Glalie - Best Moveset & Build | Pokemon Sword Shield

Last Updated: August 21, 2022 10:59 PM

Find out how to breed Glalie in Pokemon Sword and Shield! Learn about the best competitive Glalie movesets, best builds, best nature, counters and the breeding process!!!

Table of Contents

Best Moveset & Build
Best Moves
Best Items
Best Nature And EVs
Counters
Competitive Breeding Process

Glalie Related Articles

Location & Stats

Competitive Build

Glalie Best Moveset & Build

Total Base Stats	480
Type

Moody Build

Best Nature	Best Item
Timid (Speed↑ / Atk ↓)	Leftovers
Best Ability
Moody Randomly raises one stat by 2 stages and lowers another by 1 stage at the end of every turn.
Best Moveset
Protect / Substitute / Freeze-Dry / Sheer Cold ▼Check Move Info Here
Best EV Spread
Speed 252, HP 252, Defense 4

Protect/Substitute While Stats Get Boosted

The key to this build is stalling for as long as possible while your ability, Moody, automatically raises your stats. The Leftovers here are to heal up the damage you deal to yourself with Substitute.

Choose 2 Attacking Moves

Substitute & Protect are mandatory here, but the remaining two attack moves are up to you. You could choose from Frost Breath, which is effective even if your Sp. Atk is lowered, Sheer Cold, which can one shot irritating tanks, or Freeze-Dry, which is super effective against Water types (which are relatively common in this meta.)

Paralyze Opponents

Glalie's Moody works well with opponents who have been paralyzed and have their speed lowered. This is to ensure that you can get the Substitute off fast. For this reason, it's highly recommended to have another paralyzer support Glalie. Grimmsnarl, Dragapult, and Tyranitar are all good Thunder Wave users who can fill this role.

Moody Was Buffed?

In generation 7, Moody used to have a chance to buff Accuracy and Evasions, but in Sword and Shield, these two stats were removed from the list of stats boostable by Moody. Although boosting Evasion was effective in turning the battle into a game of pure luck, the stat is not as important in Gen 8, given that Max Moves always hit their target. Therefore we could think of Moody losing those two stats as a buff.

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Glalie - Best Moves

Moody Build

Recommended Moves

Move/Type	Reason
Substitute	Sacrifice 25% health to set up a Substitute. Useful for buying as much time as possible to build up Moody.
Protect	Protects you from all damage for a turn. Excellent for buying time.
Freeze-Dry	An Ice move which is actually also super effective against Water types. Since Water types are relatively common, this comes highly recommended.
Sheer Cold	Has a very low chance of one-shotting your opponent. Useful VS. Tanks.

Other Viable Moves

Move/Type	Reason
Frost Breath	Always lands a critical hit. Useful even if your Sp.Atk gets lowered.
Earthquake	Strong physical move, good type coverage.
Taunt	Forces the opponent to use attacking moves. Good versus tanks or Pokemon that setup.
Iron Head	Good coverage move.

Glalie - Best Item to Hold

Item	Traits
Leftovers	Most recommended item for this build, used to recover health lost from Substitute.

Check Out Battle Item Locations Here!

Glalie - Best Nature And EVs

Glalie - Recommended Natures

Nature	Traits
Jolly	Speed↑ / Sp.Atk↓ For variants which will use mostly physical moves like Iron Head or Earthquake.
Timid	Speed / Atk If you plan to use mostly special moves like Frost Breath or Freeze-Dry.

Which Nature Would You Recommend?

Recommended Base Point (EV) Allocation

Moody Build

Stat	Base Point
Speed	252 points (max)
HP	252 points (max)
Def	4 points

Speed is necessary to ensure you get Substitute out first, and HP is preferable because it cannot otherwise be boosted by Moody.

Check Out The EV (Base Point) Guide Here!

Glalie Counters

Recommended Pokemon To Counter Glalie

Pokemon	Explanation
Cloyster	Pros - Rock Blast is super effective and breaks through Substitute - Immune to Sheer Cold Cons - None
Chandelure	Pros - Resists Ice moves - Fire moves are super effective - (Hidden Ability) Infiltrator can pierce through Substitute Cons - None
Charizard	Pros - Fire moves are super effective - Resists Ice moves Cons - None
Sylveon	Pros - Hyper Voice can break through Substitute - Bulky, hard to take down Cons - None
Toxtricity	Pros - Boomburst breaks through Substitute - Punk Rock increases sound move power Cons - None

How To Play Against Glalie

Use Sound Moves To Break Substitute

In Pokemon X/Y, Sound moves were changed to be able to hit a Pokemon through a Substitute. Sylveon's Hyper Voice or Toxtricity's Boomburst are highly recommended to deal with Glalie (or other Substitute users.)

Send Out A Faster, Stronger Pokemon

Glalie's super average 80 base stats across the board can easily be overcome by a more specialized Pokemon. Attack it before it sets up the initial Substitute to take it out.

Tanks Will Struggle

Tanks that require a long, protracted battle in order to be successful will struggle against Glalie. The longer Glalie is out, the stronger it becomes, so try to keep battles as short as possible.

Glalie - Competitive Breeding Process

Breeding Process Flow Chart

1	Catch Glalie on Route 10 or Snorunt on Route 8.
2	Hatch Eggs until you get a High IV Snorunt
3	Breed that Snorunt until you get one with a Timid Nature
4	Put 252 EVs in Speed, 252 EVs in HP, and 4 in Defense
5	Max out its Dynamax Level
6	Teach it Protect, Substitute, Freeze-Dry, and Sheer Cold
7	Equip Leftovers