Salamence Write Up

[OVERVIEW]

Mega Salamence is a very important and extremely dangerous Pokemon in the Ubers tier. Its high base power moves coupled with Aerilate and its already solid base 145 Attack stat are very potent despite the high defensive stats that quite a few common Pokemon in Ubers possess. Its defensive capabilities, through Intimidate before mega evolving and its very good Defense stat after, make it a premier sturdy ground immunity on most hyper offense teams and it can use this bulk to boost its Attack and solid base 120 Speed stats to further limits with Dragon Dance. It even gets reliable recovery in Roost to help it perform well as both a ground immunity and set-up sweeper. Unfortunately, a nasty Stealth Rock weakness will usually shave off much of its utility it would otherwise have at full health and due to the nature of hyper offense teams, it will often find itself without a Defog user on its team. Many Pokemon in Ubers also have the option of carrying Ice-type moves specifically aimed at Salamence which can drastically cut into its above average survivability if they don't OHKO it outright. These drawbacks do not stop Mega Salamence from being the premier Ground immunity and overall physically sturdy sweeper on many teams though; it will destroy underprepared teams and as such should not be taken lightly when teambuilding.

[SET]
name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Double-Edge / Return
move 2: Roost
move 3: Facade / Earthquake / Refresh
move 4: Dragon Dance
item: Salamencite
ability: Intimidate
nature: Adamant
evs: 248 HP / 124 Atk / 136 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Moves
========
Double-Edge gives Mega Salamence a healthy shot at 2HKOing 444 HP / 370 Defense Water Arceus after it has taken 12% from burn, Stealth Rock, or any other sources of prior damage. Extreme Killer Arceus is also OHKOed by Double-Edge from +1 Mega Salamence after Stealth Rock damage. Return and Frustration are good, recoil-less options that are better suited for sweeping rather than trading with big threats and walls like Double-Edge is. I must stress that Mega Salamence is loses a very large part of its trading power when using Return. It's a big enough deal to where Mega Salamence will want to run Double-Edge a far more than Return; choose its primary STAB carefully. Roost amplifies Mega Salamence's ability to set up and keep itself sustained should it need to. Facade makes using status against Mega Salamence a massive trade off and allows it to take Ho-Oh's Sacred Fire without fear of a burn ruining its STAB attacking power. It does very meaningful damage to most Steel-types when Mega Salamence has been afflicted with the status move they carry and also leaves large dents in support Arceus formes; especially when boosted by Dragon Dance. Earthquake gives Mega Salamence the ability to OHKO Klefki, KO a weakened Rock Arceus, and bust through Dialga, Tyranitar, and Zekrom if their Shuca Berry is consumed. If Mega Salamence is going to be heavily bent towards sweeping, Refresh can be used to relieve itself of status conditions so that there are no negative side effects cutting its sweep short or slowing it down. Dragon Dance gives Mega Salamence a way of punishing passive play or a forced switch by giving it more power to break open teams with or giving it a solid chance to sweep.

Set Details
========
248 HP / 124 Atk / 136 Spe Adamant nature gives Mega Salamence the bulk to always live uninvested Ice Beam from Water Arceus as well as Judgment from Rock and Fairy Arceus, makes Double-Edge recoil less impactful, and allows Salamence to switch into physical attackers in a more forgiving manner. Alternatively, 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe will always allow Salamence to outspeed base 90 Speed Pokemon before and after Mega Evolving although it can be OHKOed by most Stone Edge users after Stealth Rock this way. The Speed is most applicable when facing Jolly natured Ho-Oh, although Timid Primal Kyogre, Jolly Primal Groudon, and other + Speed nature base 90s do exist. This is generally the spread you will use when running Return and Earthquake / Refresh as 80 HP Salamence is more bent on sweeping than the other.

Usage Tips
========
Knowing what Salamence can and can't set up on is pretty key to its play, especially if it is a keystone to winning the game. If Facade is carried, A Ho-Oh locked into Sacred Fire is a pretty safe set up opportunity for Salamence provided Ho-Oh's team is weakened enough to make Mega Salamence's speed boost from Dragon Dance worthwhile. Landorus-T locked into Earthquake or Superpower and Swords Dance Ground Arceus are two other example of Pokemon that Salamence can set up on relatively safely. Primal Groudon is a riskier set up target because of its bulk, raw Attack stat, and Stone Edge combined with Swords Dance. Generally Mega Salamence wants to use Double-Edge or status-boosted Facade on Primal Groudon in order to set up a revenge kill or finish off a weakened Primal Groudon, especially if you have little to no information on what set it is running. Know that Facade ignores the Attack drop when Salamence is burned, making it a very safe switch into Ho-Oh's Sacred Fire so long as the residual damage won't matter much. The other side of the Ho-Oh problem is that Ho-Oh's Brave Bird will 2HKO Salamence and Jolly Ho-Oh will outspeed most Salamence the turn it is Mega Evolving. If Brave Bird is likely the play of choice from the opponent, bringing in Salamence directly isn't the best idea. Alternatively, Salamence's Intimidate can cut Ho-Oh's Attack in order to soften the blow for one of its partners. Facade is a monstrous STAB move when boosted by status and allows Mega Salamence to force nasty trades with Klefki among other bulkier and more passive Pokemon to open up holes for other team members to abuse. If it matters at all, make sure you know what status you would rather have Mega Salamence afflicted with as all three Facade-boosting statuses have nasty side effects.

Team Options
========
Mega Salamence tends to beat down the Steel-types on balance teams which helps make way for a partnered Xerneas to win the game later. It is also one of the best Pokemon to switch into Primal Groudon's attacks and Ho-Oh's Sacred Fire which is also something Xerneas greatly appreciates. Klefki can switch into support Dragon Arceus and Ice Beam + Defog Water Arceus very soundly and threaten them both out with Toxic with the added bonuses of bringing Spikes so that Salamence may get its KOes on support Arceus formes easier. Being able to switch into Xerneas for Salamence doesn't hurt either. Support Water Arceus with Defog is a Pokemon to consider when Salamence has another Stealth Rock weak Pokemon on its team. Salamence can also partner with Giratina-O as a Defog user on bulky offense in order to focus more on finding optimal set up opportunities while Giratina-O picks up most of the defensive slack.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Roost, Dragon Tail, Body Slam, and Defog can be run if a teams needs a Defog user that keeps Extreme Killer Arceus in check that doesn't get bowled over by Swords Dance Ghost Arceus. A max HP and max Defense spread with an Impish nature should work just fine with this moveset. If your team desperately needs a sleep absorber, a set of Rest, Sleep Talk, Thrash, and Dragon Dance can be used.

Checks and Counters
====================
**Lugia**: It might power up Facade with Toxic, but it still has the bulk to live it after a Dragon Dance and will phaze / lay its Ice Beam + Toxic pressure on Salamence. Whether or not a Salamence for Lugia trade is worth making is up to the player.

**Rock Arceus**: It KOes Mega Salamence with Judgment after any prior damage and +1 Earthquake will never KO Rock Arceus from full health without a critical hit.

**Support Arceus**: All of these Support Arceus sets have enough bulk to take Salamence's hits reasonably. Support Water Arceus needs Ice Beam to threaten Salamence so it should be scouted for always. Salamence can set up all over it and start smashing its opponents with 140 Base Power Facade from Arceus's Toxic otherwise. Dragon Arceus will have the upper hand on Salamence thanks to STAB, Dragon-type Judgment. Support Ground Arceus will usually take Salamence's boosted hits worse than its other formes due to it running less bulk, but it will be running Ice Beam far more often than not.

**Fairy Arceus**: It lives a hit from +1 Mega Salamence and can KO it with Judgment after any kind of prior damage including Double-Edge recoil.

**Dialga and Zekrom**: Shuca Berry saves them from Earthquake while Draco Meteor is a surefire OHKO coming from Dialga. Zekrom also has a good shot of OHKOing Mega Salamence with either Draco Meteor or Outrage.

**Klefki**: Thunder Wave and Play Rough give it a shot at beating Salamence pretty handily, otherwise it makes Salamence very easy to revenge kill after Klefki has been pulverized.

**Skarmory**: It will usually carry Whirlwind and plenty of bulk to live any boosted attack Mega Salamence want to throw at it and phaze Salamence afterwards. Mega Salamence will still beat a last Pokemon Skarmory though unless it is not running Whirlwind and using Counter instead.

**Diancie**: It doesn't like switching into Double-Edge at all and +1 Earthquake OHKOes it. It does, however, avoid the Double-Edge 2HKO narrowly and OHKO Salamence with Moonblast after recoil.

**Tyranitar**: Shuca Berry saves it from Earthquake and it will proceed to Thunder Wave Salamence and attempt to paraflinch it with Rock Slide until Salamence is KOed by Foul Play.

**Bronzong**: It will only beat Salamence if it is carrying Skill Swap or Trick Room. Otherwise, it is 2HKOed by +1 Double Edge or status-boosted Facade. Mega Salamence will be severely weakened after the encounter, however.