Which attack is better to teach Weavile: Ice Shard or Avalanche?

Question

Would it be better to give it Ice Shard - ice type quick attack, 40 damage.
Or Avalanche - 60 damage, doubled if damage taken.

My dilemma is this: Avalanche is obviously stronger, but loses the "Priority" as sites call it, meaning it'd seem slower. This is good in that it allows for the enemy attack so that avalanche's damage can double, but with Weavile's low defense stats, this seem more a bane than a help.

At the same time, Ice Shard is a pretty weak move. Although fast, it lacks any real power. Even if Weavile's base attack is beastly, I don't see it helping Ice shard that much.

I would just breed for Ice Punch... but my Sneasel is shiny ;~; And I'm not spending hours upon hours trying to hatch a shiny Sneasel with ice punch >_>

Answer 1

Weavile learns Ice Punch by move tutor in Black/White 2 so if you're playing that game you can get it quite easily. Neither of the other two moves are ideal, but you can improve them with your hold item:

• For Ice Shard you can hold NeverMeltIce to increase the power a bit. Or hold King's Rock to try and make the opponent flinch (so you essentially get a free turn).

• For Avalanche you can hold a Focus Sash so that if the opponent hits you (at full HP) you will always survive. Or maybe a Chople Berry, to reduce damage from Fighting type attacks (which are most likely to hit you).

When Ice Shard is super effective it hits with 120 base power (including STAB) as opposed to 105 if Night Slash is regularly-effective or 75 with say Brick Break.

Personally, I would probably go for Ice Shard and just keep it as a backup move for when you need super-speed. You can still hit pretty hard with your other moves (e.g. Night Slash and Brick Break cover almost everything with at least regularly-effective damage).

Answer 2

Avalanche is NOT the way to go. Weavile has wax paper thin Defense and its typing does it absolutely no favors defensively. I have used Weavile in almost every team since DPP so here is the set I've found to be most effective:

Weavile @ Focus Sash
Trait: Pressure
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
EVs: 252 Atk/ 252 Spd/ 4 HP
- Ice Punch
- Pursuit
- Low Kick
- Ice Shard

this bad boy checks most Dragons, as well as most Psychic and Ghost types, trapping them for an easy OHKO. Low Kick just breaks down Heavy Steel and Rock types, and Regice doesn't particularly enjoy eating it either.

Comments

Your Weavile's Nature is good, but you might want to consider replacing Pursuit with Night Slash(STAB, decent power, high critical hit ratio,physical move) and replace Ice Shard with Aerial Ace as a defense against Fighting types (Ahem. Double weakness?)

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You should use Poison Jab to check Fairy Types.