Swords Dance (Sandslash) @ Life Orb / Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 128 HP / 252 Atk / 128 Spe
Tera Type: Dark / Poison / Bug
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Gunk Shot / Leech Life / Rapid Spin / Stone Edge
[SET COMMENTS]
Sandslash is potent wallbreaker thanks to its decent bulk and good defensive typing coming together to enable it to set up with Swords Dance and create holes in teams with its great offensive coverage and blistering Speed under sand. Knock Off is Sandslash's best blanket coverage move for complementing Earthquake, and it's especially helpful against the most common Ground-immune Pokemon in the tier, Mesprit. Gunk Shot covers Grass-types like Rotom-C, Whimsicott, and Virizion that could otherwise switch into Sandslash. However, Leech Life is another option for a coverage move against Grass-types that provides Sandslash with improved consistency and some recovery. It's possible to concede coverage moves to run Rapid Spin for some role compression in Sandslash's last slot, and the Speed boost helps Sandslash to outspeed threats with middling Speed like Mesprit and Magneton when sand runs out, but forgoing other coverage moves leaves Sandslash quite helpless against Grass-types like Dipplin and Arboliva. Stone Edge is one last coverage option, and it improves Sandslash's matchups against Vikavolt and Flying-types like Charizard at the cost of hurting it in others against Virizion and other Grass-types. Equipping Sandslash with a Life Orb makes it even more threatening, and Sandslash can make good use of the extra power for sweeping with sand support on sand teams. However, Heavy-Duty Boots makes Sandslash a more reliable support Pokemon on sand teams if it runs Rapid Spin. Investing 128 EVs into Sandslash's Speed helps it to get the jump on uninvested base 80 Speed Pokemon like Mesprit before any Speed boosts; with a boost from Sand Rush or two uses of Rapid Spin, Sandslash will outspeed Jolteon and the rest of the unboosted metagame. With Tera Dark, Sandslash becomes immune to Prankster-boosted moves from Sableye and Grafaiai, enabling it to freely set up with Swords Dance without fear of Will-O-Wisp or Encore. Additionally, the immunity and resistances provided by Tera Dark can be useful for tanking Psychic- and Dark-type attacks from foes like Farigiraf and Alolan Persian. Lastly, Tera Dark boosts the power of Knock Off, helping Sandslash to secure KOs more easily against threats like Vikavolt, Trevenant, and Minior. Alternatively, Sandslash can use Tera Poison to power up Gunk Shot and flip its Grass weakness into a resistance. Tera Bug functions similarly to Tera Poison by powering up Sandslash's coverage move, Leech Life, and granting it a Grass resistance.
Swords Dance Sandslash overwhelmingly depends on support from Hippopotas to function as a sweeper, and it's capable of compressing utility onto these more offensive teams thanks to its access to Knock Off and Rapid Spin. Other offensive threats on sand teams, including Lycanroc, Minior, and Probopass, can team up with Sandslash to overwhelm defensive cores that include Mesprit, Regirock, and Snorlax so that one of them can break through. Healing Wish users like Mesprit, Shaymin, and Hattrem can support Sandslash by giving it a second attempt at sweeping, and Sandslash especially appreciates having this support to fall back on if it's statused or opts to run Life Orb. Grass-types are a major obstacle for Sandslash, but Lilligant is capable of using many as setup fodder with Quiver Dance, making it a great ally to Sandslash. Whimsicott is another potential partner for Sandslash that can deal with problematic Grass-types like Dipplin and Virizion. Slow pivots like Lanturn and Mesprit are greatly appreciated by Sandslash for getting it in safely.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/missangelic.452572/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sleid.601970/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user5.104/
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 128 HP / 252 Atk / 128 Spe
Tera Type: Dark / Poison / Bug
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Gunk Shot / Leech Life / Rapid Spin / Stone Edge
[SET COMMENTS]
Sandslash is potent wallbreaker thanks to its decent bulk and good defensive typing coming together to enable it to set up with Swords Dance and create holes in teams with its great offensive coverage and blistering Speed under sand. Knock Off is Sandslash's best blanket coverage move for complementing Earthquake, and it's especially helpful against the most common Ground-immune Pokemon in the tier, Mesprit. Gunk Shot covers Grass-types like Rotom-C, Whimsicott, and Virizion that could otherwise switch into Sandslash. However, Leech Life is another option for a coverage move against Grass-types that provides Sandslash with improved consistency and some recovery. It's possible to concede coverage moves to run Rapid Spin for some role compression in Sandslash's last slot, and the Speed boost helps Sandslash to outspeed threats with middling Speed like Mesprit and Magneton when sand runs out, but forgoing other coverage moves leaves Sandslash quite helpless against Grass-types like Dipplin and Arboliva. Stone Edge is one last coverage option, and it improves Sandslash's matchups against Vikavolt and Flying-types like Charizard at the cost of hurting it in others against Virizion and other Grass-types. Equipping Sandslash with a Life Orb makes it even more threatening, and Sandslash can make good use of the extra power for sweeping with sand support on sand teams. However, Heavy-Duty Boots makes Sandslash a more reliable support Pokemon on sand teams if it runs Rapid Spin. Investing 128 EVs into Sandslash's Speed helps it to get the jump on uninvested base 80 Speed Pokemon like Mesprit before any Speed boosts; with a boost from Sand Rush or two uses of Rapid Spin, Sandslash will outspeed Jolteon and the rest of the unboosted metagame. With Tera Dark, Sandslash becomes immune to Prankster-boosted moves from Sableye and Grafaiai, enabling it to freely set up with Swords Dance without fear of Will-O-Wisp or Encore. Additionally, the immunity and resistances provided by Tera Dark can be useful for tanking Psychic- and Dark-type attacks from foes like Farigiraf and Alolan Persian. Lastly, Tera Dark boosts the power of Knock Off, helping Sandslash to secure KOs more easily against threats like Vikavolt, Trevenant, and Minior. Alternatively, Sandslash can use Tera Poison to power up Gunk Shot and flip its Grass weakness into a resistance. Tera Bug functions similarly to Tera Poison by powering up Sandslash's coverage move, Leech Life, and granting it a Grass resistance.
Swords Dance Sandslash overwhelmingly depends on support from Hippopotas to function as a sweeper, and it's capable of compressing utility onto these more offensive teams thanks to its access to Knock Off and Rapid Spin. Other offensive threats on sand teams, including Lycanroc, Minior, and Probopass, can team up with Sandslash to overwhelm defensive cores that include Mesprit, Regirock, and Snorlax so that one of them can break through. Healing Wish users like Mesprit, Shaymin, and Hattrem can support Sandslash by giving it a second attempt at sweeping, and Sandslash especially appreciates having this support to fall back on if it's statused or opts to run Life Orb. Grass-types are a major obstacle for Sandslash, but Lilligant is capable of using many as setup fodder with Quiver Dance, making it a great ally to Sandslash. Whimsicott is another potential partner for Sandslash that can deal with problematic Grass-types like Dipplin and Virizion. Slow pivots like Lanturn and Mesprit are greatly appreciated by Sandslash for getting it in safely.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/missangelic.452572/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sleid.601970/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user5.104/
Last edited:
