The 10 Best Tank Pokemon [Ranked]

Ferrothorn

Ferrothorn is a really great choice of Pokemon for anyone wanting a defensive Pokemon to set up hazards. With a high Defense and Special Defense, Ferrothorn is great at taking a hit and its move pool is great for its use case.

With access to great utility moves like Spikes, Stealth Rock, and Leech Seed, Ferrothorn excels in its role. Thanks to its super low Speed stat Ferrothorn can make great use of its Steel type STAB with Gyro Ball.

Ferrothorn's good defensive abilities, its move pool, and strong defensive typing puts it at the top of the tier totem pole as the best tank Pokemon. Its Steel type even eliminates Grass type's weakness to Poison types!

Toxapex

A Water and Poison type Pokemon, Toxapex is a real menace in battle. This Pokemon excels at stalling and applying status effects to opposing Pokemon.

Common - and extremely frustrating - strategies using Toxapex involve the use of Toxic Spikes to create an entry hazard.

With monstrous Defense and Special Defense stats of 152 and 142 respectively, Toxapex is one of the bulkiest hybrid tanks.

With its versatile move pool including status moves like Toxic, hazard setters like Toxic Spikes, and even coverage moves like Ice Beam, Toxapex is the scourge of tropical beaches everywhere.

And that's why we love it! But it is weak against Psychic type Pokemon.

Blissey

Normal type Pokemon Blissey is essentially just a glorified egg. This pink and white Pokemon looks like it should be Fairy type, but looks can be deceiving!

Blissey's stats are, frankly, awful. With a shockingly poor Attack and Defense stat, it seems hard to imagine that the Blissey line has any use at all, let alone as a tank Pokemon, but it does!

This is because where Blissey excels is in its HP and Special Defense stats. Blissey has a whopping 255 base HP, and a great Special Defense stat of 135. These make Blissey one of the best tanks, since it's a fantastic special wall.

With only one weakness to Fighting type, and an immunity to Ghost, Blissey is a great choice of tank Pokemon.

Blissey has great self healing, and offers a good spread of utility and support moves. This allows Blissey to tank incoming damage like a pro, and is why Blissey has seen such great success on the competitive circuit.

Miltank

Older Pokemon fans will remember Miltank as a PTSD-inducing terror wielded by a challenging Normal type Gym Leader from Pokemon Gold and Silver. This unassuming cow Pokemon is one of the best tank Pokemon thanks to both its good defensive capabilities and its versatile move pool.

Miltank gets some great self healing with its Milk Drink move, as well as getting Heal Bell. Miltank is good at taking hits and can even set Stealth Rock. With its base Defense of 105, and a Speed of 100, Miltank is a Pokemon tank worth worrying about.

An older Pokemon, Miltank still sees use in the formats where it's available, making it one of the best tank Pokemon in the franchise's history.

Corviknight

Corviknight is an all around fantastic Pokemon. This popular Pokemon was one of Pokemon Sword and Shield's stand out new additions, and it's easy to see why it's so popular as it has a winning design and solid defensive capabilities.

Corviknight even got itself a spot on this list of the best Flying type Pokemon!

Corviknight is a good defensive choice because of its eight type resistances, two type immunities, and only two type weaknesses.

This bulky Pokemon gets a good move pool with access to some good damaging and utility moves, making it a good choice of tank Pokemon.

Hisuian Goodra

Goodra is a Dragon type Pokemon introduced in Generation VI, but it was given a regional variant form in Pokemon Legends Arceus.

Hisuian Goodra is a Dragon and Steel type Pokemon with truly formidable defensive stats - a whopping 130 Special Defense and a brilliant 100 Defense.

With great all-around stats and a decent move pool, Hisuian Goodra makes a really good tank Pokemon that also hits back. This powerful Pokemon is a great choice for fans of Dragon type Pokemon looking to up their defensive game.

With both Dragon type and Steel type STAB, and access to some great coverage moves like Earthquake, Hisuian Goodra is a strong Pokemon worth a spot on anyone's team!

Shuckle

Shuckle is a frankly uninspiring-looking Pokemon. It's some sort of goopy tentacular mass squatting inside a shell.

But Shuckle has the best average defensive stats available, with a totally insane 230 base stats in Defense and Special Defense. It achieves this by sacrificing every other stat, but this makes Shuckle a strong defensive Pokemon.

Shuckle has the best overall defense stats available to any Pokemon, coming in below only Eternamax Eternatus which is a special boss battle form and is unavailable to players.

It even has access to some great utility and support moves, which is important when that's literally its only use. Fans of Shuckle may be dismayed to learn that it's unavailable in Generation IX.

Clefable

Clefable is a great choice of tank due to its Ability Magic Guard, which prevents it from taking anything other than direct damage. This means Clefable isn't damaged by Sandstorm or other weather effects, or even from status conditions like Burn.

The Magic Guard Ability is so good it got a spot on this list of the best Pokemon Abilities too!

Once a Normal type Pokemon, Clefable was given the Fairy type in Generation VI. For this same reason Clefable makes a good choice of team mate as Fairy type is immune to Dragon type Pokemon moves, and is super effective against powerful types like Dark type and Fighting type.

Clefable has a great and extremely versatile move pool, which means that unlike some Pokemon, it suffers from too much choice! With only four move slots it can be hard to decide on a moveset!

But Clefable can make good use of its advantages and can make use of interesting strategies with Flame Orb or Toxic Orb items which would damage other Pokemon. This is why Clefable can make a great tank Pokemon even though its stats don't necessarily support that choice.

Steelix

Steelix is a massive metal snake, so it's no surprise it makes a good tank Pokemon. Steelix has uninspiring base stats generally speaking, but its gargantuan Defense stat makes it a great physical wall.

Steel types make great defensive Pokemon and Steelix is no different, although its lower base stats mean trainers have to work a little harder to find its use.

But that Defense stat is massive and makes Steelix a viable tank Pokémon, especially with its access to moves like Stealth Rock.

There are better Steel type tanks, but Steelix is still a solid choice. And with its Mega Evolution into Mega Steelix some of Steelix's weaker points are improved, and it gets a pretty good Attack stat to go with its flashy new design.

Steelix also got itself a spot on this list of the best snake Pokemon!

Snorlax

Snorlax is an old school Pokémon that's been a tank since its introduction. Although it can be outclassed by newer Pokemon, Snorlax is still a great defensive Pokemon and an an asset to the right team.

This OG bear Pokemon even got itself a spot on this list of the best bear Pokemon, so fans might want to check it out!

Snorlax has a great Special Defense stat which lets it soak up special attacks, although its Defense stat isn't as good. Snorlax isn't quite as powerful as some other Pokemon used as tanks, but its Normal type gives a total immunity to Ghost type moves like Shadow Ball.

Snorlax is still a competitively viable choice in some formats, so that's why it gets a spot on this list of the best tank Pokemon!