The introduction of this generation set in the Paldea region has been greeted with great enthusiasm by trainers worldwide. The starters are noteworthy and captivating, the legendaries are awe-inspiring, and many of the new mons have become fan favorites. This includes the pseudo legendary of the region, Baxcalibur.
Baxcalibur: An Introduction
The Pokémon Baxcalibur is a large, theropod-like creature with a navy blue body and hexagonal ice patches on its chest, knees, and tail. Additionally, it has square light blue patches on the bottom of its feet. Baxcalibur has long, muscular arms and sharp white claws on its hands and feet, as well as red quills on its wrists. The Pokémon appears to have an icy mask on its face, with ice spikes on its snout and icicles on its chin, revealing only its yellow eyes. Its back is adorned with a black, ice-covered spine resembling an axe.
In battle, Baxcalibur inverts its position, using its spine as an axe while balancing on its head and front limbs. It also releases extremely cold air from its mouth that can freeze lava. To defeat its opponents, it charges at them with the blade on its back.
Baxcalibur is the exclusive Pokémon that can execute the move Glaive Rush. Also, only Baxcalibur and its evolutionary forms have the ability Thermal Exchange.
Arctibax, which itself develops from Frigibax, gives rise to the pseudo-legendary Pokémon Baxcalibur, which is of the Dragon and Ice categories.
It clearly has the classic Godzilla look, as evidenced by its design, and is complemented by the appearance of the Concavenator, a dinosaur that existed in prehistoric Spain (where the Paldea region is based).
Main Series Stats
In the MSG, Baxcalibur has the following stats:
| HP | 115 |
| ATK | 145 |
| DEF | 92 |
| SpA | 75 |
| SpD | 86 |
| Spe | 87 |
Stats in Pokémon Go
Baxcalibur’s statistics appear to be quite comparable to those of Hydreigon, who has 256 ATK, 188 DEF, and 211 HP. It is regrettable that in Pokémon Go, the pseudo legendary with the highest MSG ATK lags behind Pokémon like Salamence, Dragonite, Garchomp, and Hydreigon. Sadly, that is the how stat conversions operate.
The offensive types Ice and Dragon, however, are very strong and would give Baxcalibur meta prominence in both PvE and PvP. Baxcalibur is made quite hefty and powerful by the stats, which makes it ideal for raids and the Master League.
But it all comes down to Moveset, which is arguably the most crucial aspect of Pokémon GO.
Realistic Moveset Options
Rather than presenting its whole movepool, we will highlight moves that would make Baxcalibur meta significant. So these are the moves that might be important:
| Fast Moves | Charged Moves |
|---|---|
| Dragon Breath (Dragon) Dragon Tail (Dragon) Ice Shard (Ice) | Outrage (Dragon) Dragon Claw (Dragon) Avalanche (Ice) Icy Wind (Ice) Body Slam (Normal) |
For PvP
Dragon Breath is a powerful move for many Pokémon, and Baxcalibur would be well-rounded if it learns it along with Dragon Claw and Avalanche/Icy Wind. Both Dragon Tail and these fast moves would give Baxcalibur strong offensive capabilities in Dragon and Ice-type moves, allowing it to easily bait shields and deal significant damage to unresistant foes. Additionally, Avalanche is a great move, dealing 90 damage at just 45 energy, while Icy Wind deals lower damage at 60, but it guarantees a decrease in the opponent’s attack stat.
But the threat posed by Baxcalibur does not stop there. Baxcalibur would have a STAB fast move that charges faster than either Dragon Breath or Dragon Tail and provide strong offensive coverage against the numerous Dragon, Flying, and Ground types in the ML meta along with the uncommon Grass types even with Ice Shard.
In conclusion, if Baxcalibur receives Ice Shard/Dragon Breath/Dragon Tail combined with Dragon Claw and Avalanche/Icy Wind, it can rank among the most dangerous mons in the ML meta.
It is important to note that the Ice Shard set can also invite Outrage, which is an excellent play to take advantage of.
Body Slam is an effective non-STAB option.
For PvE
As a Dragon type
Even without considering legendaries, Baxcalibur is outclassed by all Dragon types save Hydreigon, who has a pretty poor Dragon moveset.
As an Ice type
In all honesty, this is when Baxcalibur becomes a threat. Baxcalibur would become the premium Ice type attacker with Ice Shard (or Ice Fang, for that matter) and Avalanche, despite the fact that it will lag behind both Galarian Darmanitan forms (considering non-legendary and non-shadow). However, compared to Mamoswine, Weavile, and Glaceon, Bax would be a preferable choice.
What can we expect?
Baxcalibur would be more useful as an Ice type than a Dragon, since Ice exposes Bax to a number of weaknesses, including the Dragon, Fairy, Fighting, Rock, and Steel types. It is clearly a cause for concern when a Dragon type is weak against a Steel type.
These weaknesses should obviously be treated seriously as Bax would have difficulties in ML against stronger dragons, Charm, Counter, and common steely monsters. In addition, it is resistant to electricity, grass, and water. Water is likely the only practical resistance it receives in the ML meta.
The fact that Baxcalibur is a Dragon that is not vulnerable to Ice and that it does not have a 2x vulnerability in Pokémon Go are two of the only defensive advantages it has.
Baxcalibur will not have an easy time on defense as a result.
However, as I have already indicated, Ice is a very good offensive type that does Dragon, Flying, Ground, and Grass types super effective damage. When you consider that creatures like Dragonite, Garchomp, and Landorus are all 2x weak to Ice, this becomes even more remarkable. This underlines once more how beneficial Ice Shard would be to Bax’s arsenal.
Baxcalibur can be extremely dangerous in terms of offense.
Conclusion
The addition of new Pokémon to the game is always thrilling, especially when they are competitively viable. Baxcalibur is a powerful pseudo-legendary dragon-type that boasts a dual typing of Dragon and Ice, making it a unique and useful addition to the limited pool of relevant Ice-type attackers.
Kyurem wasn’t a suitable option, and its Black and White forms would require a significant amount of effort to acquire. Baxcalibur would be an ideal replacement and could dominate the meta with its icy dragon-like powers. It’s expected that this creature will live up to its potential.
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