[Overview]
<p>Sandslash is a Pokemon riddled with very exploitable weaknesses. With pitiful Speed and Special Defense stats, as well as a rather small offensive movepool, it's completely natural to reject the idea of using Sandslash in OU initially. However, with its Dream World ability—Sand Rush—Sandslash becomes a notable threat in the OU metagame. Being a Ground-type, Sandslash has access to a good physical movepool, passable bulk, and impeccable coverage in the celebrated EdgeQuake combination. Moreover, Sandslash can use Rapid Spin to great success—a feat which gives Sandslash even more of a reason to be used over its Sand Rush rival, Stoutland.</p>
<p>Despite all of its mentioned perks, Sandslash is by no means invincible. There are many, many Pokemon that can place Sandslash in a tight situation, usually through means of harping on its average offenses, feeble Special Defense stat, and / or inability to outpace a few notable threats after a Sand Rush boost. Proper team support and, more importantly, patience, are necessary when using Sandslash.</p>
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Stone Edge
move 4: Rapid Spin / X-Scissor
item: Life Orb / Lum Berry
nature: Jolly / Adamant
ability: Sand Rush
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Sandslash can pull off a Swords Dance set similar in playstyle to Excadrill's to great success. After the activation of Sand Rush, Sandslash can reach a Speed stat as high as 502, giving it the ability to easily outpace and subsequently KO many of the more offensively oriented Pokemon in OU. The above choice of moves is ideal for Sandslash if it's to be used in OU. Swords Dance is the crux of this set, quickly boosting Sandslash's Attack stat to threatening levels. When backed by a Swords Dance boost, Sandslash is even capable of powering through some of OU's premier walls, which is something that Stoutland occasionally struggles with. Earthquake, being Sandslash's strongest STAB option, is capable of blasting through many of OU's grounded inhabitants while Stone Edge nails most of what resists or is immune to Earthquake. The use of Rock Slide in the place of Stone Edge will give Sandslash more reliable KOs on Volcarona, Salamence, and Thundurus-T, but the drop in power is clearly noticeable. However, the lack of power can be made up for in Rock Slide's flinch rate; very resilient Pokemon, namely Skarmory, will have a tough time getting past the potential flinch hax. Rapid Spin helps Sandslash maintain pressure on more defensive teams and gives it the ability to greatly support its own team; however, X-Scissor lets Sandslash power through bulky Psychic-types that take little or no damage from Earthquake, such as Celebi and Latias. It's important to note that even without Rapid Spin, Sandslash brings a lot of utility to its team due to being a potent revenge killer. Make the moveset choices which best accommodate your team.</p>
<p>The recommended EV spread is one that aims to simply give Sandslash as much speed and power as possible. With a Jolly nature, Sandslash can outpace many threatening Choice Scarf users, such as Genesect and Thundurus-T, and KO them with the appropriate attack. A Jolly nature also ensures that Sandslash will be able to revenge kill all variants of Salamence, Haxorus, and Volcarona if they manage to net a single Speed boost from Dragon Dance or Quiver Dance, respectively. An Adamant nature is still a possibility on this Sandslash set as the power may come to be of use.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Life Orb is recommended as the item of choice here as the power it gives to Sandslash is needed to muscle through some of OU's premier defensive Pokemon. Jellicent and 4/0 Breloom, for example, can be OHKOed by a Life Orb-boosted +2 Earthquake (though, keep in mind that said KOs are much easier to attain with an Adamant nature; if Sandslash is using a Jolly nature instead, it will very often fall short). If Sandslash's longevity is of more importance than its damage output, then running a Lum Berry instead of Life Orb could be greatly beneficial. With a Lum Berry, Sandslash can afford to stay in on many defensive Pokemon, such as Jellicent and Jirachi, without much worry of being crippled by status. On a similar note, try to stay away from using Leftovers. Leftovers, while tempting to use alongside Sandslash's fine physical bulk, is nowhere close to being as useful as a Lum Berry or Life Orb. If Sandslash's lifespan is truly that much of a concern, then use Wish support. Teammates exist for a reason; make use of the other five slots that Sandslash will be accompanied by.</p>
<p>Due to Sandslash's reliance on sandstorm being up and difficulty getting around physical walls, Tyranitar makes a superb partner for it. Tyranitar, with either a mixed or Choice Band set, can take out most of the Pokemon that give Sandslash problems while setting up a permanent sandstorm. If Sandslash is not using Rapid Spin, then it will attract many common users of Spikes and Stealth Rock, such as Skarmory, Forretress, and Hippowdon. This makes packing a user of Rapid Spin or Magic Bounce, particularly Xatu for its greater longevity, a very beneficial move. Gothitelle can trap and KO pretty much everything that Sandslash normally has trouble with, making it a fine choice as well if there's room for it on Sandslash's team. Sandslash functions very well on offensive sand-based teams for obvious reasons; however, do keep in mind that a non-Choice item using revenge killer with Rapid Spin is also very valuable for stall and bulky offense teams. Generally though, Sandslash should be played rather conservatively in the earlier stages of a match, not going for risky moves until its threats have been snuffed out and planned against. Simply keep up the pressure until a path has been paved for Sandslash to ram through the opposing team. Patience is key to using this Sandslash.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Unfortunately for Sandslash, its movepool is pretty dry, leaving it very few options to use. Like Excadrill, Sandslash can use Return for very good neutral coverage; Return also hits Flying-types and Levitating targets much more reliably than Stone Edge. With access to Stealth Rock, potent revenge killing capability granted by Sand Rush, and Super Fang, Sandslash can run a defensive set. However, running such a set will only waste Sandslash's potential, not to mention that other bulky Pokemon, such as Landorus-T and Forretress, greatly outclass defensive Sandslash. Night Slash can be used for a similar reason against Gengar, but Stone Edge already does more than enough damage to quickly dispose of it. Sandslash can also make use of the move Sandstorm as a clutch method of maintaining weather control while also setting up a sweep for itself. Don't take this option too seriously though, as Sandslash will have a lot of trouble fitting Sandstorm onto the recommended set. As far as other items go, Sandslash can use Soft Sand for the purpose of powering up its already strong STAB Earthquake without the recoil of Life Orb.</p>
<p>It's possible to adjust the given spread to your liking as Sandslash could potentially benefit from the added bulk. For example, removing 44 EVs from Sandslash's Speed to outpace everything up to and including Naive Choice Scarf Genesect and moving them to Sandslash's Special Defense allows Sandslash to always survive defensive Celebi's Giga Drain. Feel free to experiment with Sandslash's EV spread, but keep note that Sandslash will more often than not be better off with maxed out Speed and Attack.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Foremost, changing the weather will effectively neuter Sandslash, quickly changing it into a slow, minor threat. Physical walls and sponges obviously work very well against Sandslash. Gliscor, Skarmory, bulky Rotom-W, Landorus-T, and Tangrowth are just some examples of Pokemon that can place Sandslash in a sticky situation. It's also worth noting that Sandslash, while extremely fast in a sandstorm, can still be outpaced by a good portion of OU, namely Choice Scarf Latios and Starmie, and OHKOed by the appropriate move. Though, physically based Choice Scarf users, such as Terrakion and Mienshao, must be careful because Sandslash, if left healthy, can survive a hit and OHKO them in return. Priority attacks are also useful against stopping a Sandslash sweep, but Sandslash has to have been weakened a bit beforehand before it can be revenge KOed by then. In the end, checking Sandslash will boil down to exploiting its mediocre offensive stats. Don't be intimidated by Sandslash's Speed stat as, with the appropriate Pokemon, it can be swiftly brought down through calm and intelligent play.</p>
