Overview
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Legendary stats. It’s defenses surpasses Metagross, and even with a neutral nature it outspeeds Garchomp. Both of its offensive stats are also very respectable.
Great ability before and after mega evolving. Intimidate gives it great matchup against pretty much any physical attacker and it has the movepool to effectively use Aerialate
Great boosting move in Dragon Dance. Mega Salamence at +1 has almost zero switch-ins, guaranteeing a kill. If defensive walls have taken prior damage, Mega Salamence can easily sweep through an entire team. It does especially well against more offensively oriented teams.
It’s a very powerful Pokemon, so pretty much every opponent has something to stop Mega Salamence from sweeping their team. It also shares a quad-ice weakness with Garchomp, so teams don’t have to run gimmicky sets to stop it. Most Pokemon that learn Ice Beam and doesn’t have an abysmal special attack have it for this reason, making the meta a really hostile environment for Mega Salamence.
Taking a mega slot. It competes against Blaziken and Kangaskhan for this position, both of which are very powerful megas.
It doesn’t get a lot of opportunities to set up, and even if it does, many defensive Pokemon such as Suicune, Porygon2, and Cresselia switch in on the setup turn, either forcing you out or forcing you to sacrifice Salamence in turn for dealing damage. It also gets outsped and OHKOed by Greninja if it doesn’t boost.
Double-Edge recoil hurts, and especially against Pokemon wearing Rocky Helmet.
Doesn’t resist any form of status.
Dragon Dance
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name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Double-Edge
move 2: Dragon Dance
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Fire Blast/Draco Meteor/Outrage/Substitute
ability: Intimidate -> Aerialate
item: Salamencite
evs: 4HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spe
nature: Adamant/Naughty
Moves
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Double-Edge is the main source of damage from Mega Salamence, abusing the 156BP powerful STAB attack. Return also woks if you want to sacrifice a little firepower for no recoil, but it does lose out on potential OHKOs or 2HKOs. Facade is also an option here as it allows you to take advantage of status inducers, which is a common sight for Mega Salamence, but it won’t deal a lot of damage if you remain healthy.
Dragon Dance is the main setup move of Mega Salamence, allowing its attack to reach astronomical levels and outrun even Scarf Garchomp.
Earthquake is for coverage, allowing you to hit electric, steel, and rock types that resist Double-Edge.
Fire Blast is to hit flying resists that aren’t weak to Earthquake, most notably Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Scizor. Flamethrower is also an option here if you don’t like the inconsistency of Fire Blast, but you will miss out the OHKO on Mega Scizor and Skarmory won’t be in range when it switches into a Double-Edge.
Draco Meteor is a great STAB option for hitting physical walls. Hyper Voice is also a great move, but you’ll be losing coverage combined with Double-Edge. Naughty is the preferred nature with special attack in the fourth slot
Outrage provides another STAB option that allows you to 2HKO Zaps, but you’ll be locked into it and your opponent can take advantage of it. It also OHKOs Dragonite at +1.
Substitute allows you to bypass status inducers and potentially win you a free turn. Keep in mind that the substitute health drop combined with Double-Edge recoil it can affect its longevity. Roost is also another option for this slot, as it mitigates the recoil from Double Edge and you can have many opportunities to recover HP against favorable opponents (ie almost every physical attacker.
Set Details
========
Standard physically offensive spread
Salamencite because mega
Adamant because it affects damage ranges for common Pokemon compared to Jolly. With Double-Edge, Azumarill becomes a range, Pokemon EV’d to take Garchomp’s Choice Band Earthquake are OHKO’d, and Suicune becomes a guaranteed 2HKO. Speed ties max base 105s, meaning it still outspeeds non-scarf Garchomp and base 100s like Mega Kangaskhan. Naughty if you have special attacks.
Usage Tips
========
Keep in mind Salamence has a lot of bad matchups, most notably Porygon2 and Cresselia
Don’t set up Dragon Dance until everything is in range, especially those two above
Set up Dragon Dance against an opponent that cannot do much to you, then sweep
4th slot is completely flexible, depending on Pokemon your other teammates struggle against
Team Options
========
Toxic users to widdle down physical tanks that hinder Salamence’s sweep and resists Ice Beam (Aegislash, Heatran, etc) or leech seed users like Ferrothorn
Volcarona can switch in and commence setting up Quiver Dances against common Salamence counters. Suicune, Raikou, and Sylveon can set up Calm Minds too. A phisical and special setup core.
Good teammate for Tyranitar/Excadrill since it helps get rid of Fighting types and removes opponent’s Earthquake spamming option.
Other Options
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Special Attacker: Hyper Voice, Draco Meteor, Fire Blast, Roost/Sub/Earthquake. Catches people off guard when sending in a physical wall.
All for setup: Dragon Dance, Sub, Roost, Return: the easiest way to set up Dragon Dances, but lacks in coverage and is a little difficult to use consistently.
Defensive: Sub, Toxic, Roost, Return. Takes advantage of Salamence's great defenses, and can catch common switch-ins like Cresselia, Porygon2, and Zapdos off guard.
Checks & Counters
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**Defensive Ice move users** Porygon2, Cresselia, Zapdos, Suicune all survive +1 Double-Edge and retaliates with Ice Beam/Hidden Power Ice.
**Fast Special Attackers** Greninja, Mega Manectric, Thundurus, Latios (even at -2 with specs). Checks. Cannot check if Salamence reaches +1 (except Thundurus is a range unless defensive) At +1 Thundurus will more likely use Twave
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Legendary stats. It’s defenses surpasses Metagross, and even with a neutral nature it outspeeds Garchomp. Both of its offensive stats are also very respectable.
Great ability before and after mega evolving. Intimidate gives it great matchup against pretty much any physical attacker and it has the movepool to effectively use Aerialate
Great boosting move in Dragon Dance. Mega Salamence at +1 has almost zero switch-ins, guaranteeing a kill. If defensive walls have taken prior damage, Mega Salamence can easily sweep through an entire team. It does especially well against more offensively oriented teams.
It’s a very powerful Pokemon, so pretty much every opponent has something to stop Mega Salamence from sweeping their team. It also shares a quad-ice weakness with Garchomp, so teams don’t have to run gimmicky sets to stop it. Most Pokemon that learn Ice Beam and doesn’t have an abysmal special attack have it for this reason, making the meta a really hostile environment for Mega Salamence.
Taking a mega slot. It competes against Blaziken and Kangaskhan for this position, both of which are very powerful megas.
It doesn’t get a lot of opportunities to set up, and even if it does, many defensive Pokemon such as Suicune, Porygon2, and Cresselia switch in on the setup turn, either forcing you out or forcing you to sacrifice Salamence in turn for dealing damage. It also gets outsped and OHKOed by Greninja if it doesn’t boost.
Double-Edge recoil hurts, and especially against Pokemon wearing Rocky Helmet.
Doesn’t resist any form of status.
Dragon Dance
########
name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Double-Edge
move 2: Dragon Dance
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Fire Blast/Draco Meteor/Outrage/Substitute
ability: Intimidate -> Aerialate
item: Salamencite
evs: 4HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spe
nature: Adamant/Naughty
Moves
========
Double-Edge is the main source of damage from Mega Salamence, abusing the 156BP powerful STAB attack. Return also woks if you want to sacrifice a little firepower for no recoil, but it does lose out on potential OHKOs or 2HKOs. Facade is also an option here as it allows you to take advantage of status inducers, which is a common sight for Mega Salamence, but it won’t deal a lot of damage if you remain healthy.
Dragon Dance is the main setup move of Mega Salamence, allowing its attack to reach astronomical levels and outrun even Scarf Garchomp.
Earthquake is for coverage, allowing you to hit electric, steel, and rock types that resist Double-Edge.
Fire Blast is to hit flying resists that aren’t weak to Earthquake, most notably Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Scizor. Flamethrower is also an option here if you don’t like the inconsistency of Fire Blast, but you will miss out the OHKO on Mega Scizor and Skarmory won’t be in range when it switches into a Double-Edge.
Draco Meteor is a great STAB option for hitting physical walls. Hyper Voice is also a great move, but you’ll be losing coverage combined with Double-Edge. Naughty is the preferred nature with special attack in the fourth slot
Outrage provides another STAB option that allows you to 2HKO Zaps, but you’ll be locked into it and your opponent can take advantage of it. It also OHKOs Dragonite at +1.
Substitute allows you to bypass status inducers and potentially win you a free turn. Keep in mind that the substitute health drop combined with Double-Edge recoil it can affect its longevity. Roost is also another option for this slot, as it mitigates the recoil from Double Edge and you can have many opportunities to recover HP against favorable opponents (ie almost every physical attacker.
Set Details
========
Standard physically offensive spread
Salamencite because mega
Adamant because it affects damage ranges for common Pokemon compared to Jolly. With Double-Edge, Azumarill becomes a range, Pokemon EV’d to take Garchomp’s Choice Band Earthquake are OHKO’d, and Suicune becomes a guaranteed 2HKO. Speed ties max base 105s, meaning it still outspeeds non-scarf Garchomp and base 100s like Mega Kangaskhan. Naughty if you have special attacks.
Usage Tips
========
Keep in mind Salamence has a lot of bad matchups, most notably Porygon2 and Cresselia
Don’t set up Dragon Dance until everything is in range, especially those two above
Set up Dragon Dance against an opponent that cannot do much to you, then sweep
4th slot is completely flexible, depending on Pokemon your other teammates struggle against
Team Options
========
Toxic users to widdle down physical tanks that hinder Salamence’s sweep and resists Ice Beam (Aegislash, Heatran, etc) or leech seed users like Ferrothorn
Volcarona can switch in and commence setting up Quiver Dances against common Salamence counters. Suicune, Raikou, and Sylveon can set up Calm Minds too. A phisical and special setup core.
Good teammate for Tyranitar/Excadrill since it helps get rid of Fighting types and removes opponent’s Earthquake spamming option.
Other Options
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Special Attacker: Hyper Voice, Draco Meteor, Fire Blast, Roost/Sub/Earthquake. Catches people off guard when sending in a physical wall.
All for setup: Dragon Dance, Sub, Roost, Return: the easiest way to set up Dragon Dances, but lacks in coverage and is a little difficult to use consistently.
Defensive: Sub, Toxic, Roost, Return. Takes advantage of Salamence's great defenses, and can catch common switch-ins like Cresselia, Porygon2, and Zapdos off guard.
Checks & Counters
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**Defensive Ice move users** Porygon2, Cresselia, Zapdos, Suicune all survive +1 Double-Edge and retaliates with Ice Beam/Hidden Power Ice.
**Fast Special Attackers** Greninja, Mega Manectric, Thundurus, Latios (even at -2 with specs). Checks. Cannot check if Salamence reaches +1 (except Thundurus is a range unless defensive) At +1 Thundurus will more likely use Twave
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