One of the most praised aspects of the Pokemon series is that every core game touts a massive amount of gameplay diversity. The number of Pokemon species, attacks, types and type pairings, and stats allow the player to craft a team of Pokemon that can perform specific strategies in battle, and they can do so to great effect.
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One of the more popular options is to use certain Pokemon as "tanks." These are Pokemon with often meager Attack and Speed stats, but their Defense and Special Defense stats help them more than compensate for their aggressive shortcomings. That is not to say that they are useless in combat, however. They each have certain abilities that allow them to effectively pressure the opposing Pokemon while remaining safe from attacks.
Updated March 10, 2025, by Hamza Haq: Despite the long, long time it has been active, the Pokemon battling community is still going strong, theory-crafting and building teams using the 1000+ Pokemon the franchise has available nowadays. One of the core roles that almost always needs to be filled in any Balanced or Defensive Pokemon team is a dedicated tank. A Pokemon that can stand its ground in the face of powerful attacks without going down. Thanks to the variety of special abilities in Pokemon, this doesn’t always mean that the Pokemon has to have very high Def/Sp. Def/HP stats to pull this off. A good ability paired with complementary typing can carry the day as well. Two new Pokemon have been added to the list to give players even more options when selecting the best tank for their Pokemon team.
19 Probopass
Introduced: Generation 4
- Attack: 55
- Sp Attack: 75
- Defense: 145
- Sp Defense: 150
- Speed: 40
- HP: 60
This strange-looking Pokemon can make for a decent tank in a pinch thanks to its impressive base stats in both Defense and Special Defense. Players should be careful with who they deploy this Pokemon against as it does come with a fairly alarming 4x weakness to both Fighting and Ground-types but makes up for it with a multitude of resistances including Rock, Psychic, Flying, Bug, Normal, Dragon, Fairy, and Ice. It also comes with an outright immunity to Poison-type moves. It can also come with Sturdy as an ability, allowing it to avoid an outright One-hit KO against a particularly strong opponent, giving players a chance to react.
18 Vaporeon
Introduced: Generation 1
- Attack: 65
- Sp Attack: 110
- Defense: 60
- Sp Defense: 95
- Speed: 65
- HP: 130
Water-type Pokemon have always had a place in the meta as dedicated tanks owing to their unusually high HP stats and very few weaknesses. Vaporeon is one of the very first Pokemon to fill this niche and remains an excellent choice even after 9 Generations.
In terms of defenses, Vaporeon favors Sp. Def over Def; however, it's the bulk (HP) that allows it to weather damage in battles. Vaporeon is also an excellent Toxic staller because of access to Wish and Protect, two of the best moves for stalling. Combined with Leftovers, getting a Vaporeon off the field can be a nightmare. Even against enemies immune to Toxic (Steel-types), Vaporeon has the option 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 an easy surprise switch-in against enemy water types. The only Pokemon that can give Vaporeon any major trouble are physical Electric-types like Electivire or Grass-types like Meowscarada.
17 Bastiodon
Introduced: Generation 4
- Attack: 52
- Sp Attack: 47
- Defense: 168
- Sp Defense: 138
- Speed: 30
- HP: 60
Bastiodon is one of those Pokemon that exists very much in the background, not usually receiving much attention from the fanbase as a whole, but it does provide some solid application as a tank. Although 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 capable of standing toe-to-toe with some powerful Pokemon, even if it's simply acting as a "shield" or "decoy" for stronger team members.
16 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 more than another water-type among the crowd but this shelled Pokemon is very capable of taking hits. What many don't know, is that it's just as capable of dishing out massive amounts of damage. Cloyster has found a niche as a pretty impressive sweeper, tanking hits from strong Pokemon and dishing out punishment thanks to its impressive moveset and 180 defense.
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Unfortunately, Cloyster suffers from Ice-typing, making it situational competitively but it still has its uses as a tank that's capable of taking out some bigger threats.
15 Chansey
Introduced: Generation 1
- Attack: 5
- Sp Attack: 35
- Defense: 5
- Sp Defense: 105
- Speed: 50
- HP: 250
Chansey is one of the original 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 of the highest in the entire franchise. It is also a Normal-Type monster, meaning that only has one Type weakness (that being Fighting Type).
This is a Pokemon that works best in Double Battles. Chansey can take a lot of abuse from opposing Pokemon, and its Abilities, such as Healer, can restore its teammate's health. And while not a strong Pokemon, its nature as a Normal Type allows Chansey to learn a number of useful attacks.
Chansey's Serene Grace ability gives all of its moves double the chance of inflicting a status condition, thereby letting this egg Pokemon's attacks that have secondary effects afflict targets with ailments much easier, which can be a great way to hinder foes while also doing a bit of damage. Moves from great offensive types like the Ice-type Ice Beam and the Electric-type Thunderbolt can be great additions to Chancey's moveset, however, the Normal-type Tri Attack is the best for this strategy, as after the Serene Chance boost, this move will have a 40% chance to either freeze, burn, or paralyze the target.
14 Shuckle
Introduced: Generation 2
- Attack: 10
- Sp Attack: 10
- Defense: 230
- Sp Defense: 230
- Speed: 5
- HP: 20
In many ways, it is more appropriate to call innocent-looking Shuckle an unbreakable wall. Shuckle's main purpose is to use its incredibly high Defense and Special Defense stats to withstand nearly any attack an opposing Pokemon can deliver. With both its Defense and Special Defense having a base stat of 230 each, it is well equipped for that task.
The defense aside, Shuckle has certain abilities that can make it an enduring problem for opponents. Its hidden ability, Contrary, allows it to reverse status-lowering effects. This makes Shuckle's defensive abilities even more effective. One good option is to use Shuckle in tag-team battles and allow the Pokemon to act as a permanent fixture on the field as you safely swap out other Pokemon.
Usually, the status move Shell Smash is meant for sweepers since it boosts Attack, Special Attack, and Speed by 1 stage each while dropping the user's Defense and Special Defense by the same amount, however, with Shuckle's Contrary ability, the opposite effect will occur. Since Shuckle's offensive stats and Speed are already abysmal, the gains it receives to its fortitude come with no downsides.
13 Corviknight
Introduced: Generation 8
- Attack: 87
- Sp Attack: 53
- Defense: 105
- Sp Defense: 85
- Speed: 67
- HP: 98
Corviknight is a newer Pokemon from the recent Pokemon Sword & Shield games, but it has already become one of the better tank options. It is a mix of Flying and Steel Types, which are both useful and strong 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 most other Pokemon and a valuable 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 at the opposing Pokemon. Pressure forces opposing Pokemon to use twice the amount of Power Points (PP) for every move, and Mirror Armor reflects any status-altering attacks. This means that attacking Pokemon will either exhaust their resources or potentially weaken themselves by attacking Corviknight.
These solid defensive stats and HP allow Corviknight to take advantage of a status move that works quite well in most situations, though is not often used due to it being fairly risky. Swagger is a move that raises the foes Attack stat while confusing them; the idea being to cause the enemy to greatly hurt themselves. If the target does not hit themselves, though, they will land a blow powered by a boosted Attack stat. Since Corviknight is so beefy, such risky plays are not nearly as dangerous since this Flying and Steel dual-type can tank a few hits easily enough.
12 Bronzong
Introduced: Generation 4
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- Attack: 89
- Sp Attack: 79
- Defense: 116
- Sp Defense: 116
- Speed: 33
- HP: 67
Bronzong is an underrated mon that is often forgotten in discussions about the best tank Pokemon for various reasons. A Psychic/Steel type, it has incredibly high stats in both Defense and Special Defense, making it one of the very few true tanks in the franchise.
Additionally, Psychic/Steel is a top-tier defensive typing that has no 4x weakness, Resistance to 9 types 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 of the trickiest Walls to take down for the opposing Pokemon.
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Bronzong is also a decent hazard setter thanks to access to the move Stealth Rock and can function as a pseudo staller by using a combination of Toxic and Protect to run out the timer. The only problem with Bronzong is that it lacks offensive moves. Neither Steel nor Psychic are super effective against a lot of Pokemon, and Bronzong's attack stats are okay at best, but thankfully, that's not its job. Bronzong's task is to stand there and take it, and there are very few Pokemon that can do anything about it.
11 Togekiss
Introduced: Generation 4
Togekiss
- Attack: 50
- Sp Attack: 120
- Defense: 95
- Sp Defense: 115
- Speed: 80
- HP: 85
Togekiss shines as a tank not only because of its impressive bulk and stellar defenses, but also thanks to its absolutely monstrous Special Attack and excellent ability, which allow it to punish any Pokemon even remotely weak to Sp. Atk.
In terms of defenses, Togekiss is a balanced Pokemon, though leaning more heavily towards Sp. Def over Defense. Combined with its decent HP stat (85), it can serve as an impossible wall to face down for a vast majority of Special Sweepers.
Togekiss’s signature ability, Serene Grace, is what makes it truly special. Serene Grace makes it so that attack moves with a secondary effect like Burn, lowered accuracy, or flinches are much more likely to occur. Togekiss only cares about the increased probability of flinching because its favorite move, Air Slash, has a 30% chance of flinching. With Serene Grace, that chance goes up to 60%. Absolutely insane clear power, especially if Togekiss manages to outspeed its opponent.
10 Metagross
Introduced: Generation 3
- Attack: 135
- Sp Attack: 95
- Defense: 130
- Sp Defense: 90
- Speed: 70
- HP: 80
Metagross is a prime example of a traditional tank Pokemon. It is a Steel and Psychic-Type Pokemon, two powerful types that in combination with each other provide resistance to nine other Types. Added to its overall high base stats, Defense and Special Defense included, Metagross is a Pokemon that can face down nearly any opposition with little concern.
And if its initial defensive walls are not enough to protect it from everything, 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 other than to slowly chip away at Metagross's health until it is defeated.
As opposed to many other tanks, Metagross also has a great Attack stat and an excellent move pool that allows them to make sufficient use of it. Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB) moves like the heavy-hitting Meteor Mash, which also has a chance to boost Attack, is a solid choice, as is the increased-priority attack known as Bullet Punch for when Metagross needs to strike before the foe.