Art by MachManV2
"The Flying Kite of Doom"
(VGC) Mega Salamence - Attack (Mixed/Mono-Dragon Dance) Options
(VGC) Mega Salamence - Attack (Mixed/Mono-Dragon Dance) Options
October 8th, 2015
Type: Dragon/Flying
Base Stats: 95 HP / 135 Attack / 80 Defense / 110 Special Attack / 80 Special Defense / 100 Speed
Mega Stats: 95 HP / 145 Attack / 130 Defense / 120 Special Attack / 90 Special Defense / 120 Speed
Weaknesses: Ice (x4), Dragon (x2), Fairy (x2), Rock (x2)
Resistances: Fighting (X0.5), Bug (X0.5), Water (X0.5), Fire (x0.5), Grass (x0.5)
Immunities: Ground
Ability 1: Intimidate - Cuts the attack of the opposing Pokemons by 1 stage.
Ability 2: Moxie (Hidden Ability) - Raises the base attack power of the Pokemon if it caused the opposing Pokemon (or allied Pokemon) to faint.
Mega Ability: Aerilate - Turns all Normal type moves into the Flying type and receive a 30% boost.
Overview
Historically Salamence has seen play with among the top tier Pokemon in VGC thanks in part with its massive movepool, two great abilities (Inimitdate/Moxie), and its Dragon/Flying typing. With ORAS, Salamence received a Mega Evolution which transforms this already powerful pseudo-Legendary into a offensive juggernaut capable of wall-breaking opposing teams in part because of its new ability: Aerilate. With Mega Salamence's new Aerilate ability, all Normal type moves become Flying type and receive a 1.3x bonus in power so attacks such as Return, Double Edge, and Hyper Voice hit harder than most of Salamence's Dragon STAB attack (bar Draco Meteor). Offensively, Mega Salamence sports a solid 145 Atk /120 SpA /120 Spe offensive stats with its 120 base speed stat being the most notable as its already outspeed the base 100s, 110s, and other threats such as Mega Kangaskhan, Charizard Y, Mega Gardevoir, Raikou, offensive Thundurus, and even Scarf Tyranitar. Defensively, this classic gen 3 dragon is no slouch garnering a powerful 95 HP /130 Def / 95 SP def stats with arguably its physical defense being the strongest factoring in the potential Intimidate drops prior before Mega Evolving. Typing-wise Mega Salamence has some rather solid resistances in Fire, Grass, Water, Fighting, Bug and an immunity to Ground type attacks so it can come in on most elemental and Earthquake hits.
There's no doubt Mega Salamence is one of the best Mega Evolutions in the format in part because of its sheer unpredictability in what set the Hoenn dragon will run effectively. Is it going to be a mono Dragon Dance setup build? Is it fully physical? Special? Heck even mixed? Aside from scouting your opponent's team prior, you can't really tell what set Mega Salamence is goint to run before its possibly too late. Of course Mega Salamance has to stay away from taking strong special attacks like Pixilate Hyper Voice, Ice Beam, Hidden Power Ice, Draco Meteors, and as well as relatively strong physical hits such as Ice Punch ( especially from Mega Kang/Metagross ) and Play Rough. Opposing speed control can mess up Mega Salamence ( Trick Room/Thunder Wave ), as well as "bulky" stuff like Cresselia, Porygon2, the Rotom-A forms, Aegislash, Heatran, and other depending on the set. Despite the competition and some of these notable threats, Mega Salamance is still regarded as among the top Mega Evolution given its highly unpredictable nature and sheer power it can deal against foes.
Physically Mixed Based Attacker
Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite
Ability: Aerilate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Naive / Jolly Nature
- Double-Edge / Return
- Earthquake / Dragon Claw
- Draco Meteor / Dragon Dance / Flamethrower / Rock Slide
- Protect
I'm not gonna lie but there are a wide variety of viable options for the Mega Salamence users to consider from and its better off just to list them out here IMO. Yes I get there's a "other options" section people do for this situation, but considering how unpredictable Mega Salamence can be I'll mention them as well. To start of with the set, I'd like to point out the rather "bland" 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe you all see for this set. Yes its unoriginal LOL but if you look at most of the reports from Nugget Bridge featuring an all out attacker Mega Salamence with Double-Edge, the players don't opt for some complex EV spreads likely for one reason I'd just implied: recoil. Yes if this Salamence spread were Jolly it could run 100 HP / 4 SpD minimum investment to take a Ice Beam from a standard Suicune set 100% of the time, however factoring in recoil from the consecutive usage of Double Edge will make it easy for Suicune to beat. In the end, Mega Salamence can opt for a bulky set, but its taking recoil from Double Edge defeats the purpose of being bulky and it should either run Return or something else. *One valid point I forgot to make is that Double Edge can allow you to get potential free switch ins since recoil + any strong attack in general can knock out Mence. Free switch ins can be valuable especially for the late game where most of the enemy team is worn down (hopefully).
Double Edge is the crux of any all-out attacker set since its essentially 156 base power before STAB that hits slightly harder than Adamant Return from Mega Kangaskhan and just slightly on par with a 252 atk Jolly Double Edge variant. Thanks to Aerilate, Mega Salamance can hit majority of the meta hard with just one Double Edge while practically nukes any Grass, Fighting, and Bug types as well as any frailer Pokemon. Earthquake allows Mega Salamence to hit Fire, Rock, Poison, Electric and Steel types such as Arcanine, Raikou, Heatran, Terrakion, Entei, Tyranitar, Nidoking, etc for hard super effective damage. Honestly just Flying / Ground coverage allows Mega Salamence to hits majority of the game at least neutrally bar Thundurus, Zapdos, the Rotom forms, and Aerodactyl. Draco Meteor a strong special STAB option to KO 4 HP Dragon types like Garchomp, Hydreigon, Latios and even opposing Mega Salamence while confusion the opponent in figuring out whether its specially mixed or physically mixed. Protect is the last moveslot since virtually mandatory for Mega Salamence to avoid getting hit by super effective attacks or stall out field conditions (Tailwind / Trick Room).
As far as other options are concern, Return is an alternative in case the recoil from Double Edge isn't appealing and allows for it to run more bulkier set. Dragon Claw is a great physical STAB alternative to hit anything that isn't resisted/immune to either Double Edge/Return or Earthquake not named Skarmory. Dragon Dance can turn Mega Salamence into an offensive powerhouse and allow it to get KOs such as the ever threatening Mega Kangaskhan and Landorus-T. If you do plan to opt for Dragon Dance or with an all out physical attacking moveset than Jolly nature should be opted to take some special attacks better. Flamethrower/Fire Blast/Heat wave is a great coverage option in case the team doesn't have an appropriate answer for Scizor or Ferrothorn aside from using neutral hits with Mega Salamence. Rock Slide rounds out the other options since its a strong spread coverage against Flying types (particularly Zapdos/Thundurus) and the flinch factor on both targets can be annoying.
Damage Calculations
I'm just going to focus on the highlighted attacks for here on out.
Offensive-
[spoiler]
(All calculations were done with 252 Atk with a Naive nature)
Double Edge ( 252 Atk with Aerilate boost)
- -1 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 105-124 (63.6 - 75.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 157-186 (95.1 - 112.7%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
- 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Terrakion: 157-186 (94 - 111.3%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO
- 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 92 HP / 116 Def Sylveon: 174-205 (95.6 - 112.6%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
- 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 144-171 (79.5 - 94.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Amoonguss: 258-306 (116.7 - 138.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 116 Def Mega Gardevoir: 174-205 (99.4 - 117.1%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
- 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 100+ Def Suicune: 108-127 (52.1 - 61.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
- 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 132 HP / 4 Def Entei: 163-193 (78.7 - 93.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
- 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 124+ Def Mega Venusaur: 200-236 (106.9 - 126.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Mega Charizard Y: 175-207 (94.5 - 111.8%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
- 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 220 HP / 172 Def Cresselia: 108-127 (48.4 - 56.9%) -- 90.6% chance to 2HKO
Earthquake (252 Atk Naive)
- 252 Atk Mega Salamence Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 176-208 (105.3 - 124.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 252 Atk Mega Salamence Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Shuca Berry Heatran: 88-104 (52.6 - 62.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252 Atk Mega Salamence Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 86-102 (48.8 - 57.9%) -- 95.3% chance to 2HKO
- 252 Atk Mega Salamence Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 138-164 (74.1 - 88.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252 Atk Mega Salamence Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 66-78 (39.5 - 46.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
- 252 Atk Mega Salamence Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Raikou: 118-140 (71.5 - 84.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252 Atk Mega Salamence Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Nidoking: 114-136 (72.6 - 86.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252 Atk Mega Salamence Earthquake vs. 132 HP / 4 Def Entei: 104-124 (50.2 - 59.9%) -- 83.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Draco Meteor (0 SpA Naive )
- 0 SpA Mega Salamence Draco Meteor vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Garchomp: 194-230 (106 - 125.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 0 SpA Mega Salamence Draco Meteor vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Hydreigon: 186-222 (110.7 - 132.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 0 SpA Mega Salamence Draco Meteor vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Latios: 158-188 (101.9 - 121.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 0 SpA Mega Salamence Draco Meteor vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Salamence: 186-222 (108.7 - 129.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
[/spoiler]
Defensive -
[spoiler]
Double Edge defeats the purpose of having a "bulkier spread" so might as well optimize for its attacks. I'll give some notable defensive calcs regarding its "natural" defense stats without factoring Intimidates.
- 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Salamence: 123-145 (71.9 - 84.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252 Atk Tyranitar Rock Slide vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Salamence: 78-92 (45.6 - 53.8%) -- 85.9% chance to 2HKO after sandstorm damage
- 252+ Atk Landorus-T Rock Slide vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Salamence: 62-74 (36.2 - 43.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
- 4 SpA Thundurus Hidden Power Ice vs. 4 HP / 0- SpD Mega Salamence: 136-160 (79.5 - 93.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252 Atk Life Orb Garchomp Dragon Claw vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Salamence: 143-172 (83.6 - 100.5%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
Specially Mixed Based Attacker
Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite
Ability: Aerilate
Level: 50
EVs: 44 Atk / 212 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive / Timid Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Draco Meteor
- Double-Edge / Flamethrower / Hydro Pump
- Protect
This Mega Salamence should be familiar to some of you as its the same one Cybetron used to get 4th in US Nationals with his Sand based team. Like Mega Gardevoir and Sylveon, Mega Salamence has access to Hyper Voice with the only key difference is instead of it being Flying type than Fairy thanks to the Aerilate boost. This set just proves how powerful Flying STAB truly is given few Pokemon in the game can take the combination of Aerilate Hyper Voice and Double Edge from Mega Salamence. Some of the perks for opting for Aerilate Hyper Voice means non-AV Landorus-T will do about 45% and will leave it within range of a Double Edge or another Hyper Voice (though likely a roll). the same can be said about even Mega Kangaskhan as Hyper Voice will do over a third of its health leaving it within range of a Double Edge. Aerilate Hyper Voice is a strong spread damage that will literally render Rage Powder redirection users nearly obsolete since most of them like Amoonguss, Volcarona, Tangrowth, and other Grass / Bug types are weak to Flying and will still deal damage against the partner it try to protect. Other redirection users won't appreciate taking Hyper Voice damage since it can possibly leave them in range or a Double Edge. Since Mega Salamence has some special attack investment this time, STAB Dragon Meteor will KO most 4 HP Dragon types and inflict some "meaningful" damage to targets like Thundurus, Rotom-W, and Mega Kangaskhan to avoid going for additional Double Edge recoil.
As far as other options are concern, Mega Salamance can opt to run Fire type coverage like Flamethrower in case Steel types like Scizor, Mega Metagross, and Ferrothorn become an issue. Hydro Pump is a rather fun move to use on Mega Salamence against Heatran since most of them have either Shuca or even Chople Berry to reduce the damage of those super effective hits, but rather not from a strong hit like Hydro Pump. Preferably consider Hydro Pump in case Mega Salamence is being used on a Rain team since it will power the move up. If Mega Salamence is going to be fully special and not mixed, use an standard 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe with a Timid nature so it can take special attack hits better.
Damage Calculations
Offensive -
[spoiler]
Hyper Voice ( 212 SpA with Aerilate )
- 212 SpA Aerilate Mega Salamence Hyper Voice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Kangaskhan: 69-82 (38.1 - 45.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
- 212 SpA Aerilate Mega Salamence Hyper Voice vs. 84 HP / 12 SpD Landorus-T: 81-96 (46.2 - 54.8%) -- 58.6% chance to 2HKO
- 212 SpA Aerilate Mega Salamence Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Volcarona: 132-156 (68.7 - 81.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 212 SpA Aerilate Mega Salamence Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Amoonguss: 164-194 (74.2 - 87.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 212 SpA Aerilate Mega Salamence Hyper Voice vs. 188 HP / 156+ SpD Amoonguss: 126-150 (59.1 - 70.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 212 SpA Aerilate Mega Salamence Hyper Voice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Salamence: 76-90 (44.4 - 52.6%) -- 18.8% chance to 2HKO
- 212 SpA Aerilate Mega Salamence Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mega Gardevoir: 54-64 (30.8 - 36.5%) -- 59.9% chance to 3HKO
- 212 SpA Aerilate Mega Salamence Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 52 SpD Mega Venusaur: 114-134 (60.9 - 71.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Aerilate Double Edge ( 44 Atk )
- 44 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 126-148 (69.6 - 81.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 44 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 92 HP / 116 Def Sylveon: 151-178 (82.9 - 97.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 44 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Mega Gardevoir: 175-207 (100 - 118.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 44 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Mega Charizard Y: 153-180 (82.7 - 97.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 44 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 136-162 (82.4 - 98.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- -1 44 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 148 Def Ludicolo: 186-218 (99.4 - 116.5%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
Draco Meteor (212 SpA)
- KOs the four Dragon types: 4 HP Latios, Garchomp, Hydreigon, and Mega Salamence
- 212 SpA Mega Salamence Draco Meteor vs. 236 HP / 128+ SpD Thundurus: 97-115 (52.7 - 62.5%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
- 212 SpA Mega Salamence Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 148+ SpD Rotom-W: 76-91 (48.4 - 57.9%) -- 10.2% chance to 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
- 212 SpA Mega Salamence Draco Meteor vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Kangaskhan: 102-121 (56.3 - 66.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Flamethrower (212 SpA )
- 212 SpA Mega Salamence Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Scizor: 224-268 (126.5 - 151.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 212 SpA Mega Salamence Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 52 SpD Ferrothorn: 160-192 (88.3 - 106%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
- 212 SpA Mega Salamence Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 116 SpD Mega Scizor: 168-200 (94.9 - 112.9%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
- 212 SpA Mega Salamence Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Escavalier: 180-216 (101.6 - 122%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 212 SpA Mega Salamence Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 52 SpD Mega Mawile: 94-112 (59.8 - 71.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 212 SpA Mega Salamence Flamethrower vs. 44 HP / 0 SpD Mega Metagross: 88-104 (54.6 - 64.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
[/spoiler]
Defensive -
[spoiler]
Again this EV spread is the same as above Mega Salamence spread missing just the 4 HP so the defensive calcs are similar.
[/spoiler]
Mono-Dragon Dance
Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite
Ability: Aerilate
Level: 50
EVs: 100 HP / 196 Atk / 4 Def / 12 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return
- Roost / Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- Protect
Milestones:
-Outspeed max speed offensive Thundurus by 2 points and base 110s.
-Takes an Ice Beam from 100 SpA Suicune 100% of the time.
-Takes an -1 Icicle Crash from 252 Atk Mamoswine 15/16th of the time.
-KOs 4 HP Mega Kangaskhan (7/8th of time), Terrakion, and Landorus-T (without Intimdate drop) after one Dragon Dance boost.
-2HKOs 4 HP Heatran with one Dragon Dance boost.
-Takes a Dragon Pulse from 252 SpA Mega Salamence 100% of the time.
This is an offensive Dragon Dance set courtesy of GMX from the forums here since we both used this set at our respective tournaments and went pretty far in the competition with it. To start off, this Mega Salamence isn't opting Double Edge as the main attacking move, rather Return to maximize the defensive value of the EV Spread and ensure that it sweep opposing teams at ease without fainting at critical junctions of the battle from like recoil. After a Dragon Dance boost, Mega Salamance is able to KO a vast majority of targets like standard 4 HP Mega Kangaskhan, Terrakion, Landorus-T (without Intimidate drop), and deals heavy damage to anything else that's not a Rock, Steel, or Electric type. Protect is vital given a boosted Mega Salamence will be a prime target and its great to stall out field conditions. The last moveset is either between Roost and Earthquake given the exclusive situation Mega Salamence will run into. Roost is a recovery option that replenishes about 50% of Mega Salamence HP at the cost of losing its Flying typing. Though Ground type hits will Mega Salamence, this will allow it to take Electric, Rock, and Ice hits fairly better now especially since an Ice attack will do twice as much damage compared to a quadruple super effective hit. Earthquake is a strong Ground attack for any Steel, Fire, Rock, Poison, and "grounded" Electric types and forms a strong coverage against majority of the metagame.
For this Dragon Dance Mega Salamence set to work, it needs to be guarded against any form of opposing speed control, burns, paralysis, and notable "bulky" Pokemon that can take a hit. Redirection is one of the best ways to allow Mega Salamence to setup given Pokemon like Amoonguss, Clefairy, or even Volcarona can Follow me/Rage Powder away single target hits safely. Taunters like Thundurus and Liepard can help prevent most status moves so Mega Salamence get one Dragon Dance one boost while prevent opposing setup as well. Wide Guard users like Aegislash or Conkeldurr are great partners as they can shield Salamence from powerful Pixilate Hyper Voice attacks and Rock Slides. One last point to make about a typical Dragon Dance set is to NOT USE SALAMENCE AS A PIVOT SWITCH against physical attackers. This is not due to the possibility of a rouge Ice attack, rather Mega Salamence will need all the health it can to maintain a sweep. Try to keep Salamence in its base form before Mega Evolving since Intimidate is a great ability in general to reduce the attack of physical attackers and setup with ease.
Damage Calculations
Offensive -
[spoiler]
Return (+1 196 Atk After Dragon Dance )
- +1 196 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Amoonguss: 320-378 (144.7 - 171%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- +1 196 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Return vs. 252 HP / 116 Def Mega Gardevoir: 213-252 (121.7 - 144%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- +1 196 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Return vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 178-210 (98.3 - 116%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
- +1 196 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Return vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 195-229 (118.1 - 138.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- +1 196 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Return vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 84-100 (50.2 - 59.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- +1 196 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Return vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Hydreigon: 195-229 (116 - 136.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- +1 196 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Return vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Salamence: 144-169 (84.2 - 98.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- +1 196 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Return vs. 236 HP / 116 Def Thundurus: 102-120 (55.4 - 65.2%) -- 15.6% chance
- +1 196 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Return vs. 196 HP / 116 Def Sylveon: 213-252 (109.2 - 129.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- +1 196 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Return vs. 220 HP / 172 Def Cresselia: 132-156 (59.1 - 69.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Earthquake ( 196 atk )
- 196 Atk Mega Salamence Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 82-98 (46.5 - 55.6%) -- 76.2% chance to 2HKO
- 196 Atk Mega Salamence Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 134-158 (72 - 84.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 196 Atk Mega Salamence Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Raichu: 144-170 (105.8 - 125%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 196 Atk Mega Salamence Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 172-204 (102.9 - 122.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 196 Atk Mega Salamence Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Raikou: 112-134 (67.8 - 81.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 196 Atk Mega Salamence Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 44 Def Mega Gengar: 102-120 (61 - 71.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 196 Atk Mega Salamence Earthquake vs. 132 HP / 0 Def Entei: 102-122 (49.2 - 58.9%) -- 71.1% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery.
Not going to include +1 since anything else that's being inflicted about 67% of greater will likely result in a KO after a Dragon Dance boost. This isn't factoring Shuca Berry, Reflect, Burns, or any attack drops.
[/spoiler]
Defensive -
[spoiler]
Physical Defense (100 HP / 4 Def Factoring in Intimidate)
- -1 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 100 HP / 4 Def Mega Salamence: 81-97 (44.2 - 53%) -- 11.6% chance to 2HKO
- -1 252 Atk Terrakion Rock Slide vs. 100 HP / 4 Def Mega Salamence: 50-62 (27.3 - 33.8%) -- 0.3% chance to 3HKO
- -1 252 Atk Mamoswine Icicle Crash vs. 100 HP / 4 Def Mega Salamence: 156-184 (85.2 - 100.5%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
- -1 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Ice Punch vs. 100 HP / 4 Def Mega Salamence: 132-164 (72.1 - 89.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- -1 252 Atk Tyranitar Rock Slide vs. 100 HP / 4 Def Mega Salamence: 54-66 (29.5 - 36%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after sandstorm damage
- -1 252+ Atk Landorus-T Rock Slide vs. 100 HP / 4 Def Mega Salamence: 42-50 (22.9 - 27.3%) -- 41.8% chance to 4HKO
- -1 252 Atk Weavile Icicle Crash vs. 100 HP / 4 Def Mega Salamence: 148-180 (80.8 - 98.3%) -- guaranteed 2HK
- -1 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Play Rough vs. 100 HP / 4 Def Mega Salamence: 102-120 (55.7 - 65.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Special Defense (100 HP / 12 SpD)
- 100 SpA Suicune Ice Beam vs. 100 HP / 12 SpD Mega Salamence: 152-180 (83 - 98.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 100 HP / 12 SpD Mega Salamence: 90-106 (49.1 - 57.9%) -- 96.5%
- 252 SpA Thundurus Hidden Power Ice vs. 100 HP / 12 SpD Mega Salamence: 144-172 (78.6 - 93.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252+ SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 100 HP / 12 SpD Mega Salamence: 156-186 (85.2 - 101.6%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
[/spoiler]
Potential Teammates include, but aren't limited to;
- Steel types: Since Mega Salamence is weak to Dragon, Fairy, Rock, and Ice type attacks it would make ever more sense to have Steel type partners who can easily take these hits since most of them are resisted to at least 3/4 of these attacks (factoring in dual typings). Arguably the best part Steel type Pokemon (& to me the best partner for Mega Salamence) who can threaten all 4 types as well as an additional 8 types (resisted and immune) is Aegislash. I can't really think of another Pokemon who forms a great defensive synergy with a pseudo 150/150 in both offensive and defensive stats than Aegislash since it walls threats like Abomasnow, Thundurus, Sylveon, Mega Gardevoir, Mega Mawile, Cresselia, and even opposing Mega Salamences. Heck 3 of the 4 types mentioned here (Ice, Fairy, and Rock) are extremely weak to a STAB Iron Head / Flash Cannon from a base 150 Physical/Special Attack from Aegislash. Another trait Aegislash has over some other Steel types is the fact it can shield Mega Salamence from spread damage from Rock Slide, Blizzard, and even Pixilate Hyper Voice by spamming Wide Guard. In turn, Mega Salamence can provide Aegislash with a Intimidate drop to add to its overall bulk and go head to head against opposing Fire and Ground types with strong Aerilate hits or with Earthquake.
As far as other Steel type partners are concern, Heatran, Ferrothorn, Exadrill, Bisharp, Scizor, and Metagross make great teammates for Mega Salamence. Heatran is the most notable here since thanks to its Fire/Steel typing, it has a quad resistance to Ice/Fairy, takes incoming Will-O-Wisp hits with Flash Fire, can deal with opposing Steel types in case Mence doesn't have a coverage option, and can retaliate against those Rock, Ice, and Fairy types with a super effective Flash Cannon. Ferrothorn is an amazing defensive wall which can effectively deal with Water types like Rotom-W or Milotic who can give Mega Salamence some headaches. Excadrill is a great offensive partner considering Mega Salamence's part Flying typing allows driller to hit STAB Earthquakes against its opponents. Bisharp can be used as an Intimidate/Icy Wind deter given it would receive a +1/+2 in its physical attack which can allows the Dark/Steel type to hit significantly harder. Scizor is able to KO most Fairy types like Sylveon and Mega Gardevoir with a Life Orb STAB Bullet Punch and can protect Mence from Prankster Thunder Wave with Quick Guard. Regular Metagross is a creative, yet clever way to trick your opponents into having a duel Mega options as Metagross can deal massive damage against opposing threats. - Electric Types: Mega Salamence needs ways to deal with bulky Water Pokemon since they can take a Aerilate Double Edge/ Hyper Voice and finish the psudo-legendary off with an Ice Beam. Electric type Pokemon such as Rotom-W, Zapdos, Raikou, and Thundurus make great partners as Salamence can provide Intimidate support for these bulky threats as they can fire off super effective Thunderbolts on Water types. Some of these Pokemon mention can provide speed control with Thunder Wave or Electroweb to slow down the opposition enough for Salamence to outspeed.
- Sand Archetype : Ever since early April, Japanese Sand-based teams have used Mega Salamence as the premier Mega Evolution of choice to beat annoying Grass and Fighting type Pokemon that threaten Tyranitar and Excadrill. In turn, both Tyranitar and Excadrill have wider liberty to use their coverage options such as Rock Slide, Iron Head, Crunch, and etc to deal with things such as Cresselia, Thundurus, Aegislash, Charizard Y, etc. Both of these Pokemon threaten opposing Steel types like Mega Metagross, Heatran, and Aegislash since none of them want to take either an Earthquake from Excadrill or Crunch from Tyranitar. Mega Salamence and Tyranitar really pair well with each other since Tyranitar can easily take a Ice Beam or Draco Meteor for Salamence due to its 1.5x special defense boost from the sand. In fact, Hyper Voice + Assurance is a powerful combination to try out since Mega Salamence will get off its attack first, then Tyranitar can hit a base 120 STAB Dark move who has taken chip damage, surely knocking them out.
- Redirection Users Pokemon like Amoonguss, Clefable, Evolite Clefairy, Togekiss, and even Volcarona can provide redirection support with either Rage Powder or Follow Me. Amoonguss is statistically the most used redirection partner paired with Mega Salamence given how it can Rage Powder away single target hits from Mega Salamence, threaten Water and sometimes Fairy types with Giga Drain/Sludge Bomb, or even Spore targets so Mega Salamence take out targets easily. Clefable and Evolite Clefariy are some somewhat similar in support, yet Clefable is more offensive option with the ability to hold an item along with a 95 SpA stat while Evolite Clefairy provides its ally with Friend Guar defense boost which can be clutch. Both are solid options especially for a Dragon Dance Mega Salmanence, however if you want more offensive capabilities that doesn't rely on its item, go with Clefable. For those intrigued Friend Guard's 25% attack reduction to the teammates and in need of an item (Sitrus Berry on Rotom-W), go with Clefairy. Togekiss and Volcarona are slightly more offensive redirection partners as they can also provide Tailwind support, though it would only compound Mega Salamence's Rock type weakness.
- "Support" Pokemon In order to support Mega Salamence effectively, you'd want to have Pokemon who can stop opposing speed control with Taunt (possibly maintaining your own), have disruption options, or can simply give a Helping Hand to power Mega Salamence. Thundurus-Incarnate is one of the most paired partners with Mega Salamence since it can use Prankster Taunt, Thunder Wave, Swagger, etc to disrupt the opponent from using speed control or any setup. Liepard is another Prankster user who's in the same boat as Thundurus except it can Encore opponents into Protects or use Fake Tears so Hyper Voice can KO a certain target. Snarl users like Arcanine, Suicune, Raikou, Scrafty, and Entei can drop the special attack (or attack with the Intimidate drop) of both targets by stage to allow Mega Salamence to attack freely or setup with Dragon Dance. Other Pokemon such as Cresselia, Sylveon, Clefable, Clefairy, and etc can simply offer a Helping Hand to boost Mega Salamence's attack for potential knock outs. Gothetelle is another great partner for Mega Salamence as it can trap any physical attacks as Mence can easily either take out the targets or setup if needed.
Threats
- Bulky Water with Ice Coverage: In all seriousness, Mega Salamence cannot one shot the vast majority of the bulky water types like Rotom-W, Suicune, Milotic, Gastrodon, Swampert, Lapras, etc without some prior damage in general and all of theme can retaliate with their respective coverage ice coverage. Rotom-W deserves somewhat of a special mention here as Mega Salamence cannot KO the washing machine Pokemon at all thanks to its Electric/Water typing to resist Flying and its ability Levitate to negate the Earthquake damage completely. In turn, Rotom-W can either Will-O-Wisp it to cripple Mega Salamence or paralyze it so a slower Pokemon like Sylveon can knock it out.
- Electric Types : While I've discuss Rotom-W as a soft counter to Mega Salamence, other Electric Pokemon like Thundurus (both forms), Zapdos, the Rotom-A forms, Raikou, and etc can take an Aerilate hit quite well and fire a neutral Thunderbolt or HP Ice. In fact, all of these Electric types can potentially OHKO Mega Salamence with an HP Ice or can elect to paralyze the dragon with Thunder Wave to neuter its fast offensive capabilities.
- Steel Types: While most Mega Salamance carry at least Earthquake or a Fire move to deal with Steel types, it can find itself walled completely if its doesn't have either option. Aegislash is the premier Steel counter for Mega Salamence as it resist all of its Aerilate attacks, blocks Hyper Voice with Wide Guard, or can go for King's Shield to reduce Mega Salamence's physically attack to -2 if Mence uses a contact move. Other Steel types like Mega Metagross, Mega Mawile, Ferrothorn, Heatran, and Klefki can hold their own against Mega Salamence provided it doesn't have a coverage option.
- Other "Bulky" Pokemon with High Defensive Stats: This time we are talking about Pokemon which Mega Salamance cannot even 2HKO at times if they have maximum defensive investment, or are just stupidly bulky. Pokemon like Cresselia, Porygon2, heck even Mega Kangaskhan can take a hit and retaliate with an Ice coverage attack. Tyranitar is another threat as it can take a spread Earthquake fine as it can outspeed slower variants with a Scarf, paraylze it with Thunder Wave, or just use Ice Beam or Ice Punch for a potential knock out.
- Opposing Speed Control: Though Mega Salamence enjoys having speed control to maintain momentum, it certainly doesn't want to be facing off against a Suicune in Tailwind or Cresselia with Trick Room. In fact, every form of speed control will surely slow down Mega Salamence enough so a teammate can knock it out with a super effective hit. Funny enough, most of the common speed control based Pokemon like Prankster Thundurus, Zapdos, Cresselia, Rotom-W, Suicune, Milotic, and others can easily threaten Mega Salamence with a coverage option or a speed reduction.
- Defiant/Competitive Users: Prior to Mega Evolving, Salamence can set off Defiant/Competitive on either Bisharp, Milotic, Braviery, Wigglytuff, Primape, etc and receive a +1 Atk / +2 SpA depending on the Pokemon. Since its part Steel type, Bisharp can handle most of Mega Salamence's Aerilate boosted attack and threaten it with a Sucker Punch, but an Earthquake or Fire coverage retaliate it as well. Milotic can take most of Mega Salamence's hits (bar a crit) and respond with a +2 Icy Wind or Ice Beam.
- Random (or fast) Ice Moves Hitters: Pretty much same thing I've said about the Landorus-Incarnate thread so here's the deal: Mega Salamence hates Ice type moves...at least special. Whats even more scarier are Pokemon who can outspeed its impressive base 120 speed like Greninja, Mega Gengar, Mega Manetric, Weavile, and a host of other speedier Pokemon who are non Scarf.
- Powerful Fairy Hits: While Mega Salamence can outspeed and threaten most Fairy types, it surely cannot take a single Fairy hit like a Pixilate Hyper Voice or Play Rough. Sylveon and Mega Gardevoir can effectively knock out Mega Salamence if they don't prioritize on knocking out the two Pixilate users. Mega Mawile can Intimdate Mega Salamence in its base form as it switches in, and threaten it with a Huge Power Play Rough from base 105 attack. Azumarill is another Huge Power Fairy who can easily exploit Mega Salamence's Fairy weakness as it Belly Drums on a Protect to threaten the rest of the team.
Other Notable Moves
Mega Salamence has a vast movepool in which I really didn't want to cover every attack or status move so here are some other options.
- Tailwind - Mega Salamence does have access to Tailwind as a means of maintaining speed control for the rest of the team by doubling the speed stats for three turns Given how fast and bulky Mega Salamence is, Tailwind can be set with ease so that the teammates can outspeed the opposing team. This gives Mega Salamence the same speed if it had gone for two Dragon Dances and allows it outspeed weather sweepers like Ludicolo, Excadrill, or a Kingdra while being capable of knocking them out.
- Fire Blast / Heat Wave - Alternative for using Flamethrower are both Fire Blast and Heat Wave which both are dependent of a designated role. Fire Blast is Mega Salamence's Strongest Fire base coverage attack as it can surely KO most Ferrothorn variants about 85% of the time. The only problem is the other 15% when Fire Blast misses and low Power Point value of 8 in case the battles are drawn out longer. Heat Wave is a spread coverage so Mega Salamence can hit Steel types but their opposing partners with chip damage with the small chance to burn on either target.
- Rock Tomb / Bulldoze - Mega Salamence can learn some speed control attack such as Rock Tomb and Bulldoze to support the team by dropping the speed stats of the opposing Pokemon
by one stage.Hidden Power Ice / Ground - An interesting option to consider for Mega Salamence is running Hidden Power Ice to catch opposing Landorus-T and other Dragon types off guard. HP Ground is there in case you are worried about Wide Guard and want to hit Fire and Steel types like Arcanine or Heatran hard.Leer - Ok... why should anyone run Leer where one could easily just damage off or go for a Dragon Dance? Basically what Leer does is it drops the defensive stats of both Pokemon one stage, effectively giving Mega Salamence a pseudo "+1" boost rather by attacking either targets. The defense drops can help physical attackers like Tyranitar, Excadrill, Scizor, etc get off a kill against a -1 Pokemon especially if they have don't have switch-ins.Frustration - In case Smeargle or Ditto want to transform to your Mega Salamence, just run Frustration in place of Return since its likely that the trainer will have a higher happiness to copy utilize a Return. Essentially Frustration and Return are the same, the difference is being how the level of happiness/affection each Pokemon. Max/Min happiness and will result to having the a damage output of 102 in Return/Frustration respectively and the base power varies between 1-102.
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