What it does
Frost Breath is an Ice-type special move with a modest base power and one defining trait: it always lands a critical hit. In battle, a critical hit deals 1.5x damage and, crucially, ignores any positive stat changes the defender has accumulated — and ignores any negative stat changes on the attacker's side.
That second part is the key. A Pokemon that has used Calm Mind three times has tripled its Special Defense. Against Frost Breath, those boosts simply don't exist. Same goes for Cotton Guard, Iron Defense, Amnesia — stack whatever you want, the move hits as if the stat is at its base value.
A common point of confusion: critical hits do not bypass field effects. Light Screen, Reflect, and Aurora Veil still halve the damage. Assault Vest still applies. Only stat-stage boosts — the +1, +2, +3 variety — get ignored.
Who runs it
Glalie (24%) gets STAB on it, which makes the damage respectable rather than just a niche effect. Froslass (14%) uses its higher Speed to fire it off before setup sweepers finish their second or third boost, turning speed into a way to deny the accumulation entirely. Mr. Rime (12%) is more of a support-oriented pick, but Frost Breath gives it a reliable way to punish opponents who think setup is free against it.
How to use it
The move earns its slot against any opponent building toward a sweep through stat stages — Quiver Dance, Nasty Plot, Calm Mind, all of it. Wait for a turn where the target isn't behind Protect, then fire.
In doubles, the single-target nature means picking the right Pokemon matters. If your opponent is running a protect-the-sweeper pattern (one Pokemon boosts while the other uses Protect), your window is the turn they commit — either the protecting Pokemon uses a different move, or they double-protect and you get free damage on the other one.
Froslass's Speed advantage lets it race the booster before they accumulate enough to feel safe. Glalie is better used as a switch-in answer once you've identified the threat.
Tips & strategy
Don't treat this as a general Ice-type move. Pure Ice coverage is weak on offense — Steel, Fire, Water, and Rock all resist it, so you'll find plenty of walls. Frost Breath exists specifically for the matchups where the target's defensive boosts would otherwise make it nearly unkillable.
Compare it against Ice Beam and Blizzard. Those have higher base power but scale down against boosted defense. Against a Pokemon at +3 Special Defense, Frost Breath can deal more effective damage despite its lower number, because it ignores the multiplier. That's the trade: lower ceiling, immune to the counter-play.
A Burn on the attacker normally cuts physical moves in half. If Frost Breath were physical, burn status would drop the attacker's raw Attack — but Frost Breath is special, and burn doesn't affect Special Attack. So burning a Glalie or Froslass doesn't reduce this move's output either.