I think there are a lot of scenarios in which Rockslide can be an exceptional ally, but at face value I believe he has a lot to offer. First of all, he can dish out 9 damage before succumbing to consequential. There are not a lot of allies that can do that out of the box. On the defense side, he can take a solid hit from the villain and still be standing. Sure, it's not as effective as an ally that shows up with a Tough status, but there are only seven of those in the game right now (OCT2022). Of those seven, one belongs to Adam Warlock (Pip), two can have their cost reduced below 4 by other factors (Cap and Colossus) and and one can clear minions but barely survive two rounds (Thor). Captain America, Charlie-27, Colossus, Luke Cage, Pip the Troll, Thor and War Machine.
Yes, there are more that can acquire Toughness, but only seven come into play with it.
Protection doesn't have a lot of cheap allies, so a tank like Rockslide provides alternatives in the cost-heavy area. Sure, I'd rather have Clea most of the time, but this wall of damage doesn't suck. Particularly when you incorporate some of the new ally buffs that Mutant Genesis introduced.
What can I say, I like the guy.