I've always been a fan of the Gen 4 PotW, although sometimes the EVs are questionable. Either way, I loved them, and I specifically made an account here to debate in the PotW. They [Gen 4 PotW] grew somewhat weirder over the years, but nevertheless I shall model my posts as such, with a hint of the way Smogon does its reviews (when I came here I fully expected there would be a voting on the PotW). If all the archives are not documented neatly on Serebii's home page as they were before, however, I'm afraid I will be too lazy to take part in it.
#373-Salamence
95 HP, 135 Atk, 80 Def, 110 SpAtk, 80 SpDef, 100 Spd
PokeDex: -omitted-
Overview: From the earth, the land, the sea and sky, this star from the not-so-distant past is argubly the most famous non-Legend Dragon. Largely due to its 135 Atk and 110 SpAtk, it sailed from OU into Ubers and is now descending back into OU. As expected, its plethora of original sets are still plenty viable and are as powerful as they ever have been before, which is thankful as Salamence didn't recieve anything truly worthwhile in the Gen shift. Physical attacker, Special attacker, Physical booster, Wall, even Wish no less! There is almost nothing Salamence can't do, serving as a painful reminder to opponents it is better to have half at full health, then a full team full of weakened Pokemon.
Ability:
-Intimidate: A relatively simple Ability but perhaps one of the most famed of all time, it is an instant Growl whenever Salamence enters battle. This Ability is important should Salamence have to switch into a Pokemon who may have Stone Edge or Ice Shard. In general, however, this is a boost for whenever Salamence is running a defensive set, a boosting set, or a Choice set. In short, this Ability is ineffably useful.
Hidden Ability:
-Moxie: An incredible Ability, any user of this immediately gains a 50% Attack boost of its original Attack Stat whenever it attains a knockout with its own attack. Being from Dream World, Moxie is illegal with any of Salamence's Tutor moves, most notably Outrage. This must mean that Salamence must stick to the more conservative Dragon Claw (or the very shaky Dragon Rush). All-in-all, the decision to use Moxie depends on a decision between a more conservative sweeper or a beserking powerhouse, but it still stands the default Ability is definitely more flexible.
Dragon Dancer
Expert Belt/Life Orb/Leftovers/Lum Berry
Intimidate/Moxie
252 Atk, 252 Spd, 4 SpAtk
Naive (+Spd, -SpDef), Hasty (+Spd, -Def)
Dragon Dance
Outrage/Dragon Claw
Earthquake
Fire Blast/Flamethrower/Stone Edge
The classic, perhaps most famous set. After a Dragon Dance, just about anything will drop to a +1 Outrage, while Salamence goes about outrunning even Scarfers with its already hearty 100 Base Speed. Dragon is only resisted by Steel, so when paired with Earthquake, the only resistors are Skarmory and Levitate Bronzong. That is where a Special Fire attack comes in.
Fire Blast outright incinerates any Bug/Steel. An Expert Belt is required for a 92.31% OHKO on fully Special Defensive Forretress. Genesect and Scizor are more durable Special Defensively, but for them running max SpDef is nearly nonexistant. A fully Special Defensive Skarmory is impossible to KO, but without SpDef EVs, a Life Orbed Fire Blast can bring that Skarmory to 2% or lower. In the case of fully Special Defensive Nattorei, either a dry Fire Blast or an Expert Belt Flamethrower will deal 76.14%. A Life Orbed Fire Blast will do anywhere between 89.77% - OHKO.
For generic purposes, Life Orb plus Fire Blast is the best route. Of course, Expert Belt is a fully acceptable option if the 10% recoil is too much. Leftovers may be used as a "default" Item, and Lum Berry can importantly negate any Status that would destroy Salamence.
This includes the self-induced Confusion that may come from Outrage.
Special Attacking
Choice Specs/Choice Scarf/Expert Belt/Life Orb
252 SpAtk, 252 Spd, 4 Atk
Naive (+Spd, -SpDef), Hasty (+Spd, -SpDef), Timid (+Spd, -SpAtk), Modest (+SpAtk, -Atk)
Intimidate
Draco Meteor
Fire Blast/Flamethrower
Hydro Pump/Dragon Dance/Hone Claws
Dragon Pulse/Outrage/Dragon Claw
This set capitalizes on Salamence's Special Attacking capability. It is designed to launch powerful attacks at the start of the match, and perhaps clean up near end game. Behind Outrage (which may or may not be used to assault Special walls or as a generic attack), Draco Meteor is Salamence's most powerful option. Complementing this incredibly devestating move is Fire Blast. Dragon/Fire, however, can be walled by Heatran, which is easily disposed of by another of Salamence's powerful Special moves: Hydro Pump. Hydro Pump is also notable as a powerful attack on its own, happily drowning Pokemon such as Tyranitar, Gliscor, or Blaziken without having to resort to Draco Meteor, as well as generic neutrality with Dragon. In the Ubers environment, it gains a notable hit over Ho-oh. Dragon Pulse is Salamence's strongest neutral option when Draco Meteor is unnecessary.
When not using Choice, Dragon Dance is acceptable to boost Salamence's Speed and also boost the power of Outrage should it be used, turning Salamence into a ferocious wall breaker. If Speed is unnecessary, Salamence has the option to boost its Accuracy via Hone Claws, which also boosts Outrage's power. Remember if Outrage is unneeded, be sure not to place the spare 4 EVs into HP to mitigate Stealth Rock damage.
Physical Attacking
Choice Band/Choice Scarf/Expert Belt/Life Orb
Intimidate
252 Atk, 252 Spd, 4 SpAtk
Jolly (+Spd, -SpAtk), Adamant (+Atk, -SpAtk)
Outrage
Earthquake/Aqua Tail
Stone Edge
Dragon Claw/Fire Fang/Fire Blast/Draco Meteor
This is the physical version of the previous set, now boasting a higher main offensive stat. In place of Draco Meteor comes Outrage to sweep with. Unlike Meteor, which generally only permits one hit a time, Outrage forces you to repeat it twice or thrice. Also similarly, Outrage's locking complements the locking of a Choice Item, mitigating the lack of flexibility from both side-effects. The coverage from Ground and Rock is generally a good one. Instead of Earthquake, Aqua Tail is an acceptable option while still maintaining neutrality. A super-effective Aqua Tail is on par with a neutral Outrage (with 10% less Accuracy). Aqua Tail's biggest selling point, however, is the potential to strike floating Heatran or Doryuzu. Dragon Claw takes the place of Dragon Pulse as a generic move, and can be used if you do not think it is safe to start spamming Outrage. In place of Dragon Claw can be Fire Blast, useful for catching any Steel-type that laughs at Earthquake, or Draco Meteor, which can be used to hit targets such as Gliscor, Hippowdon, or just a powerful hit for any target that might defy Outrage. Fire Fang is an acceptable option in the place of Fire Blast, though usually the targets that are meant to be hit by Fire have considerably more Def than SpDef.
RestTalk
Leftovers/Chesto Berry/Life Orb
248 HP, 204 SpDef, 36 Spd
Careful (+SpDef, -SpAtk)
Rest
Sleep Talk
Dragon Dance/Hone Claws/Toxic/Dragonbreath/Wish
Dragon Tail/Dragon Rush/Outrage
Salamence's defending capability is acceptable, especially when coupled with Intimidate. From there, Salamence has many options to play with. Dragon Dance or Hone Claws are the offensive options. Dragon Rush is meant to be used with Hone Claws, quickly attaining damage, with a chance to Flinch anything it does not immediately faint. Outrage is meant to be used with Dragon Dance. Because Salamence can afford to take numerous hits, it has the chance to set up numerous Dances. It's just a bonus Outrage's effect does not come into effect when picked through Sleep Talk. Dragon Tail is the most defensive option of all, and can be used with either boosting move. Hone Claws perfects Dragon Tail's Accuracy. With Dragon Dance, Salamence gains Speed (obviously) to do its RestTalking. It's just a bonus that Sleep Talk overrides Dragon Tail's negative priority, canceling the opponent's move while racking high damage. Outside of Sleep Talk, Dragon Tail will also help eschew any opposing Roars or Whirlwinds, when factoring Mence's natural Speed. Instead of a boosting move, Toxic, Dragonbreath, and Wish are Status options for a truly defensive set.
The Speed and defensive EVs are meant to outrun Tyranitar after a single Dragon Dance. This may be changed to your whimsy.
Bulkymence
Leftovers
Intimidate
248 HP, 252 Def, 8 Speed
Impish (+Def, -SpAtk), Careful (+SpDef, -SpAtk)
Wish/Roost
Dragon Tail/Dragon Claw/Dragon Pulse/Fly
Earthquake/Toxic/Protect/Roar/Flamethrower
As aforementioned, Salamence has capable defensive qualities. In tandem with this, it can run two of the game's best recovery moves: Wish or Roost, both obviously with different defensive potential. Salamence can choose one of three STAB options, and then has two slots left for one of five supplementary options.
Other Options:
Aerial Ace and Hidden Power gives Salamence a chance to use its Flying STAB, but are usually too weak to net any usefulness. Fly is noticably more powerful, but the "invulnerable" stage may give the opponent a chance to take advantage of the lost tempo, and Salamence still finds little use to apply its alternative STAB. Still, Fly is a powerful neutral Attack, and can possibly be used to stall residual damage.
Brick Break may be used as a "safety" option against Blissey, but is a poor choice otherwise and has terrible coverage together with Earthquake. A Brick Break cannot net a 2HKO on Nattorei without Def EVs without an Expert Belt or Spikes damage.
Crunch can possibly be used, especially in the Ubers environment, but a super-effective Crunch will only equal Outrage in power.
Roost can be used on any set. It can allow for recovering off Life Orb damage or to attain more Dragon Dances. The problem is that Salamence will rarely find room on its moveslots or the time to recover efficiently. The same applies to generic ChestoRest without Sleep Talk.
Hone Claws pales in comparison to Dragon Dance. Being an Egg move, however, Dragon Dance may be imcompatible with some of Salamence's other moves. Additionally, there are times where Salamence is not focusing on its Speed and is running several inaccurate moves, notably Dragon Rush.
Stone Edge or Rock Slide are notable in OU for being able to nail Gyarados and Zapdos, or popping a Steel type's Balloon. Salamence struggles to find room to run it with Dragon Dance, though in Ubers, it gains notable hits on Lugia, Ho-oh, and Skymin. The 20 more g's compared to a STAB Outrage may be necessary to score previously unattainable OHKO's.
Substitute is an okay filler move in general. In Salamence's case, it has the potential to negate any Status move used in attempt to hinder it, but Salamence usually cannot find the time.
If the only purpose of Stone Edge is to hit Gyarados, Thunder Fang may be used, but has very little usage otherwise.
Dragon Fang/Draco Plate is a possible alternative to Expert Belt should you not want the Life Orb recoil. This benefit is obviously expanded upon when two Dragon attacks are run.
Yache Berry or Haban Berry can lower the damage from Ice or Dragon hits, respectively. They are highly situational and usually can only hope to see use when playing in Ubers, but they can give Salamence that saving grace for one last Dragon Dance.
In defensive sets, either 212 EVs (for full mileage off Leftovers) or 248 EVs (for less mileage when taking Stealth Rock) for HP is ideal. For offensive sets, use the spare 4 EVs in either the secondary offensive Stat or in either defence.
Notable Illegal Combinations
Moxie with any of: Aqua Tail, Iron Defence, Natural Gift, Outrage, Roost, Sleep Talk, Wish
Wish or Refresh with any of: Hydro Pump, Dragon Dance, Dragon Rush, each other
Partnerships:
As with any Pokemon with boosting moves, Wobbuffet can easily turn any opponent into Encore bait for Salamence. This is further bolstered by Salamence's wide array of resistances, especially covering Wobbuffet's Bug weakness. Aside from this, Wobbuffet the Tickle monster can help pave a path for any Physical Salamence, Dragon Dance or not. From the other perspective, Salamence's Wall breaking powers helps eliminate the defensive threats that may give Wobbuffet issues. Finally, Wobbuffet's Counter can reduce a Choice Banders' Ice Shard to dust.
Steel by itself grants a very frustrating defence when paired with Salamence's typing and Ability. Forretress, although not technically resisting Rock, can lay any type of hazard you wish to help weaken your opponent's team for a full-out Salamence sweep, as well as to discourage switching in general. Also very important, Forretress' Rapid Spin destroys the Stealth Rocks that cut away a quarter of Salamence's HP per switch in. Finally, Forretress' low Speed allows it to take a hit right before Volt Changing away into Salamence's star appearance. Nattorei is very similar in this regard, trading the Ice resist for the Rock resistance. Although Nattorei cannot use many of the moves Forretress can, it is still very noticable for its astounding SpDef. Both Forry and Natty are able to Gyro Ball the Pokemon that can outspeed Salamence for heavy damage, such as Gengar or Lati@s. Nattorei has special mention for being able to Power Whip opposing Cloyster, while Forretress has access to either Volt Change or Zap Cannon. Speaking of speed, Scizor's Bull Punch helps settle any of the aforementioned opponents.
Registeel is a Legendary Pokemon equipped with many diverse moves, most notable are Thunder Wave and Stealth Rock. Being a defensive pure Steel, it has fantastic synergy with Salamence. Psychic does not disrupt the Dragon-Steel synergy, meaning Jirachi, Bronzong, and Metagross are all strong partners with Salamence. Similarly to Registeel, all these Pokemon have their own long lists of support moves, most notably Reflect plus Light Screen. Aianto has high Stats and has its own support options. Mawile, despite having low Stats, can support Salamence with its own Intimidate and ability to Baton Pass Stockpile and Swords Dance. Heatran is also famed for its ability to take on opposing Steel and Dragon types, or for being able to cast Burns. Finally, although Blissey is a plain Normal-type, she has the plain bulk to help take Ice Beams for Salamence, as well as strongly benefiting from Intimidate. Blissey herself also is good friends with any of the Steel-types Salamence may be partnered with.
In Ubers, Salamence is almost completely overshadowed by Rayquaza. This can only mean one thing: use them together! With Salamence's higher Speed, it can help clear the opponents that might stand a problem to Rayquaza, and once those are gone, Rayquaza can be there for the coup de grasse. The other way around, Rayquaza can wreck havoc onto the opponent's team, and once it goes down, your weakened opponent discovers you have a faster-yet-weaker Rayquaza waiting in the wings...
In terms of Doubles and Triples, Salamence has a niche in literally doubling or tripling the mileage off its Intimidate. Being a Pokemon who loves to set up, Salamence enjoys healthy protection from its partner's behalf. This ranges from Fake Outs to Sleep Powders to DualScreens and Follow Mes. With the added possibilities of Helping Hands, Salamence also has the power to step down from Outrage or Draco Meteor to Dragon Claw or Dragon Pulse, or the chance to summon an impossibly powerful Earthquake. In Triples, the invulnerability portion of Fly is greatly boosted, and Salamence is given the privilege of being to attack any target it desires with a Flying attack.
Lastly, Salamence benefits from the ability to see all of your opponent's active Pokemon during Rotation Battles, allowing you to know exactly how to prepare Salamence to sweep. Salamence can attack all your opponent's Pokemon at once with Earthquake, yet holds resistance against an opponent's Surf.
Counters:
As you may know, a monster as utterly diverse as Salamence will strike fear into the opponent, thanks to Salamence's limitless options. If there is one thing that is consistent, however, that is Salamence's glaring x4 Ice weakness. Any Ice Sharder can jump over Salamence's high Speed and instantly slaughter it, likely OHKO'ing it. Perhaps most dangerous of them all is Cloyster, who not only can take Physical hits with ease, it has access to the fatal Shell Break, easily setting up on an outraged Salamence. A more defensive approach, Steel types can easily absorb a Dragon attack, then proceed with whatever they please. Bronzong, Forretress, or Nattorei can all easily take an Outrage and proceed to Gyro Ball.
Regirock is THE Physical wall, being able to take even an Earthquake, threatening with either Rock STAB or Thunder Wave in return. Rotom Appliances have considerable defensive qualities to allow them take a hit on either side. They can cripple Salamence with either a Will-O-Wisp or Thunder Wave, and possibly even Blizzard. Scarfed Blizzards will instantly OHKO Salamence, an attack Salamence must be especially be wary of in Doubles or higher.
Alternatively, you can go straight to beating Salamence in pure Speed. Lati@s, Gengar, and Garchomp can easily outspeed and wipe out Salamence, though they must be equipped with a Scarf if they intend to switch in on Dragon Dance. Scizor's Bullet Punch outspeeds Salamence no matter what the circumstance and has the potential to rip a hole in Salamence's HP. Swampert or Cresselia, when properly EV'd, can take whatever Salamence throws at it and retaliate with Ice.
In the Ubers environment, Groudon has the Def to take even a +1 Outrage, then respond with either Thunder Wave or Stone Edge. A Lugia can swiftly take out Salamence, but must avoid Stone Edge in return.
Attainability: -omitted-
Evolution: -omitted-
Anime/Manga Appearances: -omitted-
