Moltres (Sunny Day) [GP 2/2]

I wrote the Moltres analysis, but only gave this a slight mention. I realised it's really powerful and reliable at getting rid of hail :)

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[SET]
name: Sunny Day
move 1: Sunny Day
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: SolarBeam
move 4: Roost
item: Leftovers
nature: Timid / Modest
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spd

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>This was once Moltres's staple set, but it has gradually fallen out of use, due to the introduction of Life Orb and the advent of the Toxic stalling set. However, Sunny Day Moltres is still extremely effective. Two generations later, it still has the power to crush opposing teams, but perhaps even more importantly, it has gained the element of surprise.</p>

<p>For obvious reasons, Sunny Day is the main move on this set. It provides three very important effects, and Moltres takes advantage of all of them. First and foremost, it boosts the power of Fire-type moves by 50%. This means that a Fire Blast coming from Moltres under the sun has the same power as one from the Choice Specs set. Second, it means that Moltres can effectively use SolarBeam, a far more powerful option than the standard Hidden Power Grass. Last but not least, as long as the sun is shining, Moltres loses its weakness to Water-type attacks, and can therefore act as a highly efficient lure to bulky Water-types, which can be disposed of with SolarBeam. Fire Blast is Moltres' STAB move, and a very powerful one at that. Anything that doesn't resist it will suffer at worst a 2HKO, and it is so powerful that even Pokemon that do have to be careful. SolarBeam provides excellent coverage with Fire Blast, hitting the Water- and Rock-types that can tank a Fire Blast super effectively. Finally, Roost restores half of Moltres's HP, and somewhat mitigates its crippling Stealth Rock weakness.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Moltres's EV spread is very simple: a Timid nature lets it tie with other positive-natured base 90 Speed Pokemon, and Special Attack is maximised in order to hit as hard as possible. The remaining 4 EVs are placed into Defense so that Moltres can switch into Stealth Rock twice without fainting. Leftovers is generally the preferred item, since it gives Moltres more survivability, and because Moltres gets a turn of healing while setting up Sunny Day. If more immediate power is preferred, then Life Orb is an option in order to hit with the power of a supernova: when using a Modest nature and a Life Orb, SolarBeam is able to OHKO standard Slowking, the premier bulky Water-type of RU. The OHKO is guaranteed if Moltres has Stealth Rock support. Heat Rock is another option, but is best used when Moltres is part of a dedicated Sunny Day team. Finally, it is worth noting that Moltres has access to another healing option in Morning Sun. Morning Sun heals 66% of Moltres' HP under sunshine, and 50% in weatherless conditions. However, it suffers from low PP, and the fact that Roost can remove Moltres' Flying-type generally makes it the superior option.</p>

<p>Sunny Day Moltres has few counters, due to its massive firepower (excuse the terrible pun). However, due to the fact that it only has access to Fire- and Grass-type coverage, bulky Fire-types, especially ones with Flash Fire, can counter it without difficulty. Of these, specially defensive Flareon is by far the most effective. It can Toxic Moltres and slowly whittle its HP down, while Moltres can do nothing in return. Altaria is in a similar position, and even has access to Cloud Nine to cancel out the effects of Sunny Day. However, these Pokemon are rare, and so the best way to deal with this Moltres set is to revenge kill it. There are many Pokemon that are naturally faster than Moltres and can KO it with Rock- or Electric-type attacks, such as Krookodile and Manectric. Therefore, it is vital to remove these Pokemon from play before bringing Moltres out. Dugtrio can trap and OHKO Manectric, and Krookodile can be dealt with by physical walls, such as Weezing. Wynaut can also trap and revenge kill these Pokemon.</p>
 
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Wish Flareon hard counters this. Flash Fire absorbs Fire Blast, Solarbeam is ineffective against its high Special Defense, and Toxic cripples Moltres. Tbh it's probably the best Moltres counter in RU because it doesn't have anything to fear from the raw power of Fire Blast.

Bulky Altaria (even the bulky DD set) also counters it because it resists Fire Blast and 4x resists Solarbeam, while it can heal in tandem with Moltres using Roost. With Life Orb it might make a difference, but idk off the top of my head.

Both need mentions. Also, at least give Hidden Power Rock a mention in AC. It is the best thing Moltres has against its counters and lets you beat random Fire-types easily even if you don't have SR on the field.
 
excellent points Eon. I never see flareon, but you're right, it's a hard counter. HP Rock doesn't do enough without LO, but i suppose the fact that moltres' counters are SR weak helps... I'll mention your points, but i have to go to school now :)
 
snover was banned!?!?

sure, ok, thanks for the approval. I'll get right to it
EDIT: this is my first additional set, do I follow the same rules (Set Comments, Additional Comments, in other words do I put the "team options and counters" bit in AC, and the "why this set deserves to go on site" bit in set comments)?
 
^ Yes, you do. At least, that's what you used to have to do last gen, and I'd imagine it still applies. *hasn't made an addditional set since Attacking Lead Shiftry*

And yes, Hail is officially gone. Hooray!
 
OK, this is now written. Also, when it gets uploaded, please make sure to remove mentions of Sunny Day in the current Moltres analysis. This is probably obvious, but I thought it's better safe than sorry :P
 
Unofficial check

additions
deletions

[SET]
name: Sunny Day
move 1: Sunny Day
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: SolarBeam
move 4: Roost
item: Leftovers
nature: Timid / Modest
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spd

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Once upon a time, This was once Moltres's staple set, but it has gradually fallen out of use, due to the introduction of Life Orb and the discovery of the Toxic stalling set. But that's not to say that Sunny Day Moltres has become less effective. However, Sunny Day Moltres is still extremely effective. Two generations later, it still has the power to crush opposing teams, but perhaps even more importantly, it has gained the element of surprise.</p>

<p>For obvious reasons, Sunny Day is the main move on this set. It provides three very important field effects, and Moltres takes advantage of all of them. First and foremost, is boosts the power of Fire-type moves by 50%. This means that a Fire Blast coming from Moltres under the sun has the same power as that coming from the Choice Specs set. Second, it means that Moltres can effectively use SolarBeam, a far more powerful option than the standard Hidden Power Grass. Last but not least, as long as the sun is shining, Moltres loses its weakness to Water-type attacks, meaning that Moltres can act as a highly efficient lure to bulky-water types, which can be disposed of with SolarBeam. Fire Blast is Moltres' STAB move, and a very powerful one at that. Anything that doesn't resist it will suffer at worst a 2HKO, and it's it is so powerful that even Pokemon that do pack who have a resistance to it have to be careful. SolarBeam provides excellent coverage with Fire Blast, hitting the Water- and Rock-types that can tank a Fire Blast super- effectively. Finally, Roost restores half of Moltres's HP, and somewhat mitigates its crippling Stealth Rock weakness.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Moltres's EV spread is very simple: a Timid nature lets it tie with other Pokemon with 90 base Speed that run a positive nature, and Special Attack is maximised in order to hit as hard as possible. The remaining 4 EVs are placed into Defense so that Moltres can switch into Stealth Rock twice without fainting. Leftovers is generally the preferred item, since it gives Moltres more survivability, and because Moltres wastes a turn when gets a turn of healing while setting up Sunny Day. If more immediate power is preferred, then Life Orb is an option in order to hit with the power of a supernova: when using a Modest nature and a Life Orb, SolarBeam is able to OHKO the standard Slowking, the premier bulky- water of RU. The OHKO is guaranteed if Moltres is provided with has Stealth Rock support. Heat Rock is another option, but is best used when Moltres is part of a proper Sunny Day team. Finally, it's it is worth noting that Moltres has access to another healing option in Morning Sun. Morning Sun heals 66% of Moltres' HP under sunshine, and 50% when it's the weather is clear skies. However, it suffers from low PP, and the fact that Roost can remove Moltres' Flying-typing -type generally makes it the superior option.</p>

<p>Sunny Day Moltres has few counters, due to its massive firepower (excuse the terrible pun). However, due to the fact that it only has access to Fire- and Grass-type coverage, bulky Fire-types, especially ones with Flash Fire, can counter it without difficulty. Of these, specially defensive Flareon is by far the most effective. It can Toxic Moltres and slowly whittle its HP down, while Moltres can do nothing in return. Altaria is in a similar position, and even has access to Cloud Nine to cancel out the effects of Sunny Day. However, these Pokemon are rare, and so the best way to deal with this Moltres set is to revenge kill it. There are many Pokemon that are naturally faster than Moltres and can KO it with Rock- or Electric-type attacks, such as Krookodile or Manectric. Therefore, it is vital to remove these Pokemon from play before bringing Moltres out. Dugtrio can trap and OHKO Manectric, and Krookodile can be dealt with by physical walls such as Weezing. Wynaut can also trap and revenge kill these Pokemon.</p>
 
I left out the last mistake: the bit when I say Wynaut "revenge kills", since that's what Wynaut does. I think it sounds a little better that way, but if someone else disagrees I'll change it. Thanks for the check!
 
remove add comments

[SET]
name: Sunny Day
move 1: Sunny Day
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: SolarBeam
move 4: Roost
item: Leftovers
nature: Timid / Modest
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spd

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>This was once Moltres's staple set, but it has gradually fallen out of use, due to the introduction of Life Orb and the discovery i'd go with advent / invention of the Toxic stalling set. However, Sunny Day Moltres is still extremely effective. Two generations later, it still has the power to crush opposing teams, but perhaps even more importantly, it has gained the element of surprise.</p>

<p>For obvious reasons, Sunny Day is the main move on this set. It provides three very important effects, and Moltres takes advantage of all of them. First and foremost, is it boosts the power of Fire-type moves by 50%. This means that a Fire Blast coming from Moltres under the sun has the same power as that coming one avoids repeating 'coming from', though what you've got is fine too from the Choice Specs set. Second, it means that Moltres can effectively use SolarBeam, a far more powerful option than the standard Hidden Power Grass. Last but not least, as long as the sun is shining, Moltres loses its weakness to Water-type attacks, meaning that Moltres can and can therefore / thus preferential too act as a highly efficient lure to bulky-water types bulky Water-types, which can be disposed of with SolarBeam. Fire Blast is Moltres' STAB move, and a very powerful one at that. Anything that doesn't resist it will suffer at worst a 2HKO, and it is so powerful that even Pokemon who have a resistance to it that do preferential have to be careful. SolarBeam provides excellent coverage with Fire Blast, hitting the Water- and Rock-types that can tank a Fire Blast super- (remove hyphen, keep the space) effectively. Finally, Roost restores half of Moltres's HP, and somewhat mitigates its crippling Stealth Rock weakness.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Moltres's EV spread is very simple: a Timid nature lets it tie with other Pokemon with 90 base Speed that run a positive nature positive-natured base 90 Speed Pokemon, and Special Attack is maximised in order to hit as hard as possible. The remaining 4 EVs are placed into Defense so that Moltres can switch into Stealth Rock twice without fainting. Leftovers is generally the preferred item, since it gives Moltres more survivability, and because Moltres gets a turn of healing while setting up Sunny Day. If more immediate power is preferred, then Life Orb is an option in order to hit with the power of a supernova: when using a Modest nature and a Life Orb, SolarBeam is able to OHKO standard Slowking, the premier bulky- water bulky Water-type of RU. The OHKO is guaranteed if Moltres has Stealth Rock support. Heat Rock is another option, but is best used when Moltres is part of a proper dedicated Sunny Day team. Finally, it is worth noting that Moltres has access to another healing option in Morning Sun. Morning Sun heals 66% of Moltres' HP under sunshine, and 50% when the weather is clear skies in weatherless conditions. However, it suffers from low PP, and the fact that Roost can remove Moltres' Flying-type generally makes it the superior option.</p>

<p>Sunny Day Moltres has few counters, due to its massive firepower (excuse the terrible pun). However, due to the fact that it only has access to Fire- and Grass-type coverage, bulky Fire-types, especially ones with Flash Fire, can counter it without difficulty. Of these, specially defensive Flareon is by far the most effective. It can Toxic Moltres and slowly whittle its HP down, while Moltres can do nothing in return. Altaria is in a similar position, and even has access to Cloud Nine to cancel out the effects of Sunny Day. However, these Pokemon are rare, and so the best way to deal with this Moltres set is to revenge kill it. There are many Pokemon that are naturally faster than Moltres and can KO it with Rock- or Electric-type attacks, such as Krookodile or and Manectric. Therefore, it is vital to remove these Pokemon from play before bringing Moltres out. Dugtrio can trap and OHKO Manectric, and Krookodile can be dealt with by physical walls, (comma) such as Weezing. Wynaut can also trap and revenge kill these Pokemon.</p>

i really enjoyed this, especially the introduction; keep it up!

do note that it's 'bulky Water-types' and not any variation of that, though :)

also at first when you said SD Moltres I thought you meant Swords Dance and was like wuuuut

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GP APPROVED (2/2)
 
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