Tier rotation time, this time we look at an OU threat. This Pokemon we have all waited for to rise to OU ever since Gen 5, but was denied that opportunity when its Hidden Ability was never released. Now that it has, this Pokemon saw itself rising from rags to riches.
Serperior
Tier Status (Singles): OU Tier Status (Doubles): DNU
Type: Grass
Base Stats: 75 / 75 / 95 / 75 / 95 / 113
Abilities:
Overgrow: When this Pokemon's HP is 33.3% of its maximum value, this Pokemon's Grass-type attacks will have their base power increased by 50%.
Contrary (Hidden Ability): Any stat boosts or stat drops that occur to this Pokemon, whether self-inflicted, inflicted by an opponent, or inflicted by Sticky Web, will be reversed. Stat boosts or stats drops that are passed to this Pokemon via Baton Pass will not be reversed. Moves that boost or lower this Pokemon's stat levels will not have their stat changes reversed if the move was used by a Pokemon with the abilities Mold Breaker, Teravolt, or Turboblaze.
Table of Contents
Singles OU Overview
Singles Ubers Overview
Singles OU Overview ORAS Singles OU Viability: B+
Admit it. You all knew this was going to happen one day. Long has OU waited for Serperior to gain access to Contrary, allowing it to boost its Sp.Attack by +2 stages every time it uses Leaf Storm, while smacking the opponent hard with a 130 base power STAB move. 75 base Sp.Attack may be lackluster, but Contrary Leaf Storm easily compensates for this, easily turning Serperior into a powerful wallbreaker against defensive stall teams struggling to catch up with its stat boosts. 75/95/95 defensive stats isn't too shabby either, allowing it to survive several notable attacks, including Mega Pinsir's Aerialate Quick Attack. Its 113 base Speed is very impressive, allowing it to outspeed the noteworthy base 110 speed tier, so Serperior isn't dead weight against offense teams, and works as a fantastic cleaner.
That being said, Serperior is not without its flaws. As mentioned before, 75 base Sp.Attack is lackluster, so Serperior will be struggling to deal any sort of meaningful damage without a boost from Contrary Leaf Storm. To put things into perspective, even Hidden Power [Fire] fails to OHKO Ferrothorn without a boost. Furthermore, Leaf Storm is held back by its low PP, so in longer games where Serperior is switching out often, it will have difficulty obtaining and keeping its boosts. Even with the boosts, Serperior has no option of getting past Heatran, Talonflame, and Mega Altaria, and will require significant support from teammates to handle these threats. Serperior's coverage options are also rather limited, forcing it to run moves such as Hidden Power [Fire] and Dragon Pulse, which don't exactly have that great coverage with Leaf Storm.
Tips:
Leaf Storm, under normal circumstances a powerful nuke attack that cripples the user with a -2 Sp.Attack drop, becomes a formidable weapon when used with Contrary, essentially becoming a Nasty Plot that deals STAB damage
Dragon Pulse allows Serperior to hit the Dragon type Pokemon that resist Leaf Storm, namely Latias, Latios, and Garchomp, but also dealing neutral damage to Talonflame on the switch in.
Hidden Power [Fire] bursts through any Steel type not named Heatran, OHKOing both Mega Scizor and Ferrothorn after a Leaf Storm boost.
For the last moveslot, Giga Drain provides Serperior with an alternative Grass STAB that, while weaker, does not expend Leaf Storm's PP once it has acquired a few boosts. Giga Drain also has the benefit of mitigating recoil damage from Life Orb. Substitute is another option that Serperior can use, as it will often force switches, allowing Serperior to capitalize on this by setting up a Substitute freely, allowing it to grab a boost without taking damage. It also provides Serperior with further utility by avoiding both status moves and Sucker Punch. Taunt is yet another option to shut down status, but is most effective against Stall teams, which often rely on Mega Sableye to reflect Taunt with Magic Bounce, except that Serperior easily sets up on Mega Sableye 1vs1.
The given EV spread maximizes Speed and Sp.Attack, with a Timid nature to capitalize on its unique speed tier. Max Sp.Attack with a Life Orb is almost mandatory given Serperior's mediocre base 75 Sp.Attack, ensuring Serperior will hit its hardest once it obtains a boost.
The given IV spread is necessary for Hidden Power [Fire]. The Attack IV can be any even number value, but ideally should be 0. The HP IV is set to 29 in order to minimize the amount of recoil damage taken from Life Orb without negatively impacting Serperior's HP too much.
Serperior is extremely reliant on obtaining a boost with Leaf Storm in order to deal any kind of meaningful damage, as such getting it in safely is necessary. This can be accomplished through the use of Volt Switch, U-turn, or Baton Pass, ideally with slower users of the move such as Rotom-Wash.
This set requires Serperior's checks and counters to be eliminated first before it can attempt to obtain any boosts due to its limited coverage moves. As such, this Serperior set works best in the mid to late game as a cleaner.
Against defensive Stall teams, although Leaf Storm can enable Serperior to easily breeze through them, it must be used wisely due to its limited PP.
Recommended Teammates:
Heatran is a major thorn in Serperior's side as it resists or is immune to all of Serperior's common moves. Latios running Earthquake can lure in and potentially KO Heatran. Physical attacking variants of Mega Altaria running Earthquake, as well as Dugtrio can both KO Heatran as well.
Mega Altaria is another Pokemon that can easily switch in to Serperior due to its typing. Mega Metagross, Mega Scizor, Gengar, and Victini are all reliable checks to the Fairy Dragon. Furthermore, Mega Scizor and Victini can also provide Serperior with free switch in opportunities with U-turn.
Mega Charizard Y and Talonflame can easily dispatch Serperior. Latios, Latias, Mega Manectric, Raikou, and Talonflame can handle the former, while Rotom-Wash, both Slowbros, and Suicune can handle the latter. Tyranitar, however, is notable for handling both.
As a cleaner, Serperior appreciates having the opponent's team weakened before it can clean up in the late game, so wallbreakers that can punch holes into the opponent's team work well as teammates. Mega Metagross, Azumarill, Bisharp, and Mega Gallade can all perform this role, as can others.
Mega Aerodactyl is an interesting teammate for Serperior, as it can threaten the Fire types, Flying types, and bulky Grass types, especially Mega Venusaur, that can give Serperior problems. In exchange, Serperior can handle the bulky Water types that give Mega Aerodactyl problems.
Honorable Mentions
Although Serperior doesn't have that many coverage moves at its disposal, it does have a ton of additional move options it can use, most of which are utility moves that are used in the fourth moveslot over Giga Drain/Substitute/Taunt unless otherwise noted;
Hidden Power [Ground]: Hidden Power [Ground] is an option to use over Hidden Power [Fire] if Heatran is a concern, as it turns Serperior into an effective lure for Heatran. To put things into perspective, Hidden Power [Ground] is a guaranteed OHKO against Heatran after a single Leaf Storm boost. However, Air Balloon variants of Heatran can circumvent this with smart switching, and running Hidden Power [Ground] means sacrificing important coverage against Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor. However, if you do opt to run Hidden Power [Ground], be sure to use an IV spread of 29/XX/31/30/30/31, with XX being any IV value, ideally 0.
Glare: Glare is a semi-unique option for the fourth moveslot available to Serperior that allows it to cripple common faster switch-ins, including Talonflame, Mega Charizard Y, and Tornadus-Therian.
Knock Off: Knock Off can be run in the fourth slot, granting Serperior a utility move to use against Pokemon that are heavily dependent on their item, making them easier to handle. Of note is Chansey, who loses a ton of bulk once its Eviolite is removed, and Heatran, who loses either passive recovery, extra speed, or Ground immunity, depending on the item it is holding.
Synthesis: Synthesis is another option for moveslot #4 that allows it to both mitigate Life Orb recoil as well as any other damage it has sustained, improving Serperior's longevity.
Leech Seed + Leftovers: If using Substitute in the fourth moveslot, Leech Seed is a viable option that can be used over Dragon Pulse in the second moveslot, as this allows Serperior to wear down switch-ins that it cannot deal with otherwise, such as Heatran and Unaware Clefable. Running Leech Seed+Substitute requires you to play Serperior with a different mindset; instead of spamming Leaf Storm for boosts, you will be spamming Leech Seed most of the time. This, combined with Leftovers, gives Serperior a much better matchup against bulkier and defensive teams, but a worse matchup against Hyper Offense.
Expert Belt / Miracle Seed / Meadow Plate: If the recoil damage from Life Orb is off-putting, Serperior can use any of these three items to provide it with a boost to its moves' base powers, but note that the damage will be noticeably lower than that of Life Orb.
Singles OU Checks and Counters to Serperior
Heatran is perhaps the best check to Serperior, as it can switch into any attack safely except for Hidden Power [Ground]. Choice Scarf variants of Heatran easily outspeed Serperior and threaten to KO.
Talonflame and Mega Charizard Y both quad resist Leaf Storm and only take neutral damage from Dragon Pulse, while threatening to OHKO with their STAB moves. Do note however that Talonflame is severely crippled by Glare, and both will not enjoy taking a boosted Dragon Pulse if Stealth Rock is on the field.
Mega Altaria is immune to Dragon Pulse while resisting all of Serperior's other moves except Hidden Power [Ground]. Bulkier variants of Mega Altaria can use Serperior as setup fodder for Dragon Dance, while the support set has no trouble walling it. Offensive variants, however, will have trouble switching in.
Most bulky Grass types can shake off most of Serperior's attacks. Mega Venusaur is the most notable, quad resisting Leaf Storm while taking neutral damage from Dragon Pulse and Hidden Power [Fire], and tossing out super effective Sludge Bombs. Amoonguss is in a similar boat, but does not take neutral damage from Hidden Power [Fire], though it can remove Serperior's boosts with Clear Smog. Ferrothorn can handle any Serperior running Hidden Power [Ground], but is otherwise not a good check to Serperior due to the fact most of them run Hidden Power [Fire].
, Choice Scarf ()
Naturally faster Pokemon, such as Tornadus-Therian, Mega Pidgeot, Mega Lopunny, Mega Manectric, Mega Beedrill, and Mega Aerodactyl can all outspeed Serperior and threaten it with one of their coverage moves. In a similar boat, common Choice Scarf users such as Black Kyurem, Victini, and Diggersby usually possess some kind of super effective coverage move or a move that can easily wear down Serperior.
Singles Ubers Overview ORAS Singles Ubers Viability: F
LOL Primal Groudon. But in all seriousness, Serperior's base stats just aren't enough to cut it in the Ubers environment, what with Primal Groudon and Mega Salamence running around. Xerneas pretty much outclasses Serperior in the whole "I can gain +2 Sp.Attack in one turn" department, while also giving it a massive boost to Sp.Defense and Speed. Ho-oh walls and kills it, and Latios and Latias both OHKO it with Soul Dew boosted Draco Meteors while narrowly avoiding a 2HKO from +2 Dragon Pulse. Even at +6, Serperior falls to consistently 2HKO Lugia when Multiscale is taken into account, when Lugia can easily 2HKO in return with Aeroblast or phaze it out.
Doubles OU Overview ORAS Doubles OU Viability: Tier F
Doubles may be a metagame that favors bulky special attackers over physical attackers (unless you're Mega Kangaskhan or Landorus-Therian), Serperior fails to make a splash in the Doubles environment. While it can threaten Mega Diancie, Keldeo, and Rotom-Wash, the abundance of Protect in the metagame can prevent it from acquiring boosts, thus wearing it out of PP while leaving it exposed. It is also outclassed by Sky Shaymin, who more or less does the same thing with Serene Grace Seed Flare.
Rises
: B- -> B
: B- -> B
: C+ -> B-
: C+ -> B-
: C -> B-
: C -> C+
: C- -> C
(Super): C- -> C
: C- -> C
Drops
: A- -> B+
: B+ -> B
: B -> C+
: B- -> C+
: C- -> D
Removals
None
Reasonings
: Life Orb + Magic Guard threatens balance teams and is hard to switch in to. The immunity to entry hazards and passive damage also helps.
: A decent defensive setup sweeper that doesn't care about status or entry hazard damage, the latter of which is very popular at the moment.
: Immunity to Spikes and Toxic Spikes, while sporting a Stealth Rock resistance, helps it immensely, and is a decent switch-in to Landorus-Incarnate, Mega Metagross, and Mega Altaria. In general, it provides more defensive utility than most defensive Pokemon currently in C+.
: Rain teams, while not as dominating as they were in Gen 5 OU, are still a massive threat to prepare for, which Gastrodon single-handedly takes care of. Also puts a stop to popular Voltturn cores due to its typing, which is pretty huge.
: Many teams are unprepared for Infernape as it gained viability as a direct result of Weavile's rise in both popularity and viability.
: Is able to threaten both hazard removers and hazard setters. Can run either 3 attacks + Rapid Spin, or 4 attacks All-out attacker, the latter of which has been gaining popularity lately due to its decent matchup against balanced teams.
: Has a solid niche in being able to trap specific, yet important, threats such as Tyranitar and Volcarona, which can enable a teammate to begin a sweep.
(Super): Is much better than many of the Pokemon currently in C-. The addition of Synthesis in ORAS allows it to hard wall Excadrill, and the combination of Leech Seed + Will-o-Wisp allows it to harass every Pokemon in the OU metagame except Clefable. Even with no investment, Seed Bomb, Shadow Sneak, and Rock Slide still put in work against frailer offensive teams. Also fits well on stall, balance, and bulky offense teams.
: Can break balanced teams with Sub+Roost, as well as Pressure stall. Essentially a fully special based version of Black Kyurem.
: Threatened by alot of Pokemon in the OU metagame, and is not on the same levels as Black Kyurem and Weavile, who are now the premier Ice types. This is evidenced by the fact that it recently dropped to UU. It can still threaten slower team builds, however.
: Defensive set is reliant on matchup, and Belly Drum set is more deserving of B than B+.
: Is a strong check to Landorus-Incarnate, but more or less a team-specific asset, as the first choices for defensive Psychic type for many people are Slowbro, Mega Slowbro, Slowking, and Mega Latias.
: Passive stall teams are no longer viable, as many effective stall builds now rely on both entry hazard damage and defensive win conditions with Calm Mind, such as Mega Slowbro, Mega Latias, Mega Sableye, and Suicune.
: Hits hard, but is more or less outclassed by Infernape.
In addition, to maintain consistency with the other tiers' rankings, OU now has an E rank, which pretty much consists of Pokemon that should never be used in any kind of serious competitive setting for that tier's metagame.
Tier rotation time. This vote was a close one, as the Ubers vote was a tie. As a result, this is the second of two PotW for Ubers that were queued. This time we stare into the face of the devil himself...
Altered Giratina & Origin Giratina
Tier Status (Singles, Altered): Ubers Tier Status (Singles, Origin): Ubers Tier Status (Doubles, Altered): DUbers Tier Status (Doubles, Origin): DUbers
Type (Altered): Dragon/Ghost Type (Origin): Dragon/Ghost
Abilities (Altered):
Pressure: Attacks that target this Pokemon lose an additional 1 PP. Outside of battle, if this Pokemon is placed in the lead spot of the team, the Wild Pokemon encounter rate increases.
Telepathy (Hidden Ability): In Double and Triple Battles, this Pokemon is immune to damaging attacks from its Ally. Has no effect in Single and Rotation Battles.
Abilities (Origin):
Levitate: This Pokemon is immune to all damaging Ground-type attacks. This Pokemon is also immune to the effects of Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and Sticky Web.
As an angel created by God, Lucifer one day took arms against the almighty. With his rebellion crushed, the almighty banished him to the depths of hell. Lucifer, now known as Satan, glared up one last time and uttered the words that shall echo through time; "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven."
Giratina and its backstory are the very embodiment of John Milton's Paradise Lost in Pokemon form. By default, Giratina exists in its Altered forme when outside of Hell the Distortion World, sporting massive mixed bulk rivaling that of Lugia. Sadly, it has lost many of its niches this generation with Defog being the primary method of hazard removal. In general, Lugia tends to do a better job at acting as "the Great Wall" and must now contend with Aegislash and Mega Sableye for the role of bulky Ghost type. The worst part of Altered Giratina, however, is that it faces the fiercest competition from itself;
Origin Giratina, said to be Giratina's true form, is truly a terrifying sight. By essentially swapping its defensive and offensive stats, Origin Giratina can perform many of the roles Altered Giratina can while still posing as an offensive threat. It serves as one of the more reliable Defog users in Ubers, sporting immunity to all grounded entry hazards while not being weak to Stealth Rock, all while simultaneously serving as a spinblocker. With the reintroduction of Soul Dew in ORAS, Origin Giratina must now contend with Latios and Latias for the role of a Defog user, as both sport reliable recovery while performing the same duties, though Origin Giratina's typing provides it with more resistances and immunities, and a different set of checks and counters. Griseous Orb is a double edged sword, in that while it grants Giratina Levitate and boosts Giratina-O's STAB moves by 20%, enough to grant it dangerous offensive presence, it is essentially a lost item slot as Origin Giratina is forced to hold a Griseous Orb in order to maintain its forme.
Tips:
Origin Giratina is a very good user of Defog due to its typing and ability to switch in without fear of most entry hazards.
Shadow Sneak provides Origin Giratina with great utility, serving not only as a STAB priority attack to finish off weakened opponents, but also allows it act as an anti-lead against the Deoxys formes, guaranteeing that Origin Giratina can remove both them and their entry hazards.
Dragon Tail prevents Origin Giratina from being set up on by set up that this set cannot normally touch otherwise, such as Swords Dance Arceus-Normal and Rock Polish Primal Groudon.
For the last moveslot, Shadow Force is the preferred option, as it reaches 216 base power with both STAB and the boost from Griseous Orb, and will allow Origin Giratina to KO Geomancy Xerneas with Shadow Sneak and Stealth Rock damage afterward. Shadow Force also completely bypasses Protect and King's Shield, so it can force switches. Earthquake, however, is an option to hit Primal Groudon, Klefki, and Mega Diancie harder. Will-o-Wisp can punish physical attackers and is exceptionally useful against Arceus-Normal, as well as getting chip damage on bulkier targets. Lastly, Stone Edge is used specifically for Ho-oh and Yveltal, both of which can take on Origin Giratina.
12 Speed EVs allows Origin Giratina to outspeed Diancie on the turn that it Mega Evolves. 248 Defense EVs guarantees that Origin Giratina will survive a Shadow Claw from +2 Arceus-Normal, while the remaining EVs with an Adamant nature are used to maximize Origin Giratina's damage output.
If you already have a Defog or Rapid Spin user on your team, Defog can be replaced with any of the move options listed for the fourth moveslot. If you do, this will turn Origin Giratina into a check for specific physical attackers rather than a Defog support Pokemon.
Because it lacks any form of recovery, you must utilize Origin Giratina's resistances and immunities in order to bring it in safely. Try to preserve as much of Origin Giratina's HP as possible.
If you have Stealth Rock set up on your opponent's side of the field and your opponent has no Fairy types, it may be a better idea to simply spam Dragon Tail than to use Defog.
Other Move Options:
Draco Meteor + Shadow Ball/Hex: Origin Giratina is capable of running an effective mixed attacker set. The main advantage is that Draco Meteor hits Primal Groudon much harder than Earthquake, while the combination of Draco Meteor and Shadow Ball allows Origin Giratina to tear down physically bulky Pokemon that it could not otherwise. Hex is a more powerful alternative against statused foes that can be used if running Will-o-Wisp. The downside is that Origin Giratina is hard pressed to fit these moves and requires a specific EV spread.
Substitute: Substitute helps ease prediction and grants Origin Giratina a buffer against burn and poison. It is recommended to use alongside Shadow Force, as it makes spamming the move much easier, but will quickly cut into Origin Giratina's longevity with no recovery.
Iron Tail: Iron Tail has a niche to hit Fairy types on the switch, as Origin Giratina tends to lure them in. However, its accuracy and coverage may be disappointing.
Roar: Roar can be used over Dragon Tail if Fairy types and imperfect accuracy are a concern, but can easily be stopped by Taunt, and does not wear down the opponent's team as effectively as Dragon Tail does.
Toxic: Toxic can be used in the fourth slot to cripple many of Origin Giratina's switch-ins, and is more effective than Will-o-Wisp against Calm Mind users, Arceus formes, Ho-oh, and Primal Groudon, the latter two of which are immune to Will-o-Wisp.
Recommended Teammates:
Entry hazard users, especially Stealth Rock users, are recommended, as they greatly increase the effectiveness of Dragon Tail spam. Primal Groudon and Dialga are two great examples, though others certainly do exist.
Origin Giratina is hard pressed when facing Fairy types, so checks and counters to them are nice to have. Primal Groudon, Ho-oh, Klefki, Mega Scizor, Aegislash, Mega Metagross, and Arceus-Poison are a few examples.
Fairy types help mitigate Origin Giratina's weaknesses to Dark and Dragon. Xerneas, both Diancies, Klefki, and Clefable are all good choices. Diancie and Clefable also have to option to run Wish in order to keep Origin Giratina healthy.
Blissey and Alomomola can be used on more defensive teams in order to pass huge Wishes, greatly extending Origin Giratina's longevity.
Due to Origin Giratina's ability to run Defog, offensive variants of the Arceus formes can be used as the support formes of Arceus are no longer required for the team. Arceus-Normal and Arceus-Dark are two examples of such, with the former using Swords Dance and the latter using Calm Mind. Other Arceus formes commonly used as setup sweepers include Arceus-Ground, Arceus-Ghost, Arceus-Poison, Arceus-Rock, and Arceus-Water.
Tips:
Rest, coupled with Sleep Talk, is Altered Giratina's only form of recovery outside of Leftovers. As a wall, being unable to do anything for 2 turns after using Rest is a serious detriment, fortunately Sleep Talk allows it to do something outside of becoming setup fodder.
Dragon Tail allows Giratina to get off chip damage against the opponent while shuffling them preventing Giratina from being complete setup bait against setup sweepers.
Will-o-Wisp allows Giratina to wall physical attackers not named Primal Groudon or Ho-oh much easier.
The given EV spread aims to make Altered Giratina as physically bulky as possible.
Leftovers provides Giratina with extra longevity.
It is important to note that Altered Giratina has almost zero offensive presence, and as it will more or less give a free switch in for Xerneas every time, it will often result in a loss of momentum for your team, so it is best suited for more defensive stall teams.
Due to Altered Giratina's massive physical bulk, this set is a nice check to both Mega Salamence and Arceus-Normal, as these two Pokemon do not often run coverage moves that can hit Giratina super effectively. To a lesser extent it can also check Ho-oh, Arceus-Ground, Primal Groudon, and Excadrill, as well as any Mewtwo, Mega Evolved or not, that is not running Ice Beam. Even a +2 Rayquaza's Dragon Ascent will not KO, while Giratina phazes it out with Dragon Tail or burns it.
Because it has to rely on Rest for recovery, try to keep its health as high as often as possible.
If entry hazards are set up, the effectiveness of Dragon Tail greatly increases, as it will be racking up entry hazard damage over time. Even without entry hazards, Dragon Tail should be used against setup sweepers such as Primal Groudon, Arceus formes, and Mega Salamence. Keep in mind that Fairy types are immune to Dragon Tail and Pokemon behind a Substitute will not be forced out by Dragon Tail either.
Recommended Teammates:
Entry hazard users, especially Stealth Rock users, are recommended, as they greatly increase the effectiveness of Dragon Tail spam. Primal Groudon and Dialga are two great examples, though others certainly do exist. Primal Groudon and Ferrothorn are notable for being able to check Xerneas.
Fairy types help mitigate Origin Giratina's weaknesses to Dark and Dragon. Xerneas, both Diancies, Klefki, and Clefable are all good choices. Diancie and Clefable also have to option to run Wish and/or Heal Bell in order to keep Origin Giratina healthy.
Blissey and Alomomola can be used on more defensive teams in order to pass huge Wishes, greatly extending Origin Giratina's longevity. Blissey can also run Heal Bell if needed.
Arceus-Dark can cover Giratina's weaknesses to Latias, Latios, and Arceus-Ghost, something that is greatly appreciated.
Singles Ubers Checks and Counters to Giratina
Dark Types can easily handle Origin Giratina, as they resist its Ghost STAB while hitting back super effectively. They can also do a number on the Altered forme as well. Arceus-Dark can use the Origin forme as setup fodder for Calm Mind while healing off Will-o-Wisp from both formes, while Tyranitar can wall most of its attacks, but dislikes being burned.
Fairy types are immune to Giratina's Dragon STAB, though they do not resist Ghost. Due to their immunity, they cannot be phazed out by Dragon Tail. Origin Giratina, however, can threaten a 2HKO against Clefable with Shadow Force.
Ho-oh is one of the few physical attackers that cannot be burned, and Regenerator cancels out any chip damage that Dragon Tail might incur. Furthermore, Choice Band variants can break through Giratina's Altered forme with repeated hits. Origin forme carrying Stone Edge, however, can easily scare off Ho-oh.
Faster Dragon types can threaten both formes with their Dragon type STABs, especially the specially based ones such as Latias, Latios, and Palkia, which easily muscle Altered Giratina. Zekrom can hit from both sides of the spectrum with either Draco Meteor or Outrage. Do note that many of these do not enjoy switching in to Dragon Tail, especially from Origin Giratina.
Toxic
Against Origin Giratina, Toxic can easily wear it down as it lacks any form of recovery, wearing it down over time and reducing its longevity. Altered Giratina, however, can easily use Rest to cure itself of status.
Against Altered Giratina, powerful wallbreakers can easily overwhelm it with repeated hits. Do note that Primal Groudon and Mega Salamence require Swords Dance and Dragon Dance boosts, respectively, in order to do so, which can be counteracted with Dragon Tail.
External Links Smogon Analysis (Singles Ubers, Origin forme) Smogon Analysis (Singles Ubers, Altered forme)
First of all, welcome to the request section. Due to recent circumstances, we feel that it is necessary to reiterate some ground rules. None of these rules are new by any means, but should have been heavily implied. That being said, in addition to the standard MFFA rules, the following also apply here;
Before posting, try to find the creation yourself first
Common search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing, Duckduckgo, etc.) are your friend when it comes to this. Even then, there are plenty of other Mugen databases to use (Mugen Fighter's Guild Database, The Mugen Database Wiki, MFFA's Collection Threads, etc).
Only request existing creations
This cannot be stressed enough. You must make sure that the creation you are requesting actually exists. If you are unsure if a creation exists or not, use the DO NOT USE THIS SECTION TO REQUEST PEOPLE TO MAKE CREATIONS FOR YOU OR YOU WILL BE INFRACTED.
Be as specific as possible in your request
Include the creation name and author name if possible. Again, if you are unsure of who the author is, use the
Do not request warez/ROMs/ISOs/etc
In regards to requesting something that isn't a MUGEN creation, do not request warez or any other blatantly illegal content. This includes, but is not limited to; ROMs, ISOs, commercially released game soundtracks (OSTs/GSTs), commercially released games, commercially released software, cracks, keygens, product keys, or any torrent files allowing you obtain any of the above. In other words, if it's something that you normally have to pay for in order to obtain, do not request illegal copies of it. Failure to abide by this rule will result in your post being deleted and an infraction on your account.
First of all, welcome to the request section. Due to recent circumstances, we feel that it is necessary to reiterate some ground rules. None of these rules are new by any means, but should have been heavily implied. That being said, in addition to the standard MFFA rules, the following also apply here;
Before posting, try to find the creation yourself first
Common search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing, Duckduckgo, etc.) are your friend when it comes to this. Even then, there are plenty of other Mugen databases to use (Mugen Fighter's Guild Database, The Mugen Database Wiki, MFFA's Collection Threads, etc).
Only request existing creations
This cannot be stressed enough. You must make sure that the creation you are requesting actually exists. If you are unsure if a creation exists or not, use the DO NOT USE THIS SECTION TO REQUEST PEOPLE TO MAKE CREATIONS FOR YOU OR YOU WILL BE INFRACTED.
Be as specific as possible in your request
Include the creation name and author name if possible. Again, if you are unsure of who the author is, use the
Do not request warez/ROMs/ISOs/etc
In regards to requesting something that isn't a MUGEN creation, do not request warez or any other blatantly illegal content. This includes, but is not limited to; ROMs, ISOs, commercially released game soundtracks (OSTs/GSTs), commercially released games, commercially released software, cracks, keygens, product keys, or any torrent files allowing you obtain any of the above. In other words, if it's something that you normally have to pay for in order to obtain, do not request illegal copies of it. Failure to abide by this rule will result in your post being deleted and an infraction on your account.
Mega Gallade is still good in OU, it just has competition from the other megas, which is why its usage decreased. The decision to drop regular Gallade from UU to RU was based on regular Gallade alone, since Mega Gallade is banned from all tiers except OU and regular Gallade pretty much sucks in UU. Its the same situation with Politoed, except replace the Mega Stone with Drizzle. If it wasn't for Drizzle being banned in all tiers except OU and Ubers, Politoed would be sitting in UU or possibly BL right now.
You've probably heard of the term "Gill Effect" or something similar before if youve ever played any of the SFIII games; a character with an assymetrical color scheme on their body. In Mugen, attempting to replicate this would require a duplicate of every sprite with the reversed palette, but even then custom states cause a problem. With the ReMapPal controller introduced in Mugen 1.0, this can now be done easily with a simple controller.
The idea is simple; using the new SFFv2 format, instead of duplicating each sprite, duplicate each palette and then remap the palettes with the new controller depending on the direction the character is facing. While this works in practice, it would seem than executing a ReMapPal controller conflicts with an earlier state controller; PalFx.
To get an idea of what I'm talking about, here we have the same attack which puts p2 into a custom state that applies a PalFX controller to simulate being frozen. One is the default Kung Fu Man, while the other is my version of Eirin Yagokoro, who continuously applies a ReMapPal controller in her -2 state in order to simulate the Gill effect;
Purely discovered by accident, I was easily able to find a workaround to this by, rather than continuously applying ReMapPal, instead only apply the controller when it needs to be. This can be done with a variable to act as a flag and compare it to the current direction the character is facing. If they do not match, only then should ReMapPal be applied, with the flag set to that facing value to avoid the controller being executed again until needed. This isn't a perfect workaround, however, as custom states that both apply a PalFX controller and repeatedly changing the opponent's facing direction may still cause the PalFX to end prematurely.
This is mostly a heads up to anyone attempting to do something similar to this so that they do not make the same error.
You've probably heard of the term "Gill Effect" or something similar before if youve ever played any of the SFIII games; a character with an assymetrical color scheme on their body. In Mugen, attempting to replicate this would require a duplicate of every sprite with the reversed palette, but even then custom states cause a problem. With the ReMapPal controller introduced in Mugen 1.0, this can now be done easily with a simple controller.
The idea is simple; using the new SFFv2 format, instead of duplicating each sprite, duplicate each palette and then remap the palettes with the new controller depending on the direction the character is facing. While this works in practice, it would seem than executing a ReMapPal controller conflicts with an earlier state controller; PalFx.
To get an idea of what I'm talking about, here we have the same attack which puts p2 into a custom state that applies a PalFX controller to simulate being frozen. One is the default Kung Fu Man, while the other is my version of Eirin Yagokoro, who continuously applies a ReMapPal controller in her -2 state in order to simulate the Gill effect;
Purely discovered by accident, I was easily able to find a workaround to this by, rather than continuously applying ReMapPal, instead only apply the controller when it needs to be. This can be done with a variable to act as a flag and compare it to the current direction the character is facing. If they do not match, only then should ReMapPal be applied, with the flag set to that facing value to avoid the controller being executed again until needed. This isn't a perfect workaround, however, as custom states that both apply a PalFX controller and repeatedly changing the opponent's facing direction may still cause the PalFX to end prematurely.
This is mostly a heads up to anyone attempting to do something similar to this so that they do not make the same error.
Tier rotation time. While many new stuff introduced in Gen 6 made many Pokemon go from rags to riches in terms of tiering, there are a few cases where this was taken to the extreme, often resulting in the Pokemon's Mega Evolution getting banished to Ubers while the Pokemon itself continues to rot in mediocrity. Salamence is one of them.
Salamence & Mega Salamence
Tier Status (Singles, Salamence): UU Tier Status (Singles, Mega): Uber Tier Status (Doubles, Salamence): DUU Tier Status (Doubles, Mega): DUber
Type (Salamence): Dragon/Flying Type (Mega): Dragon/Flying
Abilities (Salamence):
Intimidate: Whenever this Pokemon switches in to battle, the Attack stat of all adjacent opponents is reduced by 1 stage. This ability has no effect on Pokemon with the abilities Hyper Cutter, Clear Body, or White Smoke, and will not affect Pokemon who are behind a Substitute. Against Pokemon with the ability Defiant, their Attack will be dropped by 1 stage before Defiant increases their Attack by 2 stages, for a net gain of +1 Attack.
Moxie (Hidden Ability): Whenever this Pokemon scores a KO, this Pokemon's Attack stat is boosted by 1 stage. Moxie will not activate if the opponent is KOed through indirect damage, such as Sandstorm, Hail, Rocky Helmet, Poison, or Stealth Rock. In Double and Triple battles, Moxie will not activate if the Pokemon KOs one of its own teammates. Moxie will not activate if the Pokemon uses a contact move to KO an opponent with the ability Mummy.
Abilities (Mega):
Aerialate: Normal-type attacks used by this Pokemon will become Flying-type attacks, and will also have their base power increased by 30% (in addition to the 50% damage increase normally applied for Same Type Attack Bonuses).
Table of Contents
Singles UU Overview
Singles OU Overview
Singles Ubers Overview
Doubles OU Overview
Two generations ago back in the days of Gen 4 when Salamence's base form was originally banned to Ubers, it was hard to think that such a monster would ever grace the lower tiers. While Mega Salamence ultimately suffered the same fate as regular Salamence did two generations earlier, regular Salamence has spent most of its 6th generation career flip flopping between BL and UU, going through multiple suspect tests before finally being allowed back in UU, and its not hard to see why it took multiple tries to unban it from UU. With 135/110/100 Offense stats and a wide movepool to back it up, Salamence is easily a very versatile Pokemon in UU, with a typing combined with Intimidate that allows it to check many of the tier's top threats.
Salamence is not without its flaws, though. For one, it's weak to Stealth Rock, so it requires hazard control to mitigate this problem. Its typing also leaves it vulnerable to many important types, such as Fairy, Ice, Rock, and Dragon. Physical variants of Salamence are also reliant on Outrage, which is a bit of a double edged sword but most of the times will work in Salamence's favor.
ORAS UU Singles Moveset: Dragon Dance
Ability: Intimidate or Moxie / Item: @Lum Berry or Life Orb Nature: Naive w/ EVs: 252 Attack / 4 Sp.Attack / 252 Speed Move #1: Dragon Dance Move #2: Outrage or Dragon Claw Move #3: Fire Blast Move #4: Iron Tail or Earthquake
Tips:
Dragon Dance turns Salamence into a deadly sweeper, boosting its already great Attack and Speed.
The second moveslot is dedicated to Dragon-type STAB. Outrage is the preferred option, as it can 2HKO Suicune with a Life Orb and becomes very difficult to wall after a +1 boost, but has the drawback of locking Salamence into the move for the next 1-2 turns and confuses Salamence afterward. Dragon Claw is a weaker, but safer alternative that doesn't lock Salamence or induce confusion.
Fire Blast, while not boosted by Dragon Dance, is Salamence's best option against physically bulky Steel types such as Forretress and Mega Aggron, and is also Salamence's best option against Chesnaught.
The last moveslot is dedicated to coverage. Iron Tail destroys Fairy types hoping to switch in to Outrage/Dragon Claw, but has mediocre accuracy. Earthquake can be used instead to beat Empoleon, who otherwise walls Salamence, while also giving Salamence an option to hit Nidoqueen and Entei without having to resort to Outrage or Dragon Claw.
Full EV investment into Attack and Speed maximizes Salamence's sweeping potential. Naive nature gives it additional speed, making it harder to revenge kill, and is preferred over Jolly since Salamence is running Fire Blast.
The options for Salamence's item depend on several factors. Lum Berry makes it easier for Salamence to set up a Dragon Dance, as it does not have to worry about being crippled by a stray Will-o-Wisp or Thunder Wave, while also curing Salamence of confusion once Outrage ends, allowing it to continue a sweep without having to worry about not attacking 50% of the time. Life Orb, however, significantly boosts Salamence's damage output, 2HKOing Suicune and Mega Aggron with Outrage and Fire Blast, respectively, and OHKOing Florges with Iron Tail, but leaves Salamence vulnerable to status, especially its own confusion after Outrage cools down.
Either of Salamence's two abilities can be used for this set. Intimidate allows Salamence to check some physical attackers, and creates more opportunities for Salamence to set up a Dragon Dance. Moxie, on the other hand, makes Salamence's job of sweeping easier once it has acquired a boost, as it gains +1 Attack for each KO it scores, but makes Salamence's setup opportunities more of a game of high-risk-high-reward.
This Salamence set can fulfill the role of either a late game sweeper or early game wallbreaker.
Use Salamence's bulk and typing to find opportunities to switch it in and begin setting up a Dragon Dance. This task is made much easier if running Intimidate over Moxie, as this allows Salamence to switch in against physical attackers that it could not otherwise. However, be cautious of Ice type coverage moves, even against physical attackers with -1 from Intimidate.
Recommended Teammates:
Salamence appreciates having Stealth Rock off the field so that it can preserve its health, especially if using it as an early game wallbreaker or using it with Intimidate to check physical attackers. Mega Blastoise and Forretress can accomplish this with Rapid Spin, while Empoleon uses Defog. Mega Blastoise and Empoleon both synergize well with Salamence as they can switch in on the Ice type moves that threaten it.
Entry hazard support makes Salamence's job as a sweeper easier, as the residual damage helps wear down bulkier threats. Forretress can provide all four entry hazards, but usually runs Stealth Rock and/or one of Spikes or Toxic Spikes.
Bulky Water types, especially Suicune, can give Salamence problems, especially if they run Ice type coverage. Shaymin is a great partner as it can also provide Salamence with Healing Wish, giving it a second chance at a sweep. Rotom-Mow also works, and can provide a safe switch in opportunity with Volt Switch.
Heracross, especially Choice Scarf Heracross, and Mega Aerodactyl are both fast and powerful attackers that can wear down many of Salamence's checks and counters, and are often fast enough to score a revenge kill against them.
ORAS UU Singles Moveset: Mixed Attacker
Ability: Intimidate / Item: @Life Orb Nature: Naive w/ EVs: 4 Attack / 252 Sp.Attack / 252 Speed Move #1: Draco Meteor Move #2: Fire Blast Move #3: Outrage or Iron Tail Move #4: Roost, Iron Tail, or Earthquake
Tips:
Draco Meteor hits many physical walls hard, and with a usable 110 base Sp.Attack, this Salamence set will find itself smacking them hard as they switch in, mistakenly expecting Salamence to be setting up Dragon Dance.
Fire Blast provides coverage against the Steel types that resist Draco Meteor, as well as hitting Grass types harder.
Outrage allows Salamence to smack special walls on the physical side, most notably Blissey and Umbreon, both of which can often safely stomach a Draco Meteor. Iron Tail is an alternative move to use if coverage against Fairy types are needed, and is Salamence's best option against Florges.
For the final slot, Roost helps mitigate Life Orb recoil and improves Salamence's longevity greatly. Earthquake can be used instead to beat Empoleon, who otherwise walls Salamence, while also giving Salamence an option to hit Nidoqueen and Entei. If running Outrage in the 3rd slot, Iron Tail can be used here for the coverage it provides against Fairies.
The given EV spread maximizes Salamence's Speed and Sp.Attack, allowing it to hit as hard as possible. As a mixed attacker, Naive is chosen once again so as to not inhibit Salamence's mixed attacking capabilities. The +Speed increase of Naive is preferred over other natures, as it allows Salamence to outspeed Pokemon such as Hydreigon, Lucario, and Krookodile, all of which commonly run +Speed natures themselves and would outspeed Salamence without Naive. While it may make sense to run a Hasty nature as the Defense drop could be compensated for with Intimidate, it hinders Salamence's ability to check dangerous physical attackers such as Heracross and Infernape.
Life Orb is the item of choice, giving Salamence as much mixed attacking power as possible.
Intimidate is chosen over Moxie on this set for two reasons; one, this Salamence is primarily a Special Attacker, and will be switching in and out frequently, so it will rarely get the opportunity to utilize the Moxie boosts, if at all. The second reason is that it provides Salamence with more switch-in opportunities.
This Salamence set should be used primarily as a wallbreaker, smashing the opponent's Pokemon with Draco Meteor unless they carry a Steel or Fairy type, both of which are threatened by Salamence's coverage moves. As such, it is still a good idea to spam Draco Meteor, as not many Pokemon in UU that don't resist it hand handle it.
Recommended Teammates:
Salamence appreciates having Stealth Rock off the field so that it can preserve its health, especially if using it as an early game wallbreaker or using it with Intimidate to check physical attackers. Mega Blastoise and Forretress can accomplish this with Rapid Spin, while Empoleon uses Defog. Mega Blastoise and Empoleon both synergize well with Salamence as they can switch in on the Ice type moves that threaten it.
Entry hazard support makes Salamence's job as a wallbreaker easier, as the residual damage helps wear down bulkier threats. Forretress can provide all four entry hazards, but usually runs Stealth Rock and/or one of Spikes or Toxic Spikes.
As a wallbreaker, this Salamence creates various opportunities for sweepers and cleaners to come in and start picking off weakened opponents, especially once the opponent's walls and defensive cores have been removed. Mega Aerodactyl, Suicune, Feraligatr, Lucario, and Heracross are only a few examples.
ORAS UU Singles Moveset: Physically Defensive
Ability: Intimidate / Item: @Leftovers or Rocky Helmet Nature: Impish w/ EVs: 248 HP / 236 Defense / 24 Speed Move #1: Dragon Claw Move #2: Earthquake or Toxic Move #3: Roost Move #4: Dragon Tail, Roar, or Defog
Tips:
Dragon Claw is Salamence's STAB option, and has good neutral coverage.
Earthquake lets Salamence deal damage to the Steel and Poison types common to UU. Toxic, however, can be used instead to cripple many of Salamence's common switch-ins, such as Swampert and Hippowdon.
Roost provides Salamence with reliable recovery, allowing it to further sponge physical attacks.
For the last slot, Dragon Tail and Roar both force the opponent to switch, causing them to rack up entry hazard damage and also forcing Salamence out of unfavorable situations. Dragon Tail deals chip damage to the opponent thanks to Salamence's high base Attack, even with no investment, but has imperfect accuracy and is blocked entirely by Substitute and Fairy types. Roar never misses, bypasses Substitute and hits Fairies, but does not deal damage on its own and can be disabled by Taunt. If shuffling the opponent's team isn't needed, Defog can be run in this slot instead, as Salamence is just bulky enough to act as a form of entry hazard control for the team despite being weak to Stealth Rock itself.
As a physically defensive Pokemon, the given EV spread aims to make Salamence as physically bulky as possible, allowing it to check physical attackers. 24 EVs are dedicated to Speed for the sole purpose of outspeeding Adamant Honchkrow. 248 EVs in HP are chosen over 252 so that Salamence is given an odd number HP value, allowing it to switch in to Stealth Rock 4 times and still have only 1 HP remaining.
Leftovers is the preferred item, as it improves Salamence's longevity with passive recovery. Rocky Helmet, however, allows Salamence to further punish physical attackers, especially those running U-Turn, as many physical attacks also happen to be contact moves.
Intimidate is chosen to further boost Salamence's physical bulk, allowing it to deal with more threatening physical wallbreakers.
As a physical wall, this Salamence is reserved for more defensive teams. As such, make use of Intimidate and Salamence's natural bulk to switch it in. As with all Salamence's sets, be very cautious against Pokemon that carry Ice-type coverage moves.
Recommended Teammates:
If not running Defog, Salamence appreciates having Stealth Rock off the field so that it can preserve its health, especially if using it as an early game wallbreaker or using it with Intimidate to check physical attackers. Forretress and Tentacruel can accomplish this with Rapid Spin, while Empoleon uses Defog. These three all synergize well with Salamence as they can switch in on the Ice type moves that threaten it.
If running Dragon Tail or Roar, entry hazard support makes these two moves much more spammable and threatening, as the forced switching will build up residual damage and help wear down the opponent. Forretress can provide all four entry hazards, but usually runs Stealth Rock and/or one of Spikes or Toxic Spikes.
Special Walls, such as Porygon2, Umbreon, Blissey, and Florges compliment Salamence's physical bulk, acting as a switch-in to Special attacks. Blissey and Porygon2 are the most notable, as Salamence covers their Fighting type weaknesses, while Porygon2 and Blissey can both deal with common Ice and Fairy attacks. Porygon2 is also a good check to Mega Aerodactyl, Hydreigon, and opposing Salamence, all of which can threaten Salamence. Both Umbreon and Blissey can provide Heal Bell support, as this Salamence set is susceptible to status.
ORAS UU Singles Moveset: Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie / Item: @Choice Scarf Nature: Jolly or Naive w/ EVs: 252 Attack / 4 Sp.Defense / 252 Speed Move #1: Outrage Move #2: Dragon Claw Move #3: Earthquake or Fire Blast Move #4: Iron Tail
Tips:
Outrage is Salamence's most powerful STAB attack. As a cleaner, this Salamence's best option, allowing it to accumulate Moxie boosts after KOing weakened opponents.
While it may seem counterintuitive to run two physical attacks of the same type on the same set that aren't utility moves, Dragon Claw provides Salamence with a secondary STAB move that does not lock it in for the next 2-3 turns.
The third moveslot is dedicated to Steel type coverage. Earthquake gives Salamence an option to hit Poison types as well as Steel, while Fire Blast deals more damage to Forretress and Mega Aggron, and is also Salamence's best option against Chesnaught.
Iron Tail provides necessary coverage against Fairy types despite its bad accuracy.
The given EV spread maximizes Salamence's Speed an Attack, with a Speed boosting nature. 4 EVs are put into Sp.Defense for the explicit purpose of preventing Porygon2 and PorygonZ from obtaining Sp.Attack boosts from Download. Naive should only be run if using Fire Blast, otherwise Jolly is the preferred nature.
Moxie pairs well with a Choice Scarf, enabling Salamence to turn into a threatening late game cleaner with Outrage as it accumulates Attack boosts one after another.
Unlike most Choice Scarf users, Choice Scarf Salamence is a mediocre revenge killer due to its reliance on both Moxie and Outrage. Instead, it should be used exclusively as a late game cleaner, where it is more likely for it to stay in and accumulate Moxie boosts on weakened opponents, making it hard to stop. As such, it is reserved for offensive teams only.
Earthquake, Fire Blast, and Iron Tail require prediction to use correctly, but will generate massive offensive momentum once they hit their intended targets. Note that Fire Blast does not benefit from Moxie due to being a Special Attack.
Recommended Teammates:
Salamence appreciates having Stealth Rock off the field so that it can preserve its health, especially if using it as an early game wallbreaker or using it with Intimidate to check physical attackers. Mega Blastoise and Forretress can accomplish this with Rapid Spin, while Empoleon uses Defog. Mega Blastoise and Empoleon both synergize well with Salamence as they can switch in on the Ice type moves that threaten it.
Entry hazard support makes Salamence's job as a cleaner easier, as the residual damage helps wear down bulkier threats. Forretress can provide all four entry hazards, but usually runs Stealth Rock and/or one of Spikes or Toxic Spikes. Azelf and Froslass, however, are the most notable hazard setters on offense teams that this Salamence set finds itself on
As a cleaner, this Salamence set is only effective against weakened teams, thus a wallbreaker or sweeper are necessary to heavily dent the opponent's team. Hydreigon, Feraligatr, Lucario, Mega Swampert, and Tyrantrum are all good choices for this.
Singles UU Checks and Counters to Salamence
Porygon2 is a great answer to Salamence, as not only does it sport great bulk with Eviolite, but also also Trace Salamence's Intimidate and KOs with Ice Beam. It should be noted that Specially Defensive variants of Porygon2 can be 2HKOed with Life Orb Outrage.
Cresselia sports just enough bulk to avoid a 2HKO from many of Salamence's attacks, even with a Moxie boost in some cases. Cresselia can then retaliate by crippling Salamence with Thunder Wave, or KOing it with Moonblast or Ice Beam.
Fairy and Steel types can easily switch in on Salamence's STAB Dragon type moves, but must watch out for the appropriate coverage move (Iron Tail for Fairies, Fire Blast and Earthquake for Steels). Granbull has a notable niche among the Fairy types as being the only UU viable Fairy type that is not 2HKOed by Iron Tail.
Bulky Water types can often deal with Salamence, as they can burn it with Scald or KO with Ice Beam. Suicune, Empoleon, normal Swampert, and even Vaporeon can all accomplish this. However, these Pokemon but watch out for Life Orb variants of Salamence.
Stealth Rock (etc...)
Stealth Rock greatly hinders Salamence's ability to switch in, shaving it of 25% of its health every time and making it difficult to set up, especially if it is being forced to switch.
Salamence is susceptible to being revenge killed by opponents faster than it. Mega Aerodactyl, Mega Sceptile, and most Choice Scarfers can all outspeed and revenge kill all variants except Dragon Dance and Choice Scarf variants. Priority users such as Entei, Mega Abomasnow, Lucario, and Mega Absol can revenge kill even boosted and Scarfed Salamence, but only Mega Abomasnow can threaten to KO a healthy Salamence.
Singles OU Overview ORAS Singles OU Viability: D ORAS Singles OU Viability: BANNED
My how the mighty have fallen. Mega Salamence proved to be too much for OU to handle, exhibiting levels of brokenness not seen since Mega Kangaskhan back when X&Y was first released. With its Mega Evolution denied to it, Salamence finds itself outclassed by virtually every Dragon type in OU. As a Dragon Dancer, it is outclassed by Dragonite, Mega Altaria, Mega Charizard X, Mega Gyarados, and even Mega Tyranitar. As a special and mixed attacker, it finds itself outclassed by Mega Altaria and Black Kyurem. As a Choice Scarf user, it fails in comparison to other common Scarf users such as Landorus-Therian, Garchomp, Keldeo, Black Kyurem, and others. What was once a Pokemon that was banned to Ubers two generations ago is now just a shadow of its former self.
Still, Salamence does have one unique niche in OU that prevents it from being F rank, and that is its defensive set. Defensive Salamence provides the unique combination of Defog + Intimidate + Bulk + Special movepool, which allows it to take on some of OU's prominent hazard setters. Unlike Latios and Latias, two other special attacking Dragon type Defoggers, Salamence does not find itself trapped by Pursuit users, but still finds itself losing to Garchomp and Mamoswine. To use Salamence effectively in OU, one has to capitalize on its unique niche, otherwise you're just better off using another Dragon type.
ORAS OU Singles Moveset: Physically Defensive
Ability: Intimidate / Item: @Leftovers Nature: Timid or Jolly w/ EVs: 248 HP / 180 Defense / 80 Speed Move #1: Defog Move #2: Fire Blast Move #3: Hydro Pump or Earthquake Move #4: Roost
Tips:
Defog allows Salamence to perform the role of entry hazard removal.
Fire Blast allows Salamence to roast Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Klefki, all common users of Spikes. It also allows Salamence to check Mega Scizor and Excadrill.
The third moveslot completes Salamence's coverage against common hazard setters. Hydro Pump is Salamence's prime option for coverage against common Ground type Stealth Rock setters, most notably Hippowdon, Landorus-Therian, and Rhyperior, while also hitting Fire types such as Talonflame. Earthquake can be used instead to deal greater damage to Heatran, Tyranitar, and Specially Defensive Jirachi.
Roost provides Salamence with longevity, and allows it to stall out slower Stone Edge users by temporarily removing its Rock weakness.
248 EVs in HP allows Salamence to switch in to Stealth Rock four times while only having 1 HP left over. 80 Speed EVs with a Timid/Jolly nature are used specifically for outspeeding everything up to and including Timid Heatran and Jolly Diggersby. The remaining EVs are put into Defense with Intimidate to give Salamence as much physical bulk as possible. Timid should be used if running Hydro Pump, while Jolly should be used if running Earthquake. Even with the -10% Sp.Attack penalty from Jolly, Fire Blast still deals enough damage to its intended targets.
Leftovers is the preferred item of choice, providing Salamence with additional longevity and helping to mitigate damage from Stealth Rock.
This Salamence fits best onto bulky Defensive teams that need a Defogger that isn't afraid of common entry hazard setters
When using Salamence, you should always switch it in against a hazard setter that it can beat 1-on-1 with its coverage options, before they get a chance to set up Stealth Rock, as this will severely limit Salamence's ability to switch in. From there, Salamence should either attack or use Defog.
Keep Salamence away from status at all times, as Paralysis prevents it from temporarily removing its Rock weakness against the opponent, while Burn and Poison will cut into its longevity.
Recommended Teammates:
Cleric support is almost mandatory for Salamence, in order to ensure that it stays free of debilitating status. Clefable, Chansey, and Celebi are the most notable users of Heal Bell; Chansey can use Toxic to cripple opponents and helps Salamence stall them out, Clefable can switch into Dragon type attacks and beat bulky Water types with Calm Mind, while Celebi can switch into Water type attacks while Salamence can check Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor with Fire Blast.
Heatran makes for an excellent partner, being able to switch in against Latias, Latios, and Fairy types while Salamence can check Heatran's Ground-type switch-ins with Hydro Pump.
Skarmory, specifically Specially Defensive Skarmory, also acts as a check to Dragon types, while also threatening Fairy types, especially Mega Diancie. Furthermore, running Defog on Salamence allows you to free up a moveslot on Skarmory, allowing it to fit in another support move such as Spikes. Even with no physical Defense investment, Specially Defensive Skarmory is still physically bulky enough to compliment Salamence's physical bulk, allowing the two of them together to check most physical attackers in OU.
Bulky variants of Talonflame appreciate Salamence as a teammate; Salamence can switch into physical walls and threaten Heatran while removing Stealth Rock from its side of the field, while Talonflame can handle Fairy types and Celebi.
Singles OU Checks and Counters to Salamence
Clefable is perhaps the most notable Stealth Rock user able to beat Salamence 1-on-1. Hippowdon is another that can take on any Salamence that lacks Hydro Pump or Toxic, eventually PP stalling Salamence out of Defogs while it still has plenty of Stealth Rock PP left.
Many Fairy types threaten Salamence in OU, as many tend to be specially bulky. Mega Diancie, although does not like taking a Hydro Pump, can easily outspeed Salamence and KO with Moonblast. Clefable can simply use Salamence as setup fodder for Calm Mind, while Azumarill, Mega Gardevoir, and Sylveon all threaten with Play Rough and Pixilate Hyper Voice, respectively.
(M.Latias)
Faster Pokemon with super effective coverage moves are not afraid to take on Salamence. Latios and Latias are notable as they can switch in on any of defensive Salamence's moves and threaten with Draco Meteor, while Mega Latias can use Salamence as setup fodder. Garchomp is another, though takes neutral damage from both Hydro Pump and Earthquake. Starmie can also switch in as Salamence defogs and threaten with Ice Beam, or gain an Analytic boost if it attempts to switch out. Black Kyurem can also outspeed and threaten to KO with its powerful Ice Beams.
Bulky setup sweepers can often switch into Salamence's attacks and proceed to set up. Examples of such Pokemon include Mega Slowbro, both Gyarados, Suicune, Keldeo, Mega Altaria, Celebi, and even Specially Defensive Gliscor sets. Although it cannot setup stat boosts, Rotom-Wash can set up Will-o-Wisp, crippling its longevity while being able to easily switch into any of its attacks.
Singles Ubers Overview ORAS Singles Ubers Viability: F ORAS Singles Ubers Viability: S
Salamence has long dreamed of soaring high into the sky. Salamencite, however, made Salamence fly too high. Imagine back in the pre-ORAS days of XY when Mega Pinsir was the king of OU. Imagine taking XY Mega Pinsir, duct-taping a Latios to its back and giving it the TM for Fire Blast. That's Mega Salamence in a nutshell.
Not only did this thing get banned from OU, but it quickly became THE most threatening Mega Evolution in the entire Ubers metagame after Mega Rayquaza got banned. 95/130/90 defensive stats is sold by Ubers standards, and that's not even taking into account the fact that Salamence has Intimidate prior to Mega Evolving. Coupled with 145 base Attack and Aerialate, much of the Ubers tier is ill-prepared to handle Flying type attacks. Its stats, coupled with its abilities and typing, makes it a fantastic check to big threats such as Primal Groudon, Arceus-Normal, Ho-oh, and even Mega Blaziken, making Mega Salamence stupidly easy to fit onto any team. In fact, the opportunity cost of all other Ubers viable Mega Evolutions is reduced solely due to how good Mega Salamence is. As threatening as Mega Salamence is, it still finds itself with an exploitable 4x Ice weakness and a weakness to Stealth Rock, but more often than not its pros grossly outweigh its cons that it should be no surprise why this thing got banned from OU.
ORAS Ubers Singles Moveset: Mega Offensive Dragon Dance
Tips:
Dragon Dance allows Mega Salamence to outspeed all unboosted Pokemon in Ubers after a single use, and with +1 Attack under its belt, becomes a very potent and threatening sweeper.
Roost, coupled with Mega Salamence's bulk, allows it to repeatedly come in to set up Dragon Dance, increasing its own longevity while its offensive presence decreases that of your opponent.
Double-Edge, despite the recoil, hits stupidly hard with STAB and Aerialate boost, and not that many Ubers viable Pokemon can resist it. For a frame of reference, Aerialate Double-Edge hits harder than Dragon Ascent from a Life Orb Rayquaza. However, the recoil will force Mega Salamence to Roost often. Return is a weaker, but safer alternative to Double-Edge that can be used if the recoil is offputting.
For the last slot, Earthquake is the preferred move for coverage, hitting Rock and Steel types that resist its Flying type STAB. Substitute and Refresh are both options to help mitigate problems with status, with Substitute blocking status while Refresh allows Mega Salamence to cure itself of status.
The first EV spread with a Jolly nature maximizes Salamence's Speed and Attack, while also allowing it to Speed tie with max Speed Arceus formes.
The second EV spread with an Adamant nature sacrifices Mega Salamence's ability to speed tie with Arceus for extra hitting power and bulk to give it an easier time setting up Dragon Dance, while still outspeeding all Pokemon with base 100 Speed and below.
If not running Earthquake, removing Steel type Pokemon should be the number one priority before attempting to set up a Dragon Dance with Mega Salamence and attempting a sweep. It should be noted that certain Steel type Pokemon, such as Klefki and Aegislash, lack reliable forms of recovery, so they can be worn down with repeated switch ins to Double-Edge/Return.
If not running Substitute or Refresh, caution should be taken so as to not be hit by a stray Burn or Paralysis, as this can easily prevent Mega Salamence from sweeping.
If running Double-Edge over Return, be very cautious about how much recoil damage Mega Salamence takes, especially since the recoil damage is proportional to its sheer power after both Aerilate and Dragon Dance boosts.
Other Moveslot options
Thrash: Thrash is an alternative over Double-Edge and Return that has the same base damage as Double-Edge without the recoil, but locks Salamence into the move for 2-3 turns, leaving it susceptible to Steel type switchins such as Dialga, Klefki and Skarmory.
Facade: Facade is a situational, albeit effective, alternative over Double-Edge and Return that, while it requires Mega Salamence to be afflicted with status, deals more damage than Double-Edge and ignores the Attack drop from Burn. However, if Mega Salamence does not find itself statused, Facade's damage will leave a lot to be desired.
Fire Blast: Fire Blast can be run in the fourth moveslot as a coverage move specifically for dealing with Skarmory, who otherwise walls Mega Salamence.
Recommended Teammates:
Rayquaza is the perfect teammate for Mega Salamence. While they double up on each other's weaknesses due to identical typing, the two of them combined provide a sheer amount of offensive pressure, easily breaking down walls on defensive teams while wearing down their shared checks & counters.
Entry hazard support can make Mega Salamence's job easier, wearing down switch ins and allowing it to obtain KOs that it could not otherwise. Primal Groudon is the most notable, as are Dialga and Klefki for their ability to switch into the Rock, Fairy and Ice type attacks that threaten Mega Salamence.
While Mega Salamence can break through walls, it still has trouble dealing with Lugia and Skarmory, the latter especially if Mega Salamence lacks Fire Blast. Darkrai and Yveltal can both deal with these two. Yvetal, like Mega Salamence, has a weakness to Stealth Rock, which Darkrai lacks, but overall has better bulk and longevity than Darkrai.
If not running Fire Blast or Earthquake, Ho-oh can prove to be a great teammate for its ability to remove Steel types for Mega Salamence, while simultaneously checking Xerneas. Do note that Ho-oh stacks a Stealth Rock weakness with Mega Salamence.
Defog users are handy for removing Stealth Rock from Mega Salamence's side of the field. The various formes of Arceus that common run support movesets are prime choices. Latias, Latios, and Origin Giratina can also be used, but share Ice, Dragon, and Fairy weaknesses with Mega Salamence.
ORAS Ubers Singles Moveset: Mega Bulky Dragon Dance
Tips:
Dragon Dance allows Mega Salamence to become a very potent and threatening sweeper with a large amount of bulk to spare.
Roost, coupled with Mega Salamence's bulk, allows it to repeatedly come in to set up Dragon Dance, increasing its own longevity while its offensive presence decreases that of your opponent.
Return, after receiving the boost and type change from Aerialate, becomes a reliable hard hitting STAB attack with no drawbacks, especially when Mega Salamence is gaining multiple boosts.
Refresh allows Mega Salamence to set up in the face of status users such as Ho-oh, Primal Groudon, and Lugia, removing debilitating Burns, Paralysis, and Poison that would otherwise limit its sweeping potential.
124 EVs in Speed allows this Mega Salamence set to outspeed all base 90 Speed Pokemon before acquiring a Dragon Dance boost. The remaining EVs are put into HP and Defense with an Impish nature to make Mega Salamence as physically bulky as possible.
Unlike the Offensive Dragon Dance set, this set does not require Dragon Dance boosts in order to beat Primal Groudon, Ho-oh, or Arceus-Normal due to its bulk, Refresh, and Intimidate prior to Mega Evolving, so it can be used early in the game to pivot into these Pokemon.
Unlike the Offensive Dragon Dance set, this set's bulk and running of Refresh allows it to be used for its utility as a status absorber and effective check to Ho-oh.
Due to its bulk, Intimidate retains usefulness, so delaying the Mega Evolution with this set may sometimes be the best course of action. Do note however that this Salamence set will not be able to outspeed Primal Groudon until it Mega Evolves.
Because of no passive recovery and a weakness to Stealth Rock, it is important to use Refresh to remove status, especially Burn and Poison, whenever possible.
Other Moveslot options
Body Slam: Body Slam can be used instead of Return to provide this Mega Salamence set with even more utility, allowing it to spread Paralysis to the opponent's team, but the decrease in damage, even with the Aerialate boost, is noticeable and will require more Dragon Dance boosts to compensate for the power drop.
Recommended Teammates:
Arceus-Rock makes an effective Defog user for this set, as it acts as a secondary check to Ho-oh while removing Stealth Rock for Mega Salamence. Other formes of Arceus, as well as Latios, Latias, and Origin Giratina make for excellent Defoggers, but the latter three stack Dragon, Ice, and Fairy weaknesses with Mega Salamence.
Aegislash is an effective teammate, as this Mega Salamence set has problems dealing with Xerneas, which Aegislash can easily handle. Aegislash can also pursuit trap Latios and Latias and cripple Primal Groudon and Lugia with Toxic, both of which are common checks to this Mega Salamence set.
Specially Defensive Primal Groudon can provide both Stealth Rock support and spreading of burns with Lava Plume, and is also an effective check to many of this Mega Salamence set's checks, especially Xerneas. In fact, the only Mega Salamence check Primal Groudon will have issues with is Lugia.
Sometimes a Pokemon's worst enemy can also be its best teammate, and Lugia is no exception. Lugia provides a good amount of support for bulky Mega Salamence, checking Primal Groudon and Xerneas and whittling opponents down with Toxic and Whirlwind/Dragon Tail, while Bulky DD Mega Salamence can absorb the status moves aimed at Lugia in return.
Singles Ubers Checks and Counters to Salamence
Lugia is by far the most reliable check to Mega Salamence, phazing it out with Whirlwind or Dragon Tail, while Ice Beam variants can simply 2HKO. Lugia can also take multiple hits from Mega Salamence, though will not be able to safely switch in if Mega Salamence already has a Dragon Dance boost under its belt, especially if Stealth Rock is set up on Lugia's side of the field.
If Mega Salamence lacks Earthquake, Primal Groudon can threaten Offensive Dragon Dance sets by threatening a 2HKO with Stone Edge after Stealth Rock damage. Bulky DD Mega Salamence, however, can safely avoid a 2HKO and use the opportunity to set up Dragon Dance while Roosting to keep itself healthy. If Salamence has not yet Mega Evolved, it can also avoid being KOed as long as Primal Groudon has been Intimidated. Bulky DD sets can also avoid the burn from Lava Plume by running Refresh.
Dialga commonly runs Shuca Berry specifically for Mega Salamence, avoiding the KO from Earthquake and OHKOing back with Draco Meteor.
Skarmory easily walls any Mega Salamence that isn't running Fire Blast, and either phaze it out with Whirlwind, strike back with Counter, or set up Stealth Rock.
Arceus-Rock can easily take multiple Double-Edges and use Will-o-Wisp against Offensive DD sets that aren't running Substitute or Refresh or OHKO both sets with Judgement after Stealth Rock damage, but will have problems taking a +1 Earthquake if it lacks any Defense investment. Similarly, Arceus-Electric and Mega Metagross can both take repeated Double-Edges and OHKO with Ice Beam and Ice Punch, respectively, but are both OHKOed by Earthquake variants after Stealth Rock.
Klefki can use Prankster Thunder Wave to disable Mega Salamence, but is prone to being worn down by repeated hits and variants running Refresh can circumvent this problem. Klefki also doesn't enjoy taking a +1 Earthquake, either.
Deoxys-Attack can easily revenge kill Mega Salamence with Psycho Boost after Stealth Rock damage, but requires Deoxys-Attack to be at full health with Focus Sash intact in order to do so.
Doubles OU Overview ORAS Doubles OU Viability: Tier 3 ORAS Doubles OU Viability: BANNED
Doubles is a world where even the most broken Mega Evolutions in Singles, even Mega Kangaskhan, become much more balanced due to the faster pace. You have to give Mega Salamence props though, because while Mega Kangaskhan was suspect tested a total of THREE times and escaped a ban each and every single time, Mega Salamence surpassed Megamom by getting quickbanned in both Singles AND Doubles. Hows that for broken? Then again, Mega Salamence was designed by the same minds who thought giving Rayquaza the ability to Mega Evolve with any item was somehow a good idea.
On to normal Salamence. Just like in Singles, Salamence finds itself just barely viable in the Doubles environment. It has access to Intimidate, which is good for keeping powerful physical attackers like Mega Kangaskhan in check, but we already have Landorus-Therian, normal Gyarados, and Scrafty for that. In a tier partially dominated by Mega Diancie, 100 base speed is just lackluster. Compared to other viable Dragon types, Salamence lacks any usable secondary STAB move. Its Sp.Attack is rather lackluster compared to Latios and Hydreigon, both of which can also provide the role of a Ground-immune Dragon type Tailwind user.
However, Salamence does have few a niches, mostly on sun teams. It has a decent matchup against most Hyper Offense teams and can take on both Thundurus-Incarnate and sun teams. Its power may be lackluster, as it is mostly outclassed by Latios and Hydreigon, but Intimidate gives it the niche it needs to be effective otherwise.
ORAS OU Doubles Moveset: Special Attacker
Ability: Intimidate / Item: @Yache Berry or Life Orb Nature: Timid w/ EVs: 252 Sp.Attack / 4 Sp.Defense / 252 Speed IV Spread #1: 31/XX/31/31/31/31 (Yache Berry only)
IV Spread #2: 29/XX/31/31/31/31 (Life Orb only) Move #1: Draco Meteor Move #2: Fire Blast Move #3: Hydro Pump or Tailwind Move #4: Protect
Tips:
Draco Meteor is Salamence's most powerful STAB attack, nuking many Pokemon.
Fire Blast allows Salamence to roast the Steel types that resist Draco Meteor, namely Bisharp, Aegislash, and Mega Metagross.
For the third slot, Hydro Pump can be used for Heatran, who otherwise walls this set, and gives Salamence an option that hits Fire, Rock and Ground types hard without having to resort to Draco Meteor. Tailwind, however, allows Salamence to support its teammates, allowing them to keep up against faster threats.
Protect is a staple move of almost all Pokemon in Doubles, allowing Salamence to scout the opponent, punish double targeting, stall out unfavorable field conditions, and buy Salamence time for its teammate to take out a threat Salamence cannot handle.
The given EV spread maximizes Salamence's offensive potential, maximizing Speed and Sp.Attack. Timid is preferred over Modest in order to speed tie with other positive natured base 100 Speed Pokemon, such as Mega Charizard Y and Mega Kangaskhan.
For the item choice, Yache Berry helps mitigate Salamence's Ice weakness, as Ice is a common offensive typing in Doubles. Life Orb, however will give Salamence a significant increase in damage output.
For the IV spreads, the only difference between the two is the HP IV. An IV of 29 in HP should only be used if running Life Orb, as this gives Salamence 329 HP, which minimizes recoil damage from Life Orb, otherwise the first spread with a max HP IV should be used instead. The Attack IV can be any value, as this Salamence is a special attacker, but ideally should be 0 in order to minimize confusion damage and damage from Foul Play.
Intimidate is the ability of choice, and it is what separates Salamence from other special attacking Dragons in Doubles like Latios, Hydreigon, and Black Kyurem, otherwise you should be using one of those three instead.
Ideally, Salamence should take advantage of Intimidate to switch in, nuke an opponent with Draco Meteor, and then switch out, not only removing the Sp.Attack drop from Draco Meteor but also allowing Salamence to reapply Intimidate later on. Be cautious of Bisharp, however.
If running Tailwind, this can allow Salamence to still be useful with a Sp.Attack drop by allowing its teammates to outspeed faster threats.
Recommended Teammates:
If running Tailwind, Pokemon that are not too fast appreciate having Tailwind in order to outspeed faster threats. Mega Charizard Y and Mega Kangaskhan are two of the most notable examples, both being powerful attackers with only 100 base Speed. Other examples include Heatran, Black Kyurem, Mega Metagross, Mega Diancie, and pretty much any Pokemon with base 60 speed and higher.
Mega Kangaskhan and Scrafty can provide valuable Fake Out support, allowing Salamence a turn to set up Tailwind or safely KO an opponent with Draco Meteor. Scrafty can also provide additional support with Wide Guard.
Pokemon that can handle Ice type attacks, and preferably Dragon and Fairy type attacks as well, make for good teammates, so naturally Steel types pair well. Aegislash and Jirachi can provide additional support with Wide Guard and Follow Me, respectively. Although they do not resist Dragon, Water types such as Rotom-Wash and Suicune also pair well due to their Ice resistance.
Bisharp not only benefits from Tailwind, but also deters potential use of Icy Wind, as doing so will grant Bisharp a free +2 Attack due to Defiant.
ORAS OU Doubles Moveset: Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate / Item: @Choice Scarf Nature: Modest or Timid w/ EVs: 4 HP / 252 Sp.Attack / 252 Speed Move #1: Draco Meteor Move #2: Fire Blast Move #3: Hydro Pump Move #4: Stone Edge
Tips:
Draco Meteor is Salamence's most powerful STAB attack, nuking many Pokemon.
Fire Blast allows Salamence to roast the Steel types that resist Draco Meteor, namely Bisharp, Aegislash, and Mega Metagross.
Hydro Pump is used primarily for Heatran and Landorus-Therian, as the former would otherwise wall this set. This also allows Salamence to hit Fire, Rock and Ground types harder than Draco Meteor.
Stone Edge is used specifically for Mega Charizard Y, Talonflame, and Volcarona, OHKOing them even with no Attack investment.
The given EV spread maximizes Salamence's offensive potential, maximizing Speed and Sp.Attack. Modest is preferred over Timid as Choice Scarf drastically boosts Salamence's speed, allowing it to easily outspeed other base 100 Speed Pokemon, such as Mega Charizard Y and Mega Kangaskhan, and Modest will be able to compensate for Salamence's otherwise lackluster Sp.Attack. A Timid nature can be used to allow Salamence to outspeed Ludicolo in the rain, but the lack of power will be noticeable.
Intimidate is the ability of choice, and it is what separates Salamence from other special attacking Dragons in Doubles by giving it chances to switch in.
Draco Meteor is the attack that will be used most of the time, especially if all of Salamence's attacks hit for neutral damage. Due to this, this Salamence set will be used mostly as a hit-and-run attacker.
Because of Choice Scarf, Salamence needs to be careful as to what it locks itself into, especially when using Draco Meteor, as the Sp.Attack drop will easily force it out. As such, prediction is necessary when using this set.
Do not use Stone Edge except against Mega Charizard Y, Volcarona, or Talonflame, as it deals pitiful damage outside of handling these three Pokemon.
Recommended Teammates:
Choice Scarf Genesect is still one of the few Pokemon that outspeeds Choice Scarf Salamence. Heatran provides a reliable answer to it.
Helping Hand support from Pokemon such as Cresselia or Jirachi can greatly increase Salamence's damage output. Jirachi can also provide support in the form of Follow Me, redirecting super effective Dragon, Fairy, and Ice type attacks away from Salamence.
Pokemon that can handle Ice type attacks, and preferably Dragon and Fairy type attacks as well, make for good teammates, so naturally Steel types pair well. Aegislash and Jirachi can provide additional support with Wide Guard and Follow Me, respectively. Although they do not resist Dragon, Water types such as Rotom-Wash and Suicune also pair well due to their Ice resistance.
User of Rage Powder and Follow Me can redirect threatening attacks away from Salamence, allowing it score a KO safely unless they use spread moves.
Talonflame and Terrakion can provide support with Quick Guard, preventing notable priority attacks from striking Salamence. For example, Quick Guard can block Bisharp's Sucker Punch while Salamence KOes Bisharp with Fire Blast.
Hall of Shame
Physical Salamence: 135 base Attack may look promising, but Doubles is extremely unfavorable to most physical attackers. While notable exceptions such as Landorus-Therian, Mega Kangaskhan, and Mega Metagross obviously exist, it is the very presence of these threats that makes physical Salamence unviable, as many teams are equipped with Intimidate and Burn specificall for these Pokemon. To add further insult to injury, physical Salamence is also outclassed by many physical attackers, and Outrage is a horrible move in Doubles due to the fact that it randomly chooses its target.
Doubles OU Checks and Counters to Salamence
Many Pokemon that carry Ice type coverage attacks, even if they aren't Ice types themselves, are immediately threatening to Salamence. Thundurus-Incarnate, Mega Manectric, Mega Abomasnow, Mamoswine, Greninja, and Deoxys-Attack can all outspeed any set lacking Choice Scarf and potentially KO with Hidden Power [ice], Ice Shard, and Ice Beam respectively. Do note that Yache Berry variants of Salamence can avoid most KOs from these attacks.
Fairy types can easily switch in to Draco Meteor and threaten with their STAB attacks. Mega Diancie is notable for being the only Fairy-type that naturally outspeeds Salamence. Other notable Fairies include Azumarill, Clefable, and Sylveon.
Opposing Dragon types, namely Latios and Garchomp, are capable of naturally outspeeding non-Choice Scarf Salamence and threatening to OHKO.
Although it is OHKOed by Salamence's Fire Blast, Bisharp can dissuade Salamence from switching in due to Defiant, as it gains a net gain of +1 Attack when struck with Intimidate, and proceed to KO with Sucker Punch.
Tailwind() , Trick Room (), Paralysis (), Icy Wind (), & Quash ()
Due to its 100 base speed, opponents that would normally be outsped by Salamence can easily turn to tables on it with various methods of Speed Control. Although not as common as the others, Icy Wind is notable for also dealing 4x Super Effective damage to Salamence.
Priority Taunt can prevent Salamence from setting up Tailwind and disables Protect, leaving Salamence vulnerable to attack.
Since all of Salamence's attacks are single target, redirection can easily prevent Salamence from doing its job properly. Jirachi resists Draco Meteor while Togekiss, Clefable, and Clefairy are all immune to it. Amoonguss and Jirachi must watch out for Fire Blast, however.
Specially bulky Pokemon, such as Cresselia and Politoed, as well as Assault Vest users such as Ludicolo and Conkeldurr, can easily tank special attacks. It should be noted that all four Pokemon listed here also carry some type of Ice type coverage move, such as Ice Beam and Ice Punch.
External Links Smogon Analysis (Singles UU) Smogon Analysis (Singles OU) Smogon Analysis (Singles Ubers) Smogon Analysis (Doubles OU)
You've probably heard of the term "Gill Effect" or something similar before if youve ever played any of the SFIII games; a character with an assymetrical color scheme on their body. In Mugen, attempting to replicate this would require a duplicate of every sprite with the reversed palette, but even then custom states cause a problem. With the ReMapPal controller introduced in Mugen 1.0, this can now be done easily with a simple controller.
The idea is simple; using the new SFFv2 format, instead of duplicating each sprite, duplicate each palette and then remap the palettes with the new controller depending on the direction the character is facing. While this works in practice, it would seem than executing a ReMapPal controller conflicts with an earlier state controller; PalFx.
To get an idea of what I'm talking about, here we have the same attack which puts p2 into a custom state that applies a PalFX controller to simulate being frozen. One is the default Kung Fu Man, while the other is my version of Eirin Yagokoro, who continuously applies a ReMapPal controller in her -2 state in order to simulate the Gill effect;
Purely discovered by accident, I was easily able to find a workaround to this by, rather than continuously applying ReMapPal, instead only apply the controller when it needs to be. This can be done with a variable to act as a flag and compare it to the current direction the character is facing. If they do not match, only then should ReMapPal be applied, with the flag set to that facing value to avoid the controller being executed again until needed. This isn't a perfect workaround, however, as custom states that both apply a PalFX controller and repeatedly changing the opponent's facing direction may still cause the PalFX to end prematurely.
This is mostly a heads up to anyone attempting to do something similar to this so that they do not make the same error.
RicePigeon got a reaction from Galvatron in Current Mugen communities (International)
RicePigeon got a reaction from DarkWolf13 in Street Fighter 5 announced
RicePigeon got a reaction from NotAGoodName in Pitfall of using Remappal to simulate the "Gill Effect" in 1.0
RicePigeon got a reaction from Wargame-kun in Pitfall of using Remappal to simulate the "Gill Effect" in 1.0