Strategies

This is a list of some basic strategies in Slither.io. There are no perfect strategies or techniques, but learning these basic moves can help you get started on your quest to becoming the biggest snake!

Aggressive
Aggressive strategies seek to actively destroy other players.

Coiling


Coiling refers to a strategy of completely encircling an opponent. As you continue moving, your coils constrict, making it difficult or impossible for an opponent to avoid hitting you. Moreover, any pellets inside can be eaten without another player interrupting. However, while executing this technique, you are vulnerable to a larger snake coming along and coiling around you! You may also find it profitable to coil around a snake attempting to coil a player, if you are large enough to. In addition, if you can't quite create a complete loop or before you do, its possible for your intended victim to shoot out of the gap, blocking your path and killing you instead!

A variation of coiling involves encircling pellets of already killed snake in order to prevent them from being eaten by others.

Cutting People Off
One of the most basic techniques in Slither.io is using a burst of speed to suddenly turn in front of another player, causing them to run into you and pop into a giant sea of pellets that you can grab. Even if you're much smaller than another player, it's still very possible to throw yourself into their path and kill them! If you notice someone near you suddenly put on a burst of speed, watch out! They may be preparing to try and cross your path just ahead of you.

Baiting
This works best once you are longer. After getting a kill, instead of scooping up the remains yourself, you leave them and pretend that you aren't coming back. Make a wide loop, like a half circle, but don't get too close to your tail, and eventually, someone will enter the loop, take the bait in the loop, and you can begin coiling them. Be careful, though, for the person taking the bait can rush out and cut you off!

Trick Cut-off
If someone is coiling you and is getting tighter, you have a tiny chance to not only escape, but kill the threat. As soon as the head of the enemy enters its own loop, use the "Sit and Wait" strategy and race out to cut off the enemy. This is a very advanced and risky trick, but some players are skilled enough to use it.

Defensive
Defensive strategies focus on staying alive.

De-coiling
When other snakes attempt to trap you, you can circle a bit ahead of your opponent in order to cut off their means of enclosing. If they back off but come back with a burst of speed you can simply continue doing it. Grazing your opponent's body will not kill you; use this to your advantage, and continue pushing them off until they give up.

Shielding
Shielding is a technique that revolves around going back and using your own tail as a shield from others. Shielding might be useful as an escape route, but you are vulnerable to larger snakes coiling you.

Defensive circling
Moving around in a tight circle is often useful in crowded areas where there are lots of snakes and moving anywhere is risky. This strategy also works when being in between two snakes and there is a risk of one of the larger snakes or fourth snake taking advantage of the situation. Defensive circling should be done in crowded areas as such places make it hard for others to coil around the circling player.

Opportunistic
Opportunistic strategies involve taking advantage of interactions of multiple players.

Scavenging/Vulture
Eating pellets from recently slain snakes without actively trying to kill them. This tactic works best at the center of the map, where there are almost always some leftover pellets. Vulturing in crowded areas will usually lead to death.

Tailing
Tailing is when you follow a bigger snake in hopes of claiming pellets once they collide. Tailing is also used to chase down and grab the kill on larger snakes. Tailing as a smaller snake is very dangerous as most of the time, the snake that is getting tailed can retaliate by cutting paths or even coiling them.

Wedging
Wedging refers to a tactic used when two players are boost-racing. Often, two larger players will boost parallel to one another, and occasionally a third player will shoot through the middle of the two in case one of the bigger snakes dies. Players use this strategy because if they were not in the middle, but on either side of one of the bigger snakes, the snake on the other side would be unreachable if it died. Wedging occurs when one of the bigger snakes takes advantage of the snake in the middle. If the middle snake does not have room to turn around, one of the snakes boost-racing can close the gap the middle snake is in by carefully edging toward the second big snake, blocking the middle snake's path. The player that cut the middle snake off can quickly turn around to collect the pellets dropped before the second player has a chance to react.

Sit and Wait
Sit and wait is when you constantly use a Defensive Circle and waiting for an unfortunate player to come across and then suddenly cutting people off.

Headbutting
Headbutting refers to two snakes colliding, both head first at the same speed. When this happens, the smaller snake will always die. However, if a smaller snake is speed-boosting, and the larger snake is not, the larger snake will die instead. It is best to take this opportunity the instant you see the head of a snake, since if you do not do this, the opposing snake will likely turn away and constantly avoid you.