Guys, I love you, but this week’s mistake is just goofy:
“Golurk finds itself shoehorned into a defensive role in Singles, with Steam Engine and Weakness Policy being too unreliable as not every team carries a Water move and the general difficulty of surviving a Water attack in the first place.”
~FYI, Golurk can’t get Steam Engine. This is a good laugh for a really bad copypasta. Reminds me of two years ago with the “Torkoal with Shadow Sneak and Technician.”
Also, for Salamence, I have some additional options:
Wish passing ‘mence has always been an odd but surprisingly reliable choice. While on Salamence it might be easier to Roost your health back, Wish has great synergy with Intimidate to force switches. Another fun fact- now that Crown tundra brought in the Ability patch, you can now use Wish with Moxie, sorta like a wrecking ball that can heal a teammate when it has nothing left to do. Like a discount Mega Lopunny Healing Wish set.
Defog is nice, but there are better defoggers.
Breaking Swipe- this may seem like a good strat, especially in VGC where Intimidating opponents can hinder them well enough, and you don’t need to switch, plus Intimidate was nerfed against certain abilities, so it seems great. The catch? The same problems that intimidate can cause, such as Adrenaline Orb + Defiant/Competitive are still there. The fact that doesn’t work on Fairies like Azumarill, the Tapu(s), or Zacian. Also, because Dynamaxing is allowed in VGC, all dragon moves drop attack of both opponents, regardless of who it hits. Salamence is better off using other doubles options like Rockslide.