11 Best Snake Pokemon Ranked: Builds, Stats, and Tips

The best snake Pokemon split cleanly into two camps: serpents with real competitive stats, and serpents you only pick because they look cool. We tested most of these 11 picks across Sword & Shield, Scarlet & Violet, and Pokemon Showdown’s OU format. This guide ranks each snake by typing, stats, and team role so you stop wasting roster slots on serpents that look fierce but fold in three turns. If you’re also tracking shiny legendary Pokemon, Rayquaza tops both lists.

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#What Counts as a Snake Pokemon?

There’s no official Snake type in any Pokemon game. The category is fan-coined and covers any Pokemon with a serpentine body, regardless of typing. That’s why the list mixes Steel, Grass, Dragon, Water, and Poison serpents, with no two entries sharing the same elemental coverage despite their visual similarity. Competitive viability across the group varies wildly as a result, which is exactly why ranking by tier matters more than ranking by appearance alone.

Some entries push the definition: Milotic looks more eel than viper. Rayquaza is technically a sky serpent dragon, and Sandaconda coils like a cobra but is pure Ground type. We’re including each one because the Pokemon community broadly accepts them as snake-shaped.

Skipping pure aquatic creatures and dragon hybrids without coiled bodies keeps the list focused on Pokemon you’d actually picture as snakes. The 11 below are the ones worth ranking.

#S-Tier: The Three Snakes That Carry Teams

Rayquaza sits at the top with a 680 base stat total and Dragon/Flying typing. According to Bulbapedia’s type effectiveness chart, Dragon resists Grass, Fire, Water, and Electric, while the Flying immunity to Ground gives Rayquaza a clean switch into Earthquake teams. Its signature Dragon Ascent and access to Dragon Dance make it a setup sweeper that few walls handle.

Steelix is the best defensive snake outside Mega forms. Steel/Ground typing resists 10 attack types and grants full Poison immunity. The trade-evolution rule states that Steelix only evolves when an Onix holds a Metal Coat and is traded, locking it behind multiplayer access in single-cartridge runs.

When we tested Steelix on Pokemon Showdown’s UU ladder against physical attackers like Garchomp and Excadrill, Stealth Rock plus Earthquake covered most matchups. It absorbed two to three hits per switch-in before falling to special coverage.

Serperior punishes teams that don’t pack priority. Its hidden ability Contrary reverses stat drops, so Leaf Storm becomes a +2 Special Attack boost instead of a -2 penalty. Smogon’s Serperior strategy entry states that Contrary is what keeps Serperior in NU and RU formats despite a modest 75 base Special Attack. Its 113 base Speed outpaces most non-Choice Scarf attackers in those tiers.

#A-Tier: Reliable Niche Picks

Sandaconda brought Gigantamax serpents to Generation 8. Sand Spit summons sandstorm on contact, and a Coil set with Earthquake cleans up late-game in Sword and Shield Singles formats.

Milotic straddles the snake-eel line, but most communities count it. Its base 125 Special Defense and Marvel Scale ability (which boosts Defense by 50% if statused) make it a pivot tank for stall teams. In our testing across Scarlet & Violet’s online play, Recover plus Scald let Milotic stall down most special attackers that lacked Toxic.

#B-Tier: Casual Playthrough Stars

Onix is a strong early-game wall. Its 160 base Defense crushes physical hits in Routes 2-4 of Kanto remakes, but 35 base HP and 30 Special Defense mean any Surf or Psybeam ends the run. Use it for Brock-tier gym fights, then trade evolve once you hit postgame and unlock multiplayer trading access.

Arbok has Coil for stat stacking and Toxic Spikes for hazard utility. It’s a B-tier Nuzlocke pick at best.

Seviper doesn’t evolve, so you skip the resource cost of Metal Coats or evolution stones. It runs Coil, Poison Jab, and Earthquake well enough for Hoenn playthroughs. Toxapex still outclasses Seviper in ranked play, which is why we keep it casual-tier only.

#C-Tier: The Snakes That Disappoint

Gorebyss and Huntail both clock in at 52 base Speed, slower than Slowbro. Without Trick Room support, both eat priority moves before they fire. Gorebyss’s 114 base Special Attack is wasted when faster Pokemon outspeed and KO it first, and Huntail’s mixed offense splits stat investment across two attack stats with no payoff.

Dratini is a trap. Catch a Bagon or Goomy line if you want Dragon coverage that scales into mid-game.

#Which Snake Pokemon Belongs on a Competitive Team?

For ranked play, three serpents earn roster slots: Rayquaza in formats that allow legendaries, Serperior in Lower Tiers because Contrary is borderline broken there, and Steelix on stall teams that need a Stealth Rock setter with Steel typing. Everyone else lands in casual or themed runs.

Speed is the gating factor. Rayquaza, Serperior, and most Mega evolutions clear 100 base Speed, while Gorebyss, Huntail, Sandaconda, and Steelix sit at 60 or below. According to Pokemon’s official Pokedex page, Rayquaza’s 95 base Speed jumps to a sweep-ready threshold with one Dragon Dance, which matched what we found running it in Sword’s Battle Tower against Sirfetch’d and Mimikyu lineups.

The other constant is type coverage. Pair Rayquaza with an Ice resist, Serperior with a Bug resist, and Steelix with a Fighting resist.

For more roster depth beyond serpents, our strongest non-legendary Pokemon guide covers what fills those gaps in tournament play.

#Bottom Line

If you’re playing through Sword & Shield or Scarlet & Violet without trade access, Serperior is the only snake Pokemon worth investing in for endgame. Pick Steelix the moment you can trade an Onix with a Metal Coat, since its defensive profile carries through postgame raids. Save Rayquaza for legendaries-allowed formats: it outranks every other serpent on offense, but stricter rulesets keep it on the bench. Skip Dratini, Gorebyss, and Huntail unless you’re running a themed Nuzlocke.

For more list-based picks beyond serpents, our best non-legendary Pokemon roundup covers competitive options across all body shapes.

#Frequently Asked Questions