Moltres

[Redtype]

Hello, this is my first thread on Dragonspiral Tower, I hope I've done everything well. Here we are going to discuss Moltres, the Flame Pokemon.

Moltres


Fire / Flying

90 HP / 100 Atk / 90 Def / 125 SpAtk / 85 SpDef / 90 Spe

Ability: Pressure (Enemy attacks lose one extra PP)
DW Ability: Flame Body (30% chance to burn Pokemon using contact moves on this Pokemon)

Level Up

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Start Wing Attack
Start Ember
8 Fire Spin
15 Agility
22 Endure
29 AncientPower
36 Flamethrower
43 Safeguard
50 Air Slash
57 Roost
64 Heat Wave
71 SolarBeam
78 Sky Attack
85 Sunny Day

TM/HM

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TM05 Roar
TM06 Toxic
TM10 Hidden Power
TM11 Sunny Day
TM15 Hyper Beam
TM17 Protect
TM18 Rain Dance
TM20 Safeguard
TM21 Frustration
TM22 SolarBeam
TM27 Return
TM32 Double Team
TM35 Flamethrower
TM37 Sandstorm
TM38 Fire Blast
TM40 Aerial Ace
TM42 Facade
TM43 Flame Charge
TM44 Rest
TM48 Round
TM50 Overheat
TM58 Sky Drop
TM59 Incinerate
TM61 Will-O-Wisp
TM68 Giga Impact
TM87 Swagger
TM88 Pluck
TM89 U-turn
TM90 Substitute
TM94 Rock Smash
HM02 Fly

Move Tutor

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Double-Edge
Mimic
Mud-Slap
Sky Attack
Sleep Talk
Swift
Air Cutter
AncientPower
Heat Wave
Ominous Wind
Tailwind
Twister

Now, Moltres might not be tearing stuff apart like some of the more overused Pokemon, but it has a few quirks that make it worth considering for your Random Match-up team:

• lack of Stealth Rock in the GBU Metagame means that Moltres can come in for free without worrying about a bunch of levitating rocks cutting its health in half. This is a huge boost for its tanking abilities, as Moltres does have an useful typing and good movepool.
• checks Blaziken without Stone Edge and various other threats, like Infernape, Scizor, Lucario, Heatran, Breloom, Volcarona (without HP Rock) and most Gliscor. It also makes a great counter for Sun teams, with Flamethrower and Hidden Power Ground hitting everything for good damage. Roost keeps Moltres healthy so it doesn't get worn over the course of the battle.
• with 125 base Sp.Atk and strong STABs, Moltres is also pretty potent offensive powerhouse

Possible sets:

Life Orb Attacker

Moltres @ Life Orb
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 60 HP / 252 SAtk / 196 Spd or 100 HP / 252 SAtk / 156 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk) / Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Flamethrower / Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Air Slash
- Roost

• A basic attacking set that also doubles as a check to the threats mentioned above.
• Flamethrower vs Fire Blast is the standard choice between Accuracy and Power.
• Hidden Power Grass was chosen for super effective coverage on Gastrodon, Quagsire and Rotom-W, but various other types like Ground (Heatran, other Fires) and Ice (Dragons, Gliscor) are also viable.
• Roost should be used whenever possible, otherwise Moltres might not be able to survive the repeated onslaughts of Pokemon it was supposed to beat.
• Moltres is pretty deadweight against Rain and Sand teams, so Pokemon that deal with both or either of them are the recommended parters - examples include Gastrodon, Quagsire, Virizion, Ferrothorn, Breloom and Lati@s.
• The first EV spread should be used with a Modest nature - with the given Speed EVs, Moltres easily outspeeds Jolly Breloom, allowing you to score a KO with a Fire move or Air Slash before it launches its Spore or Stone Edge. The second spread, when used with a Timid nature, gets a jump on Adamant Lucario, which again saves our mighty phoenix from being ripped to pieces by a Stone Edge.

Tank

Moltres @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 238 Def / 20 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Flamethrower
- Air Slash
- Toxic
- Roost

• A more defensive approach to Moltres.
• Good counter to fighting types in general, as most of them forgo Stone Edge for Ice Punch these days (thanks Gliscor!). The strongest Fighting type in the meta - Adamant LO Blaziken - can only muster a 4HKO with Hi Jump Kick, while a boosted one deals about 65% before falling to an Air Slash.
• 20 SpA allows Moltres to always OHKO aforementioned Blaziken with Air Slash after one turn of LO damage
• Toxic + Roost + Pressure can stall many Pokemon by itself
• Substitute can be used instead of Air Slash, forming the famous SubRoost stalling set, but keep in mind that you will lose your ability to counter Blaziken
• same partners as for the previous set

Revenge Killer / Lead

Moltres @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 6 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Air Slash
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn

• Great revenge killer, good lead, decent scout
• Hidden Power Ice revenge kills +1 Dragonite after Multiscale is broken, so its the primary Hidden Power for this set. If you are having a Rotom-W/Gastrodon problems, Hidden Power Grass is also perfectly usable.
• Fire Blast should be used for pure power. Flamethrower is a bit too weak without a boosting nature and/or Life Orb.
• you can hax your way with Air Slash if you're lucky
• U-Turn scouts

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That's it. I have personally tested only the first of the listed sets, so if you have any suggestions (especially for Doubles, Triples and Rotations), feel free to post!

(move lists are courtesy of Bulbapedia)

[Redtype]

Added descriptions for the sets. Any suggestions?

[Banryu]

Maybe slash Substitute with Air Slash and/or Flamethrower on the Tank set, Sub can assist with Pressure stalling a lot. I know most people would prefer to have Flamethrower as the mono-attack on the set, but it's worth noting that nothing is immune to Air Slash (Heatran walls Toxic + Flamethrower).