Why is Salamence better than Dragonite in singles?
I am not talking about mega Salamence. Mega Salamence is banned in OU.
In Generations 5 and 6, a lot of people were saying that Salamence was just Dragonite but slightly worse. However, Salamence is now an entire tier (according to Smogon) higher than Dragonite, and it seems to outclass Dragonite for some reason. Does it have something to do with z-fly? If so, why is Salamence better at using z-fly? If you’re going to give a reason why Salamence is better, then why did that reason not apply in earlier generations?
Pleaselog inorregisterto add a comment.
Let’s compare Salamence and Dragonite first:
SalamenceSalamence is the more offensive one, holding a base 135 physical attack stat, and a base 100 speed stat. It also has the potential to be a special attacker with its 110 special attack stat (although this really isn’t favourable for Salamence.) Its abilities, however, are where Salamence has the upper hand any day. Having Moxie as a hidden ability allows it to set up 1 Dragon Dance and then go for a sweep while getting stronger with each KO. (again, this is why Salamence sets shouldn’t be special attackers, unless they’re going for the Intimidate ability that Salamence has.) Also, Salamence has a mega evolution, boosting its sweeping potential even higher and giving it another ability; Aerilate. Now, Aerilate coupled with Double Edge, Thrash, Giga Impact, Hyper Beam etc. gives any normal move STAB and boosts its power by 30% (I think). So, in other words, STAB Aerilate Hyper Beam has a approximate power of near 290 (if STAB is applied first) and a power of approximately 270 (if Aerilate is applied first). However, using Mega Evolution does mean that Salamence loses its ability to hold an item, so no Life Orb or Z Crystal strategies if you’re planning on using Mega Salamence. (If you’re playing by Smogon rules and not VGC, Mega Salamence is OU tier, while normal Salamence is BL tier.)
DragoniteDragonite is the more bulky one, with 91 base HP, 95 base Defense and 100 base Special Defense. It does have an astounding 134 base Attack stat, but its 80 base Speed stat is a bit lacking. This means that Dragonite does have the potential to Dragon Dance sweep, but it doesn’t sweep as well as Salamence or Mega Salamence. Dragonite’s 2 abilities (Inner Focus and Multiscale) are useful in some situations, but Multiscale is probably the more useful one as it allows Dragonite to live an Ice Beam and get a Dragon Dance off, then proceed to sweep the team. However, Dragonite is meant to be bulky, and while you could argue that Salamence can’t live an Ice Beam from a decent Special Attacker, but who needs bulk when you can outspeed most of the Pokemon in your respective tier. ( Although STAB Ice Shard is a problem to Salamence).
So, overall, Salamence is better because it has more potential to sweep teams, and can also stop Physical Attackers in their tracks with Intimidate, and proceed to Mega Evolve, Dragon Dance, then sweep.
Both are great Dragon Dance Sweepers but I think I think the difference is in there Ability and Speed Salamence Can Be More of A threat with Moxie gaining +1 atk every kill, Dragonite however can be used as a sort of guaranteed set up (as long as stealth rock stays off the field) Sometimes Dragonite has to run jolly to outspeed relevant threats after 1 dragon dance which means not running adamant and sacrificing much needed damage. Dragonite also has the problem of being unable to eliminate threats with out any set up because of its mediocre base 80 speedWhile as Salamence can remove much faster threats having a base 100 speed stat. Both have a pretty good movepool dragonite does have some tech for getting rid of faster threats in extreme speed and the elemental punches both have dragon claw and outrage as dragon stab some people use flyinium z + fly on both both have reliable recovery. However Salamence has a very good perk Mega Evolution It gains much more bulk than its frail base form (see below), Salamence gets boosted from a good 135 Base Atk to an even better 145 Base Atk and gains the abilityAerilatewhich turns normal type moves into flying and boost its damage by 1.2 in sumo (1.3 if in oras) which means normal type moves base damage get multiplied by1.2 x 1.5 (STAB). Mega Salamence Then gets its speed boosted from an already goodBase 100 to a base 120which means salamence can now deal with faster threats like The Lati Twins, Gengar, Raikou, Starmie and so on.
Both Are Good In their own way-If you want to sweep entire teams pick Salamence (which dragonite can do but has a harder time doing)-If you need a safe way to sweep pick Dragonite
Stats,SalamenceHp: 95Atk: 135Def: 80Sp.Atk: 110Sp. Def: 80Spe: 100Abilities:Moxie,IntimidateMega SalamenceHp: 95Atk: 145Def: 130Sp.Atk: 120Sp. Def: 95Spe: 120Abilities: AerilateDragoniteHp: 91Atk: 134Def: 95Sp.Atk: 100Sp. Def: 100Spe: 80Abilities,Multiscale, Inner Focus
Sources:Salamence
Dragonite
