#373
Salamence
Dragon Pokémon
DragonFlying
When angered, it loses all sense of itself and destroys everything around it. The destruction will continue until Salamence has tired itself out.
Base Stats
HP 95
Attack 135
Defense 80
Sp. Atk 110
Sp. Def 80
Speed 100
Total 600
Type Effectiveness
Abilities
Intimidate Moxie (Hidden)
Held Items
Forms
Evolution Chain
Moves
Locations
Details
Category Dragon Pokémon
Height 1.5 m
Weight 102.6 kg
Base Exp 270
Growth Rate Slow
Capture Rate 45
Base Happiness 35
Gender 50% ♂ / 50% ♀
Habitat Rough Terrain
Egg Groups Dragon
Sprites
Front
Back
Front Shiny
Back Shiny
Official Art
Official Art (Shiny)Competitive
Dragon Dance
Item
Salamencite
Nature
Adamant
EVs
HP 44
Atk 252
Spe 212
Offensive Defog
Item
Salamencite
Nature
Jolly
EVs
Atk 252
Def 4
Spe 252
Defensive
Strategy Overview
- Mega Salamence is an offensive powerhouse thanks to a high Attack stat, access to Dragon Dance, and a powerful ability in Aerilate to help bolster its Normal-type attacks into stronger Flying-type STAB attacks.
- It's a highly versatile Pokemon with a fantastic offensive and supportive movepool, which allows it to fit on to a plethora of different teams and playstyles.
- Mega Salamence sits at a high Speed tier of base 120, which enables it to naturally outspeed key threats such as Mega Lucario, Yveltal, unboosted Xerneas, and Rayquaza while potentially Speed tying with Arceus formes.
- Thanks to a combination of Salamence's Intimidate ability prior to Mega Evolution, a base 130 Defense stat, and a Ground-type immunity, Mega Salamence is one of the premier offensive checks to many of the tier's most prominent physical attackers, especially Primal Groudon and Ho-Oh.
- Mega Salamence has reliable recovery in the form of Roost, which enables it to repeatedly switch into the Pokemon it's designed to check and find more setup opportunities for a Dragon Dance sweep.
- Mega Salamence stands out as an offensive Defog user thanks to its immunity to Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and Sticky Web; access to high-powered STAB attacks; high Speed; reliable recovery; ability to scare away Ubers's most common Stealth Rock user in Primal Groudon; and lack of fear of being trapped by Gothitelle thanks to Double-Edge 2HKOing it even if Charm was used before the second attack.
- Mega Salamence has a plethora of checks and counters in the tier that can stop it, such as Zygarde-C, Celesteela, Lugia, and Necrozma-DM.
- Since Mega Salamence's main STAB attack is Double-Edge, the recoil damage produced by this move chips away at Mega Salamence's health relatively quickly, and it doesn't help that most of Mega Salamence's targets in Ubers have high HP stats.
- Mega Salamence has a nasty Stealth Rock weakness that limits its switch in potential, especially if it has yet to Mega Evolve.
- Many Pokemon in the Ubers tier, such as Marshadow, support Arceus formes, and Primal Groudon, can carry Ice-type attacks to take advantage of Mega Salamence's 4x Ice-type weakness to knock it out in one hit.
Most Used Moves
Common Teammates
Competitive data from Smogon University via data.pkmn.cc