Solgaleo and Lunala are the mascot Pokémon of the games, their original concepts and very interesting designs makes them very desirable Pokémon to have on our team. And just like any other flagship Pokémon, it's hard to decide which one we should include in our team. Of course, we can have both, but favoritism and team comp are a thing.
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We will cover how effective are they in a competitive situation, as while it'd be interesting to say who's better based on their looks or Pokédex entries, it'd make for a very biased list. Once you finish reading this, you'll have a better understanding about how to use each of these Pokémon efficiently.
10 Solgaleo Full Metal Body
Solgaleo's ability, Full Metal Body, allows him to resist most types of stat-reducing abilities. This allows Solgaleo to be able to shrug off common abilities that reduce a Pokemon's stats, like Intimidate, and secondary stat-reducing effects of common moves like Icy Wind or Play Rough.
You can use Solgaleo's ability against other Pokémon that are built to reduce stats. Its only downside is that it doesn't prevent Solgaleo's stats from being reduced by impairment status, if he's paralyzed he'll become slower, and if he's burned his attack will still be reduced.
9 Lunala's Shadow Shield
Lunala's ability, Shadow Shield, makes her take reduced damage when she's at max health. This move lets her resist one critical damage or super effective move, preventing her from being knocked out or from taking considerable damage before retaliating.
It's also a nice ability if the player were to choose Lunala to counter another Pokémon, as it would resist the incoming move made by the enemy Pokémon. This ability also resists ability-ignoring moves, so it won't be countered that easily. It's only downside is that its effectiveness can be reduced if there are spikes in the field or if Lunala gets Poisoned.
8 Solgaleo's Attack And HP Stats
Solgaleo's attack stat is pretty decent for a legendary Pokémon, and the fact that its stats can't be lowered due to his ability makes him a Pokémon that's very hard to cripple. It has a base Attack stat of 137, which makes him the 5th Steel-type with the highest Attack stat of the Generation VIII games.
He also has high base HP, in fact, he has the highest HP stat of all Steel-type Pokémon. His HP also helps him due to his many resistances, which makes his hit points even more effective, especially when he's not being hit by Special Attack moves.
7 Lunala's Special Attack Stat
Just like any legendary Pokémon, Lunala's Special Attack makes her deadly against other Pokémon with low Special Defense. She has a base Special Attack of 137, which makes her the 5th Ghost-type Pokémon with the highest Special Attack of the Generation VIII games.
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This lets her use a wider range Psychic-type and Ghost-type moves, as there are a lot of Special damage dealing moves among these types. Lunala's movesets put a lot of importance on this stat, as she has a speed that is decent enough to act quickly and knock out her opponents before they can react.
6 Solgaleo's Typing
His Psychic/Steel combination lets him resist other 9 types, which offers him more bulk against other moves. Sadly, it gives him weakness against Ground, Ghost, Fire and Dark, which are very common types among Pokémon that can either resist Solgaleo's attacks or outspeed him.
Thanks to his Steel typing, he's also inmune to Poison-types moves, which inherentlymakes him immune against the move Toxic and any other types of poisoning moves. The sad thing is that it makes him weak against Fire-type moves, which can leave him crippled if he were to get burned as his Attack statwould be reduced.
5 Lunala's Typing
Lunala's type is Psychic/Ghost, which is a combination that she shares with only two other Pokémon: Dawn Wings Necrozma and Hoopa Confined. This typing offers her immunity against Normal and Fighting moves, and resistance against Fairy and Poison moves, which reduces her vulnerabilities against common types used competitively.
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While she's only weak against Dark and Ghost-type moves, she takes 4x the damage from attacks of these types. This is because both Psychic and Ghost types are weak against those 2 types. Her weakness against Dark moves also makes her very vulnerable against Pursuit, which is one of the most used moves among competitive battles.
4 Solgaleo Is A Team Player
While Lunala is able to shine on her own, Solgaleo is often used to support other better-typed offensive Pokémon, as he can defeat common Pokes that can be hard to rid. Since it might be hard to understand how an offensive Pokémon can support others, let'suse an example.
If your main offensive Pokémon just got countered by a Poison Pokémon, then you can switch in a Solgaleo to counter it. You can also switch this strategy, as you can use another Pokémon to support Solgaleo if he were to get countered by a fast Poke that's strong against him, like Gengar.
3 Lunala Can Be Played Defensively
If there's something that Lunala cando strictly better than Solgaleo, it is playing defense. Her Shadow Shield ability, coupled with her access to the Roost move, can make her recover efficiently from most attacks. You can even add in the moves Defog and Toxic to make her even more annoying to deal with, and to remove any field hazards your opponent may use.
This can make Lunala a very hard to remove Pokémon if the enemy trainer doesn't poison or burn her, or if it doesn't have access to moves that are super effective against her. This is due to her ability being effectively negated if she's poisoned or burned, and because she wouldn't be able to properly recover -or survive- against a move that deals 4x damage.
2 Lunala And Solgaleo Movesets
Lunala and Solgaleo both have access to a signature move that lets them ignore defenses and abilities, but since everyone knows that it'd better to cover their other options. Lunala has access to a stellar moveset, which ranges from the very useful Roost, which she can use in tandem with her ability to become a stalling choice, to the many Psychic and Ghost-type moves that benefits from her Special Attack.
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Barring Zen Headbutt, Solgaleo doesn't have any other Psychic-type move that benefits from his Attack stat, making it pretty much a mediocre type for Solgaleo. But while he doesn't benefit that much from his Psychic typing, Solgaleo still has access to a good range of offensive moves, like Flare Blitz and Earthquake, which he can use on common competitive Pokémon.
1 Solgaleo Vs. Lunala - Team Composition
Now that you've seen both their weaknesses and strengths, it's time to pick a winner. Lunala's wider movepool and abilities make her a more versatile Pokémon, as she can be built to be both an offensive menace, or a more stalling oriented team member. And while her ability lets her resist attacks, she has 4x weaknesses to very common competitive types.
Meanwhile, Solgaleo isn't as versatile, has a more limited movepool, and its ability isn't as good as Lunala's, but while he's weak to 4 types, he just receives 2x damage from them. In conclusion, both Pokémon can fill different niches pretty well, Lunala shines on her own until she gets hit by a super effective move, and Solgaleo can be a good revenge killer and bulky offensive team member. They both win in the hands of good players!
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