Can anyone recommend a moveset for this Sandslash-A?
Sandslash-A @ Life Orb
Ability: Slush Rush
Nature: Adamant
Effort: 252 Atk / 36 Def / 220 Spd (Lv. 100: 291/328/285/77/166/221)
Currently it has:
Icicle Spear
Iron Head
Rapid Spin
Swords Dance
I was going to add Stone Edge and/or Earthquake. Is Aerial Ace worth considering? And is Iron Head worth keeping? Both this move and Rapid Spin cannot be relearned by Sandslash, so I want to be sure before removing them.
You might as well go max Attack/max Speed Jolly, as Sandslash needs all the Speed it can get under hail. Iron Head is worth keeping as it's one of Sandslash's STABs. I don't think Sandslash has room for Rapid Spin, as it really needs Earthquake to hit opposing Steel Pokemon. Stone Edge is redundant with Sandslash's Ice STAB. Speaking of Ice STAB, Icicle Crash > Icicle Spear because it has a consistent damage output. Tl;dr:
-Swords Dance
-Icicle Crash
-Iron Head
-Earthquake
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Slush Rush
I'm working on my Battle Tree team and am currently encountering a slight coverage problem.
My team
Kommo-o @ Muscle Band (doing what I can with what I have)
Sky Uppercut
Dragon Claw
Earthquake
Sword Dance
EV: a little on attack and Sp Def, most on defence
Kommo-o serves as a bulky main fighter. I gave him some attack EVs so he can 1HKO more consistently.
Pheromosa @Focus Sash
Jump Kick
U-Turn
Poison Jab (to deal with Fairies)
Ice beam or Bug Buzz
EV: Most in Speed some in attack so Attack is Beast Boosted
My revenge killer. The goal is to 1HKO pretty much everything it can.
Tapu Fini @Leftovers
Nature's Madness
Surf
Moonblast
Hydro Pump (thinking of swapping it for Shadow Ball)
Now I'm facing a bit of a pickle against Fairies, as Tapu Fini's offensive power is rather lackluster and I'd rather not depend on Phero's poison jab. I could teach Tapu Fini Smart Strike (which would also help against Double Team spammers), but the damage is gonna suck pretty bad.
My other option is to swap Tapu for an offensive Toxapex (@Merciless. Surf, Baneful Bunker, Recover, Toxic/ Venoshock) or Pheromosa for a Kartana (if I can get him speedy enough to outspeed pretty much everything)
While I agree with swapping Tapu Fini out, Toxapex doesn't have what it takes to be an offensive mon. It's excellent as a defensive one tho. You could make use of one of the other Tapus, or if you want something more anti-Fairy, use Celesteela/Kartana.
I don't think Earthquake is that useful on Kommo-o, as it's redundant with its Fighting STAB. Switch it for Poison Jab. Replace Dragon Claw with Outrage, as Kommo-o already has Sky Uppercut as a consistent STAB and change its item to Lum Berry, if you can get it.
Tapu Fini's Attack is just too weak for it to use Smart Strike. As Nah mentioned, you're better off using Celesteela or Kartana as Fairy killers, as they have STAB on their anti-Fairy attacks:
Celesteela:
-Heavy Slam
-Flamethrower/Earthquake
-Leech Seed
-Protect
Nature: Sassy/Careful
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 SDef
Item: Leftovers/Sitrus Berry
or
-Autotomize
-Flash Cannon
-Air Slash
-Flamethrower/Fire Blast
Nature: Modest
EVs: 252 SAtk/4 SDef/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Weakness Policy
or
-Autotomize
-Heavy Slam
-Earthquake
-Fire Blast/Flamethrower
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/4 SDef/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Weakness Policy
Kartana:
-Leaf Blade
-Smart Strike
-Sacred Sword
-Swords Dance/Night Slash
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 SDef/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Steelium Z/Fightinium Z/Focus Sash/Choice Scarf