Competitive Information for Sandshrew [X/Y]
Ground
Abilities:
Movesets for Singles
What is a good competitive moveset for Sandshrew? These builds have been optimized for Pokemon competing in X/Y Single Battles. The movesets and EVs have been specifically calibrated to deal the most amount of damage to the largest group of potentially common opponents and typing threats for the X/Y generation metagame.
Sandshrew is a wonderful Ground-typed Pokemon. Sandshrew is not a Pokemon anyone usually expects sees on the battlefield. Sandshrew can be quite a contender in the LC tier (Little Cup). Sandshrew is weak to Grass, Ice, and Water-typed attacks.
Item: Expert Belt / Choice Band
Ability: Sand Rush
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 56 Hp / 252 Atk / 200 SpD
Moveset:
- Earthquake / Bulldoze
- Poison Jab / Brick Break
- Knock Off / Night Slash
- Shadow Claw
Physical Sweeper Sandshrew (Sand Rush)
Sandshrew is popular Physical Sweeper. It's meant to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. Choice Band will increase the damage of Sandshrew's physical moves by 1.5x at the cost of locking you into the first move you pick. With Sand Rush, if sandstorm is active Sandshrew's speed is doubled; immunity to sandstorm. Poison Jab or Brick Break are added to provide additional threat coverage.
♦ Bulldoze is a physical STAB-boosted 60-base power Ground-type move (100% chance lower adjacent pkmn speed by 1 stage).
♦ Poison Jab is a physical 80-base power Poison-type move (30% chance to poison the target).
♦ Brick Break is a physical 75-base power Fighting-type move (destroys screens, unless the target is immune).
♦ Knock Off is a physical 65-base power Dark-type move (1.5x damage if foe holds an item; Note: This will also remove that item).
♦ Night Slash is a physical 70-base power Dark-type move (high critical hit ratio).
♦ Shadow Claw is a physical 70-base power Ghost-type move (high critical hit ratio).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/gs10a1b
Movesets for Doubles
What is a good doubles moveset for Sandshrew? These builds have been optimized for X/Y Double Battles. They have movesets and EVs specifically calibrated to generally work best versus multiple Pokemon at once as well as helping to support other team members and allys in the X/Y generation metagame.
Item: Life Orb / Choice Band
Ability: Sand Rush
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 56 Hp / 252 Atk / 200 SpD
Moveset:
- Earthquake / Bulldoze
- Rock Slide
- Poison Jab / Double-Edge
- Knock Off / Night Slash
Doubles Physical Sweeper Sandshrew (Sand Rush)
Sandshrew is popular Physical Sweeper. It is meant to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. Choice Band will increase the damage of Sandshrew's physical moves by 1.5x at the cost of locking you into the first move you pick. Life Orb boosts the power of Sandshrew's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Sand Rush, if sandstorm is active Sandshrew's speed is doubled; immunity to sandstorm. Poison Jab was added to provide additional threat coverage.
♦ Bulldoze is a physical STAB-boosted 60-base power Ground-type move (100% chance lower adjacent pkmn speed by 1 stage).
♦ Rock Slide is a physical 75-base power Rock-type move (30% chance to flinch the foes).
♦ Poison Jab is a physical 80-base power Poison-type move (30% chance to poison the target).
♦ Double-Edge is a physical 120-base power Normal-type move (has 33% recoil).
♦ Knock Off is a physical 65-base power Dark-type move (1.5x damage if foe holds an item; Note: This will also remove that item).
♦ Night Slash is a physical 70-base power Dark-type move (high critical hit ratio).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/gd10a1b
Movepool
Wondering what moves can Sandshrew learn? Here is the list of moves this Pokemon can learn in this selected generation.
Sort and organize the learnset by move type, category, accuracy, and power. Bolded moves will gain the same-type attack bonus (STAB) if this Pokemon uses them.
Damage Modifiers:
Combo List
These are a list of several common move combinations Sandshrew can perform in X/Y. Not every combo going to be game-changing, but some can be pretty fun to play with. Sometimes these can be easily overlooked or forgotten, hence why we find and list them here. Discover what items, abilities, and moves this Pokemon can use in combination with each other to gain a strategic advantage in competitive battles.
Competitive XY Move and Ability Combos for Sandshrew
- Moves: Defense curl + Rollout
- Moves: Endure + Flail
- Moves: Rest + Sleep talk
- Moves: Rest + Snore
- Move: Swagger + Item: Mirror Herb
- Move: Fling + Item: King's Rock
- Move: Facade + Item: Flame Orb
- Move: Facade + Item: Toxic Orb
- Item: Blunder Policy + Move: Dynamic Punch
- Moves with Priority: Endure, Protect
- Moves that Break Screens: Brick Break
- Moves that inflict status: Toxic
Moves that boost Sandshrew's stats
- Defense Curl
- Hone Claws
- Metal Claw
- Rapid Spin
- Swords Dance
Most notable and possible best moves for Sandshrew
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Protect
- Rapid Spin
- Rest
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
Common Effort Values for Sandshrew in X and Y
- Adamant Nature ( 0/252/0/0/0/252 )
- Modest Nature ( 0/0/0/252/0/252 )
- Optimize Sandshrew's EV spread for Pokemon X and Y
Related Videos
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Here are the best movesets for Sandshrew. Top rated Sandshrew X/Y movesets. You can find Sandshrew builds X/Y. Sandshrew movesets X/Y are listed here. VGC Sandshrew Competitive Movesets can be found here. Find various EV spreads, find the best nature for Sandshrew in X/Y along with competitive movesets. Basic info and Movesets for Sandslash evolution