Pokémon TCG: Top 10 Best Salamence of All Time

Today, we'll carry on exploring the Hoenn Pokédex and discuss Salamence, a Dragon Pokémon. According to the local Pokédex, it is considered a "pseudo-legendary" Pokémon!

Below, we'll go through the best Salamence ever printed, from the "baby" versions to the most powerful "ultra rare" versions.

10 - Salamence (X/Y: Roaring Skies)

Let's start with this Salamence from X & Y's Roaring Skies. It is one of the few cards in Expanded that has three attacks. This was more common in the Ruby & Sapphire era, but The Pokémon Company eventually gave up on the idea.

Each of these 3 attacks does something different, but they're all very useful: from discarding a Stadium in play to dealing damage according to how many cards your opponent has in hand. The last attack is a bit stronger, so you can use it when you run out of alternatives.

You can use this card in the Expanded format.

9 - Salamence (X/Y: Promo Cards)

This card, also from the X & Y block, stands out because of its "Delta ability", a mechanic introduced around the time *Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire were released. This mechanic was featured in these Pokémon as a "fixed" ability, different from traditional abilities that Trainer and other Pokémon effects can simply disable.

This "Delta ability", called Evolution, lets you put this Salamence in play straight away on the first turn it is on your hand, even if you play a Bagon on the same turn. With this ability, you can simply ignore one of the most basic Pokémon TCG rules: "you can't evolve a Pokémon on the same turn you play a basic Pokémon".

Furthermore, its first attack is excellent. It is a sort of "Call for Family" effect that lets you get 3 basic Pokémon from your deck.

You can use this card in Expanded.

8 - Salamence (Sword/Shield: Evolving Skies)

Its ability, Intimidating Roar, forces your opponent to swap their active Pokémon for one of their Benched Pokémon. You can use it with cards like Boss's Orders RCL 154 or Counter Catcher CIN 91 to disrupt the enemy strategy even more.

Its attack, Fierce Dragon, is also quite powerful: it deals base 100 damage and 120 extra damage if the enemy Pokémon has any damage counters.

You can use it in Expanded.

7 - Salamence ex (Ruby/Sapphire: Dragon Frontiers)

This Pokémon from the "Delta" era stands out because of its ability, Type Shift, which lets you swap its Pokémon type to Fire. This essentially lets you explore certain "type weaknesses" for one turn.

Its second attack, Dual Stream offers you two options: you can either deal 80 damage to the active enemy Pokémon, or deal 40 damage to the active enemy Pokémon and 40 damage to a Benched enemy Pokémon.

In the Ruby & Sapphire era, this was also a Fire and Fighting Pokémon, which was incredible.

You can use this card in the U150 and Palace formats.

6 - Salamence LV.X (Diamond/Pearl: Arceus)

Pokémon LV.X, from the Diamond & Pearl block, can use the attacks and abilities of their previous level. For instance, this Salamence can use all the effects Salamence SF 24, Salamence AR 8, or Salamence SW 18 have, as long as it was placed over one of them.

Its ability, Double Fall, was extremely strong: "whenever Salamence LV.X Knocks Out an enemy Pokémon with its attacks, you get to draw one extra Prize card."

You can only use it in the U150 and Palace formats.

5 - Salamence EX (X/Y: Promo Cards)

This Salamence EX is quite functional on its own, even without its Mega form. That's why we added it to our 5th spot all by itself.

Its attack, Beastly Fang, deals more damage according to how many Pokémon EX your opponent has on their board. This was excellent in X & Y's Standard format.

You can only use it in Expanded nowadays.

4 - Mega Salamence EX (X/Y: Promo Cards)

Its Mega form, on the other side, has an attack called Savage Wing. It lets you discard as many Fire energies attached to it as you want to deal 100 base damage + 40 extra damage for each energy you discard this way.

This card didn't stand out a lot in Standard at the time, but it became a lot stronger in Expanded thanks to its synergy with Emboar PR-BLW BW21 and Superior Energy Retrieval PLF 103.

You can only use it in Expanded nowadays.

3 - Salamence GX (Sun/Moon: Dragon Majesty)

Our third spot is this Salamence from the Sun & Moon block. Its ability, Dragon Lift, lets you retreat "baby" Pokémon for free, except for Pokémon-GX and Pokémon-EX (and, by extension, all Pokémon ex, lower case "ex".)

However, you can use this ability with Pokémon V, VMax, VStar, and VUnion, so this Pokémon is actually a very valuable card.

You can only use it in Expanded.

2 - Salamence V & Salamence VMax (Sword/Shield: Darkness Ablaze)

These two cards complement each other really well: Salamence V DAA 143's "sniper" attack deals 30 damage to all enemy Pokémon, and Salamence VMAX DAA 144's attack deals 40 damage to two enemy Pokémon. You can combine these attacks to Knock Out any enemy Pokémon you want.

Furthermore, you can use Relicanth TEF 84, Shining Celebi PR-SM SM79, Celebi-EX BCR 9, Memory Energy LOT 194, and Memory Capsule VIV 155 to use attacks from previous forms, and explore this synergy even more.

1 - Salamence ex (Scarlet/Violet: Journey Together)

Our best Salamence came out quite recently, in the Journey Together set. It combines a few mechanics all TCG players value:

1) It doesn't have a weakness.

2) It has two powerful attacks: the first deals 50 damage to all enemy Pokémon (so it's a sniper attack), and the second deals a brutal 300 damage.

In Standard, you can easily use these attacks with Baxcalibur PR-SV 19's ability, Super Cold, as it uses Water energies.

In Expanded, you have even more options. It should become a key piece for Regidrago VSTAR SIT 136 and replace M Rayquaza-EX ROS 61 and M Charizard-EX FLF 69.

Salamence (Black/White: Dragon Vault)

Its ability, Scornful Storm, is a way to control your opponent: if they have more than four cards in hand, they'll have to discard them until they only have four cards in hand.

As for its attack, Shred, it ignores active enemy effects, and, as such, goes through all barriers and defenses.

Salamence (Diamond/Pearl: Stormfront)

This Salamence, which is Salamence LV.X AR 98's base form, stood out in the Diamond & Pearl block because of its ability, Battle Rush. This ability lets you ignore the colorless energies you need for its attacks if the enemy Pokémon has more than 120 HP.

Do you agree with our picks? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!