What does a Pokémon being "passive" exactly mean in competitive?

Question

What exactly is the passivity of a Pokemon, and when and why is it called passive? I heard of passivity when I was going through Lugia's analysis:

Lugia is very passive and so fits mainly on fatter balance teams and stall teams. Dragon Tail Zygarde-C can heavily take advantage of non-Substitute Lugia, as it is faster than Lugia.

It would also be kind if you were to explain why Lugia is considered "passive" in this situation as well, apart from answering the main question (Take the format as Nat Dex AG for Lugia, but general competitive for the rest of the question).

Comments

I always thought passivity was not being able to deal much or any direct damage through attacking moves and relying mostly on status and entry hazards.

Answer 1

In the simplest of explanations, they don't do that much damage on their own. These mostly refer to walls whose offensive stats aren't that great. Blissey is a prime example on this one. It mainly relies on toxic and seismic toss, sometimes it doesn't even carry toss, further increasing its passivity

Lugia makes its home in ubers and well, does ubers really mind taking any hit from someone whose offensive stats are only ninety? I'm thinking not really. On the other hand, Lugia is so fat so it is much more useful defensively

So, these passive Pokemon are mostly fat mons who relies mostly on passive damage to deal damage, whether that's by toxic stalling or by phazing or whatever

Comments

Thanks a lot!

Answer 2

A Pokemon considered "passive" is a Pokemon that doesn't do much immediate damage, or a Pokemon that doesn't do damage at all (those are rare). This is a term usually synonymous with stall teams, since they don't do immediate damage, instead relying on Toxic, entry hazards, Rocky Helmet, and other options like Sandstorm, Scald, and Leech Seed. They don't do much immediate damage unlike offensive Pokemon or defensive Pokemon that can double as a decent offensive threat, such as Defog Tornadus-Therian.

Comments

Thanks a lot, but it would be a bit more kind to explain with Lugia's case. Regardless, thanks!

---

Lugia uses Toxic as its main damage source.