Alolan Sandslash 138/236 · Cosmic Eclipse

Cosmic Eclipse is a set in the Sun & Moon series. It was released on 1 November 2019. The printed size is 236. This checklist is longer, at 272 cards. Alolan Sandslash is 138/236, in position 138 of 272 on this checklist. Before it is 137 Alolan Sandshrew, and after it is 139 Steelix. The listed rarity is Rare.

Alolan Sandslash is a Stage 1 Metal Pokémon with 120 HP. In the Pokédex this is Sandslash (#028), generation 1 (Kanto). The card says it evolves from Alolan Sandshrew. In this catalog that name is Sandshrew (#027).

Hasuno illustrated this card. The same name is on 74 other cards in the catalog.

Sandslash (#028) has 23 other cards in the catalog. Those other cards are in 21 sets. The other printings with a release date run from 1999 to 2025. The earliest other card is Sandslash 41/62 in Fossil (1999). That card is named Sandslash, while this one is Alolan Sandslash. That card lists 70 HP, and this one lists 120 HP. The rarity there is Uncommon, and here it is Rare. Ken Sugimori illustrated that card, and Hasuno illustrated this one. 17 other cards of Sandslash list a different HP.

The attack Curve Strike lists 30 damage. Flip a coin. If heads, prevent all damage done to this Pokémon by attacks during your opponent's next turn. Reinforced Needle is another attack lists 60+ damage. The cost is Metal, Colorless, Colorless. If this Pokémon has a Pokémon Tool card attached to it, this attack does 60 more damage. Weakness is Fire ×2. Resistance is Psychic -20. Retreat cost is 1. The flavor text reads "It runs across snow-covered plains at high speeds. It developed thick, sharp claws to plow through the snow."

I keep a set binder for Cosmic Eclipse, meant to hold every card of that set. This card is one slot in the Cosmic Eclipse set binder. A generation binder holds one card of each species. Sandslash can fill a slot in Generation 1 binder (Kanto). Themed lists that include this exact card are Alolan forms. I still need this card.