Overview
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With its Mega Evolution aileron-rolling into existence in ORAS, Salamence finally assumes its position as a formidable threat in the Ubers tier. Salamence's offensive stats as a whole are absolutely solid, with its base 120 Speed tying with Arceus's and its powerful base 145 Attack stat that is backed up by Aerialate. Salamence's 95 / 130 / 90 bulk is solid by Ubers standards and when combined with one of its pre-Mega Evolution abilities in Intimidate, it gives Salamence a plethora of setup opportunities and extra utility and making it a chore to revenge kill. By virtue of its typing, bulk, and Intimidate, Salamence also finds it easy to fit in a team slot because it can check Primal Groudon, Extreme Killer Arceus, Ho-Oh, and Mega Blaziken, a role that many team archetypes greatly appreciate. These traits as a whole make Salamence extremely self-sufficient and great team glue for offense and balance archetypes. However, Salamence's Dragon / Flying typing gives it flaws such as a 4x weakness to Ice and a 2x weakness to Stealth Rock, though these can be easily alleviated. Salamence's potency in the Ubers tier cannot be overlooked when teambuilding, as it will steamroll unprepared teams if left unchecked.
Dragon Dance
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name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Roost
move 3: Double-Edge / Return
move 4: Earthquake / Substitute / Refresh
ability: Intimidate
item: Salamencite
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly
Moves
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Dragon Dance lets Salamence outspeed the entire unboosted metagame and hit extremely hard after a single boost. Roost coupled with Salamence's natural bulk allows it to set up consistently throughout the match. Double-Edge is more powerful than Life Orb Rayquaza's Dragon Ascent, but the recoil can be a bit of a hassle, as Salamence is then forced to Roost frequently or risk being revenge killed. Return is safer move but noticeably weaker than Double-Edge. Earthquake gives Salamence the best possible coverage with Return or Double-Edge, hitting the Rock- and Steel-types that resist Flying. Substitute can be used instead of Earthquake to safely boost and avoid revenge kills but should not be used with Double-Edge, as otherwise, Salamence will be worn down considerably. Refresh lets Salamence absorb status and shake off a burn or paralysis. Thrash can be used as an alternate Double-Edge, but be careful of Steel-types such as Klefki and Skarmory that can take advantage of a move-locked Salamence. Facade is a formidable move that outdamages Double-Edge and means that Salamence will not be crippled by a stray Will-O-Wisp. If Skarmory and Bronzong are concerns to Salamence's team, Fire Blast is a coverage option over Earthquake to hit them but leaves Salamence vulnerable to Heatran as a consequence.
Set Details
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Maximum Attack and Speed EVs with a Jolly nature give Salamence the ability to Speed tie with maximum Speed Arceus and to hit as hard as possible. However, an Adamant nature with Double-Edge bestows Salamence the ability to pose as a solid wallbreaker before using Dragon Dance. An EV Spread of 48 HP / 252 Atk / 212 Spe lets Salamence outspeed the base 100 Speed tier and gives it more bulk to ease setup and pose more of a threat to opposing walls.
Usage Tips
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If Salamence is not running Earthquake, removing opposing Steel-types is a top priority, unless the Steel-types on the opponent's team do not have recovery, such as Klefki and Aegislash, in which case Salamence can simply wear them down with Double-Edge or Return. Playing cautiously against paralysis and burn spreaders is also recommended, but if Salamence is carrying Substitute or Refresh, this style of play is not completely necessary. Double-Edge has very high recoil due to the proportions of Salamence's power, so be aware of the residual damage that Salamence has to take when sweeping with a +1 Double-Edge, especially if Stealth Rock is set up.
Team Options
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Rayquaza is an outstanding teammate for Salamence, as the two exert insane amounts of offensive pressure on the opponent's walls at the cost of defensive synergy. Primal Groudon can set up Stealth Rock for Salamence to damage opposing walls and can soak up the Stone Edges and Ice Beams that Salamence cannot. Other Stealth Rock setters such as Landorus-T and Dialga are also helpful, and Dialga in particular can save a possible Shuca Berry due to Salamence's useful Ground-immunity. Darkrai and Yveltal are solid answers to Lugia and Skarmory, two of Salamence's biggest checks. The two have their own ups and downs when partnered with Salamence; Darkrai does not stack a Stealth Rock weakness, wheras Yveltal has a lot more longevity and bulk than Darkrai. Klefki is an excellent entry hazard partner with Salamence, as it checks support Arceus and Xerneas, sets up Spikes to help Salamence sweep, and the two have great type synergy with each other. Ho-Oh soft checks Xerneas and can annihilate the Steel-types that give Salamence some trouble, but is 4x weak to Stealth Rock. Support Arceus variants with Defog can be useful entry hazard removers and can alleviate Salamence's Stealth Rock weakness, but other Defoggers such as the Latios, Latias, and Giratina-O can be used, at the cost of sharing weaknesses to Dragon and Ice with Salamence.
Bulky Dragon Dance
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name: Bulky Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Roost
move 3: Return
move 4: Refresh
ability: Intimidate
item: Salamencite
evs: 248 HP / 136 Def / 124 Spe
nature: Impish
Moves
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Dragon Dance and Roost allow Salamence to set up throughout the match, which is a very solid win condition with bulk investment. Return is the most reliable move Salamence can use without any drawbacks and is very useful when Salamence has set up repeatedly. Refresh allows Salamence to absorb status effectively, which lets it take Sacred Fires from Ho-Oh and Lava Plumes from Primal Groudon, making this variant of Salamence solid checks to them. Earthquake can be an option over Refresh to hit Primal Groudon and Steel-types harder than Return does, but it removes Salamence's ability to check Ho-Oh and utility as a status sponge. Body Slam can be used over Return to spread paralysis and have even more utility but needs more accumulated boosts than Return to do effective damage.
Set Details
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The above EVs and an Impish nature give Salamence as much bulk as possible while outspeeding the base 90 Speed tier. If threats in the base 100 Speed tier such as Palkia and Mega Kangaskhan pose as threats to Salamence's team, then a spread of 248 HP / 48 Def / 212 Spe with an Impish nature can outspeed the base 100 Speed tier at the cost of bulk.
Usage Tips
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Bulky Dragon Dance Salamence does not absolutely need to set up to be effective, as it hard checks Ho-Oh, Extreme Killer Arceus, Primal Groudon, and Mega Blaziken, so using it as a pivot against these Pokemon early- to mid-game is highly recommended. Using Refresh frequently when afflicted with a status condition is important, as Salamence is weak to Stealth Rock and has no passive recovery. Mega Evolving immediately is not always the correct course of action, as Intimidate is extremely useful for Salamence and allows it to take hits, but Mega Evolving to outspeed Primal Groudon or Palkia, for example, is also appropriate.
Team Options
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Rock Arceus can help by providing a solid backup check to Ho-Oh and Defog support, giving Salamence a lot more wiggle room to set up in a match. Other support Arceus formes work well as Defoggers, as Latios, Latias, and Giratina-O stack weaknesses to Dragon and Ice with Salamence. Aegislash hard checks Xerneas, something that bulky Dragon Dance Salamence has trouble with, can Pursuit trap Latios and Latias, and can cripple most of Salamence's non-Steel-type checks such as Lugia and Primal Groudon with Toxic. Support Primal Groudon with Lava Plume is an almost-devious partner for this variant of Salamence, as it provides Stealth Rock support, a check to Xerneas, and can defeat almost all of Salamence's checks other than Lugia. Speaking of which, Lugia is a very good support Pokemon to Salamence, as it checks Primal Groudon and Xerneas, in addition to providing residual damage with Toxic and Whirlwind, whittling down the opposing teams tanks. Lugia also appreciates Refresh from Salamence, as having a status absorber eases the pressure put on Lugia.
Other Options
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A defensive variant of Salamence with Wish can still hit hard enough with an Aerialate-boosted Return, pass relatively solid Wishes, and is useful when one realizes that Salamence checks a nice amount of the physical Ubers metagame, but the amount of offensive pressure that Salamence offers with Dragon Dance outweighs its defensive capabilities. Salamence is capable of pulling off a specially offensive set with moves such as Hyper Voice and Draco Meteor, but has no way to boost its Special Attack, which is a rather mediocre base 120 Special Attack. Defog is also nice for Salamence, as it can provide entry hazard removal for its team, but usually does not offer as much offensive utility as Salamence's other moves do. Dragon Tail has decent utility on defensive sets to phaze out foes and on offensive sets to wear down Salamence's checks, but it doesn't really enforce the offensive pressure Salamence exerts on foes.Tailwind is a nice move on wallbreaker sets with Double-Edge to boost the Speed of Salamence and its teammates. Dragon Claw or Outrage gives Salamence the ability to utilize its Dragon STAB, but doesn't offer the coverage or power that Return or Double-Edge do, respectively, in addition to giving Fairy-types a free switch-in. Iron Defense, though very niche, lets Salamence bypass physically defensive Yveltal variants if used alongside Dragon Dance. Headbutt does not have much damage output compared to Return, but the 30% chance to flinch can be life-saving in difficult situations.
Checks & Counters
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**Lugia**: By far the most useful check to Salamence, Lugia can take multiple hits from a boosted Salamence and either phaze it out with Whirlwind or 2HKO it with Ice Beam (0 SpA Ice Beam has a 25% chance to OHKO 248 HP Mega Salamence after Stealth Rock damage). However, Lugia cannot switch into a +1 Double-Edge or Return from an Adamant Mega Salamence if Stealth Rock is set up.
**Primal Groudon**: Primal Groudon's Stone Edge can 2HKO standard Earthquake-lacking Salamence after Stealth Rock. However, bulky Dragon Dance variants of Salamence can switch into Stone Edge, use Roost, then set up on Primal Groudon. Also, Primal Groudon does not do significant damage to regular Salamence if it has been Intimidated.
**Rock Arceus**: Rock Arceus can cripple Salamence with Will-O-Wisp and OHKO all variants of Mega Salamence after Stealth Rock with Judgment. However, Rock Arceus without defensive investment does not have an easy time taking on Earthquake variants of Salamence.
**Skamory**: Skarmory can take boosted Returns and Double-Edges from Salamence extremely well, and can phaze it out with Whirlwind, hit it with Counter, or set up Stealth Rock as Salamence switches out, discouraging it from coming back in. Unfortunately, Skarmory gets 2HKOd by a 0- SpA Fire Blast, a move that has to be taken into account.
**Klefki**: Klefki, though it does not appreciate taking boosted Double-Edges and Returns, can cripple Salamence with Thunder Wave and 3HKO it with Play Rough. However, Refresh or Earthquake variants of Salamence can easily break through Klefki.
**Landorus-T**: Physically defensive variants of Landorus-T can take on both regular and bulky Dragon Dance Salamence decently due to Intimidate, and can 2HKO Salamence with Stone Edge after Stealth Rock. Unfortunately, unboosted Adamant Salamence can 2HKO Landorus-T with either Return or Double-Edge.
**Mega Metagross**: Mega Metagross with Ice Punch can adequately deal with and OHKO all variants of Salamence. However, +1 Adamant Earthquake from Mega Salamence has a small chance to OHKO 136 HP Mega Metagross after Stealth Rock damage, so exercise caution against wallbreaker variants of Salamence.
**Electric Arceus**: Similarly to Rock Arceus, Electric Arceus can take boosted Returns and Double-Edges and OHKO Salamence with Ice Beam or Blizzard. However, because most Electric Arceus variants are offensive and do not carry defensive investment, Electric Arceus often falls prey to Earthquake variants of Salamence.
**Deoxys-A**: Though it only soft checks Salamence if it has an intact Focus Sash, Deoxys-A can revenge kill boosted Mega Salamence with Psycho Boost, but needs Stealth Rock damage to have a chance to KO bulky Dragon Dance variants.
**Shuca Berry Dialga**: Shuca Berry variants of Dialga can take at least one boosted Earthquake from Mega Salamence thanks to their Berry and always OHKO it back with Draco Meteor or phaze it with Roar.
Overview
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+ A croissant
+ Checks Ekiller + Mega Blaze + Pdon well
+ Amazing power and Speed tier; extremely effective DD sweeper
+ Hard to revenge kill; great bulk + Intimidate greatly ease setup
+ Good team glue for both offense and balance; extremely self-sufficient
- SR Weak
- Ice weakness is unfortunately rather exploitable
- think of more cons, this thing is good
Dragon Dance
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name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Roost
move 3: Double-Edge / Return
move 4: Earthquake / Substitute / Refresh
ability: Intimidate
item: Salamencite
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly
Moves
========
- Double-Edge gives the "edge" in power at cost of recoil
- Return is consistent, albeit much weaker
- EQ for Steels and general coverage
- Sub to escape revenge kills
- Refresh can absorb status
- Roost+DD is necessary for longevity+sweeping
- Thrash has equal power to Double Edge at the cost of being locked into it. Beware of being taken advantage of by levitating Steels
- Facade lets Salamence absorb WoW from support Arceus formes while having greater power than Double-Edge
- Fire Blast borks Skarmory and Bronzong, but leaves you vulnerable to Heatran
Set Details
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- Jolly for the CM Arc+Jolly EKiller Speed tie
- Adamant for large power spike with Double-Edge; a set of 48 HP / 252 Atk / 212 Spe Spe with Adamant can wallbreak effectively with Double Edge while gaining bulk and outspeeding base 100s
Usage Tips
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- If Salamence is mono-attacking, try to clear Steel-types before setting up, or wear down the Steel-types without recovery (Klefki+Aegislash) and clean from there
- Be wary of burns if lacking Refresh or Substitute
- Try to make sure that you find a perfect sweeping opportunity with Double-Edge, as the recoil may be hard to keep track of if you switch out, especially if SR is up. This can leave you prone to revenge killing or accidentally suicidieng Salamence against a non-Flying resist
Team Options
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- PDon can take some Ice moves, but can eat a Stone Edge and force out opponents. It can also set SR, which is invaluable
- Rayquaza can wallbreak almost everything that Salamence has trouble with bar Lugia, while Refresh/Substitute Salamence can run over support Arceus formes
- Darkrai and Yveltal can get past Lugia and Skarmory with Taunt for Salamence to make a clean sweep. However, Darkrai does not stack a Stealth Rock weakness with Salamence, while Yveltal has significantly more longevity than Darkrai
- Klefki is a very good hazard option due to the two's type synergy, and that Klefki can deal with Xerneas and lay Spikes
- Ho-Oh destroys Steel-types for Salamence and is also a good switch-in for Xerneas, but beware the Stealth Rock weakness
- SR support from things such as PDon and Dialga are appreciated
Bulky Dragon Dance
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name: Bulky Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Roost
move 3: Return
move 4: Refresh
ability: Intimidate
item: Salamencite
evs: 248 HP / 136 Def / 124 Spe
nature: Impish
Moves
========
- DD+Roost allows for consistent setup with Salamence's bulk
- Refresh lets Salamence absorb status and allow it to switch into Ho-Oh's Sacred Fire and stray Lava Plumes from PDon effectively
- Return is the most consistent Flying STAB to spam after Salamence has sufficiently boosted
- Earthquake can be utilized for better coverage over Refresh at the cost of not being a good status sponge and being far less effective Ho-Oh switch-in.
- Body Slam can be used over Return to spread paralysis while still packing a punch, but the transaction requires Salamence to acquire more boosts in order to clean
Set Details
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- EVs give max bulk while outspeeding +Spe base 90s
- An alternative spread of 248 HP / 48 Def / 212 Spe can outspeed base 100s with less bulk
Usage Tips
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- Despite this being a variant of Dragon Dance, sweeping is not the main priority of bulky DD sets. The design of this form of Dragon Dance Salamence is merely a wincon combined with a Ho-Oh+PDon+EKiller check, so use it as such
- Refresh liberally if burned
- Sometimes Mega Evolving immediately after showing up on the battlefield isn't the best option. Save Salamence's Intimidate ability until not needed afterwards in order to maximize switching potential, unless the situation requires Salamence to Mega Evolve in order to outspeed Jolly PDon or Jolly Mega Kangaskhan
Team Options
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- Rockceus fits well type-wise and can serve as a secondary check to Ho-Oh, as well as providing Defog support
- Aegislash fits nice as well, since Bulky DD Salamence has some trouble dealing with Xerneas, and Aegislash can cripple most non-Steel walls such as Lugia with Toxic, and Pursuit trap the Latis, making these not so much as a hassle
- Support Primal Groudon with Lava Plume is an excellent teammate, as a solid switch-in to Xerneas saves Salamence a lot of trouble, and demolished pretty much all of Salamence's checks bar opposing Primal Groudon, and of course, Lugia
- Lugia can check both Primal Groudon and Xerneas for Mega Salamence, and can shuffle residual damage with Toxic + entry hazards in order to chip down opposing walls. Lugia also appreciates a status absorber, which this variant of Salamence does excellently.
Other Options
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- Based WishMence
- Defog
- Specially Offensive (Hyper Voice+ Draco Meteor)
- Dragon Tail
- Tailwind
- Dragon Claw / Outrage
- Iron Defense
- Headbutt
Checks & Counters
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- Lugia
- PDon (if lacking EQ and it has Stone Edge)
- Rockceus
- Skarmory+Keys
- Landoge
- Mega Metagross
- Eleceus
- Sash Deo-A (only with SR off)
- Dialga (Shuca variants)
- HP Ice Bronzong
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