Moltres
[Overview]
<p>Moltres was always a bad Pokemon to use in OU. Losing 50% of its health from Stealth Rock, having a mediocre 90 base Speed, being weak to Electric-, Rock-, and Water-type moves, and being outclassed by the Fire-types of OU were the main reasons that Moltres never saw any real use. However, Moltres got Hurricane in BW2, giving it a reason to be used in OU. While it faces stiff competition with the tier's prime Hurricane user, Tornadus-T, Moltres has its own unique traits to distinguish it. These traits are a much stronger Hurricane, the ability to overcome Jirachi, Bronzong, and Metagross, OHKOing Ferrothorn in rain, unlike Tornadus-T, and lastly, the ability to easily switch into many Pokemon that sun teams carry, and from there punch holes with a stupidly strong Fire Blast. Even if those traits are not enough for Moltres to escape from the shadow of Tornadus-T and its other flaws, Moltres and Tornadus-T form a destructive Hurricane combo when combined together, where Moltres weakens the Pokemon that prevent Tornadus-T from cleaning up late-game. In short, despite needing a ton of support to work, Moltres has a definite niche in OU: the ability to work as a wallbreaking partner for Tornadus-T.</p>
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Hurricane
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Hidden Power Fighting / Hidden Power Ground
move 4: U-turn / Roost
item: Choice Specs / Sharp Beak
nature: Modest / Timid
evs: 24 HP / 252 SpA / 44 SpD / 188 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Moltres is tied with Tornadus for most powerful Hurricane in OU, and with Choice Specs attached its power is phenomenal. To give you an example of Moltres's power, offensive Heatran is always 2HKOed by Hurricane after just Stealth Rock. In addition, Moltres's typing allows it to check some dangerous offensive threats, such as Sheer Force Landorus, Lucario, and Volcarona, that no other Hurricane user in OU can do. As with any Hurricane user, Moltres needs Drizzle support from Politoed to function properly. However, unlike most Hurricane users, Moltres has the ability to perform admirably under sun as nothing except Heatran can take its Fire Blast; to make matters worse for opposing sun teams, Moltres gets many opportunities to switch in against Pokemon commonly found on sun teams, namely Ninetales, Heatran, Volcarona, Xatu, and Venusaur. Hurricane is the move Moltres should be using most of the time, as it 2HKOes every Pokemon not named Blissey or Chansey that doesn't resist it. Fire Blast will at worst 2HKO every Steel-type under rain that can tank Hurricane, such as Jirachi, Bronzong, and Metagross, and OHKOes Ferrothorn, which is a boon for rain teams, as many rain teams lack a way to quickly dispose of it. Fire Blast is also Moltres's main weapon against sun teams, as Moltres can find many opportunities to switch in against sun teams and proceed to fire off sun-boosted STAB Fire Blasts, pulling its weight even in sun. Hidden Power Fighting is used to 2HKO any Tyranitar and Heatran; more specifically, offensive Heatran and Choice Scarf Tyranitar are always OHKOed after Stealth Rock. Hidden Power Ground OHKOes any Heatran, while 2HKOing any Choice Tyranitar, but fails to do any significant damage to specially defensive variants of the latter. U-turn allows Moltres to scout for switch-ins from its counters, Chansey, Blissey, and Tyranitar, while also doing a fair bit of damage to Tyranitar. Roost gives Moltres the ability to heal off Stealth Rock damage and survive longer.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Modest is the primary nature because the extra power gives Moltres certain OHKOs and 2HKOs. Specifically:</p>
<ul class="damage_calculation">
<li>Hurricane vs 4 SpD Heatran: 45.82 - 54.17%, sure 2HKO after Stealth Rock</li>
<li>Hurricane vs 184 HP Rotom-W: 51.56 - 60.62%, 94.14% chance to 2HKO</li>
<li>Hurricane vs +2 SpD 0 HP Volcarona: 97.1 - 114.46%, 81.25% chance to OHKO</li>
<li>Hurricane vs 4 SpD Dragonite: 96.9 - 114.24%</li>
<li>Hurricane vs 56 HP Gyarados: 90.72 - 107.24%</li>
<li>Hurricane vs 4 HP Garchomp: 100 - 118.15%</li>
<li>Hurricane vs 252 HP Skarmory: 62.87 - 73.95%</li>
<li>Fire Blast (rain) vs 252 / 224+ Jirachi: 57.92 - 68.31%</li>
</ul>
<p>Choice Specs is the main item because of the huge power it provides, and because Moltres should be using Hurricane most of the time anyway. However, Sharp Beak is an option if one prefers the freedom to change moves and the ability to use Roost, which is very handy in some situations. The Speed EVs enable Moltres to outspeed Timid Politoed and Jolly Breloom, both of which are OHKOed by Hurricane. With 44 EVs in Special Defense Choice Scarf Genesect gets an Attack boost against Moltres and cannot OHKO with Thunderbolt, while Moltres OHKOes back with either STAB move. When using Hidden Power Ground with a Modest nature, running max Speed is an option to outrun Timid 252 Speed Heatran and Smeargle. By using a Timid nature Moltres has the advantage of outspeeding max Speed Jolly Mamoswine, Timid Rotom-W, Modest Kyurem, neutral natured Kyurem-B, Adamant Haxorus, and Modest Hydreigon. With a Timid nature, Moltres should use this spread: 248 SpA / 44 SpD / 216 Spe. This spread gives it enough Speed to outrun Modest Hydreigon, 44 SpD EVs for Genesect, and places the rest of the EVs in Special Attack. Hidden Power Fighting is the superior third move because removing Tyranitar from the game is more vital to Moltres's success than removing Heatran.</p>
<p>Sleep Talk is a viable option as Moltres can easily switch into Breloom, Venusaur, and Amoonguss. Hidden Power Grass allows Moltres to OHKO offensive Rotom-W, 2HKO specially defensive Rotom-W, and 2HKO any Choice Tyranitar after Stealth Rock. Life Orb can be used over Sharp beak if you find that any move other than Hurricane lacks power, but the Life Orb recoil, Stealth Rock damage, and any other damage that Moltres may receive will leave it wanting to use Roost all the time, having little time to actually attack, which contradicts the purpose of the set.</p>
<p>Politoed is mandatory as a teammate, obviously, to make Moltres's Hurricane 100% accurate. A way to get rid of Stealth Rock is also obligatory when using Moltres, which means using either Rapid Spin or Magic Bounce support. Starmie and Tentacruel are the spinners that work the best with Moltres and are the best spinners for rain teams too; Starmie is usually the option for more offensive teams, and can revenge kill some Pokemon that outspeed and OHKO Moltres, such as Terrakion, Thundurus-T, and Keldeo, while Tentacruel is the option for more balanced teams, and still deals with many Pokemon that trouble Moltres such as Keldeo, Terrakion, and Choice Scarf Politoed. In turn, Moltres can take Ground-, Bug-, and Grass-type attacks aimed at Starmie and Tentacruel, and beat Pokemon that they hate facing such as Celebi, Ferrothorn, and Amoonguss. As for Magic Bouncers, neither Espeon nor Xatu work particularly well with Moltres in rain teams, but they are both an option if one is using Moltres on an offensive VoltTurn team, which is the only team archetype in which the Magic Bounce Pokemon will manage to keep Stealth Rock off the field for any period of time. Tornadus-T is the best offensive partner for Moltres and the combination of the two is the main reason to use Moltres in OU. Tornadus-T forms a dual Hurricane combo with Moltres and together they break down Flying-type resists and, in general, can wear down each other's counters. Tornadus-T with Taunt is the best variant to use alongside Moltres, as it can beat Blissey, Chansey, Heatran, and Tyranitar, while Moltres weakens Rotom-W, Rotom-H, and Zapdos, as well as handling Jirachi, Bronzong, Scizor, Skarmory, and sun teams. Additionally, both Tornadus-T and Moltres can bring each other in safely with U-turn. This allows Tornadus-T to easily clean whole teams late-game.</p>
<p>There are also some more optional partners for Moltres. Dugtrio is of great help to Moltres, as Moltres can bring it in safely with U-turn allowing it to trap and eliminate Heatran and Tyranitar, winning the weather war in the case of the latter and giving Moltres an opening to wreak havoc. When using Dugtrio, Moltres also puts Choice Scarf Genesect in a checkmate position, as the only way that Genesect can KO Moltres is with Thunderbolt, and if it does that, it gets trapped and KOed by Dugtrio. As long as Genesect doesn't use Thunderbolt, Moltres can act as a great switch-in, shielding your team from its other attacks. This fact makes Moltres a good lead against teams with Genesect, as most Genesect use Choice Scarf, and Genesect that do not hold Choice Scarf don't typically lead. Terrakion, especially the Choice Band set, murders all of Moltres's checks and counters, making for a great teammate. Celebi has amazing defensive synergy with Moltres, checking Pokemon such as Keldeo, Terrakion, Thundurus-T, Calm Mind + Substitute Jirachi, and Starmie, while Moltres can get many free switch-ins via Celebi's U-turn against the many Steel- and Grass-types that Celebi attracts. Finally, specially defensive Jirachi can pass Wishes to Moltres with ease, as they have excellent defensive synergy, helping Moltres with its longevity problem and also taking Rock- and Dragon-type attacks aimed at Moltres.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>A defensive set utilizing Substitute and Roost alongside Flamethrower and Hurricane or Flamethrower and Toxic is the most viable Moltres set not already listed. Thanks to Pressure, Moltres can easily PP stall moves from Pokemon that would otherwise hurt it badly by alternating between Substitute and Roost, such as Stone Edge from Tyranitar and Hydro Pump from Rotom-W and Choice Specs Politoed. The following spread should be used with this set: 248 HP / 164 SpD / 96 Spe with a Timid nature. This spread gives Moltres enough Speed to outrun positive natured base 70s, such as Breloom and Politoed, and places the rest of the EVs into HP and Special Defense because Moltres's typing is better suited to take special hits. However, this set can be walled and rendered useless by many common Pokemon, such as Roar Heatran, Hippowdon, Calm Mind Jirachi or specially defensive Jirachi with Thunder, and Tentacruel, and is checked by many other Pokemon depending on the secondary move of choice Moltres chooses to run (Hurricane or Toxic). It is also hurt pretty badly by Stealth Rock, as with Stealth Rock up it can't wall any of the threats that it otherwise could and has to spend all of its time using Roost. Substitute can be used with Life Orb on the offensive set when running Roost to take advantage of Pressure and stall out moves that could hurt Moltres, scout faster switch-ins, and ease prediction, but between Substitute, Life Orb recoil, and Stealth Rock damage, Moltres will rarely find time to attack or heal. Choice Scarf is an option on the offensive set to enable Moltres to act as a moderately powerful revenge killer, but it is outclassed by pretty much any other revenge killer in OU due to a huge Stealth Rock weakness and a mediocre Speed stat. Lastly, an Agility set is a viable option in sun teams, and can act as a decent cleaner late-game, but faces a lot of competition from better sun sweepers such as Volcarona, Venusaur, and Victini, and thus is generally outclassed.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>The best way to deal with Moltres is Stealth Rock, as with it on the field Moltres can only switch-in three times at best, which hampers greatly its effectiveness. If the Stealth Rock setter is paired with Pokenon such as Choice Band Tyranitar or Choice Scarf Gothitelle Moltres will have an even harder time coming in, as the two most common spinners paired with it, Starmie and Tentacruel, are in danger of getting trapped. As far as traditional counters go, Chansey and Blissey are the only surefire counters to Moltres. Tyranitar and Heatran work too, but they both get hurt pretty badly by Hidden Power, and Heatran can't do any immediate damage back to Moltres, having to settle for poisoning it with Toxic or setting up Stealth Rock and phazing Moltres with Roar. Rotom-W, Rotom-H, and Zapdos and Jirachi in rain are all good checks, but are prone to getting worn down, or lose if a Hurricane confusion occurs. Everything faster than Moltres that can take a hit is an okay check, namely Scarf Rotom-W, Thundurus-T, and Calm Mind Jirachi, as they can switch into Moltres once or twice and force it out. Finally, there are many offensive Pokemon that can revenge kill Moltres; Pokemon such as Keldeo, Latios, Starmie, and Terrakion will do the trick.</p>
