Salamence (QC 1/2)

[Pubo]

[SET]
name: Offensive Defog
move 1: Defog
move 2: Hurricane / Draco Meteor
move 3: Flamethrower
move 4: Roost
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Intimidate
nature: Timid
evs: 188 SpA / 68 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Salamence's great typing and good matchup against common entry hazard setters like Hippowdon, Skarmory, Krookodile, and Roserade allows it to be a good Defogger on more offensive teams. Its solid bulk, good Special Attack, and access to Intimidate lets it check common Pokemon such as Urshifu-R, Zarude, Scizor, and Mienshao, while having a great offensive presence unlike other Defoggers like Rotom-W. Hurricane is a great STAB move that threatens Urshifu-R, Assault Vest Tangrowth, and Amoonguss. Alternatively, Draco Meteor can be used to have a stronger attack against Rotom-W, Rotom-H, and Rhyperior, but it's less spammable than Hurricane. Flamethrower is a great coverage move to hit Steel-types like Skarmory and Aegislash. Roost in conjunction with Intimidate lets Salamence check Pokemon like Urshifu-R and Krookodile, while Heavy-Duty Boots lets it ignore Stealth Rock damage. 68 Defense EVs are used to always survive -1 Zarude's Darkest Lariat followed by Black Hole Eclipse.

Defog Salamence fits best on offense and bulky offense teams that appreciate a more offensive Defogger which can also maintain its defensive utility against threats like Urshifu-R. Wallbreakers like Choice Specs Primarina and Swords Dance Scizor appreciates Salamence weakening Pokemon such as Amoonguss, Assault Vest Tangrowth, Skarmory, and Celesteela for them. Rhyperior, Swampert, and Nihilego are the few entry hazard setters that Salamence can't beat, so good checks to these like Tangrowth, Amoonguss, and Scizor are good teammates. Scizor is an amazing partner that can deal with Fairy- and Rock-types that threatens Salamence like Mega Altaria, Hatterene, Nihilego, and Lycanroc-D, while Salamence can check Pokemon like Urshifu-R, Zarude, and Mienshao in return. Slowking, Swampert, and Rotom-W can easily take Salamence's attacks and bring in a teammate like Nihilego in safely, so Grass-types like Zarude and Roserade are useful at providing support to it. Roserade can even set Spikes to further improve Salamence's wallbreaking capabilities. Lastly, Pokemon like Rotom-H, Krookodile, and Rhyperior that can struggle to deal with Water- and Fighting-types like Urshifu-R and Mienshao appreciate Salamence's ability to handle them. Salamence can also provide Defog support to aid Rotom-H if its Heavy-Duty Boots are removed.

[SET]
name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Outrage
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Fire Blast
item: Life Orb
ability: Moxie
nature: Naive
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Dragon Dance Salamence is a menacing sweeper and wallbreaker on hyper offense teams that can easily get going with the combination of Dragon Dance and Moxie. It finds a lot of setup opportunities against Pokemon that it forces out like Amoonguss, Rotom-W, and Rotom-H, although it should be careful about status. At +1, Salamence outspeeds faster threats like Zeraora, Mega Manectric, and Choice Scarf Mienshao. +1 Outrage is a nuke against everything that doesn't resist it, notably OHKOing Rotom-W, Rotom-H, and Amoonguss after some prior chip damage. However, it must be careful when using it as it will allow Fairy-types like Mega Altaria and Azumarill to enter freely and easily knock Salamence out. Earthquake provides great coverage with Outrage, hitting Steel-types like Celesteela and Aegislash. Fire Blast is used to threaten physically bulky Pokemon that don't care much about Earthquake like Skarmory, Tangrowth, Buzzwole, and Scizor. Life Orb improves Salamence's damage output, allowing it to OHKO Skarmory with Fire Blast after Stealth Rock. A Naive nature is used to outspeed Pokemon like Urshifu-R and avoid interfering with Fire Blast's damage output.

Dragon Dance Salamence fits best on hyper offense teams that appreciate a Pokemon that can KO or force heavy damage on walls like Skarmory, Mega Aggron, and Scizor, paving the way for other sweepers like Nihilego and Dragon Dance Mega Altaria. Entry hazard support is mandatory for Salamence to grab important KOs, so suicide leads like Krookodile and Deoxys-D make for good teammates. Late-game cleaners such as Mega Altaria, Swords Dance Scizor and Bisharp enjoy Salamence weakening Pokemon like Hippowdon, Skarmory, Celesteela, and Tangrowth for them. Fairy-types such as Mega Altaria and Galarian Weezing are generally going to be the biggest obstacles to this set, so other offensive Pokemon that take advantage of them like Meteor Beam Nihilego and Autotomize Celesteela are solid options. The latter also enjoys Salamence wearing down bulky foes like Swampert and Rhyperior for it.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Dragon Claw can be used over Outrage to avoid being locked into a single move, but it's much weaker and will miss out on important KOs against bulky targets like Rotom-W and Amoonguss. Heavy-Duty Boots on Dragon Dance sets can be used to avoid Stealth Rock damage, but without Life Orb, Salamence's damage output is greatly reduced and the lack of extra power in comparison makes it harder to justify over Dragonite. Dual Wingbeat can be used to have a more reliable STAB move, but it's much weaker compared to Outrage or makes Salamence lose out on important coverage in Earthquake or Fire Blast. If the team already has a Defogger, Salamence can use Draco Meteor instead of Defog to pressure switch-ins like Rotom-W and Rotom-H much more consistently. Finally, Salamence can run Wish to provide another source of recovery for defensive teams.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Fairy-types**: Fairy-types such as Mega Altaria, Hatterene and Galarian Weezing can take Salamence's hits and KO it with Fairy-type moves. The latter is by far the best counter to Dragon Dance sets since it's immune to both Earthquake and Outrage.

**Rock-types**: Rock-types such as Nihilego and Rhyperior can easily pivot into any move from Defog Salamence barring Draco Meteor and KO it back with Meteor Beam and Stone Edge respectively, although Nihilego can't do this against Dragon Dance sets. Lycanroc-D can revenge kill Dragon Dance Salamence with Life Orb-boosted Accelerock after Stealth Rock, however, it isn't a safe switch-in.

**Knock Off**: Knock Off from threats that Salamence is supposed to check like Krookodile, Mienshao, and Tangrowth can remove Salamence's Heavy-Duty Boots, making it more difficult to consistently switch into Pokemon like Urshifu-R and Zarude while Stealth Rock is up.


[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Pubo, 535121]]
- Quality checked by: [[Arishem, 546157], [username2, userid2]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1]]

 

[Pubo]

Ready for QC!

 

[Iride]

AM Check, feel free to implement whatever you want from this.

Add / Remove / Comments

Mence the Menace

[SET]
name: Offensive Defog
move 1: Defog
move 2: Hurricane / Draco Meteor
move 3: Flamethrower
move 4: Roost
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Intimidate
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Salamence's great typing and good matchup against common entry hazard setters like Hippowdon, Skarmory, Krookodile, and Roserade allows it to be a good Defogger on more offensive teams. Its solid bulk, good Special Attack, and access to Intimidate lets it check common Pokemon such as Urshifu-R, Zarude, Infernape, wildly inconsistent mon and is a huge MU fish, mention Scizor instead if you will and Mienshao, while also maintaning maintaining an great offensive presence unlike other Defoggers like Rotom-W, It distinguishes itself from other Defoggers like Moltres by also being able to allowing it to also act as a wallbreaker while maintaining its defensive roles against Urshifu-R and Infernape. same as above However, Salamence is heavily very reliant in on Heavy-Duty Boots to consistently check these threats, and Pokemon like Krookodile, Tangrowth, and Mienshao can remove its Heavy-Duty Boots, reducing limiting its defensive capabilities. Hurricane is a great STAB move that threatens Urshifu-R, Assault Vest Tangrowth, and Amoonguss, notably 2HKOing the latter two. Alternatively, Draco Meteor can be used to have a stronger attack against Rotom-W, Rotom-H, and Moltres Rhyperior. better example and stops it from trying to get Rocks back up as freely. Mention the opportunity costs of using Draco over Hurricane (not having a consistent STAB to spam, being worse vs Grasses .etc) Flamethrower is a great coverage move to hit Steel-types like Skarmory, Melmetal, and Aegislash. Roost in conjuction with Intimidate let Salamence reliable reliably check Pokemon like Urshifu-R and Infernape, again, above while Heavy-Duty Boots lets it ignore Stealth Rock damage. A Timid nature is preferred to outspeed Urshifu-R and Krookodile.

Defog Salamence fits best on offense and bulky offense teams that appreciate a more offensive Defogger that which can also maintain its defensive utility against threats like Urshifu-R. Wallbreakers like Choice Specs Primarina and Swords Dance Scizor appreciates Salamence weakening Pokemon such as Amoonguss, Assault Vest Tangrowth, Skarmory, and Celesteela for them. Rhyperior, Swampert, and Nihilego are the few entry hazard setters that Salamence can't beat, so good checks to these like Tangrowth, Amoonguss, and Scizor are good teammates. In return, they appreciate Salamence's ability do deal with Fire-types such as Infernape. Scizor is an amazing partner that can deal with Fairy- and Rock-types that threatens Salamence like Mega Altaria, Hatterene, Nihilego, and Lycanroc-D. Rotom-W, Slowking, and Swampert, and Rotom-W reordering can easily take Salamence's attacks and bring in a teammate like Nihilego in safely, so Grass-types like Zarude and Roserade are useful at providing support against this maneuver. Roserade can even set Spikes to further improve Salamence's wallbreaking capabilities. Lastly, Pokemon like Rotom-H, Krookodile, and Rhyperior that struggles can struggle to deal with Water- and Fighting-types like Urshifu-R and Mienshao appreciate Salamence's ability to handle reliable dealing with them. Salamence can also provide Defog support to aid Rotom-H if its Heavy-Duty Boots are removed.

Not QC but given how non-Scarf Zarude is becoming more and more common, you should consider adding more Defense EVs to the set. 68 Def always survives a -1 Lariat into the Z-Move from BU Sets, for example.

[SET]
name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Outrage
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Fire Blast
item: Life Orb
ability: Moxie
nature: Naive
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Dragon Dance Salamence is a menacing sweeper and wallbreaker on hyper offense teams that can easily get going with the combination of Dragon Dance + and Moxie. It finds a lot of setup opportunities against Pokemon that it forces out like Amoonguss, Rotom-W, and Rotom-H, although it should be careful about status. At +1, Salamence outspeeds faster threats like Zeraora, Alakazam and Choice Scarf Urshifu. +1 Outrage is a nuke against everything that does not resist it, notably OHKOing Amoonguss, Rotom-W, and Rotom-H, and Amoonguss reordering after a boost with some prior chip damage. However, it must be careful when using it as it will allow Fairy-types like Mega Altaria to enter freely and easily knock him Salamence out. Earthquake is a great coverage move to hit Steel- and Rock-types like Melmetal, Aegislash, and Rhyperior. Fire Blast is used to threaten physically bulky Pokemon that don't care much about Earthquake like Scizor, Skarmory, physically defensive Tangrowth, and Buzzwole, and Scizor. reordering Life Orb improves Salamence's damage output, allowing it to OHKO Skarmory with Fire Blast after Stealth Rock. A Naive nature is used to outspeed Pokemon like Choice Scarf Urshifu-R after one Dragon Dance and not interfere with Fire Blast's damage output.

Dragon Dance Salamence fits best on hyper offense teams that which appreciate a Pokemon that can KO or several weaken threats force heavy damage on walls like Skarmory, Rotom-W, and Scizor, paving the way for others sweepers like Nihilego and Dragon Dance Mega Altaria. Stealth Rock Entry hazard support is mandatory to for Salamence to grab get important KOs, so suicide leads like Krookodile and Deoxys-D make for good teammates. Dual screens support from Grimmsnarl is pretty valuable to help Salamence get more setup opportunities against Pokemon like Zeraora and Zarude, It it can also use Taunt to prevent Defog from Rotom-W and Moltres. Late-game cleaners such as Mega Altaria, Swords Dance Scizor and Bisharp enjoy Salamence weakening Pokemon like Melmetal, Hippowdon, Skarmory, Tangrowth, Celesteela, and Hippowdon reordering and Tangrowth for them. Mega Altaria and Galarian Weezing are pretty much the best answers to this Salamence's set, so Pokemon that can deal with it like Meteor Beam Nihilego never seen one on HO without that move so specify it here and Autotomize Celesteela are solid options. The latter also enjoys Salamence wearing down bulky foes like Melmetal and Rhyperior for it to sweep afterwards.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Dragon Claw can be used over Outrage to not lock itselt avoid being locked into a single move, but is too weaker it is much weaker and will miss out on loses important KOs against bulky targets as a result. like? Heavy-Duty Boots on the Dragon Dance set can avoid Stealth Rock damage, but without Life Orb, Salamence's damage output is greatly reduced and it's the lack of extra power power in comparison makes it harder to justify over Dragonite. Dual Wingbeat can be used to have a more reliable STAB move, but it's much weaker compared to Outrage and or I'm guessing this is what you mean? makes Salamence lose out on important coverage in Earthquake or Fire Blast.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Fairy-types**: Fairy-types like Mega Altaria, Hatterene, and Galarian Weezing can reliable pushes things pretty far given that Hurricane still does a sizable amount, it's not like you actually want to directly switch into it, which is what the word otherwise seems to imply take Salamence's hits and KO it with Fairy-type their STAB moves. The latter is pretty much the best counter to Dragon Dance sets since it's immune to both Earthquake and Outrage.

**Knock Off**: Knock Off from threats like Krookodile, Mienshao, and Tangrowth removes Salamence's Heavy-Duty Boots, meaning that now it can't reliable check Pokemon like Urshifu-R and Zarude as reliably. Mention that most of these Pokemon are also the same ones that Mence is tasked with dealing with, so it eventually does get overwhelmed

**Rock-types**: Rock-types like Nihilego and Rhyperior can easily take every move from Defog Salamence barring Draco Meteor pretty comfortably and OHKO it with Meteor Beam and Stone Edge respectively, but it should be aware although Nihilego cannot do this against Dragon Dance sets. Rhyperior's great physical bulk let it switch into Salamence's attacks and KO it back with Stone Edge.
This is more immediately detrimental to Mence imo so I'd move this to be above Knock Off, talk with QC about it.

 

[Pubo]

AM Check, feel free to implement whatever you want from this.

Add / Remove / Comments

Mence the Menace

[SET]
name: Offensive Defog
move 1: Defog
move 2: Hurricane / Draco Meteor
move 3: Flamethrower
move 4: Roost
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Intimidate
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Salamence's great typing and good matchup against common entry hazard setters like Hippowdon, Skarmory, Krookodile, and Roserade allows it to be a good Defogger on more offensive teams. Its solid bulk, good Special Attack, and access to Intimidate lets it check common Pokemon such as Urshifu-R, Zarude, Infernape, wildly inconsistent mon and is a huge MU fish, mention Scizor instead if you will and Mienshao, while also maintaning maintaining an great offensive presence unlike other Defoggers like Rotom-W, It distinguishes itself from other Defoggers like Moltres by also being able to allowing it to also act as a wallbreaker while maintaining its defensive roles against Urshifu-R and Infernape. same as above However, Salamence is heavily very reliant in on Heavy-Duty Boots to consistently check these threats, and Pokemon like Krookodile, Tangrowth, and Mienshao can remove its Heavy-Duty Boots, reducing limiting its defensive capabilities. Hurricane is a great STAB move that threatens Urshifu-R, Assault Vest Tangrowth, and Amoonguss, notably 2HKOing the latter two. Alternatively, Draco Meteor can be used to have a stronger attack against Rotom-W, Rotom-H, and Moltres Rhyperior. better example and stops it from trying to get Rocks back up as freely. Mention the opportunity costs of using Draco over Hurricane (not having a consistent STAB to spam, being worse vs Grasses .etc) Flamethrower is a great coverage move to hit Steel-types like Skarmory, Melmetal, and Aegislash. Roost in conjuction with Intimidate let Salamence reliable reliably check Pokemon like Urshifu-R and Infernape, again, above while Heavy-Duty Boots lets it ignore Stealth Rock damage. A Timid nature is preferred to outspeed Urshifu-R and Krookodile.

Defog Salamence fits best on offense and bulky offense teams that appreciate a more offensive Defogger that which can also maintain its defensive utility against threats like Urshifu-R. Wallbreakers like Choice Specs Primarina and Swords Dance Scizor appreciates Salamence weakening Pokemon such as Amoonguss, Assault Vest Tangrowth, Skarmory, and Celesteela for them. Rhyperior, Swampert, and Nihilego are the few entry hazard setters that Salamence can't beat, so good checks to these like Tangrowth, Amoonguss, and Scizor are good teammates. In return, they appreciate Salamence's ability do deal with Fire-types such as Infernape. Scizor is an amazing partner that can deal with Fairy- and Rock-types that threatens Salamence like Mega Altaria, Hatterene, Nihilego, and Lycanroc-D. Rotom-W, Slowking, and Swampert, and Rotom-W reordering can easily take Salamence's attacks and bring in a teammate like Nihilego in safely, so Grass-types like Zarude and Roserade are useful at providing support against this maneuver. Roserade can even set Spikes to further improve Salamence's wallbreaking capabilities. Lastly, Pokemon like Rotom-H, Krookodile, and Rhyperior that struggles can struggle to deal with Water- and Fighting-types like Urshifu-R and Mienshao appreciate Salamence's ability to handle reliable dealing with them. Salamence can also provide Defog support to aid Rotom-H if its Heavy-Duty Boots are removed.

Not QC but given how non-Scarf Zarude is becoming more and more common, you should consider adding more Defense EVs to the set. 68 Def always survives a -1 Lariat into the Z-Move from BU Sets, for example.

[SET]
name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Outrage
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Fire Blast
item: Life Orb
ability: Moxie
nature: Naive
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Dragon Dance Salamence is a menacing sweeper and wallbreaker on hyper offense teams that can easily get going with the combination of Dragon Dance + and Moxie. It finds a lot of setup opportunities against Pokemon that it forces out like Amoonguss, Rotom-W, and Rotom-H, although it should be careful about status. At +1, Salamence outspeeds faster threats like Zeraora, Alakazam and Choice Scarf Urshifu. +1 Outrage is a nuke against everything that does not resist it, notably OHKOing Amoonguss, Rotom-W, and Rotom-H, and Amoonguss reordering after a boost with some prior chip damage. However, it must be careful when using it as it will allow Fairy-types like Mega Altaria to enter freely and easily knock him Salamence out. Earthquake is a great coverage move to hit Steel- and Rock-types like Melmetal, Aegislash, and Rhyperior. Fire Blast is used to threaten physically bulky Pokemon that don't care much about Earthquake like Scizor, Skarmory, physically defensive Tangrowth, and Buzzwole, and Scizor. reordering Life Orb improves Salamence's damage output, allowing it to OHKO Skarmory with Fire Blast after Stealth Rock. A Naive nature is used to outspeed Pokemon like Choice Scarf Urshifu-R after one Dragon Dance and not interfere with Fire Blast's damage output.

Dragon Dance Salamence fits best on hyper offense teams that which appreciate a Pokemon that can KO or several weaken threats force heavy damage on walls like Skarmory, Rotom-W, and Scizor, paving the way for others sweepers like Nihilego and Dragon Dance Mega Altaria. Stealth Rock Entry hazard support is mandatory to for Salamence to grab get important KOs, so suicide leads like Krookodile and Deoxys-D make for good teammates. Dual screens support from Grimmsnarl is pretty valuable to help Salamence get more setup opportunities against Pokemon like Zeraora and Zarude, It it can also use Taunt to prevent Defog from Rotom-W and Moltres. Late-game cleaners such as Mega Altaria, Swords Dance Scizor and Bisharp enjoy Salamence weakening Pokemon like Melmetal, Hippowdon, Skarmory, Tangrowth, Celesteela, and Hippowdon reordering and Tangrowth for them. Mega Altaria and Galarian Weezing are pretty much the best answers to this Salamence's set, so Pokemon that can deal with it like Meteor Beam Nihilego never seen one on HO without that move so specify it here and Autotomize Celesteela are solid options. The latter also enjoys Salamence wearing down bulky foes like Melmetal and Rhyperior for it to sweep afterwards.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Dragon Claw can be used over Outrage to not lock itselt avoid being locked into a single move, but is too weaker it is much weaker and will miss out on loses important KOs against bulky targets as a result. like? Heavy-Duty Boots on the Dragon Dance set can avoid Stealth Rock damage, but without Life Orb, Salamence's damage output is greatly reduced and it's the lack of extra power power in comparison makes it harder to justify over Dragonite. Dual Wingbeat can be used to have a more reliable STAB move, but it's much weaker compared to Outrage and or I'm guessing this is what you mean? makes Salamence lose out on important coverage in Earthquake or Fire Blast.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Fairy-types**: Fairy-types like Mega Altaria, Hatterene, and Galarian Weezing can reliable pushes things pretty far given that Hurricane still does a sizable amount, it's not like you actually want to directly switch into it, which is what the word otherwise seems to imply take Salamence's hits and KO it with Fairy-type their STAB moves. The latter is pretty much the best counter to Dragon Dance sets since it's immune to both Earthquake and Outrage.

**Knock Off**: Knock Off from threats like Krookodile, Mienshao, and Tangrowth removes Salamence's Heavy-Duty Boots, meaning that now it can't reliable check Pokemon like Urshifu-R and Zarude as reliably. Mention that most of these Pokemon are also the same ones that Mence is tasked with dealing with, so it eventually does get overwhelmed

**Rock-types**: Rock-types like Nihilego and Rhyperior can easily take every move from Defog Salamence barring Draco Meteor pretty comfortably and OHKO it with Meteor Beam and Stone Edge respectively, but it should be aware although Nihilego cannot do this against Dragon Dance sets. Rhyperior's great physical bulk let it switch into Salamence's attacks and KO it back with Stone Edge.
This is more immediately detrimental to Mence imo so I'd move this to be above Knock Off, talk with QC about it.

implemented and ye now mence has a new spread

 

[Iride]

Add / Remove / Comments

basically MAltaria's slightly worse but still honestly amazing prequel

[SET]
name: Offensive Defog
move 1: Defog
move 2: Hurricane / Draco Meteor
move 3: Flamethrower
move 4: Roost
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Intimidate
nature: Timid
evs: 68 Def / 188 SpA / 68 Def / 252 Spe Defense comes before SpA

[SET COMMENTS]
Salamence's great typing and good matchup against common entry hazard setters like Hippowdon, Skarmory, Krookodile, and Roserade allows it to be a good Defogger on more offensive teams. Its solid bulk, good Special Attack, and access to Intimidate lets it check common Pokemon such as Urshifu-R, Zarude, Scizor, and Mienshao, while having a great offensive presence unlike other Defoggers like Rotom-W and also acting as a wallbreaker Kinda redundant so I'd try and merge it with what else you just said in this sentence while maintaining its defensive roles. However, Salamence is very reliant on Heavy-Duty Boots to consistently check these threats, and Pokemon like Krookodile, Tangrowth, and Mienshao can remove its item, reducing its defensive capabilities. I'd keep this in the Checks and Counters section given that its an A Rank mon Hurricane is a great STAB move that threatens Urshifu-R, Assault Vest Tangrowth, and Amoonguss. Alternatively, Draco Meteor can be used to have a stronger attack against Rotom-W, Rotom-H, and Rhyperior, but it's less spammable than Hurricane. Flamethrower is a great coverage move to hit Steel-types like Skarmory, Melmetal, and Aegislash. Roost in conjunction with Intimidate lets Salamence check Pokemon like Urshifu-R and Krookodile, while Heavy-Duty Boots lets it ignore Stealth Rock damage. 68 Defense EVs are used to always survive -1 Zarude's Darkest Lariat followed by Black Hole Eclipse.

Defog Salamence fits best on offense and bulky offense teams that appreciate a more offensive Defogger which can also maintain its defensive utility against threats like Urshifu-R. Wallbreakers like Choice Specs Primarina and Swords Dance Scizor appreciates Salamence weakening Pokemon such as Amoonguss, Assault Vest Tangrowth, Skarmory, and Celesteela for them. Rhyperior, Swampert, and Nihilego are the few entry hazard setters that Salamence can't beat, so good checks to these like Tangrowth, Amoonguss, and Scizor are good teammates. In return, they appreciate Salamence's ability do deal with Fire-types such as Blaziken. Mence doesn't really do anything specific for them in return aside from that so I'd just remove this in general for now. Scizor is an amazing partner that can deal with Fairy- and Rock-types that threatens Salamence like Mega Altaria, Hatterene, Nihilego, What does Mence do in return? mention how it switches into stuff like WaterShifu and Lycanroc-D. Slowking, Swampert, and Rotom-W can easily take Salamence's attacks and bring in a teammate like Nihilego in safely, so Grass-types like Zarude and Roserade are useful at providing support to it. Roserade can even set Spikes to further improve Salamence's wallbreaking capabilities. Lastly, Pokemon like Rotom-H, Krookodile, and Rhyperior that can struggle to deal with Water- and Fighting-types like Urshifu-R and Mienshao appreciate Salamence's ability to handle them. Salamence can also provide Defog support to aid Rotom-H if its Heavy-Duty Boots are removed.

[SET]
name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Outrage
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Fire Blast
item: Life Orb
ability: Moxie
nature: Naive
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Dragon Dance Salamence is a menacing sweeper and wallbreaker on hyper offense teams that can easily get going with the combination of Dragon Dance and Moxie. It finds a lot of setup opportunities against Pokemon that it forces out like Amoonguss, Rotom-W, and Rotom-H, although it should be careful about status. At +1, Salamence outspeeds faster threats like Zeraora, Mega Manectric, and Choice Scarf Urshifu-R bad, I'd make this something else if possible. +1 Outrage is a nuke against everything that doesn't resist it, notably OHKOing Rotom-W, Rotom-H, and Amoonguss after some prior chip damage. However, it must be careful when using it as it will allow Fairy-types like Mega Altaria and Azumarill to enter freely and easily knock Salamence out. Earthquake is a provides great coverage to with Outrage, hitting Steel-types like Melmetal and Aegislash. Fire Blast is used to threaten physically bulky Pokemon that don't care much about Earthquake like Skarmory, physically defensive Tangrowth, Buzzwole, and Scizor. Life Orb improves Salamence's damage output, allowing it to OHKO Skarmory with Fire Blast after Stealth Rock. A Naive nature is used to outspeed Pokemon like Choice Scarf Urshifu-R after one Dragon Dance I'd just stick to it being faster in general given that you never see Scarf and not avoid interfere interfering with Fire Blast's damage output.

Dragon Dance Salamence fits best on hyper offense teams that appreciate a Pokemon that can KO or force heavy damage on walls like Skarmory, Rotom-W, and Scizor, paving the way for other sweepers like Nihilego and Dragon Dance Mega Altaria. Entry hazard support is mandatory for Salamence to grab important KOs, so suicide leads like Krookodile and Deoxys-D make for good teammates. Dual screens support from Grimmsnarl is pretty valuable to help Salamence get more setup opportunities against Pokemon like Zeraora and Zarude, it can also use Taunt to prevent Defog from Rotom-W and Moltres Just restate how this helps to keep Screens and hazards up for Mence to sweep more easily. Late-game cleaners such as Mega Altaria, Swords Dance Scizor and Bisharp enjoy Salamence weakening Pokemon like Melmetal, Hippowdon, Skarmory, Celesteela, and Tangrowth for them. Fairy-types such as Mega Altaria and Galarian Weezing are pretty much the best answers to this Salamence's are generally going to be the biggest obstacles to this set, so other offensive Pokemon that can deal with it take advantage of them 'Take advantage' sounds like a better term to use imo because we're on HO like Meteor Beam Nihilego and Autotomize Celesteela are solid options. The latter also enjoys Salamence wearing down bulky foes like Melmetal and Rhyperior for it.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Dragon Claw can be used over Outrage to avoid being locked into a single move, but it's much weaker and will miss out on important KOs against bulky targets like Rotom-W and Amoonguss. Heavy-Duty Boots on Dragon Dance sets can be used to avoid Stealth Rock damage, but without Life Orb, Salamence's damage output is greatly reduced and the lack of extra power in comparison makes it harder to justify over Dragonite. Dual Wingbeat can be used to have a more reliable STAB move, but it's much weaker compared to Outrage or makes Salamence lose out on important coverage in Earthquake or Fire Blast.

Mention 3a Mence and Wish as an option for bulkier teams, both are decent if the team already has Defog from something else.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Fairy-types**: Fairy-types such as Mega Altaria, Hatterene, and Galarian Weezing can take Salamence's hits and KO it with Fairy-type moves. The latter is pretty much by far the best counter to Dragon Dance sets, since it's immune to both Earthquake and Outrage.

**Rock-types**: Rock-types such as Nihilego and Rhyperior can easily take every move pivot into any move from Defog Salamence barring Draco Meteor and KO it back with Meteor Beam and Stone Edge respectively, although Nihilego can't do this against Dragon Dance sets. Add Lycanroc-D to this list and mention about how it can revenge DD Mence through its boosts with Accelerock after hazards.

**Knock Off**: Knock Off from threats that Salamence is supposed to check like Krookodile, Mienshao, and Tangrowth can removes Salamence's Heavy-Duty Boots, meaning that it can't check making it more difficult to consistently switch into Pokemon like Urshifu-R and Zarude while Stealth Rock is up. Rewording

**Rock-types**: Nihilego and Rhyperior can easily take every move from Defog Salamence barring Draco Meteor and KO it back with Meteor Beam and Stone Edge respectively, although Nihilego can't do this against Dragon Dance sets. Unintentional I'm guessing?


[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Pubo, 535121]]
- Quality checked by: [[Arishem, 546157], [username2, userid2]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1]]

1/2 when implemented, good stuff, most of the comments were on just on things that needed to be added or reworded.

 

[Pubo]

implemented

e: screens mention removed