[SET]
name: Bulky Utility
move 1: Aqua Tail / Dragon Tail
move 2: Earthquake / Shadow Claw
move 3: Roost
move 4: Defog / Wish / Dragon Tail
item: Rocky Helmet
ability: Intimidate
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Salamence's decent bulk and access to Intimidate, Defog, and reliable recovery make it a solid physical wall in the metagame. Aqua Tail and Earthquake grant Salamence a Water / Ground typing, which helps it check wallbreakers like Entei and Victini. A part-Ground typing lets Salamence resist Stealth Rock and serve as a solid Defog user. Wish is another utility option that takes advantage of Salamence's ability to force switches with Intimidate and heals its teammates. Dragon Tail + Shadow Claw can be run instead of Aqua Tail + Earthquake; the resulting Dragon / Ghost typing lets Salamence play a similar role but has a few different resistances and immunities, allowing it to better check threats like Extreme Speed users, Cinderace, and Rillaboom while remaining an Electric- and Fire-resistant Pokemon. Dragon Tail offers good utility and keeps Salamence from being set up on. The Dragon / Ghost set is less threatening offensively due to its lower Base Power moves, but Salamence's Attack keeps it from being passive, even without investment. Rocky Helmet is Salamence's most effective item, as it punishes the physical attackers it aims to keep in check.
Fast, frail attackers like Dragapult, Naganadel, and Pheromosa are vulnerable to being revenge killed by Extreme Speed users, so they appreciate having Salamence as a teammate to check these threats and chip them with Rocky Helmet. Water / Ground Salamence pairs well with specially attacking setup threats like Latias and Volcarona, as it can pressure Unaware Clefable with Earthquake and open up setup opportunities. Entry hazard setters like Garchomp and Mew benefit from Dragon / Ghost Salamence phazing and further chipping foes with passive damage. Salamence's defenses and Intimidate drops can be overcome by Pokemon like Swords Dance Garchomp, Heracross, and Lycanroc-D. Therefore, Salamence benefits from physically defensive teammates like Steel / Flying Buzzwole, Ghost / Fairy Cresselia, and Ghost / Fighting Slowbro to help keep these threats in check.
[SET]
name: Defensive Steel-type
move 1: Iron Tail
move 2: Roost
move 3: Defog / Dual Wingbeat
move 4: Dragon Tail / Wish
item: Rocky Helmet / Leftovers
ability: Intimidate
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Iron Tail and Roost grant Salamence a Steel / Flying typing and allow it to take on physical threats like Garchomp, Facade Heracross, and Rillaboom. Iron Tail is Salamence's primary STAB attack; it has high Base Power with unreliable accuracy, which is somewhat patched up by Defog lowering foes' evasion. Roost is needed to keep Salamence healthy. Being neutral to Stealth Rock and immune to Spikes makes Salamence a solid Defogger, but Dual Wingbeat is another option if a teammate can clear entry hazards to give it a more reliable attack option with its secondary STAB type. Dragon Tail forces out setup threats like Swords Dance Heracross, Lycanroc-D, and Rillaboom. Wish can also be used to help keep Salamence's teammates healthy. Rocky Helmet punishes the physical attackers that Salamence aims to check, but Leftovers can be used for passive recovery as well.
Fast, frail attackers like Dragapult, Naganadel and Pheromosa are vulnerable to being revenge killed by Extreme Speed users, so they appreciate having Salamence as a teammate to check these threats and chip them with Rocky Helmet. Entry hazard setters like Garchomp and Mew benefit from Dragon Tail Salamence phazing and further chipping foes with passive damage. With only two weaknesses in Electric and Fire, Salamence appreciates bulky resistant Pokemon like Fairy / Electric Clefable and Water / Ground Mew to cover these weaknesses and check threats like Victini. Salamence is prone to strong neutral attacks from special attackers like Porygon-Z and Spectrier; therefore, specially defensive teammates like Blissey and RegenVest Tornadus-T are helpful.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Salamence can run Aqua Tail and Shadow Claw together to have a useful Water / Ghost typing that can handle Fighting-, Fire-, and Normal-type attacks like Close Combat, V-create, and Facade, but this typing leaves it vulnerable to Electric-type attacks from Victini. An alternative spread of 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe with a Jolly nature can be used to outspeed foes like Haxorus, Porygon-Z, and Urshifu-S to attack and potentially KO them first, but it comes at the cost of losing valuable bulk and the ability to switch into high-powered attacks like Heracross's Facade as easily.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Special Attackers**: Salamence has decent bulk, but investment in Defense leaves it open to big hits from strong special attackers like Hydreigon, Latios, and Porygon-Z.
**Latias**: Latias outspeeds Salamence, can threaten most of its sets with Toxic, has Levitate to avoid Earthquake, and has good Special Attack to pressure it. Latias commonly runs a Water / Poison typing, which resists Salamence's best STAB options when aided by Levitate.
**Exceptionally Strong Physical Attackers**: Although Intimidate helps to check most physical attackers, already strong foes with high-powered moves like Facade Heracross and Close Combat Lycanroc-D can potentially threaten Salamence if it takes neutral damage from them, especially if they have a chance to boost their Attack with Swords Dance.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[a loser, 410702]]
- Quality checked by: [[In The Hills, 324242], [Dragonillis, 466276]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429]], [deetah, 297659]]
name: Bulky Utility
move 1: Aqua Tail / Dragon Tail
move 2: Earthquake / Shadow Claw
move 3: Roost
move 4: Defog / Wish / Dragon Tail
item: Rocky Helmet
ability: Intimidate
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Salamence's decent bulk and access to Intimidate, Defog, and reliable recovery make it a solid physical wall in the metagame. Aqua Tail and Earthquake grant Salamence a Water / Ground typing, which helps it check wallbreakers like Entei and Victini. A part-Ground typing lets Salamence resist Stealth Rock and serve as a solid Defog user. Wish is another utility option that takes advantage of Salamence's ability to force switches with Intimidate and heals its teammates. Dragon Tail + Shadow Claw can be run instead of Aqua Tail + Earthquake; the resulting Dragon / Ghost typing lets Salamence play a similar role but has a few different resistances and immunities, allowing it to better check threats like Extreme Speed users, Cinderace, and Rillaboom while remaining an Electric- and Fire-resistant Pokemon. Dragon Tail offers good utility and keeps Salamence from being set up on. The Dragon / Ghost set is less threatening offensively due to its lower Base Power moves, but Salamence's Attack keeps it from being passive, even without investment. Rocky Helmet is Salamence's most effective item, as it punishes the physical attackers it aims to keep in check.
Fast, frail attackers like Dragapult, Naganadel, and Pheromosa are vulnerable to being revenge killed by Extreme Speed users, so they appreciate having Salamence as a teammate to check these threats and chip them with Rocky Helmet. Water / Ground Salamence pairs well with specially attacking setup threats like Latias and Volcarona, as it can pressure Unaware Clefable with Earthquake and open up setup opportunities. Entry hazard setters like Garchomp and Mew benefit from Dragon / Ghost Salamence phazing and further chipping foes with passive damage. Salamence's defenses and Intimidate drops can be overcome by Pokemon like Swords Dance Garchomp, Heracross, and Lycanroc-D. Therefore, Salamence benefits from physically defensive teammates like Steel / Flying Buzzwole, Ghost / Fairy Cresselia, and Ghost / Fighting Slowbro to help keep these threats in check.
[SET]
name: Defensive Steel-type
move 1: Iron Tail
move 2: Roost
move 3: Defog / Dual Wingbeat
move 4: Dragon Tail / Wish
item: Rocky Helmet / Leftovers
ability: Intimidate
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Iron Tail and Roost grant Salamence a Steel / Flying typing and allow it to take on physical threats like Garchomp, Facade Heracross, and Rillaboom. Iron Tail is Salamence's primary STAB attack; it has high Base Power with unreliable accuracy, which is somewhat patched up by Defog lowering foes' evasion. Roost is needed to keep Salamence healthy. Being neutral to Stealth Rock and immune to Spikes makes Salamence a solid Defogger, but Dual Wingbeat is another option if a teammate can clear entry hazards to give it a more reliable attack option with its secondary STAB type. Dragon Tail forces out setup threats like Swords Dance Heracross, Lycanroc-D, and Rillaboom. Wish can also be used to help keep Salamence's teammates healthy. Rocky Helmet punishes the physical attackers that Salamence aims to check, but Leftovers can be used for passive recovery as well.
Fast, frail attackers like Dragapult, Naganadel and Pheromosa are vulnerable to being revenge killed by Extreme Speed users, so they appreciate having Salamence as a teammate to check these threats and chip them with Rocky Helmet. Entry hazard setters like Garchomp and Mew benefit from Dragon Tail Salamence phazing and further chipping foes with passive damage. With only two weaknesses in Electric and Fire, Salamence appreciates bulky resistant Pokemon like Fairy / Electric Clefable and Water / Ground Mew to cover these weaknesses and check threats like Victini. Salamence is prone to strong neutral attacks from special attackers like Porygon-Z and Spectrier; therefore, specially defensive teammates like Blissey and RegenVest Tornadus-T are helpful.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Salamence can run Aqua Tail and Shadow Claw together to have a useful Water / Ghost typing that can handle Fighting-, Fire-, and Normal-type attacks like Close Combat, V-create, and Facade, but this typing leaves it vulnerable to Electric-type attacks from Victini. An alternative spread of 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe with a Jolly nature can be used to outspeed foes like Haxorus, Porygon-Z, and Urshifu-S to attack and potentially KO them first, but it comes at the cost of losing valuable bulk and the ability to switch into high-powered attacks like Heracross's Facade as easily.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Special Attackers**: Salamence has decent bulk, but investment in Defense leaves it open to big hits from strong special attackers like Hydreigon, Latios, and Porygon-Z.
**Latias**: Latias outspeeds Salamence, can threaten most of its sets with Toxic, has Levitate to avoid Earthquake, and has good Special Attack to pressure it. Latias commonly runs a Water / Poison typing, which resists Salamence's best STAB options when aided by Levitate.
**Exceptionally Strong Physical Attackers**: Although Intimidate helps to check most physical attackers, already strong foes with high-powered moves like Facade Heracross and Close Combat Lycanroc-D can potentially threaten Salamence if it takes neutral damage from them, especially if they have a chance to boost their Attack with Swords Dance.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[a loser, 410702]]
- Quality checked by: [[In The Hills, 324242], [Dragonillis, 466276]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429]], [deetah, 297659]]
Last edited:
