[OVERVIEW]
Alolan Sandslash is a great role compressor by virtue of being a Steel-type with access to entry hazards, hazard removal, and item displacement. While it is not the strongest pokemon to fulfill any of these roles individually, this unique combination of traits in combination with its ability to check foes like Munkidori and Alolan Muk makes it a decent choice for balanced and defensive teams. Alolan Sandslash also finds use as an offensive Swords Dance sweeper thanks to its ability, Slush Rush, and snow support from its regional pal Alolan Ninetales. This lets Alolan Sandlash outspeed some of the tier's most prominent Choice Scarf users like Flygon and Flamigo. Unfortunately, other Choice Scarf users like Munkidori and Infernape still outspeed Alolan Sandslash under snow and put a stop to its sweep. Additionally, Alolan Sandslash's special bulk is quite poor compared to the other Steel-types in the tier, and its crippling 4x weaknesses to both Fighting- and Fire-type attacks from Pokemon like Toxicroak and Chandelure can force Alolan Sandslash to Terastallize. Defensive sets in particular struggle to deal meaningful damage to common defensive Pokemon like Avalugg and Swampert, and they do little to dissuade offensive threats like Paldean Tauros-W, Paldean Tauros-F, and Incineroar from entering the field. Alolan Sandslash can struggle to find safe turns to set up because of its exploitable typing, and its reliance on snow leads to it being easily revenge killed once snow ends.
[SET]
name: Specially Defensive Spinner
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Icicle Crash / Ice Spinner
move 3: Knock Off
move 4: Spikes / Stealth Rock
item: Leftovers / Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Slush Rush
nature: Careful
evs: 248 HP / 216 SpD / 44 Spe
tera type: Water / Ghost / Fairy
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Details
====
Icicle Crash is used to avoid contact and fish for potential flinches against slower foes, while Ice Spinner can be used for a 100% accurate move with the additional utility of clearing Terrain effects. Knock Off is used to pressure Ghost-types that could attempt to block Rapid Spin, like Chandelure and Basculegion-M, and threaten considerable damage against Psychic-types like Bronzong, Munkidori, and Uxie while making progress against defensive switch-ins like Avalugg, Paldean Tauros-W, and Incineroar. Since Stealth Rock is easier to fit elsewhere on a team, Spikes is the preferred entry hazard for Alolan Sandslash. Alolan Sandslash invests heavily into Special Defense to improve its ability to switch into Psychic- and Fairy-types such as Munkidori, Uxie, and Sylveon. An investment of 44 Speed EVs let it outspeed base 111s and below, like Tornadus, Alolan Ninetales, and Flygon, under snow while also getting the jump on Vaporeon and its highly contested Speed tier. Tera Water flips Alolan Sandslash's weakness to Fire-types and removes its other weaknesses. Tera Ghost does the same against Fighting-types with the additional benefit of blocking opposing Rapid Spin attempts from Pokemon like Avalugg and Brambleghast, allowing Alolan Sandslash to freely stack multiple layers of Spikes. Tera Fairy provides a resistance to Fighting-types moves as well without the drawback of a weakness to Dark-type moves.
Alolan Sandslash simultaneously sets entry hazards, removes enemy hazards, removes enemy items with Knock Off, and packs many useful resistances with its Steel typing. No other pokemon in NU can tick all of these boxes, and thus, Alolan Sandslash is typically used to patch up balanced and defensive builds that desire a Pokemon with these traits. Since these team archetypes often rely on stacking hazards, Ghost-type teammates like Basculegion-M and Chandelure are appreciated for their ability to block Rapid Spin while also having immunities to Fighting- and Fire-type attacks. Bulky Water-types like Vaporeon, Gastrodon, and Milotic can help the team's matchup against Fire-types like Incineroar and Paldean Tauros-F. Fighting-types like Toxicroak, Flamigo, and Infernape can easily destroy Alolan Sandslash with their STAB attacks; thus, it synergizes with Fighting-resistant Pokemon like Sylveon, Galarian Slowbro, and Gligar. With no means of recovering HP outside of Leftovers, Alolan Sandslash appreciates Wish support from teammates like Vaporeon, Sylveon, and Scream Tail. Due to its mediocre special bulk, pairing Alolan Sandslash with special walls like Porygon2, Incineroar, and Gastrodon can help deal with powerful wallbreakers like Chandelure, Toxtricity, and Inteleon. Sandslash's reliable hazard removal can enable Rock-weak Pokemon like Staraptor, Kilowattrel, Chandelure, and Alolan Ninetales to run offensive items instead of Heavy-Duty Boots. Alolan Ninetales in particular sets snow that boosts Alolan Sandslash's Defense and Speed while benefitting from Sandslash's Poison immunity.
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Triple Axel / Ice Spinner / Icicle Crash
move 3: Knock Off
move 4: Earthquake / Iron Head / Rapid Spin
item: Life Orb / Heavy-Duty-Boots
ability: Slush Rush
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
tera type: Ground / Fire / Ghost
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Details
====
Triple Axel is Alolan Sandslash's highest-power attack; Ice Spinner has improved accuracy and the ability to clear Terrains, which helps prevent Unburden sweepers from activating Grassy Seed; and Icicle Crash avoids contact effects from things like Rocky Helmet. Knock Off provides crucial coverage against Psychic- and Ghost-types like Bronzong, Uxie, and Chandelure, while Earthquake rounds out Alolan Sandslash's coverage by hitting Fire- and Steel-types like Incineroar, Paldean Tauros-F, and Klefki super effectively. Iron Head can be used to OHKO Alolan Ninetales or Diancie, even without a boost, and does significant damage to Avalugg. Rapid Spin is an option if the team lacks entry hazard removal elsewhere. Life Orb significantly increases Alolan Sandslash's wallbreaking potential, allowing Earthquake to OHKO maximum HP Incineroar from +1. Heavy-Duty Boots helps offset Alolan Sandslash's poor longevity by preventing damage from hazards while also avoiding a Speed drop from Sticky Web. Tera Ground is often the best choice, as it simultaneously boosts the power of Earthquake and provides a Thunder Wave immunity, which is particularly helpful against Klefki. Tera Fire provides a timely Fire resistance and can give Alolan Sandslash more setup opportunities when threatened by Will-O-Wisp from Incineroar, Altaria, and Rotom-H, but it comes with the drawback of increased damage from Stealth Rock. Tera Ghost can be used for its immunity to Fighting-type moves such as Breloom's Mach Punch and Avalugg's Body Press, the latter of which grants Alolan Sandslash the ability to boost its damage further and win the one-on-one.
As a sweeper, Alolan Sandslash is best used on offense or hyper offense teams and should always be paired with Snow Warning Alolan Ninetales to activate Slush Rush. Alolan Ninetales can also provide support with Aurora Veil, allowing Alolan Sandslash to take less damage while setting up. Teammates that force chip damage against Alolan Sandslash's counters, such as Flygon or Cinccino are also of great importance, as they are able to draw in targets like Paldean Tauros-W and Vaporeon. Cinccino also provides entry hazard removal with Tidy Up, which is very beneficial to hazard-weak snow teams. Flash Fire Chandelure also makes for a great support thanks to its immunities to Fire- and Fighting-type attacks, and its Memento can provide Alolan Sandslash and its teammates with setup opportunities. Alolan Sandslash should also be paired with other sweepers like Drednaw, Toxtricity, Flygon, and Beartic, which share many of its checks like Vaporeon, Bronzong, and Swampert. Teammates like Kilowattrel, Decidueye, and Guts Hariyama are also great at handling the bulky Water-types that Alolan Sandslash can struggle with.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
Bulky variants of Alolan Sandslash can also run Iron Head to surprise Alola Ninetales and Diancie, however, dropping either Ice STAB or Knock Off is usually not worth the tradeoffs. Ice Shard can be used to aid teams that otherwise lack priority in picking off low HP foes and catch Flygon off-guard before it can use Earthquake or U-turn, but the low base power can render you ineffective against bulky Grass-types like Amoonguss or Tsareena. This also helps offensive sets surprise Choice Scarf Flamigo and Flygon after snow expires. Super Fang can be a decent midground option to deal significant damage to bulky switch-ins like Swampert and Vaporeon, but Knock Off is usually more consistent at making long-term progress, especially when paired with Spikes. Offensive sets have a few more item options at their disposal: Wide Lens brings Triple Axel to near-perfect accuracy, reducing the move's biggest drawback. Lum Berry's ability to cure status can be extremely helpful against Vaporeon, Milotic, and Klefki. Clear Amulet blocks attack drops from Intimidate from foes like Incineroar and Paldean Tauros-W, enabling comparable damage after to Life Orb sets after a Swords Dance without the self-damage drawback. Finally, you can simply run Leftovers or Sitrus Berry to improve Alolan Sandslash's longevity, as its uninvested physical bulk under snow is still quite decent.
Checks and Counters
====
**Fighting-types**: Paldean Tauros-W, Paldean Tauros-F, Infernape, and Hariyama can consistently switch into Alolan Sandslash's Ice-type attacks and Knock Off and threaten an OHKO with Close Combat. With a Choice Scarf, Infernape is even able to outspeed maximum Speed Alolan Sandslash under snow. Non-Fighting-types with Fighting-type coverage, such as Body Press Bronzong and Focus Blast Munkidori, can also force Alolan Sandslash to switch out or KO it by surprise.
**Fire-types**: Fire-types are incredibly threatening to Alolan Sandslash, as it has a crippling 4x weakness to Fire-type attacks and they resist both of its STAB moves. Incineroar takes minimal damage from all of Alolan Sandslash's attacks bar Earthquake. Chandelure can be a difficult matchup, as it gains momentum by switching in to block Rapid Spin, but it can be predicted and hit with a super effective Knock Off or Earthquake.
**Special Wallbreakers**: Due to Alolan Sandslash's low Special Defense, even resisted attacks from special wallbreakers like Toxtricity, Porygon-Z, and Choice Specs Sylveon can easily overwhelm Alolan Sandslash's defenses. Offensive Alolan Sandslash does not suffer to the same degree, as it can outspeed these Pokemon under snow and OHKO them after a Swords Dance boost.
**Physical Walls**: Avalugg walls both offensive and defensive variants of Alolan Sandslash, threatens an OHKO with Body Press, and can remove entry hazards Alolan Sandslash has set with Rapid Spin. Bulky Water-types like Vaporeon and Milotic can shrug off hits and threaten to burn Alolan Sandslash with Scald, and defensive Alolan Sandslash often gives them breathing room to heal themselves or their teammates with Wish and Recover. Defensive tanks like Diancie and Duraludon can easily take on Alolan Sandslash one-on-one and set their own hazards, while Rocky Helmet users like Overqwil, Swampert, and Galarian Slowbro can be annoying for Triple Axel variants of Alolan Sandslash due to the massive recoil damage inflicted.
**Ground-types**: Flygon, Swampert, and Gastrodon threaten massive damage to Alolan Sandslash with Earthquake and Earth Power, but Flygon in particular does not enjoy switching into its Ice-type attacks.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/shengineer.312113/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/pika134.609709/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/lucario.189361/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-blue-banana.649096/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user6.105/
Alolan Sandslash is a great role compressor by virtue of being a Steel-type with access to entry hazards, hazard removal, and item displacement. While it is not the strongest pokemon to fulfill any of these roles individually, this unique combination of traits in combination with its ability to check foes like Munkidori and Alolan Muk makes it a decent choice for balanced and defensive teams. Alolan Sandslash also finds use as an offensive Swords Dance sweeper thanks to its ability, Slush Rush, and snow support from its regional pal Alolan Ninetales. This lets Alolan Sandlash outspeed some of the tier's most prominent Choice Scarf users like Flygon and Flamigo. Unfortunately, other Choice Scarf users like Munkidori and Infernape still outspeed Alolan Sandslash under snow and put a stop to its sweep. Additionally, Alolan Sandslash's special bulk is quite poor compared to the other Steel-types in the tier, and its crippling 4x weaknesses to both Fighting- and Fire-type attacks from Pokemon like Toxicroak and Chandelure can force Alolan Sandslash to Terastallize. Defensive sets in particular struggle to deal meaningful damage to common defensive Pokemon like Avalugg and Swampert, and they do little to dissuade offensive threats like Paldean Tauros-W, Paldean Tauros-F, and Incineroar from entering the field. Alolan Sandslash can struggle to find safe turns to set up because of its exploitable typing, and its reliance on snow leads to it being easily revenge killed once snow ends.
[SET]
name: Specially Defensive Spinner
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Icicle Crash / Ice Spinner
move 3: Knock Off
move 4: Spikes / Stealth Rock
item: Leftovers / Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Slush Rush
nature: Careful
evs: 248 HP / 216 SpD / 44 Spe
tera type: Water / Ghost / Fairy
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Details
====
Icicle Crash is used to avoid contact and fish for potential flinches against slower foes, while Ice Spinner can be used for a 100% accurate move with the additional utility of clearing Terrain effects. Knock Off is used to pressure Ghost-types that could attempt to block Rapid Spin, like Chandelure and Basculegion-M, and threaten considerable damage against Psychic-types like Bronzong, Munkidori, and Uxie while making progress against defensive switch-ins like Avalugg, Paldean Tauros-W, and Incineroar. Since Stealth Rock is easier to fit elsewhere on a team, Spikes is the preferred entry hazard for Alolan Sandslash. Alolan Sandslash invests heavily into Special Defense to improve its ability to switch into Psychic- and Fairy-types such as Munkidori, Uxie, and Sylveon. An investment of 44 Speed EVs let it outspeed base 111s and below, like Tornadus, Alolan Ninetales, and Flygon, under snow while also getting the jump on Vaporeon and its highly contested Speed tier. Tera Water flips Alolan Sandslash's weakness to Fire-types and removes its other weaknesses. Tera Ghost does the same against Fighting-types with the additional benefit of blocking opposing Rapid Spin attempts from Pokemon like Avalugg and Brambleghast, allowing Alolan Sandslash to freely stack multiple layers of Spikes. Tera Fairy provides a resistance to Fighting-types moves as well without the drawback of a weakness to Dark-type moves.
Alolan Sandslash simultaneously sets entry hazards, removes enemy hazards, removes enemy items with Knock Off, and packs many useful resistances with its Steel typing. No other pokemon in NU can tick all of these boxes, and thus, Alolan Sandslash is typically used to patch up balanced and defensive builds that desire a Pokemon with these traits. Since these team archetypes often rely on stacking hazards, Ghost-type teammates like Basculegion-M and Chandelure are appreciated for their ability to block Rapid Spin while also having immunities to Fighting- and Fire-type attacks. Bulky Water-types like Vaporeon, Gastrodon, and Milotic can help the team's matchup against Fire-types like Incineroar and Paldean Tauros-F. Fighting-types like Toxicroak, Flamigo, and Infernape can easily destroy Alolan Sandslash with their STAB attacks; thus, it synergizes with Fighting-resistant Pokemon like Sylveon, Galarian Slowbro, and Gligar. With no means of recovering HP outside of Leftovers, Alolan Sandslash appreciates Wish support from teammates like Vaporeon, Sylveon, and Scream Tail. Due to its mediocre special bulk, pairing Alolan Sandslash with special walls like Porygon2, Incineroar, and Gastrodon can help deal with powerful wallbreakers like Chandelure, Toxtricity, and Inteleon. Sandslash's reliable hazard removal can enable Rock-weak Pokemon like Staraptor, Kilowattrel, Chandelure, and Alolan Ninetales to run offensive items instead of Heavy-Duty Boots. Alolan Ninetales in particular sets snow that boosts Alolan Sandslash's Defense and Speed while benefitting from Sandslash's Poison immunity.
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Triple Axel / Ice Spinner / Icicle Crash
move 3: Knock Off
move 4: Earthquake / Iron Head / Rapid Spin
item: Life Orb / Heavy-Duty-Boots
ability: Slush Rush
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
tera type: Ground / Fire / Ghost
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Details
====
Triple Axel is Alolan Sandslash's highest-power attack; Ice Spinner has improved accuracy and the ability to clear Terrains, which helps prevent Unburden sweepers from activating Grassy Seed; and Icicle Crash avoids contact effects from things like Rocky Helmet. Knock Off provides crucial coverage against Psychic- and Ghost-types like Bronzong, Uxie, and Chandelure, while Earthquake rounds out Alolan Sandslash's coverage by hitting Fire- and Steel-types like Incineroar, Paldean Tauros-F, and Klefki super effectively. Iron Head can be used to OHKO Alolan Ninetales or Diancie, even without a boost, and does significant damage to Avalugg. Rapid Spin is an option if the team lacks entry hazard removal elsewhere. Life Orb significantly increases Alolan Sandslash's wallbreaking potential, allowing Earthquake to OHKO maximum HP Incineroar from +1. Heavy-Duty Boots helps offset Alolan Sandslash's poor longevity by preventing damage from hazards while also avoiding a Speed drop from Sticky Web. Tera Ground is often the best choice, as it simultaneously boosts the power of Earthquake and provides a Thunder Wave immunity, which is particularly helpful against Klefki. Tera Fire provides a timely Fire resistance and can give Alolan Sandslash more setup opportunities when threatened by Will-O-Wisp from Incineroar, Altaria, and Rotom-H, but it comes with the drawback of increased damage from Stealth Rock. Tera Ghost can be used for its immunity to Fighting-type moves such as Breloom's Mach Punch and Avalugg's Body Press, the latter of which grants Alolan Sandslash the ability to boost its damage further and win the one-on-one.
As a sweeper, Alolan Sandslash is best used on offense or hyper offense teams and should always be paired with Snow Warning Alolan Ninetales to activate Slush Rush. Alolan Ninetales can also provide support with Aurora Veil, allowing Alolan Sandslash to take less damage while setting up. Teammates that force chip damage against Alolan Sandslash's counters, such as Flygon or Cinccino are also of great importance, as they are able to draw in targets like Paldean Tauros-W and Vaporeon. Cinccino also provides entry hazard removal with Tidy Up, which is very beneficial to hazard-weak snow teams. Flash Fire Chandelure also makes for a great support thanks to its immunities to Fire- and Fighting-type attacks, and its Memento can provide Alolan Sandslash and its teammates with setup opportunities. Alolan Sandslash should also be paired with other sweepers like Drednaw, Toxtricity, Flygon, and Beartic, which share many of its checks like Vaporeon, Bronzong, and Swampert. Teammates like Kilowattrel, Decidueye, and Guts Hariyama are also great at handling the bulky Water-types that Alolan Sandslash can struggle with.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
Bulky variants of Alolan Sandslash can also run Iron Head to surprise Alola Ninetales and Diancie, however, dropping either Ice STAB or Knock Off is usually not worth the tradeoffs. Ice Shard can be used to aid teams that otherwise lack priority in picking off low HP foes and catch Flygon off-guard before it can use Earthquake or U-turn, but the low base power can render you ineffective against bulky Grass-types like Amoonguss or Tsareena. This also helps offensive sets surprise Choice Scarf Flamigo and Flygon after snow expires. Super Fang can be a decent midground option to deal significant damage to bulky switch-ins like Swampert and Vaporeon, but Knock Off is usually more consistent at making long-term progress, especially when paired with Spikes. Offensive sets have a few more item options at their disposal: Wide Lens brings Triple Axel to near-perfect accuracy, reducing the move's biggest drawback. Lum Berry's ability to cure status can be extremely helpful against Vaporeon, Milotic, and Klefki. Clear Amulet blocks attack drops from Intimidate from foes like Incineroar and Paldean Tauros-W, enabling comparable damage after to Life Orb sets after a Swords Dance without the self-damage drawback. Finally, you can simply run Leftovers or Sitrus Berry to improve Alolan Sandslash's longevity, as its uninvested physical bulk under snow is still quite decent.
Checks and Counters
====
**Fighting-types**: Paldean Tauros-W, Paldean Tauros-F, Infernape, and Hariyama can consistently switch into Alolan Sandslash's Ice-type attacks and Knock Off and threaten an OHKO with Close Combat. With a Choice Scarf, Infernape is even able to outspeed maximum Speed Alolan Sandslash under snow. Non-Fighting-types with Fighting-type coverage, such as Body Press Bronzong and Focus Blast Munkidori, can also force Alolan Sandslash to switch out or KO it by surprise.
**Fire-types**: Fire-types are incredibly threatening to Alolan Sandslash, as it has a crippling 4x weakness to Fire-type attacks and they resist both of its STAB moves. Incineroar takes minimal damage from all of Alolan Sandslash's attacks bar Earthquake. Chandelure can be a difficult matchup, as it gains momentum by switching in to block Rapid Spin, but it can be predicted and hit with a super effective Knock Off or Earthquake.
**Special Wallbreakers**: Due to Alolan Sandslash's low Special Defense, even resisted attacks from special wallbreakers like Toxtricity, Porygon-Z, and Choice Specs Sylveon can easily overwhelm Alolan Sandslash's defenses. Offensive Alolan Sandslash does not suffer to the same degree, as it can outspeed these Pokemon under snow and OHKO them after a Swords Dance boost.
**Physical Walls**: Avalugg walls both offensive and defensive variants of Alolan Sandslash, threatens an OHKO with Body Press, and can remove entry hazards Alolan Sandslash has set with Rapid Spin. Bulky Water-types like Vaporeon and Milotic can shrug off hits and threaten to burn Alolan Sandslash with Scald, and defensive Alolan Sandslash often gives them breathing room to heal themselves or their teammates with Wish and Recover. Defensive tanks like Diancie and Duraludon can easily take on Alolan Sandslash one-on-one and set their own hazards, while Rocky Helmet users like Overqwil, Swampert, and Galarian Slowbro can be annoying for Triple Axel variants of Alolan Sandslash due to the massive recoil damage inflicted.
**Ground-types**: Flygon, Swampert, and Gastrodon threaten massive damage to Alolan Sandslash with Earthquake and Earth Power, but Flygon in particular does not enjoy switching into its Ice-type attacks.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/shengineer.312113/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/pika134.609709/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/lucario.189361/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-blue-banana.649096/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user6.105/
Last edited:
