[OVERVIEW]
Alolan Sandslash has a unique niche in the NU tier, with the combination of its ability Slush Rush and the move Aurora Veil making it a very valuable member on hyper-offensive teams. Alolan Sandslash's doubled speed under Hail allows it to set up Aurora Veil before it is fainted. Additonally, this Pokemon's typing gives it resistances to Bug, Dragon, Fairy, Flying, Grass, Ice, and Psychic type moves, and an immunity to Poison. This makes it easier for Alolan Sandslash to get up Aurora Veil. Unfortunately, Alolan Sandslash's 4x weaknesses to Fire and Fighting-type moves and its 2x weakness to Ground-type moves means it can potentially be KO'd even with Aurora Veil active. Alolan Sandslash isn't deadweight under Hail, as strong moves such as Icicle Crash and Earthquake can help it nab important chip damage or KOs. However, this Pokemon functions best on teams built specifically around its ability to set up Aurora Veil, and should seldom be used outside of this role.
[SET]
name: Aurora Veil Setter
move 1: Aurora Veil
move 2: Icicle Crash
move 3: Rapid Spin
move 4:Earthquake / Iron Head
item: Light Clay
ability: Slush Rush
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 atk / 4 def / 252 spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
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Aurora Veil halves the damage a team takes from special and physical moves for 5 turns, a number that becomes 8 turns with Light Clay. Alolan Sandslash's #1 priority is to set this up under Hail, so its teammates can abuse it and sweep. Icicle Crash is Alolan Sandslash's strongest physical STAB move, and while its accuracy is 90%, it has a 30% chance to flinch and does a minimum of 94% to standard Swords Dance Virizion, and up to 86% to max HP Braviary. Rapid Spin is used only to get rid of hazards, and with Slush Rush active, Alolan Sandslash with this spread outspeeds and can Rapid Spin on any viable Pokemon in the NU metagame that is not a Ghost type. Earthquake can be used as a way to get chip damage on Steel-types and Fire-types, most notably a Pokemon like Steelix. Additionally, Earthquake does respectable damage to Emboar, Incineroar, Toxicroak, Delphox, and other Fire and Steel-Types. Iron Head can be used to hit Ice-type switch ins to Alolan Sandslash such as Cryogonal and Piloswine.
Set Details
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252 Speed with a Jolly nature ensures that Alolan Sandslash outspeeds almost every relevant Choice Scarf user in NU, including Emboar, Drapion, Rotom, and Typhlosion. It should be noted, however, that Choice Scarf Delphox outspeeds Alolan Sandslash under Hail. Alolan Sandslash's item, Light Clay, ensures that Aurora veil lasts 8 turns as opposed to the original 5. These extra turns could be crucial to other team members looking to set up while taking reduced damage. Most importantly, Slush Rush is a far better ability than Snow Cloak in this role, because Slush Rush allows Alolan Sandslash to outspeed almost everything in order to get Aurora Veil up.
Usage Tips
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Alolan Sandslash's primary goal as an Aurora Veil setter is to set up the Veil, remove hazards, and get out of the way by either being intentionally sacrificed or switched out. Keep in mind that the faster Alolan Sandslash is stowed away or fainted, the longer the rest of the team has to abuse Aurora Veil. Additionally, This Pokemon is fairly bulky on the physical side, meaning it can occasionally come in tank most non-super effective hits. This includes Ice-type moves from Sneasel, which Alolan Sandslash quad resists. However, its low base Special Defense stat means that switching in on special attacking moves could be risky. When switching in, Alolan Sandslash should normally be coming in on paralyzed or slow Pokemon, or while Hail is active. Alolan Sandslash is not used offensively as an Aurora Veil setter, but can occasionally act in an offensive manner when an opponent lacks switch ins to Ice type moves.
Team Options
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Alolan Sandslash is nothing more than an outclassed physical wall without hail, and cannot set up Aurora Veil without the presence of hail, so Snow Warning Pokemon such as Aurorus, Abomasnow, or Vanilluxe are almost required partners, with Aurorus often working better because it can also set up Stealth rocks, providing role compression. A team featuring Aurora Veil Alolan Sandslash is usually made up of a Snow Warning Pokemon (such as Abomasnow, Aurorus, or Vanilluxe) and Alolan Sandslash, followed by four setup sweepers or major threats. To truly get the most out of the Aurora Veil, it is recommended that the other four Pokemon are potent attackers with decent movepools and setup moves. Examples of possible teammates that fit this bill are Virizion, Mismagius, Turtonator, and Emboar. Due to Alolan Sandslash's typing, a Choice Scarf Emboar could lock itself into Flare Blitz or Superpower while trying to faint it. This could be used to allow Pokemon that resist Fire- and Fighting-type moves to set up after Alolan Sandslash is fainted. Examples of such Pokemon include Vivillon, Turtonator, and Houndoom.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
When using Alolan Sandslash as an Aurora Veil setter, one could potentially replace the move Earthquake with Brick Break. This allows Alolan Sandslash to win a mirror matchup against another Alolan Sandslash by removing the opponent's Aurora Veil and OHKOing the opposing Sandslash. This is not used often, however, ans mirror matchups are uncommon, and Earthquake hits more threats for more damage. Alolan Sandslash can be used in an offensive sweeping manner, as well. When used like this, it is usually Adamant Nature with max Attack and Speed EVs and holding a Life Orb, with the moves Icicle Crash, Iron Head, Earthquake, and Swords Dance. With a Swords Dance up and Hail Active, very few Pokemon can take on Alolan Sandslash. However, it is occasionally outclassed as a Slush Rush sweeper by Beartic, who, despite having a lower speed, has a more diverse movepool, higher base Attack, and access to Swords Dance as well. Alolan Sandslash also lacks the coverage and power to threaten some walls.
Another offensive way to use Sandslash is using the Groundium Z item in conjunction with the move Earthquake. Groundium Z Earthquake is used to hit Water types and Steelix/Rhydon harder. This, however, is arguably worse than the Life Orb variant of Slush Rush Alolan Sandslash and Beartic, as it only delivers one supercharged hit as opposed to making every move stronger, like a Life Orb does. Alolan Sandslash can set up its own Hail, but this Pokemon's moveset rarely has room for this.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Water types**: Water types hard wall Alolan Sandslash, usually resisting both of its STAB moves. Alolan Sandslash just lacks the power, usually, to get through these counters. Groundium Z can be run to hit these Pokemon hard with a neutral attack, but the aforementioned set is probably the worst Alolan Sandslash has to offer. Water-types that wall Alolan Sandslash include the likes of Vaporeon, Slowbro, and Seismitoad.
**Weather / Weather Setters**: Any form of weather that is not Hail puts Alolan Sandslash at a disadvantage, as its speed tier without Slush Rush active is quite mediocre, and it can only set up Aurora Veil under Hail. Additionally, relevant weather setters such as Liepard and Uxie can set up different weather with access to the moves Sunny Day and Rain Dance, both of which negatively impact Alolan Sandslash.
**Fire and Fighting-types**: Fighting and Fire are the two types of moves Alolan Sandslash is 4x weak to, meaning anytime an offensive presence with these moves is on the field, one must sacrifice or switch out Alolan Sandslash immediately. Emboar, Typhlosion, and Delphox are all major threats in this sense.
**Hitmonlee**: Hitmonlee is a massive threat to Alolan Sandslash, with Life Orb Mach Punch OHKOing Alolan Sandslash 75% of the time without Aurora Veil up. Because Alolan Sandslash's only legitimate niche in NU is to get up Aurora Veil, Hitmonlee can potentially render Alolan Sandslash entirely useless.
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