Shadow raid

Shadow Alolan Sandslash counters

#0028

ice steelShadow Tier 3In raids until Tue 6 Oct, 20:00

A Shadow raid boss hits harder than its normal form (Shadow Frenzy), and the Pokemon you catch afterwards is a Shadow. Purified Gems weaken it mid-fight; the simulation does not use them.

Lobby CP

17,597

4,000

Timer

3:00

Attack

145

Defense

159

Difficulty

0.67

Pokebattler scale

Beating Shadow Alolan Sandslash should take 1 trainer with level 40 counters. Caught CP 1,266-1,390.

Weak tofighting2.56xfire2.56xground1.6x

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 Fighting Mega — most top counters attack with Fighting

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 Shadow Alolan Sandslash counters are Mega Mewtwo X, Shadow Reshiram, Keldeo, Shadow Blaziken, Blacephalon & Shadow Heatran.

Suggested party of sixat most one Mega

M. Mewtwo X
S. Reshiram
Keldeo
S. Blaziken
Blacephalon
S. Heatran

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 Mewtwo XMegaLegendarypartyCounter / Dynamic Punch+0.551:37
2Mega DelphoxMegaFire Spin / Mystical Fire+0.621:49
3Mega LucarioMegaForce Palm / Aura Sphere0.651:55
4Mega BlazikenMegaCounter / Aura Sphere0.682:00
5Mega FalinksMegaCounter / Brick Break+0.722:07
6Shadow ReshiramShadowLegendarypartyFire Fang / Fusion Flare0.742:11
7Mega Charizard YMegaFire Spin / Blast Burn0.762:13
8Mega GalladeMegaLow Kick / Sacred Sword0.762:14
9Mega Mewtwo YMegaLegendaryCounter / Focus Blast0.762:14
10KeldeoLegendarypartyLow Kick / Secret Sword0.772:15
11Shadow BlazikenShadowpartyCounter / Aura Sphere0.782:16
12BlacephalonLegendarypartyIncinerate / Mind Blown0.812:21
13Shadow HeatranShadowLegendarypartyFire Spin / Magma Storm0.832:26

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

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

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

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Raid tier — Easy Group Shadow 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 countersSandslash

Raid alerts…

Top 15 Shadow Alolan 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 Mewtwo Xpsychicfightingjoint top pick	fightingCounterfightingDynamic Punch+	6,112	1:37	0.55	2.1	242.8%
2	Mega Delphoxfirepsychic	fireFire SpinfireMystical Fire+	4,783	1:49	0.62	2.6	214.9%
3	Mega Lucariofightingsteel	fightingForce PalmfightingAura Sphere	3,826	1:55	0.65	3.7	204.6%
4	Mega Blazikenfirefighting	fightingCounterfightingAura Sphere	4,161	2:00	0.68	4.0	195.6%
5	Mega Falinksfighting	fightingCounterfightingBrick Break+	3,670	2:07	0.72	4.1	184.8%
6	Shadow Reshiramdragonfire	fireFire FangfireFusion Flare	4,038	2:11	0.74	4.2	179.6%
7	Mega Charizard Yfireflying	fireFire SpinfireBlast Burn	4,455	2:13	0.76	3.2	176.2%
8	Mega Galladepsychicfighting	fightingLow KickfightingSacred Sword	4,521	2:14	0.76	4.2	175.5%
9	Mega Mewtwo Ypsychic	fightingCounterfightingFocus Blast	6,428	2:14	0.76	2.9	175.0%
10	Keldeowaterfighting	fightingLow KickfightingSecret Sword	3,698	2:15	0.77	3.2	173.9%
11	Shadow Blazikenfirefighting	fightingCounterfightingAura Sphere	2,848	2:16	0.78	5.3	172.4%
12	Blacephalonfireghost	fireIncineratefireMind Blown	3,297	2:21	0.81	5.1	166.0%
13	Shadow Heatranfiresteel	fireFire SpinfireMagma Storm	3,754	2:26	0.83	3.2	160.8%
14	Shadow Conkeldurrfighting	fightingForce PalmfightingDynamic Punch	3,337	2:29	0.85	5.4	157.7%
15	Reshiramdragonfire	fireFire FangfireFusion Flare	4,038	2:33	0.87	4.2	153.8%

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 Shadow Alolan Sandslash.

Estimator is how many trainers of this strength the fight needs. Power is the share of Shadow Alolan 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	99%	103%	177.5%	2:12	3.9	0.75
Powder Snow / Drill Run	97%	92%	170.8%	2:17	4.8	0.78
Metal Claw / Drill Run	100%	87%	172.2%	2:16	4.9	0.78
Powder Snow / Bulldoze	100%	99%	174.5%	2:15	4.6	0.77
Metal Claw / Bulldoze	100%	94%	174.6%	2:14	4.8	0.77
Metal Claw / Blizzard	100%	109%	178.0%	2:12	4.1	0.75
Powder Snow / Blizzard	100%	113%	178.1%	2:12	3.9	0.75
Metal Claw / Aerial Ace	100%	117%	182.9%	2:08	3.7	0.73
Metal Claw / Gyro Ball	100%	125%	184.2%	2:07	3.3	0.73
Powder Snow / Gyro Ball	100%	131%	184.5%	2:07	3.1	0.72
Powder Snow / Aerial Ace	100%	119%	185.2%	2:07	3.6	0.72
Powder Snow / Ice Punch	100%	144%	185.6%	2:06	2.6	0.72
Metal Claw / Ice Punch	100%	143%	186.5%	2:06	2.6	0.72

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…

Alolan 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.

fighting2.56x fire2.56x ground1.6x rock1x ghost1x steel1x water1x electric1x dark1x normal0.63x flying0.63x bug0.63x grass0.63x psychic0.63x dragon0.63x fairy0.63x poison0.39x ice0.39x

Double weak (2)
Weak (1)
Neutral (6)
Resists (9)

It resists poison0.39xice0.39xnormal0.625xflying0.625xbug0.625xgrass0.625xpsychic0.625xdragon0.625xfairy0.625x— bringing one of those is throwing damage away.

What Alolan 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 ClawSTAB	6	+5	0.5s	0.23s
icePowder SnowSTAB	6	+15	1.0s	0.85s

Charged moves

Move	Power	Energy	Duration	Hits at
iceBlizzardSTAB	130	-100	3.0s	1.40s
iceIce PunchSTAB	50	-33	2.0s	1.40s
steelGyro BallSTAB	85	-50	3.5s	3.20s
groundDrill Run	85	-50	3.0s	1.90s
groundBulldoze	80	-50	3.5s	2.60s
flyingAerial Ace	55	-33	2.5s	2.00s

Catch CP

What the encounter after the fight can hand you.

IV spread	CP at L20	CP at L25 (weather boosted)
6/6/6floor	1,266	1,582
7/7/7	1,279	1,599
8/8/8	1,293	1,616
9/9/9	1,306	1,633
10/10/10	1,320	1,650
11/11/11	1,334	1,668
12/12/12	1,348	1,685
13/13/13	1,362	1,702
14/14/14	1,376	1,720
15/15/15hundo	1,390	1,737

Caught CP range 1,266 - 1,390, or 1,582 - 1,737 when the weather boosts it.

A raid encounter is level 20 (level 25 weather boosted) and cannot roll an IV below 6/6/6 — a Shadow raid's floor is 6, not the usual 10. Anything outside the first range is not this raid's reward.

LeekDuck publishes 1,266 - 1,390 normal and 1,582 - 1,737 boosted for this boss — both match the table above exactly, computed from base stats rather than copied from it.

Shadow raid floor. A Shadow Raid encounter rolls a minimum of 6/6/6, so this band starts at 1,266, not at the 1,320 a 10/10/10 catch would give. pokebattler.com's own page for a Shadow boss prints that 10/10/10 value as its floor — it is applying the standard-raid rule — so expect its range to start 54 CP higher than this one. LeekDuck's published band agrees with the table above.

When it is in raids

From the raid schedule, refreshed daily.

in raids nowShadow Alolan SandslashShadow Tier 3Shadowshiny availableWed 9 Sept, 06:00 – Tue 6 Oct, 20:00 · ends in 1 day

All settings

Shadow Tier 3: 4,000 HP, 3:00 timer, boss Attack 145 / Defense 159 (15/15/15 at tier CPM 0.76).

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 Mewtwo X psychicfightingmega Counter / Dynamic Punch+	Counter / Dynamic Punch++26 more movesets	100%	242.8%	0.55	1:37	2.1	100%	6,112	42.4	1338
2	Mega Delphox firepsychicmega Fire Spin / Mystical Fire+	Fire Spin / Mystical Fire++23 more movesets	87%	214.9%	0.62	1:49	2.5	100%	4,783	37.0	1251
3	Mega Lucario fightingsteelmega Force Palm / Aura Sphere	Force Palm / Aura Sphere+23 more movesets	77%	204.6%	0.65	1:55	3.8	100%	3,826	36.1	940
4	Mega Blaziken firefightingmega Counter / Aura Sphere	Counter / Aura Sphere+20 more movesets	73%	195.6%	0.68	1:60	4.1	100%	4,161	34.3	866
5	Mega Falinks fightingmega Counter / Brick Break+	Counter / Brick Break++7 more movesets	69%	184.8%	0.72	2:07	4.0	100%	3,670	32.3	824
6	Shadow Reshiram dragonfireshadow Fire Fang / Fusion Flare	Fire Fang / Fusion Flare+9 more movesets	67%	179.6%	0.74	2:11	4.1	100%	4,038	31.6	831
7	Mega Charizard Y fireflyingmega Fire Spin / Blast Burn	Fire Spin / Blast Burn+29 more movesets	68%	176.2%	0.76	2:13	3.1	100%	4,455	30.6	1034
8	Mega Gallade psychicfightingmega Low Kick / Sacred Sword	Low Kick / Sacred Sword+19 more movesets	65%	175.5%	0.76	2:14	4.1	100%	4,521	30.3	793
9	Mega Mewtwo Y psychicmega Counter / Focus Blast	Counter / Focus Blast+26 more movesets	69%	175.0%	0.76	2:14	2.8	100%	6,428	30.3	1069
10	Keldeo waterfighting Low Kick / Secret Sword	Low Kick / Secret Sword+11 more movesets	68%	173.9%	0.77	2:15	3.1	100%	3,698	30.2	1000
11	Shadow Blaziken firefightingshadow Counter / Aura Sphere	Counter / Aura Sphere+20 more movesets	61%	172.4%	0.78	2:16	5.7	100%	2,848	30.8	627
12	Blacephalon fireghost Incinerate / Mind Blown	Incinerate / Mind Blown+7 more movesets	59%	166.0%	0.81	2:21	5.8	98%	3,297	29.7	639
13	Shadow Heatran firesteelshadow Fire Spin / Magma Storm	Fire Spin / Magma Storm+11 more movesets	60%	160.8%	0.83	2:26	3.9	100%	3,754	28.2	1119
14	Shadow Conkeldurr fightingshadow Force Palm / Dynamic Punch	Force Palm / Dynamic Punch+11 more movesets	57%	157.7%	0.85	2:29	5.3	100%	3,337	28.0	641
15	Reshiram dragonfire Fire Fang / Fusion Flare	Fire Fang / Fusion Flare+9 more movesets	57%	153.8%	0.87	2:33	4.2	100%	4,038	26.8	814
16	Lucario fightingsteel Force Palm / Aura Sphere	Force Palm / Aura Sphere+23 more movesets	54%	153.4%	0.87	2:33	6.0	100%	2,703	27.1	617
17	Shadow Moltres fireflyingshadow Fire Spin / Overheat	Fire Spin / Overheat+11 more movesets	57%	153.2%	0.87	2:33	4.2	100%	3,465	26.8	800
18	Shadow Darmanitan (Standard) fireshadow Fire Fang / Overheat	Fire Fang / Overheat+11 more movesets	54%	152.6%	0.88	2:34	5.9	100%	3,105	27.4	614
19	Mega Heracross bugfightingmega Counter / Close Combat	Counter / Close Combat+17 more movesets	57%	152.5%	0.88	2:34	4.2	100%	4,814	26.6	840
20	Shadow Chandelure ghostfireshadow Fire Spin / Overheat	Fire Spin / Overheat+19 more movesets	53%	152.1%	0.88	2:34	6.0	96%	3,268	27.2	615
21	Shadow Charizard fireflyingshadow Fire Spin / Blast Burn	Fire Spin / Blast Burn+29 more movesets	55%	151.8%	0.88	2:35	4.7	100%	2,889	26.5	706
22	Shadow Emboar firefightingshadow Low Kick / Blast Burn	Low Kick / Blast Burn+9 more movesets	53%	151.7%	0.88	2:35	5.8	100%	2,982	26.9	627
23	Shadow Gallade psychicfightingshadow Low Kick / Sacred Sword	Low Kick / Sacred Sword+19 more movesets	53%	151.1%	0.88	2:35	5.9	100%	3,093	27.0	576
24	Mega Charizard X firedragonmega Fire Spin / Blast Burn	Fire Spin / Blast Burn+29 more movesets	55%	150.8%	0.89	2:36	4.5	100%	3,850	26.6	767
25	Shadow Delphox firepsychicshadow Fire Spin / Blast Burn	Fire Spin / Blast Burn+20 more movesets	53%	149.4%	0.89	2:37	5.6	96%	3,059	26.3	699
26	Terrakion rockfighting Double Kick / Sacred Sword	Double Kick / Sacred Sword+11 more movesets	53%	148.7%	0.90	2:38	5.6	100%	3,698	26.2	639
27	Shadow Mewtwo psychicshadow Counter / Focus Blast	Counter / Focus Blast+23 more movesets	52%	144.6%	0.92	2:42	5.1	98%	4,178	25.6	668
28	Blaziken firefighting Counter / Aura Sphere	Counter / Aura Sphere+20 more movesets	50%	143.9%	0.93	2:43	6.2	94%	2,848	25.4	606
29	Shadow Infernape firefightingshadow Fire Spin / Blast Burn	Fire Spin / Blast Burn+7 more movesets	49%	143.6%	0.93	2:43	6.8	100%	2,683	25.7	549
30	Shadow Machamp fightingshadow Counter / Dynamic Punch	Counter / Dynamic Punch+23 more movesets	50%	141.8%	0.94	2:46	6.1	100%	3,056	25.5	558

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 (its Shadow boss page; the ordinary boss's page is a different, easier fight). Boss-by-boss accuracy report.

Ranked ahead of time for these settings (seed 1, 50 Monte Carlo runs each) and served instantly. Same boss on pokebattler.com. The same ranking as JSON: /api/raids/rank.