The 17 Best Pokemon To Use As Tanks

One of the crucial praised elements of the Pokemon series is that each core game touts a large amount of gameplay diversity. The variety of Pokemon species, attacks, types and kind pairings, and stats allow the player to craft a team of Pokemon that may perform specific strategies in battle, they usually can accomplish that to great effect.

One among the more popular options is to make use of certain Pokemon as “tanks.” These are Pokemon with often meager Attack and Speed stats, but their Defense and Special Defense stats help them greater than compensate for his or her aggressive shortcomings. That is just not to say that they’re useless in combat, nonetheless. They each have certain abilities that allow them to effectively pressure the opposing Pokemon while remaining protected from attacks.

Updated November 18, 2024, by Hamza Haq: Pokemon tanks, often called Partitions in skilled circles, are the Pokemon that, either by virtue of their high stats, their special abilities, or some combination of each, are so defense-oriented that they’ll take up the dedicated role of taking hits from opposing Pokemon without issue. These Pokemon often have high defense or special defense and are sometimes categorized as Physical Tanks (high Def) or Special Tanks (high Sp. Def), based on their stats. Bulky Pokemon (high HP) are considered a separate category, though there is usually overlap between Tanks and Bulky mons, as evidenced by Snorlax, a Pokemon who has each incredibly high HP and Sp. Def. Two Pokemon who’re incredibly suited for use as Tanks have been added to the list.

17 Probopass

Introduced: Generation 4

• Attack: 55
• Sp Attack: 75
• Defense: 145
• Sp Defense: 150
• Speed: 40
• HP: 60

This strange-looking Pokemon could make for an honest tank in a pinch due to its impressive base stats in each Defense and Special Defense. Players must be careful with who they deploy this Pokemon against because it does include a reasonably alarming 4x weakness to each Fighting and Ground-types but makes up for it with a mess of resistances including Rock, Psychic, Flying, Bug, Normal, Dragon, Fairy, and Ice. It also comes with an outright immunity to Poison-type moves. It could also include Sturdy as a capability, allowing it to avoid an outright One-hit KO against a very strong opponent, giving players a likelihood to react.

16 Vaporeon

Introduced: Generation 1

• Attack: 65
• Sp Attack: 110
• Defense: 60
• Sp Defense: 95
• Speed: 65
• HP: 130

Water-type Pokemon have at all times had a spot within the meta as dedicated tanks owing to their unusually high HP stats and only a few weaknesses. Vaporeon is one among the very first Pokemon to fill this area of interest and stays a superb selection even after 9 Generations.

When it comes to defenses, Vaporeon favors Sp. Def over Def; nonetheless, it’s the majority (HP) that enables it to weather damage in battles. Vaporeon can also be a superb Toxic staller due to access to Wish and Protect, two of one of the best moves for stalling. Combined with Leftovers, getting a Vaporeon off the sector generally is a nightmare. Even against enemies proof against Toxic (Steel-types), Vaporeon has the choice to fall back on Scald to burn them, or Flip Turn to make a clean exit.

On top of that, Vaporeon’s ability, Water Absorb, allows for a simple surprise switch-in against enemy water types. The one Pokemon that can provide Vaporeon any major trouble are physical Electric-types like Electivire or Grass-types like Meowscarada.

15 Bastiodon

Introduced: Generation 4

• Attack: 52
• Sp Attack: 47
• Defense: 168
• Sp Defense: 138
• Speed: 30
• HP: 60

Bastiodon is one among those Pokemon that exists very much within the background, not often receiving much attention from the fanbase as a complete, but it surely does provide some solid application as a tank. Even though it has middling stats from an attacking perspective and a less-than-stellar HP pool, it does boast some impressive defense and SP defense, making it a hybrid tank able to standing toe-to-toe with some powerful Pokemon, even when it’s simply acting as a “shield” or “decoy” for stronger team members.

14 Cloyster

Introduced: Generation 1

• Attack: 95
• Sp Attack: 85
• Defense: 180
• Sp Defense: 45
• Speed: 70
• HP: 50

Many First Gen Pokemon fans disregarded Cloyster as nothing greater than one other water-type amongst the gang but this shelled Pokemon may be very able to taking hits. What many do not know, is that it’s just as able to allotting massive amounts of injury. Cloyster has found a distinct segment as a reasonably impressive sweeper, tanking hits from strong Pokemon and allotting punishment due to its impressive moveset and 180 defense.

Unfortunately, Cloyster suffers from Ice-typing, making it situational competitively but it surely still has its uses as a tank that is able to taking out some larger threats.

13 Chansey

Introduced: Generation 1

• Attack: 5
• Sp Attack: 35
• Defense: 5
• Sp Defense: 105
• Speed: 50
• HP: 250

Chansey is one among the unique tanks from Pokemon Red and Blue. It has a low regular Defense, but its Special Defense is high and its Health Points (HP) is one among the best in the whole franchise. Additionally it is a Normal-Type monster, meaning that only has one Type weakness (that being Fighting Type).

It is a Pokemon that works best in Double Battles. Chansey can take a whole lot of abuse from opposing Pokemon, and its Abilities, resembling Healer, can restore its teammate’s health. And while not a robust Pokemon, its nature as a Normal Type allows Chansey to learn plenty of useful attacks.

Chansey’s Serene Grace ability gives all of its moves double the prospect of inflicting a standing condition, thereby letting this egg Pokemon’s attacks which have secondary effects afflict targets with ailments much easier, which could be an awesome strategy to hinder foes while also doing a bit of injury. Moves from great offensive types just like the Ice-type Ice Beam and the Electric-type Thunderbolt could be great additions to Chancey’s moveset, nonetheless, the Normal-type Tri Attack is one of the best for this strategy, as after the Serene Probability boost, this move may have a 40% likelihood to either freeze, burn, or paralyze the goal.

12 Shuckle

Introduced: Generation 2

• Attack: 10
• Sp Attack: 10
• Defense: 230
• Sp Defense: 230
• Speed: 5
• HP: 20

In some ways, it’s more appropriate to call innocent-looking Shuckle an unbreakable wall. Shuckle’s major purpose is to make use of its incredibly high Defense and Special Defense stats to resist nearly any attack an opposing Pokemon can deliver. With each its Defense and Special Defense having a base stat of 230 each, it’s well equipped for that task.

The defense aside, Shuckle has certain abilities that could make it a permanent problem for opponents. Its hidden ability, Contrary, allows it to reverse status-lowering effects. This makes Shuckle’s defensive abilities even simpler. One good option is to make use of Shuckle in tag-team battles and permit the Pokemon to act as a everlasting fixture on the sector as you safely swap out other Pokemon.

Normally, the status move Shell Smash is supposed for sweepers because it boosts Attack, Special Attack, and Speed by 1 stage each while dropping the user’s Defense and Special Defense by the identical amount, nonetheless, with Shuckle’s Contrary ability, the alternative effect will occur. Since Shuckle’s offensive stats and Speed are already abysmal, the gains it receives to its fortitude include no downsides.

11 Corviknight

Introduced: Generation 8

• Attack: 87
• Sp Attack: 53
• Defense: 105
• Sp Defense: 85
• Speed: 67
• HP: 98

Corviknight is a more moderen Pokemon from the recent Pokemon Sword & Shield games, but it surely has already turn into one among the higher tank options. It’s a combination of Flying and Steel Types, that are each useful and powerful Types in multiple situations. It also has high HP, Defense, and Special Defense. Just with the typing and stats alone, Corviknight makes for a formidable obstacle for many other Pokemon and a precious asset in any competitive setting.

What makes Corviknight especially good is its accompanying Abilities. Two of those, Pressure and Mirror Armor, work well to chip away on the opposing Pokemon. Pressure forces opposing Pokemon to make use of twice the quantity of Power Points (PP) for each move, and Mirror Armor reflects any status-altering attacks. Because of this attacking Pokemon will either exhaust their resources or potentially weaken themselves by attacking Corviknight.

These solid defensive stats and HP allow Corviknight to reap the benefits of a standing move that works quite well in most situations, though is just not often used on account of it being fairly dangerous. Swagger is a move that raises the foes Attack stat while confusing them; the concept being to cause the enemy to greatly hurt themselves. If the goal doesn’t hit themselves, though, they are going to land a blow powered by a boosted Attack stat. Since Corviknight is so beefy, such dangerous plays usually are not nearly as dangerous since this Flying and Steel dual-type can tank just a few hits easily enough.

10 Bronzong

Introduced: Generation 4

• Attack: 89
• Sp Attack: 79
• Defense: 116
• Sp Defense: 116
• Speed: 33
• HP: 67

Bronzong is an underrated mon that is usually forgotten in discussions about one of the best tank Pokemon for various reasons. A Psychic/Steel type, it has incredibly high stats in each Defense and Special Defense, making it one among the only a few true tanks within the franchise.

Moreover, Psychic/Steel is a top-tier defensive typing that has no 4x weakness, Resistance to 9 forms of attacks, and immunity to Poison. If Bronzong has the Levitate ability, which is fairly common, it also gains immunity to Ground-type attacks, making it one among the trickiest Partitions to take down for the opposing Pokemon.

Bronzong can also be an honest hazard setter due to access to the move Stealth Rock and might function as a pseudo staller by utilizing a mix of Toxic and Protect to expire the timer. The one problem with Bronzong is that it lacks offensive moves. Neither Steel nor Psychic are super effective against a whole lot of Pokemon, and Bronzong’s attack stats are okay at best, but thankfully, that is not its job. Bronzong’s task is to face there and take it, and there are only a few Pokemon that may do anything about it.

Introduced: Generation 3

• Attack: 135
• Sp Attack: 95
• Defense: 130
• Sp Defense: 90
• Speed: 70
• HP: 80

Metagross is a primary example of a standard tank Pokemon. It’s a Steel and Psychic-Type Pokemon, two powerful types that together with one another provide resistance to nine other Types. Added to its overall high base stats, Defense and Special Defense included, Metagross is a Pokemon that may face down nearly any opposition with little concern.

And if its initial defensive partitions usually are not enough to guard it from all the pieces, Metagross also has the Clear Body Ability. Clear Body prevents any stat-reducting effects from working on Metagross. This leaves the opposing Pokemon with almost no option apart from to slowly chip away at Metagross’s health until it’s defeated.

Versus many other tanks, Metagross also has an awesome Attack stat and a superb move pool that enables them to make sufficient use of it. Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB) moves just like the heavy-hitting Meteor Mash, which also has a likelihood to spice up Attack, is a solid selection, as is the increased-priority attack referred to as Bullet Punch for when Metagross must strike before the foe.

8 Aggron

Introduced: Generation 3

• Attack: 110
• Sp Attack: 60
• Defense: 180
• Sp Defense: 60
• Speed: 50
• HP: 70

Aggron is already an incredible tank in his base form, with base stats skewed toward making it a pain for physical attackers to cope with. It could function a simple switch-in against anything that is not Fighting or Ground-type. Mega Aggron dials it as much as eleven while also eliminating its only two 4x weaknesses by switching from a Steel/Rock type to a mono Steel-type Pokemon, boosting its already high Defense stat (180) to downright absurd levels (230) and turning its decent attack stat (110) into something to be feared (140). Mega Aggron is just not only a premier physical Tank but an actual threat to anyone even remotely at risk of Physical attacks like Earthquake, Heavy Slam, and Iron Head.

Mega Aggron’s ability known as Filter, which reduces the quantity of injury super effective attacks can do to it, lowering the number from 2x damage to 1.5x damage. That is, after all, tailor-made for the tank role, because it allows Mega Aggron to face tall even against Fire, Fighting, and Ground-type moves with confidence. The one Pokemon that may convincingly switch into Mega Aggron are Special attackers who aren’t afraid of getting a bloody nose for his or her trouble. Aggron also makes for an exquisite Rest/Sleep Talk user due to its survivability and the lack of the opponents to take it down quickly.

7 Ferrothorn

Introduced: Generation 5

• Attack: 94
• Sp Attack: 54
• Defense: 131
• Sp Defense: 116
• Speed: 20
• HP: 74

Ferrothorn is probably the most useful Pokemon to refill the roster of any team for multiple reasons. It offers innately high Defense in addition to Special Defense, making it one among the only a few true tanks in all of Pokemon. The one major downside of Ferrothorn is its 4x weakness to Fire-type moves, bringing it dangerously near OHKO territory even when at full health, especially when facing a dedicated attacker like Victini.

Against anything that won’t Fire or Fighting, Ferrothorn is an unassailable mountain that refuses to go down if allowed to establish Leech Seed at switch-in. Moreover, Ferrothorn punishes physical attackers due to its ability, Iron Barbs. Equipping Rocky Helmet boosts this damage further, but Leftovers typically make for a greater held item.

Ferrothorn also has access to each Spikes and Stealth Rock, allowing it to take up the role of a dedicated entry hazard setter on top of tanking duties. Finally, Power Whip is Ferrothorn’s major damaging move, giving it the choice to dish damage out after it has finished organising the battlefield to its advantage.

6 Blissey

Introduced: Generation 2

• Attack: 10
• Sp Attack: 75
• Defense: 10
• Sp Defense: 135
• Speed: 55
• HP: 255

Like with Chansey, Blissey is a tank, but it surely have to be used selectively. It is because its base Defense stat may be very low at a meager 10 points, but its base Special Defense is incredibly high at 135. Blissey is what Chansey evolves into, so it is smart that it could have similar, albeit barely higher, base stats. Its base HP surpasses Chansey’s as well.

Additionally it is capable of learn the identical moves that Chansey can, so it won’t be useless as an attacker in most fights. And with Abilities resembling Healer, Blissey can comfortably function an immovable support Pokemon. A great option is to routinely swap Blissey backwards and forwards with a Pokemon that has a high regular Defense. This enables each of them to take turns countering whatever Pokemon an opponent tries to make use of.

Many trainers know of Blissey’s immensely resilience to special attacks, subsequently most facing down this cheerful pocket monster will switch out to a physical attacker and goal the pink pokemon’s minuscule Defense. Nonetheless, Blissery’s trainer can deflate this strategy by utilizing the Fairy-type status move referred to as Charm, which drops a goal’s Attack stat by two stages. If one predicts the opponent’s switch accurately, Blissey can land this debuff on the incoming physical attacker to greatly inconvenience the adversary’s offensive tactics.

5 Miltank

Introduced: Generation 2

• Attack: 80
• Sp Attack: 40
• Defense: 105
• Sp Defense: 70
• Speed: 100
• HP: 95

Miltank is a Pokemon that works well as a counter pick to certain Pokemon types. It’s one other Normal Type, so it may well handle every Type apart from Fighting. Its Defense is high with a base stat of 105, its Special Defense is helpful at a base stat of 70, and it also has high HP, Attack, and Speed base stats, though being 95, 80, 100 respectfully. So despite its modest visual design, this can be a Pokemon with a whole lot of potential.

Miltank does have some good Abilities as well, though they’re more situational than a lot of the other tanks on this list. Its Thick Fat ability, for instance, is barely useful against Fire and Ice-Type attacks, but it surely allows Miltank to halve the damage taken from them.

This bovine pokemon also has some great moves that allow it to suit the classic RPG role of a ‘white mage’. Its Heal Bell allows it to remove status effects not only from itself but from the remaining of its trainer’s party as well. As well as, it may well learn Milk Drink, which works exactly like Get well in that it restores 50% of the user’s HP.

4 Toxapex

Introduced: Generation 7

• Attack: 63
• Sp Attack: 53
• Defense: 152
• Sp Defense: 142
• Speed: 35
• HP: 50

Toxapex is one other Pokemon that, like Shuckle, serves well as an impenetrable wall. The difference is that Toxapex does a greater job of applying offensive pressure. Toxapex is a Water and Poison-Type Pokemon, so it has access to many dangerous attacks of those Types, resembling Scald and Toxic.

The usage of Poison-Type moves pairs perfectly with Toxapex’s Merciless Ability. With Merciless, any attack made on a poisoned enemy will mechanically be counted as a critical hit. This implies the damage might be roughly doubled every time Toxapex lands a successful attack.

Their signature move, Baneful Bunker, is a variant of Protect, in that it prevents incoming damage, though Toxapex’s variation may also poison pokemon who attack them with a contact move, allowing this sinister sea star to cause the enemy to essentially poison themselves. Used at the side of the move Venoshock, which deals double damage to poisoned targets, Toxapex can turn into a serious offensive threat to anything except Steel and Poison types.

3 Snorlax

Introduced: Generation 1

• Attack: 110
• Sp Attack: 65
• Defense: 65
• Sp Defense: 110
• Speed: 30
• HP: 160

Snorlax, the long-lasting heavy sleeper of the Pokemon series, has had an extended history of being an immovable powerhouse. Its regular Defense is just not high, but it surely is made up for by having high HP, high Attack, and high Special Defense. Ideally, a player would use Snorlax to counter specific Pokemon that can’t overcome its natural resistance to Special moves.

One thing that has at all times made Snorlax troublesome for players is its multiple methods for healing itself. Snorlax often uses moves like Rest, which may restore the Pokemon’s HP to full. It also has abilities resembling Gluttony, which allows it to extend the quantity of HP it gains from eating Berries in a fight.

An incredible tactic to make use of if one gives their Snorlax Rest is to also teach it moves that could be used while sleeping, resembling Sleep Talk. This sleeping status move will cause Snorlax to make use of one among its other moves at random, potentially letting it fight as if it was awake while still asleep. Accompanying this strategy with a stat-boosting move like Curse, to extend its already high Attack while buffing its low Defense, may cause Snorlax to turn into a sleeping juggernaut.

2 Steelix

Introduced: Generation 2

• Attack: 85
• Sp Attack: 55
• Defense: 200
• Sp Defense: 65
• Speed: 30
• HP: 75

Steelix’s name and appearance alone can key players into its ability to resist attacks while also being a dangerous force. Its Attack, Defense, and Special Defense stats are all high, and its combination of being Steel and Ground Type grants it resilience and immunity to many other Types.

The attacks that Steelix can use, together with a few of its Abilities, are where most of its effective use as a tank stems from. Steelix can learn plenty of high-damage moves, and people moves could be used alongside the flexibility Sheer Force, which may increase the attack of moves with secondary effects by 30%, though may also disable these effects as a trade-off for the ability boost.

An incredible STAB move for Steelix could be Gyro Ball, as this Steel-type attack is more powerful depending on how low the user’s Speed stat is in comparison with the opponent’s. With an abysmal Speed stat of 30, Steelix is a super pokemon for this maneuver.

1 Skarmory

Introduced: Generation 2

• Attack: 80
• Sp Attack: 40
• Defense: 140
• Sp Defense: 70
• Speed: 70
• HP: 65

Skarmory has historically been probably the most useful and threatening tanks available. It’s a Flying and Steel-Type Pokemon with very high Defense, high Attack, and sufficient HP, Special Defense, and Speed. Skarmory is one among the Pokemon that works well with Blissey and Chansey. A standard strategy is to modify out Skarmory for one among those Pokemon (or visa-versa) to alternate between their specific defensive strengths to regulate the battle.

Skarmory also excels within the aggressive elements of Pokemon battles. It, like other tanks on this list, can learn many useful attacks. The most recent example is the move Body Press, which first appeared in the newest generation. When this attack is used, the Pokemon’s Defense stats are applied to the damage calculation reasonably than their Attack stats. With a base Defense stat of 140, this move could make Skarmory a deadly force at almost any time.

The armor bird pokemon also has a ton of great status moves that may boost its already awesome stats, like Agility and Iron Defense, though it also has access to entry hazards like Spikes and Stealth Rock in addition to Whirlwind, the latter of which forces the opponent to modify pokemon. With these many battle boons, it is not any wonder why Skarmory’s competitive usage has been consistently high since this pokemon was introduced in Gen II.