What Ability Does Mega Salamence Gain After Mega Evolution?

If you pop a Beldum line into battle and hit the Mega button, the big thing that changes is the ability — not the hidden stat rules or a whole new move pool midfight. Metagross normally comes with Clear Body (and some variants have Light Metal), which helps it shrug off stat drops and can affect things like weight for certain interactions. Once you Mega Evolve it into Mega Metagross during a battle, its ability becomes Tough Claws for the duration of that battle. Tough Claws boosts the power of contact moves — that’s massive for Metagross because many of its staples, like Meteor Mash and Zen Headbutt (and even Earthquake in some sets when it's used through switching), are contact-based and just get noticeably stronger. This change is strictly a battle-time effect: Mega Evolution swaps forms and grants Tough Claws while the Mega form lasts, and when the battle ends (or if the Mega form is canceled), Metagross goes back to its original ability. It also overwrites whichever ability the non-Mega had — so whether your Metagross had Clear Body or Light Metal before, Mega takes over with Tough Claws. Practically speaking, that’s why Mega Metagross hits so hard and became a terrifying presence in formats where Mega Evolution is allowed — the boost to contact moves plus its monstrous attack and decent coverage make for a brutal combination. If you’re theorycrafting or building a team, just remember the ability swap is temporary and gear your moveset and items around the Mega window. I still grin whenever Meteor Mash crits harder under Tough Claws; it feels like everything lines up just right.

Late-night laddering on 'Pokémon Showdown' taught me one thing: Mega Salamence is that kind of Pokémon that makes you either grin maniacally or gulp and sweat when you see it across the field. As a Dragon attacker, it's insanely versatile. Mega gives it a big boost to raw physical power and noticeably better bulk, and its ability, 'Aerilate', is the secret sauce — it turns strong Normal moves like Double-Edge or Return into Flying-type STABs and makes them hit even harder. That gives Mega Salamence a twofold edge: huge, reliable damage that also nails Fighting-types and convenient coverage for types that would otherwise wall dragons. I usually run it as a setup sweeper: Dragon Dance plus a powerful 'Aerilate' hit is classic. After a boost, it can muscle through teams with a combination of Double-Edge/Return, Outrage or Dragon Claw for pure Dragon coverage, and a coverage slot like Earthquake or Stone Edge to handle Steel and Rock types. Roost is great if you want longevity and to abuse its bulk; without Roost it’s more of a glassy battering ram. In doubles it's even more threatening because its Fly/Double-Edge hits different partners' coverage, and teammates can handle its checks while it sets up. The flexibility is what really sells it — you can play it hyper-offensive with extreme damage or lean into a bulkier Dragon Dance set that can take hits and punish switches. That said, it isn't invincible. Mega Salamence’s Flying/Dragon typing leaves it vulnerable to common answers: bulky Steels like Ferrothorn and Scizor, priority users that can pick it off before it sets up, and fast, powerful Ice-types or Ice moves that threaten heavy damage. Team support matters: a hazard control answer, a spin/remover, or a partner that pressures priority and Steels will make it sing. Personally, I love using it with a pivot or a special wall that can soften up the Steel answers — pulling off a three-turn sweep after a good Double-Edge crit is ridiculously satisfying. If you enjoy a big-arming physical Dragon that can either plaster faces with Flying STAB or set up and sweep, Mega Salamence is one of the most fun and reliable choices around.

I've been spinning Mega Salamence on my OU teams since Gen 6 and it never stops feeling absolutely savage when it hits the field. My go-to set is a classic Dragon Dance sweeper built to muscle through walls and clean late-game scraps: Salamencite, Aerilate, Dragon Dance, Double-Edge, Earthquake, Roost. Nature and EVs depend on how desperate I am to outspeed certain threats — I usually run Adamant with 252 Attack / 4 HP / 252 Speed when I want that raw, crunchy damage after a single Dragon Dance. If I'm up against teams with faster threats that I can't afford to let live, I’ll switch to Jolly to grab a few extra outspeeds; the playstyle stays the same, just the timing changes. What I love about this set is how Aerilate turns Double-Edge into an absolute monster: it becomes a powerful STAB flying hit that chews through common physical checks. Earthquake gives you coverage on Steel- and Rock-types that would otherwise laugh at Flier-only coverage, and Roost keeps Salamence healthy to press its advantage after a DD boost — it’s the difference between surviving a Crunch and sweeping the rest of the match. In-game I treat Salamence as my late-game cleaner: scout for hazards and priority beforehand, use teammates to handle ice and fairy checks, then bring Mence in on a predicted switch or after removing bulky hazards. Team support matters more than people realize. I pair Mence with hazard setters like Ferrothorn so opposing switches get chipped, and with hazard removers or clerics — Rotom-Wash or Clefable — to handle status and keep it healthy. Ferrothorn and heat control (a well-placed Tapu Fini or a specially defensive Clefable) help cover its glaring 4x weakness to Ice and vulnerability to priority. Smoke and mirrors aside, the biggest counters you need to plan for are Ice-types and fast priority users like priority-armed Scizor or opposing Weavile; chip or remove those threats before committing a Dragon Dance. I also occasionally swap Roost for Protect in formats where prediction boosts matters more, or replace Earthquake with Fire Blast to surprise Ferrothorn-heavy teams, though that feels clunky because Salamence prefers physical momentum. If you like high-risk, high-reward plays, Adamant Double-Edge + DD will give you moments where you one-shot core pieces and feel unstoppable. If you prefer consistency, Jolly plus smarter predictions and Roost feels steadier. Either way, treat Mega Salamence like a late-game demon: set the board, scout for hazards/priority, and then let it dance — there’s nothing quite like wiping half an opposing team after one Dragon Dance.

Man, Mega Salamence feels like someone took the regular Salamence, handed it a set of armor-plated wings, and said ‘now go sweep arenas’ — and the stat changes really tell that story. In raw numbers: regular Salamence is 95 HP / 135 Atk / 80 Def / 110 SpA / 80 SpD / 100 Spe (BST 600). After Mega Evolving it becomes 95 HP / 145 Atk / 130 Def / 120 SpA / 90 SpD / 120 Spe (BST 700). So you’re looking at +0 HP, +10 Atk, +50 Def, +10 SpA, +10 SpD, and +20 Spe — a net +100 to the total. That big jump in Defense (+50) and the bump to Speed (+20) are what really reshape how you use Salamence. It stops being a fragile glassy drake and turns into a fast, unexpectedly bulky presence that can both take hits and hit back. The Attack increase plus Aerilate (which turns Normal moves into boosted Flying moves) makes physical sets with Return or Double-Edge devastating; meanwhile the SpA bump opens room for mixed sets if you want to surprise people with Draco Meteor or Fire Blast. Typical playstyles lean into Dragon Dance + Aerilate-boosted physical moves, using 252 Atk / 252 Spe EVs and either Adamant or Jolly nature to capitalize on that 145 Attack and 120 Speed. If you love the flavor of a beast that can switch roles, Mega Salamence is deliciously flexible: you can run it as a fast physical sweeper, a bulky pivot that uses Roost and Dragon-type coverage, or even a mixed threat that takes advantage of increased defenses. The stat changes make Mega Salamence both more forgiving to play and more threatening on the field — it punishes mistakes and rewards prediction, which is why I always get excited when I see one on either side of a match.

Okay, here's how I think about building Mega Salamence as a mixed threat — I get excited about the creativity here because Aerilate opens up so many fun combos. First, the basics: Mega Salamence’s Aerilate turns Normal moves into Flying-type and boosts their power. That’s the cornerstone for mixed sets because you can run both physical and special Normal moves and get STAB on both sides. The classic pair is a physical Normal like Double-Edge (or Return if you prefer safer recoil-free play) and a special Normal like Hyper Voice. With Aerilate, both become powerful Flying STABs and cover different kinds of defensive checks. Around those two I usually slot a Dragon move and a coverage slot. Dragon Claw (physical) or Dragon Pulse/Draco Meteor (special) are the typical Dragon options depending on whether you want consistency or raw power. For coverage, Earthquake is a fantastic physical option to hit Steel types and opposing Fire/Flying switch-ins, while Fire Blast/Flamethrower as a special move helps handle Ferrothorn and Scizor. If you want survivability, Roost or Protect rounds out the set — Roost is especially nice to keep momentum and lets you re-enter safely. A sample moveset I run in my more theorycrafted matches: Double-Edge / Hyper Voice / Dragon Claw (or Dragon Pulse) / Fire Blast (or Earthquake) with Salamencite held. Play it by reading switches: use Double-Edge to break physical walls, Hyper Voice for bulky teams, and mix in Fire Blast for Steel answers. Teammates that check Rock- and Ice-types (like a bulky Water or a Steel resist) really help the mixed approach work well for me.