Pokémon Salamence

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Tressed

Tressed

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Type: Dragon / Flying
Ability: Intimidate
Hidden Ability: Moxie
Stats: 95 HP / 135 Atk / 80 Def / 110 SpA / 80 SpD / 100 Spe

Notable Moves
Aqua Tail
Crunch
Brick Break
Defog
Draco Meteor
Dragon Claw
Dragon Dance
Dragon Tail
Earthquake
Flamethrower
Fire Blast
Outrage
Protect
Roost
Stone Edge
Substitute
Wish


Salamence is in an awkward spot this gen, with a slew of new counters, checks, and competition. As a Dragon Dancer, it has to compete with the new Charizard X and Zygarde, as well as Dragonite, while wallbreaking sets need to be compared to Kyurem Black and Garchomp. Meanwhile, new threats like Greninja and Talonflame threaten Salamence's ability to sweep, and the new Fairy types are a thorn in Mence's side, making Dragon type moves less dangerous than they were.

Salamence isn't done yet, though, as it still has some tricks up its sleeves / wings. Moxie makes Salamence an enormous threat if it manages to get a kill, and its powerful attacking stats and ever important base 100 Speed make it a powerful offensive threat, as both a sweeper and a wallbreaker. The new Defog mechanics help Salamence as well, making it far easier to avoid taking Stealth Rock damage.


Possible sets

Choice Scarf
Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Attack / 4 Sp Attack / 252 Speed
Naive Nature
- Outrage
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw / Stone Edge

Probably the best set Mence can run right now, and the only one that doesn't face competition from its fellow Dragons. This functions as a late game sweeper. Nab a KO, get a Moxie boost, and do your best to rip through the opposing team, collecting boosts as you go. Stone Edge is an option here since it can hit Togekiss, who would otherwise wall you, but Dragon Claw provides a more reliable option over Outrage if you want to use it.


Dragon Dance
Salamence @ Life Orb / Lum Berry
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Attack / 4 Sp Attack / 252 Speed
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage / Dragon Claw
- Fire Blast / Earthquake / Hydro Pump / Stone Edge
- Fire Blast / Earthquake / Hydro Pump / Stone Edge

Dragon Dance will always be an option on anything that can learn it, and Salamence is no exception. The choice between Outrage and Dragon Claw is the classic reliability vs power argument. The remaining coverage moves should be picked based on what your team can beat for Salamence. Fire Blast hits most Steel types, Earthquake hits those that aren't dealt with by Fire Blast (Heatran), Stone Edge smashes Togekiss hard and brings neutral coverage, and Hydro Pump provides great neutral coverage and the ability to break through Gliscor, Landorus-T, and Hippowdon with ease.


Salamence @ Life Orb
Ability: Moxie / Intimidate
EVs: 252 Spd / 64 Atk / 192 SAtk
Rash Hasty Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast

MixMence is MixMence, hit stuff until it breaks.

FatMence
Salamence @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold / Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Flamethrower / Dragon Tail
- Roost
- Defog
credit goes to Chiki for this set

Salamence has the bulk, ability, and movepool to pull off a bulky supporter set. Wish + Defog is a niche only shared by Latias, but Salamence can distinguish itself by running a far more physically bulky set with Intimidate. Salamence's ability to force out physical attackers with Intimidate means that it can find the turns in order to send off a Wish or clear hazards off the field. Flamethrower is an option to keep the likes of Lucario, Excadrill, and Ferrothorn away, while Dragon Tail can prevent set up and get a little chip damage.

This set faces competition from Latias, who's bulkier specially, faster, and isn't weak to Stealth Rock, all of which are pretty significant. Salamence, however, lacks a Pursuit weakness and can take physical hits much better, as well as not being bait for Scizor and Aegislash. The choice between them boils down to whichever one fits the team better.

Yoinking this from the Creative Movesets thread

Salamence @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 152 HP / 252 Atk / 104 Spe (enough to outrun Adamant Gyarados)
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Iron Tail / Fire Fang
credit goes to Swamp-Rocket for this set

Swamp-Rocket said:
Even though Salamence's speed is something I would usually take advantage of, Intimidate is extremely helpful to soften blows and Salamence has quite a few resistances and a decent bulk when you invest in it just a little that you tend to overlook due to Stealth Rock and Life Orb constantly chipping at it. Although Dragonite is better in some aspects, Intimidate makes it a lot better when Stealth Rock isn't up or it is later in the match when things are getting worn down, so it can help out other Pokemon too. Regardless, this thing hits unexpectedly hard, even for the standards of being a Salamence (we are used to Lum or Scarf, probably) while not suffering from that annoying recoil damage (though unlikely, you may fool people into thinking it is a DD Mence with a Lum Berry). Outrage and Earthquake does a minimum of 80% to even bulky Pokemon such as 252/0 Conkeldurr and 252/0 Aegislash, respectively, and with some prediction you can get rid of fairies in order to eliminate them with an Iron Tail (although Azumarill is already 2HKOed by Earthquake). A lot of people tend to underestimate how much this does to Pokemon like these!

It requires some support and prediction to work at its best but the damage output and this thing's potential bulk with Intimidate factored in are both solid. You can also invest in its speed more if you so desire to, since its plenty faster than Dragonite.
Click to expand...

Any new sets, tweaks to the ones I've put up, partners (both new and old), etc?
 
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Wasn't the last Salamence thread closed?
Either way, Salamence is a lot like Haxorus last generation: solid, but it's roles are done better by other pokemon (Dragonite specifically). bulky Dragon Dance is done better by Mega Gyarados and Dragonite, and choice sets are quite lackluster. Fairy types hurt Salamence more than any other dragon as well.
 
bobbyvaporeon said:
Wasn't the last Salamence thread closed?
Either way, Salamence is a lot like Haxorus last generation: solid, but it's roles are done better by other pokemon (Dragonite specifically). bulky Dragon Dance is done better by Mega Gyarados and Dragonite, and choice sets are quite lackluster. Fairy types hurt Salamence more than any other dragon as well.
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The last thread got closed because it pretty much spiraled down into a flame war about fatmence. And as far as getting outclassed goes, Salamence is outclassed specifically by Charizard X.

My favorite use of Salamence is a scarfed mixed revenge killer (the first one). I might suggest adding Draco Meteor as a potencial slash, it comes in handy with some physical walls, but besides that I really like that set

I'm not even sure if we should include the DD set. Even with a life orb, it barely does more damage Charizard X, and Charizard has so much better STAB and immunity to burn and stuff.

The wish + defog set's weird, let's leave it at that. If you want to know how it does, you'll have to ask somebody else, because I tried it, and it worked, but it was weird and just didn't earn its spot on my team. Not saying its not viable, but I'm not the one to ask on how to use it.

Swamp-Rocket's set was really fun to use. Nobody really knew what to do with it, so it prompted mistakes and was overall pretty effective. I've been saying how Arcanine finally has a shot at being OU viable this gen with the decent bulk, strong attacks, and intimidate to mess up the physically biased meta game, and Salamence does it just as well if not better. I'll have more to say when I finish testing it.
 
Salamence, oh Salamence, who would've thought the day would come that your outclassed by Charizard of all things, which pulls off a DD set much better due to those amazing dual STABS, and competes for the MixMence role due to better Sp. Attack and STAB off Fire Blast, though no Meteor or Item hurts Zard X's Mixed potential despite it's 130/130 Attacking Stats. Back in the viability thread Salamence was ranked C+ with Diggersby and Gourgeist Small, so it's shocking how much of a fall from grace Salamence has had this Gen, I'm not sure if Salamence has what it takes this Generation, it doesn't have DNite's Bulk, ZardX's Power or Noivern's Speed, though Noivern is somewhat irrelevant. Basically, I'm wondering what Mence can do this Generation that it's Dragon Brethren can't.
 
Mixed Scarf Mence is good but as a scarf dragon, garchomp still does it better.
I wouldn't quite say it's not outclassed.
 
ScarfMence is still a fairly solid revenge killer, and unlike 'Zard, he doesn't have a x4 weakness to Stealth Rocks, so Rapid Spin/Defog support isn't as important.
 
Aqua Tail should not even be considered on the DD set imo. Hydro Pump is that much better than Aqua Tail because Dragon Claw + Hydro Pump is a clean 2HKO on Hippowdon, Gliscor, Lando-T, while even +1 Aqua Tail need you to nail them on the switch to get those KO, and it is one of the few things that Salamence can actually do that is not outdone by other dragons, especially against the likes of Lando-T against whom you still manage to net a nett +0 Atk thanks to Moxie essentially cancelling Intimidate, which would have hindered by other dragons.

Above all, I think that if Salamence wants to succeed in this gen, it will be as a sweeper partner with Charizard, much like how it did with Rayquaza in Gen IV. In the sense that it can eliminate Heatran, Lando-T and stuff that Charizard has trouble sweeping past, to ease for the sweep by Charizard.

EDIT: Having tried this Sala-Xard core I just mentioned and was pleased with the results. Many teams minus pure stall ones tend not to carry more than one of the following from within Ferrothorn/Skarmory/Scizor/Lando-T/Hiddow/Gliscor/Heatran generally due to compounded weaknesses. Depending on which ones are present, either Sala or Xard will be used as the primary sweeper and the other being the backup when the opponent is severely weakened. Choice of spinner I used with the core was Bulky Scizor, but anything that can take EdgeQuake should be fine.
 
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escarlata said:
Aqua Tail should not even be considered on the DD set imo. Hydro Pump is that much better than Aqua Tail because Dragon Claw + Hydro Pump is a clean 2HKO on Hippowdon, Gliscor, Lando-T, while even +1 Aqua Tail need you to nail them on the switch to get those KO, and it is one of the few things that Salamence can actually do that is not outdone by other dragons, especially against the likes of Lando-T against whom you still manage to net a nett +0 Atk thanks to Moxie essentially cancelling Intimidate, which would have hindered by other dragons.

Above all, I think that if Salamence wants to succeed in this gen, it will be as a sweeper partner with Charizard, much like how it did with Rayquaza in Gen IV. In the sense that it can eliminate Heatran, Lando-T and stuff that Charizard has trouble sweeping pase, to ease for the sweep by Charizard.
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I basically made the same argument when it goes to using Hydro Pump on the other thread. Except not on DD sets because FB/EQ/Outrage seems generally better. As something of an attempt to give salamence a niche over other dragons, how about?
Salamence
Naive@Life Orb/Choice Scarf
252 Atk/252 Spe/4 Spa
Outrage
Earthquake
Fire Blast
Hydro Pump

I'll put up calcs later, but only 4 Spa is needed to 2HKO incoming 252/0 Gliscor(43.8% chance to OHKO after SR on the LO set) and 252/4 Landorus-T. So on LO sets you continue your sweep no problem while Choiced sets 2HKO, switch out to sweep/clean up later. Seems good enough to warrant use of hydro pump. Discuss your thoughts.
 
Yeah it'll still do okay without a doubt. It's just alot riskier now to do what was done last gen. Kill opponent's steel type's, get mence in safely, spam outrage is a lot tougher now with the fairies. Defensive togekiss lols at it anything it does no matter how many moxies(unless running aqua tail but that's not happening). Mega Mawile OHKO's with Play Rough, -1 EQ is guarnteed 3HKO while neutral or +1 EQ is 2hko. MegaMaw also forces it out on choiced dragon moves while setting up +2 on the switch. Only time azumarril loses is if it takes a +1 EQ on the switch in. Other than that, PR Ohko's all the time. Don't get me started on Klefki...
 
This is what I've been running:

Salamence @ Life Orb
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Spd / 64 Atk / 192 SAtk
Rash Hasty Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast

It can win games by itself. It's kinda hard to predict and, even when they know what to expect, it's hard to safely switch because it can seriously dent any wall.
 
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guustavooo said:
This is what I've been running:

Salamence @ Life Orb
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Spd / 64 Atk / 192 SAtk
Rash Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast

It can win games by itself. It's kinda hard to predict and, even when they know what to expect, it's hard to safely switch because it can seriously dent any wall.
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The more important thing about mix mence is definitely less of its unpredictability and more of its coverage. Salamence is one of the few mixed attacker than can afford to run almost perfect coverage on both ends of the attacking spectrum. When we compare it to other mixed attackers like hydreigon, which can only have good coverage either physicaly or specially, this is a huge plus to use mixmence instead. Mixmence it self isn't that unpredictable, but rather the fact that it is hard to distinguish it from the ddmence that makes it hard to switch into. Besides, don't run rash with 252 speed, , either run a boosting nature or lower it's speed investment
 
escarlata said:
The more important thing about mix mence is definitely less of its unpredictability and more of its coverage. Salamence is one of the few mixed attacker than can afford to run almost perfect coverage on both ends of the attacking spectrum. When we compare it to other mixed attackers like hydreigon, which can only have good coverage either physicaly or specially, this is a huge plus to use mixmence instead. Mixmence it self isn't that unpredictable, but rather the fact that it is hard to distinguish it from the ddmence that makes it hard to switch into. Besides, don't run rash with 252 speed, , either run a boosting nature or lower it's speed investment
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Woops, wrong nature, it's supposed to be Hasty, thanks!
 
I am so glad that the other thread was closed. But anyways, I have to agree with escarlata, mixmence can be seriously dangerous because of its coverage. I am going to start testing these sets out, but I do believe mixmence, scarf mence and the new fat mence seem to be the more useful ones; though of course, they have competition for said roles in a team. Still, Mence remains a great mon overall.
 
All right, I wouldn't say I'm finished testing, but I've got a feel for Smash-Rocket set, and it is indeed creative. Here's my thoughts thoughts.

Running a MixMence varient with a life orb is typically more helpful. With it, you can still force people out with intimidate, and do a decent wall breaking/revenge killing job, but you don't rely on perfect prediction as much.

That said, forcing the switch and having to deal with whatever check/counter they throw at you isn't that bad. Intimidate makes up for the free turn switching gives your opponent a lot of the time, and when you look at a team, its pretty easy to predict what they'll throw at a choice Salamence. Most people assume its scarfed, so they won't use they're fastest (unless its another scarfed mon), and instead opt for durability or priority. Hitting either of those with a banded attack is rather enjoyable. What's more, this set is one of the first ones I've had success pairing it with a pokemon wearing a snowball. He's pretty easy bait for both Greninjas and Mamoswines, and a lot of pokemon feel fine about switching into their STAB attacks and getting a atk boost.

The set requires a bit more of a team player mentality than Salamence is used to, but he adjusted quickly, and while I doubt it'll ever be his standard set, its at least worth a try for most people.
 
Maybe salamence should start playing second fiddle to the more prominent dragons in OU.

With its varied move pool and good mixed attacking stats, a scarfed mixed salamence could do well countering predicted switch ins to the main sweeper like garchomp or dragonite or Xzard.

Kind of demeaning for salamence to be the sidekick to Pokemon like Charizard ( not like I give a damn never was very fond of Salamence)
 
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LoDart210 said:
Maybe salamence should start playing second fiddle to the more prominent dragons in OU.

With its varied move pool and foot mixed attacking stats, a scarfed mixed salamence could do well countering predicted switch ins to the main sweeper like garchomp or dragonite or Xzard.

Kind of demeaning for salamence to be the sidekick to Pokemon like Charizard ( not like I give a damn never was very fond of Salamence)
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One problem I have with this is that even in this role, it faces competition with other dragons. In double dragon cores, each dragon has other potential partners that offer it things Salamence can't

MegaZard X
-Dragonite - Better for taking down fast'n frail teams, that outspeed Charizard but don't OHKO through Multiscale
-Garchomp - Can remove checks like Heatran as well as support with SR
-Lati@s-Defog support and special attacker for physical walls/heals
-Kyurem-B - Wall breaking
-Salamence - Mixed revenge killer
-Hydreigon - Mixed/special attacker

Dragonite
-MegaZard X - Faster and more immediate power for teams that can weather Dragonite's attacks like some bulky offense teams. Pretty good type synergy (Neutral to ice while Dragonite's immune to ground) as well.
-Garchomp - Revenge killer, wall breaker (mega), and SR support
-Lati@s - Defog support and special attacker/heals
-Kyurem-B - Great wall breaker letting Dragonite late game sweep
-Salamence - Mixed revenge killer
-Hydreigon - Mixed/special attacker

Garchomp
-MegaZard - Forms a 2 pokemon "double dance" sort of thing. If you need speed, use Charizard's DD, if you need power, use Charizard Garchomp's SD
-Dragonite - Same as Charizard, but with more bulk. Blaring ice weakness
-Kyurem-B - Wall breaker
-Kingdra - Wall breaker/special sweeper
-Salamence - Mixed revenge killer
-Hydreigon - Mixed/special attacker

Zygarde
-Goodra - covers special end while Zygarde covers physical


There's more than what I listed, but its late and I'm getting tired. Salamence can be used with any of these pokemon, but its innate nature as a late game sweeper this gen makes it difficult for him to support when he demands so much support from others. He's often beaten out by either Charizard who doesn't have those restrictions, or Latias who is the standard defog + wish supporter. Not sure if Double Dragons is the way to go with this guy
 
Kairyu_Gen1 said:
One problem I have with this is that even in this role, it faces competition with other dragons. In double dragon cores, each dragon has other potential partners that offer it things Salamence can't

MegaZard X
-Dragonite - Better for taking down fast'n frail teams, that outspeed Charizard but don't OHKO through Multiscale
-Garchomp - Can remove checks like Heatran as well as support with SR
-Lati@s-Defog support and special attacker for physical walls/heals
-Kyurem-B - Wall breaking
-Salamence - Mixed revenge killer
-Hydreigon - Mixed/special attacker

Dragonite
-MegaZard X - Faster and more immediate power for teams that can weather Dragonite's attacks like some bulky offense teams. Pretty good type synergy (Neutral to ice while Dragonite's immune to ground) as well.
-Garchomp - Revenge killer, wall breaker (mega), and SR support
-Lati@s - Defog support and special attacker/heals
-Kyurem-B - Great wall breaker letting Dragonite late game sweep
-Salamence - Mixed revenge killer
-Hydreigon - Mixed/special attacker

Garchomp
-MegaZard - Forms a 2 pokemon "double dance" sort of thing. If you need speed, use Charizard's DD, if you need power, use Charizard Garchomp's SD
-Dragonite - Same as Charizard, but with more bulk. Blaring ice weakness
-Kyurem-B - Wall breaker
-Kingdra - Wall breaker/special sweeper
-Salamence - Mixed revenge killer
-Hydreigon - Mixed/special attacker

Zygarde
-Goodra - covers special end while Zygarde covers physical


There's more than what I listed, but its late and I'm getting tired. Salamence can be used with any of these pokemon, but its innate nature as a late game sweeper this gen makes it difficult for him to support when he demands so much support from others. He's often beaten out by either Charizard who doesn't have those restrictions, or Latias who is the standard defog + wish supporter. Not sure if Double Dragons is the way to go with this guy
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I agree with you on this, but then, what does that leave salamence with?

A lot of people here still think scarfmoxie is a good idea but I don't at all. That was only good last gen due to outrage.

Most situations with moxie mence involve killing one Pokemon with the correct coverage move and having to switch out because the incoming Pokemon will be resistant to the move just used.

In which case maybe a bluffed scarfmoxie with d-dance and expert belt? Something like

Salamence @ expert belt
Moxie
Hasty/naive
Dragon dance
Fire blast/hydro pump
Earthquake/ iron tail
Outrage
 
Salamence does has a niche in this metagame like in BW2 dragon dance + moxie or intimidate + dragon typing creates that niche. So this pokemon cannot be easily overlooked by other dragons in the meta game such as: garchomp, dragonite charizard X, kyurem- black etc. If this thing is allowed to set up one DD and has access to moxie and kills off one of your pokes allowing it to go to +2. And that the problem with a lot of DD users they will lack that power , without strong priority or a scarf user or a straight up counter to it teams with get swept. I maybe a newbie when it comes to signing in to this community but not in pokemon.
Also agree with LoDart, choice scarf makes him, a little too easy to deal with this gen w/ the fairies and steels at every corner
 
Sergeant Spooky said:
It's still the best Moxie user in the game.
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With the new type, Fairy, ScarfSalamence Dragon Claw's Kinda stops Salamence's Sweep.
Also, Sylveon can OHKO Salamence using Pixelate Hyper Voice.
4 SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Salamence: 330-390 (99.6 - 117.8%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKOMamoswine can OHKO Salamence, too.
252+ Atk Mamoswine Ice Shard vs. 0 HP / 0- Def Salamence: 388-460 (117.2 - 138.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
That's why you can't see a lot of Salamence in Competitive Battling lately.
Dragonite's also a better choice because of the new item, Weakness Policy which is suitable for Multiscale user like Dragonite.
 
OU Master Caitlyn said:
With the new type, Fairy, ScarfSalamence Dragon Claw's Kinda stops Salamence's Sweep.
Also, Sylveon can OHKO Salamence using Pixelate Hyper Voice.
4 SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Salamence: 330-390 (99.6 - 117.8%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKOMamoswine can OHKO Salamence, too.
252+ Atk Mamoswine Ice Shard vs. 0 HP / 0- Def Salamence: 388-460 (117.2 - 138.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
That's why you can't see a lot of Salamence in Competitive Battling lately.
Dragonite's also a better choice because of the new item, Weakness Policy which is suitable for Multiscale user like Dragonite.
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Duh, Fairies are immune to Dragon Attacks and Mamoswine has existed since DPPt. But Salamence is STILL the best Moxie user in the game, and Moxie is the only thing it can do that other dragons can't.

You would obviously need to get rid of strong priority users and Fairies before trying to sweep with Scarf Salamence.
 
Sergeant Spooky said:
Duh, Fairies are immune to Dragon Attacks and Mamoswine has existed since DPPt. But Salamence is STILL the best Moxie user in the game, and Moxie is the only thing it can do that other dragons can't.

You would obviously need to get rid of strong priority users and Fairies before trying to sweep with Scarf Salamence.
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Youre a little bit off here. No moxie user does well in ou at all. Its hard to point out exactly why, but the sheer amount of priority around, the fact that all moxie users are quite frail and their stabs are resisted (or outright completely ineffective) against several common threats are the most important factors. However in uu its a completely different story. Scarf Heracross and Life Orb Honchrow are pretty dam great there since there are much less fairies/priorities to worry about and it was pretty much the same case last gen. Salamence could very well be the best moxie user but unfornately its usage forces it to be in a tier it doesnt work in. I dont even know why is moxie scarf even listed in the op at all, its just bad, not outclassed it is simply put, bad. The fact is that salamence just inst good in ou, even if other dragons werent around salamence would not be a top tier threat or anything like that, it just doesnt fit in the current metagame. Its frail, lacks priority and is walled by fairies, theres nothing it can offer in xy ou. I think some dragon dance mixed set moxie set would be the best it can pull off now but i doubt its going to work.
 
Ehh I wouldn't exactly call Salamence frail, I reserve that for pokes such as mienshao and lucario because Salamence can actually take a hit without being brought down below half health. 95/80/80 are average defenses. But I do agree that Salamence is no longer the monster that it used to be. Salamence is not a bad pokemon, not by a long shot but Mega charizard X and Dragonite are just far more dangerous in OU. Lack of priority really is not the issue because Mega charizard X also does not have priority and Salamence does get Earthquake and a lot of Faeries do not appreciate physical hits so I would not say that Salamence is walled by faeries, but what Mega Charizard X has over Salamence is that Mega Charizard X has a better typing and it has better defensive stats. And Mega Charizard X is not weak to any type of priority while salamence has a nasty 4x weakness to ice shard and because of Mega Charizard's base 111 defense stat compared to Salamence's base 80 Defense, Mega Charizard X can take priority moves a lot better and can take a hit in general better than Salamence can.

I would say that Salamence is a pokemon that you can use in OU if you want to, but there are other dragons that are available that can fare much better in the tier. I actually think Salamence may drop down to UU. But this is what happens with each new generation, Some pokes that were powerful in previous gens end up no longer being as strong as they used to be. Power creep is unfortunate but that is how it is. But Salamence is still a good pokemon and If it does end up going down to UU, it will be a massive threat. I would say that A mixed attacking Salamence set with Dragon dance would probably end up being its best set to abuse because it does have a very respectable special attack stat. Salamence is one of my all time favourite pokemon so it is hard for me to say that it may drop out of OU but it definitely looks like that may end up being the case. But it is still a classic pokemon.
 
For the most part, we are always searching for a reason why we want to use Salamence OVER the other dragons, but neglecting the fact that we can use it WITH them, much like TalonRaptor. Salamence just happens to be able to lure out and destroy a lot of stuff that Charizard has problem getting past like bulky grounds, Heatran (if no EQ on Xard), and has just the movepool to smash them with. in conjunction, this also allows Charizard to free up that last slot for Roost or SD for double dancing. I wasn't able to get replays due to the ladder reset, but I will upload some soon.
 
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