Sand Veil or Rough Skin Garchomp?

Question

I’m surprised this wasn’t already asked. Which ability is better for Garchomp? Sand Veil to boost evasiveness during sandstorm, or Rough Skin to deal damage when an opposing Pokémon makes contact? (I should mention that this Garchomp doesn’t have sandstorm in its moveset and neither do any of the other Pokémon in my party)

Comments

What format?

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sand veil is gimmicky and considering you don't have a sand setter, rough skin is arguably better

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If there's no sand setter or sandstorm then 100% rough skin

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Rough Skin is arguably better.

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I would recommend Rough Skin.

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If you have Sandaconda (only in Crown Tundra of course) I will also recommend Sand Veil. (Because Sandaconda has the ability Sand Spit that creates a sandstorm when hit by an attack.)

Answer 1

Sand Veil isn't very good. Smogon's Evasion Clause bans it entirely in some formats. Even if you're playing a format where it isn't banned, it's still bad, as your team has no sand setters whatsoever. Sandstorm is also generally a waste of a slot, so you would have to get a Pokemon that automatically sets it up.

Rough Skin is generally better. Those little bits of extra damage can make all the difference, plus it can make physical attackers think twice about hitting Garchomp.

Hope I helped!

Comments

Thanks, you’ve helped a lot! :D

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No problem. Please click the green checkmark in the top right of my answer if it helped.

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I am building a sand team and i would like to use garchomp sand veil in sword in shield, but when I use in pokemon showdown it says its banned, in sword and its banned too?

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As the answer says, Evasion Clause means Sand Veil is banned in all formats using Smogon clauses. To avoid this, play a different format that is not governed by Smogon (or does not have Evasion Clause), such as Battle Stadium Singles or VGC.