[OVERVIEW]
Solgaleo makes excellent use of its all around amazing stat spread to be one of the most powerful Weakness Policy users in the format. This is further backed by its access to both Max Steelspike and Max Quake, giving it the ability to boost both of its defenses. In addition, Full Metal Body renders it immune to Intimidate and other stat drops from attacks such as Regieleki's Electroweb and Dialga's Max Wyrmwind. Solgaleo is notable for its strong matchups against common threats such as Zacian-C, Dialga, and Xerneas as well as for outspeeding the likes of Kyogre, Landorus-T, and Tapu Lele. Unfortunately, Solgaleo has relatively little offensive or defensive pressure until it is boosted, making it reliant on a partner such as Spectrier to activate its Weakness Policy. Its Psychic typing is also a liability, making it weak to Calyrex-S and the plethora of Dark-type options such as Yveltal, Galarian Moltres, and Urshifu-S.
[SET]
name: Weakness Policy
move 1: Sunsteel Strike
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Rock Slide / Close Combat / Wild Charge
move 4: Protect
item: Weakness Policy
ability: Full Metal Body
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
* Sunsteel Strike is Solgaleo's primary attack. While it has lower PP than Iron Head and gives the same Base Power for Max Steelspike, Sunsteel Strike's 20 extra Base Power and its key mechanic of hitting Pokemon like Shedinja and Mimikyu through their abilities are too good to pass up. The Defense boosts from Max Steelspike allow it to win one-on-one against Landorus-T and Calyrex-I.
* Earthquake serves a variety of purposes for Solgaleo. Offensively, Max Quake is able to hit Incineroar, Regieleki, and Steel-types like Zacian-C and Dialga. Defensively, the increased Special Defense allows Solgaleo to much better withstand the onslaughts of special attackers such as Kyogre and Zapdos. Outside of Dynamax, it also provides a very useful spread attack.
* Rock Slide gives Solgaleo a strong way to hit Flying-types that it struggles to touch otherwise, notably Thundurus and Ho-Oh. Close Combat is an effective way to hit Steel-types and Incineroar outside of Dynamax, and Max Knuckle can also be useful for further boosting its Attack. Wild Charge is the best option for hitting the metagame's bulky Water-types, namely Kyogre, Lapras, and Tapu Fini. Furthermore, the Electric Terrain set by Max Lightning is also very useful for blocking opposing sleep moves.
* Weakness Policy is the optimal item for Solgaleo because of its sheer breaking power when boosted, which no other item can grant it. However, Solgaleo should almost always be partnered with a Pokemon capable of activating its Weakness Policy deliberately, such as Spectrier or Raikou; otherwise, the opponent can simply play around it.
* Maximum Speed investment with a Jolly nature is critical for outspeeding Timid Kyogre and Jolly Landorus-T, allowing Solgaleo to boost its defenses before they can land a hit.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
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Flare Blitz can be used in the third moveslot as a way to hit both Steel- and Grass-type Pokemon in one move as well as reset weather with Max Flare; however, there are generally few targets that don't take just as much damage from Max Quake. Psychic Fangs has the nice secondary effect of removing the foe's Light Screen or Reflect, but it hits very little in terms of actual coverage. A bulkier set with Trick Room can also be used, but most of the time it's better to use Necrozma-DM for this purpose due to its lower Speed and higher Attack.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[zeefable, 501951]]
- Quality checked by: [[Raineko, 294287]], [[JashSmash, 362569]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429]]
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