RU Spotlight: Moltres

Part of the legendary bird trio of Kanto, Moltres has been around since the very beginning of Pokémon. It has always been considered the "middle bird", Zapdos being the favorite and Articuno being the underdog. In the early days of RBY, its movepool was incredibly poor, having to rely on Agility and Fire Spin to be effective. Not all hope was lost as RBY mechanics allowed Moltres to trap and effectively disable opponents with Fire Spin. Of course, Moltres still had Fire Blast, a powerful STAB move capable of putting huge dents into many Pokémon. In short, Moltres was a niche Pokémon relegated to UU status in RBY.

In the transition to GSC, Moltres gained a few things in the forms of Sunny Day, Hidden Power, and Sleep Talk. While this didn't do a lot for Moltres's midling movepool, it gave the bird some interesting options and a bit more versatility. With Sunny Day and Charcoal equipped, Moltres could actually 2HKO Snorlax, the king of the GSC metagame - a feat that should not be ignored. This boost in power was enough to get it BL status in GSC, but ultimately its movepool continued to hold it back. Outside of Fire Blast and Hidden Power, Moltres had no useful coverage to make a name for itself in GSC.

ADV brought something interesting to the table for Moltres: a very useful ability in Pressure. With access to Rest and Sleep Talk, Moltres saw itself as one of the more reliable answers to sleep inducers in ADV OU. While Moltres didn't gain much in the way of new moves, Pokémon XD gave it Morning Sun, Will-O-Wisp, and Extrasensory. While the latter never saw the light of day, Morning Sun gave Moltres a semi-reliable recovery option, especially in Sunny Day conditions. Will-O-Wisp was more of a niche option for neutering physical attackers, but with powerful attackers like Tyranitar and Salamence around for Moltres to target, it certainly wasn't out of the question. Moltres once again found itself in the no-man's land of BL, hoping to find a way into the OU spotlight with the next generation shift.

Few people would have guessed it, but the advent of DPP would change so much for Moltres. Having gained more reliable instant recovery in the form of Roost, Moltres could finally abuse Pressure quite successfully. With the addition of the physical / special split, Moltres was granted some resemblance of a special movepool; Air Slash and Hidden Power gave it more than enough options to make a special attacking set viable. Life Orb, Choice Specs, and Choice Scarf were introduced as hold items, giving Moltres offensive power or Speed it had never previously had, depending on the item it held. Moltres also picked up U-turn, a fantastic scouting move that helped to alleviate the drawbacks of holding a Choice item. With all of these gains, one would think Moltres would have finally gained OU status, right? So why is such a powerful Pokémon that gained so much in the generation shift suddenly not strong enough to be BL material? One move gives all the answers: Stealth Rock. Regarded by many as the most influencial move ever introduced to competitive Pokémon, Stealth Rock would forever doom Moltres to the lower tiers. Stealth Rock removes health upon entry depending on a Pokémon's matchup against Rock-type moves. Since Moltres is 4x weak to Rock-type attacks, it loses a whopping 50% of its max HP just from trying to switch into battle if Stealth Rock is up. With Stealth Rock here to stay, it seemed that Moltres would never be a top threat in its tier ever again.

With the advent of BW, Moltres didn't gain many things right away. It was still largely the same Pokémon it was back in DPP, seeming to only slip farther in the depths of UU. This would all change, however, with the introduction of a new tier, called RarelyUsed, or RU for short. With this new tier, Moltres found a home as one of the strongest special attackers within this tier. Furthermore, BW2 would give Moltres a brand new toy in the form of Hurricane. This powerful STAB move would be what Moltres needed to rise to the top of RU for a period of time, even earning it some suspect attention. Though it was never banned, Moltres will always be seen as a top threat in BW RU for the remainder of the generation, largely due to its powerful STAB combination, high Special Attack, and respectable Speed.

Although it's still rather early in XY RU's lifespan, Moltres has remained one of the top special attackers in the tier. Although Delphox gives it stiff competition for a special attacking Fire-type, Moltres's Flying STAB, neutrality to the newly buffed Knock Off, and greater all-around bulk give it plenty of use over Delphox on certain teams, and it looks as though Moltres will remain as a perfectly viable choice to help you win many games in RU.

Moltres's Qualities

As you have probably gathered by now, Moltres thrives on its sky-high Special Attack stat. With a base 125 Special Attack and twin 110 BP STAB moves in Fire Blast and Hurricane, Moltres is one of the harder Pokémon to handle in the tier. While Moltres's typing is generally viewed as very poor due to the 4x Stealth Rock weakness, its 90 / 90 / 85 defenses and resistances to Grass, Bug, Fighting, and Steel as well as its Ground immunity should not be overlooked. Moltres's base 90 Speed may not be amazing by any means, but it's certainly good enough to get the job done.

In respect to its movepool, Moltres has enough to carve out multiple movesets. Fire Blast and Hurricane are the standout moves. Both have 110 BP and both get further boosted by STAB. However, they are both also inaccurate, which can lead to some frustration if Moltres misses at a crucial point in the battle. Outside of these, Moltres can make use of Hidden Power Grass, Roost, Substitute, Toxic, Agility, and U-turn, depending on the set you want to use with it.

Playing with Moltres

As previously alluded to, Moltres is able to run a number of sets effectively in the current XY RU metagame. The most common is a simple Roost + 3 Attacks Life Orb set, usually consisting of Fire Blast, Hurricane, Hidden Power Grass, and Roost. This not only gives Moltres good wallbreaking potential but also some longevity, which is something that its main rival, Delphox, sorely lacks. A set that rose to prominence late in BW2 and continues to be an underrated yet effective set is Agility Moltres. While this set still runs both STAB moves, there are differences. The biggest one is the use of Flamethrower over Fire Blast for reliability when it comes to sweeping late-game. Agility makes it impossible to outspeed Moltres, and given its base 125 Special Attack stat and a possible Life Orb boost, Agility Moltres can very easily sweep teams once its counters are removed. Common priority moves are hardly a problem for Moltres, as it carries enough bulk to deal with the likes of Sucker Punch and Mach Punch; just watch out for Aqua Jet!

Moltres can also go on the defensive with a SubRoost set. While the Roost + 3 Attacks set may opt for Substitute over Hidden Power Grass to ease prediction, Moltres's defensive SubRoost set aims to stall out opponents with Toxic and Pressure, utilizing Flamethrower to deal with Pokémon immune to Toxic. With resistances to Grass, Bug, Steel, Fighting, and Fire, as well as an immunity to Ground (and Spikes and Toxic Spikes, by extension) defensive SubRoost Moltres can be a surprisingly difficult threat to take out. Moltres's final viable set is a Choice Scarf set. While it may seem like a horrible idea to slap a Choice Scarf on a 4x Stealth Rock weak Pokémon, Moltres's powerful STAB attacks and access to U-turn help to alleviate this issue. Moltres's great synergy with common Defog and Rapid Spin users eases the burden of teambuilding with a 4x Stealth Rock weak Pokémon, and Moltres still has raw power with its base 125 Special Attack. With Choice Scarf equipped, Moltres suddenly outspeeds the faster Pokémon that are typically used to check and revenge kill it, and its high Special Attack can make Moltres a reliable late-game cleaner as well.

Playing Against Moltres

The first thing you have to do is figure out the set Moltres is using. This can be easier said than done due to Moltres's versatility and power. Assault Vest Slowking makes for a fine initial switch-in, as long as Moltres lacks Toxic. Without Toxic, Moltres has no way to get past Slowking, no matter how hard it tries. Keeping Stealth Rock up is also of the utmost importance, considering the fact that Moltres loses a whopping 50% from switching in if the entry hazard is present. Rhyperior and Druddigon are perhaps the most notable due to their solid bulk and offensive presence. Outside of this, dealing with Moltres simply comes on a set-by-set basis.

The standard Life Orb set can easily be revenge killed by the likes of Jolteon, Heliolisk, Sharpedo, and Cobalion or Virizion carrying Stone Edge. Assault Vest Druddigon can also stomach a couple of hits, especially Fire Blast, and hit back decently hard, while Kabutops can pick off Moltres with Aqua Jet should it be weakened a little bit. However, many of these Pokémon are taken out rather easily by the Agility set should Moltres get the boost as they switch-in. Of the aforementioned Pokémon, only Assault Vest Druddigon will remain as a good response as the rest are outsped and KOed. For the Agility set, sturdy Water-type Pokémon are the way to go. Slowking, Lanturn, and specially defensive Jellicent are great options here.

Defensive SubRoost sets are a bit tricky to get around. Exploud and Meloetta are absolute pains, though, as they can hit Moltres through Substitute with Boomburst and Hyper Voice, respectively. Meloetta can even avoid Toxic with a Substitute of its own and then begin setting up Calm Minds as this Moltres lacks the firepower of other sets. Golbat is also a good answer to SubRoost Moltres should it carry Toxic, as Infiltrator will ignore Moltres's Substitute. Choice Scarf Moltres has no way to get around the likes of Slowking, Gastrodon, Lanturn, and Rhyperior. Do be wary of constant U-turn use wearing down Lanturn and Rhyperior, however.

Fitting Moltres on Your Team

Above all else, Moltres needs hazard control. Hitmonlee is one of the best spinners in the tier, and it can easily deal serious damage to the likes of Slowking, Assault Vest Druddigon, and Jellicent, possibly wearing them down to the point where they can't deal with Moltres later. Shiftry is a great Defog user to use with Moltres thanks to its ability to force out most answers to Moltres. Unless it runs Agility or uses a Choice Scarf, Moltres will struggle with faster Electric-type Pokémon, primarily Jolteon and Heliolisk. Druddigon answers these well and can form a pretty good offensive core with Moltres. Slowking is also a massive thorn in Moltres's side, so having ways to remove it is ideal. Virizion, Rotom-C, Jolteon, Sharpedo, and Clawitzer can all do this effectively, although most of them have to be wary of a coverage move or a Scald burn upon switch-in. Alternatively, you can choose to exploit Choice Scarf Moltres's ability to run U-turn by giving it Pursuit support from Pokémon such as Spiritomb and Escavalier in order to lure in and take out Slowking. While every Moltres set can utilize the Pursuit support, Choice Scarf Moltres is able to use it most effectively due to it being able to U-turn directly out of Slowking and immediately put it in KO range of Pursuit.

The defensive SubRoost set generally prefers bulkier, more defensive teammates as it's more commonly seen on defensive balance or stall teams. For these teams, Gligar and Hitmontop are great entry hazard removers to utilize and have decent synergy with Moltres in general. Weezing and Drapion are also solid options for their ability to lay down Toxic Spikes, thus making it easier for Moltres to Toxic stall its opponents. Rhyperior's ability to set up Stealth Rock, phaze with Roar, and smack around opposing Poison- and Steel-types with a strong STAB Earthquake also make it a worthy addition to any team utilizing defensive SubRoost Moltres.

Get Out There!

Moltres is one of the great offensive Pokémon in the tier, but one of the few that can also play defensively. If you want a powerful Fire-type Pokémon on your team that is fully capable of breaking down walls, sweeping, stalling, and / or revenge killing, Moltres is the Pokémon for you. Be sure to give it a try now that you've been equipped with the knowledge needed to use it successfully in XY RU!

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