I've been using a the same set as the Dragon Dance set with Fire Blast and Naive, except I've been using a Lum Berry. It simply wrecks things. Lum Berry is almost necessary on Mence this generation. First of all, he can switch into things like Boil Over and not have to worry about getting crippled. Second of all, he can set up a Dragon Dance on things that think they can just Burn/Paralyze it. Third of all, it makes a great Breloom counter as it resists both stabs, can switch into Spore, outspeeds and OHKO's with Fire Blast. Fourth of all, when it is done Outraging, it won't get confused. Fifth of all, Mischievous Heart users cannot come in and stop his sweep, such Borutorosu or Sableye. Seventh of all, it protects him from the less-important-but-still-a-factor things like switching into a Thunderbolt and getting paralyzed. I think all of that is more important than doing a little extra damage and taking in recoil. With Recoil + Stealth Rock Damage, he will hurt himself to a point where something like Scizor can come in and kill it with Bullet Punch him. Lum Berry greatly increases Mence's survivability, shields him from status, and helps him get off more sweeping opportunities. At least slash it with Life Orb please.
-
Check out the relaunch of our general collection, with classic designs and new ones by our very own Pissog!
-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
Salamence (Placeholder)
- Thread starter Aerrow
- Start date
- Status
I'd say that this is by far the best and most viable Salamence moveset:
Salamence (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 16 Atk / 240 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Outrage
No other Pokémon can serve this or any similar role anywhere near as effectively as Salamence can, as Dragonite, Hydreigon and Kyurem are the only other viable mixed attacking dragons in the OU tier, and Dragonite's attacks do not hit anywhere near as hard as Salamence's due to its noticeably lower Special Attack as well as the fact that it should never hold a Life Orb, while Hydreigon's Attack is significantly lower than that of Salamence, making its Outrage and Earthquake attacks a lot weaker, and Kyurem can learn neither Earthquake nor Fire-type moves, giving it clear disadvantages compared to Salamence in terms of versatility and coverage. This means that if one decides to use any of these three Pokémon instead of Salamence for mixed attacking, there would be some easily-observable disadvantages to doing so, meaning that the Salamence moveset I posted definitely gives it a clear and unique niche in the metagame, despite the presence of other mixed attacking dragons. Latios with Psycho Shock could also pass off as a mixed attacker, however judging by that move's power and type, Salamence's ability to fire off Earthquake (a move with superb coverage) and Outrage, an insanely powerful move which is only resisted by one type, mixed attacking Salamence's advantage over Latios with Psycho Shock is definitely clear in my opinion.
Salamence (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 16 Atk / 240 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Outrage
No other Pokémon can serve this or any similar role anywhere near as effectively as Salamence can, as Dragonite, Hydreigon and Kyurem are the only other viable mixed attacking dragons in the OU tier, and Dragonite's attacks do not hit anywhere near as hard as Salamence's due to its noticeably lower Special Attack as well as the fact that it should never hold a Life Orb, while Hydreigon's Attack is significantly lower than that of Salamence, making its Outrage and Earthquake attacks a lot weaker, and Kyurem can learn neither Earthquake nor Fire-type moves, giving it clear disadvantages compared to Salamence in terms of versatility and coverage. This means that if one decides to use any of these three Pokémon instead of Salamence for mixed attacking, there would be some easily-observable disadvantages to doing so, meaning that the Salamence moveset I posted definitely gives it a clear and unique niche in the metagame, despite the presence of other mixed attacking dragons. Latios with Psycho Shock could also pass off as a mixed attacker, however judging by that move's power and type, Salamence's ability to fire off Earthquake (a move with superb coverage) and Outrage, an insanely powerful move which is only resisted by one type, mixed attacking Salamence's advantage over Latios with Psycho Shock is definitely clear in my opinion.
No, outrage is horrid on this set. Brick Break 2HKOs Blissey if you have your thinking caps on and hit it on the switch (~53% damage), while breaking down screens and beating Heatran and beating Tyranitar in a single hit after Steatlh Rock. Roost gives you longevity so you can continue to be a stallbreaking threat.
Outrage is bad due to 3 dragons in OU being faster than Salamence (Lati@, Garchomp) in addition to Protect being more common on things like Gliscor and Iron Barbs Natty willing to switch in to cause major recoil.
Earthquake has little utility, as Fire Blast / Brick Break hits everything you would use it for anyway, and the use of Balloon makes it much less useful.
Bottom line, the "classic" Mixmence is more useful in nearly every way. And you can actually switch out and still be a threat later due to Roost.
While this question is better suited for the Salamence thread in Uncharted Territory, Dragon Dance sets, obviously. Also, Salamence does decently well with his mixed sets in today's metagame, making their position in this analysis nearly necessary.
That was Gen 4. In Gen 5, Salemence has shown no signs of being broken.
Moxie, an awesome ability, but it is unfortunately distributed to Pokémon that really enjoy the utility of Intimidate for setting up.
-Zane
- Status