Sandshrew (BW2 Revamp)

[Overview]

• At first glance it seems there is no reason to run sandshrew as drilbur has superior stats in every area but Defense
• Sandshrew is actually a kickass partner to drilbur for teams running "Double Rush"
• Still a good mon in its own right with excellent attack and defense
• Can run support, sd, whatever to weaken the opponent's drilbur checks and allow drilbur to muscle through later
• this is its main niche in lc

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Night Slash
item: Eviolite
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 40 HP / 236 Atk / 236 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

• Jolly hits 28 Speed in sand, outpaces vast majority of the tier
• Adamant hits 26 speed, still allowing you to hit scarfed 17 speed pokemon and below such as mienfoo, chinchou, archen
• 75 base attack at +2 is monstrous, ohkoes scraggy, ohkoes mienfoo after minimal residual damage, 2hkoes hippopotas, ferroseed, lileep, ohkoes misdreavus, adamant ohkoes timburr after SR
• sets up easily on all but the strongest physical attackers -- beats mienfoo, scraggy, croagunk
• night slash doesn't 2hko bronzor but allows sandshrew to ohko misdreavus and soften up bronzor for drilbur to follow through and ko; bronzor doesn't do much back so it'll be on low health by the time it finishes off sandshrew

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

• Bronzor switches in on all of sandshrew's attacks but is weak as fuck, only having a tiny chance of 3hkoing it after stealth rock
• scarf snover outspeeds and ohkoes with blizzard, but non scarf snover can only speed tie
• murkrow sucker punch only does 59% max so sandshrew needs to be weakened before it goes down
• scarf porygon checks you
• an opposing LO drilbur does 73% max so sandshrew isn't that disadvantaged when facing opposing drilbur
• run hippopotas you moron
• obviously a drilbur of your own is an amazing teammate (and is the reason why you're running sandshrew in the first place) as they can overwhelm each other's counters
• Having another drilbur leaves you really weak to snover
• munchlax is underrated, but thick fat lets it come in on all of snover's attacks but the rare focus punch, take next to nothing, and do over 70% to scarf snover with pursuit as it switches out
• croagunk and magnemite also wreck snover, missy does decently as well
• misdreavus is also a good teammate because it can come in on scarfpory's tri attack and also spinblock, sandshrew really needs those hazards to get crucial koes
• lileep soaks up water-type attacks and likes how sandshrew beats the physical attackers that lileep has trouble with (mienfoo, timburr, scraggy)
• x-scissor won't ohko opposing lileep so don't use it

[SET]
name: Support
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Slide / Stealth Rock
move 3: Rapid Spin
move 4: Night Slash / Stealth Rock
item: Eviolite
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant
evs: 116 HP / 236 Atk / 40 SpD / 116 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

• Still hits hard without boosting
• Does revenging work for sand teams, while spinning too to free up a slot for drilbur and let it run swords dance or something
• night slash 2hkoes missy on the switch (with sr) so it can't spinblock you
• difficult to spinblock if you run night slash
• stealth rock lets hippo or lileep have extra slots on your team, but sandshrew isn't as good of a spinner
• hits 24 speed in sand, outspeeds most mons in the lc tier, still outspeeds +1 scraggy but loses to scarfers with 16 base speed as well as shell smash clamperl

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

• once again run this with drilbur; never use this without drilbur as drilbur is pretty much better
• same teammates as swords dance
• can't muscle through bronzor at all, so it's now a counter
• lileep beats you
• hippo beats you
• ferro beats you
• run this with stuff that likes having sr off the field, is able to beat bulky grass/water types, and/or likes having misdreavus weakened
• timburr/croagunk good choices as they beat lileep and ferro and dislike misdreavus
• some things with priority like murkrow and tirtouga beat you, lileep beats tirtouga and magnemite beats murkrow and can also trap and kill bronzor
• bulky waters like slowpoke beat you as does frillish; frillish can spinblock you too

[Other Options]

• all-out LO seems nice but should be done by drilbur; you need evio to take advantage of sandshrew's nice defense
• don't run it outside of sand
• don't run it without drilbur
• sand veil sets have potential
• stealth rock, knock off, super fang
• bulldoze on sand veil sets

[Checks and Counters]

• bronzor is a tremendous (BAN ME PLEASE), but is weak as shit so can't actually counter sd
• scarf snover ends sand and koes
• lileep can take a hit and giga drain sandshrew's weaker SpD
• hippo roars
• priority like sucker punch murkrow can be problematic if sandshrew is weakened
• same with drilbur, which is faster
• scarf porygon
• scarf missy (though it only ties with jolly sandshrew and dies to night slash even unboosted)
• tirtouga
• shroomish
• foonguss
• frillish
• sash abra checks
• chikorita
• cottonee
• turtwig
• aqua jet totodile

note to QC team: I would like thoughts on a bulkier spread for the support set, sandshrew seems like it could be a neat fast bulky sand tank.
I'd also like thoughts on an LO set, seems like drilbur should be used for that but input would be nice. Should I slash LO on the Swords Dance set?

[Overview]

<p>At first glance, it appears that there is no reason to run Sandshrew in LC, as Drilbur has superior stats in every area butar Defense. (Sandshrew is also cuter, but that's less objective.) However, Sandshrew's excellent Attack and Defense make it a good Sand Rush user in its own right. Sandshrew is especially effective as a partner to Drilbur; both can weaken each other's checks and counters while threatening to sweep the opponent's team. This ability to support Drilbur in overwhelming the other team's Sand counters is what giveto sand teams is Sandshrew a solid's niche in Little Cup.</p>

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Night Slash
item: Eviolite
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 40 HP / 236 Atk / 236 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Sandshrew can use its excellent Defense, high Attack, and access to Sand Rush to easily nab a Swords Dance boost and wreak havoc upon the opposing team. After a Swords Dance, Adamant and Jolly Sandshrew reach a monstrous 36 and 34 Attack, respectively. +2 Sandshrew can OHKO Scraggy and Misdreavus and, with minimal residual damage, Mienfoo, whileas well as 2HKOing Hippopotas, Ferroseed, and Lileep. Adamant Sandshrew can also OHKO Timburr with a boosted Earthquake after Stealth Rock, so even a slightly weakened team will be hard pressed to withstand Sandshrew's onslaught. This power means that it is unnecessary for Sandshrew to run Life Orb and can instead use Eviolite to increase its bulk and gethave more setup opportunities. Thanks to to set up. With its high Defense, Sandshrew sets up easily on all but the strongest physical attackers; Sandshrew can actually come in on +1 Scraggy, use Swords Dance, as it survives everything short of a rare +1 LO Hi Jump Kick, and OHKO with Earthquake. Earthquake serves as Sandshrew's strong and reliable STAB, hitting most Pokemon in LC for solid damage and allowing Sandshrew to be extremely threatening after a Swords Dance. Rock Slide complements Earthquake as a coverage move, hitting the Flying-types that are immune to Ground-type attacks and the Bug-types that resist Earthquake, OHKOing Murkrow and even Shelmet after Stealth Rock. Night Slash completes Sandshrew's coverage, allowing it to OHKOing Misdreavus and Exeggcute and also dealing neutral damage to Bronzor to help wear it down for Drilbur. X-Scissor wouldcan be another potential fourth movused here, but as it does not OHKO Lileep, it fails to hit anything that is not hit by the other attacks for sufficient damage.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Drilbur, after Hippopotas, is obviously the most important partner for Sandshrew, as Sandshrew's main niche is breaking down Drilbur's checks for Drilbur to clean up&mdash;or benefitting from Drilbur doing the same. Unfortunately for both Sandshrew and Drilbur, Bronzor can easily come in oncheck the pair with its typing any of Sandshrew's ability, butacks... only to 4HKOes with its pitifully weak Flash Cannon. Sandshrew can actually 3HKO Bronzor with, while +2 Night Slash, so Bronzor is going to be severely weakened by Sandshrew (and easy prey for Drilbur) if not 3HKOed outrights. A better check to Sandshrew and Drilbur&mdash;and a Pokemon that poses a severe threat to Sandstorm teams in general&mdash;is Snover. Choice Scarf Snover can outspeed both Sandshrew and Drilbur, remove the Sandstorm that feeds the Sand Rush duo's blazing Speed stats, and OHKO them with Blizzard. Although already a threat to Sandstorm teams, Snover poses an exaggeratedparticular threat to "Double Rush" due to the restrictions in synergy caused by running three Ground-types. Scarf Porygon is another check that is an issue for Sandstormhrew, as it uses Trace to take advantage of Sandshrew or Drilbur's Sand Rush to revenge the subterranean rodentskill it with a super effective Ice Beam. Munchlax, despite its low usage, is actually an excellent choice to deal with Snover and Porygon, as its immense Sspecial bulk and Thick Fat allow it to take little from their attacks and either OHKO Snover and 2HKO Porygon with Return or deal heavy damage with Pursuit as they switch out. Munchlax also draws in weaker physical attackers that Sandshrew can easily set up on. Shell Smash Tirtouga is another issue for Sandshrew, as it can use Sturdy to get an opportunity to use Shell Smash and prevent Sand Rush from being a factor by OHKOing with +2 Aqua Jet. Lileep is a brilliant Pokemon in sand that mitigates a Double Rush team's weaknesses to Water-type moves with Storm Drain while also serving as an excellentsolid check to Tirtouga and a counter to the numerous other Water-types populating LC. Croagunk is also an excellent teammate, solidly countering Tirtouga, providing an immunity to Water-type attacks, and threatening opposing Snover, Porygon, and Lileep that check Sandshrew and Drilbur with STAB Fighting-type atttacks. Most teams' final way of attempting to defeat Drilbur and Sandshrew lies in priority. However, even Murkrow's Life Orb Sucker Punch is unable to do more than 60% to Sandshrew. Magnemite can still help against Murkrow should Sandshrew be weakened, and is also able to trap and KO Bronzor to prevent it from walling Sandshrew and Drilbur.</p>

[SET]
name: Support
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Slide / Stealth Rock
move 3: Rapid Spin
move 4: Night Slash / Stealth Rock
item: Eviolite
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant
evs: 116 HP / 236 Atk / 40 SpD / 116 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Sandshrew can forgo Swords Dance's potential to sweep teams in order to use its bulk, power, and sSpeed to assist its team in using Rapid Spinning and revenge killing, freeing up Drilbur to run a more offensive set like its ownsuch as boosting with Swords Dance. With this EV spread, Sandshrew hits 24 Speed in sand, outspeeding all unboosted Pokemon in Little Cup as well as many Choice Scarf wielders. Sandshrew also still outspeeds +1 Scraggy&mdash;and can still successfully revenge kill it&mdash;but is outsped by 16 Speed Pokemon with Choice Scarfs as well as Shell Smash+2 Speed Clamperl. Even without Swords Dance, Sandshrew remains as powerful as ever, 2HKOing Misdreavus on the switch with Night Slash to prevent it from spinblocking Rapid Spin. Earthquake is Sandshrew's main STAB attack. Rock Slide and Night Slash allow Sandshrew to threaten Flying- and Ghost-types, respectively. Stealth Rock can be run over either coverage move to free up a moveslot for teammates such as Hippopotas and Lileep, but this will compromise Sandshrew's revenge killing or Rapid Sspinning abilities.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The teammates for this set are very similar to the Swords Dance set; Sandshrew should be run with Hippopotas and with Drilbur, as Drilbur is often the better choice for teams only wishing to run one Sand Rush user. Unlike with the Swords Dance set, this set cannot muscle through Bronzor at all, so Magnemite makes a good teammate to trap and KO Bronzor. Magnemite also threatens Water-types and resists Snover's STAB attacks, providing further help for Sandstorm teams. Lileep and Ferroseed also counter unboosted Sandshrew, so Croagunk, resisting their Grass-type attacks, can destroy them with super effective Fighting-type moves while also serving as an excellent counter to many Water-types in LC. This set is more about supporting its teammates than receiving support, so Pokemon that enjoy having entry hazards consistently removed from the field make for great teammates. Drifloon is one such Pokemon, being Stealth Rock weak and also having its weaknesses to Rock- and Electric-type attacks covered by Sandshrew. Sandshrew defeats the Steel- and Electric-type Pokemon that resist Drifloon's attacks, while Drifloon beats Grass-types likesuch as Shroomish that utterly wall Sandshrew. Drifloon is also able to threaten the only Pokemon that can successfully consistently block Sandshrew's Rapid Spin: Frillish. Other Pokemon that can handle Frillish likesuch as Lileep and Misdreavus have good synergy with Sandshrew and make naturally good partners.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>The sets listed are Sandshrew's most viable options in Little Cup. An all-out Life Orb attacking set might seems effective, but it is better done by Drilbur; Eviolite takes better advantage of Sandshrew's nice Defense stat. In nearly all cases, Sandshrew should not be run without sand, and should not be run without Drilbur&mdash; Sandshrew's main niche in LC is its place in a team with Hippopotas and Drilbur. Sand Veil sets, perhaps even utilizing Bulldoze, have some potential due to Sandshrew's bulk and power, but are not as effective as Sand Rush. Sandshrew also has other support options such as Knock Off and Super Fang that it has difficulty fitting into a moveslot.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>The first PokemScarf Snover checks all Sandshrew, removing the sand it is so reliant on and OHKOing with Blizzard. Lileep can take a hit comes to mifrom even boosted Sandshrew and Giga Drain to take advantage of Sandshrew's wheeaker Special Defense stat. Hippowdon counteringan also withstand Sandshrew's attacks and Roar to reset its boosts. Bronzor. It is immune to Earthquake, resists Rock Slide, and is only 3HKOed by +2 Night Slash. However, Bronzor's unimpressive base 24 Special Attack prevents it from doing substantial damage back to Sandshrew and is thus unable to consistently defeat Swords Dance variants. Scarf Snover checks all Sandshrew, removing the sand it is so reliant on and OHKOing with Blizzard. Lileep can take a hit from even boosted Sandshrew and Giga Drain to take advantage of Sandshrew's weaker Special Defense stat. Hippowdon can also withstand Sandshrew's attacks and Roar to reset its boosts. Priority such as Murkrow's Sucker Punch can help take down Sandshrew, but the desert rodent must be weakened substantially first. Totodile has better luck with a super effective Aqua Jet. Drilbur, a faster Sand Rush user, can also KO Sandshrew after it has taken some prior damage. Scarf Porygon Traces Sand Rush, outspeeds, and OHKOes with Ice Beam. Scarf Misdreavus sSpeed ties with Jolly Sandshrew (and outspeeds anything else) but cannot OHKO Sandshrew cleanly and is KOed by even an unboosted Night Slash. Tirtouga can use Sturdy and its typing to gain setup opportunities, and OHKOes Sandshrew after a Shell Smash with Aqua Jet, bypassing Sand Rush. Foonguss can take a hit from Sandshrew and Spore it, while Shroomish withstands everything Sandshrew can throw at it and do likewise. Chikorita and Turtwig can also stop Sandshrew and Giga Drain, and Cottonee can EncoBulky Grass-types in general are Sandshrew's setup attempts to cleara hard stop the way for Sanother teammatedshrew. Frillish stops Sandshrew from using Rapid Spin to clear away entry hazards and threatens heavy damage with Scald. Focus Sash Magic Guard Abra, finally, checks Sandshrew as it checks many other things, but can only KO Sandshrew after it has been weakened.</p>

[Overview]

<p>At first glance, it appears that there is no reason to run Sandshrew in LC, as Drilbur has superior stats in every area bar Defense. However, Sandshrew's excellent Attack and Defense make it a good Sand Rush user in its own right. Sandshrew is especially effective as a partner to Drilbur; both can weaken each other's checks and counters while threatening to sweep the opponent's team. This ability to support Drilbur in overwhelming the other team's counters to sand teams is Sandshrew's niche in Little Cup.</p>

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Night Slash
item: Eviolite
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 40 HP / 236 Atk / 236 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Sandshrew can use its excellent Defense, high Attack, and access to Sand Rush to easily nab a Swords Dance boost and wreak havoc upon the opposing team. After a Swords Dance, Adamant and Jolly Sandshrew reach a monstrous 36 and 34 Attack, respectively. +2 Sandshrew can OHKO Scraggy and Misdreavus and, with minimal residual damage, Mienfoo, as well as 2HKO Hippopotas, Ferroseed, and Lileep. Adamant Sandshrew can also OHKO Timburr with a boosted Earthquake after Stealth Rock, so even a slightly weakened team will be hard pressed to withstand Sandshrew's onslaught. This power means that it is unnecessary for Sandshrew to run Life Orb and can instead use Eviolite to increase its bulk and have more opportunities to set up. With its high Defense, Sandshrew sets up easily on all but the strongest physical attackers; Sandshrew can actually come in on +1 Scraggy, use Swords Dance, as it survives everything short of a rare +1 LO Hi Jump Kick, and OHKO with Earthquake. Earthquake serves as Sandshrew's strong and reliable STAB, hitting most Pokemon in LC for solid damage and allowing Sandshrew to be extremely threatening after a Swords Dance. Rock Slide complements Earthquake as a coverage move, hitting the Flying-types that are immune to Ground-type attacks and the Bug-types that resist Earthquake, OHKOing Murkrow and Shelmet after Stealth Rock. Night Slash completes Sandshrew's coverage, OHKOing Misdreavus and Exeggcute and dealing neutral damage to Bronzor to help wear it down for Drilbur. X-Scissor can be used here, but as it does not OHKO Lileep, it fails to hit anything that is not hit by the other attacks for sufficient damage.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Drilbur, after Hippopotas, is obviously the most important partner for Sandshrew, as Sandshrew's main niche is breaking down Drilbur's checks for Drilbur to clean up&mdash;or benefitting from Drilbur doing the same. Bronzor can check the pair with its typing and ability, but only 4HKOes with Flash Cannon, while +2 Night Slash 3HKOes. A better check to Sandshrew and Drilbur&mdash;and a Pokemon that poses a severe threat to Sandstorm teams in general&mdash;is Snover. Choice Scarf Snover can outspeed both Sandshrew and Drilbur, remove the Sandstorm that feeds the Sand Rush duo's blazing Speed stats, and OHKO them with Blizzard. Although already a threat to Sandstorm teams, Snover poses an particular threat to "Double Rush" due to the restrictions in synergy caused by running three Ground-types. Scarf Porygon is another check that is an issue for Sandshrew, as it uses Trace to take advantage of Sandshrew's Sand Rush to revenge kill it with a super effective Ice Beam. Munchlax, despite its low usage, is actually an excellent choice to deal with Snover and Porygon, as its immense special bulk and Thick Fat allow it to take little from their attacks and either OHKO Snover and 2HKO Porygon with Return or deal heavy damage with Pursuit as they switch out. Munchlax also draws in weaker physical attackers that Sandshrew can easily set up on. Shell Smash Tirtouga is another issue for Sandshrew, as it can use Sturdy to get an opportunity to use Shell Smash and OHKO with +2 Aqua Jet. Lileep is a brilliant Pokemon in sand that mitigates a Double Rush team's weaknesses to Water-type moves with Storm Drain while serving as an solid check to Tirtouga and the numerous other Water-types populating LC. Croagunk is also an excellent teammate, countering Tirtouga, providing an immunity to Water-type attacks, and threatening opposing Snover, Porygon, and Lileep with STAB Fighting-type atttacks. Most teams' final way of attempting to defeat Drilbur and Sandshrew lies in priority. However, even Murkrow's Life Orb Sucker Punch is unable to do more than 60% to Sandshrew. Magnemite can still help against Murkrow should Sandshrew be weakened, and is also able to trap and KO Bronzor.</p>

[SET]
name: Support
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Slide / Stealth Rock
move 3: Rapid Spin
move 4: Night Slash / Stealth Rock
item: Eviolite
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant
evs: 116 HP / 236 Atk / 40 SpD / 116 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Sandshrew can forgo Swords Dance's potential to sweep teams in order to use its bulk, power, and Speed to assist its team in using Rapid Spin and revenge killing, freeing up Drilbur to run a more offensive set such as boosting with Swords Dance. With this EV spread, Sandshrew hits 24 Speed in sand, outspeeding all unboosted Pokemon in Little Cup as well as many Choice Scarf wielders. Sandshrew still outspeeds +1 Scraggy&mdash;and can still successfully revenge kill it&mdash;but is outsped by 16 Speed Pokemon with Choice Scarfs as well as +2 Speed Clamperl. Even without Swords Dance, Sandshrew remains powerful, 2HKOing Misdreavus on the switch with Night Slash to prevent it from spinblocking. Earthquake is Sandshrew's main STAB attack. Rock Slide and Night Slash allow Sandshrew to threaten Flying- and Ghost-types, respectively. Stealth Rock can be run over either coverage move to free up a moveslot for teammates such as Hippopotas and Lileep, but this will compromise Sandshrew's revenge killing or spinning abilities.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The teammates for this set are very similar to the Swords Dance set; Sandshrew should be run with Hippopotas and with Drilbur, as Drilbur is often the better choice for teams only wishing to run one Sand Rush user. Unlike the Swords Dance set, this set cannot muscle through Bronzor at all, so Magnemite makes a good teammate to trap and KO Bronzor. Magnemite also threatens Water-types and resists Snover's STAB attacks, providing further help for Sandstorm teams. Lileep and Ferroseed also counter unboosted Sandshrew, so Croagunk, resisting their Grass-type attacks, can destroy them with super effective Fighting-type moves while also serving as an excellent counter to many Water-types in LC. This set is more about supporting its teammates than receiving support, so Pokemon that enjoy having entry hazards consistently removed make for great teammates. Drifloon is one such Pokemon, being Stealth Rock weak and also having its weaknesses to Rock- and Electric-type attacks covered by Sandshrew. Sandshrew defeats the Steel- and Electric-type Pokemon that resist Drifloon's attacks, while Drifloon beats Grass-types such as Shroomish that utterly wall Sandshrew. Drifloon is also able to threaten the only Pokemon that can successfully consistently block Sandshrew's Rapid Spin: Frillish. Other Pokemon that can handle Frillish such as Lileep and Misdreavus have good synergy with Sandshrew and make naturally good partners.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>The sets listed are Sandshrew's most viable options in Little Cup. An all-out Life Orb attacking set might seem effective, but it is better done by Drilbur; Eviolite takes better advantage of Sandshrew's nice Defense stat. In nearly all cases, Sandshrew should not be run without sand, and should not be run without Drilbur; Sandshrew's main niche in LC is its place in a team with Hippopotas and Drilbur. Sand Veil sets, perhaps even utilizing Bulldoze, have some potential due to Sandshrew's bulk and power, but are not as effective as Sand Rush. Sandshrew also has other support options such as Knock Off and Super Fang that it has difficulty fitting into a moveslot.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Scarf Snover checks all Sandshrew, removing the sand it is so reliant on and OHKOing with Blizzard. Lileep can take a hit from even boosted Sandshrew and Giga Drain to take advantage of Sandshrew's weaker Special Defense stat. Hippowdon can also withstand Sandshrew's attacks and Roar to reset its boosts. Bronzor is immune to Earthquake, resists Rock Slide, and is only 3HKOed by +2 Night Slash. However, Bronzor's unimpressive base 24 Special Attack prevents it from doing substantial damage back to Sandshrew and is thus unable to consistently defeat Swords Dance variants. Priority such as Murkrow's Sucker Punch can help take down Sandshrew, but the desert rodent must be weakened substantially first. Totodile has better luck with a super effective Aqua Jet. Drilbur, a faster Sand Rush user, can also KO Sandshrew after it has taken some prior damage. Scarf Porygon Traces Sand Rush, outspeeds, and OHKOes with Ice Beam. Scarf Misdreavus Speed ties with Jolly Sandshrew but cannot OHKO Sandshrew cleanly and is KOed by even an unboosted Night Slash. Tirtouga can use Sturdy and its typing to gain setup opportunities, and OHKOes Sandshrew after a Shell Smash with Aqua Jet, bypassing Sand Rush. Foonguss can take a hit from Sandshrew and Spore it, while Shroomish withstands everything Sandshrew can throw at it and do likewise. Bulky Grass-types in general are a hard stop to Sandshrew. Frillish stops Sandshrew from using Rapid Spin to clear away entry hazards and threatens heavy damage with Scald. Focus Sash Abra, finally, checks Sandshrew as it checks many other things, but can only KO Sandshrew after it has been weakened.</p>

[Overview]

<p>At first glance, it appears that there is there appears to be no reason to run Sandshrew in LC, as Drilbur has superior stats in every area bar Defense. However, Sandshrew's excellent Attack and Defense make it a good Sand Rush user in its own right. Sandshrew is especially effective as a partner to Drilbur; both can weaken each other's checks and counters while threatening to sweep the opponent's team. This ability to support Drilbur in overwhelming the other team's counters to sand teams is Sandshrew's niche in Little Cup.</p>

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Night Slash
item: Eviolite
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 40 HP / 236 Atk / 236 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Sandshrew can use its excellent Defense, high Attack, and access to Sand Rush great/amazing/an adjective you like better ability to easily nab a Swords Dance boost and wreak havoc upon the opposing team. After a Swords Dance, Adamant and Jolly Sandshrew reach a monstrous 36 and 34 Attack, respectively. +2 Sandshrew can OHKO Scraggy and Misdreavus and, with minimal residual damage, Mienfoo, as well as 2HKO Hippopotas, Ferroseed, and Lileep. Adamant Sandshrew can also OHKO Timburr with a boosted Earthquake after Stealth Rock, so even a slightly weakened team will be hard pressed to withstand Sandshrew's onslaught. This power means that it is unnecessary for Sandshrew does not have to run Life Orb and can instead use Eviolite to increase its bulk and obtain more opportunities to set up. With its high Defense, Sandshrew sets can set up easily on all but the strongest physical attackers; Sandshrew can actually come in on +1 Scraggy, use Swords Dance as it survives everything short of a the rare +1 LO Life Orb Hi Jump Kick at +1, and OHKO with Earthquake. Earthquake serves as Sandshrew's strong and reliable STAB, hitting most Pokemon in LC for solid amounts of damage and allowing Sandshrew to be extremely threatening after a Swords Dance. Rock Slide complements Earthquake's coverage as a coverage move, hitting the Flying-types that are immune to Ground-type attacks and the Bug-types that resist Earthquake hard, OHKOing Murkrow and Shelmet after Stealth Rock. Night Slash completes Sandshrew's coverage, OHKOing Misdreavus and Exeggcute and dealing neutral damage to Bronzor to help wear it down for Drilbur. X-Scissor can be used here, but as it does not OHKO Lileep, it fails to hit anything that is not hit by the other attacks for sufficient damage (move this to additional comments, X-Scissor isn't on the main set).</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Drilbur, after Hippopotas, is obviously the most important partner for Sandshrew, as Sandshrew's main niche is breaking down Drilbur's checks for Drilbur to clean up&mdash;or benefitting from Drilbur doing the same. Bronzor can check the pair with its typing and Levitate, but only 4HKOes Sandshrew with Flash Cannon, while Sandshrew's +2 Night Slash 3HKOes. A better check to Sandshrew and Drilbur&mdash;and a Pokemon that poses a severe threat to Sandstorm teams in general&mdash;is Snover. Choice Scarf Snover can outspeed outspeeds both Sandshrew and Drilbur, remove removes the Sandstorm that feeds the Sand Rush duo's blazing Speed stats, and can OHKO them with Blizzard. Although already a threat to Sandstorm teams, Snover poses an particular threat to "Double Rush" due to the restrictions in synergy caused by running three Ground-types. Scarf Porygon is another check that is an issue for Sandshrew, as it uses Trace to take advantage of Sandshrew's Sand Rush to kill it with a super effective Ice Beam. Munchlax, despite its low usage, is actually an excellent choice to deal with Snover and Porygon, as its immense special bulk and Thick Fat ability allow it to take little from their attacks and either OHKO Snover and 2HKO Porygon with Return or deal heavy damage with Pursuit as they switch out. Munchlax also draws in weaker physical attackers that Sandshrew can easily set up on. Shell Smash Tirtouga is another issue for Sandshrew, as it can use Sturdy to get an opportunity to use Shell Smash and OHKO Sandshrew with +2 Aqua Jet. Lileep serves as an excellent check to Tirtouga and the numerous other Water-types populating LC, while also being is a brilliant Pokemon in sand that mitigates and mitigating a Double Rush team's weaknesses to Water-type moves with Storm Drain while serving as an excellent check to Tirtouga and the numerous other Water-types populating LC. Croagunk is also an excellent teammate, countering Tirtouga, providing an immunity to Water-type attacks, and threatening opposing Snover, Porygon, and Lileep with STAB Fighting-type atttacks attacks. Most teams' final way of attempting to defeat Drilbur and Sandshrew lies in priority. However, even Murkrow's Life Orb Sucker Punch is unable to do more than 60% to Sandshrew. Magnemite can still help against Murkrow should Sandshrew be weakened, (remove comma) and is also able to trap and KO Bronzor.</p>

[SET]
name: Support
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Slide / Stealth Rock
move 3: Rapid Spin
move 4: Night Slash / Stealth Rock
item: Eviolite
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant
evs: 116 HP / 236 Atk / 40 SpD / 116 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Sandshrew can forgo Swords Dance's potential to sweep teams in order to use its bulk, power, and Speed to assist its team with Rapid Spin and revenge killing, freeing up Drilbur to run a more offensive set such as boosting with Swords Dance. With this EV spread, Sandshrew hits 24 Speed in sand, outspeeding all unboosted Pokemon in Little Cup as well as many Choice Scarf wielders. Sandshrew still outspeeds +1 Scraggy&mdash;and can still successfully revenge kill it&mdash;but is outsped by 16 Speed Pokemon (do you mean Speed ties? 16*1.5=24, which is Sandshrew's Speed) with Choice Scarfs as well as +2 Clamperl. Even without Swords Dance, Sandshrew remains powerful, 2HKOing Misdreavus on the switch with Night Slash to prevent it from blocking Rapid Spin. Earthquake is Sandshrew's main STAB attack. Rock Slide and Night Slash allow Sandshrew to threaten Flying- and Ghost-types, respectively. Stealth Rock can be run over either coverage move to free up a moveslot for teammates such as Hippopotas and Lileep, but this will compromise compromises Sandshrew's revenge killing or and spinning abilities.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The teammates for this set are very similar to the Swords Dance set; Sandshrew should be run with Hippopotas and with Drilbur, as Sandshrew needs sand to succeed/be effective/function properly/something you prefer and Drilbur is often the better choice for teams only wishing to run one Sand Rush user. Unlike the Swords Dance set, this set cannot muscle through Bronzor at all, so Magnemite makes a good teammate to trap and KO Bronzor it. Magnemite also threatens Water-types and resists Snover's STAB attacks, providing further help for Sandstorm teams. Lileep and Ferroseed also counter unboosted Sandshrew, so Croagunk makes for a good partner, resisting their Grass-type attacks, can destroy and destroying them with super effective Fighting-type moves while also serving as an excellent counter to many Water-types in LC. This set is more about supporting its teammates than receiving support, so Pokemon that enjoy having entry hazards consistently removed make for great teammates. Drifloon is one such Pokemon, being Stealth Rock weak and also having its weaknesses to Rock- and Electric-type attacks covered by Sandshrew. Sandshrew defeats the Steel- and Electric-type Pokemon that resist Drifloon's attacks, while Drifloon beats Grass-types like Shroomish that utterly wall Sandshrew. Drifloon is also able to threaten the only Pokemon that can successfully consistently block Sandshrew's Rapid Spin successfully: Frillish. Other Pokemon that can handle Frillish such as Lileep and Misdreavus have good synergy with Sandshrew and make naturally good partners.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>The sets listed above are Sandshrew's most viable options in Little Cup. An all-out Life Orb attacking set might seem effective, but it is better done by Drilbur; Eviolite takes better advantage of Sandshrew's nice Defense stat. In nearly all cases, Sandshrew should not be run without sand, (remove comma) and should not be run without Drilbur; Sandshrew's main niche in LC is its place in a team on teams with Hippopotas and Drilbur. Sand Veil sets, perhaps even utilizing Bulldoze, have some potential due to Sandshrew's bulk and power, but are not as effective as Sand Rush ones. Sandshrew also has other support options such as Knock Off and Super Fang (add comma) that but it has difficulty fitting them into a moveslot.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Scarf Snover checks all Sandshrew, removing the sand it relies on and OHKOing with Blizzard. Lileep can take a hit from boosted Sandshrew and Giga Drain to take advantage of Sandshrew's weaker Special Defense state stat. Hippopotas can also withstand Sandshrew's attacks and Roar to reset its boosts. Bronzor is immune to Earthquake, resists Rock Slide, and is only 3HKOed by +2 Night Slash. However, Bronzor's Bronzor cannot do substantial damage to Sandshrew due to its unimpressive base 24 Special Attack prevents it from doing substantial damage to Sandshrew and is thus unable to consistently defeat Swords Dance variants. Priority such as Murkrow's Sucker Punch and Totodile's Aqua Jet can help to take down Sandshrew, but it needs to be weakened substantially first. Drilbur, a faster Sand Rush user, can also KO Sandshrew after it has taken some prior damage. Scarf Porygon Traces Sand Rush, outspeeds, and OHKOes with Ice Beam. Scarf Misdreavus Speed ties with Jolly Sandshrew but cannot OHKO Sandshrew cleanly and is KOed by even an unboosted Night Slash. Tirtouga can easily set up a Shell Smash against sand teams and OHKO Sandshrew with +2 Aqua Jet. Bulky Grass-types, such as Shroomish, Foonguss, Chikorita, and Turtwig, are hard stops for Sandshrew. Cottonee can Encore Sandshrew's Swords Dance or Rapid Spin to allow another Pokemon to set up. Frillih Frillish stops Sandshrew from spinning away entry hazards and threatens to deal heavy damage with Scald. Finally, Focus Sash Abra, finally, checks Sandshrew, but can only KO after Sandshrew has been weakened.</p>