Wait, you are getting mad at other people for theorymonning but then you go and propose an equally theorymon-based situation to defend yourself?
That is my point, in order to argue that Moltres is useful, I must resort to theorymon, simply because people aren't going to "waste" their time testing.
It is outclassed because Zapdos doesn't need the support of its teammates to put up a fight. Moltres can counter those things, on paper, but in reality it will be operating at 50% HP more often than not. You send Moltres in to counter Scizor, then take 50% from SR as they U-turn to a Salamence or something...now you have a dead Moltres. Rapid Spinning is much more difficult to pull off than Stealth Rock, so in real-life situations you can't just magically assume that it's gone.
By the time Scizor begins to scout my team, Stealth Rock is typically gone, and here's why:
The rest of my team doesn't allow Scizor to switch in very much, if at all. Even Vaporeon can 2HKO with Surf, and use Protect to scout for U-Turns.
And the people arguing against Moltres aren't just using theorymon, it is also inferior to most of OU statwise and movepool wise. Even an objective analysis doesn't give much reason to use it.
How is it inferior? I love how all of the pro-Zapdos arguers think they can have Thunderbolt / Roost / Substitute / Toxic / Heat Wave all on one set. When you opt to run SubRoost, you lose the ability to OHKO Scizor, where Moltres succeeds. When you opt to OHKO Scizor, you are instantly outstalled by bulky grounds, and anything relatively defensive that resists your STAB(shit, I outstall Zapdos w/Heat Wave with my Torterra).
Because Rapid Spinning in and of itself is an inferior strategy in d/p.
Relative to? RSE/FRLG? Obviously, this simply isn't the case. Not only have new items been created for special based spinners to beat the most common anti-spinner(Choice Specs/Rotom-A, respectively) but the physical spinners(Forretress, Donphan) received dark moves to 2HKO Rotom-A, who does not have recovery. Combine this with the fact that Dusclops used to be able to beat every single spinner except CB Donphan, and you are stating a fallacy.
Also, Hitmontop is outclassed as a Fighting-type (Heracross, Lucario), as a Tyranitar counter (Hippowdon, Machamp, Scizor) and as a Rapid Spinner (Forretress). Most people prefer pokemon that don't require other pokemon before you can use it.
I have to disagree with this statement. First off, Hitmontop is a better Tyranitar counter than all three of the stated pokemon. Hippowdon can be 2HKOed by Aqua Tail, and many DD Tyranitar(the only kind Scizor can "counter") have a Babiri Berry and Fire Punch. Machamp is outclassed since it doesn't have Intimidate. As an offensive fighting type, I haven't tried it, but I can guarantee you it isn't 100% outclassed by Heracross(come on, this guy's got no shot in OU with Zapdos, Gyarados, Gliscor, Rotom-A). Atleast Hitmontop has Sucker Punch to work with, along with priority.
As a spinner, Forretress isn't clearly superior to Hitmontop. I know, you don't think it is "viable", but I will say it anyways-he doesn't have Foresight. He also doesn't have the ability to 2HKO Rotom-A, and he is typically used on stall teams that need a spiker, so he will almost never have a chance to spin/set up spikes, depending on which the user picks. As for Hitmontop, he has two things to do-spin and counter fighting weak shit, but he does the latter by simply switching in, unlike Forretress who must do all of that in battle.
Yeah I get what youre saying. People are being unnecessarily harsh on Moltres, but the fact still remains that it *is* outclassed in OU and that 4x SR weak *will* bite you more often than not. It is a useful pokemon, but my experience with it is really limited. If Moltres didn't get Roost, it wouldn't even be functional in UU imo.
I can see what you are saying, I just have a biased, which although may be despised, I see no counter-arguments as to why Moltres isn't viable, whereas I have tested Moltres and used him well(the biased). Obviously, Moltres simply wouldn't function anywhere without Roost, maybe NU, but that is pushing it.