In the hot summer sun, Steven has paired up with Alolan Sandslash to chill their opponents and leave them stunned and frozen with their icy attacks. Should you fire up your Gem stash and roll for this cool pair?
Yes, there is currently no good Ice-type physical strikers and no other sync pair able to set up endless hail. They have good versatility and powerful attacks. Also, you won’t see them til next summer if you don’t grab them now.
Steven & Sandslash Details
This Sync Pair was released July 31, 2020.
Role: Strike (Physical)
Type: Ice
Weakness: Fighting
Rarity: ★★★★★
Steven’s looking a little festive in his cool summer attire! He and his Alolan Sandslash partner escape the heat by entering caves in search of rare stones.
Stats
| Steven & Sandslash | HP | ATK | DEF | SP.ATK | SP.DEF | SPD | BULK* |
| Lv. 120 | 570 | 380 | 160 | 103 | 131 | 200 | 498 |
| Max Potential | 670 | 420 | 200 | 143 | 171 | 240 | 614 |
*Calculated by: ((HP / 2.75) + DEF +SP.DEF)
Moveset
Move 1 – Icicle Spear | Ice, Physical, Pokémon
Attacks the target two to five times in a row.
Power: 15 / 18 | Accuracy: 90 | Gauge: 2 | Target: An opponent | Max uses: –
Move 2 – X Attack | —, Status, Pokémon
Sharply raises the user’s Attack.
Power: 0 / 0 | Accuracy: 0 | Gauge: 0 | Target: Self | Max uses: 2
Move 3 – Icicle Crash | Ice, Physical, Pokémon
Has a moderate chance of making the target flinch.
Power: 105 / 126 | Accuracy: 90 | Gauge: 3 | Target: An opponent | Max uses: –
Move 4 – Coolest There Is! | —, Status, Trainer
Raises the user’s accuracy and critical-hit rate. In addition, sharply raises the user’s critical-hit rate in a hailstorm.
Power: 0 / 0 | Accuracy: 0 | Gauge: 0 | Target: Self | Max uses: 2
Sync Move: Too Cool Icicle Crash | Ice, Physical, Pokémon
No additional effect.
Power: 250 / 300 | Accuracy: 0 | Gauge: 0 | Target: An opponent | Max uses: –
Passives
Passive 1 – Hail Bringer
Causes a hailstorm after a sync move.
Passive 2 – Snow Shelter
Protects the Pokémon from damage from a hailstorm.
Passive 3 – Invigorating Hail 5
Powers up moves in a hailstorm.
Is it worth rolling for Steven & Sandslash?
Yes, they can cause endless hail with their sync move and between moves and grid, they can cause and benefit from status inflictions. There are plenty of options for Steven & Sandslash to adapt and fit into your team. Plus, they’re a limited sync pair that won’t be around until next summer.
With a powerful Attack and decently high HP, the sync pair will need some support with defenses and speed, but they have the potential to raise their defense and could grab Hasty Hail 2 to speed up move gauge regen.
X Attack will elevate Sandslash’s Attack by two with each use, so the pair cannot max it out on their own. With Coolest There Is! they can raise accuracy by one, which is helpful for Icicle Crash, and their critical-hit rate also by one. However, if used in a hailstorm, critical-hit goes up by two.
If you don’t have another sync pair to add to Sandslash’s critical-hit rate, you could use Coolest There Is! once at the beginning of the battle, and then after their sync move when hail is in effect.
Icicle Spear is Sandslash’s cheaper, less powerful attack, but it can hit between two and five times with each use. Picking up No Quarter ensures it will be a full five attacks each time and Cold Snap 2 could leave the opponent frozen.
Icicle Crash is a powerful hit, costing three bars, with a chance to make the target flinch. With 90% accuracy, you’ll want to use one Coolest There Is! before using this move. The move can be improved with Freeze Synergy 3 and Harry 2 to power up the move when the target is frozen or flinching, respectively.
The two attacking moves work well together and contribute to Sandslash’s effectiveness as a sorely needed physical Ice-type striker.
The sync move Too Cool Icicle Crash isn’t special itself, but it does bring on many benefits. Sandslash’s passive skills help make this sync pair a potential staple to any hail team. Hail Bringer causes a hailstorm after his sync move, Snow Shelter protects Sandslash from hail damage, and Invigorating Hail 5 powers up moves in a hailstorm.
Unlike many strikers who need outside help to cause conditions that they benefit from, Steven & Sandslash can do it all alone. With so many sync grid options, you’ll need to choose what tiles to go for and what other sync pairs might need to bring to the team. Being a limited pair, you’ll want to roll for Steven & Sandslash because you won’t get the chance til next year and sync pairs that want hail might be released in the future.