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return of the king
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- Kobe's Reality
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We all know standard SpecsMence. It's used quite often and hurts anything but standard special walls. Let's look at that moveset:
Salamence @ Choice Specs
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Spd / 252 SAtk
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Dragon Pulse
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower
- Hydro Pump
Just from the look of this set, you know Blissey and friends are going to wall you. I will now turn your attention to Hydro Pump. Is ask you, what is it for exactly? I turned to Smogon's analysis and I will quote what it said:
"The Salamence of choice is no longer bound to use physical attacks (yes, that's a pun on Choice Band). Salamence's oft-overlooked 110 base Special Attack now has the 140 base power Draco Meteor to work with. Since only Steel-type Pokémon resist Dragon Attacks, Flamethrower (for Skarmory, Metagross, etc.) and Hydro Pump (for Heatran, Probopass and Bastiodon) hit 99% of the Pokémon in the game with at least a 2HKO. That, in part, is why you see two direct-damage-dealing attacks of the same type and category (in this case, special) on the same Pokémon—in practice you should be using Draco Meteor primarily, in the early and middle stages of battle, then Dragon Pulse to sweep up at the end, predicting the above otherwise "trouble Pokémon" accordingly."
It clearly states that Hydro Pump is for Heatran, Bastiodon, and Probopass. Probopass and Bastiodon are never used in OUs anyways, so rule them out. Basically, Hydro Pump is for Heatran. However, you must wonder if there are better options.
At first, you can look at HP Ground, since it OHKOs Heatran and 2HKOs Empoleon, a common counter. You still lose to Blissey and friends though. Hpwever, let's have a look at Salamence's base stats:
HP - 95
Atk - 135
Def - 80
Spd - 100
SAtk - 110
SDef - 80
As we can see, SpecsMence uses Salamence's inferior attacking stat because Draco Meteor is much stronger than Dragon Claw. However, you must realize that without any Atk EVs and a neutral nature, Salamence has an impressive 306 Atk stat with a 31 Atk IV. Now let's look at Sala's movepool. All standard special walls are weak to one type: Fighting. Salamence happens to have access to Hidden Power Figthing, but that will not hurt any special wall at all. Its physical fighting move, however, is interesting.
Brick Break on a CBmence does 73% - 86% to 252HP/252Def Bold Blissey. Even without the Choice Band boost, you must think Brick Break is going to hurt Blissey a lot. The new standard for Blissey that has pooped up has been a 40 HP / 252 Def / 216 SDef Calm Blissey, who can take special attacks way better than a bold 252/252 blissey can. If you give Salamence 120 Atk EVs (taken out of speed, which gives salamence 270 speed, which outspeeds adamant CB Heracross), it will do 46.29% - 54.46% to a Blissey like the one I just mentioned - that's a 2HKO. That's now even including the possibility of entry hazards like Spieks and SR or weather conditions.
Now we must look at other special walls, since Blissey isn't the only one. Snorlax can survive a Brick Break better than Blissey, but it doesn't have access to Ice Beam meaning Salamence will win regardless of what Snorlax does. Regice is 2HKOed by specs Fire Blast, and we should not forget its SR weakness. It is also weak to Brick Break though it can take it fairly well.
Now you might ask, what would you replace for Brick Break? It's simple really. Hydro Pump was mostly used for Heatran, but Brick Break offers the same coverage against Heatran (and Probopass and Bastiodon as well) just like Hydro Pump, so it could go over Hydro Pump without it hindering SpecsMence's effectiveness at all. It also beats up Empoleon, another common SpecsMence counter.
In short, a more effective SpecsMence than the stand set would be something along the lines of:
Salamence @ Choice Specs
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 120 Atk / 136 Spd / 252 SAtk
Mild / Rash Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dragon Pulse
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower
- Brick Break
With this set, only pokemon that can survive two Draco Meteors will wall you (and those pokemon walled the other version anyways, so it is a step up regardless of that).
In conclusion, I think SpecsMence would be above and beyond more effective with Brick Break. It has far fewer counters and covers every single pokemon the original version does. With that, I must say one cannot deny the viability of Brick Break on Choice Specs Salamence.
EDIT: Just to give you an example of how this version of SpecsMence can help you, I'll give you one. It was down to Salamence and Machamp against the opponent's Blissey and Magnezone. Draco Meteor had been taken by blissey and so had a Fire Blast. I switched Salamence in on Maggy. My opponent knew this was SopecsMence and smartly switched to Blissey. However, Brick Break was there ready to 2HKO, which it did pull off with great success. I then Brick Breaked the Magnezone to win the fight. the funny thing is, I was quite horribly outplayed but SpecsMence saved me at the end.
In other words, if you save your surprise for the right time (which can be at various points in the game), SpecsMence can really turn things around. It's nothing revolutionary, but Brick Break definately ups Salamence's usefulness when running a Choice specs set.
Salamence @ Choice Specs
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Spd / 252 SAtk
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Dragon Pulse
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower
- Hydro Pump
Just from the look of this set, you know Blissey and friends are going to wall you. I will now turn your attention to Hydro Pump. Is ask you, what is it for exactly? I turned to Smogon's analysis and I will quote what it said:
"The Salamence of choice is no longer bound to use physical attacks (yes, that's a pun on Choice Band). Salamence's oft-overlooked 110 base Special Attack now has the 140 base power Draco Meteor to work with. Since only Steel-type Pokémon resist Dragon Attacks, Flamethrower (for Skarmory, Metagross, etc.) and Hydro Pump (for Heatran, Probopass and Bastiodon) hit 99% of the Pokémon in the game with at least a 2HKO. That, in part, is why you see two direct-damage-dealing attacks of the same type and category (in this case, special) on the same Pokémon—in practice you should be using Draco Meteor primarily, in the early and middle stages of battle, then Dragon Pulse to sweep up at the end, predicting the above otherwise "trouble Pokémon" accordingly."
It clearly states that Hydro Pump is for Heatran, Bastiodon, and Probopass. Probopass and Bastiodon are never used in OUs anyways, so rule them out. Basically, Hydro Pump is for Heatran. However, you must wonder if there are better options.
At first, you can look at HP Ground, since it OHKOs Heatran and 2HKOs Empoleon, a common counter. You still lose to Blissey and friends though. Hpwever, let's have a look at Salamence's base stats:
HP - 95
Atk - 135
Def - 80
Spd - 100
SAtk - 110
SDef - 80
As we can see, SpecsMence uses Salamence's inferior attacking stat because Draco Meteor is much stronger than Dragon Claw. However, you must realize that without any Atk EVs and a neutral nature, Salamence has an impressive 306 Atk stat with a 31 Atk IV. Now let's look at Sala's movepool. All standard special walls are weak to one type: Fighting. Salamence happens to have access to Hidden Power Figthing, but that will not hurt any special wall at all. Its physical fighting move, however, is interesting.
Brick Break on a CBmence does 73% - 86% to 252HP/252Def Bold Blissey. Even without the Choice Band boost, you must think Brick Break is going to hurt Blissey a lot. The new standard for Blissey that has pooped up has been a 40 HP / 252 Def / 216 SDef Calm Blissey, who can take special attacks way better than a bold 252/252 blissey can. If you give Salamence 120 Atk EVs (taken out of speed, which gives salamence 270 speed, which outspeeds adamant CB Heracross), it will do 46.29% - 54.46% to a Blissey like the one I just mentioned - that's a 2HKO. That's now even including the possibility of entry hazards like Spieks and SR or weather conditions.
Now we must look at other special walls, since Blissey isn't the only one. Snorlax can survive a Brick Break better than Blissey, but it doesn't have access to Ice Beam meaning Salamence will win regardless of what Snorlax does. Regice is 2HKOed by specs Fire Blast, and we should not forget its SR weakness. It is also weak to Brick Break though it can take it fairly well.
Now you might ask, what would you replace for Brick Break? It's simple really. Hydro Pump was mostly used for Heatran, but Brick Break offers the same coverage against Heatran (and Probopass and Bastiodon as well) just like Hydro Pump, so it could go over Hydro Pump without it hindering SpecsMence's effectiveness at all. It also beats up Empoleon, another common SpecsMence counter.
In short, a more effective SpecsMence than the stand set would be something along the lines of:
Salamence @ Choice Specs
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 120 Atk / 136 Spd / 252 SAtk
Mild / Rash Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dragon Pulse
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower
- Brick Break
With this set, only pokemon that can survive two Draco Meteors will wall you (and those pokemon walled the other version anyways, so it is a step up regardless of that).
In conclusion, I think SpecsMence would be above and beyond more effective with Brick Break. It has far fewer counters and covers every single pokemon the original version does. With that, I must say one cannot deny the viability of Brick Break on Choice Specs Salamence.
EDIT: Just to give you an example of how this version of SpecsMence can help you, I'll give you one. It was down to Salamence and Machamp against the opponent's Blissey and Magnezone. Draco Meteor had been taken by blissey and so had a Fire Blast. I switched Salamence in on Maggy. My opponent knew this was SopecsMence and smartly switched to Blissey. However, Brick Break was there ready to 2HKO, which it did pull off with great success. I then Brick Breaked the Magnezone to win the fight. the funny thing is, I was quite horribly outplayed but SpecsMence saved me at the end.
In other words, if you save your surprise for the right time (which can be at various points in the game), SpecsMence can really turn things around. It's nothing revolutionary, but Brick Break definately ups Salamence's usefulness when running a Choice specs set.
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