[Overview]
<p>Enter Salamence. This is a Pokemon that was deemed too powerful for DPP OU, which explains just how good it is. That doesn't explain everything about Salamence's power, though. In Black and White, the Dream World gods decided for whatever reason that this already powerful Pokemon needed even more muscle, so they gave it Moxie. Thanks to this ability, Salamence will progressively become more difficult to wall. So, are you thinking you can just send out a physical wall and expect all your Salamence problems to go away? Well, that's not how it works. Salamence has great mixed attacking stats, so you should probably think twice before switching that physical wall in. Okay, so, what does Salamence struggle with then? Answering that question is simple. It faces a lot of competition from Dragonite, who is much bulkier thanks to its stats and access to Multiscale. Additionally, the once unrivaled MixMence now has to compete with the newcomer Hydreigon, who boasts a higher Special Attack stat and access to Superpower. Salamence is also easily revenge killed by Mamoswine and Choice Scarf users such as Landorus and Keldeo. Rest assured, however; Salamence is guaranteed to be a formidable opponent on the battlefield.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Outrage
move 2: Dragon Claw
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Fire Blast / Aqua Tail
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Moxie
nature: Naive / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Alright, I know, you think I'm wasting all of Salamence's great potential with a Choice Scarf set. In fact, it's quite the contrary. By utilizing Choice Scarf in tandem with Moxie, Salamence becomes both a great revenge killer and a deadly late-game sweeper. In short, if your opponent doesn't prepare for Choice Scarf Salamence at all, they will lose. Outrage already hits hard, but add on some Moxie boosts and you've got a real powerhouse. However, going for Outrage early-game is about as smart as intentionally sticking your hand in boiling water. To get around that problem, this set also uses Dragon Claw for those times when Salamence shouldn't be locking itself into Outrage. Earthquake provides Salamence with coverage against Heatran and Jirachi; additionally, Earthquake hits Tyranitar hard without resorting to Outrage. In the last slot, Fire Blast is used to prevent Skarmory, Forretress, and Ferrothorn from having a field day. However, should you be running Salamence on a Rain team, it is better to run Aqua Tail instead in order to hit Pokemon such as Gliscor, Hippowdon, and Volcarona.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>This set should never be used without Moxie, as Intimidate is simply much less beneficial. Rock Slide is useful for OHKOing Volcarona, but otherwise doesn't do much else except for revenge killing weakened Thundurus-T and Tornadus-T. If Salamence is using Aqua Tail over Fire Blast, it should run a Jolly Nature, and the four Special Attack EVs should be moved to Special Defense. As Salamence may be switching in and out a lot, which means taking 25% from Stealth Rock, it is a good idea to run Rapid Spin users such as Starmie and Forretress alongside it. Additionally, Spikes support from Deoxys-D or Forretress can help it Salamence get the OHKOs it needs in order to prepare a sweep. Support from Magnezone and/or other Dragon-types is also helpful in order to weaken or eliminate Steel-types before Salamence goes for a late-game sweep.</p>
[SET]
name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Outrage / Dragon Claw
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Fire Blast / Hydro Pump
item: Lum Berry / Life Orb
nature: Naive
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Feast your eyes on one of the best Dragon Dance users in BW2 OU. With Dragon Dance, Moxie, and Outrage now legal on the same set, this already powerful set is now so powerful it's ridiculous. Outrage at +1 already hits everything that isn't a Steel-type hard, so how about a +2 Outrage, or even a +3 Outrage? Despite the sheer power behind Outrage, Dragon Claw is always a viable alternative in order to avoid being locked into your STAB move against a Steel-type. For covering said Steel-types, Earthquake is used for hitting Heatran and Jirachi, while Fire Blast is used in order to hit Skarmory, Forretress, and Ferrothorn. However, if Salamence is being used on a Rain team, Hydro Pump is an option to OHKO Gliscor after Stealth Rock; additionally, Hydro Pump still hits Skarmory and Forretress on their weak Special Defense.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Unlike Choice Scarf Salamence, both abilities have their uses on this set. Intimidate brings Salamence more setup opportunities, but loses out on the powerful Moxie snowball effect. As for the item choice, Lum Berry is generally more useful as it allows Salamence to temporarily dodge status or get out of Outrage confusion for free. However, if using Dragon Claw over Outrage, it's probably best to use Life Orb as this increases damage output. When it comes to other items, the two that stand out the most are Dragon Gem and Yache Berry. Dragon Gem brings some extra power to its STAB, which may help kick-start the Moxie snowball effect. On the other hand, Yache Berry is an interesting item option which allows Salamence to avoid getting OHKOed by Mamoswine's Ice Shard.</p>
<p>Dragon Dance Salamence has a couple more move options not yet mentioned. Aqua Tail is not as good on this set as it is on the Choice Scarf set, although it does have a notable advantage over Hydro Pump: Aqua Tail's power is boosted by Dragon Dance and Moxie boosts, while Hydro Pump's power is not. Roost is another option that allows Salamence to recover from Life Orb recoil and Stealth Rock damage, although Salamence gets very few opportunities to successfully use Roost.</p>
<p>Mamoswine is perhaps the greatest threat to this set as it can easily revenge kill Salamence with Ice Shard, regardless of how many boosts it has. Therefore, Salamence should have teammates that can beat it; Pokemon that can do so include Scizor, Keldeo, and Rotom-W. Additionally, Salamence greatly enjoys Rapid Spin support from Pokemon such as Starmie and Forretress because of its Stealth Rock weakness.</p>
[SET]
name: MixMence
move 1: Draco Meteor
move 2: Outrage
move 3: Fire Blast
move 4: Earthquake
item: Life Orb
nature: Naive
evs: 64 Atk / 192 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Choice Scarf and Dragon Dance variants of Salamence both have something in common, despite being completely different sets—they both hate facing Pokemon such as Hippowdon and Slowbro. So, the legendary MixMence returns, ready to take such physical walls and eat them for breakfast. By using Draco Meteor, physical walls that did so well against other variants of Salamence can no longer switch in on it. While Skarmory, Forretress, and Ferrothorn may think they are safe switching into Draco Meteors, they are definitely not going to switch in to Fire Blast thanks to their weaknesses to it. To finish it off, Earthquake is used to hit Heatran and Jirachi.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EV spread ensures every variant of Hippowdon is 2HKOed by this set, with maximum Speed to ensure a Speed tie with Volcarona, opposing Salamence, and other base 100s such as Celebi and Mew. Intimidate is a useful ability to help Salamence switch in on physical attacks, although Moxie powers up Outrage, which can be valuable. Dragon Dance can be used over Fire Blast or Earthquake in order to trick Pokemon such as Slowbro into thinking you're not a Mixed set, and potentially sweeping late-game.</p>
<p>Of all the other moves MixMence can use, the two most notable are Roost and Brick Break. Roost allows it to recover from Life Orb recoil, although there are very few cases where Salamence can successfully use Roost. Brick Break hits Blissey and Chansey without resorting to Outrage, but without significant Attack investment and Stealth Rock, its low 75 Base Power doesn't even cut it against targets like Tyranitar.</p>
<p>So, what should MixMence's teammates be? Well, you'll need Rapid Spin support because of that Stealth Rock weakness, so Starmie and Forretress are great partners. Additionally, sweepers who want walls like Skarmory, Hippowdon, and Jellicent weakened or removed appreciate MixMence's help tremendously. Sweepers that benefit from the weakening or removal of these walls include Agility Metagross, Swords Dance Lucario, Swords Dance Scizor, and Double Dance Terrakion.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Before considering any other Salamence set, you really need to ask yourself why you want to use it. The first thing that comes to mind is a Choice Specs set, but you really have no reason to use Choice Specs Salamence over Hydreigon or Latios, both of whom sport higher Special Attack. You could also pull off a Mixed Dragon Dance set similar to what it used in DPP Ubers, although the loss of Attack for Outrage is very noticeable; additionally, being walled by Heatran or Skarmory depending on your move choice is not very appealing. Thanks to Intimidate, Salamence seems like it could pull off a Bulky Dragon Dance set. This set is okay, but there's a Pokemon called Dragonite who has an ability called Multiscale that makes it more bulky and overall a better option. You could also run a Substitute set, which can abuse Moxie effectively and ease prediction against Steel-types. However, be aware that using Substitute in conjunction with Life Orb is counterproductive. Salamence can also run a bulky support set, but why would you use that over Dragonite?</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>If you're actually looking for a foolproof counter to Salamence, forget about it. There are none. However, some Pokemon can come close. Porygon2 is the closest you can get to a true counter thanks to its massive bulk with Eviolite, but with Stealth Rock and some prior damage (a common reality considering Porygon2 has no Leftovers), it will be 2HKOed by a combination of Draco Meteor and Outrage if Porygon2 Traces Moxie. However, if it Traces Intimidate, Porygon2 will always beat it. Hippowdon, Slowbro, Donphan, and Cloyster can all switch in on physical variants of Salamence, but they will lose to MixMence. Quagsire and Cresselia can take on physical variants of Salamence, but both have trouble against MixMence; in Quagsire's case, Salamence can actually take advantage of it as Unaware ignores the Special Attack drops from Draco Meteor. In Cresselia's case, Salamence will do a lot of damage with a combination of Draco Meteor and Outrage. Skarmory and Bronzong can both switch in easily if they are on Rain teams, though it should be noted that Salamence may be found on weather teams itself. Additionally, physical variants of Salamence do not like facing Landorus-T thanks to Intimidate.</p>
<p>While countering Salamence is pretty much impossible, checking it is actually very easy. Choice Scarf users with greater than 100 base Speed, such as Terrakion, Landorus, Latios, Keldeo, and Garchomp, all threaten Salamence immensely, and Choice Scarf users in this speed tier are very common. Mamoswine can also revenge kill it thanks to priority Ice Shard, no matter how many Speed boosts Salamence gets. Scizor can switch in and 2HKO Salamence with Bullet Punch while it's locked into Outrage. Similarly, Choice Band Dragonite 2HKOes with ExtremeSpeed, although Salamence needs to be heavily weakened if you're going to attempt to revenge kill it with Choice Band Dragonite. It should be noted that all of these revenge killers will have a hard time switching in, as they are all hit hard or OHKOed by the appropriate move.</p>
