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 along with its powerful base 145 Attack stat coupled with Aerialate. Another useful aspect of Salamence is it's 95 / 130 / 90 defenses, which are solid by Ubers standards, which and combine with one of its pre-Mega Evolution abilities in Intimidate, giving Salamence a plethora of setup opportunities, (RC) and extra utility, (RC) 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 by checking Primal Groudon, Extreme Killer Arceus, Ho-Oh, and Mega Blaziken, a role something 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, there are some flaws that have to be addressed with Salamence's Dragon / Flying , and that is in its typing gives it flaws such as. This is because Dragon / Flying gives Salamence 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.
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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 is the most effective setup move Salamence can utilize, letting it outspeed the entire unboosted metagame and hit extremely hard after a single boost while hitting extremely hard. Roost coupled with Salamence's natural bulk allows Salamence is very useful for Salamence, as the recovery it offers coupled with Salamence's natural bulk gives it the ability to set up consistently throughout the match. Double-Edge makes Salamence's primary STAB be is more powerful than an Adamant Life Orb Rayquaza's Dragon Ascent, but the recoil can be a bit of a hassle, as which forces Salamence is forced to Roost frequently or risk being revenge killed. Return is the safer but noticeably weaker move to use rather than Double-Edge, but is noticeably weaker than the former. 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 gain more boosts safely boost and behind a damage cushion to avoid revenge kills, (RC) but should not be used with Double-Edge, (AC) as otherwise, (AC) Salamence will be worn down considerably in order to not wear down Salamence considerably. Refresh lets Salamence absorb status and is also a good choice to shake off a burn or paralysis , in addition to making Salamence a decent status absorber. Thrash can be used as an alternate Double-Edge, but be careful of Steel-types such as Klefki and or Skarmory that would take advantage of a move-locked Salamence. Facade is also a formidable move that out-(remove hyphen)damages Double-Edge and means that does not let 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, (RC) but leaves Salamence vulnerable to Heatran as a consequence.
Set Details
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Max Attack and Speed EVs conjoined with a Jolly nature gives Salamence the ability to Speed tie with max Speed Arceus and while having as much power as possible. However, an Adamant nature with Double-Edge bestows Salamence the ability to pose as a solid wallbreaker before a using Dragon Dance is used. An EV Spread of 48 HP / 252 Atk / 212 Spe lets Salamence outspeed the base 100 Speed tier and gives it while having more bulk to ease setup and pose more of a threat to the opposing team's walls.
Usage Tips
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If Salamence is not running Earthquake, removing opposing Steel-types from the game is a top priority, unless the Steel-types on the opponent's team do not have recovery, such as Klefki and or 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 deceptive recoil due to the proportions of Salamence's power, so be very aware of the residual damage that Salamence has to take when sweeping with a +1 Double-Edge, especially if Stealth Rock is 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 Stealth Rock for Salamence to utilize while taking on damage opposing walls Steel-types and can soak up 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-(add hyphen)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, as; (SC) Darkrai does not stack a Stealth Rock weakness, but whereas Yveltal has a lot more longevity and bulk than Darkrai. Klefki is an excellent 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 while annihilating the Steel-types that give Salamence some trouble, but is 4x weak to the Stealth Rock weakness stacking must be attended to. Support Arceus variants with Defog can be useful hazard removers with Defog to alleviate Salamence's Stealth Rock weakness, but other Defoggers such as the Lati Eon twins and Giratina-O can be used, at the cost of sharing weaknesses to Dragon and Ice weakness stacking with Salamence.
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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, (RC) 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, (RC) but removes prevents it Salamence's ability to check from checking Ho-Oh and removes its utility as a status sponge. Body Slam can be used over Return to spread paralysis very easily and have even more utility, (RC) 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, EKiller, 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, since Salamence is weak to Stealth Rock and has no passive recovery when it switches in. Sometimes in matches, Mega Evolving immediately is not always the correct course of action, as Intimidate is extremely useful for Salamence 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 as 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 both the Lati Eon twins and Giratina-O stack a weaknesses to Dragon and Ice weakness with Salamence. Aegislash hard checks Xerneas, something that bulky Dragon Dance Salamence has trouble with, can Pursuit trap the Lati twins, 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-(add hyphen)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 tank'(apostrophe)s fast. Lugia also appreciates Refresh from Salamence, as having a status absorber eases the pressure put on Lugia to check what it needs to.
Other Options
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A defensive variant of Salamence with Wish can still hit hard enough with Aerialate-boosted Return and pass relatively solid Wishes, (RC) 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 rather mediocre considering its mere its relatively low 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 a defensive sets to phaze out opponents or and on offensive sets to wear down Salamence's checks, but doesn't really enforce the offensive pressure Salamence exerts on opponents. Tailwind, on the other hand, is a nice move on wallbreaker sets with Double-Edge to boost its the Speed of itself and its teammates and clean, while supporting its team members with boosted Speed. Dragon Claw or Outrage gives Salamence the ability to utilize its Dragon STAB, (RC) but doesn't offer the coverage or power that Return or Double-Edge do have, 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 that much damage output compared to Return, but the 30% chance to flinch chance 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 up.
**Primal Groudon**: Primal Groudon's Stone Edge can 2HKO standard Earthquake-lacking Mega Salamence If Salamence is lacking EQ and Primal Groudon is carrying Stone Edge, Primal Groudon can 2HKO standard Mega Salamence after Stealth Rock. But However, bulky Dragon Dance variants of Salamence can switch into on at least one Stone Edge, Roost, then set up on Primal Groudon and Roost from there and wall it. Also, Primal Groudon does not do significant damage to regular Salamence if it has been debuffed by Intimidated.
**Rock Arceus**: Rock Arceus can cripple Salamence with Will-O-Wisp and OHKO all variants of Mega Salamence after Stealth Rock with Judgment. It should be noted that However, (AC) Rock Arceus without defensive investment does not particularly have an easy time taking on Earthquake variants of Salamence if it is not carrying defensive investment.
**Skamory**: Skarmory can take boosted Returns and Double-Edges from Salamence extremely well from Salamence, 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 something 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. But 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, (RC) and can 2HKO Salamence with Stone Edge after Stealth Rock. Unfortunately, unboosted Adamant variants of Salamence can 2HKO Landorus-T through Intimidate after a Dragon Dance boost with either Return or Double-Edge.
**Mega Metagross**: Mega Metagross variants with Ice Punch can adequately deal with and OHKO Mega Salamence with Ice Punch, (RC) and can adequately deal with all variants of Salamence if carrying Ice Punch. However, a +1 Adamant Earthquake from Mega Salamence has a small chance to OHKO 136 HP Mega Metagross after Stealth Rock damage, so exercise caution with against wallbreaker variants of Salamence.
**Electric Arceus**: Similarly to Rock Arceus, Electric Arceus can take boosted Returns or and Double-Edges and OHKO Salamence with Ice Beam or Blizzard. But However, since most Electric Arceus variants are offensive, they and do not typically carry defensive investment, meaning 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 and it is intact, Deoxys-A can revenge kill a boosted Mega Salamence with a 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 the Berry and always OHKO it back with a Draco Meteor or phaze it with Roar, but need their Shuca Berry intact in order to do so.
