Pokémon Sandy Shocks

[ItzaDelta]

Base Stats​

HP: 85
ATK: 81
DEF: 97
SPA: 121
SPD: 85
SPE: 101
Ability: Protosynthesis

Notable Moves​

-Thunderbolt
-Volt Switch
-Earth Power
-Tera Blast
-Stealth Rock
-Spikes

Full Movepool

Thunder Wave @ Lv. 1
Electric Terrain @ Lv. 1
Supersonic @ Lv. 1
Thunder Shock @ Lv. 1
Spark @ Lv. 7
Bulldoze @ Lv. 14
Charge Beam @ Lv. 21
Tri Attack @ Lv. 28
Screech @ Lv. 35
Heavy Slam @ Lv. 42
Metal Sound @ Lv. 49
Discharge @ Lv. 56
Earth Power @ Lv. 63
Mirror Coat @ Lv. 70
Gravity @ Lv. 77
Zap Cannon @ Lv. 84
Magnetic Flux @ Lv. 91
Reminder Moves:
Sunny Day
TM Moves:
Body Slam, Take Down, Hyper Beam, Thunderbolt, Thunder Wave, Thunder, Earthquake, Light Screen, Reflect, Swift, Rest, Substitute, Protect, Spikes, Sandstorm, Endure, Sleep Talk, Sunny Day, Facade, Iron Defense, Mud Shot, Power Gem, Earth Power, Giga Impact, Flash Cannon, Stealth Rock, Charge Beam, Heavy Slam, Electro Ball, Volt Switch, Bulldoze, Wild Charge, Eerie Impulse, Electric Terrain, Stomping Tantrum, Body Press, Tera Blast

Pros​

-Extremely effective STAB combination, capable of hitting a huge amount of Pokemon in the tier for supereffective damage.
-101 speed is just good enough to outspeed most non offensive threats.
-121 special attack + the boosting item of your choice (generally, Specs or Life Orb) ensures a OHKO if it hits super effectively.

Cons​

-Gets outsped and threatened out by almost all offensive threats.
-Has to pick between the extremely prediction reliant Choice Specs, Life Orb, which can be underpowered on neutral hits or Booster Energy, which only works once.
-Extremely reliant on Terastalizing for many matchups.

Terastalizing Potential​

-Tera Ice is, by far, its best Tera typing, as it complements perfectly with its STAB options.
-Can also pick stuff like Tera Water to bait in Palafin and Chien Pao or Tera Flying to bait in Great Tusk and Iron Treads.

Potential Sets​

Sandy Shocks @ Life Orb / Choice Specs
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Ice / Water / Flying
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Earth Power
- Tera Blast
- Volt Switch / Stealth Rock

Sandy Shocks aims to break holes in the opposing team using its great STAB combination + Tera typing, like other wallbreakers similar to it, it really appreciates U-Turn support in order to get safely onto the field.

Other Options​

You could run a Scarf set I guess, though I don't think the drop off in power is worth it.
I've also thought on experimenting with Tera Steel but I can't find a concrete use for that yet.

Overall​

Sandy Shocks is a very fun Pokemon to use, as it can be really annoying for the opponent to switch into in a lot of matchups, it also requires a lot of care to use, as it is not very tanky and a lot of stuff in the tier can just run over it if things go south.
It will probably not be OU, but it will definitely be pretty good once all the broken stuff gets banned.

 

[Yahooboo]

Has anyone tried running this as a dual screens setter? I played a few games with it and it seems fine, but I'm bad and not at a very high position on the ladder. I know Grimmsnarl is tough competition for this role, but Sandy Shocks has way more offensive potential, and Volt Switch might well be easier to get off than Prankster Parting Shot with all the dark types running about.

 

[STEELDRAGON]

Sandy Shocks @ Life Orb / Booster Energy
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fire/Ice
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid/Modest Nature
- Gravity
- Zap Cannon/Thunder
- Earth Power
- Tera Blast

A really underrated mon. One of the few pokemon with Gravity and can help make entry hazards even more lethal and boosts the accuracy of your Electric Moves. Earth Power no longer has any immunities and hits really hard. Fire or Ice Tera Type offer great coverage for the grass types that resist your 2 other moves.

 

[Loginator]

Decent defensive typing makes it hard to switch in? Might want to re-edit that. Also, its bulk is actually pretty good for an offensive mon imo. At least physically.

 

[ItzaDelta]

Decent defensive typing makes it hard to switch in? Might want to re-edit that. Also, its bulk is actually pretty good for an offensive mon imo. At least physically.

Actually true, honestly it doesn't have that big of an issue tanking hits or switching in, so ill probably edit that

 

[GRs Cousin]

Sandy Shocks @ Choice Scarf / Life Orb
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Ice / Grass / Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Earth Power
- Thunderbolt / Tera Blast
- Stealth Rock / Spikes / Power Gem

This thing likely won't stay in OU by the time Home and DLCs introduce more Electric-types, but currently Sandy Shocks is the most powerful Volt Switch user running around. 101 Speed lets it barely inch out on Base 100's, which makes it a perfect contender for Choice Scarf. I think as the meta settles, Sandy Shocks will have a comfortable position in UU if it doesn't end up UUBL outright.

The choice between Thunderbolt and Tera Blast comes out to if you're saving your Tera for another mon or not. If not, multiple options open up: Ice is shoddy defensively but BoltBeam coverage is great always. Grass turns weaknesses to Ground/Water/Grass into resists while beating the former two, makes Quagsire and Rotom-Wash less annoying, and wins against Sandy Shocks and Ditto mirrors. Fire is less necessary now that Flutter Mane is gone, but still appreciates the significant boost if under the sun with Torkoal.

Choice Scarf variant turns it into an effective pivot that simultaneously discourages Volt Switches from other pivots thanks to part-Ground-typing. Faster Electrics can't Volt Switch into it, guaranteeing you the momentum in matchups against Killowatrel and Pawmot, while slower Electrics like Magnezone, Iron Hands and Iron Thorns don't want to stay in on Earth Power. Rotom will remain an issue without Grass Tera, however.

Stealth Rock or Spikes capitalize on switches from things that don't want to eat one of its STAB moves before it gets to Volt Switch out anyway. An interesting option for the Life Orb variant is to run Power Gem for pseudo EdgeQuake coverage that, when paired with Ice Tera BoltBeam, has an amazing spectrum of coverage in 4 moves--Normal, Fighting, Ghost, Psychic, Dark and Fairy are the only things not hit super-effectively here (which actually matters significantly more now thanks to the prevalence of monotypes due to Tera) and the remaining types are easily covered in your remaining team slots.

This and Iron Moth are the main beneficiary Paradoxes of both Sun and Electric Terrain happening at the same time. It likely won't be doing anything in Ubers even with Koraidon and Miraidon running around, but the amount of Torkoal, Ninetales and Tapu Koko that will likely be running around later this gen will be a huge boon for Sandy Shocks in OU.

 

[pika pal]

There's no reason to run Choice Specs or Life Orb on this thing, since Booster Energy is just a free Choice Specs without being locked-in and having a stronger boost than Life Orb without the recoil.

Was noted in the Metagame thread, Protosynthesis (and by extension Booster Energy effects) is only a 30% Boost (LO equivalent) on any stat besides Speed (50% there). This makes it a much less immediate-winner as an Item Choice since it has the once-only issue from LO and is a weaker boost than Specs

 

[GRs Cousin]

Was noted in the Metagame thread, Protosynthesis (and by extension Booster Energy effects) is only a 30% Boost (LO equivalent) on any stat besides Speed (50% there). This makes it a much less immediate-winner as an Item Choice since it has the once-only issue from LO and is a weaker boost than Specs

Ah. That does make some of my calcs inaccurate then. Still, why run Life Orb then if the Booster Energy buff to Special Attack is the same without recoil?

Edit: I see now that Booster Energy's boosts are lost after switching. I once again apologize for being misinformed here, I have updated my post for accuracy.

 

[slayer21809]

who do you use sandy shocks with?

 

[Talpr0ne]

A spread of 48 HP / 208 SpA / 252 Spe Timid can be used to achieve a speed boosting Sandy Shocks. This should probably be used on sun teams which can benefit from the very fast Sandy Shocks and its surprise factor, but is probably not very good with Booster Energy as Shocks doesn't really have the impressive power and coverage of other paradoxes like Iron Valiant.

 

[Playclorox]

Sandy Shocks @ Booster Energy
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 48 HP / 208 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 29 Spe
- Earth Power
- Discharge
- Tera Blast
- Volt Switch

This is something I tossed up. I'm barely getting into comp pokemon so this set is probably wrong. I have 29 on the Spe IV so that Booster Energy can boost the SpA (its highest stat). Tera Fire so you know, it can counter grass types. I gave it a bit of HP so it can live a bit longer on the field.

For its moves, I gave it Earth Power since it's an amazing ground-type move for special users. Discharge so it can get that sweet paralysis for 30%. Tera Blast for the Fire Tera type. Then finally Volt Switch which acts as an amazing pivoting move.

Overall this set is just a much safer version of the more frequent Sandy Shocks that can still pack a punch. Oh and btw thank Talpr0ne for the evs/ nature on this mon.

 

[pika pal]

Sandy Shocks @ Booster Energy
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 48 HP / 208 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 29 Spe
- Earth Power
- Discharge
- Tera Blast
- Volt Switch

This is something I tossed up. I'm barely getting into comp pokemon so this set is probably wrong. I have 29 on the Spe IV so that Booster Energy can boost the SpA (its highest stat). Tera Fire so you know, it can counter grass types. I gave it a bit of HP so it can live a bit longer on the field.

For its moves, I gave it Earth Power since it's an amazing ground-type move for special users. Discharge so it can get that sweet paralysis for 30%. Tera Blast for the Fire Tera type. Then finally Volt Switch which acts as an amazing pivoting move.

Overall this set is just a much safer version of the more frequent Sandy Shocks that can still pack a punch. Oh and btw thank Talpr0ne for the evs/ nature on this mon.

Why the 29 IVs instead of just taking 8 EVs from HP into SpA? Most people doing weird EVs tend to reduce the SpA if anything to make sure it boosts Speed if min-maxing around Booster Energy

 

[Talpr0ne]

Sandy Shocks @ Booster Energy
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 48 HP / 208 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 29 Spe
- Earth Power
- Discharge
- Tera Blast
- Volt Switch

This is something I tossed up. I'm barely getting into comp pokemon so this set is probably wrong. I have 29 on the Spe IV so that Booster Energy can boost the SpA (its highest stat). Tera Fire so you know, it can counter grass types. I gave it a bit of HP so it can live a bit longer on the field.

For its moves, I gave it Earth Power since it's an amazing ground-type move for special users. Discharge so it can get that sweet paralysis for 30%. Tera Blast for the Fire Tera type. Then finally Volt Switch which acts as an amazing pivoting move.

Overall this set is just a much safer version of the more frequent Sandy Shocks that can still pack a punch. Oh and btw thank Talpr0ne for the evs/ nature on this mon.

Yeah there is no point using this ev spread if you are going to reduce its IVs to get less speed than special attack anyway. It's also a spread that is probably more consistent with sun than with Booster Energy.

 

[Playclorox]

Yeah there is no point using this ev spread if you are going to reduce its IVs to get less speed than special attack anyway. It's also a spread that is probably more consistent with sun than with Booster Energy.

Ight thanks, like I said I'm not the best at team building n stuff so thanks for tellin me

 

[pika pal]

Ight thanks, like I said I'm not the best at team building n stuff so thanks for tellin me

Torkoal and Sun are pretty strong right now so I'm sure you could find plenty of suggestions or talk for working a team with it and this. Main thing is that Volt Switch runs counter to the one-use nature of Booster Energy, so you'd probably prefer an All Out Attacker set if using BE, while VS works a bit better for Sun where the Boost can be acquired multiple times.

 

[STEELDRAGON]

Has anyone tried running this as a dual screens setter? I played a few games with it and it seems fine, but I'm bad and not at a very high position on the ladder. I know Grimmsnarl is tough competition for this role, but Sandy Shocks has way more offensive potential, and Volt Switch might well be easier to get off than Prankster Parting Shot with all the dark types running about.

I have tried out a variety of sets with Sandy Shocks including a Dual Screen set. The dual screen set is one of the worst due to its common weaknesses, middle of the road speed, and only decent bulk. There are so many Ground types around the Volt Switch can be a momentum sink. Plus there are a lot better dual Screeners out there like Screan Tail, Grimmsnarl and Kleftki.

 

[jfarias84]

From monotype is a great revenge killer, and counter for mono Fire with Boost SpA for torkoal Drought, coverage for hada with Flash Canon,

Sandy Shocks @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flash Cannon
- Volt Switch
- Earth Power
- Power Gem

 

[_Cicada_]

I really think that Sandy Shocks has potential, he can get free switches against Corviknight, and he outspeeds Gholdengo. I take advantage of these qualities to set up a substitute.

220V (Sandy Shocks) @ Life Orb
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Earth Power
- Substitute

 

[STEELDRAGON]

I really think that Sandy Shocks has potential, he can get free switches against Corviknight, and he outspeeds Gholdengo. I take advantage of these qualities to set up a substitute.

220V (Sandy Shocks) @ Life Orb
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Earth Power
- Substitute

LO+sub cut down on its longevity significantly. I have found Booster Energy or even Magnet/Soft Sand to be better.