I wanted to share my experiences of using Alolan Sandslash in Open Ultra League this season as I don't recall seeing anyone talk about it before.

Open Ultra League is much maligned for having a narrow meta dominated by two great hulking legendaries: Cresselia and Giratina. The arrival of Ultra Premier was much celebrated by many including myself. However I wanted to dip back into open Ultra to see if I could use that narrow meta to my advantage.

I applied a simple logic: Cresselia is walled by Steel, Giratina is frozen by Ice, therefore an Ice/Steel type that counters both should have a lot of play. Alolan Sandslash tops out around 2430 CP at level 40, so it seemed worth trying in UL. I had planned this before the level 50 expansion was announced, however I did manage to grind out the 20 Sandshrew XL candy I needed to max it out at 2488 CP (level 42 with best buddy).

It proved a worthwhile investment. Running it as a lead with Ice Punch and Blizzard it comfortably overcame the parade of Giratina and Cresselia I ran into. It also completely walls the very popular Articuno leads. Ice Punch is needed for bait potential, while I forewent the coverage of Bulldoze for the sheer power of Blizzard. I felt this power was needed in order to hurt UL tanks such as Cresselia. The team mates which I will go into below made up for the lack of type coverage.

Alolan Sandslash is quite polarising in that it tends to either hard counter an opponent or be hard countered itself, owing to having double weaknesses to both Fighting and Fire. This means my strategy was centred around winning or maintaining switch advantage at virtually any cost. This mean giving up both shields if need be (although ideally not!) So I needed to partner it with a master of regaining lost leads: Shadow Swampert (MS/HC/EQ). Now I'm not a fan of Swampy usually, it's spammy and seems overpowered, but it was a necessary evil to let the Winter Pangolin do it's thing. Shadow Swampert has very complimentary typing, offsetting ASlash's weaknesses to Fire and Steel as well an ability to put intense shield pressure on an opponent.

The team was rounded off with Heracross (C/CC/EQ). Like Swampy it is a counter to ASlash's counters, in this case Fighting and Steel. Heracross fills a somewhat unique niche with it's Bug typing resisting opposing Counter uses as well as Ground. (It's amazing that even at higher ratings people don't know Bug resists Ground). The choice of EQ over Megahorn is due to how often Heracross will get switch locked with Giratina, having just farmed an opponent down. It can at least use that energy and do meaningful damage. Switch locks with Cresselia are a lot rarer (presumably because opponents fear a Megahorn coming from a loaded Heracross).

The team worked well as it wins a lot of leads against the big hitters you see so often, but could also win lost leads and flip matches with Swampo. When coming across a bad lead (a Steel or a Counter user) I can immediately switch to Swamp and spam Hydro Cannons till my fingers are worn down to stubs which can often flip a match. I can then position Heracross against the former lead and sweep up.

So was it a success? Yes! I gained over 500 rating throughout the 2 weeks of UL and ended up on the Leaderboard for the first time in my GBL career.

Has anyone else tried it? Is there a reason it is always so overlooked? Would like to hear people's thoughts!

Edit: forgot to add, with this team I only had 1 battle hit the time limit in the entire 2 weeks, which definitely made UL less unbearable to play!

And now we're back to my Kanto VS Alolan series! Where I ask which one of the two versions you like the most. Or if you like both equally!

Just like the Ninetails one, I genuinely cannot decide which one I like over the other. Both of them are just so cooly designed it's awesome. I love the color scheme on the Kanto one and just how awesome it looks, and I love the other one as well, with how it's spikes are bigger and obtains metal claws.

It's like an ice climber! The only thing I'm not found of is its typing. Pretty bad one sadly...

But I still love them both the same. What about you? Are you for the earth digger or the ice digger? Or are you for both like me?

Why is A Sandslash/Sandshrew not named Iceslash/Iceshrew?

Well if they've lived in Alola for so long, wouldn't people question why it is Sandlash when it is clearly ice. I'm speaking of the time when Pokedex isn't available and clearly they wont name something ice with sand.

( No idea what’s going on? You may want to watch , and/or leave it on in the background as you read this post. )

Necrozma: A person's truth is so simple, that most ignore it to concentrate on what they think are deeper truths.
Mewtwo: You, for example, are simply unused to what it is to be liked by others.
Hoopa-U: YOU'VE NEVER LEARNED HOW TO DEAL WITH FEARING WHAT OTHERS FEEL ABOUT YOU, AND SO YOU AVOID IT.

Amelia-chan: But, don't the others hate me?
Primarina: What are you, stupid? Haven't you realized it's all in your imagination, you mega-dork?!

Amelia-chan: But... I hate myself.
Alolan Sandslash: One who truly hates herself cannot love, she cannot place her trust in another.

Amelia-chan: I'm a coward. I'm cowardly! Sneaky and weak!
Hoopa-U: NO, ONLY IF YOU THINK YOU ARE. BUT IF YOU KNOW YOURSELF, YOU CAN TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF.

Amelia-chan: I hate myself. But, maybe... maybe I could love myself! Maybe, my life could have a greater value!
[A cracking sound; letters start appearing on this page.]

Amelia-chan: That's right! I am no more or less than myself! I am me! I want to be myself!
[More cracks; something is coming.]

Amelia-chan: I want to continue existing in this world! My life is worth living here!

[Wild cheers as this post appears and everyone applauds.]

Hoopa-U: CONGRATULATIONS!

Primarina: Congratulations!

Alolan Sandslash: Congratulations!

Azelf: Congratulations!

Necrozma: Congratulations!

Palossand: Congratulations!

Slurpuff: Congratulations!
Audino: Congratulations!
Togetic: Bwark! Bwark!
Carbink: Congratulations!
Swirlix: Congratulations!

Carnivine: Congratulations!

Archeops: Congratulations!

Mewtwo and Cosmoem: Congratulations.

(Mewtwo isn’t appearing this week.)

Amelia-chan: Th... Thank you all~

Thank you, Nintendo.

Goodbye, Genius Sonority.

And, to all the Players:

Congratulations.

= = = THE END = = =

Older Content Still Present

• Fletchinder Safari

Shutdown Notice

This is the final weekly thread. All data is now contained in the page of the wiki, which has links to all past weekly threads.

Next week will be Week 1 of the rotation again, with:

• Decidueye Escalation

• Mega Banette Competition

• Vikavolt - Butterfree Safari

• Litten

• Typhlosion

• Mew

• Deoxys-A

• Accelgor

• Winking Roserade

• Daily #1 (Rotoms)

• Pinsir Once-a-Day

Special Thanks

Thanks to the datamining and threadmaking team - Sonansu, Rikaria, Rias, Bluesun, Sky, Manitary, ws2, BunbunMiyu, and anyone else I’ve forgotten.
Thanks to Smoke and Meta, the moderators.
And, thanks to you, for sticking with the game this far.

In loving memory of KaleoX. A man’s not dead while his name’s still spoken.

Today’s Music Suggestions

• << really good, recommend

Amelia-chan: ...oh, this is - this is nice, I... this is the end. OK. Where exactly am I?! Um... oh, gr– here’s the credits, oh good.

Amelia-chan: Um, there’s some things that are still unresolved here, guys!! How- How do I get home?! Uh– what do I eat?! Was Mewtwo my– my dad, or... a clone, or...? Hell– was this all in my mind?

Amelia-chan: What– What’s a Shuffle? Is that... sort of a... Freudian... thing or– ...ummm. Am I real? Aw, hel— does the Map run through here?! I mean, I’d like to go home now, but, ummm, aw, gosh, where’s home?

Amelia-chan: OK. OK. OK. I gotta catch ‘em all. I gotta c– OK, I got that, good, OK. Now, that I have got ‘em all, let’s analyze that. What the fuck do I do now? I’m on a blank white page!

Amelia-chan: Uhhhhh... is this how you end a video game? I mean, is this where we go from here? OK, Gen 8 better sure as hell make up for this, I’m telling you right now, ‘cause I’m stuck in Nowhere-Land!

Amelia-chan: You ran outta pixels, too, didn’t you, ya bastards...

Hey all,

I was thinking about teams for the regular Great League starting up again on the 17th. And it occurred to me that there will be tons of Altarias and probably a gagillion charmers due to to recent events. A counter to both of these seems even more imperative than in previous cups. Alolan Sandslash seems to fit the bill quite nicely here- it resists fairy, flying and dragon. Seems to have sorta decent bulk. And has both Ice and steel attacks. But it isn't meta.

I'm wondering if anyone thinks Alolan Sandslash could be viable in the upcoming GL. And why or why not?

Pokemon has a lot of Pokemon that are either direct counterparts to each other (Nidoking / Pokemon has a lot of Pokemon that are either direct counterparts to each other (Nidoking / Nidoqueen), evolution based (Huntail / Gorebyss) or version based (Beedrill / Butterfree). So I wanted to combine them to see how this improved their competitive viability.

Combining rules: Combined mon gets both movepools, what I consider the best abilities (3 max), the highest stat for each stat of either mon, and 1-2 potential typings (if the mons have separate dual types.)

If they have a mega they gain the stat boosts of that mega on top of their new stats when mega evolving. This includes stat drops!

Lastly the old mons are erased from the game for the new one so there can't be competition between them or abusing running them and the new mon together.

This is part 3, the last one was Pikachu / Clefairy and Raichu / Clefable which you can find . I am going in the order of the , so if I missed one you thought was a pair, let me know!

Edit: I am dumb and typed Ninetails instead of Ninetales...

—

Combined Mons: Alolan Sandslash / Alolan Ninetales

New Mon: Alolan-Nineslash

Typing: Form A: Ice / Steel. Form B: Ice / Fairy.

Abilities: Snow Warning, Snow Cloak, Slush Rush

Stats:

HP: 75 Attack: 100 Defense: 120 SpA: 81 SpD: 100 Speed: 109

New BST: 585

Notables moves: Blizzard, Icicle Crash, Icicle Spear, Iron Defense, Iron Head, Metal Burst, Rapid Spin, Swords Dance, Counter, Triple Axel, Ice Punch, Rock Slide(?), Earthquake, Agility, Spikes, Substitute, Earth Power, Focus Blast, Stone Edge(?), Stealth Rock, Aurora Veil, Psyshock(?), Dazzling Gleam, Ice Beam, Ice Shard, Nasty Plot, Spite, Hypnosis, Memento, Charm, Draining Kiss, Calm Mind, Zen Headbutt, Foul Play, Moonblast, Curse, Brick Break.

So, here's a pretty good one. Not sure what to say exactly but it does a lot. Alolan-Ninetails is already good and now it has extra coverage, mixed attacking status and mixed defenses. The sheer speed boost on Alolan-Sandslash probably would've propelled it up in the tiers but this is just insane. This thing just has so many set-up options and can even be hazard control as well. I feel like snow warning is the ability that'll see the most use, maybe slush rush but I kind of doubt it because then you have to run a different snow warning setter and this thing is already really fast.

What are your own thoughts on how this would perform?

Does the GX attack for Alolan Sandslash GX hit for weakness on all pokémon it hits? Im working with it in malamar and this could drastically change how i play if it does indeed hit for weakness.

Pokemon has a lot of Pokemon that are either direct counterparts to each other (Nidoking / Pokemon has a lot of Pokemon that are either direct counterparts to each other (Nidoking / Nidoqueen), evolution based (Huntail / Gorebyss) or version based (Beedrill / Butterfree). So I wanted to combine them to see how this improved their competitive viability.

Combining rules: Combined mon gets both movepools, what I consider the best abilities (3 max), the highest stat for each stat of either mon, and 1-2 potential typings (if the mons have separate dual types.)

If they have a mega they gain the stat boosts of that mega on top of their new stats when mega evolving. This includes stat drops!

Lastly the old mons are erased from the game for the new one so there can't be competition between them or abusing running them and the new mon together.

This is part 3, the last one was Pikachu / Clefairy and Raichu / Clefable which you can find . I am going in the order of the , so if I missed one you thought was a pair, let me know!

—

Combined Mons: Alolan Sandslash / Alolan Ninetales

New Mon: Alolan-Nineslash

Typing: Form A: Ice / Steel. Form B: Ice / Fairy.

Abilities: Snow Warning, Snow Cloak, Slush Rush

Stats:

HP: 75 Attack: 100 Defense: 120 SpA: 81 SpD: 100 Speed: 109

New BST: 585

Notables moves: Blizzard, Icicle Crash, Icicle Spear, Iron Defense, Iron Head, Metal Burst, Rapid Spin, Swords Dance, Counter, Triple Axel, Ice Punch, Rock Slide(?), Earthquake, Agility, Spikes, Substitute, Earth Power, Focus Blast, Stone Edge(?), Stealth Rock, Aurora Veil, Psyshock(?), Dazzling Gleam, Ice Beam, Ice Shard, Nasty Plot, Spite, Hypnosis, Memento, Charm, Draining Kiss, Calm Mind, Zen Headbutt, Foul Play, Moonblast, Curse, Brick Break.

So, here's a pretty good one. Not sure what to say exactly but it does a lot. Alolan-Ninetails is already good and now it has extra coverage, mixed attacking status and mixed defenses. The sheer speed boost on Alolan-Sandslash probably would've propelled it up in the tiers but this is just insane. This thing just has so many set-up options and can even be hazard control as well. I feel like snow warning is the ability that'll see the most use, maybe slush rush but I kind of doubt it because then you have to run a different snow warning setter and this thing is already really fast.

What are your own thoughts on how this would perform?

Hello everyone!

Welcome to this week's edition of Rebuild Tuesday, a weekly event we're doing along with our !

The goal of this event is for you guys to get a chance to rebuild a Pokémon once a week! What do we mean by that? Well we will be looking to find Pokémon who just can't seem to find a niche in their tiers or the current competitive scene and finding ways to revitalize them! This means thinking about new moves, stats, or typings that help give the Pokémon in question a new role.

This week's Pokémon is Alolan Sandslash

#028 Sandslash (Japanese サンドパン Sandpan)

Mouse Pokémon

This is Sandslash's form after adaptation to a frigid environment. The cold air emitted by its body sharpens its icy spikes.

Alolan Sandslash's Base Stats:

• HP: 75

• Attack: 100

• Defense: 120

• Sp. Attack: 25

• Sp. Defense: 65

• Speed: 65

Introduction:

• Everybody loves Sonic, including Game Freak. Alolan Sandslash is the redesigned Sonic that the live-action movie wish it had. However, with its Ice/Steel type combination, it's taking all kinds of L's. Fire-type and Fighting-type attacks are a few of the most common offensive types out there, and for a Pokemon who's slow and doesn't have the sufficient bulk to take one of those hits, it's just bad news all around. Alolan Sandslash's most common set is optimizing on special defense and HP with Leftovers and support in the form of Rapid Spin, also carrying Stealth Rocks to set its own hazards. It can also use a Slush Rush Swords Dance sweeper set w/ Icium-Z.

• Though Sandslash was introduced in gen 1, its Alolan variant was introduced in gen 7. Thus, we can't say how it's been through the previous gens. With that said, It did get Knock Off via tutoring in Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon.

• Alolan Sandslash is currently in PU. It does have a few advantages over regular Sandslash, those being a good dual offensive typing (though losing STAB Earthquake does suck), reduction of special attack to give it just a bit more bulk in both defensive stats, and more resistances despite gaining 4x weakness from two very common offensive types. Otherwise, it faces the same problem regular Sandslash has; it's slow and relies heavily on additional support in order to be somewhat reliable, and even then, it needs to carry its own setup or other measures to perform well. Overall, there's currently no reason to use this over a Pokemon like Mamoswine.

What changes (e.g. new moves, stats, abilities or typings) would you give to Alolan Sandslash to give it a fair shot in the OU meta?

Sandslash on - | |

In addition to ways to make this Pokémon competitively viable again, feel free to discuss your likes and dislikes about this Pokémon, be they from your playthroughs of the main series or side games, your success or failure with this Pokémon competitively, any cool fan artwork (with the source) featuring this Pokémon that you'd like to share, or anything else!

We'd also suggest checking out our each Tuesday for live discussion on these topics as well!

On Wednesday we ran a poll to see which of the following Dark-type Pokémon should be the focus of next week's Rebuild Tuesday:

• Alolan Persian

• Houndoom

• Cacturne

• Skuntank

• Zoroark

• Malamar

• Guzzlord

The winner was Zoroark! Start thinking up your ideas now, and we'll look forward to seeing them during next week's Rebuild Tuesday!

^{This thread is part of 's regular sticky rotation. To see our rotation schedule and all past sticky rotation threads, go}