Glacial Scaling

For many, December is a very chilly time. It's a time when the air becomes chilly, and one then seeks the heat of the flames to warm oneself up. This interplay continues throughout the month and even further into the season of which it is a part. It's also the interplay of choice for this month's themed cup in the current Silph Arena season, with it being encapsulated in a theme that goes by the title of "Glacial".

Unlike last month's themed cup, this one follows a more conventional Silph Arena format. For this one, the Pokémon must have at least one of five types: Water, Poison, Psychic, Ice, and Dragon. In addition, the ban list this time is quite significant (aside from Mega Evolution, which is banned by status quo), with 13 species in all: highlights include Altaria, Swampert, and Jellicent, with the full listing available on the themed cup page. This results in approximately 300 species to choose from, though as always, not all of them will be viable.

A suggested meta interaction relationship is in the form of a triangle, with the Ice-type realm in one corner, Dragon- and Water-type realm in another corner, and Psychic- and Poison-type realm in another corner, each offering Pokémon that can suitably go against those in the other two realms. Notwithstanding this network of interactions, the basic interactions remain those between Dragon and Ice as well as Psychic and Poison, with Water to balance things out plus any additional secondary types that can and do come into play.

In fact, that is exactly as intended per the development notes for this themed cup. The second pair of types is intended as a way of bringing certain type counters (particularly, the Dark type) without actually featuring them, in addition to Water acting as a foil itself. Meanwhile, most of the ban list was based on the rationale that they're too powerful (Swampert), versatile (Jellicent), and/or bulky (Altaria) for this themed cup and therefore would dominate otherwise. Overall, the goal was for balance with a particular dynamic flavor.

Whatever teams that Trainers will make for this themed cup, it's clear that they will have to take into account a few relationships that can warm things up and/or cool things down, depending on what happens in battle. Then, all that's left is to do execute the relationships as they appear in battles all throughout this month as they scale the "glaciers" - literal or figurative - that becomes the namesake of this themed cup.

One year ago: Go Beyond... Features

Two years ago: The Social Aspect of Pokémon

Three years ago: More Weather Boosts for Types?

Four years ago: Game Bugs and Fixing Them