Galarian Rapidash
Attack
Defense
Stamina
Best Movesets
Analysis
Galarian Rapidash looks pretty with its colorful appearance, but with poor stats and existing Pokemon who have superior meta performance, it's mostly a dex entry at this phase of the game.
Offense
- Psycho Cut benefits from STAB, and is preferred for offense.
- Low Kick has no use on offense.
- Fairy Wind can be chosen for a Fairy-type attacker role.
- Psychic gets STAB and is recommended to fulfill a Psychic-type attacker role.
- Play Rough also gets STAB, but performs slightly worse.
- Megahorn and Wild Charge* lack STAB and are not recommended.
- Body Slam has no use on offense.
- Get off your high horse and stop thinking that High Horsepower is good for Galarian Rapidash. I mean, it's a good move and all, but you'd have to be unstable to use it on something like this! Some people may claim it's at least SOMEWHAT viable, but I say neigh. But hey, I'll stop stalling, rein myself in, and get to the point, because I know that you're biting at the bit by now; the mane problems here are that Galarian Rapidash is too weak and lacks STAB on the move. But hey; no need for a long face, you can always just say "what the hay" and use it anyway!
- I'm not sorry. Special credit to Yowgox for pointing out that this move was missing from our review. You can blame him.
Defense
- Fairy Wind is the overall best Fast Move for Galarian Rapidash.
- Low Kick may be useful against Steel-type attackers, but the difference compared to Psycho Cut is minor.
- Body Slam is preferred for being a 3-bar move, and being able to be spammed frequently.
- Psychic and Play Rough perform almost identically on defense, the most notable difference being their coverage.
- Wild Charge* has great raw power, and has overall good defensive performance.
- Megahorn takes the longest to access as a 1-bar move, making it the least desirable.
Psycho Cut features high energy generation and low damage output, despite benefiting from STAB. Fairy Wind is very similar, though its coverage is worse when backed into a corner by Poison-type Pokemon. Low Kick is a Fighting-type move which provides valuable coverage, but its stats are so poor that it's considered one of the worst moves in the game.
Body Slam costs the least amount of energy, has a respectable power for its energy cost, and can be spammed very frequently. The differences between the rest of Galarian Rapidash's charge moves are somewhat minor, and mostly depends on what coverage is preferred. Wild Charge has high raw power and good neutral coverage, making it a great sudden nuke that can also prey on key Water or Flying Types. Psychic takes advantage of STAB to out-damage Megahorn in neutral fights, while Play Rough requires 5 more energy to provide its Fairy-type coverage.
Galarian Rapidash sports a high ATK stat and relatively poor bulk in comparison to many meta picks in this league. While its moveset features an appealing Psycho Cut + Body Slam combo that can spam charge moves very quickly, all of its entire viable movesets are resisted by Steel-type Pokemon. The lack of damage output from its fast move is also discouraging, as it limits Galarian Rapidash's ability to farm down low HP opponents. Overall this Pokemon isn't likely going to challenge the meta in any significant way, and is mostly a niche pick.
