Moltres, the Flame Pokémon. It’s one of the legendary bird Pokémon. When Moltres flaps its flaming wings, they glimmer with a dazzling red glow. There are stories of this Pokémon using its radiant, flame-cloaked wings to light up paths for those lost in the mountains.

Overview

While initially languishing in the shadows, Moltres has since blazed a long and tumultuous trail throughout Pokémon’s history. 125 Special Attack is a great start, especially with Fire STAB that ensures Moltres always has respectable offense. What really has Moltres start to shine is its defensive qualities. Fire Flying’s Resistance to Fairy, Fighting and Grass with an immunity to Ground gives Moltres an absurd number of resistances that it can freely pivot in on. Complimenting this is Moltres’ ability to Burn everything. Will-O-Wisp, Flame Body, Scorching Sands, Moltres has so many ways to burn the opponent and with its predominantly physical resistances makes Moltres an esteemed check to physical attackers, able to cripple them for the rest of the match at a moment’s notice. Add in Roost to greatly improve Moltres’ longevity and one can see how it has made a name for itself.

Moltres’ late rise to stardom is no mistake. As much as its Fire Flying gives Moltres its niche, it also drags it down. Common weaknesses to Water and Electric are one thing, but that crippling quadruple weakness to Stealth Rock all but mandates Moltres run Heavy-Duty Boots to be effective. Its bulk is unimpressive for what is ostensibly a defensive Pokémon; while 90/90/85 bulk isn’t bad, Moltres is heavily reliant on Burn to handle physical threats and has nothing besides its resistances for special attackers. Its offensive movepool is also shockingly shallow, with only Scorching Sands, the exceedingly weak Ancient Power and the Sun reliant Solarbeam to complement Moltres’ Fire STAB and unreliable Hurricane. While 90 Speed is respectable for a defensive Pokémon, it still falls short for many offensive attackers coercing Moltres to rely on its bulk more and more. This still only slows Moltres down, and physical attackers must tread lightly around Moltres lest it suddenly appear and turn their chances of victory to ash.
Positives
125 Special Attack coupled with Fire STAB gives Moltres brutal offense with respectable coverage even at its most defensive.
Moltres has so many ways to Burn attackers between its moves and passively with its ability, greatly increasing its physical bulk.
Fire Flying provides Moltres several invaluable predominantly physical resistances, giving it a wide range of physical attackers to handle, and repeatedly at that with Roost.

Negatives
Fire Flying also provides very prominent Achilles heels with common Water and Electric weaknesses alongside huge exposure to Stealth Rocks.
Offensive movepool is lacking with non-Fire STAB moves being unreliable or weak, greatly lowering Moltres’ power.
Merely above average bulk forces Moltres to lean on its typing and Burn to handle threats, leaving it few options for special Attackers.

Movesets

Torrent of Embers

-U-Turn
-Roost
-Will-O-Wisp
-Flamethrower
Ability: Flame Body
Item: Heavy-Duty Boots
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature

This set goes all in on Moltres’ physical walling ability having Moltres act as a defensive pivot, repeatedly coming in on physical attackers and crippling them before U-Turning out to an ally that can take advantage of the newly crippled target. U-Turn is incredibly flexible in general, allowing Moltres to pivot and punish any predicted switch ins, chipping down the targets and playing the long game. Roost helps Moltres win said long game, allowing it to repeatedly shrug off damage and give more chances for Flame Body to proc while serving as part of a team’s backbone. Will-O-Wisp is great for slower targets like Dragonite, Tyranitar, Grimmsnarl, Alolan-Muk and to a lesser extent Dondozo crippling their damage output before they can act and making Moltres that much bulkier. Flamethrower rounds out the set prevent Moltres from being entirely passive. With its excellent Special Attack and Fire’s broad coverage on top of Grass and Steel being popular Defensive Terastalizations leaves no lack of targets for Moltres to incinerate. .

Tera Types:
Terastalizing Moltres is of two minds. Moltres is reliant on its typing for its walling ability, flourishing with the many resistances Fire Flying provides. Simultaneously, Moltres is hampered by its common weaknesses, causing it to be forced out at inopportune moments. Thus, one must take care when Terastalizing Moltres so it can still perform its role without opening new holes in your team. Tera Grass is rather popular, answering the Water and Electric attacks that otherwise force Moltres out while maintaining its niche against opposing Ground types. Tera Fairy is another popular standby, great for punishing Knock Off spam, and improving Moltres’ matchup into dark types like Chien-Pao, Urshifu-Single, Kingambit and Roaring Moon while preserving Moltres’ walling capabilities against Fighting types.

EVs and Items:
EVs here are recommended to maximize physical HP and Defense, so Moltres can switch into physical attackers more often, allowing for more chances of Flame Body. Alternatively, one can go for a Calm Nature with maximized Special Defense investment for Moltres to better serve as a general wall and better check Special Attackers like Gholdengo, Enamorus, and Heatran while still threatening physical attackers thanks to the numerous Burns it spreads. Heavy-Duty Boots are highly recommended for this set. This Moltres pivots often, often switching into physical attacks, something it can’t do if getting its health halved by Stealth Rocks. Rocky Helmet is an aggressive alternative if one is confident about their hazard control. Rocky Helmet allows Moltres to play offense while on defense, chipping and potentially burning physical attackers on the switch, allowing Moltres to wear them down even more quickly.

Partners:
Hazard setters are a given, the extra chip damage making up for Moltres’ lack of offensive investment and Moltres’ own capabilities at forcing switches, but it goes beyond even that. Moltres has a positive matchup against most forms of Hazard removal. Coming in on a Rapid Spin and Burning the opponent is a jackpot for Moltres, while the pre-eminent Defogger in Corviknight wants nothing to do with Moltres’ Fire STAB. Even Glimmora doesn’t relish the thought of a Moltres matchup given Moltres’ access to Scorching Sands to obliterate it. Ground type setters like Gliscor, Garchomp, and Landorus-Therian are preferred, their immunity to Electric being a great pivot option for Moltres. Other U-Turn and Volt Switch users work incredibly well with Moltres, forming a VoltTurn core that constantly pivots advantageously. Volt Switch users like Iron Crown and Rotom Wash are especially apt given their positive matchup in to opposing Water types. Iron Crown loves Moltres coming in on Fire and Ground attacks while Rotom-Wash no longer has to fear Rillaboom with Moltres in the wings.

Other Options:
Roar gives Moltres some pHazing utility against setup sweepers, further improving its walling game. Scorching Sands gives Moltres vital coverage against Burn Fire types as well as Tyranitar and Glimmora, matchups it would otherwise struggle heavily in, while still spreading around the burns it is famous for. Hurricane is inaccurate, but the payoff into Flying weak targets like Urshifu, Ogerpon Wellspring, and Araquanid can be worth the risk.

VGC & Doubles Options

While Moltres may have flourished in singles, it struggles to make the same impact in Doubles. Fire Flying possesses just as much value in Doubles; walling out significant threats like Rillaboom, Zamazenta Crowned, and Hearthflame Ogerpon and being aggravating to Incineroar and Urshifu-Single while still possessing the offenses to melt the obligatory Grass types, Gholdengo, Zamazenta-Crowned and Calyrex-Ice Rider. Moltres' largest issue comes from the fact it is outclassed in most matters. As a defensive Fire type with Flame Body, Volcarona does much better thanks to Rage Powder giving it redirection Moltres just doesn't have. Even outside that specific niche, Incineroar is a much better defensive/supportive Fire type than Moltres. Moltres may have gotten Tailwind this generation, but Talonflame is a much better Fire Flying Tailwind setter thanks to Gale Wings giving its Tailwind priority and just higher base speed in general. Power-wise there is no lack of powerful Fire attackers such as Torkoal, Chi-Yu, Hearthflame Ogerpon and honorary Fire type Koraidon, while Tornadus often suffices for most teams as a Flying attacker thanks to its fantastic support capabilities and Bleakwind Storm being far more reliable than Hurricane out of Rain while possessing the same Special Attack. Raging Bolt and Koraidon natively resisting both STABs are another pain point given how hard such Pokémon are to manage in the first place, and easily beat out Moltres in the damage race.

Ember Amidst the Tempest

-Hurricane
-Will-O-Wisp
-Protect
-Heat Wave/Flamethrower/Weather Ball
Tera Type: Grass
Ability: Flame Body
Item: Rocky Helmet
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 116 Def / 92 SAtk / 48 SDef
Bold Nature

Ironically enough, Moltres saw some success in Generation 8 VGC as a staple on Rain teams as an answer to Grass types that often gave such teams trouble. This set is in emulation of that, having Moltres check numerous Grass types as well as Urshifu and other prominent physical attackers that may threaten Kyogre. Hurricane is the key to Moltres' success in the rain, able to fire off powerful powerful Flying STABs that address Rain's most troubling matchups while possessing a much better matchup into physical attackers than Tornadus. Will-O-Wisp gives Moltres good damage control when physical attackers won't attack Moltres, ensuring they are crippled. Protect is the best move in Doubles. Last move is up to preference. Fire STAB in Heat Wave or Flamethrower gives Moltres significant teeth against Steel and Grass types out of the Rain, while Weather Ball gives Moltres a powerful Water attack in it. Rocky Helmet allows Moltres to play similarly to its role in singles, allowing for aggressive switches that can actively punish opponents. Urshifu or Rillaboom looking to slam Kyogre? Switch Moltres in for the potential Flame Body burn and Rocky Helmet chip damage.

EVs are to get the most out of Moltres' physical bulk so it can actively punish physical attackers. With the Bold Nature and allotted EVs, Moltres can survive 2 Sun Boosted Koraidon Scale Shots (assuming average of 3 hits) as well as a Close Combat + Rain Boosted Surging Strikes into Tera Grass from Urshifu Rapid. Speaking of Tera Grass, a Water resistant Terastalization is highly recommended to deal with Urshifu Rapid, who is otherwise a serious problem for Rain teams and can chew through Moltres' HP absurdly fast despite the threat of Flame Body. Tera Grass also solidifies the matchup against Amoongus that this Moltres does not have the power to OHKO. 92 Special Attack allows Moltres to threaten a KO on uninvested Koraidon in the Moltres' favor.

Other Options and Preferred Partners:

This set was made in service of Kyogre, the king Rain setter whose low defense is a sticking point many trainers look to exploit. This is the start of a Fire Water core where Moltres can switch into physical attackers looking to eliminate Kyogre and cripple them in turn. Kyogre also does a great job of dissuading Koraidon from Terastalizing to Fire, making it vulnerable to Moltres' Flame Body and Will-O-Wisp. Speed control to get the jump on Urshifu and the other blazing fast attackers is recommended. Whimsicott is recommended for this, completing the Grass-Fire-Water core, while Prankster Fake Tears is fantastic in enabling Kyogre and Moltres to get big OHKOs out of nowhere. Helping Hand is great if stuck in the rain with no Flying weak targets, allowing Moltres to still contribute with damage even when it can't do so itself. Assault Vest solidifies Moltres' match up into Special Attackers while physical Attackers want nothing to do with it because of Flame Body. Scorching Sands is another way to somewhat reliably inflict burns while offering good coverage into Miraidon and Raging Bolt who normally no sell Moltres' STABs. Tailwind is something Moltres can do, though its unimpressive speed makes it questionable at the role.

Countering Moltres

While Moltres’ flurry of burns can be crippling, it is far from the answer in every matchup.

Physical attackers immune to burns are immediately worth consideration, as Moltres is likely a team’s answer to such attackers so if it can’t cripple them, they can start running rampant. Stone Edge Blaziken is a key example, able to outspeed and OHKO Moltres by exploiting its quadruple Rock weakness. Ceruledge can do well, but needs a Swords Dance boost to overwhelm Moltres which can be Roared away and can be 2HKO’d by Hurricane as well as Scorching Sands after a layer of Spikes. Dondozo, while not directly immune, can absorb Burns thanks to Rest and Moltres lacks direct damage outside of Hurricane. However, sets with Roar remain problematic, preventing Dondozo from boosting up and its poor Speed makes it easy U-Turn bait. Guts Ursaluna is empowered by Moltres’ burns, and has the sheer bulk to avoid a 2HKO, though its slow speed still allows Moltres to easily pivot out. Tera Fire physical attackers are often the best lure for Moltres, since it will likely stay in and try to Burn them, allowing for free damage on an otherwise elusive foe though Scorching Sands follow up can be painful. Surprise Stone Edge coverage from Landorus-Therian, Great Tusk and Iron Treads who Moltres normally expects to wall is also effective.

Special Attackers, especially those resistant to Fire can work wonders against Moltres. Hisuian Goodra, Assault Vest Primarina, Raging Bolt, and Rotom-Wash all have the typing and bulk to resist any assault while able to strike Moltres down with their own super effective STABs/coverage. If not running Hurricane, Dragapult, Pelipper, Galarian Slowking, and Walking Wake can handle Moltres just fine, while Glimmora is a threat to sets not running Scorching Sands.

Galarian Corner

Galarian Moltres, the Malevolent Pokémon. This Pokémon’s sinister, flame-like aura will consume the spirit of any creature it hits. Victims become burned-out shadows of themselves. The sinister aura that blazes like molten fire around this Pokémon is what inspired the name Moltres.

Overview

Galarian Moltres returns to find stiff competition old and new in the ninth generation, largely let down by its oddly lacking movepool. Galarian Moltres’ good special bulk is completely belied by lack of recovery in Roost and support tools in Defog, leaving Mandibuzz the oft preferred defensive Dark Flying type. Galarian Moltres’ matchup against newcomer Iron Jugulis is more dire. Galarian Moltres’ offensive movepool is just as barren as its Kantonian counterpart, with only the weak Ancient Power, the largely redundant Shadow Ball and the Normal Hyper Voice offering anything outside of STABs. 100 Special Attack is barely considered usable and 90 Speed falls well short of the mark expected for an offensive Pokémon, and especially Iron Jugulis who possesses more coverage, immediate speed and power in spades.

Yet Galarian Moltres stands out as the best of both worlds, leveraging its excellent Special Defense and numerous resistances and to enable a terrifying boosted offense. Berserk helps immensely in this regard, making it easy for Galarian Moltres to grab free boosts to help compensate for its lacking Special Attack while not losing any momentum. With Nasty Plot and Agility to remedy Galarian Moltres’ lacking Speed and Special Attack, the wide base coverage Dark and Flying STABs provides on top of the possibility of Terastalization to remedy the few gaps in its coverage and Galarian Moltres has all it needs to answer its apparent flaws.
Positives
125 Special Defense is immense and with 90 in both HP and Defense, Moltres can stand to take a few hits.
Dark Flying offers invaluable resistances to Dark, Ghost, Ground and Grass, as well as near unresisted STAB coverage.
Incredible Boosting potential between Berserk, Nasty Plot and Agility, allowing Galarian Moltres to escalate out of control given the chance.

Negatives
Coverage options outside of STABs are non-existent, leaving Galarian Moltres in trouble against the few that do resist its STABs.
Lack of recovery leaves Galarian Moltres prone to being worn down.
Base 90 Speed and Base 100 Special Attack are unimpressive without boosting.

Movesets

Dark Double Dance

-Agility
-Nasty Plot
-Fiery Wrath
-Air Slash
Ability: Berserk
Item: Sitrus Berry
EVs and Nature:
4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe Timid Nature

A Double Dance set that looks to eliminate Galarian Moltres’ weaknesses while it sets up for the sweep. Thankfully, its large suite of resistances and immunities provide ample opportunity to setup, whether that be a Gholdengo Choice locked into Shadow Ball, defensive Landorus-Therian, Rillaboom, Meowscarada locked into Flower Trick, numerous Knock Off users, and more. Agility addresses Galarian Moltres’ speed, capable of outrunning even the fastest of Choice Scarf users and is ideal for offensive teams, while Nasty Plot pushes Galarian Moltres’ underwhelming Special Attack to dangerous levels. Berserk compliments this all greatly, allowing Moltres to further boost its offense while setting up, allowing it to potentially go on the sweep against fasters teams after a single agility, while the extra boost can be invaluable in breaking through bulkier targets following a Nasty Plot. Fiery Wrath is the main Dark STAB, just being a stronger Dark Pulse. Air Slash is recommended for Flying STAB as coverage, its low power mediated by the boosts Nasty Plot and Berserk provide..

Tera Types:
While Galarian Moltres does suffer from rather common weaknesses, such sets greatly prefer offensive Teras to either fill gaps in its coverage or boost up its STABs to further compensate for Galarian Moltres’ base 100 Special Attack, though not strictly required. Tera Dark is fantastic, given the wide neutral coverage Dark boasts on top of removing common weaknesses to Electric, Rock and Ice. Tera Fighting, while sharing the same Fairy weakness, provides a handy resistance to Rock and helps Galarian Moltres obliterate Tyranitar and Kingambit, two of the few Pokémon that do wall it out. Tera Fire shares the Rock weakness but provides handy Ice and Fairy resistances while still melting Kingambit. Tera Flying is similar to Tera Dark, bolstering up Air Slash or enabling a Special Flying STAB that is far more reliable than Hurricane./p>

EVs and Items:
Max Speed and Special Attack are recommended. Both of Galarian Moltres’ key offensive stats are below what is considered excellent so putting as much as possible into both ensures fewer boosts are required. Timid Nature allows Galarian Moltres to outrun all but opposing weather sweepers after an Agility. Dropping down to Modest does leave Galarian Moltres exposed to Choice Scarf Meowscarada, but makes one hit knock outs on threats like Enamorus, offensive Garchomp, and Cinderace much more likely while guaranteeing the 2 shot knock out against specially defensive Heatran. Sitrus Berry is the item of choice for Galarian Moltres, offering a significant burst of healing that both eases getting up the second boosting move as well as potentially trigger Berserk a second time and completely seal out a game. Blackglasses is an alternative, offering a slight bump to Fiery Wrath that can reach damage thresholds otherwise out of reach.

Partners:
Allies that can handle and remove, or at least compromise resists to Galarian Moltres’ Assaults make for excellent partners. Ogerpon-Wellspring is a key example, able to thrash problematic Pokémon like Tyranitar, Heatran, and Clodsire, who all give Galarian Moltres trouble, while luring in Grass types like Rillaboom that Galarian Moltres can use to setup. Encore further adds to this, outright creating setup opportunities on Pokémon that would otherwise have the coverage to threaten Galarian Moltres. Iron Moth is a more direct answer to Kingambit while answering Fairy types like Primarina and Enamorus and drawing in Ground attacks that Galarian Moltres can come in freely on.

Other Options:
Hurricane is a much stronger Flying STAB option, though its reliability out of rain leaves much to be desired. Substitute can help guarantee setup and allows Galarian Moltres to Substitute down to get a Berserk activation without having to worry about an opponent knocking out Galarian Moltres in one hit to get around it, though you must sacrifice either coverage or a boosting move to make room for it. .

VGC & Doubles Options

The loss of Dynamax has really hit Galarian Moltres hard. No longer is it able to leverage its great base bulk with Dynamax to easy get a Weakness Policy boost. The loss of Max Airstream and Max Darkness to address its speed and damage output while providing offensive pressure is a heavy blow. That is not to say Galarian Moltres is without merit. Gaining Tailwind in the generational shift allows it to maintain its role as speed control, standing out from other Tailwind setters thanks to its good natural bulk and immunity to Prankster Taunt. Galarian Moltres also makes the most of its typing, its good bulk forcing consistent damage, its Dark STAB alone covering several prominent threats including the Calyrex Riders, Gholdengo, Indeedee and Farigiraf. Common weaknesses to Electric, Fairy and Ice do keep Galarian Moltres down, especially with the popularity of Miraidon, Raging Bolt, Chien-Pao and Flutter Mane while there is no lack of Dark offense to pick from considering the popularity of the Treasure’s of Ruin and Incineroar.

Shield's Shadow

-Fiery Wrath
-Foul Play
-Hurricane
-Protect
Tera Type: Dark
Ability: Berserk
Item: Blackglasses
EVs and Nature:
244 HP / 44 Def / 28 SAtk / 44 SDef / 148 Spe
Calm Nature

Galarian Moltres finds itself a common partner to Zamazenta Crowned, specially aimed at common Pokémon that trouble Zamazenta and other Body Press users by extension. Fiery Wrath provides appreciable spread damage that with a useful Flinch rider effect. Foul Play is the real star of the show, allowing Galarian Moltres to OHKO Calyrex Ice Rider and Shadow Rider with ease. Hurricane answers Urshifu, whose auto-critical hit signature moves can cleave through Defense boosts while threatening most Grass types common on every team. Protect remains one of the best moves in doubles, stalling for allied speed control, blocking Fake Out, punishing focus fire attempts, scouting for moves, scouting for Terastalizations, stalling out opposing field effects, the utility of Protect cannot be overstated.

Tera Dark is recommended as an all-around offensive boost. In between STAB, Blackglasses, Berserk and Terastalization, Galarian Moltres can reach impressive damage numbers. It is also necessary to get the OHKO on Calyrex-Ice Rider and force it to either Terastalize or be KO’d, the former still causing significant damage. 148 Speed EVs is specifically meant to work with speed lowering Speed control, allowing Galarian Moltres to outrun neutral natured base 135s like Koraidon and Chien Pao after an Icy Wind.

Other Options and Preferred Partners:

Zamazenta-Crowned is Galarian Moltres' preferred partner in crime and the two have shocking synergy together. Galarian Moltres is fantastic into the many Ghost and Psychic types that trouble Zamazenta-Crowned while in turn, Zamazenta-Crowned threatens the Fairy types that easily wall Galarian Moltres and access to Wide Guard heavily swings the Calyrex Ice Rider matchup to Galarian Moltres' side. By extension, in lower power formats, Kommo-o and Hisuian Goodra too both appreciate Galarian Moltres’ support for the same reasons, bar Wide Guard support. Safety Goggles is a popular alternative item to prevent Amoonguss from redirecting Foul Play away from Calyrex Ice Rider. Snarl provides fantastic damage mitigation and makes Galarian Moltres that much harder to break specially. Tailwind is incredible speed support, though Galarian Moltres is slow compared to most setters.

Countering Galarian Moltres

Galarian Moltres’ boosted offense is terrifying, though not without answers. Unaware Clodsire stands far and away the best answer to Galarian Moltres, not caring how many times it sets up and ruining it with Toxic, though Substitute variants can turn the tables. Skeledirge can work, but requires a Dark resistant Tera and heavy Special Defense investment on top of Galarian Moltres not having Hurricane to be reliable. Kingambit and Tyranitar resist both of Galarian Moltres’ STABs and have the sheer bulk to take even boosted attacks though Galarian Moltres can and will carry Teras just to cover for them. Perennial Special Wall Blissey can work well, matching Nasty Plots with Calm Minds and generally requiring multiple boosts to be threatened with a 3HKO. Assault Vest users like Primarina and Hisuain Samurott can also tank Nasty Plot boosted attacks well and deal severe damage back with their STABs. Answering Galarian Moltres offensively after setup generally falls in the realm of priority. Choice Scarf Meowscarada can outrun Modest Galarian Moltres post Agility eliminate it with Triple Axel. Other priority users like Extreme Speed Dragonite or Thunderclap Raging Bolt can stop Galarian Moltres in its tracks.

Anime Appearences

Moltres has made a few appearances in the anime. Moltres was frequently seen in regards to the Pokémon League and Richie saw one in Mt. Ember. Lucius also travelled with the Galarian Form