What it does
In Snow weather, Snow Cloak multiplies the accuracy of incoming moves by 0.8 (equivalent to the attacker being at -1 accuracy stage, but without actually changing any stat). A 100-accuracy move hits 80% of the time. A 95-accuracy move hits 76%. An 80-accuracy move hits 64%.
This does not affect moves that bypass accuracy checks, such as those used after Lock-On or certain always-hit moves.
In Gen 9, Snow also gives Ice-type Pokémon a ×1.5 Special Defense multiplier. Snow Cloak adds evasion on top of that defensive frame, making Ice-types meaningfully harder to remove in snow conditions.
Who runs it
Glaceon at 82% adoption. 130 Special Attack with STAB Blizzard and Ice Beam. In snow, Blizzard hits 100% of the time (that is a snow weather effect independent of Snow Cloak), so Glaceon is already firing a reliable spread move. Snow Cloak then makes it harder to get removed in return — opponents face a 20% miss rate on any attacks they direct at it.
Froslass (20%) can run Snow Cloak in snow-team configurations, though Cursed Body is usually preferred.
Mamoswine (5%) occasionally chooses Snow Cloak over Thick Fat or Oblivious in dedicated snow team slots.
Beartic (3%) appears in snow team configurations with some consistency.
How to use it
Snow Cloak requires active snow. You need either a Pokémon with Snow Warning or a manual Snowscape setup, ideally extended with Icy Rock.
Once snow is active, the Glaceon game plan looks like: fire Blizzard spread (guaranteed accuracy), absorb return attacks at 80% hit rate against you. Against a Pokémon that needs two hits to KO Glaceon, the probability of at least one miss is 1 - (0.8 × 0.8) = 36%. That is meaningful odds over several turns.
Add Protect to skip the turns where you would lose a coinflip, and the evasion benefit compounds.
Tips & strategy
Snow Cloak is a luck-based ability. At high levels of play, survival strategies that depend on opponents missing are not reliable win conditions — a single hit through the evasion ends the advantage. Compared to something deterministic like Thick Fat or the damage scale of Cursed Body, Snow Cloak's value is inconsistent.
That said, in a full snow team context, the combination of Blizzard accuracy, Ice-type Special Defense boost, and Snow Cloak evasion creates a package that genuinely stresses opponents. Each part compounds the others. Snow Cloak is not useless — it is just that its individual value swings based on dice.
Glaceon's Speed is 65. In standard conditions it moves last. Make sure your team provides speed control (Tailwind, Icy Wind) or runs a Trick Room setup so Glaceon can actually get its Special Attack to work before it takes a hit.