Snorunt Movesets & Competitive Sets

Moves Spikes is the main reason you would use Snorunt. Ice Beam is Snorunt's best STAB attack and is great because it pressures entry hazard removers such as Archen, Drilbur, and Vullaby. Hidden Power Ground is pretty weak, but allows it Snorunt to hit Steel-types and Chinchou when they are switched in. The two attacks have perfect neutral coverage outside of Surskit, but Snorunt's stats are still poor. Ice Shard is a useful priority attack, which lets Snorunt finish off weakened foes, especially Fast Eviolite Archen, after hitting them with Ice Beam. Set Details 196 Speed EVs with a Naive nature are recommended, as they allow Snorunt to outspeed standard Chinchou and Magnemite. 200 Special Attack EVs boost the power of Ice Beam, and 36 Defense and 40 Special Defense EVs provide some additional bulk, as they increase Snorunt's defenses from 11 to 12; lastly, 36 Attack EVs boost Ice Shard's damage output. Inner Focus allows Snorunt to avoid flinching, which is especially helpful against Fake Out users. Focus Sash guarantees at least one layer of Spikes. Usage Tips Lead off with Snorunt most of the time in order to set up Spikes. Switch into Ground-types and Grass-types and attempt to force them out so Snorunt can set up layers Spikes for free. Getting up as many layers of Spikes as possible against teams lacking entry hazard removal can be very helpful. Snorunt can also KO many Defoggers and spinners, except for Staryu, because they're weak to Ice-type moves; as such, use your Ice-type STAB to KO them. Team Options Choice Scarf users, such as Mienfoo, Magnemite, and Chinchou, are great partners because they can use U-turn or Volt Switch against their checks and slowly wear them down in tandem with Spikes. They can also make use of Spikes late-game because they're able to sweep the opposing team. Ghost-types are good partners because they can block Rapid Spin. Wallbreakers such as Pancham, Skrelp, and Corphish enjoy having their switch-ins worn down by Spikes. Pawniard can help, as it discourages the use of Defog thanks to Defiant. Late-game sweepers such as Abra, Carvanha, and Bulk Up Timburr enjoy having the entry hazard support, and Snorunt can also occasionally beat Cottonee.

The first priority of this set is to set up as many layers of Spikes as possible, allowing a sweeper to obtain additional KOs. Snorunt has less-than-average stats all-around, though, which means it may struggle to survive one hit so that it can set up Spikes. This problem is compounded by Snorunt's weakness to types that are now very common, such as Fighting and Fire. In any case, Ice Beam is a decent STAB attack that will make Taillow think twice before switching into it. Hidden Power Ground is used to hit Fire- and Steel-types, such as Houndour and Magnemite, that would otherwise counter this set. Ice Shard gives Snorunt a STAB priority attack that proves very useful when an opposing Pokemon is low on HP. The EV spread maximizes Snorunt's Special Attack and Speed stats, and the rest are put into HP, Attack, and Defense. Ice Body should be used only if Snover is a teammate; otherwise, Inner Focus is preferred to prevent Snorunt from flinching. Partner-wise, Snover is perhaps the best, as it provides everlasting hail for Ice Body recovery and grants 100% accuracy to Blizzard for Snorunt to abuse instead of Ice Beam. A sweeper, such as Vullaby, would make a great partner, as it would benefit from the damage that Spikes cause to opposing grounded Pokemon. Frillish is a good partner because it blocks Rapid Spin and checks Hippopotas, who removes favorable weather for Snorunt. If Snover is KOed, Hippopotas becomes a bigger problem since it changes the weather from hail to sandstorm, which damages rather than heals Snorunt.

Disable is a great move to use right after switching in Snorunt, as it will prevent the opposing Pokemon from using the last move they used for 4-7 turns, which could easily let Snorunt wall a sweeper. Ice Beam is used so that Snorunt can check Dratini and Taillow; it will OHKO both of them without requiring prior damage. Crunch hits Gastly for a good amount of damage, and hits Munchlax stronger than Ice Beam does. Unfortunately, Crunch still does very little damage, especially if Munchlax is running Eviolite. Shadow Ball provides similar coverage but isn't able to hit Munchlax and other Normal-types. Ice Shard, again, is a decent STAB priority attack that Snorunt can use to revenge kill most Pokemon at low health. The given EV spread is the same as the one in the Spiker set, which is the best one that Snorunt can use. Again, Ice Body should only be used if running Snover; otherwise, Inner Focus would be the better option. Besides Snover, Frillish is a good partner, as it resists all types that are super effective against Snorunt except for Rock, which is not very common anyway. Dwebble is good too, as it can set up Stealth Rock and Spikes to wear down opponents and make them easier for Snorunt to KO. Disabling one of a sweeper's moves is pretty vital for this set, as it may cause a switch out, letting you gain the upper hand.

When placed in the lead slot, Snorunt fares well against almost all other leads. Inner Focus renders Fake Out unable to flinch Snorunt, and the combination of Ice Beam and Ice Shard lands a 2HKO on many an opponent, most notably Hippopotas, Snover, and Voltorb, three prominent weather-inducing leads. Lead Diglett can also be defeated, but one must be wary of Sucker Punch after taking an Earthquake. Hidden Power Ground allows Snorunt to damage leads who resist its STAB, while Hidden Power Grass allows Snorunt to beat Omanyte, Kabuto, and Onix. Spikes is placed in the last slot for team support, and should be used to incite mind games against faster Sucker Punch users. Hidden Power Ground can damage lead Houndour, which is usually resistant to Snorunt's main STAB attacks. Aside from that, Hidden Power Ground also provides good coverage. On the other hand, Hidden Power Grass is useful in killing Pokemon such as Onix, Kabuto, and Omanyte. This set can also run Crunch or Protect. Though Protect does not provide the obvious benefits of the current moves, it can be used to scout the opponent's moves, especially those of Choice users. Bulky Water-types, such as Buizel and Clamperl, that can check Fire-types can be good teammates for Snorunt. Slowpoke can be a good teammate too, as it covers most of Snorunt's weaknesses and deals with lead Machop well.

Snorunt's major advantage over other users of Spikes is its immunity to hail. With 15 Speed, Snorunt is much faster than Omanyte and Pineco, the other common users of Spikes, while retaining its decent bulk. Thus, Snorunt fits into offensive teams much more easily, since it can create many opportunities to set up Spikes. Snorunt's neutrality to most special moves, barring those of the Fire-type, means that it will only be 3HKOed at best with Oran Berry, enabling it to set up at least two layers of Spikes every time. Ice Shard and Crunch allow Snorunt to whittle down the opponent's HP once it has set up Spikes. Snorunt's Speed is its major asset over other users of Spikes. However, if bulk is what you are looking for, then Snorunt isn't the ideal choice, as there are other Spikes users that outclass it in that area. Protect allows Snorunt to scout the opponent's team and see what move a Choice user picks. As with pretty much any Pokemon that sets up entry hazards, a Ghost-type will make a great teammate for Snorunt, as they can prevent its hard work from getting spun away. Flash Fire users and Fighting-types carrying a Choice Scarf also make good offensive teammates to Snorunt. A Stealth Rock user such as Gligar is also a good choice for a teammate considering how Spikes only affect grounded Pokemon.