My thoughts on the Ice Type
So, a lot of Ice type Pokemon are really, really bad from a competitive standpoint. And that's not that unusual? There's a lot of uncompetitive Pokemon, after all. But the main difference is that since there's so few Ice types, it means that the Type as a whole seems weaker, because the bad ones are a higher percentage of the total. And that's not something I can directly refute, but I want to explore a different sort of idea.
The vast majority of Ice types share a common thread in their Pokedex entries.
They all mention working together, living in groups, and so on.
It's even more notable with Alolan Vulpixen, since their Fire type counterpart's Pokedex entries don't mention working together or living together - it's only the Ice types that mention their skulks and mutual assistance.
Not to mention, a lot of Ice type moves explicitly work better in the presence of other Ice types - most dramatically, Aurora Veil, which only works during snowstorms / hail, and is one of the best defensive moves in existence. Most Ice types also mention needing to either eat ice itself, or to eat food that's incredibly cold.
So, what's the point I'm getting at? Ice type Pokemon fundamentally specialize in something that competitive battling can't measure - and that's teamwork across large groups. With only a small number of exceptions (looking at you, Sneasel and Weavile), Ice types are generally friendly, curious, and helpful, such as Lapras who ferries people across oceans, and Delibird who gives food to stranded explorers, and many more. An Ice type, taken out of their group dynamics, would be a lot weaker, and this is demonstrated quite firmly by their lack of competitive strength - but equally, if you grab five random Ice types and put them in a room together, you're likely to end up with a tight-knit group of friends who'll stand together against any foe. More than that, they're likely to be really, really tough to beat if all five are out at the same time. Overlapping hailstorms, Aurora Veils, Mists, Safeguards, and more, along with the defensive buff that Snow gives to ice types. Overall: Ice types exemplify the idea that a single snowflake might not be much, but a snowstorm is still very, very powerful.
