow? Can't you do anything else with Ice Types, GF?

Beartic Boring type, boring movepool, and way too slow. Next.

Cryogonal: It looks promising... Until you see that Base 135 stat in Sp. DEFENSE instead of Attack. Seriously, GF?

Kyurem: Awful design with awful stats (look, another Jack of All Stats) and movepool by Legendary standards. Turns out that sticking Ice with the mighty Dragon doesn't make it better, after all.

Aurorus: Great, another slow, defensive Jack of All Stats, and with the worst type combo yet. This is just trolling.

Avalugg: It's very slow, and its highest stat is Defense... That should say everything.​

Why do Ice Types suck so much? If it's meant to be a "glass cannon" type, then where are the glass cannons? Why do so many of these Pokémon have slow, bulky stat spreads? Why are so many of them Jacks of All Stats that don't really excel in anything except dying?

At this point, I can see why GF has decided to just brush this type under the rug, making no effort to fix it, and forget that it ever existed. Sadly, it seems to be beyond repair.

 

[homer.homs]

Basically, in real world, most animals that live in cold areas are either slow, big and quiet. For example are Walrus, Polar Bear, Seals, Penguins and Whales with the exception of Arctic and Antarctic birds(both migratory or not).

Maybe that is the reason why creators of Pokemon made Ice-type Pokemon slow and defensive. Other than that, I never know the reason.

Of course, Weavile is an exception. Because I think, Weavile is the only Ice-type Pokemon that are "Spd-type"(if I'm not mistaken).

Every type, I think has its own attributes. Rock, Steel and Ground type is an Atk type Pokemon that can also be use as Defensive. Poison, Psychic and most Dark type specializes Sp. Atk but with poor Def. So if you are disappointed with attributes of Ice-type Pokemon, then you should try other types. But sometimes, being slow and defensive has its own benefits. You should just figure it by yourself. LOL

And yes, I agree with you. Most Ice-type Pokemon are not that desirable. Especially Abomasnow(an ice type that are weak against Flying?? Doesn't make sense!) even though it has Mega Evo.

 

[BettyN]

But sometimes, being slow and defensive has its own benefits.

Not when you have FOUR very common weaknesses and NO useful resistances. And, very limited access to status/recovery moves. Even Grass has it better than that.

But, Ice is an above-average offensive type, so Ice Type attacks are pretty useful... Just not with Ice Type Pokémon. Almost every Water Type sans Magikarp can learn Ice attacks, and Water Types are way more common, usually have better stats and movepools, and a better typing, in general.

And yes, I agree with you. Most Ice-type Pokemon are not that desirable. Especially Abomasnow(an ice type that are weak against Flying?? Doesn't make sense!) even though it has Mega Evo.

And, remember that Abomasnow is currently the ONLY Ice Type to have a Mega. Yes, even Poison, Normal, and Bug each have more than one Mega. Talk about getting cheated...

 

[homer.homs]

Not when you have FOUR very common weaknesses and NO useful resistances. And, very limited access to status/recovery moves. Even Grass has it better than that.

But, Ice is an above-average offensive type, so Ice Type attacks are pretty useful... Just not with Ice Type Pokémon. Almost every Water Type sans Magikarp can learn Ice attacks, and Water Types are way more common, usually have better stats and movepools, and a better typing, in general.

That is the reason why I don't choose pure ice type Pokemon so there would be no problem in terms of move choices.

 

[Almonds]

I chose Froslass as a member of my team only because of the additional Ghost-typing. If it had more speed, it would serve as the best sui leader.

 

[BettyN]

That is the reason why I don't choose pure ice type Pokemon so there would be no problem in terms of move choices.

Even most dual Ice Type Pokémon don't fare much better. Lapras has a great design and a fantastic movepool, but its stats are annoyingly even (with a bias towards Defense). In fact, it doesn't have a single Base Stat (besides HP) that's above 95. Shouldn't a Loch Ness Monster be stronger than that?

And, then there's Articuno, a freakin' Legendary (and one of the prettiest ones), and it completely sucks in every way compared to its siblings. I guess Mind Reader/Sheer Cold is kind of cool, but you know your options are limited if you have to rely on a gimmick like that.

I chose Froslass as a member of my team only because of the additional Ghost-typing. If it had more speed, it would serve as the best sui leader.

Froslass has Base 110 Speed, the fastest fully-evolved Ice Type besides Weavile. And, it still isn't fast enough. That is a problem.

 

[Team Gaara]

Probably the same reason so many Electric-types are fast with high Special Attack but low Defense. Most Pokemon of any given type specialize in similar stats.

Steel - Defense (low Speed)

Fire - Special Attack

Flying - Speed (low Special Attack)

Water - HP

It just so happens Ice is a Defensive typing with low speed.

 

[BettyN]

It just so happens Ice is a Defensive typing with low speed.

How is a type with four weaknesses and no resistances defensive?

Want to see what an *actual* defensive type looks like?

Steel (type) - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia

Average fully-evolved stats:

HP: 74.08
Attack: 97.65
Defense: 119.04
Sp.Atk: 78.96
Sp.Def: 90.46
Speed: 63.27
Total: 523.46

Ten resistances and one immunity, with just three (albeit, common) weaknesses.

 

[Team Gaara]

How is a type with four weaknesses and no resistances defensive?

Want to see what an *actual* defensive type looks like?

Steel (type) - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia

Average fully-evolved stats:

HP: 74.08
Attack: 97.65
Defense: 119.04
Sp.Atk: 78.96
Sp.Def: 90.46
Speed: 63.27
Total: 523.46

Ten resistances and one immunity, with just three (albeit, common) weaknesses.

Because it's average highest stats are it's defenses. And I've already established that Steel is a Defensive typing so I really don't get why you felt the need to include its stats

 

[Bolt Strike]

Probably the same reason so many Electric-types are fast with high Special Attack but low Defense. Most Pokemon of any given type specialize in similar stats.

Steel - Defense (low Speed)

Fire - Special Attack

Flying - Speed (low Special Attack)

Water - HP

It just so happens Ice is a Defensive typing with low speed.

The point BettyN is trying to get across is that the stat distribution conflicts with its type matchups. Ice has a lot of defensively oriented Pokemon, but that doesn't do it any good when Ice only resists itself and is weak to 4 types. It just doesn't make sense to plan it out that way and makes the type as a whole fairly useless.

 

[Steel_Justice]

Gamefreak seems to think having Ice types be literal Mighty Glaciers is appropriate forgetting they designed to type to be Glass Cannons. What is really annoying is a lot of them don't have movepools to match their stats, Weavile would have been better if it was a special attacker so it could use moves with more base power (hell, it even learns Nasty Plot), Aurorus would have been better off as a physical attacker to use return with its ability and Avalugg wouldn't have been a waste of space if a monster made of ice could use Ice Shard. Not to mention with all the defensive ice types they sure lack useful defensive/support moves; only 1 fully evolved pokemon learns stealth rock (Mamoswine), 2 learn recover (Cryognal, Avalugg) and only 4 learn thunder wave (Aurorus, Regice, Froslass, Rotom).

 

[BettyN]

To make matters worse, while Ice is a good offensive type, very few Ice Types have attacking stats at Base 100 or higher to actually take advantage of that.

Steel, despite being the premier defensive type (and a mediocre, at best, offensive one), still has quite a few fully-evolved, non-Legendary Pokémon with 100+ attacking stats:

- Magnezone (130 Sp. Attack)
- Scizor (130 Attack)
- Aggron (110 Attack)
- Metagross (135 Attack)
- Empoleon (111 Sp. Attack)
- Lucario (110 Attack and 115 Sp. Attack)
- Excadrill (135 Attack)
- Escavalier (135 Attack)
- Bisharp (125 Attack)
- Durant (109 Attack)
- Blade Forme Aegislash (150 Attack)

Now, here are the fully-evolved, non-Legendary Ice Types with 100+ attacking stats:

- Jynx (115 Sp. Attack)
- Glaceon (130 Sp. Attack)
- Weavile (120 Attack)
- Mamoswine (130 Attack)
- Frost Rotom (105 Sp. Attack)
- Vanilluxe (110 Sp. Attack)
- Beartic (110 Attack)
- Avalugg (117 Attack)

Only two of those even go above Base 120 (and one of those is a mediocre Eeveelution), compared to the Base 130s and 135s that seem to have been handed out to Steel Types like candy.

And, yes, you're reading that list right--Jynx, with her Base 115 Sp. Attack, WAS the game's strongest Ice attacker before Gen 4!

Game Freak seems to have this idea that Ice Types should not only be defensive, but they should also be mediocre "mixed" attackers who don't really excel in anything. Just look at all of the Ice Types with even or near-even attacking stats...

- Dewgong (70 Attack/70 Sp. Attack)
- Cloyster (95 Attack/85 Sp. Attack)
- Lapras (85 Attack/85 Sp. Attack)
- Glalie (80 Attack/80 Sp. Attack)
- Froslass (80 Attack/80 Sp. Attack)
- Walrein (80 Attack/95 Sp. Attack)
- Abomasnow (92 Attack/92 Sp. Attack)
- Vanilluxe (95 Attack/110 Sp. Attack)
- Aurorus (77 Attack/99 Sp. Attack)

I'd almost give them a pass on the Gen 1 Water/Ices since stats, in general, tended to be more evenly-distrubted back then, but then, you look at all of these Gen 4-6 Ice Types who are also getting the Jack of All Trades treatment (at a time when GF pretty much stopped giving those kinds of stat distributions out to most Pokémon), and you start to get suspicious...

 

[Twinkles the Marvel Horse]

Technically speaking, cold substances move slower and solidify as a rule of atomic motion. As such, it would make sense that the type based on frozen liquid would be slow and more sturdy.

 

[BettyN]

As such, it would make sense that the type based on frozen liquid would be slow and more sturdy.

If "sturdiness" is a feature of ice, then why doesn't the Ice Type have any useful resistances?

 

[Twinkles the Marvel Horse]

If "sturdiness" is a feature of ice, then why doesn't the Ice Type have any useful resistances?

Ice is not a very resistant substance; the question was about their stats, not their resistances. Plus, I said "sturdy" as in "structurally stable" not "durable."

 

[BettyN]

Ice is not a very resistant substance; the question was about their stats, not their resistances. Plus, I said "sturdy" as in "structurally stable" not "durable."

Something isn't really "structurally stable" if it instantly falls to even the weakest hits. And, what good is a defensive Pokémon if it has a buttload of weaknesses and no resistances or immunities to actually take hits with?

There are a few resistances that actually *would* make sense for Ice. For example, ice is known to be a bad conductor of electricity, so why not give it a resistance to Electric? Considering how common and valuable "BoltBeam" coverage still is, having natural resistances to both Ice and Electric would be pretty nice. (And, Articuno and the Water/Ices would certainly love dropping the Electric weakness.)

And, since ice is a hard substance like rock and steel, why not also a Normal resistance? And, Flying, for that matter? Things are already starting to look better.

And, did you know that ice actually erodes rock, not the other way around? So why is Ice saddled with this awful Rock weakness? Drop the Rock weakness and make Ice and Rock neutral to each other.

And, return Ice and Fire back to their RBY matchups, with Ice taking 2x from Fire and Fire taking neutral from Ice. Fire is the most resistant type besides Steel, so it could stand to lose a resistance, and since ice melts into water when heated, Fire shouldn't be completely resistant, anyways. (Plus, some of the strongest Fire Types in competitive right now are the Mega Charizards and Talonflame, all of whom would gain a newfound weakness to Ice.)

Here are the new and improved matchups for Ice:

Weaknesses:
- Fire
- Fighting
- Steel

Resistances:
- Ice
- Electric
- Normal
- Flying

Everything else is neutral.

SE Against:
- Flying
- Grass
- Ground
- Dragon

NVE Against:
- Ice
- Water
- Steel

Everything else is neutral.​

See? Now, Ice is a usable type. The next step would be to give people a reason to use Ice Types over Water Types with Ice Beam, which has more to do with stats and movepools.

 

[homer.homs]

Even most dual Ice Type Pokémon don't fare much better. Lapras has a great design and a fantastic movepool, but its stats are annoyingly even (with a bias towards Defense). In fact, it doesn't have a single Base Stat (besides HP) that's above 95. Shouldn't a Loch Ness Monster be stronger than that?

You are actually correct. Move-wise but not stat-wise. That is the reason why I'm begging for a Mega-Lapras.

 

[Osprey]

"...I could be your most challenging opponent yet or I could be a total pushover." - Wulfric, the Ice-Type Gym Leader of Kalos.

The sad part about Ice types is that it's to the point where the games have a specialist of that type admitting that they're horribly weak. Also, while ice may be more solid than, say, water, solid does NOT equal sturdy. If anything, cold temperatures cause things to become brittle rather than tough. Really, I understand that Game Freak may be taking the whole "attacks like a glacier" thing too literally, but if any type should be like a glacier, it should be Fighting or Steel types. Ice types... I think of how ice itself can be used as weapons. Sharp, freezing, but delicate blades made of icicles usually pop into my head first thing. Basically, glass cannon. Weavile is a near-perfect embodiment of this. Too bad everything else tries to act like literal glaciers...

 

[BettyN]

You are actually correct. Move-wise but not stat-wise. That is the reason why I'm begging for a Mega-Lapras.

Same here. Lapras is a wonderful Pokémon with a great design and fantastic movepool, but its stats are distributed way too evenly, and its type hurts it more than it helps. Here's an idea for a Mega Lapras I've been kicking around:

Mega Lapras

Type: Water
Ability: Drizzle

HP: 130
Attack: 75 (-10)
Defense: 80 (+0)
Sp. Attack: 145 (+60)
Sp. Defense: 120 (+25)
Speed: 75 (+15)​

Now, THIS what Lapras should've always been. Slow and bulky, yes, but with amazing Sp. Attack. Like a Special version of Mamoswine, basically.

Unless type matchups change anytime soon, Ice will always hurt Lapras more than help it, so I made it mono-Water. (Similar to Mega Aggron being mono-Steel.) I jacked up the Special stats, dropped its unnecessarily high Attack, and gave it a teensy bit more Speed. With Base 145 Sp. Attack, it will actually pack a stronger Ice Beam than its base form, despite the lack of STAB.

And, I went all out with the ability. Lapras deserves an amazing ability, and even with the nerf, what's more amazing than weather? Just look at what weather abilities did for the likes of Politoed, Ninetales, and Charizard. STAB rain-boosted Surf/Hydro Pump coming off that Sp. Attack will hurt.

What do you think?

"...I could be your most challenging opponent yet or I could be a total pushover." - Wulfric, the Ice-Type Gym Leader of Kalos.

The sad part about Ice types is that it's to the point where the games have a specialist of that type admitting that they're horribly weak. Also, while ice may be more solid than, say, water, solid does NOT equal sturdy. If anything, cold temperatures cause things to become brittle rather than tough. Really, I understand that Game Freak may be taking the whole "attacks like a glacier" thing too literally, but if any type should be like a glacier, it should be Fighting or Steel types. Ice types... I think of how ice itself can be used as weapons. Sharp, freezing, but delicate blades made of icicles usually pop into my head first thing. Basically, glass cannon. Weavile is a near-perfect embodiment of this. Too bad everything else tries to act like literal glaciers...

Literal glaciers who (usually) have no attacking power. Just meat shields to sit out there and die.

Being familiar with the earlier games, I tend to think that Ice was another type that GF felt was too overpowered in RBY, and like with Psychic, they went overboard in nerfing it.

If there was ever a game where being part-Ice was a boon and not a hindrance, it was RBY. Steel Types didn't exist, Fire Types were outclassed and didn't resist, Fighting Types sucked and were horribly weak to the broken and omnipresent Psychic, the only Rock users were slow Rock/Grounds with bad Special (and the only Rock move was Rock Slide, which was too mediocre to use without STAB). On top of all of that, Blizzard had 90% accuracy, and Freeze was instant death (no thawing unless hit by a Fire move). And, the average-to-above-average stats of the likes of Lapras, Cloyster, Jynx, and even, Dewgong were far less of a hindrance back when all stats could be maxed out and before the power creep of the later Gens (Jacks of All Stats were the norm in Gen 1). Articuno boasted a terrifying base 125 Special, making its Blizzard one of the strongest moves in the entire game.

The nerf hammer hit hard in GSC. It gained a hard counter in the form of Steel, Fire Types now resisted and were more common thanks to the aforementioned Steel, and a certain powerful Pseudo-Legendary Rock Type who had good Sp. Defense and no Ice weakness showed up. Blizzard was also dropped to 70% accuracy, and Freeze could now thaw on its own (or by using Flame Wheel/Sacred Fire). To rub salt on the wounds, the split of the Special stat hurt all previous Ice Types besides Jynx (who gained Sp. Attack)--Lapras, Dewgong, and Articuno lost Sp. Attack, while Cloyster lost Sp. Defense--and the new Ice Types that were added were either complete jokes (Delibird) or were mediocre Physical attackers (Sneasel and Piloswine).

RSE only continued the nerfing. The advent of Natures and the EV cap reduced everyone's natural bulk, making type resistances (which Ice didn't have) more of a necessity for surviving hits, and it made being a Jack of All Stats (as many Ice Types were) a lot harder. Fighting also started getting better at this time, with powerful new moves like Brick Break and Focus Punch, as well as some powerful new Pokémon, and Steel only continued to improve.

DPP was the final nail in the coffin with the advent of Stone Edge and Stealth Rock, the continued buffing of Fighting, the newly-buffed Scizor, and the start of Power Creep. Sure, Ice did gain Physical STAB, auto-Hail, Weavile, and Mamoswine this Gen, but that wasn't nearly enough to break even. Ice has been at the very bottom of the pile since then, and sadly, GF doesn't seem too willing to change that. (Hence, the reason why they created a new type to deal with overpowered Dragons instead of fixing Ice.)

 

[BlackButterfree]

Same here. Lapras is a wonderful Pokémon with a great design and fantastic movepool, but its stats are distributed way too evenly, and its type hurts it more than it helps. Here's an idea for a Mega Lapras I've been kicking around:

Mega Lapras

Type: Water
Ability: Drizzle

HP: 130
Attack: 75 (-10)
Defense: 80 (+0)
Sp. Attack: 145 (+60)
Sp. Defense: 120 (+25)
Speed: 75 (+15)​

Now, THIS what Lapras should've always been. Slow and bulky, yes, but with amazing Sp. Attack. Like a Special version of Mamoswine, basically.

Unless type matchups change anytime soon, Ice will always hurt Lapras more than help it, so I made it mono-Water. (Similar to Mega Aggron being mono-Steel.) I jacked up the Special stats, dropped its unnecessarily high Attack, and gave it a teensy bit more Speed. With Base 145 Sp. Attack, it will actually pack a stronger Ice Beam than its base form, despite the lack of STAB.

And, I went all out with the ability. Lapras deserves an amazing ability, and even with the nerf, what's more amazing than weather? Just look at what weather abilities did for the likes of Politoed, Ninetales, and Charizard. STAB rain-boosted Surf/Hydro Pump coming off that Sp. Attack will hurt.

What do you think?

"...I could be your most challenging opponent yet or I could be a total pushover." - Wulfric, the Ice-Type Gym Leader of Kalos.

The sad part about Ice types is that it's to the point where the games have a specialist of that type admitting that they're horribly weak. Also, while ice may be more solid than, say, water, solid does NOT equal sturdy. If anything, cold temperatures cause things to become brittle rather than tough. Really, I understand that Game Freak may be taking the whole "attacks like a glacier" thing too literally, but if any type should be like a glacier, it should be Fighting or Steel types. Ice types... I think of how ice itself can be used as weapons. Sharp, freezing, but delicate blades made of icicles usually pop into my head first thing. Basically, glass cannon. Weavile is a near-perfect embodiment of this. Too bad everything else tries to act like literal glaciers...

Literal glaciers who (usually) have no attacking power. Just meat shields to sit out there and die.

Being familiar with the earlier games, I tend to think that Ice was another type that GF felt was too overpowered in RBY, and like with Psychic, they went overboard in nerfing it.

If there was ever a game where being part-Ice was a boon and not a hindrance, it was RBY. Steel Types didn't exist, Fire Types were outclassed and didn't resist, Fighting Types sucked and were horribly weak to the broken and omnipresent Psychic, the only Rock users were slow Rock/Grounds with bad Special (and the only Rock move was Rock Slide, which was too mediocre to use without STAB). On top of all of that, Blizzard had 90% accuracy, and Freeze was instant death (no thawing unless hit by a Fire move). And, the average-to-above-average stats of the likes of Lapras, Cloyster, Jynx, and even, Dewgong were far less of a hindrance back when all stats could be maxed out and before the power creep of the later Gens (Jacks of All Stats were the norm in Gen 1). Articuno boasted a terrifying base 125 Special, making its Blizzard one of the strongest moves in the entire game.

The nerf hammer hit hard in GSC. It gained a hard counter in the form of Steel, Fire Types now resisted and were more common thanks to the aforementioned Steel, and a certain powerful Pseudo-Legendary Rock Type who had good Sp. Defense and no Ice weakness showed up. Blizzard was also dropped to 70% accuracy, and Freeze could now thaw on its own (or by using Flame Wheel/Sacred Fire). To rub salt on the wounds, the split of the Special stat hurt all previous Ice Types besides Jynx (who gained Sp. Attack)--Lapras, Dewgong, and Articuno lost Sp. Attack, while Cloyster lost Sp. Defense--and the new Ice Types that were added were either complete jokes (Delibird) or were mediocre Physical attackers (Sneasel and Piloswine).

RSE only continued the nerfing. The advent of Natures and the EV cap reduced everyone's natural bulk, making type resistances (which Ice didn't have) more of a necessity for surviving hits, and it made being a Jack of All Stats (as many Ice Types were) a lot harder. Fighting also started getting better at this time, with powerful new moves like Brick Break and Focus Punch, as well as some powerful new Pokémon, and Steel only continued to improve.

DPP was the final nail in the coffin with the advent of Stone Edge and Stealth Rock, the continued buffing of Fighting, the newly-buffed Scizor, and the start of Power Creep. Sure, Ice did gain Physical STAB, auto-Hail, Weavile, and Mamoswine this Gen, but that wasn't nearly enough to break even. Ice has been at the very bottom of the pile since then, and sadly, GF doesn't seem too willing to change that. (Hence, the reason why they created a new type to deal with overpowered Dragons instead of fixing Ice.)

Actually, isn't Bug technically the bottom of the barrel when it comes to types? I mean, most Bug-types don't even compare to most Ice types.