Hogg
grubbing in the ashes
I can't lie, this suspect has been really annoying for me.
Here's the problem: I think Salamence is actually busted as hell, and is a really overwhelming threat to cover. So I should just vote ban, right? Well, yeah, and I almost certainly will. That being said, it just hurts my soul to see yet another halfway-decent source of hazard removal exit the tier, and there are non-problematic sets that are actually downright healthy for UU.
Anyhow, most people have covered the good reasons for banning Salamence, so I don't want to waste too much time on it. Suspect ladders are often not the best indicator of the metagame at large, but I've played on it quite a lot and the tier is definitely healthier with Salamence gone. Offensive teams no longer have to run Mamoswine or Whimsicott to keep themselves from being swept by DDmence. Balance teams don't need to play Guess-The-Coverage-Move game with MixMence (and weaken half their team in the process) anymore. Shuca Berry on every Steel-type is still pretty common on the suspect ladder, but it's way less essential with Salamence gone. Just in general, there is way less pressure in teambuilding with this meta... with the exception of hazard removal, which can be a good or a bad thing, depending on your point of view.
I like Salamence a lot. It is literally the single most versatile 'mon in the tier. I also think some of its best sets have largely gone unexamined (in particular, MixMence has mostly been dropped in favor of specially offensive with Defog and Roost, which I think is a waste - I actually think MixMence and DDmence are the two problematic sets, and Scarf/specially offensive/bulky defog Salamence would all be fine on their own). It has fantastic bulk, clears hazards, catches people by surprise, and puts in work every game. It'll hurt to see it go. But those two problematic sets are such a problem that I can't even remotely pretend it is healthy for the tier.
Here's the problem: I think Salamence is actually busted as hell, and is a really overwhelming threat to cover. So I should just vote ban, right? Well, yeah, and I almost certainly will. That being said, it just hurts my soul to see yet another halfway-decent source of hazard removal exit the tier, and there are non-problematic sets that are actually downright healthy for UU.
Anyhow, most people have covered the good reasons for banning Salamence, so I don't want to waste too much time on it. Suspect ladders are often not the best indicator of the metagame at large, but I've played on it quite a lot and the tier is definitely healthier with Salamence gone. Offensive teams no longer have to run Mamoswine or Whimsicott to keep themselves from being swept by DDmence. Balance teams don't need to play Guess-The-Coverage-Move game with MixMence (and weaken half their team in the process) anymore. Shuca Berry on every Steel-type is still pretty common on the suspect ladder, but it's way less essential with Salamence gone. Just in general, there is way less pressure in teambuilding with this meta... with the exception of hazard removal, which can be a good or a bad thing, depending on your point of view.
I like Salamence a lot. It is literally the single most versatile 'mon in the tier. I also think some of its best sets have largely gone unexamined (in particular, MixMence has mostly been dropped in favor of specially offensive with Defog and Roost, which I think is a waste - I actually think MixMence and DDmence are the two problematic sets, and Scarf/specially offensive/bulky defog Salamence would all be fine on their own). It has fantastic bulk, clears hazards, catches people by surprise, and puts in work every game. It'll hurt to see it go. But those two problematic sets are such a problem that I can't even remotely pretend it is healthy for the tier.
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