Sneasler, the Free Climb Pokémon. Because of Sneasler’s virulent poison and daunting physical prowess, no other species could hope to best it on the frozen highlands. Preferring solitude, this species does not form packs.

Overview

One of the Hisuian evolutions introduced in Legends Arceus, Sneasler has been locked from standard play until now. And now that we get it, we see how truly overbearing it is. Base 120 speed is an incredible start, getting the jump on many Pokémon, even those normally considered fast like Cinderace, Thundurus and Tornadus-Incarnate. Couple that with Base 130 Attack and Sneasler can reliably service as a revenge killer, wallbreaker with Switcheroo and/or game ending sweeper with Swords Dance. What truly pushes Sneasler over the edge is Dire Claw. A base 80 STAB move with a whopping 50% chance to Paralyze, Poison or Sleep is incredibly disruptive, making it so that not even what would be direct walls to Sneasler are safe, as a sudden status can completely ruin theme or provide further opportunities for Sneasler’s team to setup. And Steel types are not a safe answer to Dire Claw either, being torn to pieces by Sneasler’s STAB Close Combat. And this is not even getting into Sneasler’s coverage options and amazing abilities in Unburden and Poison Touch, adding further breadth to Sneasler's options.

Sneasler can’t do it all however. Its defenses are poor before Close Combat, let alone after, giving Sneasler little defensive utility and making it difficult to pivot in safely. Poor defenses also leave Sneasler exposed to priority, which its fantastic Speed can’t protect against. Poison Fighting is also awkward as a STAB combination, commonly resisted by both Poison and Ghost, which is troublesome when prominent walls with those typings like Toxapex and Skeledirge exist. Being walled by Landorus Therian and Gholdengo further complicates matters, making it difficult for Sneasler to fit all the coverage it wants on a single set. However, make no mistake that Sneasler has proven itself to be a dire threat on the competitive scene, and must be planned for accordingly.
Positives
Base 130 Attack is downright nasty, enabling Sneasler to hit hard even before Swords Dance.
Base 120 Speed is incredible, already outspeeding many fast threats and becomes nigh impossible to outspeed with Unburden.
Dire Claw is an utterly busted move, with its high rate of causing a random status hindering even what would otherwise be reliable counters and Fighting STAB ensures most Steel types aren’t safe.
Great coverage options including Acrobatics, Fire Punch, and U-Turn make Sneasler all the more unpredictable.

Negatives
Poor Defenses makes it difficult to get Sneasler in and make it reliant on reaching KO’s with its attack.
Poison Fighting isn’t the greatest STAB combination, having several common resists that can make it difficult for Sneasler to coverage all of its checks.
Priority and naturally faster Pokémon also trouble Sneasler, able to eliminate it before it can begin.

Movesets

Quicksilver Claws

-Swords Dance
-Dire Claw
-Close Combat
-Acrobatics
Ability: Unburden
Item: Sitrus Berry
EVs and Nature:
4 HP / 252 Atk /252 Spe
Adamant Nature

Unburden Swords Dance Sneasler is a terrifying sweeper, able to buff both its Speed and Attack into the Stratosphere that fits comfortably on offensive teams. Come in on an opponent unable to OHKO Sneasler and setup in front of them getting their attack to drop Sneasler to half health triggering Unburden and giving Sneasler a Double Dance. Dire Claw has been spoken at length several times for good reason, for its ability to randomly Status an opponent with incredibly high likelihood is invaluable in getting Sneasler past opponents it otherwise has no right beating and forcefully punishes switches, hindering opponents trying to get an upper hand on Sneasler. Close Combat pairs wonderfully with Dire Claw, hitting the Steel and Tera Steel types that otherwise no sell Dire Claw. Acrobatics rounds out the set, pairing wonderfully with Unburden post Sitrus activation being a base 110 coverage move that hit both Ghost and Poison types neutrally.

Tera Types:
Tera Flying is highly recommended here, turning Acrobatics from a Base 110 Coverage move to a Base 110 STAB attack, which alongside Sneasler’s other STABs is makes it incredibly hard for anything not named Gholdengo to endure. Tera Flying also turns Sneasler’s Ground weakness into an immunity, giving it counterplay against some Ground type walls like Great Tusk. However, there are a lot of Tera Types Sneasler enjoys. Tera Dark gives valuable immunity to Psychic and enables Sneasler to eviscerate Ghost walls with Night Slash. Tera Ground offers incredible coverage against Skeledirge, Toxapex, and Gholdengo, all of whom can normally cause Sneasler trouble. Tera Poison and Fighting always remain good standbys, offering increased power to Sneasler’s STABs that can make the difference between muscling past a neutral target.

EVs and Items:
Max Speed and Attack are recommended; you want Sneasler to be as fast as possible to setup safely and as strong as possible to knock out the opponent without incurring to much damage. Sitrus Berry offers a margin of error when setting up, but since it is reliant on your opponent’s attacks, it can be difficult to get Sitrus Berry to trigger for the Unburden boost. Depending on team composition, one can use Terrain Seeds for a small defense boost and guaranteed Unburden activations. Air Balloon is another fantastic option, enabling Sneasler to come in safely on Ground types and put opponents in a tough situation of deal with a Ground Immune Sneasler or break the Balloon and trigger Unburden. Otherwise, one can run White Herb, which not only offers a buffer against Intimidate but is also easy for Sneasler to self activate with Close Combat, though being blocked by a naturally faster Ghost type like Spectrier can deny the Unburden boost and leave Sneasler in trouble. If running a more reliable activation method, one can reduce the speed EV investment for more Bulk instead. 220 Speed with a Neutral Nature is the minimum investment to guarantee outspeeding Neutral Nature Max Speed Floatzel in the rain, while 156 Speed is the minimum needed to outspeed Scarf Dragapult after Unburden.

Partners:
Great Tusk makes for a fantastic partner to Sneasler, naturally covering problems like Toxapex and Gholdengo and offering invaluable entry hazard control so that Sneasler stays healthy coming in, chipping targets into OHKO range with its own Stealth Rock and offering invaluable item disruption and Ghost coverage with Knock Off. In turn, Sneasler is a reliable answer into most Grass types and can threaten out Fairies with its own Poison STAB and Great Tusk is just as appreciative of the status Sneasler can spread. Other Ground types like Landorus-Therian, Garchomp, Ting-Lu and Ursaluna can fill a similar role. Rillaboom is a fantastic partner if looking to run a Terrain Seed. Sneasler loves the Earthquake weakening Grassy Terrain and Rillaboom is a consistent answer to opposing Ground types and Dondozo with its STAB and Ghosts/Psychics with Knock Off. Rillaboom providing a safe pivot and chip for Sneasler with U-Turn is just further incentive. Grimmsnarl is another fantastic partner for facilitating a game ending sweep with Prankster Screens and a good pivot with Parting Shot. Having Dark STAB for Ghost types is nice, but Grimmsnarl just goes far in enabling hyper offense by giving them pseudo bulk with Screens.

Other Options:
Gunk Shot -Far stronger than Dire Claw, but more unreliable. However, Dire Claw’s high Status proc rates make Sneasler more useful in early game scenarios while Gunk Shot is only really good for going all in on the sweep.

Choice Status Menace

-Dire Claw
-U-Turn
-Close Combat
-Switcheroo
Ability: Poison Touch
Item: Choice Scarf
EVs and Nature:
4 HP / 252 Atk /252 Spe Jolly Nature

Scarf Sneasler acts as an incredibly annoying scout and revenge killer with this set, using Dire Claw and Poison Touch to spread around status like candy on Halloween. Scarf Sneasler leaves an opponent with few good options after coming in on a KO. Leave your Pokémon in and let it get KO'd by Sneasler or pivot out and let your check get hindered by status. Or worst-case scenario, pivot out and get your check Poisoned by Poison Touch U-Turn while Sneasler tags out for the check of your check. Close Combat is secondary STAB and checks most Dire Claw immune Steel types while serving as a great general Clean Up tool. Switcheroo rounds out the set, hindering walls that are normally safe against other Sneasler sets like Rest Dondozo and Toxpaex.

Tera Types:
Tera Poison and Tera Fighting are highly recommended here, greatly increasing Sneasler's ability to revenge kill or wallbreak with the added boost to STAB. Tera Fighting offers more clean-up potential given Close Combat's higher base Power, while Tera Poison greatly incentivizes spamming Dire Claw to spread around as much Status as possible. Tera Fire is worth considering if running Fire Punch, giving STAB to that coverage while protecting from Will-o-Wisp burns from Skeledirge.

EVs and Items:
Standard Sweeper array of Max Speed and Attack. You want Sneasler going first and doing as much damage as possible. Choice Scarf is crux to this set, though a Choice Band set can be used to similar effect, just changing Sneasler's role from revenge killer to wallbreaker. Choice Banded Poison Touch U-Turns can rip chunks out of unsuspecting opponents while Choice Scarf outspeeds the entire unboosted game, catching normally faster revenge killers like Dragapult and Tornadus Therian off guard.

Partners:
Thundurus is an excellent partner for Choice Sneasler, being a reliable pivot into Ground and Flying attackers and answering troublesome targets for Sneasler like Dondozo, Great Tusk and Toxapex. Sneasler in turn answers Grass types that can give Thundurus problems and spread around status that makes it easier for Thundurus to reach KOs. Both even form a decent Volt Switch/U-Turn core. Zapdos also fulfills this role, exchanging a better matchup against Ground types for a more reliable matchup against Gholdengo thanks to Heat Wave. As another user of U-Turn with the same hyper offensive qualities Sneasler gravitates to, Hisuian Zoroark is another fantastic partner for Sneasler, being an excellent lure and assassin against opposing Ghost types like Gholdengo and Skeledirge while simultaneously acting as a great pivot against most priority moves like Shadow Sneak and Extremespeed that would be used to Revenge KO Sneasler.

Other Options:
Fire Punch -Punishes Gholdengo and Amoongus
Night Slash -hits Gholdengo and Galarian Slowking hard and checks other Psychic and Ghost types well.

Master Poisoner

-Fake Out
-Dire Claw
-Close Combat
-U-Turn
Ability: Poison Touch
Item: Heavy Duty Boots
EVs and Nature:
4 HP / 252 Atk /252 Spe Jolly Nature

Sneasler goes for maximum annoyance with this set, using Poison Touch and Dire Claw to the fullest to harass the opposing team. Fake Out is a great opening move, enabling you to safely scout for switches and disrupt suicide leads and hyper offensive threats with chip damage and potential Poison Touch poisoning. Dire Claw is absurd as usual and will be your go to option most of the time, dealing considerable damage and likely hindering anything that isn’t Garganacl or a Steel type. Close Combat is to answer said Garganacl and Steel types and is great for closing out damage on weakened foes. U-Turn rounds out the set and is fantastic for scouting on how your opponent intends to answer Sneasler while simultaneously having a chance to spread Poison for even more chip damage..

Tera Types:
This set is not recommended for Terastalization, as Sneasler’s role is primarily to spread Status and enable your other sweepers, not knock out foes. However, Tera Fighting is still a good fallback option, important for breaking through Steel types that otherwise stymie Sneasler’s status Shenanigans.

EVs and Items:
Max Attack and Speed are recommended. You want Sneasler to move first because of its frailty and you want Fake Out and U-Turn to do as much damage as possible to help in the chipping game in wearing down your opponent. Heavy Duty boots is recommended, as Sneasler is expected to be constantly switching in and out and it can be difficult for hazard removal to keep up.

Partners:
Hisuian Samurott slots in incredibly well with Sneasler, answering Psychic, Ghost and Ground types with its STABs, and providing even more chip damage with the Spikes that Ceaseless Edge sets while Sneasler answers the Grass and Fairy types that give Hisuian Samurott trouble and Dire Claw is fantastic at opening up extra opportunities to use Ceaseless Edge given Samurott’s poor speed tier. Great Tusk and Garchomp also make for great partners for similar reasons to Hisuian Samurott, being Ground types that answer Steel, Poison and Garganacl, and setup entry hazards that further the chip game that Sneasler is trying to play. This Sneasler set benefits from having a cleaner to take advantage of all the chip damage and status Sneasler provides to close out games. Sweepers like Baxcalibur, Thundurus, Roaring Moon, and Kingambit all fit this role nicely.

Other Options:
Taunt -if more concerned about Defensive teams, Taunt over Fake Out is a great tool for shutting down fat walls and turning them in setup or pivot fodder.

Doubles and VGC Options

Sneasler’s Dire Claw is a tantalizing option in doubles. Paralysis and Sleep are often game determinative when they come up and the damage that Sneasler deals when doing so leaves it far from passive. However, Sneasler falls into the same issues that plague so many other frail attackers. It can be KO’d at a moments notice, and due to double battles is incredibly reliant on a teammate to handle one if not both of the opposing battlers which makes Sneasler very inconsistent on top of Dire Claw’s random chance. Having Sneasler’s attack blunted by the ever present Intimidate and Screens further complicates matters. Regieleki being available at the same time as Sneasler further places a damper on Sneasler’s Doubles ambitions, due to Regieleki being so much faster and able to ruin Sneasler’s good speed with Electroweb. Sneasler does still have a few tricks up its claws however. Terrains being far stronger in Doubles than in Singles makes it easy for Sneasler to trigger Unburden and leave Regieleki in the dust. A good support movepool containing Fake Out and Taunt give Sneasler valuable utility that other hyper offensive Pokémon lack. While Sneasler will likely not be a Doubles Super Star, it will pose a tricky opponent for those who do face it.

Belay Support

-Dire Claw
-Close Combat
-Taunt
-Protect
Ability: Unburden
Item: Psychic Seed
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs and Nature:
4 HP / 252 Atk /252 Spe
Adamant Nature

Sneasler acts as a potent disruptor and attacker with this Doubles set. Dire Claw is amazing in Doubles with a lucky Sleep or Paralysis often being game warping and punishes redirection by hindering the redirector. Close Combat synergizes well with Dire Claw, hitting the many Steel and Tera Steel types, Garganacl that block it as well as affording Sneasler a lot of offensive pressure against targets like Iron Bundle and Ursaluna. Taunt is an amazing disruptive tool and with Unburden, Sneasler has the fastest non Priority Taunt in the game, shutting down or limiting setup attempts before they can begin and can’t be stopped by Dark types. Protect rounds out the set as the best move in doubles, enabling Sneasler to scout, stall out opposing Trick Room, Tailwind, weather, keep it safe while a teammate sets up ideal field conditions, etc.

Psychic Seeds is meant to trigger Unburden when paired with Indeedee-F and give Sneasler some much needed bulk and Speed. Tera Fighting is recommended for Sneasler to push through with boosted Close Combats.

Other Options & Partners:
Fake Out & Feint -if not running Psychic Seed (since Psychic Terrain blocks these two moves), these are fantastic disruption options that can prevent an opponent from setting up or stalling out.
Acrobatics + Tera Flying: pairs well with Unburden and great for destroying Amoongus and Annihilape.
Grassy Seeds+Rillaboom -Rillaboom makes a great partner for Sneasler, weakening opposing Earthquakes with Grassy Surge and a reliable trigger for Unburden, while having some complimentary coverage.
Poison Touch -while losing out on the ability to naturally outspeed Regieleki hurts, the extra chip damage is nice and makes Sneasler’s Fake Out’s Feints and U-Turns even more punishing.
U-Turn -good for scouting and provides valuable chip damage.
Indeedee-F -Psychic Terrain is an easy trigger for Unburden and protects Sneasler from a lot of priority that it otherwise struggles to deal with, and provides invaluable redirection to keep it around longer. Sneasler wrecking opposing Dark and Fairy types helps keep Indeedee around longer as well.

Countering Sneasler

Sneasler is difficult to counter. Even Pokémon that would normally do very well against its STABs are often hindered by a lucky Dire Claw status, especially if Sleep lands. And the Steel types that no sell Dire Claw are wrecked by Close Combat. Gholdengo is the closest, immune to both of Sneasler’s STABs and unable to be hindered by Switcheroo, Taunt or Poison Touch, but Sneasler often runs coverage specifically for Gholdengo. RestTalk Dondozo also does well, able to Rest off Paralysis or Poison and still able to act while asleep all the while tanking even Sneasler’s boosted attacks but is ruined by Taunt and Switcheroo. Garganacl has titanic Defense and is immune to status but needs to Terastalize to avoid being OHKO’d by Close Combat. Corviknight is 2HKO’d by Banded Sneasler, but otherwise can tank an attack and OHKO back with Brave Bird.

Covert Cloak is a good way to stop Dire Claw from spreading status and does open a few checks to Sneasler. Poison and Ghost walls like Toxapex, and Skeledirge can reliably pivot in and wall Sneasler, the latter even permanently ruining Sneasler with Will-o-Wisp. Landorus-Therian also does well against Sneasler with Covert Cloak, being resistant to both STABs, and dropping Sneasler’s attack with Intimidate while not being weak to any common coverage.

Sneasler is also very exposed to faster attackers and priority, given its poor defenses do not allow it to take many hits. Tornadus Therian, Specs Dragapult, and Specs Greninja are all examples that can naturally outspeed and OHKO Sneasler, but must be wary of Unburden or Choice Scarf sets. Dragonite’s Extreme Speed and Ceruledge’s Shadow Sneak also do well at picking off a weakened Sneasler, especially after a few Close Combats.

Anime Appearences

Sneasler has yet to make an appearance in the anime # -English Episode Name- -Jp. Episode Name- Pics