Salamence Analysis (Mega Croissant)



Occupying a niche as a Flying Intimidator, Salamence provides a safe check to the ever common Landorus. With a powerful spread STAB move and access to Physical sets, Salamence can fulfill the role of either a Special Attacker with Tailwind or Physical Sweeper with Dragon Dance.



Pros
*145 Attack and 120 Special Attack allows Mega Salamence to function as both a Physical and Special Attacker
*95 / 130 / 90 Defensive Bulk is very impressive; Salamence can survive a multitude of attacks
*Two incredibly useful Abilities in Intimidate and Aerilate
*Fulfills the niche of a Flying Intimidator, allowing Salamence to switch into Landorus
*Aerilate combined with moves such as Hyper Voice and Double-Edge allow Salamence to deal wonderful, Flying type damage, something no other Pokemon can do
*Access to Tailwind, allowing Salamence to also provide Speed Control
*120 Speed allow Salamence the option to outspeed threats such as Metagross, Persian, and Kartana
*Able to run Special Attacking Sets as well as Dragon Dance sets
*You’re a flying croissant
Cons
*The introduction of Tapu Koko following 2016 greatly threatens Salamence; Dazzling Gleam is a 2HKO while Gigavolt Havoc in Electric Terrain OHKOs Mega Salamence
*Salamence also matches up poorly into all Tapus except for Tapu Bulu
*4x weakness to Ice makes Salamence extremely susceptible to Ice beams in the same way that Landorus is
*If running a mixed set, Salamence has to run Naive or Hasty, hampering a Defensive stat
*Mega Metagross is currently the most common Mega evolution, a Pokemon Salamence can not beat


Set #1 - Mixed Mence
Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite  
Ability: Intimidate  
Level: 50  
EVs: 44 Atk / 212 SpA / 252 Spe  
Naive Nature  
- Hyper Voice  
- Double-Edge  
- Tailwind  
- Protect
*A classic spread from 2015, this Mixed Salamence set provides a balance between Attack and Special Attack
*Mixed spreads run Hyper Voice and Double-Edge to deal heavy STAB damage to all but Electric and Steel Types
*44 Attack Mega Salamence Double-Edge KO’s 4/0 Tapu Lele 100% of the time
*212 Special Attack Mega Salamence KO’s 4/0 Kartana and 2HKOs 4/0 Landorus
*As a very fast Pokemon, Salamence can set up Tailwind before opposing Pokemon can KO it
*With its natural bulk, Salamence can survive many attacks including:
*-1 252 Atk Metagross Mega Ice Punch
*-1 +252 Atk Life Orb Tyranitar Ice Punch
*252 SpA Life Orb Tapu Koko Dazzling Gleam / Thunderbolt in Electric Terrain
*+252 Atk Landorus Rock Slide is a 3HKO
*This set aims at providing spread damage to chip away at opponents, while following up with Double-Edge to net KO’s
Set #2 - Dragon Dance
Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite   Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate   Ability: Intimidate  
Level: 50   Level: 50
EVs: 20 HP / 180 Atk / 4 Def / 52 SpD / 252 Spe EVs: 60 HP / 20 Atk / 4 Def / 204 SpD / 220 Spe   
Adamant Nature   Careful Nature
- Return   - Return  
- Earthquake / Roost - Roost
- Dragon Dance   - Dragon Dance  
- Protect - Protect
*Dragon Dance Salamence relies on setting up at least one Dragon Dance to begin sweeping through opposing teams.
*Return can be used over Double-Edge in Dragon Dance sets because Dragon Dance compensates for the minor decrease in power
*You also don’t want to KO yourself with recoil after spending a turn to set up
*Earthquake can be used for teams needing an answer to Tapu Koko, and Mega Gengar, which is a 100% KO at +1 Attack
*Roost can be used in place of Earthquake to increase Salamence’ longevity, and is especially useful on the bulkier, second set
*Roost also gets rid of Salamence’ Flying typing for a turn, allowing it to become 2x weak to Ice, take neutral damage from Rock Slide, and resist Electric type attacks
*The first spread is a more offensive variant piloted by Ashton Cox in Oceania Internats.
*252 Speed outspeeds Nihilego and Max Speed Positive Base 100 Pokemon
*+180 Attack Return cleaning picks up 2HKOs on every Pokemon that does not resist Flying
*At +1, Salamence will cleanly KO Bulky Kartana, Tapu Lele, and Specs Fini
*20 / 52 SpD allows Salamence to survive 252 SpA Cresselia Ice Beam and 252 SpA Life Orb Tapu Koko Hidden Power Ice
*The second spread is an incredibly bulky, Special Defense oriented set from Japan
*220 Speed underspeeds Nihilego, but still outspeeds Positive Base 100 Pokemon
*60 / 204 +SpD allows Salamence to live 252 SpA Tapu Koko Gigavolt Havoc in Electric Terrain, +124 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Fini Moonblast, and +252 SpA Tapu Lele Moonblast
Using Salamence
*In the face of common Pokemon such as Fini / Lele + Metagross, Tyranitar, and Zapdos, Salamence requires allies that can actually deal with the latter three
*Pokemon such as Tyranitar, Tapu Koko, and Aegislash help in dealing with threats that Salamence can’t touch
*Salamence also does not fare well against Trick Room setters such Cresselia and Porygon2, which can threaten Mence with Ice Beam or just go for a Trick Room
*Again, Tyranitar is useful in covering these threats, as well as Aegislash
*If running Dragon Dance, Salamence requires Redirection to help it set up, or Fairy / Ice type attacks will often 2HKO Salamence
*Because it gets Intimidate in its base form, Salamence fares fairly well against Landorus, providing a solid switch in against the genie
*Often times Salamence should not Mega Evolve straight away, especially if there are Pokemon that severely threaten Salamence on the field
*Preserving the Base form Ability of Intimidate is more useful, because you are switching Salamence off the field anyways
*Sand teams incorporate Salamence as part of its core because of its ability to counteract Landorus as well as set up Tailwind
*When run on sand teams, Salamence runs only Mixed or Fully Special Attack variants

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