Sandshrew counters

#0027

groundTier 3

Lobby CP

9,829

3,600

Timer

3:00

Attack

102

Defense

Difficulty

0.38

Pokebattler scale

Beating Sandshrew should take 1 trainer with level 40 counters. Caught CP 670-720.

Weak towater1.6xgrass1.6xice1.6x

Who to bring

IncludeMega Legendary Shadow

Improve your raidweather · friendship · Mega in the lobby · Party Power · Adventure EffectsShow ▾

Weather

★ boosts a type this boss is weak to

No boost Sunny or clear ★Rainy ★Partly cloudy Cloudy Windy Snow ★Fog

Friendship

every trainer in the lobby who is your friend

None Good friend (+3%)Great friend (+5%)Ultra friend (+7%)Best friend (+10%)

Mega in the lobby

a Mega boosts every trainer's attacks: 1.3x of its own type, 1.1x of others

Try a Water Mega — most top counters attack with Water

Party Power

Party Play: the charged move after a full meter does 2x

Off 2 trainers 3 trainers 4 trainers

Adventure Effects

only these three change a raid

Behemoth Blade (+10% attack)Behemoth Bash (+10% defense)Dynamic Punch+ (+15% attack vs Mega)

Of the game's eleven Adventure Effects only Behemoth Blade (Crowned Sword Zacian), Behemoth Bash (Crowned Shield Zamazenta) and Dynamic Punch+ (Mega Mewtwo X) change a raid; Roar of Time, Spacial Rend, Freeze Shock, Ice Burn, Sunsteel Strike, Moongeist Beam, Future Sight+ and Dynamax Cannon act outside raids. Dynamic Punch+ only counts against a Mega boss, so it changes nothing here. Sources: the full list, Behemoth Blade / Bash, Dynamic Punch+.

Best counters

Mega, Legendary, Shadow · level 40

The best Sandshrew counters are Mega Greninja, Kyurem (White), Shadow Kyogre, Shadow Greninja, Shadow Galarian Darmanitan (Standard) & Shadow Kingler.

Suggested party of sixat most one Mega

M. Greninja
Kyurem (White)
S. Kyogre
S. Greninja
S. Galarian Darmanitan (Standard)
S. Kingler

6 more Megas ranked inside the top six — a party can hold only one Mega, so the best one stays and the next non-Mega takes the slot.

Ranked by Estimator (trainers needed); small print: time to winOrder byEstimatorOverall %

1Mega GreninjaMegapartyWater Shuriken / Surf+0.340:59
2Mega StarmieMegaPsywave / Liquidation+0.341:00
3Mega ChesnaughtMegaVine Whip / Seed Bomb+0.381:07
4Primal KyogreMegaLegendaryWaterfall / Origin Pulse0.391:08
5Kyurem (White)LegendarypartyIce Fang / Ice Burn0.391:09
6Mega SceptileMegaBullet Seed / Frenzy Plant0.401:10
7Mega Mewtwo YMegaLegendaryPsycho Cut / Future Sight+0.401:11
8Mega Mewtwo XMegaLegendaryPsycho Cut / Dynamic Punch+0.411:12
9Shadow KyogreShadowLegendarypartyWaterfall / Origin Pulse0.411:13
10Shadow GreninjaShadowpartyWater Shuriken / Hydro Cannon0.431:16
11Shadow Galarian Darmanitan (Standard)ShadowpartyIce Fang / Avalanche0.441:17
12Shadow KinglerShadowpartyBubble / Crabhammer0.441:17

More orders under All settings (Sort by). The top 15 in detail.

Build and order a party of six →Plan your raid lobby →

Best from your Pokebox

Pokebox

The Pokebox saved in this browser · each at its own level, IVs and moves.

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Raid tier — Group Raid

Super Mega Legendary Super Mega Primal Mega Legendary Mega Elite Shadow Tier 5 Tier 5 Shadow Tier 3 Tier 3 Shadow Tier 1 Tier 1 Tier 4 Tier 2

Related countersShadow Sandshrew Alolan Sandshrew

Raid alerts…

Top 15 Sandshrew counters in detail

Click a row for damage per move, breakpoints and the energy cycle. Click a column to sort. All 30 ranked attackers, with every column, are under All settings.

Trainers1soloable

#	Attacker	Moveset
1	Mega Greninjawaterdarkjoint top pick	waterWater ShurikenwaterSurf+	3,784	0:59	0.34	0.9	397.9%
2	Mega Starmiewaterpsychicjoint top pick	psychicPsywavewaterLiquidation+	3,701	1:00	0.34	0.8	390.5%
3	Mega Chesnaughtgrassfighting	grassVine WhipgrassSeed Bomb+	4,093	1:07	0.38	0.0	349.2%
4	Primal Kyogrewater	waterWaterfallwaterOrigin Pulse	5,902	1:08	0.39	0.5	346.6%
5	Kyurem (White)dragonice	iceIce FangiceIce Burn	4,605	1:09	0.39	1.0	340.9%
6	Mega Sceptilegrassdragon	grassBullet SeedgrassFrenzy Plant	4,056	1:10	0.40	0.7	335.4%
7	Mega Mewtwo Ypsychic	psychicPsycho CutpsychicFuture Sight+	6,428	1:11	0.40	0.7	331.5%
8	Mega Mewtwo Xpsychicfighting	psychicPsycho CutfightingDynamic Punch+	6,112	1:12	0.41	0.4	327.2%
9	Shadow Kyogrewater	waterWaterfallwaterOrigin Pulse	4,115	1:13	0.41	1.0	322.7%
10	Shadow Greninjawaterdark	waterWater ShurikenwaterHydro Cannon	2,654	1:16	0.43	1.8	310.8%
11	Shadow Galarian Darmanitan (Standard)ice	iceIce FangiceAvalanche	3,105	1:17	0.44	2.2	305.2%
12	Shadow Kinglerwater	waterBubblewaterCrabhammer	2,829	1:17	0.44	1.9	304.5%
13	Mega Swampertwaterground	waterWater GunwaterHydro Cannon	4,401	1:17	0.44	0.6	304.4%
14	Kartanagrasssteel	grassRazor LeafgrassLeaf Blade	3,677	1:17	0.44	1.5	303.0%
15	Kyurem (Black)dragonice	dragonDragon TailiceFreeze Shock	4,605	1:18	0.44	1.1	301.3%

Ordered by Estimator alone, fewest trainers needed first. . The place badge names each row's Overall place on hover.

Times are one trainer with six copies of that attacker, level 40 at 15/15/15, no weather, no friendship, no dodging, Shadow / Mega / Legendary attackers hidden — the same defaults pokebattler.com's own counter pages open with. Open the full counter tool to change any of them. "Details" opens the per-move damage, breakpoints and energy cycle against Sandshrew.

Estimator is how many trainers of this strength the fight needs. Power is the share of Sandshrew's HP that six of that attacker remove inside one raid timer, so over 100% means they finish it with time to spare. Faints is how many of the six go down inside that timer.

“Joint top pick”: 2 attackers inside 2.1% of each other — this simulator's own accuracy against pokebattler.com (median 1.6% per attacker), so any of them is the right answer.

Hardest movesets to raid against

The same boss is a different fight depending on what it knows. Each row re-simulates the top 6 counters above against one specific moveset; the list is ordered hardest first, and clicking a row filters the whole page to that moveset — the ranking, the estimator and the share link all follow.

Boss moveset	Win % (1)	Overall	Power	Time to win	Faints	Estimator
Random (any moveset)showing	100%	242%	327.6%	1:12	1.4	0.41
Scratch / Rock Slide	100%	225%	324.8%	1:12	1.7	0.41
Scratch / Dig	100%	229%	326.9%	1:12	1.5	0.41
Mud Shot / Rock Slide	100%	227%	327.1%	1:12	1.6	0.41
Sand Attack / Rock Slide	100%	227%	327.1%	1:12	1.6	0.41
Mud Shot / Dig	100%	230%	327.9%	1:12	1.5	0.41
Sand Attack / Dig	100%	230%	327.9%	1:12	1.5	0.41
Scratch / Sand Tomb	100%	288%	329.2%	1:11	1.0	0.41
Mud Shot / Sand Tomb	100%	291%	330.8%	1:11	0.9	0.40
Sand Attack / Sand Tomb	100%	291%	330.8%	1:11	0.9	0.40

Measured over the top 6 attackers on the list above rather than by re-ranking the whole roster once per moveset — the ordering is what the table is for, and a full re-rank per moveset would cost ten times the page's whole simulation budget. Win % is the share of runs 1 trainers of those attackers finish inside the raid timer. Overall is Pokebattler's published blend on its own absolute scale (higher is easier), not a percentage of the best row the way the ranked table's Overall column is — which is why an easy boss reads well above 100% here.

Simulating each boss moveset…

Sandshrew weaknesses and resistances

Every one of the 18 attacking types against this boss's typing. GO multipliers: 1.6x super effective, 2.56x doubly, 0.625x resisted, 0.39x doubly resisted.

water1.6x grass1.6x ice1.6x normal1x fighting1x flying1x ground1x bug1x ghost1x steel1x fire1x psychic1x dragon1x dark1x fairy1x poison0.63x rock0.63x electric0.39x

Weak (3)
Neutral (12)
Resists (3)

It resists electric0.39xpoison0.625xrock0.625x— bringing one of those is throwing damage away.

What Sandshrew throws at you

Its standard movepool, with the damage window a dodge has to beat.

Fast moves

Move	Power	Energy	Duration	Hits at
normalScratch	6	+4	0.5s	0.30s
groundMud ShotSTAB	4	+6	0.5s	0.25s
groundSand AttackSTAB	4	+7	0.5s	0.30s

Charged moves

Move	Power	Energy	Duration	Hits at
rockRock Slide	75	-50	2.5s	1.30s
groundDigSTAB	100	-50	4.5s	2.60s
groundSand TombSTAB	60	-33	4.0s	1.70s

Catch CP

What the encounter after the fight can hand you.

IV spread	CP at L20	CP at L25 (weather boosted)
10/10/10floor	670	838
11/11/11	680	851
12/12/12	690	863
13/13/13	700	875
14/14/14	710	888
15/15/15hundo	720	901

Caught CP range 670 - 720, or 838 - 901 when the weather boosts it.

A raid encounter is level 20 (level 25 weather boosted) and cannot roll an IV below 10/10/10. Anything outside the first range is not this raid's reward.

When it is in raids

From the raid schedule, refreshed daily.

Sandshrew is not on the raid schedule right now. The simulation above is still exact for the tier chosen — any boss can be simulated, current or not.

All settings

Tier 3: 3,600 HP, 3:00 timer, boss Attack 102 / Defense 98 (15/15/15 at tier CPM 0.73).

Raid bossAttacker levelAttacker IVsWeatherFriendshipDodgingTrainers in the lobbyMega in the lobbyParty Play trainersBoss fast moveBoss charged moveSort by

Attackers allowed

ShadowMega and PrimalLegendary, Mythical, Ultra BeastLegacy and Elite TM moves

Share these exact settings

Every column, and pokebattler.com's own rank

On a phone the list shows estimator, time to win and faints. Overall, Power, win chance, CP, DPS and TDO appear on a wider screen.

#	Attacker	Moveset	Overall	Power	Est.Estimator	TimeTime to win	Faints	Win % (1)	CP	DPS	TDO
1	Mega Greninja top pickwaterdarkmega Water Shuriken / Surf+	Water Shuriken / Surf++17 more movesets	100%	397.9%	0.34	0:59	0.8	100%	3,784	63.0	2006
2	Mega Starmie top pickwaterpsychicmega Psywave / Liquidation+	Psywave / Liquidation++44 more movesets	99%	390.5%	0.34	1:00	0.7	100%	3,701	61.5	2284
3	Mega Chesnaught grassfightingmega Vine Whip / Seed Bomb+	Vine Whip / Seed Bomb++20 more movesets	100%	349.2%	0.38	1:07	0.0	100%	4,093	56.6	3805
4	Primal Kyogre watermega Waterfall / Origin Pulse	Waterfall / Origin Pulse+5 more movesets	91%	346.6%	0.39	1:08	0.4	100%	5,902	53.5	2755
5	Kyurem (White) dragonice Ice Fang / Ice Burn	Ice Fang / Ice Burn+17 more movesets	84%	340.9%	0.39	1:09	0.9	100%	4,605	53.8	1984
6	Mega Sceptile grassdragonmega Bullet Seed / Frenzy Plant	Bullet Seed / Frenzy Plant+11 more movesets	85%	335.4%	0.40	1:10	0.6	100%	4,056	52.4	2449
7	Mega Mewtwo Y psychicmega Psycho Cut / Future Sight+	Psycho Cut / Future Sight++26 more movesets	86%	331.5%	0.40	1:11	0.6	100%	6,428	53.1	2521
8	Mega Mewtwo X psychicfightingmega Psycho Cut / Dynamic Punch+	Psycho Cut / Dynamic Punch++26 more movesets	86%	327.2%	0.41	1:12	0.3	100%	6,112	51.3	2982
9	Shadow Kyogre watershadow Waterfall / Origin Pulse	Waterfall / Origin Pulse+5 more movesets	80%	322.7%	0.41	1:13	0.9	100%	4,115	51.0	1953
10	Shadow Greninja waterdarkshadow Water Shuriken / Hydro Cannon	Water Shuriken / Hydro Cannon+14 more movesets	70%	310.8%	0.43	1:16	1.6	100%	2,654	48.5	1354
11	Shadow Galarian Darmanitan (Standard) iceshadow Ice Fang / Avalanche	Ice Fang / Avalanche+7 more movesets	67%	305.2%	0.44	1:17	2.0	100%	3,105	47.9	1260
12	Shadow Kingler watershadow Bubble / Crabhammer	Bubble / Crabhammer+14 more movesets	69%	304.5%	0.44	1:17	1.8	100%	2,829	47.8	1315
13	Mega Swampert watergroundmega Water Gun / Hydro Cannon	Water Gun / Hydro Cannon+11 more movesets	79%	304.4%	0.44	1:17	0.5	100%	4,401	48.3	2643
14	Kartana grasssteel Razor Leaf / Leaf Blade	Razor Leaf / Leaf Blade+14 more movesets	71%	303.0%	0.44	1:17	1.4	100%	3,677	47.1	1546
15	Kyurem (Black) dragonice Dragon Tail / Freeze Shock	Dragon Tail / Freeze Shock+11 more movesets	74%	301.3%	0.44	1:18	1.0	100%	4,605	49.3	1983
16	Mega Rayquaza dragonflyingmega Dragon Tail / Dragon Ascent	Dragon Tail / Dragon Ascent+11 more movesets	76%	290.0%	0.46	1:21	0.4	100%	5,713	45.8	3002
17	Shadow Sceptile grassshadow Bullet Seed / Frenzy Plant	Bullet Seed / Frenzy Plant+11 more movesets	68%	285.4%	0.47	1:22	1.2	100%	2,757	44.5	1643
18	Shadow Mamoswine icegroundshadow Powder Snow / Avalanche	Powder Snow / Avalanche+11 more movesets	67%	283.3%	0.47	1:23	1.3	100%	3,328	45.1	1579
19	Shadow Samurott watershadow Fury Cutter / Hydro Cannon	Fury Cutter / Hydro Cannon+11 more movesets	65%	282.8%	0.47	1:23	1.4	100%	2,826	44.3	1483
20	Shadow Swampert watergroundshadow Water Gun / Hydro Cannon	Water Gun / Hydro Cannon+11 more movesets	68%	281.5%	0.47	1:23	1.1	100%	2,974	43.7	1689
21	Mega Blastoise watermega Water Gun / Hydro Cannon	Water Gun / Hydro Cannon+14 more movesets	69%	281.1%	0.48	1:24	1.0	100%	3,941	44.0	1816
22	Shaymin (Sky) grassflying Magical Leaf / Grass Knot	Magical Leaf / Grass Knot+11 more movesets	72%	280.5%	0.48	1:24	0.6	100%	3,592	43.9	2863
23	Shadow Venusaur grasspoisonshadow Vine Whip / Frenzy Plant	Vine Whip / Frenzy Plant+9 more movesets	65%	278.8%	0.48	1:24	1.3	100%	2,720	43.0	1521
24	Shadow Empoleon watersteelshadow Waterfall / Hydro Cannon	Waterfall / Hydro Cannon+19 more movesets	63%	278.7%	0.48	1:24	1.7	100%	2,900	43.4	1368
25	Shadow Feraligatr watershadow Water Gun / Hydro Cannon	Water Gun / Hydro Cannon+19 more movesets	65%	278.1%	0.48	1:24	1.3	100%	2,857	42.9	1521
26	Inteleon water Water Gun / Hydro Cannon	Water Gun / Hydro Cannon+9 more movesets	63%	277.8%	0.48	1:24	1.8	100%	2,964	43.9	1314
27	Shadow Chesnaught grassfightingshadow Vine Whip / Frenzy Plant	Vine Whip / Frenzy Plant+17 more movesets	70%	276.4%	0.48	1:25	0.9	100%	2,954	43.4	1951
28	Shadow Crawdaunt waterdarkshadow Waterfall / Crabhammer	Waterfall / Crabhammer+11 more movesets	60%	276.4%	0.48	1:25	2.3	100%	2,474	43.0	1057
29	Mega Venusaur grasspoisonmega Vine Whip / Frenzy Plant	Vine Whip / Frenzy Plant+9 more movesets	68%	275.7%	0.48	1:25	0.9	100%	3,698	43.0	1866
30	Shadow Tangrowth grassshadow Vine Whip / Power Whip	Vine Whip / Power Whip+9 more movesets	67%	274.1%	0.49	1:26	0.9	100%	3,030	42.6	1980

How accurate is this? Same top pick as pokebattler.com on 26 of 27 lists checked, 90% of its top tens shared; weakest on Mewtwo's default list (7 of 10).

Ranking. Our full ranking against the page pokebattler.com serves for the same boss and settings, on 27 boss and filter combinations read live (2026-10-04): 242 of 270 top-ten places shared, the same #1 on 26. On the six fixed reference bosses (read 2026-10-03): 85% top-ten overlap with its default filters, 83% with Shadow, Mega and Legendary on. A close top three is shown as a tie because the order inside it is below what we can measure.

Time to win. Graded with Pokebattler's own movesets against every boss moveset, average per boss: Tier 1 and 3 +0.1% to +1.2%; Tier 5 −2.9% to +1.3%; Mega −1.1% to +2.6%; Shadow Tier 5 −1.8% to +0.3%. One attacker can be off by more: median 1.6%, worst 15%, RMS per boss moveset 2.05%.

Known weak spots.

Mewtwo (Tier 5, default filters) shares 7 of Pokebattler's top 10: Absol, Incineroar and Salamence sit just outside ours, Polteageist, Cursola and Hisuian Typhlosion just inside.
Groudon (Tier 5, default filters) shares 7 of 10; its Grass and Water counters run 2-6% fast here.
Tier 5 times run about 2-3% fast for attackers that faint often, and 2-3% slow on Mega Charizard Y and Mega Beedrill, whose counters resist the boss.
Tier 1 lists are the least checked: Combee (Tier 1) shares only 3 of Pokebattler's top 10, with Gigalith first here where Pokebattler puts Rhyperior.

This boss on pokebattler.com. Boss-by-boss accuracy report.

Ranked 30 attackers in 0.2 s (50 Monte Carlo runs each, seed 1). Same boss on pokebattler.com. The same ranking as JSON: /api/raids/rank.