Behold the last of the three legendary birds from gen 1. I still remember just casually trying to make it through Victory Road only to accidently come upon Moltres just kind of chilling in a cave packed full of strong trainers that don't seem to pay any attention to it. Considering Arcticuno and Zapdos hide in remote areas devoid of people, maybe Moltres is just the more extroverted of the trio? Well maybe not considering in the remakes it fled to an isolated island volcano in the FIreRed and LeafGreen remakes.
Anyways Moltres has had an interesting history competitively. Unlike its popular sibling Zapdos it could not really function in the higher tiers, nor did it have an interesting gimmick like Arcticuno and its Mind Reader + Sheer Cold combo. However, Moltres has been going through a renaissance of sorts lately and more and more people have begun to see the potential that this fire bird is capable of, and getting a darker and edgier regional variant also certainly helped boost its popularity.
Phoenotopia Awakening
Ability: Flame Body
Item: Life Orb
Nature: Timid (+Speed -Attack)
EVs: (HP 4) (Sp.Attack 252) (Speed 252)
Moves:
Sunny Day/Roost
Fire Blast
Solar Beam
Scorching Sands/Air Slash/Hurricane
Set Details:
Yes, the set name is a plug for one of my favorite indie Switch games. It's an awesome game. Bite me. XP
Anyways, here is a Kanto sunny sweeper that many Fire types have used to great success before. Set up Sunny Day or have teammate do so (In which case sub in Roost for added recovery) and then proceed to unload boosted Fire Blasts and one turn set up Solar Beams for the Water and Rock types. The last slot is a matter of preference since Scorching Sands handles other other Fire types (Most notably Heatran), but Air Slash and Hurricane offer a powerful secondary STAB with a chance at flinching or great power and a chance of confusion. Life Orb increases damage output and your EVs and Nature will go towards speed and special attack.
Dark Phoenix
Ability: Berserk
Item: Life Orb/Sitrus Berry
Nature: Timid (+Speed -Attack)
EVs: (HP 4) (Sp.Attack 252) (Speed 252)
Moves:
Nasty Plot
Fiery Wrath
Air Slash/Hurricane
Agility
Set Details:
While not as immediately strong in the offensive department compared to its goody-two-shoes Kanto cousin, Galarian Moltres has immense potential if it can manage to set up properly. Nasty Plot is hard to pass up on any special attacker, and it allows G. Moltres to wreck havoc, especially if run in tangent with Berserk, netting and extra special attack boost after it loses half its health. Fiery Wrath has more power than Dark Pulse at the cost of 10% shaved off its flinch rate, and Air Slash handles the Fighting types that resist the black fire (Though Hurricane is also an option if you are a gambler or have rain support). Finally, Agility helps G. Moltres outspeed basically anything not named Regieleki after an single boost. Nature and EVs go into speed and special attack obviously, and Life Orb grants you extra power, but a Sitrus Berry if used properly in tangent with Berserk could net you an extra special attack boost if you recover past the 50% mark and then fall below it again.
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