Sandslash counters

#0028

groundTier 3

Lobby CP

16,292

3,600

Timer

3:00

Attack

143

Defense

138

Difficulty

0.53

Pokebattler scale

Beating Sandslash should take 1 trainer with level 40 counters. Caught CP 1,288-1,356.

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 Sandslash counters are Mega Greninja, Kyurem (White), Shadow Kyogre, Shadow Greninja, Kyurem (Black) & Kartana.

Suggested party of sixat most one Mega

M. Greninja
Kyurem (White)
S. Kyogre
S. Greninja
Kyurem (Black)
Kartana

7 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+0.471:23
2Mega StarmieMegaPsywave / Liquidation+0.491:27
3Primal KyogreMegaLegendaryWaterfall / Origin Pulse0.531:33
4Mega ChesnaughtMegaVine Whip / Seed Bomb+0.531:34
5Kyurem (White)LegendarypartyIce Fang / Ice Burn0.541:36
6Mega SceptileMegaBullet Seed / Frenzy Plant0.571:40
7Shadow KyogreShadowLegendarypartyWaterfall / Origin Pulse0.571:40
8Mega Mewtwo YMegaLegendaryPsycho Cut / Future Sight+0.581:41
9Mega SwampertMegaWater Gun / Hydro Cannon0.601:45
10Mega Mewtwo XMegaLegendaryPsycho Cut / Dynamic Punch+0.611:47
11Shadow GreninjaShadowpartyWater Shuriken / Hydro Cannon0.611:48
12Kyurem (Black)LegendarypartyDragon Tail / Freeze Shock0.621:48
13KartanaLegendarypartyRazor Leaf / Leaf Blade0.621:48

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

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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 Sandslash Alolan Sandslash

Raid alerts…

Top 15 Sandslash 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	1:23	0.47	2.4	281.8%
2	Mega Starmiewaterpsychic	psychicPsywavewaterLiquidation+	3,701	1:27	0.49	2.0	270.5%
3	Primal Kyogrewater	waterWaterfallwaterOrigin Pulse	5,902	1:33	0.53	1.5	252.4%
4	Mega Chesnaughtgrassfighting	grassVine WhipgrassSeed Bomb+	4,093	1:34	0.53	0.8	249.8%
5	Kyurem (White)dragonice	iceIce FangiceIce Burn	4,605	1:36	0.54	2.4	245.3%
6	Mega Sceptilegrassdragon	grassBullet SeedgrassFrenzy Plant	4,056	1:40	0.57	2.2	234.2%
7	Shadow Kyogrewater	waterWaterfallwaterOrigin Pulse	4,115	1:40	0.57	2.5	233.7%
8	Mega Mewtwo Ypsychic	psychicPsycho CutpsychicFuture Sight+	6,428	1:41	0.58	1.9	231.4%
9	Mega Swampertwaterground	waterWater GunwaterHydro Cannon	4,401	1:45	0.60	2.0	223.5%
10	Mega Mewtwo Xpsychicfighting	psychicPsycho CutfightingDynamic Punch+	6,112	1:47	0.61	2.0	218.8%
11	Shadow Greninjawaterdark	waterWater ShurikenwaterHydro Cannon	2,654	1:48	0.61	4.1	218.3%
12	Kyurem (Black)dragonice	dragonDragon TailiceFreeze Shock	4,605	1:48	0.62	2.6	217.1%
13	Kartanagrasssteel	grassRazor LeafgrassLeaf Blade	3,677	1:48	0.62	3.7	216.3%
14	Shadow Kinglerwater	waterBubblewaterCrabhammer	2,829	1:50	0.62	4.2	213.9%
15	Shadow Galarian Darmanitan (Standard)ice	iceIce FangiceAvalanche	3,105	1:52	0.64	5.0	209.9%

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 Sandslash.

Estimator is how many trainers of this strength the fight needs. Power is the share of Sandslash'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.

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%	138%	234.2%	1:40	3.0	0.57
Metal Claw / Earthquake	100%	127%	230.0%	1:42	3.5	0.58
Mud Shot / Scorching Sands	100%	125%	230.7%	1:42	3.4	0.58
Sand Attack / Scorching Sands	100%	125%	230.7%	1:42	3.4	0.58
Mud Shot / Earthquake	100%	126%	232.4%	1:41	3.4	0.58
Metal Claw / Scorching Sands	100%	127%	232.6%	1:41	3.4	0.57
Sand Attack / Earthquake	100%	125%	232.8%	1:41	3.4	0.57
Metal Claw / Bulldoze	100%	144%	234.7%	1:40	2.8	0.57
Mud Shot / Bulldoze	100%	148%	234.9%	1:40	2.8	0.57
Sand Attack / Bulldoze	100%	148%	234.9%	1:40	2.8	0.57
Mud Shot / Rock Tomb	100%	163%	236.4%	1:39	2.2	0.57
Sand Attack / Rock Tomb	100%	163%	236.4%	1:39	2.2	0.57
Metal Claw / Rock Tomb	100%	166%	236.8%	1:39	2.2	0.56

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…

Sandslash 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 Sandslash throws at you

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

Fast moves

Move	Power	Energy	Duration	Hits at
steelMetal Claw	6	+5	0.5s	0.23s
groundMud ShotSTAB	4	+6	0.5s	0.25s
groundSand AttackSTAB	4	+7	0.5s	0.30s

Charged moves

Move	Power	Energy	Duration	Hits at
groundEarthquakeSTAB	140	-100	3.5s	2.60s
groundScorching SandsSTAB	90	-50	3.0s	1.40s
groundBulldozeSTAB	80	-50	3.5s	2.60s
rockRock Tomb	65	-50	3.0s	2.05s

Catch CP

What the encounter after the fight can hand you.

IV spread	CP at L20	CP at L25 (weather boosted)
10/10/10floor	1,288	1,610
11/11/11	1,301	1,627
12/12/12	1,315	1,644
13/13/13	1,329	1,661
14/14/14	1,342	1,678
15/15/15hundo	1,356	1,696

Caught CP range 1,288 - 1,356, or 1,610 - 1,696 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.

Sandslash 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 143 / Defense 138 (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 waterdarkmega Water Shuriken / Surf+	Water Shuriken / Surf++17 more movesets	99%	281.8%	0.47	1:23	2.2	100%	3,784	44.5	1158
2	Mega Starmie waterpsychicmega Psywave / Liquidation+	Psywave / Liquidation++44 more movesets	97%	270.5%	0.49	1:27	1.8	100%	3,701	42.0	1281
3	Primal Kyogre watermega Waterfall / Origin Pulse	Waterfall / Origin Pulse+5 more movesets	94%	252.4%	0.53	1:33	1.4	100%	5,902	39.3	1497
4	Mega Chesnaught grassfightingmega Vine Whip / Seed Bomb+	Vine Whip / Seed Bomb++20 more movesets	100%	249.8%	0.53	1:34	0.7	100%	4,093	38.5	2204
5	Kyurem (White) dragonice Ice Fang / Ice Burn	Ice Fang / Ice Burn+17 more movesets	86%	245.3%	0.54	1:36	2.2	100%	4,605	38.5	1117
6	Mega Sceptile grassdragonmega Bullet Seed / Frenzy Plant	Bullet Seed / Frenzy Plant+11 more movesets	83%	234.2%	0.57	1:40	2.0	100%	4,056	36.7	1178
7	Shadow Kyogre watershadow Waterfall / Origin Pulse	Waterfall / Origin Pulse+5 more movesets	81%	233.7%	0.57	1:40	2.3	100%	4,115	36.3	1078
8	Mega Mewtwo Y psychicmega Psycho Cut / Future Sight+	Psycho Cut / Future Sight++26 more movesets	84%	231.4%	0.58	1:41	1.7	100%	6,428	36.7	1363
9	Mega Swampert watergroundmega Water Gun / Hydro Cannon	Water Gun / Hydro Cannon+11 more movesets	81%	223.5%	0.60	1:45	1.8	100%	4,401	34.7	1300
10	Mega Mewtwo X psychicfightingmega Psycho Cut / Dynamic Punch+	Psycho Cut / Dynamic Punch++26 more movesets	79%	218.8%	0.61	1:47	1.8	100%	6,112	34.0	1298
11	Shadow Greninja waterdarkshadow Water Shuriken / Hydro Cannon	Water Shuriken / Hydro Cannon+14 more movesets	70%	218.3%	0.61	1:48	3.7	100%	2,654	34.3	742
12	Kyurem (Black) dragonice Dragon Tail / Freeze Shock	Dragon Tail / Freeze Shock+11 more movesets	75%	217.1%	0.62	1:48	2.4	100%	4,605	34.6	1057
13	Kartana grasssteel Razor Leaf / Leaf Blade	Razor Leaf / Leaf Blade+14 more movesets	71%	216.3%	0.62	1:48	3.3	100%	3,677	33.7	858
14	Shadow Kingler watershadow Bubble / Crabhammer	Bubble / Crabhammer+14 more movesets	69%	213.9%	0.62	1:50	3.8	100%	2,829	33.8	737
15	Shadow Galarian Darmanitan (Standard) iceshadow Ice Fang / Avalanche	Ice Fang / Avalanche+7 more movesets	66%	209.9%	0.64	1:52	4.5	100%	3,105	33.3	626
16	Shadow Sceptile grassshadow Fury Cutter / Frenzy Plant	Fury Cutter / Frenzy Plant+11 more movesets	70%	206.6%	0.65	1:54	2.8	100%	2,757	32.0	909
17	Mega Rayquaza dragonflyingmega Dragon Tail / Dragon Ascent	Dragon Tail / Dragon Ascent+11 more movesets	77%	204.4%	0.65	1:55	1.2	100%	5,713	31.9	1647
18	Shadow Samurott watershadow Fury Cutter / Hydro Cannon	Fury Cutter / Hydro Cannon+11 more movesets	66%	203.7%	0.66	1:55	3.6	100%	2,826	31.6	765
19	Mega Blastoise watermega Water Gun / Hydro Cannon	Water Gun / Hydro Cannon+14 more movesets	71%	203.4%	0.66	1:55	2.3	100%	3,941	31.7	1063
20	Shadow Mamoswine icegroundshadow Powder Snow / Avalanche	Powder Snow / Avalanche+11 more movesets	66%	202.7%	0.66	1:56	3.5	100%	3,328	31.8	782
21	Inteleon water Water Gun / Hydro Cannon	Water Gun / Hydro Cannon+9 more movesets	65%	200.7%	0.67	1:57	3.8	100%	2,964	31.1	724
22	Shadow Chesnaught grassfightingshadow Vine Whip / Frenzy Plant	Vine Whip / Frenzy Plant+17 more movesets	71%	200.3%	0.67	1:57	2.0	100%	2,954	31.3	1198
23	Mega Venusaur grasspoisonmega Vine Whip / Frenzy Plant	Vine Whip / Frenzy Plant+9 more movesets	69%	199.0%	0.67	1:58	2.3	100%	3,698	31.1	1073
24	Shadow Swampert watergroundshadow Water Gun / Hydro Cannon	Water Gun / Hydro Cannon+11 more movesets	66%	198.3%	0.67	1:58	3.1	100%	2,974	30.9	944
25	Shaymin (Sky) grassflying Magical Leaf / Grass Knot	Magical Leaf / Grass Knot+11 more movesets	74%	197.6%	0.68	1:59	1.4	100%	3,592	30.8	1800
26	Shadow Regigigas normalshadow Hidden Power / Crush Grip	Hidden Power / Crush Grip+7 more movesets	67%	196.5%	0.68	1:59	2.6	100%	4,346	31.0	985
27	Shadow Venusaur grasspoisonshadow Vine Whip / Frenzy Plant	Vine Whip / Frenzy Plant+9 more movesets	63%	195.2%	0.68	2:00	3.7	100%	2,720	30.5	756
28	Shadow Feraligatr watershadow Water Gun / Hydro Cannon	Water Gun / Hydro Cannon+19 more movesets	63%	194.2%	0.69	2:01	3.6	100%	2,857	30.3	778
29	Kyogre water Waterfall / Origin Pulse	Waterfall / Origin Pulse+5 more movesets	67%	194.1%	0.69	2:01	2.3	100%	4,115	30.2	1075
30	Shadow Weavile darkiceshadow Ice Shard / Avalanche	Ice Shard / Avalanche+11 more movesets	60%	191.8%	0.70	2:02	4.4	100%	3,005	30.3	636

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