The Mega Mence Menace
Salamence@Salamencite
Jolly nature
Intimidate/Moxie
252 Attack/252 Speed/4 HP
~Dragon Dance
~Double-Edge
~Dragon Claw/Outrage
~Earthquake
This is pretty self-explanatory, as is Salamence itself. Mega up, Dragon Dance, destroy all the things. Double-Edge works with Mega Salamence's Ability of Aerilate for a great STAB move. Dragon Claw is also good STAB, can be swapped for Outrage if you're feeling ballsy. Earthquake is for the Steel-type the other moves can't touch.
Item enables Salamence to Mega Evolve. Ability is your call entirely.
The Moxie-less Mega Mence Menace
Salamence@Salamencite
Timid nature
Intimidate
252 Sp. Atk/252 Speed/4 HP
~Dragon Pulse/Draco Meteor
~Hyper Voice
~Hydro Pump
~Fire Blast
A special attacking version of the previous set, minus a setup move. You got your STAB moves. You got Hydro Pump and Fire Blast for raw power and extra coverage. You're pretty much set here. Not much to explain.
Item we covered. Ability helps with taking physical hits.
Other options:
*
Aqua Tail,
Brick Break, and
Shadow Claw are all options on the physical set.
*Salamence also gets
Roost if you think you can afford to forego extra coverage.
*
Iron Tail is a somewhat viable option for those pesky Fairy-types. I was gonna suggest Iron Head here, but... to my utter astonishment, nothing in the Bagon line gets that move. I did not know that.
Abilities:
*
Intimidate: Upon being sent into battle or acquiring this Ability, Salamence causes all adjacent enemies' Attack stats to be lowered by one stage. A solid choice. Even on the physical set if you're not sure you'll get any mileage out of...
*
Moxie: Salamence's Hidden Ability. When Salamence uses an attack that knocks out an opponent, Salamence's Attack goes up one stage. It's worth consideration on the physical set- bring it in, score a KO before Mega Evolving, get an extra Attack buff. It's pretty situational, though, unless you forego Mega Evolving for some strange reason, so Intimidate's pretty much the top pick here.
*
Aerilate: Mega Salamence's Ability. Mega Salamence's Normal-type moves are 30% more powerful and are turned into Flying-type moves instead. Consider that this is something with access to Double-Edge and Hyper Voice, and the stats to reliably use both. And then there's STAB on top of it all. Definitely a step up in terms of Flying STAB, when you consider Salamence's best Flying STAB previously was... Aerial Ace and Air Cutter. I am not kidding.
Partners:
Salamence is surprisingly short on moves designed to hit Fairy-types, so a couple of counters to those wouldn't go amiss. Oh, and basically anything that can reliably switch in on Ice moves, because Salamence is gonna be drawing those in like nobody's business.
Counters:
Mawile resists both of Salamence's STABs, can come in, Intimidate, Mega Evolve... you set up to avoid Sucker Punch, you risk a Play Rough to the face. You go for the throat with Fire Blast or Earthquake, you risk eating a Sucker Punch. Similarly, other Fairy-types can switch in on Dragon moves with impunity, if not necessarily the Flying moves, and odds are Salamence can't hit them super effectively.
Opinion:
How can you not love Salamence? That thing is
cool!
Pre-Evolution Corner:
Let Shelgons Be Shelgons
Shelgon@Eviolite
Jolly nature
Overcoat
252 Attack/252 Speed/4 HP
~Dragon Dance
~Dragon Claw/Outrage
~Shadow Claw
~Brick Break
I'll be perfectly honest here- in terms of straight-up usability, Shelgon ain't got nothing on Salamence. But it's still a cool Pokémon that can see some use if you take the time to work with it. Dragon Dance ups that Attack and Speed, and the rest is pretty self-explanatory. Dragon Claw is STAB. As always, Outrage can be substituted. Shadow Claw and Brick Break are for coverage- completely unresisted coverage, at that. And Shelgon's actually got better Defense than Salamence. It may lack Intimidate, but at least the physical bulk doesn't rely on the target not switching out or fainting.
Item beefs up Shelgon's defenses, allowing for more Bulk Ups. Ability is just plain useful in general.
Other options:
*
Dragon Rush is always an option, I suppose, albeit a very risky one. It's in between Dragon Claw and Outrage in terms of power, and it lacks the downfalls that come with Outrage, only to come with one of its own- namely, the poor accuracy. It's a powerful move, but... yeah, there's a reason I stuck it in this section.
*
Crunch is an option over Shadow Claw, but Dark and Fighting doesn't have the same level of unresisted coverage as Ghost and Fighting.
*Don't be tempted to run
Double-Edge in tandem with Rock Head. Non-STAB Double-Edge is just as powerful as STAB Dragon Claw, it's not super effective against Dragon, and you miss out on all the benefits of Overcoat. Just... don't do it.
Abilities:
*
Rock Head: Shelgon doesn't take recoil damage from attacks that dish it out. It still takes recoil from Struggle and Life Orb. Considering Shelgon's only recoil move is Double-Edge, and I just spent an entire bullet point of the Other options section telling you why not to go for it... yeah, I wouldn't.
*
Overcoat: Shelgon's Hidden Ability. Shelgon is immune to the damage from Sandstorm and Hail, and is unaffected by any powder or spore moves, and the Effect Spore Ability. All of which are very good things to be immune from, so yeah, if you're going with Shelgon, this is your Ability of choice.
Partners:
Sticky Web support wouldn't go amiss, just to be on the safe side. An answer to Fairy-types would also be a smart idea, and the same goes for physical walls.
Counters:
Physical walls in general. If you want to add insult to injury, though, the special attacking Salamence set can get it done.
Opinion:
I actually really like Shelgon. It's got a very cool look to it.
Prediction for next week:
Lumineon
