The 10 best Ground Pokemon of all time

Ground Pokémon can often be unassuming in looks, but they hide a surprising amount of power beneath the surface.

Author:
Ryan Woodrow
Publish date:
Nov 25, 2023 4:00 AM EST

It’s often questionable why Rock and Ground should be two distinct Pokémon types, but nonetheless, it has led to some interesting design opportunities over the years. It’s also a surprisingly strong type, having precious few weaknesses, and can serve as crucial counters to other strong types like Steel.

We’ve dug as deep as we can to find the very best Ground Pokémon in every region in the Pokémon world.

Check out more of our Pokémon rankings with our lists of the best Ice Pokémon, best Fighting Pokémon, and best Poison Pokémon.

Quagsire

Look at this happy little guy, how can you not like Quagsire? It can also be surprisingly difficult to deal with if you don’t come prepared, with a type combination and ability set that can easily wall a large number of types.

Torterra

It’s hard not to love a starter Pokémon, especially one like Torterra which has its own little ecosystem on its shell. It perhaps gets overshadowed a little by the other two Sinnoh starters, but in the old tales, it’s always the tortoise that wins the race in the end.

Marowak

Marowak’s backstory is well known by Pokémon fans the world over, and that has created a widespread endearment to this ‘mon and its pre-evolution. It may not be the strongest Pokémon in the world, but it’s a great addition to any Kanto team, standing tall with both a cute and a cool edge.

Swampert

Back to starter Pokémon, and it’s unsurprising that Mudkip’s evolution has become so beloved. An Axolotl isn’t an easy design to turn into a threatening creature but Swampert manages it, even going into overdrive when it Mega-Evolves into an especially bulky creature.

Excadrill

When playing through the Unova games, it’s hard to not have an Excadrill on your team at some point. Ground/Steel is an incredible defensive type combination, and it combines it with heavy-hitting power and surprising speed to sweep any unprepared team.

Gastrodon

It’s easy to sleep on Gastrodon, especially when you only see it as a Shellos, but anyone who faced it on Cynthia’s Diamond & Pearl team knows just how much of a threat it can be. Like Quagsire, Water/Ground gives it a lot of defensive leeway against all but Grass-types, and it can come out swinging with a deceptively wide movepool too.

Groudon

Many Ground Pokémon can be a bit unassuming, with their strength hidden beneath the surface. Groudon is not like this. Groudon’s power is very much on the surface as its sharp red body lets you know it’s an unstoppable force from moment one. Then it reverts into its primal form and at that point, there’s nowhere to run.

Gliscor

Ground/Flying is a type combination that should be impossible, but Gliscor manages to make it work. Its big bulky body is specially designed to scoop up ground and use it as a weapon, while also being a big scary bat that can glide through the air.

Garchomp

Taking one look at Garchomp is all you need to know about why it’s an incredible Pokémon. Dragon/Ground is perfect typing and it backs it up with unmatched power that comes at you with lightning speed. Not to mention the fact that this sand shark looks the part of an absolute killer.

Flygon

Despite repeatedly being snubbed for all of the cool gimmicks like Mega-Evolution and Dynamax, we still love Flygon all the same. It shares the same typing as Garchomp, and while it can’t make quite as good a use of it, we still love its big red eyes and bulky body that packs a punch.