Salamence Movesets & Competitive Sets

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.

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.

Salamence's high Attack and Speed make it a powerful offensive threat, utilizing Dragon Dance to outspeed other offensive Pokemon like Zeraora and Gengar after one boost. Its typing gives it opportunities to setup against Grass- and Fire-types such as Rillaboom Choice-locked into Grassy Glide and Victini. Dragon Ascent is a powerful STAB attack that allows Salamence to threaten walls like Clefable and Seismitoad with 2HKOs at +1. Earthquake hits Flying-resistant foes like Tyranitar and Melmetal super effectively, while Dragon Darts can be used instead to hit foes like Rotom-W and Thundurus-T. Roost improves Salamence's longevity; it is possible to run Dragon Darts over Roost, but only on hyper offense teams. Heavy-Duty Boots prevents Stealth Rock damage from wearing it down. Moxie turns Salamence into a potent sweeper, particularly late-game as Attack boosts allow it to easily take out weakened foes. Intimidate instead puts more pressure on physically offensive foes and gives Salamence more opportunities to set up against physical attackers like Cinderace and Zeraora. Pokemon such as Terrakion and Urshifu-R that fear revenge killers like Rillaboom appreciate Salamence's ability to switch into and threaten them. Salamence appreciates these Fighting-type teammates in return, as they can threaten revenge killers like Tyranitar and Weavile that threaten Salamence. Teammates like Diggersby that can set entry hazards are valuable to chip opposing Pokemon and make them easier to KO.

Salamence is a threatening wallbreaker and setup sweeper thanks to a very spammable and immensely strong STAB move in Aerilate-boosted Facade, which 2HKOes common walls like Unaware Mew, Mandibuzz, and Ferrothorn. Moreover, after activating Flame Orb, Salamence ignores status attempts from users like Mew, Toxapex, and Blissey, making it a menace to slower-paced teams; it can even switch in and absorb Knock Off from foes like Ferrothorn and Landorus-T for its teammates. Fire Blast complements Facade to significantly weaken common Steel-type checks such as Intimidate Corviknight and Dauntless Shield Skarmory, and it is not weakened by burn. The combination of Flying-type Facade + Fire Blast grants it sufficient coverage, which means Salamence can afford to run utility moves. Roost keeps it healthy by compensating for its Stealth Rock weakness and chip damage from burn. Dragon Dance lets Salamence sweep late-game, outspeeding faster foes like Tapu Koko, Cinderace, and Terrakion and OHKOing specially defensive Ferrothorn and Garchomp. The EV spread allows Salamence to avoid the 2HKO from Corviknight's Brave Bird after burn damage, 2HKO physically defensive Corviknight with Fire Blast through Leftovers recovery, and outspeed Barraskewda after a Dragon Dance. Salamence fits perfectly on bulky and hyper offensive teams that appreciate its wallbreaking and sweeping ability while providing it with the necessary support in return. Even with Roost, Salamence still requires good Stealth Rock removers like Excadrill and Mandibuzz; even running both together is a decent option to consistently keep Stealth Rock off the field. Defensive pivots such as RegenVest Jirachi and Dauntless Shield Slowbro can bring Salamence in safely on foes like Landorus-T and Tapu Bulu, respectively, as well as compensating for Salamence's lack of defensive value: Jirachi checks Tapu Lele and Latios, while Slowbro deals with Terrakion and Garchomp. Offensive pivots like Barraskewda, Cinderace, and Azelf outspeed foes that would otherwise KO Salamence before a Dragon Dance such as Terrakion and Zarude. They can also immensely pressure the opposing team early-game for Salamence to sweep more easily. Even if Salamence is unable to sweep, it is still an effective wallbreaker that can force huge damage on foes like Skarmory, Mandbuzz, and Mew for the likes of Swords Dance Dhelmise and Triage Tapu Bulu to clean up late-game.

Salamence is a very threatening Max Airstream sweeper, with just enough coverage to make it difficult to check with defensive Pokemon. Dual Wingbeat is the clear choice over Fly for a Flying-type STAB, as it's more reliable outside of Dynamax, and its multi-hit nature is useful against frail Focus Sash Pokemon such as Pheromosa. Fire Blast is highly recommended for hitting Celesteela as hard as possible when Dynamaxed. Fire Fang, while very weak on its own, can make sense on Moxie Salamence as a powerful Fire-type Attack under Dynamax. Earthquake is also highly valuable for hitting other Steel-types hard such as Heatran and Metagross. Although this makes Salamence walled by certain Pokemon, some coverage can be given up to slot in Dragon Dance, which makes Salamence less reliant on Dynamaxing to sweep. Moxie is the ability of choice, letting Salamence kickstart a sweep with a simple KO, especially from Max Airstream. Intimidate is still a reasonable alternative, allowing Salamence to set up Dragon Dance or Weakness Policy more easily. Items Life Orb Salamence's best option for immediate power while Dynamaxed. Weakness Policy is an acceptable alternative that takes advantate of Intimidate quite well. Lum Berry is particularly useful for Dragon Dance Salamence, as this makes it less worried about status.

While its Special Attack is lower than its Attack, Salamence's high base power moves and access to Intimidate and STAB Max Airstream make it a fully capable Special Attacker. Hurricane allows Salamence to be at its most dangerous when Dynamaxed, especially when Salamence can set up its own rain to guarantee its accuracy. Air Slash is still a reasonable alternative as a more reliable Flying-type STAB. Fire Blast and Hydro Pump are important for covering Steel-types such as Celesteela and Heatran. Note, however, that while Salamence is Dynamaxed, the weathers they set up will weaken the other move. Items Life Orb allows Salamence to deal as much damage as possible, and is less reliant on Dynamax. Weakness Policy is a reasonable alternative to focus more on Dynamax sweeping.

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Moves Body Slam is this set’s main attacking move. It OHKOes Marshadow and Mega Blaziken and 2HKOes Deoxys-S without any investment, letting Mega Salamence potentially prevent the latter from setting any entry hazards. The paralysis chance deters support Arceus formes and Necrozma-DM from freely switching into this set and can also come in handy for slowing down setup sweepers like Rock Polish Primal Groudon. Defog removes entry hazards for Mega Salamence's team and is one of the main draws of this set over defensive Zygarde-C. Mega Salamence is a good Defogger because of its favorable matchup against Primal Groudon, high Speed, and immunity to Sticky Web. Roost provides Mega Salamence with a reliable recovery move so it can repeatedly switch into the Pokemon that it checks and use Defog throughout the match. Refresh allows Mega Salamence to remove burn and poison status afflicted by Ho-Oh, Primal Groudon, and Necrozma-DM that would normally cripple it. It allows this set to consistently switch into and remove hazards from defensive Primal Groudon. Dragon Tail phazes setup sweepers that aren't Fairy-types, such as Zygarde-C and opposing Mega Salamence; it always breaks the Substitute of Zygarde-C lacking defensive investment. Dragon Tail also allows Mega Salamence to avoid being trapped by Gothitelle, as this variant lacks the offensive prowess to muscle past it if Gothitelle is given a free switch. Facade is an option over Body Slam if Refresh isn't used. This still allows Mega Salamence to act as a status sponge but doesn't hand over free turns to the opponent like using Refresh does. In particular, a burn status inflicted by Ho-Oh or Giratina now benefits Mega Salamence instead of hindering it. A status-boosted Facade is strong enough to 2HKO Primal Groudon and defensive Ho-Oh after some prior damage and force recovery options from support Arceus formes. However, Body Slam is generally preferred because of the paralysis chance. Toxic cripples support Arceus formes and Lugia and puts setup sweepers on a timer, but these Pokemon don't appreciate a paralysis from Body Slam anyway, and it has no effect on the Steel-types that tend to switch into Mega Salamence. Set Details Salamencite is required to Mega Evolve into Mega Salamence. 124 Speed EVs ensure that Mega Salamence outspeeds maximum base 90 Speed Pokemon, such as Primal Groudon, Primal Kyogre, and Ho-Oh. The rest of the EVs are placed into HP and Defense alongside an Impish nature, granting Mega Salamence very respectable physical bulk. This set survives a +1 Soul-Stealing 7-Star Strike and two Life Orb-boosted Rock Tombs from Marshadow and fully heals off the damage from Life Orb Ho-Oh's Brave Bird with Roost. Intimidate further bolsters this bulk by lowering the foe's Attack stat by one stage. After Intimidate, Mega Salamence survives even boosted Stone Edge from Primal Groudon and can fish for paralysis with Body Slam or phaze it with Dragon Tail. Usage Tips Switch Mega Salamence into Pokemon that it checks such as Primal Groudon, Ho-Oh, and Marshadow. Use the opportunity to remove entry hazards with Defog or try to paralyze something with Body Slam. If possible, scout for the opponent's set before switching Mega Salamence in. It can be OHKOed by Hidden Power Ice from Primal Groudon and Life Orb Marshadow and will lose to Primal Groudon if it switches in on a full-powered Eruption. On the other hand, it can very freely come in on defensive variants of Primal Groudon and Ho-Oh, since it shuts down all of their options. If Mega Salamence is afflicted with status, use Refresh to cure it as soon as possible. Status greatly compromises Mega Salamence's ability to switch into threats, as it cannot Roost to heal damage from their attacks and use Refresh simultaneously. Although Mega Salamence matches up favorably against Primal Groudon, it loses to many other common hazard setters including Arceus-Fairy, Arceus-Ground, Necrozma-DM, and Ferrothorn. Pack a secondary Defogger like Ho-Oh to deal with these Pokemon or try to remove them from play before attempting to Defog. Sometimes, keeping Salamence in its base forme can be a good idea to use Intimidate more than once against physical attackers. Regular Salamence can even use Defog on a predicted switch or against Primal Groudon, but it should rarely attack in this state, as Body Slam does minimal damage without Aerilate. Team Options Defensive Mega Salamence fits on teams that are looking for a sturdy check to physical attackers like Primal Groudon, Ho-Oh, and Marshadow. The main advantages it has over defensive Zygarde-C are access to Defog, higher Speed, the ability to recover health without being forced to use Rest, and an immunity to Ground and grounded entry hazards. Steel-types synergize well with Mega Salamence, as they cover its weaknesses to Rock, Ice, and Fairy while Mega Salamence resists Fire, Fighting, and Ground. Necrozma-DM and Magearna can reliably handle special attackers like Xerneas and Deoxys-A that threaten Mega Salamence, while Mega Salamence can deal with Primal Groudon and Ho-Oh for them. Ferrothorn, while not a check to Geomancy Xerneas, can take advantage of common switch-ins to Mega Salamence like support Arceus formes, support Necrozma-DM, and Lugia by using them as opportunities to set Spikes. Arceus-Water is an ideal defensive partner for Mega Salamence. Pokemon such as mixed Rock Polish Primal Groudon, Calm Mind Arceus-Ground, and Kyurem-W carry coverage moves that allow them to hit both Mega Salamence and Steel-types, and Arceus-Water's good bulk and defensive typing allow it to handle these threats with ease. Primal Kyogre can also check the aforementioned threats; it's more effective than Arceus-Water as a check to Calm Mind Arceus-Ground, but will take a lot of damage from Primal Groudon unless it is running a defensive set. Ho-Oh is another Pokemon that checks the aforementioned special attackers, and it appreciates the Defog support that Mega Salamence provides. It can deal with many Pokemon that threaten Mega Salamence such as Arceus-Ground, Arceus-Fairy, and Hidden Power Ice variants of Marshadow and Primal Groudon while also putting pressure on Steel-types for it. Ground-types like Primal Groudon and Arceus-Ground can put pressure on the Rock- and Steel-types that wall Mega Salamence. Primal Groudon also checks Fairy-types and can set Stealth Rock for Mega Salamence's team. Arceus-Fairy and Choice Scarf Xerneas benefit from Mega Salamence's ability to check Primal Groudon and Ho-Oh. In return, they can switch into Dragon-type attacks for it and deal with Hidden Power Ice variants of Marshadow. Slow wallbreakers like Calm Mind Primal Kyogre, Eruption Primal Groudon, and Choice Band Ho-Oh can take advantage of the paralysis that Mega Salamence inflicts with Body Slam.

Moves Dragon Dance bolsters Mega Salamence's Attack and Speed stats, enabling it to outpace most of the boosted metagame at +1 and sweep through weakened teams. Double-Edge is Mega Salamence's main STAB attack. When unboosted, it has the strength to 2HKO defensive Yveltal, Gothitelle, support Arceus formes, and Lugia after Stealth Rock. After a Dragon Dance, Double-Edge OHKOes standard Geomancy Xerneas, Mega Sableye, and offensive Arceus formes after Stealth Rock. Roost helps sustain Mega Salamence's health, allowing it to find more setup opportunities throughout the match. Facade lets Mega Salamence take advantage of burn and poison status afflictions caused by Ho-Oh, Primal Groudon, and Necrozma-DM, becoming stronger than Double-Edge once Mega Salamence is statused. A +1 status-boosted Facade is strong enough to OHKO Ferrothorn without entry hazards and is capable of knocking out Lugia and fast support Arceus formes after Stealth Rock. Earthquake can be used instead of Facade to improve Mega Salamence's matchup versus Necrozma-DM, Magearna, and Tyranitar and to hit Primal Groudon almost as hard as Double-Edge without making Mega Salamence suffer from recoil damage. Substitute allows Mega Salamence to bypass status conditions and ensure that a Dragon Dance goes off, along with preventing Primal Groudon's and Giratina-O's Dragon Tail from phazing it. However, Mega Salamence is still susceptible to non-damaging phazing moves such as Roar and Whirlwind. Set Details Salamencite is required to Mega Evolve into Mega Salamence. An Adamant nature and 252 Attack EVs are used to provide Mega Salamence as much damage potential as possible. 212 Speed EVs enable Mega Salamence to naturally outpace maximum Speed base 100 Pokemon and below, such as Yveltal, Rayquaza, Tapu Lele, Primal Groudon, and Primal Kyogre, and to outpace Choice Scarf Xerneas and Yveltal after a boost. 44 HP EVs let Mega Salamence survive a Life Orb-boosted Brave Bird from Ho-Oh after Stealth Rock. If Life Orb Ho-Oh isn't a concern, a spread using 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe can be used to outspeed Necrozma-DM after it has set up an Autotomize once Mega Salamence uses Dragon Dance. A Jolly nature with the same spread lets Mega Salamence naturally Speed tie with Arceus formes and opposing Mega Salamence and outpaces everything slower, especially Pokemon such as Mega Lucario and Mega Diancie, and at +1 Speed, it is faster than Adamant Sand Rush Excadrill in sand and below. However, the difference in power from Adamant to Jolly is noticeable, and Sand Rush Excadrill is an extremely rare set. If Substitute is being used, a spread using 248 HP / 64 Atk / 124 Def / 72 Spe with an Impish nature is recommended, as it prevents Mega Salamence's Substitute from being broken by Celesteela's Heavy Slam and defensive Zygarde-C's Thousand Arrows and lowers the chance of Zygarde-C's Dragon Tail breaking Substitute as well. This turns two would-be checks into setup fodder. 72 Speed EVs will also allow Mega Salamence to still naturally outspeed Modest Lunala and Adamant Rayquaza. However, do keep in mind that this spread heavily decreases Mega Salamence's natural damage output. Usage Tips There will be situations where having access to Salamence's Intimidate for more than a single use can come in handy, so it's possible to stay in Salamence's base forme by coming in on a physical attacker to activate Intimidate and doubling out to another Pokemon on a predicted switch. However, never attack with a Salamence that has not Mega Evolved yet unless the foe is in range of being knocked out and when regular Salamence can outspeed whatever is in front of it, as its damage output is nonexistent due to not having STAB on Double-Edge and Facade. Mega Salamence serves as a good switch-in for Pokemon such as Ho-Oh, Primal Groudon, Mega Scizor, and Mega Lucario. Mega Salamence can potentially bait these Pokemon into switching out to gain a setup opportunity or to begin whittling down its checks. Pinpoint the correct time to start setting up with Dragon Dance. Mega Salamence prefers to start setting up when its checks and counters either are in range of being knocked out by its boosted attacks or have already been knocked out previously. If nearly all members of the opposing team are still healthy, it's better to just start attacking with Double-Edge straight away, which aids in wearing down Mega Salamence's switch-ins. If Mega Salamence aims to become statused to boost Facade's power, stay away from paralysis at all costs. Pokemon like Glare Zygarde-C and Nuzzle Smeargle can cripple Mega Salamence's Speed stat to prevent a Dragon Dance sweep from ever happening, and Mega Gengar can trap it and knock it out with Hex. Try to have Mega Salamence burned, if possible, since burn's residual damage is much lower than Toxic's, but keep in mind that Double-Edge and Earthquake's damage output is reduced in this state. Be wary of Pokemon that can potentially use Ice-type attacks, such as Hidden Power Ice Primal Groudon and Marshadow as well as Ice Beam Lunala, Mewtwo, and Deoxys-A. If an opposing Pokemon is in range of being knocked out by Facade or Earthquake, use them over Double-Edge in this situation to prevent Mega Salamence from taking unnecessary recoil damage. This may prolong Mega Salamence's sweep by an extra turn or two. Team Options Necrozma-DM is an excellent check to Xerneas, Arceus-Water, and Arceus-Fairy, which are Pokemon that Mega Salamence typically struggles with. Necrozma-DM can even take on support Arceus-Ground as long as it remains healthy, as Judgment fails to 2HKO specially defensive sets. It also has the ability to set up Stealth Rock, which helps Mega Salamence pick up necessary OHKOs and 2HKOs, and can cripple some of the checks that it shares with Mega Salamence, such as Giratina-O and Mega Slowbro, with Toxic. In turn, Mega Salamence checks Ho-Oh and Primal Groudon, two Pokemon that Necrozma-DM generally tries to avoid staying in on. Gothitelle makes for a phenomenal partner due to its ability to trap many of the bulkier threats that give Mega Salamence trouble. Passive Pokemon such as Skarmory, Lugia, support Necrozma-DM, Celesteela, and support Arceus formes, other than Arceus-Dark, are vulnerable to Gothitelle's ability to PP stall their moves with a combination of Charm, Confide, Taunt, and Rest, which eventually gives Mega Salamence more breathing room to set up with Dragon Dance, especially when running Substitute. Primal Groudon can utilize its Fire- and Ground-type attacks to obliterate the many Steel-type Pokemon that check Mega Salamence, such as Celesteela, Skarmory, Ferrothorn, Necrozma-DM, and Magearna. It can also come in on Xerneas and Primal Kyogre, set up Stealth Rock, phaze with Roar or Dragon Tail, and whittle down bulky Pokemon with Toxic. Offensive sets are also nice when paired with Mega Salamence, as both Pokemon are able to whittle down their shared checks together. Mixed Rock Polish Primal Groudon is known to run Hidden Power Ice to smack Zygarde-C, which is a threat that normally switches into both it and Mega Salamence comfortably. Xerneas appreciates Mega Salamence's ability to check Ho-Oh, Mega Scizor, and Primal Groudon, while it takes advantage of Zygarde-C and support Arceus formes to use them as setup fodder for a Geomancy sweep. On hyper offense teams, suicide hazard leads such as Deoxys-S, Smeargle, Excadrill, and Cloyster are invaluable in helping Mega Salamence set up a sweep. Excadrill, Smeargle, and Cloyster are known for utilizing Rapid Spin to remove opposing hazards, while Deoxys-S is fast enough to shut down most hazard setters and hazard removers with Taunt. Support Arceus formes such as Arceus-Fairy, Arceus-Water, and Arceus-Ground make for great partners for Mega Salamence thanks to them having the bulk to withstand certain attacks that are aimed for Mega Salamence. Arceus-Fairy switches in on Hidden Power Ice Marshadow, Arceus-Ground can come in on Mega Diancie and Dialga, and Arceus-Water can pivot in on an Ice Beam from Primal Kyogre. Arceus-Water and Arceus-Ground can also reliably use Defog to remove Stealth Rock. Mega Salamence appreciates wallbreakers that punch holes into, or remove, its checks and counters. Bulk Up Marshadow, Calm Mind Lunala, Deoxys-A, Primal Kyogre, Rayquaza, and Life Orb Yveltal deal massive amounts of damage to a majority of the tier, which is something Mega Salamence can take advantage of with a Dragon Dance sweep later in the game.

Moves Defog clears entry hazards, such as Stealth Rock, Spikes, and Sticky Web, off of the field. Double-Edge is Mega Salamence's primary offensive option and is capable of OHKOing Mega Lucario, 2HKOing fast support Arceus formes after Stealth Rock, and 2HKOing Gothitelle even if Charm is used before the second attack. Roost provides Mega Salamence with a reliable recovery move, which helps it sustain itself and clear entry hazards with Defog throughout the match. Facade enables Mega Salamence to benefit from a usually crippling burn status, which is typically inflicted by Primal Groudon and Ho-Oh. Once boosted by a status condition, Facade becomes stronger than Double-Edge. Toxic can cripple many of Mega Salamence's usual checks, such as Lugia, support Arceus formes, Mega Slowbro, and Giratina-O. Dragon Dance can give Mega Salamence some extra role compression, turning it into a hazard remover and a sweeper at the same time. However, such a set is worn down very easily by Toxic and increased Double-Edge recoil when its team needs a healthy hazard remover, and a mono-attacking Jolly Mega Salamence that is trying to sweep has a tougher time getting past its Steel-type checks without Earthquake. Set Details Salamencite is required to enable Salamence's Mega Evolution. A Jolly nature and 252 Speed EVs are used to Speed tie with Arceus and outpace everything slower, which gives Mega Salamence more room to get a Defog off versus most of the unboosted metagame. 252 Attack EVs enable Mega Salamence to hit as hard as possible. An Adamant nature could be used for more power, but the loss in Speed can be detrimental when going up against Arceus-Fairy and Arceus-Ground, which will always outspeed and OHKO Mega Salamence rather than Speed tying. Usage Tips Use Defog to clear the field of any and all entry hazards and the rare screens. Sometimes, keeping Salamence in its base forme can be a good idea to use Intimidate more than once against physical attackers. Regular Salamence can even use Defog on a predicted switch or against Primal Groudon, but it should never attack in this state, as Double-Edge and Facade do minimal damage without Aerilate. If running Toxic, try to predict whether a Pokemon such as a support Arceus forme or Giratina-O is coming in to cripple them on the switch. Try to keep this variant of Mega Salamence away from status conditions. Mega Gengar traps, outspeeds, and knocks a statused Mega Salamence out with Hex after Stealth Rock. Toxic makes it harder for Mega Salamence to sustain itself, and burn weakens all of Mega Salamence's attacks other than Facade, which can render Mega Salamence setup fodder. Paralysis and sleep should be avoided at all costs even if Facade is being used, as these status ailments leave Mega Salamence prone to being revenge killed or used as setup fodder, respectively. There's no need to use Double-Edge when a target is in range of being knocked out by Facade or Toxic's residual damage. It's best to try to preserve Mega Salamence's HP by any means necessary so it can keep using Defog and checking various Pokemon for a longer period of time, and mindlessly clicking Double-Edge when there's no reason to do so will inflict unnecessary harm onto Mega Salamence. Team Options Support Necrozma-DM is arguably the tier's best answer to Xerneas, Lugia, Deoxys-A, Mega Slowbro, and support Arceus. With its defensive typing that gives it resistances to Fairy- and Ice-type attacks while rendering it immune to Toxic, Necrozma-DM can comfortably switch into all of these Pokemon and threaten to status them back with its own Toxic, and it can also set up Stealth Rock, which helps Mega Salamence pick up a necessary 2HKO versus Arceus-Fairy with Double-Edge. With Mega Salamence playing the role of an entry hazard remover, support Arceus formes are free to use a different move in place of Defog. Arceus-Fairy can use Stealth Rock to threaten out common hazard control Pokemon such as Giratina-O, Mega Sableye, and opposing Mega Salamence, while Arceus-Water and Arceus-Ground have the freedom to use Toxic alongside Judgment and Ice Beam. When not running Facade, this Mega Salamence set appreciates status absorbers and clerics. Gothitelle runs Rest to rid itself of status conditions and has the ability to trap, weaken, and PP stall many of Mega Salamence's checks. Defensive Xerneas runs Rest alongside Aromatherapy and Sleep Talk to not only absorb and heal status conditions for itself but also get rid of its teammates' status ailments. Defensive Xerneas also has the bulk to withstand attacks from Marshadow, a Pokemon that threatens Mega Salamence with Hidden Power Ice. Lastly, Magearna has the option to run Heal Bell while acting as a switch-in to opposing Xerneas. Primal Groudon's powerful Fire- and Ground-type STAB combination enables it to incinerate the majority of Mega Salamence's Steel- and Rock-type checks, and it can comfortably come in on Primal Kyogre's Ice Beam and Xerneas's Moonblast. Primal Groudon can also lure in some of the checks that it shares with Mega Salamence, such as Lugia, Arceus-Water, Arceus-Ground, and Giratina-O, and cripple them with Toxic or use Overheat or Eruption against Arceus-Ground. Marshadow is an excellent partner that can revenge kill Mega Gengar, Necrozma-DM, Ultra Necrozma, Deoxys-A, and Mewtwo, and its Bulk Up Marshadium Z set is one of the few setup sweepers in the tier that can reliably break Iron Defense Mega Slowbro thanks to Spectral Thief stealing the Defense boosts.

Mega Salamence’s great defenses as well as Intimidate give it an easy time in setting up Dragon Dance. The EVs let Mega Salamence outrun Choice Scarf Tapu Lele at +1, survive Cresselia’s Ice Beam and Tyranitar’s Ice Punch, and maximize the benefit of an Adamant nature. With Double-Edge, they also ensure the move OHKOes Tapu Fini at +1, although the recoil damage associated with the move reduces the value in defensive investment. A Jolly nature with a 252 Atk / 252 Spe spread is an option if you’d prefer more Speed. Redirectors such as Follow Me Clefairy make good partners by keeping Mega Salamence unhindered.

High attacking stats and access to Double-Edge and Hyper Voice make Mega Salamence a great mixed attacker, which is a big advantage it has over common alternative Mega Evolutions. Draco Meteor is typical in the third slot to deal with Electric-types such as Zapdos and opposing Dragon-types, but Tailwind offers Salamence’s team speed control if this is unnecessary. The given EV spread OHKOes uninvested Tapu Lele with Double-Edge. Tyranitar is a good partner for this set, as it covers Aegislash and Cresselia, which Mega Salamence struggles to deal with. Aegislash is nice defensively given it can switch into all of Salamence’s weaknesses.

Moves Outrage is the most powerful physical STAB Dragon-type move that Salamence has access to, with 120 Base Power, and combined with some Moxie boosts, Outrage's power makes Salamence an effective late-game cleaner. Iron Tail is coverage to hit Fairy-types, especially Mega Diancie, which is a massive threat for Dragon teams. Earthquake lets Salamence hit Steel-, Electric-, and Poison-types, such as Heatran, Tapu Koko, and Toxapex. Fire Blast is used to hit Steel-types that Earthquake doesn't hit super effectively such as Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Mega Scizor. Set Details 252 Attack EVs are used to maximize Salamence's power as a revenge killer and late-game cleaner, and 252 Speed EVs along with a Naive nature and Choice Scarf make Salamence as fast as possible. Moxie raises Salamence's Attack once for each foe that it KOes, turning Salamence into a good late-game cleaner. Usage Tips Salamence should be brought in when there's a free turn, after a teammate has fainted, or when a Choice-locked opposing foe is locked into a move that Salamence resists or is immune to such as Earthquake from Landorus-T or Horn Leech from Tapu Bulu. After Salamence is brought in, it should revenge kill weakened threats such as Hydreigon and Tapu Koko. Salamence can also act as a cleaner if it manages to get some Moxie boosts, so it should be brought in late-game when the opposing team has been weakened enough and revenge killers such as Choice Scarf Greninja and Choice Scarf Terrakion are gone. Most of the time, Salamence will need Stealth Rock removed to maximize the number of times it can come in to revenge kill an opposing Pokemon, so Defog support is needed. Prevent Salamence from taking unnecessary damage; otherwise, it won't have enough health to switch in and revenge kill opposing threats. It is very important for Salamence to avoid status, especially burns or paralysis, since it won't be able to clean the opposing team or act as a revenge killer due to the Attack or Speed drop. Therefore, Salamence shouldn't stay in front of an incoming Will-O-Wisp from Mega Sableye or Rotom-Wash, Thunder Wave from Klefki or Slowbro, or move that has a chance to burn, such as Scald from Toxapex or Lava Plume from Torkoal. Finally, you should think twice before going for Outrage, as Salamence will be locked into it for two to three turns, making it easier for Steel- and Fairy-types such as Excadrill, Mega Gardevoir, Mimikyu, and Azumarill to revenge kill Salamence. Team Options Latios and Latias can provide Defog support to get rid of Stealth Rock so as to preserve Salamence's health and maximize the number of times it can switch in. Choice Scarf Latios is able to outspeed massive threats to Salamence such as Terrakion and Nihilego while also threatening them with its STAB Psychic-type move, and Latias has access to Healing Wish to give Salamence a second opportunity to sweep. In return, Salamence can revenge kill a weakened Alolan Muk, which is one of the most prominent checks to Latios and Latias. Garchomp can set Stealth Rock to wear down opposing teams, making it easier for Salamence to clean, while also resisting Rock-type moves such as Rock Slide from Excadrill. Garchomp has access to the combination of Earthquake and Fire Blast, which can weaken Steel-types for Salamence even with no Attack and Special Attack investment. Kyurem-B is an extremely powerful mixed wallbreaker with good coverage, and it can punch holes in the opposing team to achieve a situation where Salamence can clean. Fusion Bolt lets Kyurem-B hit common checks to Salamence such as Skarmory and Mega Slowbro, Earth Power threatens Steel-types that can be annoying for Salamence such as Heatran, and Ice Beam OHKOes Landorus-T. Choice Band Dragonite can break through many opposing threats and weaken the checks it shares with Salamence, such as Skarmory with Fire Punch and Porygon2 with Superpower. Hydreigon is able to get rid of physically defensive checks for Salamence such as Skarmory and Mega Slowbro with Fire Blast and Dark Pulse, while Salamence can cripple Pokemon that wall Hydreigon such as Alolan Muk and Zapdos. Dragalge's Poison typing makes it neutral to Fairy, and it can hit opposing Fairy-types hard with its Adaptability-boosted Sluge Wave. Dragalge can also provide Salamence with an easier path to revenge killing and cleaning thanks to its capacity to set up Toxic Spikes, which can wear down foes that Salamence can't OHKO such as Tapu Fini. Mega Altaria is a powerful Dragon Dance user for Dragon teams that takes advantage of Salamence revenge killing Steel- and Fairy-types such as Excadrill and Mega Diancie, and in exchange Mega Altaria provides an immunity to Dragon-type moves aimed at Salamence such as Draco Meteor from Latios.

Moves Dragon Dance allows Salamence to boost its Attack and Speed, helping it to become a powerful sweeper. Outrage is Salamence's STAB Dragon-type attack and its most powerful move with 120 Base Power. However, this move has the disadvantage of locking Salamence into it for two to three turns and preventing it from switching out, so the opponent can take advantage of a badly timed Outrage. Devastating Drake is a 190-Base Power move resulting from Dragonium Z that deals massive amounts of damage to Pokemon that don't resist it, such as Mandibuzz, Mega Venusaur, Porygon2, and Mega Sableye. Earthquake is coverage that hits Steel-, Electric- and Poison-types such as Heatran, Tapu Koko, and Toxapex super effectively. Fire Fang hits Steel-types that Earthquake doesn't hit super effectively such as Skarmory, Celesteela, and Ferrothorn. Set Details Maximum Attack and Speed investment along with a Jolly nature allows Salamence to hit as hard as possible and be as fast as possible, outspeeding threats such as Hydreigon, Kyurem-B, Mimikyu, and Porygon-Z. Moxie boosts Salamence's Attack by one stage every time it knocks out a foe, which helps it clean late-game. Dragonium Z turns Outrage into a 190-Base Power STAB Dragon-type move that increases the probability of Salamence running through some of its checks, such as Mandibuzz, Rotom-Wash, and Mega Venusaur. Usage Tips Use Salamence late-game, once its checks have been weakened or KOed and potential revenge killers have fainted, to ensure it is able to clean the opposing team, acting as a snowball sweeper thanks to Moxie. It can occasionally be used mid-game if it is needed to break some foes so its teammates can take advantage of the weakened opposition. Set up on Pokemon that Salamence checks, such as Victini and Mega Charizard Y, and Choice item users locked into moves Salamence resists, such as Excadrill locked into Earthquake. Be careful to avoid locking Salamence into Outrage when there are still Steel- and Fairy-types around, that can easily revenge kill it, such as Excadrill, Azumarill, and Mega Gardevoir. Furthermore, avoid switching Salamence into powerful hits to prevent it from taking unnecessary damage, as it needs to be as healthy as possible to set up. It is important to remove Stealth Rock before sending Salamence in, as it needs as much health as possible to ensure it can set up. Finally, avoid letting Salamence get hit by status moves such as Will-O-Wisp from Mega Sableye and Thunder Wave from Klefki, since burn makes Salamence almost useless and paralysis makes revenge killers such as Terrakion and Nihilego even more threatening. Team Options Garchomp has access to Stealth Rock, which helps wear opposing teams down and allows Salamence to sweep more easily, and it resists Rock-type moves aimed at Salamence. Garchomp can also threaten Steel-types with Earthquake and Fire Blast, KOing or at least weakening them and easing Salamence's job. Choice Band Dragonite can act as a wallbreaker, weakening or KOing the checks it shares with Salamence, such as Skarmory and Porygon2. Once Dragonite has muscled past these walls, Salamence has an easier path to a sweep. Latios and Latias are the best bet for Dragon teams in terms of entry hazard control support, as both are able to remove Stealth Rock with Defog to preserve Salamence's health. In addition to that, Choice Scarf Latios outspeeds threatening revenge killers for Salamence such as Nihilego and Terrakion and is able to OHKO them with Psychic, while Latias has access to Healing Wish to restore Salamence's health and give it another opportunity to sweep. Latios and Latias also have access to STAB Psychic-type attacks that threaten Toxapex, which can be a problem for Salamence due to its combination of Recover and Haze, while Salamence threatens Alolan Muk, which can tank every hit from Latios and Latias and trap them with Pursuit. Kyurem-B can cover the role of mixed wallbreaker punching holes in the opposing team so Salamence can sweep after Kyurem-B has broken through walls. Kyurem-B can destroy some of the common checks to Salamence, such as Skarmory and Celesteela with Fusion Bolt and Landorus-T with Ice Beam. Furthermore, Kyurem-B can hit Steel-types with Earth Power and switch into Ice-type attacks for Salamence due to its Ice typing. Dragalge is neutral to Fairy thanks to its Poison typing and can threaten opposing Fairy-types with its Adaptability-boosted Sludge Wave. Dragalge can also set up Toxic Spikes to wear down opposing walls such as Porygon2 and Mega Slowbro, making it much easier for Salamence to sweep. In return, Salamence is immune to Ground-type moves. Hydreigon can get rid of more physically defensive walls such as Skarmory and Mega Slowbro, while Salamence can remove more specially defensive walls, such as Chansey and Zapdos.

Moves Return is preferred over Double-Edge in order to maximize Salamence's longevity. When its Attack is boosted, Mega Salamence's damage output is high enough that the difference in Base Power between Return and Double-Edge is largely negligible. Dragon Dance is used to raise Salamence's Attack and Speed to sky-high levels and transform Salamence from a general chip damage machine to a sweeper. Roost can negate damage Salamence might incur as it switches in or sets up a Dragon Dance. Given this set's emphasis on bulk, Salamence is often able to Roost away more damage than it takes on a given turn, allowing it to safely remain on the field until it can begin its sweep. Protect is a staple in DOU and is often the fourth move of choice, but Substitute can be used instead to block status moves and Intimidate or gain free turns on predicted Protects or switches. Substitute also synergizes well with Roost, since Salamence can easily recover the damage lost from creating a Substitute. Set Details The given investment in HP and Special Defense allows Mega Salamence to survive a Moonblast from standard Tapu Lele, which means that Salamence can beat what would be a hard stop to its sweep in a vacuum. This bulk investment also means that Mega Salamence can survive a -1 Ice Punch from Mega Metagross after Stealth Rock. Speed is invested to the point where Mega Salamence will always outspeed Landorus, and the remaining EVs are dumped into Attack. An Adamant nature is used in order to boost Salamence's Attack even further. Dragon Dance Salamence should still use Intimidate in order to facilitate its own setup while leaving it with an element of team support. Usage Tips Dragon Dance Mega Salamence operates best as a late-game sweeper. It can certainly be used to deal some damage earlier on in battles, but you should only start setting up with Dragon Dance when you think you can win the game from that point. Before that, feel free to use regular Salamence's Intimidate ability to support its team or Mega Evolve to fire off a Return or two. Keep in mind that, even though Salamence can Roost off any damage incurred, Stealth Rock damage must still be considered carefully when switching in and out. The beauty of bulky Dragon Dance Mega Salamence is its forgiving nature—Roost and above average bulk allow it to take hits more comfortably and recover back up to full health. One more unique way to use this bulkier set is to check Speed stats on turn 1. For example, if you lead off a battle with this Salamence set and your opponents leads with Tapu Lele, the order of activation of Intimidate and Psychic Surge can tell you something about the Tapu Lele's EVs. Once the time comes for Mega Salamence to start boosting, it can effectively set up for free in the face of a lot of common Pokemon such as Incineroar, standard bulky Landorus-T, Tapu Bulu, Kartana, and non-Hidden Power Ice Volcanion. Staying healthy with Roost is important, as a bit of unexpected damage is one of the best ways to counteract a Mega Salamence sweep. Using Roost often can put you in a better position if your opponent tries to switch into a better matchup. Remember that Return still does a lot of damage without a boost, so against frail or Flying-weak Pokemon that threaten Salamence with super effective damage or status like Tapu Lele and Amoonguss, it's more advantageous to attack immediately. Finally, Dragon Dance can be used not only to boost Mega Salamence's stats but also to counteract Intimidate on a predicted switch or after the drop. Team Options Dragon Dance Mega Salamence loves having teammates that can buy it free turns. Scrafty and Incineroar are both good partners thanks to their access to Fake Out and Intimidate, both of which ease Salamence's stay on the field. Scrafty provides much-needed assistance against Tyranitar and aid against some Steel-types but adds a Fairy weakness, while Incineroar handles all relevant Steel-types but stacks a weakness to Rock and struggles to deal with bulky Water-types. Zeraora is another Pokemon that can provide Fake Out support while also improving the matchup against Electric-types, threatening most bulky Water-types, and using its nice access to Snarl to facilitate Salamence's setup. Redirection can also pave the way for a Mega Salamence sweep; Amoonguss and Volcarona are both effective Rage Powder users that also provide sleep and Tailwind support, respectively. Amoonguss has the added bonus of checking both Tapu Koko and Tapu Fini, while Volcarona can roast Steel-types. Steel-types also make good partners for Mega Salamence to check Rock-, Ice-, and Fairy-types. Genesect is an offensive option that heavily threatens Diancie, Kyurem-B, and Tapu Lele. Aegislash takes a more defensive role and can protect Salamence from moves that would otherwise deal big damage like Rock Slide or Icy Wind with its access to Wide Guard. Bulky Water-types also present a problem thanks to their ability to take hits from Mega Salamence and threaten with an Ice-type move or, in Tapu Fini's case, a STAB Moonblast. Kartana and Tapu Bulu can both use their strong Grass-type attacks to neutralize Water-types while also threatening the other three Island Guardians. Finally, Zapdos presents a problem for Mega Salamence thanks to its deadly combination of bulk, typing, and access to both Static to threaten paralysis and Tailwind to neutralize Speed boosts. Kyurem-B makes for a good partner thanks to its ability to threaten Zapdos with a strong Ice-type attack while also eliminating a common Intimidate user in Landorus-T.

Moves Double-Edge is Mega Salamence's primary attack, dealing large amounts of damage to any target that doesn't resist it. Some common Pokemon, such as Mega Charizard Y and Tapu Lele, are even knocked out by a single Double-Edge. Hyper Voice is a very spammable attack and provides Mega Salamence with a means of consistent spread damage, often chipping foes into range for a Double-Edge knockout. Hyper Voice also has the added bonus of circumventing the omnipresent Intimidate, which would otherwise deter physical sets. Tailwind gives Salamence a means of all-important speed control, adding some utility to an otherwise purely offensive toolkit. Flamethrower turns Mega Salamence from a very good Kartana check to arguably the best Kartana check while also enabling it to hit problematic Steel-types like Metagross and Aegislash. Protect is important on a Pokemon with a major offensive presence like Mega Salamence to buy a turn of safety while under fire so its partner can hopefully deal with the threat at hand. Set Details To take advantage of its high base Speed and ensure that Mega Salamence is attacking first as often as possible, a Hasty nature and 252 EVs in Speed are employed. 180 Attack EVs allow Mega Salamence to OHKO all of Mega Charizard Y, Hasty Genesect, and Tapu Lele. The remaining EVs are dumped into Special Attack to boost the power of Hyper Voice. Intimidate is chosen due to its vast utility in DOU, adding to Mega Salamence's already above average physical bulk and supporting its teammates to boot. While the Hasty nature seems to contradict this point, losing a little bit of Defense is less harmful than losing a little bit of Special Defense, since Intimidate covers this loss and the extra special bulk allows Mega Salamence to stand up to special attackers more comfortably. If Flamethrower is chosen in the third moveslot, 20 EVs should be moved from Attack to Special Attack for a total of 96, which allows Mega Salamence to 2HKO Mega Metagross. Usage Tips As one of the primary damage dealers on its team, Mega Salamence should be maneuvered into positions where it can start firing off powerful attacks at low risk. Salamence can switch into weak physical attacks and resisted special attacks fairly easily thanks to its natural bulk. Since a significant portion of Salamence's utility comes from Intimidate, Mega Evolving and using Protect on the same turn is almost never advised. In fact, if you want to use Tailwind but have not yet Mega Evolved Salamence, it can even be advantageous to hold off on Mega Evolving for that turn. Once you're ready to start attacking, that's when Mega Evolution becomes necessary. You almost never want to attack before Mega Evolving because Mega Salamence's Aerilate ability is the only reason this set can pump out damage. Hyper Voice can either be used to chip foes into knockout range for partners or clean up weakened foes in endgame scenarios. Double-Edge is very powerful and capable of OHKOing some frailer Pokemon, but you must be wary of taking too much recoil damage and compromising Salamence's survivability. Similarly, you must be careful to not switch Salamence in and out too often when Stealth Rock is on the field, as taking 25% chip damage multiple times can be disastrous. Team Options Mega Salamence fits on a wide variety of teams thanks to its decent synergy with all four Island Guardians, something that does not apply to many Pokemon. Tapu Fini can support Salamence with options like Icy Wind and Heal Pulse while using Nature's Madness to prime opposing Pokemon for knockouts at Salamence's hand. Tapu Koko and Tapu Bulu both threaten troublesome bulky Water-type Pokemon, while Tapu Lele and Mega Salamence can combine for insane damage output thanks to their outstanding neutral power and, in conjunction, can threaten most of the top Pokemon in the tier. Steel-type Pokemon make good partners for Salamence as well, as Salamence threatens Fire-types while Steel-types can withstand Ice-, Fairy-, and Rock-type moves sent Salamence's way. Aegislash fills this role very well defensively, while Genesect can act as a more offensive partner. Checks to Steel- and Rock-types are important for any team, so a Pokemon like Volcanion also partners well with Salamence thanks to its ability to offensively threaten both. Even though Salamence resists Water-type attacks, most bulky Water-types can stand up to Mega Salamence's strong offense and fire back with threatening attacks like Ice Beam or Icy Wind. As a result, alongside Tapu Koko and Tapu Bulu, Kartana and Zapdos make for good Salamence teammates thanks to their ability to clear out or at least significantly damage Water-types. Most of the suggested partners for Salamence experience a symbiotic relationship with it, as they allow Salamence to do its job effectively while also benefiting from the Tailwind support it can provide. However, Salamence's typing leaves it weak to more types than the average Pokemon, so you must be wary not to start stacking weakness when building a team around Mega Salamence.

Moves Dragon Dance is Mega Salamence's setup move, boosting its already great Attack and Speed to sky-high levels and outspeeding the entire unboosted metagame at +1. Double-Edge when combined with Aerilate has an impressive 144 Base Power, hitting everything that doesn't resist it hard. Return has no recoil but has a lower 122 Base Power; it still hits hard, but it usually requires an Adamant nature to be viable. Facade is an option to better take on Pokemon with status moves while boosting. Earthquake grants coverage for Steel- (barring Celesteela), Eletric-, and Rock-types, OHKOing threats such as Tapu Koko even without a Dragon Dance boost. Roost gives Salamence the ability to set up in front of defensive Pokemon such as bulky Celesteela. When used, it also mitigates Mega Salamence's Ice-type weakness to 2x. Set Details Running a 252 Atk / 252 Spe spread is usually the best option so Mega Salamence can hit as hard and fast as possible. An Adamant nature guarantees more damage and makes Return a viable choice while still allowing Mega Salamence to outspeed Pokemon such as Garchomp and Nihilego. Running a Jolly nature could be worth it in order to outspeed threats such as Alolan Ninetales, Mega Metagross, and Mega Lucario before a boost, but Salamence would usually need to run Double-Edge as a STAB move to make up for the power loss. A spread of 140 HP / 108 Atk / 8 SpD / 252 Spe can be used in order to always survive a Timid Tapu Koko's Life Orb-boosted Dazzling Gleam or Modest Tapu Lele's Moonblast while still being faster than Garchomp and Nihilego if running an Adamant nature; otherwise, you could take advantage of its fantastic Speed tier if running a Jolly nature. That set would usually need to run Double-Edge as its main STAB move. Usage Tips Dragon Dance should be used mid- or late-game when Mega Salamence's checks are KOed or in range of a hit from +1 Salamence. Keep in mind that Mega Salamence still does a lot of damage without a boost, so when predicting a switch, an option could be to just attack rather than being forced to switch out with a boost and nothing done. Mega Salamence doesn't need to Mega Evolve immediately to take advantage of its non-Mega ability Intimidate. For example, this enables Salamence to more easily switch in and out while being able to Mega Evolve when it needs its Speed. Team Options Steel-type checks are required, particurarly Pokemon that can handle Celesteela, which is immune to Earthquake and can tank Salamence's STAB moves fairly well. Fire-types such as Rotom-Heat and Alolan Marowak make good partners, even mitigating Mega Salamence's Ice weakness. Volcarona deserves a special mention as a Fire-type that can deal with Cresselia too. Buzzwole can deal with Cresselia as well. Fairy-types have always been good partners for Dragon-types. Tapu Fini covers Salamence's weakness very well and can clear Porygon2 from the field with the combination of Nature's Madness and Hydro Vortex, whereas Tapu Koko is a decent Celesteela check. Tapu Bulu is probably worse than Tapu Fini and Tapu Koko when paired with Salamence, but it can offer a better answer to those Garchomp that are not running Poison Jab and deal huge damage to Porygon2 if equipped with Choice Band or Grassium Z. Primarina can work instead of Tapu Fini, also checking Pokemon that like to use Substitute, such as Celesteela, thanks to its Sparkling Aria. Alolan Ninetales deserves a special mention, not only mitigating Salamence's Ice and Dragon weaknesses but also being able to set up Aurora Veil that hugely aids in setting up Dragon Dance and providing chip damage with hail to aid sweeps. Bulky Water-types could also work fine if paired with Mega Salamence, guarding it from its 4x Ice-type weakness and threatening checks such as Mamoswine. Tapu Fini and Primarina are both good choices. Slowbro can come in on Ice attacks and easily check threats like Garchomp, Rhyperior, and Mamoswine; even Suicune can be a great partner, since it is resistant to Ice, can deal with Ground-types, and thanks to its bulk and access to Ice Beam, can even offer a decent answer to opposing Dragon-types. Steel-types are also great partners for Salamence, both defensively and offensively. Aegislash and Celesteela are both good options. Ferrothorn and Heatran have both always been very solid choices for Mega Salamence cores. Magnezone can fulfill this role as well, being also able to trap opposing Celesteela thanks to Magnet Pull. Mamoswine offers a good answer to opposing Dragon-types while working as a check to Porygon2, being able to fire off several Fissures if running its Assault Vest set. Stealth Rock support could be a good idea to break Focus Sashes on foes. Mamoswine and Nihilego are good candidates for this role. Hippowdon and Tyranitar are two other great Stealth Rock setters, since Mega Salamence fits really well on sand teams; Excadrill can complete sand cores and offer Stealth Rock support as well. Ferrothorn deserves a special mention, since it can set up Stealth Rock while also doing pretty well against Water-types.

Moves Double-Edge is still a powerful attack even without Attack EVs, able to break through special walls. Draco Meteor OHKOes Garchomp and opposing Mega Salamence. Fire Blast hits Steel-types and has good Base Power, having a chance to 2HKO Celesteela if it's not running heavy investments in Special Defense and OHKO Mega Lucario when Mega Salamence is Naive; Flamethrower can be used for its accuracy but will miss the 2HKO on Celesteela and will have only a 25% chances to OHKO Mega Lucario if Salamence has a Naive nature. With a Rash nature, Flamethrower will be enough to always OHKO Mega Lucario. Earthquake completes the offensive coverage, hitting Electric-, Rock-, and Fire-types for super effective damage; Hyper Voice is a STAB option that hits fairly well while also giving Mega Salamence the ability to hit through Substitutes. Running Substitute itself is an option to answer to Celesteela's Leech Seed, to absorb status, and to scout for an Ice attack, while Roost sacrifices coverage for more staying power. Set Details Maximizing Mega Salamence's Special Attack and Speed is the best idea so it can have the best possible offensive presence. Its nature should be either Naive or Rash, lowering Mega Salamence's average Special Defense to take the advantage of its fantastic Defense with Intimidate. A Naive nature uses Mega Salamence's great Speed to its fullest, allowing it to outspeed threats such as Alolan Ninetales and Speed tie with opposing Mega Salamence; A Rash nature gives it the chance to 2HKO Special Defense-oriented Celesteela with Fire Blast and to OHKO Mega Lucario with Flamethrower, also increasing its Draco Meteor damage output and allowing it to still be faster than threats such as Garchomp and Nihilego. Usage Tips This Mega Salamence set works as an early-game attacker. It has the role of opening up holes in the enemy team to aid late-game sweepers. It can take advantage of the surprise factor, being able to deal good damage to Pokemon such as Celesteela that work as checks for the physical attack variants of Mega Salamence or to wreck opposing Salamence with Draco Meteor. Team preview is crucial when using this set, since it struggles to get past walls such as Porygon2, Cresselia, and Suicune, so make sure you have counter measures for these. Team Options Physical setup sweepers greatly benefit from the presence of this potent early-game attacker that has the role of cleaning or weakening physical tanks. Blaziken, Scizor, Gyarados, and Aegislash are all great options, having good synergy with it. Even late-game sweepers such as Sand Rush Excadrill appreciate Mega Salamence's strong early-game presence, making their sweeping chances much higher. Fairy-types such as Tapu Koko and Tapu Bulu can guard it from Dragon-type attacks while also granting good offensive presence versus some of the Pokemon that this set struggles at damaging, such as Water-types like Tapu Fini, Suicune, or Pyukumuku. Pokemon that can threaten those tanks that can completely wall Mega Salamence, such as Porygon2, Cresselia, and Suicune, are also good partners for it. Offensive sets of Tapu Fini can KO Porygon2 with the combination of Nature's Madness and Hydro Vortex. Aegislash can take care of Porygon2 with a SubToxic set and can deal with Cresselia too. Mamoswine and Buzzwole can threaten Porygon2 when using an Assault Vest set, with Mamoswine also checking Dragon-types and Buzzwole also checking Steel-types. Even Tapu Koko can handle weakened Porygon2 if equipped with an Electrium Z while also easily dealing with Suicune.

Moves Both Draco Meteor and Dragon Pulse are run, with Draco Meteor being run for picking up OHKOs against opposing Dragon-types and frailer attackers. Dragon Pulse is a more reliable STAB option that doesn't miss or result in Salamence's Special Attack being halved. The next move is Fire Blast to hit Steel-types, which would otherwise be able to take its Salamence's Dragon-type STAB attacks. It is also used to hit Grass-types like Amoonguss, which can take Draco Meteor, for super effective damage. The final moveslot is reserved for coverage moves, the choice of which depends on what your team needs. Rock Slide has a percentage chance to OHKO both Mega Charizard Y and Talonflame. Stone Edge can be run over Rock Slide to guarantee the OHKO on Mega Charizard Y and Talonflame and generally hits a lot harder than Rock Slide. Because of how common Rock Slide is, Mega Charizard Y and Talonflame are often paired with a Wide Guard user to block Rock Slides. Stone Edge has the advantage of hitting through Wide Guard as it isn't a spread move. However, it comes at the cost of accuracy and the loss of the flinch chance. Hydro Pump can be used with a Timid nature, as it also guarantees an OHKO against Talonflame, and hits other Fire-types harder coming off the more invested Special Attack. Set Details A Speed-boosting nature is run to outspeed and Speed tie with other Choice Scarf Salamence running Modest or a Speed-boosting nature respectively. The EVs on this spread are simple; their purpose to both maximize Speed and Special Attack so that Salamence hits as hard and as fast as possible. A Modest nature could be run for a slight Special Attack buff if your team doesn't fear opposing Choice Scarf Pokemon. Usage Tips Salamence is commonly played as a lead thanks to its high Speed, coverage, and Intimidate. Getting off an early-game Intimidate weakens your opponent's physical attackers before they have a chance to attack. The move that should be most used on this set is Draco Meteor, as it hits significantly harder than any other move Salamence has access to. Although there is a Special Attack drop, switching out isn't hugely detrimental as it gives Salamence another chance to activate Intimidate. The only times you will find yourself using Dragon Pulse are against weakened opposing Pokemon or when you can't switch to reset Salamence's Special Attack. Team Options Mega Kangaskhan provides Fake Out support, which is always appreciated. On top of that, it can take on many of Salamence's checks and counters such as Gardevoir and Tyranitar by simply overpowering them with its ability, Parental Bond. Although Salamence and it share many of the same weaknesses, Garchomp has great offensive synergy alongside Salamence, partlydue to Garchomp's ability to fire off Earthquake freely thanks to Salamence's Flying typing. Rotom-W and Rotom-H both provide Will-O-Wisp support, also dealing with Steel-types that can take a Fire Blast in the case of Rotom-H. However, Rotom-W has the advantage of not sharing Salamence's weakness to Rock. Steel-types like Mega Mawile and Aegislash both have good defensive and offensive synergy alongside Salamence. This is because they can take any super effective hits that threaten Salamence and also dish out a sizable amounts of damage to many of Salamence's checks and counters, Gardevoir and Tyranitar for instance.

Moves As with the sets above, both Draco Meteor and Dragon Pulse are run to give Salamence both a powerful and reliable STAB option. Fire Blast hits significantly harder than the above sets, and hits Steel-types for super effective damage which that would otherwise wall this set. Finally this set runs Hydro Pump to hit common Fire- and Rock-types for super effective damage and complement the rest of Salamence's coverage. Set Details Unlike the previous sets this set uses a Modest nature to hit as hard as possible. However, a Timid nature can be run to maximize Speed if needed. Choice Specs hits far harder than either of the previous sets, which also guarantees more OHKOs than any other set. This power is such that a Modest Choice Specs Salamence's Draco Meteor is the most powerful Dragon-type move in the format. Usage Tips As stated, Draco Meteor is the hardest hitting Dragon-type move in the format, and because of this a lot of the time it is a good idea to just use Draco Meteor. As stated before, switching out to reset Salamence's Special Attack can be beneficial, as it also allows another Intimidate to further weaken physical attackers later in the game. If a Modest nature is run you must bear in mind that Salamence no longer outspeeds many Pokemon it did with Timid; however, the increase in power is very noticeable and you must play it to these strengths. As a lot of other Pokemon with a base Speed of 100 run an Attack- or Special Attack-boosting nature, Speed ties might not be lost. Do not bank on this, however. For instance Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Charizard Y both commonly run a neutral nature. Team Options Tailwind is far more appreciated on this set than any other as it focuses more heavily on power than Speed. This extra Speed allows Salamence to take care of many of its old checks and counters. Fast Pokemon like Choice Scarf Gardevoir and Mamoswine can take on opposing Dragon-types that threaten Salamence. Steel-, Fire-, and Fighting-types are also all welcome partners for Salamence as they care of Steel- and Fairy-types.

Moves Draco Meteor is Salamence's most powerful STAB move, and can pick up many KOs on common frail Pokemon or against opposing Dragon-types. While Draco Meteor is for power, Dragon Pulse is for consistency. It has the benefits of guaranteed accuracy and no effect on Salamence's Special Attack. Fire Blast is to hit the Steel-types that resist Salamence's STAB Dragon-type moves for super effective damage. As this set isn't running a Choice item and Salamence is a highly targeted pokemon, Protect is a strongly recommended move for not only scouting but also waiting a turn so your partner can take down the threat. Set Details Haban Berry is run to allow Salamence to survive a Dragon-type hit. Draco Meteor is then fired off against the opposing Dragon-type for super effective damage, usually for an OHKO. However, for those who want extra power, Life Orb can be used, on top of which a Modest nature could also be run to further maximize Salamence's Special Attack. That said, it is advisable not to run a Modest nature when not carrying a Haban Berry as you are then losing Speed as well as the ability to survive a super effective hit. The EV spread is again to make Salamence's Special Attack and Speed as high as possible. Usage Tips Because of the immense usefulness of Intimidate to weaken physical attackers, Salamence is often played as a lead. This is done to to somewhat check other common leads such as Mega Kangaskhan. Unlike any of the other sets, this set carries Protect. Protect is played to ease prediction and scout for an unexpected coverage move, like Ice Beam on Tyranitar. On top of that, it gives Salamence's partner a chance to KO the opposing threat. Dragon Pulse should be used when using Draco Meteor is not recommended, for instance when Salamence is one of the last Pokemon on field and needs to maintain its Special Attack for some later use. It is also used when the extra power of Draco Meteor isn't necessary and the loss of Special Attack would be a unneeded hindrance to your team. Team Options As Steel-types are problematic to Salamence even with Fire Blast, running Salamence alongside Fire- and Fighting-types to take on the Steel-types that can survive a Fire Blast is always a good idea. Other Intimidate Pokemon such as Mawile and Mega Manectric provide nice support and further weaken physical attackers; however, be cautious of Pokemon like Bisharp that can utilize this to boost their Attack higher thanks to Defiant. Fairy-types, which are immune to Salamence's Dragon-type STAB moves, are weak to Steel-type moves. Steel also resists all of the types that Salamence is weak to. Steel-types thereby have both good defensive and offensive synergy alongside Salamence. Good partners are Mawile, Aegislash, and Ferrothorn.

Moves Hyper Voice is a reliable, moderately powerful spread move; Mega Salamence will be using it fairly liberally to weaken multiple targets. Double-Edge deals a significant amount of single-target damage and makes Mega Salamence difficult to wall by specially bulky Pokemon such as Primal Kyogre and Ho-Oh. It is also Salamence's most powerful move in terms of raw power (excluding the extremely situational Hyper Beam and Giga Impact). It also swiftly removes Amoonguss and punishes Xerneas for trying to set up Geomancy in front of Mega Salamence. Furthermore, it allows Mega Salamence to continue having significant offensive presence after its Special Attack is reduced from Draco Meteor. Protect is a necessity, as Mega Salamence's weaknesses are very exploitable, and helps prolong its terror. Mega Salamence is not a Pokemon that regrets sacrificing a moveslot for Protect as Double-Edge and Hyper Voice combined grants Salamence an overwhelming majority of the power it needs to succeed. Mega Salamence's final moveslot is actually quite flexible. However, due to how strong its Hyper Voice and Double-Edge are, this does not mean that Mega Salamence suffers from a four-moveslot syndrome; rather, this moveslot is often used as a form of reinforcement. Draco Meteor is often preferred because Mega Salamence can OHKO Mega Rayquaza with it, taking advantage of its superior base Speed. It also deals heavy damage to Thundurus, Dialga, and Primal Groudon, and it destroys opposing Mega Salamence. Teams that do not feel the need to swiftly remove Mega Rayquaza with Mega Salamence can opt for various different moves. Tailwind provides speed control, while Substitute can protect Mega Salamence for an extended period of time and punish overly defensive play. Mega Salamence can also use Fire Blast or Flamethrower to threaten the Steel-type Pokemon that normally give it some trouble, such as Mega Mawile and Aegislash. Set Details Salamencite is required for Salamence to Mega Evolve. 252 Speed EVs allow Mega Salamence to be as fast as possible, outrunning Mega Rayquaza and Whimsicott. It is also useful before it Mega Evolves to outrun maximum Speed Xerneas and Yveltal and Speed tie with Mega Kangaskhan. The Special Attack investment is variable. 252 Special Attack EVs maximize Hyper Voice and Draco Meteor damage, but Mega Salamence has several other benchmarks it can hit with less: 124 Special Attack EVs allow it to KO 4 HP / 0 SpD Primal Groudon with Draco Meteor and Hyper Voice. It also allows Mega Salamence to 3HKO 252 HP / 0 SpD Groudon with Hyper Voice. Approximately 176 Special Attack EVs are required to OHKO minimum bulk Kyurem-W with Draco Meteor. This also allows it to 2HKO 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Gengar with Hyper Voice. Only 36 Special Attack EVs are required to OHKO Mega Rayquaza with Draco Meteor. Likewise, its Attack stat has several benchmarks. Here are some examples: 60 Attack EVs allow it to OHKO 252 HP / 0 Def Primal Kyogre with Helping Hand-boosted Double-Edge. 76 Attack EVs allow it OHKO 0 HP / 0 Def Xerneas with the same boost. 108 Attack EVs allow it to 2HKO 4 HP / 0 Def Primal Groudon with Double-Edge. 252 Attack EVs allow it to 2HKO 252 HP / 0 Def Primal Kyogre with Double-Edge at -1 Attack. Mega Salamence can also invest in bulk to better take certain powerful attacks, such as Mega Kangaskhan's Double-Edge and Ho-Oh's Life Orb-boosted Brave Bird. With the help of Intimidate, some physical bulk investment allows it to not be 2HKOed by those attacks. Naive is the preferred nature to preserve Mega Salamence's high physical bulk, allowing it to avoid being 2HKOed by Primal Groudon's Rock Slide for example. Hasty is viable, however, if you are more concerned about taking Special Attacks. For example, Timid Primal Groudon's Flamethrower will never 2HKO Mega Salamence, and Timid Xerneas will often fail to OHKO with Dazzling Gleam. Usage Tips It may be a wise idea to not Mega Evolve early to preserve Intimidate. Intimidate is an extremely valuable ability; do not sacrifice it if you do not plan to attack immediately. If you see a bad matchup, it is a good idea to switch Salamence out without Mega Evolving so it can fire off Intimidates at more opportune moments. Try saving its teammates with it. Mega Salamence can be used quite flexibly due to its relatively safe and powerful moves and can be brought in at any point in the game. It can be used recklessly to distract opponents from your team's wincons, as Mega Salamence is a deadly threat that requires quick addressing. It can leave numerous dents early-game for its team's restricted Pokemon to clean up. Likewise, Mega Salamence itself can be a solid wincon thanks to its high Speed and deadly attacks. Knowing when to preserve or sacrifice Mega Salamence comes with practice. Team Options Primal Groudon helps check Flying-resistant Pokemon like Thundurus and Mega Mawile and can also check Xerneas. Mega Salamence can help check Landorus-T and opposing Primal Groudon in return. Primal Kyogre appreciates the Intimidate support and Salamence's ability to heavily damage or even outright remove Pokemon such as Ferrothorn and Amoonguss and it appreciates Mega Salamence's ability to check Primal Groudon. Xerneas appreciates the Intimidate support and can set up Geomancy more safely, even against a usual check like physical Primal Groudon. Ferrothorn checks Xerneas and Weavile, while Mega Salamence checks Primal Groudon and Talonflame. Beware that the combination will not stop them if they are both on the field, and having Primal Kyogre in the back is recommended. Ho-Oh becomes a powerful tank with the help of Salamence's Intimidate. It also removes Mega Mawile and checks Xerneas. Be careful of the double Rock weakness, however. Overall, Salamence's versatility allows it to fit into a lot of teams. You don't have to worry about a specific partner for Mega Salamence. Just don't stack up too many weaknesses with it. Because Mega slots are less of a premium in VGC 2016 due to restricted Pokemon being primary sources of offense, running a secondary Mega Evolution is not a bad idea at all and is often recommended. Mega Salamence is often seen with Mega Kangaskhan, as they are the two most powerful non-restricted Mega Evolutions in the game.

Moves Draco Meteor is a very high-powered attack that can rip holes through the opposing team. For its power, though, it comes with the drawback of a sharp Special Attack drop, so it should be used sparingly. Fire Blast is Salamence's first coverage move and roasts Steel-types that resist Draco Meteor such as Aegislash and Ferrothorn. Flamethrower may also be used for a weaker but more accurate alternative. Hydro Pump is the second coverage move and KOes the two most common Pokemon that resist the two above moves, Mega Diancie and Heatran. It also covers Ground- and Rock-type Pokemon such as Landorus-T and Terrakion that will survive a Draco Meteor. Tailwind doubles the Speed of Salamence's team, providing crucial speed control for offensive teammates. This also allows Salamence to use its coverage to its full potential because it can outspeed and knock out Pokemon like Mega Diancie and Choice Scarf Landorus-T that would otherwise threaten it. Set Details Salamence invests its EVs into Special Attack and Speed to maximize its offensive potential. A Timid nature is used to outspeed all non-Choice Scarf variants of Landorus-T and Hydreigon as well as tying with other common base 100 Speed Pokemon such as Mega Charizard Y and Mega Kangaskhan. A Modest nature is also viable to hit as hard as possible. Intimidate drops the Attack of the opposing Pokemon, which helps against physical attackers. Life Orb gives Salamence more power on all of its moves while keeping its flexibility in move choice. Usage Tips Using Fire Blast or Hydro Pump to knock out weakened enemies is generally a better idea than using Draco Meteor, as the Special Attack drop can be crippling and tends to force Salamence to switch out. Setting Tailwind the first turn Salamence is out is generally a good idea to pressure the opponent's team as much as possible, though it is not correct in every scenario. If your team is already faster than the opponent's and Tailwind doesn't improve the situation, do not waste a turn using it. Switching Salamence around as often as possible can circumvent Draco Meteor drops as well as preserve Intimidate to check physical attackers. Try to avoid bringing Salamence in on Defiant and Competitive users such as Bisharp and Milotic, as it gives them an Attack or Special Attack boost, making them a lot scarier to face down. Salamence tends to work well as a lead to get the speed advantage as soon as possible in a match, while Intimidate prevents physical attackers like Mega Kangaskhan and Landorus-T from doing too much damage early on in the game. Team Options Offensive partners that can pressure the opponent with the speed advantage that Tailwind provides are the best teammates for Salamence. Notable examples include Mega Kangaskhan, which provides Fake Out support to ease setting up Tailwind, and Keldeo, which can switch into Ice-type moves that Salamence loathes. Steel-types like Aegislash and Heatran are critical on teams with Salamence to switch into its weaknesses, most importantly its Fairy- and Ice-type ones, and to beat Salamence's most dangerous checks like Mega Diancie. Jirachi gets a special mention for resisting all of Salamence's weaknesses and redirecting away dangerous attacks so Salamence can run through the opposing team. Slower Pokemon that would rarely outspeed the other team but pack of a lot of offensive power also mesh well with Salamence's Tailwind support, with Pokemon such as Sylveon and Volcanion fitting into this category.

Moves Double-Edge, boosted by Aerilate, is one of Mega Salamence's strongest attacks, but it comes at the cost of inflicting recoil damage. Double-Edge notably provides an option for when Mega Salamence's Special Attack has been lowered by the use of Draco Meteor. Hyper Voice, which also gets the boost from Aerilate, deals spread damage backed by Mega Salamence's Special Attack. It makes for a good option when Mega Salamence's Attack has been lowered by a foe's Intimidate. Draco Meteor provides a finisher for dealing with opposing Dragons or picking up KOs on foes with low Special Defense. It also provides a means to hit Electric-types such as Thundurus and Rotom-A at least neutrally. A Fire-type attack such as Fire Blast or Flamethrower can be used in place of Draco Meteor if needed, as it's important to have at least one Fire-type attack on your team in order to deal with Ferrothorn. In a similar vein, Earthquake can be used over Hyper Voice or Draco Meteor if you need a way to hit Heatran super effectively. Protect allows Salamence to defend itself for a turn, allowing its partner time to eliminate a foe or switch, or gain the Speed increase from Mega Evolving safely. Set Details Intimidate is the far better ability compared to the alternative, Moxie, as it provides support by lowering the foe's Attack. A Naive nature and 252 Speed EVs are used to outspeed as many foes as possible, notably opposing Mega Salamence, Terrakion, and Gengar. A Hasty nature is not used, as it takes less advantage of Intimidate and Mega Salamence's Special Defense is not so much of a factor in surviving attacks. 44 Attack EVs are used to allow Mega Salamence to OHKO 252 HP / 4 Def Mega Gardevoir with Double-Edge. The 212 Special Attack EVs are mostly leftover, but they importantly make Hyper Voice a 2HKO against 4 HP Landorus-T the majority of the time. You may opt to change the number of Attack EVs used to suit your needs, such as dropping to 20 Attack EVs to OHKO maximum Defense Amoonguss. If Earthquake is chosen, an EV spread of 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe is recommended to OHKO uninvested Heatran. Usage Tips This set aims to deal as much damage as possible with Double-Edge and Draco Meteor to pick up quick KOs. Generally, you'll want to use Hyper Voice until a foe is put into KO range of either Double-Edge or Draco Meteor. Try to bring Salamence in during the early-game or as a lead, as this allows it to take better advantage of Intimidate. An exception is if a Defiant or Competitive user is seen at Team Preview, when caution should be given to doing so. Don't always Mega Evolve if you plan to simply use Protect, as Intimidate can be good to preserve for later on in the battle. Be aware of Mega Salamence's higher Speed compared to its base forme on the you choose to Mega Evolve it; utilize Protect to gain this safely where necessary. Don't be too afraid of Draco Meteor's Special Attack drops, as Mega Salamence can just switch to using Double-Edge afterwards. Be cautious of Double-Edge's recoil, and use another move if you think it'll put Mega Salamence into KO range of a foe's move. Team Options Teammates that are able to beat users of Ice-type moves such as Water-types and Cresselia are valuable. Electric-types such as Rotom-W and Thundurus can accomplish the former with their STAB Thunderbolt. Grass-types such as Amoonguss, Ludicolo, and Serperior also beat Water-types and are able to beat Rock-types as well. Amoonguss, as a Poison-type, further provides resistances to Fairy, which Mega Salamence is weak to. The Grass / Fighting types Virizion and Breloom can also handily beat Water-types as well as Steel-types such as Bisharp. Dark-types such as Bisharp, Tyranitar, and Weavile deal excellently with Cresselia, being immune to Psychic. Bisharp and Milotic can also dissuade opposing Intimidate users with Defiant and Competitive. Tyranitar is notable as well, since it pairs well with Mega Salamence on a sand archetype with partners like Landorus. Allies capable of dealing with Fairy-types are great, as Fairy-types can very often OHKO Mega Salamence. Steel-types such as Aegislash, Excadrill, and Ferrothorn can beat Fairies and also help beat Rock-types. Aegislash can also use Wide Guard to defend Mega Salamence against spread moves like Icy Wind and Rock Slide. Fairies of your own such as Azumarill and Sylveon can switch into Dragon-type moves and OHKO Dragons back. Sylveon and Assault Vest Azumarill specifically also appreciate Intimidate to patch up their weaker Defense stat. Steel-types wall both of Mega Salamence's STAB moves, so teammates that can beat them are useful. Ground-types such as Excadrill, Swampert, and Gastrodon can do this as well as beat Rock-types. Swampert, like Aegislash, can also use Wide Guard to defend Mega Salamence against spread moves. Fire-types such as Talonflame, Arcanine, and Heatran beat Steel-types and provide a resistance to Fairy. Greninja can beat a variety of threats such as opposing Dragons with Ice Beam and Fairies with Gunk Shot. Politoed enjoys Mega Salamence's presence on rain teams, as Mega Salamence can beat Grass-types for them. In return, Politoed's Water-type moves help deal with Heatran and Rock-type attackers such as Tyranitar and Terrakion. Rain teams often also struggle with balancing physical and special attackers, which Double-Edge helps with.

Moves Hyper Voice is boosted by Aerilate and deals a good amount of spread damage. Draco Meteor serves as a strong single-target STAB attack able to KO even bulky Dragons, at the cost of lowering Mega Salamence's Special Attack. A Dragon-type move is also valuable for dealing at least neutral damage to Electric-types such as Rotom-W. Dragon Pulse can be used instead if you'd prefer to use a Dragon-type move without Draco Meteor's drawback. Fire Blast can hit Steel-types that resist Flying and Dragon super effectively, although it only has 85% accuracy. Flamethrower is an alternative if you'd prefer more accuracy, though the drop in power means that Mega Salamence is no longer guaranteed to pick up the OHKO on Ferrothorn, for example. Protect can shield Salamence for a turn, allowing its partner to KO a threat or switch out to improve positioning. Protect can also be used to help Salamence gain its all-important Speed from Mega Evolving more safely. Set Details Intimidate is the ability of choice, as Moxie is useless on a special attacker and Intimidate provides support by dropping both foes' Attack. 252 Speed EVs and a Timid nature are used to outspeed as many foes as possible. While a Modest nature may be tempting to increase Mega Salamence's damage output further, missing out on outspeeding key threats such as Gengar and Terrakion is generally not worth it. The remaining 252 EVs are then invested into Special Attack to improve Mega Salamence's damage output. Usage Tips This set is mostly aiming to deal as much damage as possible with Hyper Voice. Try to bring Salamence out in the early-game, or as a lead, in order get the maximum opportunities to take advantage of Intimidate. However, be aware of Defiant and Competitive users from Team Preview should you choose to lead with Salamence. Don't feel as though you have to Mega Evolve if you're just opting to Protect Salamence, as preserving Intimidate for later in the battle can be useful. Be conscious of the fact that Salamence has a lower Speed than Mega Salamence on the turn you Mega Evolve in order to avoid being outsped unnecessarily. Be careful of killing momentum with Draco Meteor if you have it, as this set has no physical move to fall back on. If Mega Salamence is your team's only option against Ferrothorn, be sure to preserve Mega Salamence until it's been eliminated. Team Options Because Mega Salamence is 4x weak to Ice, allies that beat Ice-type attackers such as Cresselia and Water-types are valuable. Electric-types such as Rotom-W and Thundurus are able to do this with their strong STAB Thunderbolt. Grass-types such as Amoonguss, Ludicolo, and Serperior can also beat Water-types in addition to Rock-types. Amoonguss is further a Poison-type and therefore resists Fairy-type attacks for Mega Salamence. Breloom and Virizion, as Grass / Fighting types, beat Water-types and Steel-types such as Bisharp. Dark-types such as Tyranitar, Weavile, and Bisharp can beat Cresselia with their super effective STAB attacks. Tyranitar pairs particularly well with Mega Salamence on a sand archetype with partners such as Sand Rush Excadrill that can eliminate Rock- and Fairy-types. Other Steel-types such as Aegislash and Ferrothorn equally do a good job at eliminating the aforementioned foes. Aegislash can also use Wide Guard to shield Mega Salamence against spread moves like Icy Wind and Rock Slide. Using Fairy-types of your own such as Azumarill and Sylveon can be useful to beat opposing Dragons. Sylveon and Assault Vest Azumarill especially enjoy Salamence's Intimidate to patch up their lower Defense. Steel-types wall Mega Salamence's STAB moves, and it's therefore useful to have partners that can beat them. Ground-types such as Swampert and Gastrodon can beat Steel-types and also help beat Rock-types. Swampert, like Aegislash, can also use Wide Guard to block spread attacks. Fire-types such as Talonflame, Arcanine, and Heatran also beat Steel-types and resist Fairy-type attacks. Greninja can beat a variety of threats to Mega Salamence such as Dragons with Ice Beam and Fairies with Gunk Shot.

Moves Dragon Dance is the biggest reason to use a physically based Mega Salamence, boosting Attack and Speed by one stage. Return is Mega Salamence's best option for an Aerilate-boosted attack without any drawbacks. Double-Edge is an alternative if you need an increase in damage output at the cost of recoil damage, notably guaranteeing an immediate OHKO against Sylveon. Earthquake helps to deal with the Steel-, Rock-, and Electric-types that wall Mega Salamence's Flying-type STAB move. Heatran is a prime example of this, as it ordinarily takes little damage from Mega Salamence's STAB moves, but is very threatened by Earthquake. It also gives Mega Salamence a spread move to better sweep through teams with, which this set would otherwise lack. If you prefer Mega Salamence be able to stick around for extended periods, Roost can accomplish this by healing it for half of its health. It also briefly removes Mega Salamence's Flying typing, which can be notable for surviving super effective attacks like Stone Edge. Roost is particularly attractive if Salamence is using a bulkier EV spread, as that would take better advantage of it. Protect shields Salamence for a turn, allowing a partner to potentially KO a threat or switch to improve positioning. Since regular Salamence is slower than Mega Salamence, Protect can also be used to speed up in safety. Further, since Mega Salamence can be a big threat to the opponent's team after setting up, Protect is useful for punishing attacks that are more likely to be aimed at it. Set Details Intimidate is Salamence's better ability, as dropping the foe's Attack stat helps it set up with Dragon Dance. An Adamant nature and 252 Attack EVs are used to improve Mega Salamence's damage output as much as possible. A Jolly nature can be used instead if you'd prefer to outspeed foes such as Terrakion and Gengar before a Dragon Dance. The remaining 252 EVs are placed in Speed to allow Mega Salamence to outpace the greatest number of foes. Bulkier spreads such as 84 HP / 132 Atk / 4 Def / 148 SpD / 140 Spe are viable to improve Mega Salamence's bulk. They allow Return to OHKO 252 HP / 4 Def Mega Gardevoir nearly all the time, make Terrakion's Rock Slide a 3HKO and neutral-natured Politoed's Ice Beam a 2HKO, and let Mega Salamence outspeed Jolly Landorus-T. Bulkier spreads with a Jolly nature are a possibility as well, such as 52 HP / 172 Atk / 4 Def / 84 SpD / 196 Spe. These outrun Mega Lucario, make Terrakion's Rock Slide a 3HKO and Suicune's Ice Beam a 2HKO, and OHKO the majority of Suicune with a +1 Helping Hand-boosted Return. Don't use either of these spreads with Double-Edge, however, as the recoil damage will mean Mega Salamence won't survive those attacks anyway. Usage Tips This set aims to set up a Dragon Dance before sweeping through the opponent's team with powerful attacks. While most setup sweepers prefer being brought out in the late-game, Salamence is an exception due to Intimidate. Be wary of Defiant and Competitive users should you choose to lead with Salamence, though. Try to keep Mega Salamence defended by a redirector for as long as it's on the field so that it can continue setting up and sweeping safely. You may not want to Mega Evolve immediately if you're using Protect in order to preserve Intimidate for later in the battle. Be aware of Salamence's lower base Speed in comparison to Mega Salamence's on the turn you Mega Evolve it to avoid being caught off guard. Dragon Dance, while generally good, is especially nice when used on a predicted Protect, switch, or weak attack from a foe. If Double-Edge is chosen, be careful that the recoil damage it inflicts doesn't put Mega Salamence into a foe's KO range. Team Options Follow Me or Rage Powder support is very valuable for helping Mega Salamence set up, as it can defend it against damage and crippling status. Follow Me Clefable and Clefairy, being Fairy-types, are generally the best candidates for this, being immune to Dragon-type attacks. Clefable has the advantage of not being forced into using Eviolite and can instead use items such as Sitrus Berry or Rocky Helmet, although Clefairy's Friend Guard is valuable to reduce the damage of spread attacks like Rock Slide. Both can also use Moonblast to KO opposing Dragons or Helping Hand to further boost the power of Mega Salamence's attacks. Amoonguss or Togekiss may also be considered for the role, although you must bear in mind they share some weaknesses with Mega Salamence. Partners capable of dealing with users of Ice-type attacks such as Cresselia and Water-types are also helpful. Electric-types such as Rotom-W and Thundurus can handle Water-types with their STAB Thunderbolt. Grass-types such as Ludicolo and Serperior can equally beat Water-types in addition to Rock-types. Breloom and Virizion, being part Fighting-type, are also great, as they resist Rock and beat Steel-types. Dark-types such as Bisharp, Tyranitar, and Weavile can beat Cresselia with their STAB moves. Weavile is notable, as Fake Out can grant Mega Salamence the opportunity to set up a Dragon Dance more safely. Bisharp and Milotic are also able to deter Intimidate users with Defiant and Competitive, respectively. Pokemon capable of dealing with Fairy-types are also good teammates, as Mega Salamence is weak to their STAB attacks. Steel-types such as Aegislash, Excadrill, and Ferrothorn are good options that can deal with Rock-types as well. Aegislash is particularly great, as Wide Guard can shield Mega Salamence from spread moves like Rock Slide. Fairy-types of your own such as Azumarill and Sylveon are also useful to switch in on and beat opposing Dragons. Assault Vest Azumarill and Sylveon in particular really appreciate Intimidate for patching up their lower Defense. While this set can carry Earthquake, allies that beat Steel-types are still useful, as they wall Flying-type moves. For example, Ground-types such as Swampert and Gastrodon can deal a lot of damage to them with their STAB moves. Swampert, similarly to Aegislash, can also use Wide Guard to defend Mega Salamence against spread attacks. Fire-types such as Talonflame, Arcanine, and Heatran can also beat Steel-types and resist Fairy-type attacks. Greninja can aid Mega Salamence with a variety of coverage, such as Ice Beam to KO opposing Dragons or Gunk Shot to KO Fairies.

Moves This set is based around using Mega Salamence's good bulk to surprise its usual checks. Toxic does a great job of crippling common defensive switch-ins such as Cresselia, Porygon2, Zapdos, and Hippowdon, and it also forces Suicune and Rotom-W to use Rest earlier than they want to. Substitute is important to prevent Salamence from getting crippled by status moves and makes Mega Salamence much harder to revenge kill in general. Roost gives Mega Salamence much-needed staying power and reduces its 4x Ice-type weakness to 2x on the turn it's used, giving Mega Salamence the potential to outstall Porygon2, Cresselia, and Zapdos! The last slot is for Mega Salamence's offensive option. Double-Edge may seem like an odd move to use on a more defensive set due to the recoil, but it still packs a good punch thanks to its high Base Power and this Mega Salamence is less vulnerable to recoil thanks to Roost; however, if you're still worried about the recoil, Return is a reasonable alternative, exchanging brute force for even more staying power. Set Details Mega Salamence will usually want maximum HP investment to take Ice Beams and physical attacks. Maximum Speed with a Jolly nature allows Mega Salamence to outspeed Raikou, which often carries Hidden Power Ice, and at least Speed tie with opposing Mega Salamence. Usage Tips Against teams that have obvious Salamence checks that you'll want to lure out, you'll usually want to use Substitute against threats Mega Salamence scares out, such as Mega Blaziken, Choice-locked Ground-types, and Grass-types. This keeps the rest of the set shrouded in mystery, giving Mega Salamence a better chance to Toxic its targets. When facing certain status targets such as Porygon2 and Cresselia, you'll be faced with a bit of a mind game if you want to stall them for more damage: whether to use Substitute against their status moves or Roost against their Ice-type attacks. It can be risky, but stalling them with Toxic damage can open up holes for sweepers. Regardless of the risk, this Salamence set is built to last, so only sacrifice it when it could open up the potential for a sweep. Team Options Because this Mega Salamence is a great lure, using Pokemon that appreciate walls such as Porygon2 and Cresselia being taken care of is highly recommended. Great teammates to consider include Greninja, Swords Dance Talonflame, physical Blaziken, Sand Rush Excadrill, Mamoswine, and Azumarill. Because Flying-type attacks are Mega Salamence's only means of attacking, Steel-types such as Mega Mawile, Heatran, Skarmory, and Klefki are far bigger problems than usual. Additionally, the bigger focus on defense means that Sylveon and Azumarill present more problems than usual. Finally, Suicune is still fully capable of walling Mega Salamence with Rest. Mamoswine is an excellent teammate against Mega Mawile, Klefki, and Heatran and appreciates Porygon2 and Cresselia being crippled. Excadrill provides similar benefits but also has a STAB Iron Head to take out Sylveon. Gliscor also does fairly well against Klefki and Mega Mawile and outspeeds Heatran; however, Fire-type attacks do plenty of damage to it. A Heatran of your own does a great job of taking care of most Steel-types as well. Rotom-W does a great job against Heatran and Azumarill and can use Will-O-Wisp to cripple Mega Mawile in emergencies. If you aren't as concerned about Azumarill and Suicune, Rotom-H does an admirable job as well, taking care of Mega Mawile and more safely being able to Trick Sylveon a Choice Scarf. Finally, if you are especially worried about Suicune, Pokemon such as Calm Mind Raikou, Serperior, and Breloom are good teammates.

Moves Double-Edge is Mega Salamence's 156-Base Power STAB move, seriously wounding any Pokemon that doesn't resist it. Dragon Dance turns Mega Salamence into a ferocious sweeper, boosting the power of its Double-Edge to astronomical levels and allowing it to outspeed even Choice Scarf Garchomp. Earthquake is the perfect coverage move for Double-Edge, hitting Steel-, Rock-, and Electric-types that resist Double-Edge, mainly Aegislash, Tyranitar, and Raikou. The last slot can be a bit tricky to choose, as Mega Salamence has plenty of viable options. Roost takes advantage of Mega Salamence's excellent Defense, giving it more chances to set up a sweep later by healing Double-Edge's recoil and other residual damage. If you're more worried about status, Substitute can protect Mega Salamence from getting its sweep ruined by Thunder Wave or Will-O-Wisp users such as Thundurus, Klefki, and Rotom-W. Substitute even blocks stat drops, which is great against Intimidate and Rock Tomb users. Facade lets Mega Salamence sweep after getting hit by Will-O-Wisp from Pokemon such as Rotom-W and Mega Sableye. On the more offensive end, Fire Blast can be used to hit Steel-types that aren't weak to Earthquake, such as Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Scizor. Flamethrower is also a reasonable choice if you prefer accuracy over power, but note that it misses out on OHKOing Mega Scizor and Skarmory won't be in KO range after Double-Edge. If you're more worried about physical walls in general, Draco Meteor is a great option for slamming Hippowdon and defensive Mega Charizard X. If you especially have problems with Zapdos, Mega Salamence can even use Outrage, which 2HKOes Zapdos and OHKOes Dragonite after a Dragon Dance. Finally, if Double-Edge's recoil damage is undesirable, Return is a fine option. Just note, if you opt to use Return over Double-Edge, that Return loses a significant number of KOs compared to Double-Edge. Set Details Mega Salamence uses a simple physical attacking spread, maximizing Attack and Speed for the best sweeping capability. The choice of nature is trickier. Adamant Mega Salamence has an easier time grabbing KOs with an extra powerful Double-Edge, most notably getting a potential OHKO on Azumarill and a 2HKO on Suicune, while still outspeeding important Pokemon such as Garchomp. However, if you are willing to sacrifice the extra power, Jolly becomes a reasonable alternative, allowing Mega Salamence to outspeed potential revenge killers such as Raikou, Thundurus, and Latios. Finally, if you are running Fire Blast or Draco Meteor, a Naughty or Naive nature is preferred, as Mega Salamence's physical bulk is too good to sacrifice. Usage Tips It may be tempting to set up Dragon Dance right away, but this will usually only result in Mega Salamence getting KOed early. It's best to use Dragon Dance later in the game, when checks such as Suicune, Porygon2, and Cresselia are in KO range of a boosted Double-Edge and when Mamoswine in particular is taken out, as it threatens Mega Salamence with its priority Ice Shard. Once you feel that Mega Salamence is primed for sweeping, you'll need to find a low-risk Pokemon to set up on. Good targets include physical attackers such as Landorus-T, Excadrill, and Mega Blaziken, as well as Choice item users locked into moves Mega Salamence resists or is immune to, such as Garchomp locked into Earthquake and Azumarill locked into Waterfall. When Salamence is primed to attack, you'll usually want to Mega Evolve it. However, Mega Evolution isn't always needed as soon as possible, because of non-Mega Salamence's ability Intimidate, which can save your team from getting swept. Therefore, keeping Salamence in its base forme is a great idea if you plan on double switching Salamence, especially if Stealth Rock is off the field. Finally, while Mega Salamence is an incredibly dangerous Pokemon, it also has bad matchups against prominent defensive Pokemon such as Suicune, Porygon2, and Cresselia. If you feel like the opponent's team is too well guarded against Mega Salamence, feel free to bench it for that match. Team Options Mega Salamence is very vulnerable to common walls such as Suicune, Porygon2, Cresselia, Zapdos, Hippowdon, and—if lacking a Fire-type attack—Skarmory, so using teammates that threaten defensive foes is a good idea. Substitute + Toxic Aegislash is a great Porygon2 lure that deals with Cresselia and happens to resist all of Mega Salamence's weaknesses. Quiver Dance Volcarona, Calm Mind Raikou, and Calm Mind Sylveon are special sweepers that defeat a lot of physical walls that trouble Mega Salamence. Serperior may share Mega Salamence's weakness to Ice, but it puts a great deal of offensive pressure on Hippowdon and Suicune. Stealth Rock support from the likes of Hippowdon, Tyranitar, and Swampert can also wear down these defensive threats, putting them in 2HKO range of Mega Salamence's Double-Edge. Offensively, Mamoswine, Greninja, and Weavile are massive problems for Mega Salamence due to their fast Ice-type STAB attacks. Porygon2 does a great job of handling Greninja and Mamoswine as long as it avoids Knock Off, while Blaziken can switch into predicted Ice-type attacks and slam their users with its Fighting-type STAB moves. Conkeldurr also does a good job of forcing these Pokemon out due to its decent bulk and STAB Drain Punch and Mach Punch. Because Mega Salamence may have to be benched more than you like, consider a backup Mega Pokemon that can handle Pokemon that trouble Mega Salamence. Mega Gengar is an excellent example, using Shadow Tag and moves like Taunt and Destiny Bond to take care of common walls. Mega Tyranitar's excellent bulk and interesting typing give it an edge over Cresselia, Porygon2, and Zapdos, and it can even use Taunt to cripple them further. Mega Venusaur is immune to Toxic and can take Ice Beams fairly well, and it can potentially outstall threats with Leech Seed or put foes to sleep with Sleep Powder.

Moves Mega Salamence's good base 120 Special Attack is perfect for catching physical walls off guard. Draco Meteor is Mega Salamence's main attack, dealing a ton of damage to common physically defensive switch-ins such as Hippowdon, which is put in the KO range of Double-Edge after this, Zapdos, Rotom-W, Landorus-T, and bulky Thundurus. Fire Blast takes care of Steel-types, roasting Ferrothorn, Scizor, and Skarmory and 2HKOing Aegislash and Mega Mawile. Flamethrower can be used for better accuracy, but note that Mega Salamence loses the 2HKO on Aegislash and the chance to OHKO Skarmory. Double-Edge still deals plenty of damage even without Attack investment, allowing Mega Salamence to be an offensive force even after Draco Meteor's Special Attack drop. Double-Edge also ensures that Azumarill and Sylveon won't wall Mega Salamence. The last moveslot can contain a variety of moves. Earthquake smashes Heatran and prevents Raikou from setting up on Mega Salamence after Draco Meteor is used. Roost sacrifices coverage for more staying power, which is especially useful if your opponent sets up Stealth Rock. Hyper Voice is a low-risk STAB move that has the awesome bonus of hitting through the Substitute of prominent Pokemon such as Gliscor. Finally, Stone Edge gives Mega Salamence a chance at KOing Zapdos after a hit from Draco Meteor. Set Details Mega Salamence should focus on maximizing its Special Attack and Speed so it can have the best possible offensive presence. Mega Salamence's nature should be either Naive or Rash because lowering Mega Salamence's only acceptable Special Defense is better than lowering its fantastic Defense. Naive gets Mega Salamence the Speed boost it needs to outspeed Raikou, Adamant Mega Salamence, and Latios, all threats Mega Salamence likes to damage. On the other hand, Rash makes Draco Meteor even more powerful. Usage Tips The early-game is when Mega Salamence often does its best. Use Draco Meteor and Fire Blast to hit unsuspecting walls, potentially letting you gain control of the match early. Hyper Voice may seem like a good move to use early-game, but it reveals your surprise early without a big hit, so only do this against more offensive teams or in the mid-game. If you see Fairy-types on your opponent's team, consider using Double-Edge as you predict them to switch in, or use Fire Blast to grab an OHKO on Mawile switch-ins. This Mega Salamence focuses far more on opening up holes for your sweepers than attempting to sweep the opposing team as a whole. Because of this, feel free to sacrifice Mega Salamence once it has done its job. Also note that its base forme can get great mileage out of Intimidate before Mega Evolving. Non-Mega Salamence has base 110 Special Attack as well, so if your opponent's remaining Pokemon are slower than Salamence, feel free to pick them off with Salamence before Mega Evolving if you feel that Intimidate still has some utility. While this Mega Salamence set focuses on breaking down walls that sweeper sets have trouble with, Porygon2 and Cresselia are still huge problems for this set, so feel free to bench Mega Salamence if Team Preview isn't looking healthy for Mega Salamence. Team Options Stealth Rock support from bulky users such as Tyranitar, Hippowdon, and Swampert is highly recommended, as with Stealth Rock set, the switches Mega Salamence forces will create even more offensive pressure on the opposing team. Because Mega Salamence is all about opening up new sweeping opportunities, it's best to pair it with sweepers such as Scizor, Tyranitar, Gyarados, Blaziken, and Talonflame, which like physical walls such as Hippowdon, Skarmory, and Zapdos weakened or KOed. Note that some walls such as Cresselia and Porygon2 can still tank Mega Salamence's attacks, so preparing for them is a good idea. Substitute + Toxic Aegislash is a great partner, as it deals with Cresselia and makes for an excellent Porygon2 lure. Dragon Dance or Taunt Tyranitar can be a huge pain for them, and neither of them likes dealing with Swords Dance Scizor with Roost or Knock Off. Ferrothorn is a nice, bulky alternative that can support Mega Salamence with Leech Seed and Thunder Wave, especially if it manages to paralyze mixed Blaziken or Mega Lopunny.

While this set may seem outclassed by Garchomp and Palkia, Salamence has one great advantage over them: its newly introduced ability, Moxie. Choice Scarf Salamence reaches a blazing Speed of 492, which outpaces many top threats in Ubers, such as Deoxys-A, Darkrai, Mewtwo, and Shaymin-S. It also Speed ties with Palkia, the most common Choice Scarf user. The point in this set is to surprise the opponent, such as in a situation where the opponent has a boosted Mewtwo packing Ice Beam at 80% of its health. Salamence's base Speed is lower than Mewtwo's, so the opponent will likely leave Mewtwo out, and then will be shocked as his genetic Pokemon is OHKOed by Outrage. But it doesn't stop there! After Salamence has killed one of the opponent's Pokemon, its Dream World ability activates, and boosts its Attack by one stage. Dragon Claw is Salamence's best choice against a weakened opponent, as it doesn't lock Salamence or leave it confused. Fire Blast and Earthquake are fillers, but they have perfect coverage with Salamence's Dragon-type STAB moves. A Naive nature is used to make Salamence as fast as possible, while not lowering its Special Attack, so Fire Blast will not lose power. Moxie is the preferred ability as it is this set's niche in Ubers. Dragon Dance is not needed anyway, thus Moxie is the superior ability. The EVs are straightforward: maximize Salamence's Attack so Outrage will hit as hard as possible, and maximize Salamence's Speed so it will outrun as many foes as it can. A Naughty nature can be used if you wish to strike the opponent harder, but it will cost you some Speed, meaning you will be slower than Choice Scarf Dialga, Choice Scarf Hydreigon, and +1 Rayquaza, which might cost Salamence's sweep. When Salamence utilizes a Choice Scarf, it becomes a great cleaner, so before you send in Salamence, you will want to stack some damage on the opponent. There are a few ways to do so. Entry hazards will put a lot of pressure on the opponent; Stealth Rock and Spikes in particular can take 50% maximum out of the opponent's health, making Salamence's job much easier. Hard hitters, such as Choice Specs Dialga, Choice Specs Palkia, Choice Band Zekrom, and more, also do this well. Mixed Rayquaza once again is an amazing partner, as it can lure out many physical walls, such as Groudon and Lugia, and hit them hard with Draco Meteor. Salamence's weaknesses to Ice-, Rock-, and Dragon-type moves make Steel-type Pokemon great partners, as they resist all of Salamence's weakness. Scizor deserves a special mention here as well, as it can utilize U-turn to bring Salamence in safely. Stone Edge can be used over Earthquake or Fire Blast in order to pick off Flying-types, such as Lugia and Ho-Oh. Draco Meteor can be used over Dragon Claw to surprise Groudon and Lugia, but the stat drops make Salamence setup bait.

Salamence's combination of Speed, ability, and typing allow it to be a potent sweeper, capable of swiftly setting up and stealing the opponent's momentum. Once it has set up, Salamence is nigh unstoppable due to its excellent coverage; this is augmented by its excellent base 100 Speed, which allows it to outspeed many of the common Uber Choice Scarf users at +1. Unfortunately, without a boost Salamence's Attack is noticeably lacking when compared to Uber behemoths like Groudon, Zekrom, and Rayquaza. The choice of ability will help Salamence either get going or stay going; Moxie enables Salamence to break through walls that would ordinarily be able to sponge its attacks, while Intimidate is immensely helpful while setting up. Without Intimidate, Salamence has an incredibly hard time setting up without Wobbuffet or dual screens support, but without Moxie it can be difficult to put a full-fledged sweep into action. Really, it's up to personal preference, although in general Intimidate tends to be more effective due to its utility. Due to Salamence's apparent inferiority in this role to Rayquaza, many would choose to run the latter if picking between the two. Because of this, the best way to utilize Dragon Dance Salamence is as a partner to Rayquaza. The reasoning behind this logic goes as follows: the opponent will rarely carry more than one hard check to the generic "Dragon Dancing Dragon / Flying type"; by carrying both Salamence and Rayquaza, one can overwhelm this check by way of sheer pressure and force. Any variant of Rayquaza will do, really, but they all perform slightly different roles: mixed shreds Salamence's counters to pieces, Dragon Dance aims to get rid of its own checks (and, by extension, Salamence's), and Swords Dance works like a combination of the two. Max Speed is incredibly important for Dragon Dance Salamence, as going lower will open it up to all sorts of revenge killers at +1. This is especially important for beating Genesect; at +1 Attack, Salamence outspeeds and 2HKOes it on the switch. At +2—presumably attained by Moxie after a kill—Genesect is outsped and OHKOed. This is one of the biggest reasons to use Salamence over, say, Rayquaza. While Salamence lacks the raw mixed attacking power of our favorite meteorological serpent, its higher Speed means that it can assuredly avoid revenge kills from common Choice Scarf users like Genesect and Kyurem-W. Unfortunately for Salamence, its high Speed means nothing against priority, nor can its paltry bulk stand up to many of the powerful revenge killers that still outrun it at +1. Within Salamence's diverse movepool, there are several alternate move choices that are viable. Because of their similar coverage, Brick Break and Earthquake are somewhat interchangeable; Brick Break allows Salamence to hit Chansey without locking itself into Outrage and to break Ferrothorn at +2 regardless of weather. It also hits Air Balloon Heatran which, though rare, is nonetheless a threat. Earthquake has more general utility, however, as it hits threats like Jirachi, Arceus-Steel, and Dialga harder. Stone Edge and Aqua Tail could be used to hit Lugia and Skarmory (under rain) hard, respectively. However, Salamence's need for neutral coverage usually discourages this choice—no matter what one does, running one of them will cause certain walls to be able to counter Salamence with increased ease. Finally, Dragon Claw could be run over Outrage to pick off miscellaneous Dragon-types that Salamence conveniently outspeeds. However, such a role is better left to a Choice Scarf set; Dragon Claw simply lacks the raw power that Dragon Dance Salamence requires to sweep. While Dragon Dance Salamence greatly appreciates the boost that Life Orb grants it, other items deserve mention due to their ability to enhance Salamence's ability to set up. Lum Berry allows Salamence to shrug off miscellaneous status; this can be pivotal when Salamence requires a free turn to set up or land an attack. Dragon Gem could also be used to get the ball rolling, due to the powerful Outrage that it grants Salamence (so powerful, in fact, that it OHKOes specially defensive Giratina at +0!). When running one of these items, it's still important to provide Salamence with plenty of opportunities to set up. Though it will be easier, getting a sweep going still requires near-perfect timing when using something as frail as Salamence. Due to its relative lack of offensive power, Salamence greatly appreciates hazards to facilitate its sweep. Deoxys-S is a great choice for setting these up, being able to provide both hazards and screens; especially when running Moxie, dual screens give Salamence the opportunities it needs to set up effectively. Forretress, Skarmory, and Groudon are also viable partners. Forretress and Skarmory have excellent defensive synergy with Salamence, being able to sponge Extreme Speeds and Scarf Dragon-type attacks. Forretress also has the notable ability to spin, which is incredibly useful due to Salamence's frailty and weakness to Stealth Rock. Groudon powers up Fire Blast, as well as being able to take priority aimed at Salamence. When running Salamence, it's important to recognize that its lack of power means that it has several counters that need to be accounted for. Groudon can give this set major problems, especially if it's carrying Stone Edge. Wallceus, Skarmory in rain, and Lugia can all counter Salamence as well; Skarmory in particular is one of the few things that can stall out a +2 Outrage, even after Stealth Rock. This is where carrying Rayquaza along with Salamence is helpful. When running Dragon Dance Salamence, a mixed, Swords Dance, or even Dragon Dance Rayquaza can come in immensely handy for dealing with these opponents; due to its ability to carry different coverage moves and sheer attacking power, all of the threats mentioned above can be dealt with with relative ease.

The main drawback to using a Choice item in VGC is that you have to switch out to change moves. However, when your Choice user has Intimidate, this problem is somewhat mitigated, as you're probably switching in and out anyway to maximize its effect! Choice Scarf is the main option due to the surprise factor, allowing Salamence to foil Latios's and Garchomp's plans of taking it out before it can move. On the other hand, Choice Specs supplies Salamence's Draco Meteor with enough power to not only OHKO many common Pokemon, such as Zapdos, Rotom-W, and even Haban Berry Kingdra, but also severely dent anything that doesn't resist it or invest heavily in Special Defense. If you absolutely loathe the Special Attack drops from Draco Meteor, Dragon Pulse is an option, but the drop in power is very apparent as Salamence can now only 2HKO all of the aforementioned threats. Heat Wave is a fairly obvious spread move, as it complements Salamence's Dragon-type STAB. The 75 Base Power may be unappealing, however, especially as it makes Choice Specs Salamence lose the OHKO on Metagross, so Flamethrower is a suitable replacement. Hidden Power Flying takes advantage of Salamence's resistance to Fighting-type moves, allowing it 2HKO or OHKO bulkier Fighting-types, such as Hitmontop, depending on which Choice item Salamence uses. Finally, Hydro Pump douses Fire-types and erodes Rock-types, 2HKOing Tyranitar in a sandstorm while it cannot OHKO Salamence in return because of Intimidate. The EV spread accommodates for the IV drop for Hidden Power Flying. While using a Modest nature, however, you might find that there isn't much of interest Salamence can outspeed. Given this, you can opt to change Salamence's spread to 144 HP / 248 SpA / 116 Spe to outspeed base 80 Speed Pokemon such as Mamoswine, moving the EVs to HP, going a long way to extend Salamence's longevity. Choice Salamence works well rain or shine, so it easily fits into a variety of team archetypes. Sun teams don't particularly care for another Rock-type weakness, but they do enjoy Intimidate and another Heat Wave user, as well as the added bonus of being able to take care of Tyranitar should it rear its ugly face. Rain teams also enjoy Intimidate, but they particularly love a check to Shedinja and Ferrothorn, two Pokemon they often lack reliable checks for. Again, Lucario, Hitmontop, and Conkeldurr make great partners for Salamence, protecting it from dangerous Blizzards or Ice Beams. The latter two can also use Feint, which can ensure a kill on Latios and Garchomp should they be extra cautious and Protect on Draco Meteor. Taunt and Safeguard are also incredibly useful to keep Salamence from being paralyzed or its Speed turned against in Trick Room. Cresselia is an excellent user of Safeguard, and can use Helping Hand, Icy Wind, and Thunder Wave to alleviate Choice Specs Salamence's Speed problems and power up Draco Meteor to an awe-inspiring 210 Base Power. Terrakion makes short work of a wide variety of Ice-types with Close Combat and Rock Slide, and breathes more easily when it isn't as threatened by Mach Punch. Defensively speaking, Heatran, Bronzong, and Metagross make great partners for Salamence to switch into, as they resist Ice- and Rock-type attacks while Salamence is immune to Earthquake and resistant to Fire-type attacks. In a similar vein, Water-types such as Suicune and Rotom-W make good partners, though they resist only Ice-type attacks.

A specially inclined Salamence may seem weaker than a physically attacking Salamence, but in practice, it can be deadlier than its physical counterpart, mainly due to the way Outrage randomly picks its targets. Other specially attacking Dragon-types, such as Latios and Hydreigon, seem to overshadow Salamence. But this isn't the case: Salamence can be a superior team player with Intimidate. Moreover, it makes an excellent Hitmontop check, since it resists Mach Punch and is neutral to Sucker Punch, and can KO it with Hidden Power Flying. A Dragon Gem-boosted Draco Meteor can leave massive craters in the opponent's HP bar, OHKOing anything with equal or less bulk than max HP Gastrodon, Politoed, or standard Zapdos, while leaving bulkier Pokemon such as Cresselia languishing with only half of their health. However, if the drop in Special Attack is too much to pay for such power, Dragon Pulse is a decent alternative, though it needs a Dragon Gem boost to OHKO other Dragon-types, such as Dragonite (without Multiscale) and support Latias. While a Dragon Gem nets KOs that would otherwise be tantalizingly close, one mustn't forget how common Ice-type moves are, and how deadly they can be to Salamence and its cold-blooded brethren. A Yache Berry may just be its saving grace against an unexpected Blizzard from the likes of Choice Scarf Abomasnow, or a Hidden Power Ice that you mistook for another type. Heat Wave is an excellent coverage move, hitting two Pokemon at once and complementing Salamence's STAB moves. However, Heat Wave can become troublesome for your side as well, considering its lowly 75 Base Power and 90% accuracy, along with the possibility of activating your opponent's Pokemon's Flash Fire, such as Chandelure or Heatran. Flamethrower solves both of these problems, scoring 2HKOs and OHKOs on important Pokemon, such as Occa Berry Metagross and Abomasnow. While it may be tempting to use Fire Blast instead of Flamethrower, it is important to note that most targets of Fire Blast would still be OHKOed or 2HKOed by Flamethrower, making Flamethrower the more reliable and better option. Hidden Power Flying is not only useful against Hitmontop, but also takes down other Fighting-types such as Hariyama and Scrafty. Hidden Power Flying also hits Volcarona hard, and does more damage to Amoonguss than Flamethrower would. Tailwind is an incredibly useful move; not only does it allow Salamence to get the jump on faster Dragon-types and weather utilizers, but it allows its teammates to do so as well. Choosing between it, the ever-useful Protect, and Hidden Power Flying is akin to choosing between paths in a fork in the road. All three options are entirely viable, and in the end, it comes down to what your team needs: faster teammates, better coverage against Fighting-types, or a healthier Salamence. The EVs compensate for the required IVs for Hidden Power Flying. If Salamence is not using Hidden Power Flying, it would be prudent to change the spread to 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe since the main spread would miss out on a point of HP and Special Attack with full IVs. An alternative, more bulky spread of 144 HP / 248 SpA / 116 Spe (or 140 HP / 252 SpA / 116 Spe without Hidden Power Flying) is a better option for Salamence that opts to use Tailwind and/or a Yache Berry if you feel you don't need to Speed tie with Pokemon such as Zapdos and Ninetales. Although a Modest nature enables Salamence to do more damage to most Pokemon, a Timid nature allows it to stay aloft against Pokemon such as Jolly Haxorus, Timid Hydreigon, unboosted Yanmega, and other dangerous Pokemon that sit at 90 base Speed and commonly use a positive Speed nature. Hydro Pump is perhaps the only other notable special move in Salamence's repertoire outside of various Hidden Powers. Hydro Pump can be useful against Heatran and Tyranitar, does well in the rain, and provides good neutral coverage with Draco Meteor. However, Hydro Pump's iffy accuracy and forcing Salamence to lack a Fire- or Flying-type move can leave it or its teammates open to Ice- or Fighting-types. Unlike some Dragons, Salamence is a great team player, and as a result can work well with many Pokemon, such as Tyranitar, Volcarona, and Mamoswine. Although Tyranitar's sandstorm undermines Salamence's defenses, Intimidate cushions Mach Punch and similar moves while Tyranitar puts the rocks on Ice-types, all while preventing them from using perfect accuracy Blizzards by stopping the hail. Mamoswine is in a similar boat but instead targets other Dragons with Ice Shard, enjoys Tailwind, and uses Earthquake without hitting Salamence. Rage Powder Volcarona is a great partner for luring away Ice Beams and takes advantage of Intimidate and Tailwind, though the duo have little to protect themselves from stray Rock Slides. It should go without saying that Cresselia enjoys Intimidate to make her defenses nigh impenetrable, and Cresselia can support her comrade with various supportive moves, such as Icy Wind and Helping Hand. Hitmontop can shield Salamence from Blizzards or simply bring the fight to the Ice-types with Close Combat while forming a double-Intimidate combination, ensuring most physical attackers won't do any major damage to them or their teammates.

While this set may not capitalize on Salamence's great type coverage, it makes up for it with the sheer utility of Intimidate and Tailwind. Equipped with a Life Orb and Tailwind at its back, Dragon Claw makes mencemeat (pun intended) out of Latios and Garchomp, Pokemon who normally check Salamence by virtue of only their Speed. Salamence can still OHKO either of them without a Life Orb, though its chances of doing so to Garchomp drops to around 30%. Yache Berry doesn't simply ruin your chances with Garchomp though; it protects Salamence from an unexpected Ice Beam, Blizzard, or Hidden Power Ice, all of which are notorious for dropping Dragon / Flying Pokemon in one hit. As your team may still need Intimidate and Tailwind, keeping Salamence alive and well is important, especially when a KOed Pokemon out of the gate is every VGC player's nightmare. Earthquake is a generic coverage and spread move, ensuring Salamence isn't caught with its pants down against Pokemon such as Heatran and Metagross. The third slot is flexible; Crunch lets Life Orb Salamence 2HKO specially defensive Cresselia and Dusclops, though you'll have to be on your toes as both of them can cripple Salamence with Thunder Wave and Will-O-Wisp, respectively. Alternatively, Salamence can use Tailwind and Protect in the same set. If you do end up picking an attacking move in the third slot, the fourth move will pose a dilemma. In the end, however, it largely depends on what your team requires—a healthy Salamence ready to Intimidate the opponent into submission, or Tailwind support. Salamence's Special Attack is good enough to use Fire Blast effectively with a hindering nature, as the main targets of Fire Blast are Abomasnow and Ferrothorn, two Pokemon that are otherwise huge threats to Salamence. Besides those two, however, you won't find much use for it, as Earthquake hits Steel-types such as Metagross hard enough already. If you feel Salamence is too frail, use a spread of 140 HP / 252 Atk / 116 Spe; this spread allows Salamence to outspeed Mamoswine and everything below a base Speed of 80, and gives Salamence room to take a few Water-, Fighting-, or even Ice-type moves with Yache Berry. Fighting-types supporters, such as Hitmontop, Lucario, and Conkeldurr, make great teammates for Salamence. Hitmontop and Conkeldurr protect Salamence from dangerous Blizzards with Wide Guard, and if you're pairing Salamence with Intimidate Hitmontop, your team will take practically nothing from physical attacks bar those such as Metagross, who can negate stat drops. Lucario can utilize Follow Me to draw in Ice-type moves, which is especially useful if you're not using a Yache Berry. Given its subpar Defense, Gallade appreciates Intimidate support, and can reverse Trick Room should the situation arise. Chandelure can also reverse Trick Room, appreciates Tailwind support, and can give hail teams heartburn with its all-powerful Heat Wave. Cresselia is immune to Earthquake, and with Intimidate support, it becomes nigh untouchable, giving it plenty of time to fire off Helping Hand or any other support move.

This is a sample set. We aren't working on BW Monotype analyses at the moment, but check out BW Monotype resources for more information about the metagame.

This is a sample set. We aren't working on BW Monotype analyses at the moment, but check out BW Monotype resources for more information about the metagame.

This is a sample set. We aren't working on BW Monotype analyses at the moment, but check out BW Monotype resources for more information about the metagame.

This is a sample set. We aren't working on BW Monotype analyses at the moment, but check out BW Monotype resources for more information about the metagame.

Salamence's Intimidate and coverage that hits Heatran and other Steel-types super effectively give it a niche over Latios as a Dragon-type Tailwind setter. That said, Tailwind is a luxury and is not needed for most teams. Additionally, Latios is an overall more consistent special attacking Dragon-type, thus relegating Salamence to specific team compositions that benefit from its unique combination of powerful coverage moves. Draco Meteor is Salamence's strongest Dragon-type STAB attack, capable of OHKOing Landorus-T and Kyurem-B. Fire Blast hits Steel-types such as Metagross and Ferrothorn that commonly switch into Dragon-types. Hydro Pump is mainly used to hit Heatran super effectively but also OHKOes Landorus-T without Draco Meteor's drawbacks. Life Orb allows Salamence to OHKO Metagross with Fire Blast after Stealth Rock and Landorus-T with Hydro Pump. Salamence synergizes well with sand teams. Unlike Landorus-T, it is an Intimidate user that is not weak to Water, meaning it doesn't stack weaknesses with Tyranitar and Excadrill. Salamence also checks Landorus-T and Steel-types that use Substitute, such as Heatran and Metagross, which can be a nuisance for sand teams. In return, Excadrill checks Thundurus, while Tyranitar threatens Latios and Kyurem-B for Salamence. Genesect and Metagross are excellent partners, since they benefit from Salamence's ability to threaten Landorus-T, Heatran, and opposing Steel-types, while Salamence benefits from their ability to threaten Tyranitar and Kyurem-B. Tyranitar and Metagross both benefit from Tailwind, while Intimidate allows them to better tank hits and in Metagross's case, to set up and maintain Substitute more easily.

Given that Salamence has amazing attacking stats across the board, the fact that it can run an excellent wallbreaker set should come as no surprise. Draco Meteor is the main move on this set, as it makes full use of Salamence's Special Attack stat and obliterates most of the physical walls that can take Outrage. Fire Blast is an interesting move in the second slot, as it allows Salamence to take care of Steel-types before using Draco Meteor. In the third slot, Earthquake provides coverage on Heatran and Chandelure while Brick Break hits all Steel-types and does super effective damage to Chansey and Blissey, who otherwise wall Salamence. In the final slot, Outrage gives Salamence an effective STAB move to use once Draco Meteor is spent; it is still incredibly powerful even without full investment. Roost is also an option that allows Salamence to recover health lost to Life Orb recoil, increasing its longevity. The given EV spread gives Salamence fairly even attacking power between its offenses, while 176 Speed EVs let it outspeed neutral base 90s with Speed investment. A Rash nature is preferred to give Salamence a boost to Draco Meteor while keeping its physical attacks powerful. A Naive nature can also be considered, but the drop in power is discouraging. On that note, one can also fully invest in Speed to beat Life Orb Genesect. However, as Choice Scarf variants are far more common, full Speed investment will be in vain quite a bit of the time. Regarding items, Life Orb is the preferred choice to further increase Salamence's power. Both Intimidate and Moxie can be used on this set; Intimidate allows Salamence to come in on physical attackers such as Breloom, while Moxie enables Salamence to go to town with Outrage after it KOes one opponent. However, Intimidate is more reliable in most situations. Recommended teammates are ones that can take advantage of the gaping holes Salamence can create. Swords Dance Breloom, for example, appreciates the removal of Gliscor and other physical walls, such as Skarmory. Rapid Spin support is also essential to this set, especially if it lacks Roost, as Stealth Rock damage and Life Orb recoil will quickly pile up otherwise. Forretress in particular can provide both Rapid Spin and entry hazard support; Stealth Rock and Spikes greatly help Salamence break through the opposition.

With Moxie, Salamence can effectively spam Outrage thanks to the Attack boosts it brings after every KO, which can let Salamence sweep the opponent easily once Steel-types have been eliminated or significantly weakened. While it might be tempting to go ahead and select Outrage as soon as Salamence is out, this is rarely the best course of action. Dragon Claw has a decent amount of power after the STAB boost, while Fire Blast will easily take out most Steel-types looking to come in on Outrage; Heatran, the only Steel-type immune to Fire Blast, is easily dispatched by Earthquake. Brick Break will still hit Heatran and other Steel-types, while smashing into other Pokemon, namely Blissey and Terrakion. Choice Scarf allows Salamence to outspeed the majority of the unboosted metagame, as well as many slower users of Choice Scarf, notably Genesect, who is roasted by Fire Blast. A Naive nature further boosts Salamence's Speed, allowing it to tie with opposing base 100s; Jolly can be used if forgoing Fire Blast, or if one doesn't mind the power drop to Fire Blast that a Jolly nature provides. Intimidate has the merit of allowing Salamence to come in on many more physical attacks, but Moxie is what makes this set so dangerous. Draco Meteor is an option over one of the other moves, giving physical walls expecting Outrage quite a surprise. For example, Salamence 2HKOes Gliscor with Draco Meteor after Stealth Rock damage, allowing it to come in later and wreck the opposing team once they lack a physical wall to contain Salamence. Salamence has a hard time getting through teams by itself, so powerful wallbreakers are very useful in this regard. Keldeo stands out as an excellent partner, being able to smash through the opposition with a powerful Hydro Pump under rain. Secret Sword lets Keldeo obliterate opposing Steel-types as well, allowing Salamence to spam Outrage much more easily. On that note, Pokemon that can trap Steel-types and generally bulky foes also make great teammates. Magnezone is great for removing Steel-types, while Chandelure can be used to trap more Pokemon, such as Latios and Breloom, if your team needs that support.

Salamence is still the fastest relevant user of Dragon Dance in OU, and it can make use of the boosting move quite effectively thanks to STAB Outrage or Dragon Claw coming off its base 135 Attack. Earthquake is its main coverage move, hitting most Steel-types at least neutrally, bar Skarmory. Fire Blast hits all Steel-types except for Heatran, who is handled by Earthquake, and is Salamence's best way of getting past some of the most prominent Steel-types in the tier, namely Ferrothorn and Genesect. Roost, however, is also an option if you seek some sort of reliable recovery on Salamence. Life Orb boosts Salamence's power even further, ensuring KOs on many Pokemon that would otherwise be unobtainable, such as an OHKO on Ferrothorn with Fire Blast outside of rain, as well as an OHKO on Jirachi with Earthquake. Lum Berry, however, is an option to prevent Salamence from being crippled by status. A Naive nature is preferred to at least Speed tie with opposing base 100s; if you are using Roost over Fire Blast, use Jolly instead. Naughty and Adamant natures are options to boost Salamence's Attack even further; run Naughty with Fire Blast, and Adamant with Roost. However, Speed is often more important than power, as a neutral natured Salamence will be outsped after a Dragon Dance by Choice Scarf Genesect, then KOed with Ice Beam or Thunderbolt. Teammates that can weaken the opponent before Salamence comes onto the field, such as Keldeo and Latios, are recommended. Entry hazards also weaken the opponent, so teammates such as Deoxys-S are a big help as well. Pokemon who can take care of faster opponents are also great for removing troublesome opponents beforehand; Choice Scarf Garchomp and Life Orb Deoxys-S are both excellent examples. An important thing to note is that Salamence can only use Outrage and Dragon Dance on the same set if its ability is Intimidate as DW OU exits in BW1 only. Thus, if you would like to use Moxie and Dragon Dance, Dragon Claw is the most powerful physical Dragon-type move you can use. Yache Berry and Leftovers are both interesting items to try out on Salamence. Yache Berry lets it sponge one Ice-type attack and deal with the threat accordingly. Leftovers, however, gradually restores Salamence's HP, canceling out sandstorm damage. In terms of other moves to try on this set, Brick Break and Draco Meteor are both options in the final slot. Brick Break allows Salamence to break through Chansey and Blissey without resorting to Outrage, while Draco Meteor gives Salamence a special STAB move with which to surprise physical walls such as Gliscor and Slowbro, often allowing it to get a free Moxie boost as well.

Set Description Flamethrower prevents Salamence from becoming setup fodder for Spikes users such as Skarmory and Forretress and will always reliably break the Substitutes of Salac Berry users such as Heracross and Groudon. Wish allows Salamence to keep itself and its teammates healthy. Protect coupled with Wish allows Salamence to keep itself healthy throughout the game and allows it to scout its foe's moves. It also works well with Toxic to wear down common Pokemon without reliable recovery. Toxic effectively puts any Pokemon without reliable recovery on a timer, and those immune to it are threatened by Flamethrower. Slight investment into Speed is an option to allow Salamence to outspeed most Groudon, which prevents Groudon from muscling past Salamence with Rock Slide flinches. Team Options Salamence's main purposes are to wall common physical attackers in the tier and to keep its teammates healthy with Wish support, so it should only be used on stall-oriented teams. It is best used on sun stall. Blissey is a fantastic partner for Salamence, as both of them possess great defensive synergy that allows them to effectively cover each other's weaknesses. Blissey also provides cleric support to Salamence for it to function at its best. Groudon makes for a great partner thanks to sun reducing Thunder's accuracy to 50% while also powering up Flamethrower, allowing Salamence to more effectively threaten common Spikers and other physical attackers such as Metagross and Heracross.