Generation 8's Pokemon Sword & Shield heralded the series’ first mainline entry on a home console. While the game was controversial for its National Pokedex cuts and not really pushing any of Nintendo Switch’s power, there are still plenty of Pokemon new to the game who have caught the attention of the strongest trainers.

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As they journeyed across the United Kingdom-inspired land of Galar, of course, fans discovered a bumper crop of new Gen 8 Pokemon. Players were keen to try them out and see which were likely to be meta mainstays going forward. For those curious, here are some of the strongest and most effective Pokemon that were introduced in Generation 8.

Updated June 27, 2024, by Blaise Santi: It's been nearly five years since the original release of Pokemon Sword & Shield and four since the release of the two DLC expansions, The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra. In that time, Game Freak has already moved on to a new generation of Pokemon games with Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, which has introduced an entirely new meta for competitive players, doing away with the Dynamaxing that Sword & Shield centered on. As for Gen 8's Pokedex, not every Pokemon from Galar has made it to the new generation of games, but plenty of them remain some of the strongest Pokemon in recent history. As such, this list has been updated and re-organized according to Gen 9's meta.

25 Centiskorch

Lacks Speed But Offers Many Resistances

It can be difficult to fit a Bug-type Pokemon into one's team due to their poor type effectiveness. Centiskorch makes this task a lot less daunting, however, with its fire-typing making it a much more viable option than some of its bug-type peers. Sure, Rock-type moves are still super effective against it, but it more than makes up for this with its impressive list of resistances.

Fighting, Bug, Steel, Ice, and Fairy-types will all deal 1/2 damage to Centiskorch, while the effectiveness of Grass-type attacks will be reduced by a whopping 75%. It has fairly decent stats, too, placing it just below the final forms of the three Gen 8 starter evolutions. It boasts an impressive Attack stat, but sadly, it does come up a little short in the Speed department.

24 Regidrago

An Impressive Amount Of HP And Resistances

Though it's arguably the worst of the Legendary Titans, Regidrago is still a solid choice for those looking for a solid Dragon-type Pokemon to balance out their teams. Its base stat total makes it one of the strongest Pokemon in Sword & Shield on paper, with a monstrous 200 HP stat helping it survive even the toughest of onslaughts.

Granted, it's weak to Ice, Fairy, and other Dragon-types, but it more than makes up for this with its resistance to Fire, Water, Grass, and Electric-type attacks. Its low defenses can make it a little difficult to work with, however, particularly when it's up against a Pokemon that can attack one of its weaknesses. With this in mind, there are several better Dragon-types in Gen 8.

23 Galarian Articuno

A Powerful Pokemon With Access To A Unique Move

In truth, any of the Galarian forms of the Legendary birds are worthy additions to a team. Galarian Articuno, however, may be one of the strongest Pokemon in Pokemon Sword & Shield, despite only appearing in the DLC expansion The Crown Tundra. Compared to its Ice/Flying-type Kantonian form, Galarian Articuno boasts a rare Psychic/Flying-type.

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Galarian Articuno also learns quite a unique move, Freezing Glare, which is Psychic-type and the only non-Ice move with the ability to freeze opponents. Its Ability, Competitive, gives it a huge Special Attack buff from stat drops. While some trainers may gravitate towards Galarian Zapdos or Galarian Moltres, Galarian Articuno is their best bet for a competitive team.

22 Inteleon

Offers Increased Critical Hit Damage

Sobble might be the most awkward-looking of the three Galar starters, but it certainly comes out of its shell once it evolves into Inteleon. The pure Water-type starter has plenty going for it, both design-wise and in battle, particularly thanks to its Ability, Sniper, which allows for critical hits to deal even more damage than they normally would.

Inteleon’s high Speed and Special Attack stats make it a great glass cannon for any party. Its signature move, Snipe Shot, increases the chance of getting a critical hit in battle, which pairs nicely with the aforementioned ability. Simply put, any decent trainer can put Inteleon to good use.

21 Duraludon

A Defense-Focused Pokemon With A Variety Of Resistances

Although The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet introduced Duraludon's evolution, Archaludon, its pre-evolution may excel for even more reasons now that it has the potential to be paired with the Eviolite item. Its excellent Steel/Dragon typing gives it nine resistances and only two weaknesses, and its defensive stats are already incredibly strong.

With base 120 Special Attack, Duraludon is certainly no offensive slouch either. It’s been a very popular competitive pick so far, and rightly so. Though it might be attractive for players to evolve this Steel/Dragon-type, one shouldn't count out the potential of an unevolved Duraludon, either.

20 Grimmsnarl

Lacks Defense But Offers Great Strength

One might not expect a Pokemon as intimidating in its design as Grimmsnarl to be a Fairy-type, but it is. As a Dark/Fairy-typed Pokemon, Grimmsnarl seems like a perfect mix between the two types, with its mischievous personality and mysteriously powerful hair. Despite its appearance, Grimmsnarl won't scare off many challengers with its low Defense and Special Defense.

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Thankfully, Grimmsnarl has a strong Attack stat to balance out these defensive weaknesses, as well as powerful STAB moves in its learnset. Players should watch out for Poison, Steel, and other Fairy-type Pokemon, as their super-effective attacks can get the best of Grimmsnarl, especially considering its rather disappointing Speed stat.

19 Sirfetch’d

A Reliable Fighter With A Great Movepool

Poor Farfetch’d was one of the worst Gen 1 Pokemon from a competitive standpoint. Its reputation really didn’t improve in the two decades since, until the concept of regional forms gave it a chance to improve itself through Galarian Farfetch'd and its unique evolution, the lance-carrying Sirfetch'd, who was even a member of Ash Ketchum's championship-winning team.

Compared to its Kantonian pre-evolution, Sirfetch'd boasts a powerful 135 Attack stat, a pure Fighting type, and has access to Abilities like Scrappy, which allows it to attack Ghost-type Pokemon that are normally immune to Fighting-type moves. Plus, its movepool is incredibly diverse with a whole range of coverage, from Fighting-type STAB moves to types like Steel and Dark.

18 Barraskewda

Difficult To Take Down In The Pouring Rain

When they fished up Arrokuda quite early in their Sword & Shield adventure, players would be forgiven for having underestimated it. It’s a little generic-looking, as far as fish-inspired Pokemon go, but looks can be deceiving once Arrokuda evolves in Barraskewda, which was among the strongest Pokemon in the eighth generation's competitive meta.

Barraskewda's defenses are very low, but its base Attack and Speed stats, great coverage, and Ability make it a real nightmare to face, especially in the rain. Barraskewda also has access to the Hidden Ability Propeller Tail, preventing opposing support Pokemon from redirecting their attacks in doubles matches.

17 Zarude

Has Many Weaknesses But Provides A Diverse Movepool

Zarude debuted in the Isle of Armor DLC expansion through an Event distribution. It comes in two forms: normal Zarude and Dada Zarude, though its Dada form was only made available in conjunction with the corresponding Pokemon movie in 2020. Still, the Dark/Grass-type has a lot going for it in either form.

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Zarude doesn’t have many flaws statistically, with high HP, Attack, Defense, and Speed. What will probably scare trainers away are its seven different type weaknesses, including a quadruple disadvantage to the typically inconsequential Bug-type. It also boasts a strong, diverse movepool with a lot of coverage, making it easy to craft the perfect moveset for this physically strong 'mon.

16 Polteageist

A Potential Powerhouse With The Right Strategy

The people of the United Kingdom are known to be pretty fond of drinking tea. As a result, Pokemon Sword & Shield features a tea-based Pokemon as an homage to this fact: Sinistea and its evolved form Polteageist. These unique pure Ghost-types have unusual stat spreads, making them tough to fit into specific team roles.

Polteageist, in particular, is sorely lacking in HP, Attack, and Defense, and has middling Speed, but its Special Attack and Special Defense are very high. However, with the combination of the move Shell Smash and a White Herb item, which neutralizes negative stat changes, Polteageist can become a powerhouse ready to sweep teams.

15 Indeedee

A Great Option For Psychic Terrain And Double Battles

Indeedee might not come across as the most threatening Pokemon in the Galar region, far from it, actually. However, one shouldn't let its cuteness fool them, as it can be a powerful support Pokemon thanks to its Hidden Ability, Psychic Surge, which activates Psychic Terrain upon switch-in, boosting Psychic-type moves and making the user immune to priority attacks.

Obviously, the boost to Psychic attacks is helpful for the Psychic/Normal-type Indeedee, who can make use of moves like Psychic and, for those who are patient enough to get a few Calm Mind uses in, Stored Power. Considering it only has two weaknesses, Bug-type and Dark-type, Indeedee can be an incredibly useful ally, especially in Double Battles.

14 Galarian Slowking

Makes Up For Poor Speed With Resistances

Slowpoke looks quite different in the Isle of Armor, with its yellow-tinged Galarian form losing its Water-typing. Galarian Slowbro and Galarian Slowking seem a lot more concerning, both bitten by a Shellder infected by toxic chemicals, turning them into Psychic/Poison-types. Galarian Slowking, however, is the only one of the two that competitive players need to look out for.

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Its typing gives Galarian Slowking many resistances, including the common competitive types of Fighting, Water, and Steel. Its stat pool also includes strong Special Attack and Special Defense, despite the Pokemon living up to its name with horrible Speed. However, its access to support moves like Toxic, Chilly Reception, and Future Sight keeps it an unexpected threat.

13 Hatterene

Its Poor Speed Stat Is Actually A Benefit

Hatterene boasts an interesting stat spread, with reasonable Attack and Defense, above-average Special Defense and Special Attack, but abysmal Speed. However, as a Psychic/Fairy-type Pokemon, it's only natural that competitive users would see its potential as a Trick Room user, reversing speed stats and making it one of the fastest on any given field.

Paired with powerful special STAB moves like Psychic or Dazzling Gleam, Hatterene proves itself to be a very strong Pokemon that can also cause some havoc of its own once Trick Room is set. Having said that, the Pokemon is very vulnerable if Trick Room isn’t successful or expires, so players should make sure to keep an eye on how many turns it's been active for.

12 Dragapult

A Ghastly Threat That Takes Time To Evolve

Dragon/Ghost isn’t a common typing in Pokemon, with Giratina being the only one prior to Gen 8, which is part of what makes Dragapult so interesting. It is the final form of Dreepy, but trainers will need to put in a decent amount of time if they wish to add this Pokemon to their party, as its pre-evolution Drakloak only evolves at level 60.

Though its defensive stats are somewhat lacking, Dragapult makes up for it in other ways. It has strong Attack, Special Attack, and Speed stats, and manages pretty well with its base HP. Its various weaknesses should worry trainers, as it will likely need to be used situationally in order to avoid OHKOs.

11 Corviknight

An Early Catch With Great Support Moves

Corviknight has a great typing in Flying/Steel, a top-notch Hidden Ability in Mirror Armor (which reflects negative stat drops back at the opponent that inflicted them), and access to great supportive moves like Defog and Tailwind. It's a wonder how Pokemon are at all threatened by the Fairy/Steel-type Gen 9 Pokemon Tinkaton, according to the Pokedex.

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What really puts Corviknight over the edge, though, is its stat pool, which may not look too impressive but packs in a lot of benefits. Its incredible Defense stat makes it a great utility Pokemon in the competitive meta, especially considering it is immune to terrain like Stealth Rocks, which would be otherwise threatening to most utility Pokemon sent into the field of battle.

10 Cinderace

One Of The Best Fully-Evolved Starters

With the sheer strength of Pyro Ball and its incredible Hidden Ability, Libero, which works the same as the Ability Protean, some fans believe that Cinderace might be one of the best fully-evolved starter Pokemon. Cinderace's uniqueness doesn't stop there, as it also has a second signature move in Court Change, which reverses the effects of field changes.

This beastly bunny has been tearing up the metagame for some time now. Its only real drawbacks are its vulnerability if speed control isn't on its side, as well as the fact that it can't cover everything with its four move slots. It can also be quite weak to the common Ground and Water-types, though it can outspeed a lot of its competition.

9 Rillaboom

A Competitive Mainstay With A Great Hidden Ability

Of course, Rillaboom is a Pokemon that will be familiar to almost all players, especially the more competitively-focused ones. As the final evolution of Grookey, the Grass-type starter Pokemon in the Galar region, Rillaboom quickly rose to become a competitive mainstay, especially after players learned of its Hidden Ability: Grassy Surge, which automatically sets Grassy Terrain.

In Grassy Terrain, Rillaboom gets passive healing as well as a significant buff to its Grass-type moves. Couple this with the highest physical Attack of any starter to date and powerful STAB moves like Grassy Glide and Drumb Beating, and this beast is a tremendous physical threat with solid bulk to boot. It’s rather predictable and has limited coverage, however, which holds it back a bit.

8 Dracovish

Makes Up For Its Passable Stats With Great Traits

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet players sadly don't have access to Dracovish, so they don't get to know how overpowered the Pokemon was in Sword & Shield. Its stats aren't exactly impressive, with its highest being 100 base Defense. However, Dracovish has two incredibly powerful traits: the ability Strong Jaw, which boosts biting moves, and Fishious Rend, the real concerning move.

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Fishious Rend normally deals 85, but that doubles to 170 if Dracovish moves first or if the target switches in on the same turn before being hit with Fishious Rend. Paired with Strong Jaw, this means that, with one move, a Pokemon with mediocre stats is a massive threat in the competitive meta of Sword & Shield, especially when paired with a Choice Scarf.

7 Zamazenta

A Strong Fighter With A Focus On Defense

Zamazenta is one of the strongest Pokemon in Shield, as all mascot Legendary Pokemon typically are, but it falls a little short in terms of sheer competitive presence compared to its counterpart Zacian. The Shield legendary is more defensively oriented, as its design indicates, though it still boasts over 100 in base stats for Attack and Speed.

In its Crowned Shield form, Zamazenta becomes a Fighting/Steel Pokemon, boosting its number of resistances from three types to eight while keeping the same number of weaknesses. It’s no doubt a great Pokemon, but in terms of raw impact on a match, it struggles to compete with the very top of the Galar's offensive greats.

6 Ice Rider Calyrex

A Slow But Ridiculously Powerful Pokemon

It’s very difficult to separate Ice Rider and Shadow Rider Calyrex. Both, along with Calyrex, Glastrier (Ice-type), and Spectrier (Ghost-type) themselves, were introduced in The Crown Tundra. While the enigmatic Psychic/Grass-type Calyrex has super underwhelming stats of its own, it becomes a completely different prospect when fused with its noble steed using the Reins of Unity.

Ice Rider Calyrex is Psychic/Ice, while Shadow Rider Calyrex is Psychic/Ghost. Both have incredible base stat totals of 680, but the Ice Rider's stat distribution is just silly. It’s incredibly tanky with its HP, Defense, and Special Defense, and its base Attack makes it astonishingly powerful, too. Its Speed stat and common weaknesses can let it down in a big way, however.