Several months ago I discussed a Scarf Moltres lead in Stark Mountain. I battle tested it again today and I'm again surprised to see that it still works out pretty well.
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Scarf-Lead Moltres.
Modest @ 252 Sp. Atk, 216 Speed, 40 Defense
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U-Turn
Will o Wisp
Overheat
Air Slash
This Moltres is designed to OHKO as many typical leads as possible, while still having somewhat of a plan for the others. Most leads are OHKOed by Overheat, and if not then they are OHKOed by Air Slash. Do not fear speedy leads like Gengar or Deoxys-S: Moltres is bulky enough even with 0 Sp. Def EVs to take a Scarf Gengar's or a Life Orb Deoxys-S T-Bolt and still deliver an OHKO in the form of Overheat. All other Gengar (LO, Specs, etc. ) are outsped by Scarf Moltres. The list of common lead Pokemon that are OHKOed by Overheat or Air Slash include Infernape, Jolteon, Azelf, Yanmega, Bronzong, Metagross, Roserade, Forretress, Crobat, Ninjask, Ambipom, Alakazam, Celebi, Skarmory, Weavile, Abomasnow ... the list goes on and on.
However, Moltres gets far from perfect coverage from Fire/Flying. Tyranitar, Salamence, Swampert, Hippowdon, Zapdos, Aerodactyl, and Gyarados are some popular leads that are not OHKOed by Overheat or Air Slash. This is where Will o Wisp comes in. Few pokemon like having their attack cut in half for the rest of the match, and Moltres is bulky enough to survive a Stone Edge from Salamence, Swampert, Hippowdon, or Gyarados if they are burned. All bets are off if they use a choice item however, and Salamence will always OHKO with Specs Draco Meteor. Moltres is bulky enough to take on Swampert and Gyarados 1v1 and win if Air Slash flinches them, or if Gyarados or Swampert gets greedy with Taunt and Dragon Dance or Stealth Rocks. Waterfall from either does not KO. Similarly, you can punish T-Tar or Salamence with Will o Wisp, but even when burned both possess the ability to OHKO Moltres. The option is open however if you predict a greedy opponent who dragon dances, subs, or taunts on the first turn expecting you to switch out. Both Zapdos and Aerodactyl OHKO Moltres even when burned. Zapdos doesn't care about the status and Aerodactyl would have done its job, so just U-Turn out.
As Will o Wisp punishes a greedy opponent, you have a strategy to punish conservative ones. Should there be a pokemon who is proned to be OHKOed by Moltres, you can U-Turn out and predict their switch. U-Turn attacks after the opponent switches out, so you get to see who they switch to before comming in with your counter. U-Turning Moltres as Heatran, or T-Tar comes in nearly guarentees an early victory if you switch into Dugtrio. But if the opponent doesn't switch in but instead attacks you, you can switch to a wall to absorb the attack instead. U-Turn delays the decision until you have more information. Take advantage of this fact.
Finally, Scarf Moltres is not useless in the mid/late game. Keep the Stealth Rocks off and Moltres will continue to be useful as a generic ground, fighting, bug, and grass resist and late game Sp. Sweeper with Scarfed Air Slashes.
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Now, the EVs are almost completely arbitrary. They are practically only there to outrun scarf Heracross and the base 130 gang... and all other EVs were dumped into Defense to help as a later game Mixape, Heracross or Breloom counter. So I'm pretty sure some tweeking can be done with those. Aside from that, I'd like to just put this set out there again for criticisms / comments before I contribute it to the SCMS. It is a reletively large edit afterall.
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Scarf-Lead Moltres.
Modest @ 252 Sp. Atk, 216 Speed, 40 Defense
--------
U-Turn
Will o Wisp
Overheat
Air Slash
This Moltres is designed to OHKO as many typical leads as possible, while still having somewhat of a plan for the others. Most leads are OHKOed by Overheat, and if not then they are OHKOed by Air Slash. Do not fear speedy leads like Gengar or Deoxys-S: Moltres is bulky enough even with 0 Sp. Def EVs to take a Scarf Gengar's or a Life Orb Deoxys-S T-Bolt and still deliver an OHKO in the form of Overheat. All other Gengar (LO, Specs, etc. ) are outsped by Scarf Moltres. The list of common lead Pokemon that are OHKOed by Overheat or Air Slash include Infernape, Jolteon, Azelf, Yanmega, Bronzong, Metagross, Roserade, Forretress, Crobat, Ninjask, Ambipom, Alakazam, Celebi, Skarmory, Weavile, Abomasnow ... the list goes on and on.
However, Moltres gets far from perfect coverage from Fire/Flying. Tyranitar, Salamence, Swampert, Hippowdon, Zapdos, Aerodactyl, and Gyarados are some popular leads that are not OHKOed by Overheat or Air Slash. This is where Will o Wisp comes in. Few pokemon like having their attack cut in half for the rest of the match, and Moltres is bulky enough to survive a Stone Edge from Salamence, Swampert, Hippowdon, or Gyarados if they are burned. All bets are off if they use a choice item however, and Salamence will always OHKO with Specs Draco Meteor. Moltres is bulky enough to take on Swampert and Gyarados 1v1 and win if Air Slash flinches them, or if Gyarados or Swampert gets greedy with Taunt and Dragon Dance or Stealth Rocks. Waterfall from either does not KO. Similarly, you can punish T-Tar or Salamence with Will o Wisp, but even when burned both possess the ability to OHKO Moltres. The option is open however if you predict a greedy opponent who dragon dances, subs, or taunts on the first turn expecting you to switch out. Both Zapdos and Aerodactyl OHKO Moltres even when burned. Zapdos doesn't care about the status and Aerodactyl would have done its job, so just U-Turn out.
As Will o Wisp punishes a greedy opponent, you have a strategy to punish conservative ones. Should there be a pokemon who is proned to be OHKOed by Moltres, you can U-Turn out and predict their switch. U-Turn attacks after the opponent switches out, so you get to see who they switch to before comming in with your counter. U-Turning Moltres as Heatran, or T-Tar comes in nearly guarentees an early victory if you switch into Dugtrio. But if the opponent doesn't switch in but instead attacks you, you can switch to a wall to absorb the attack instead. U-Turn delays the decision until you have more information. Take advantage of this fact.
Finally, Scarf Moltres is not useless in the mid/late game. Keep the Stealth Rocks off and Moltres will continue to be useful as a generic ground, fighting, bug, and grass resist and late game Sp. Sweeper with Scarfed Air Slashes.
-------------------
Now, the EVs are almost completely arbitrary. They are practically only there to outrun scarf Heracross and the base 130 gang... and all other EVs were dumped into Defense to help as a later game Mixape, Heracross or Breloom counter. So I'm pretty sure some tweeking can be done with those. Aside from that, I'd like to just put this set out there again for criticisms / comments before I contribute it to the SCMS. It is a reletively large edit afterall.
