Galarian Moltres - Movesets & Best Build for Ranked Battle

This is a strategy guide for using Galarian Moltres in competitive play for the games Pokemon Sword and Shield. Read on for tips on the best Nature, EV spreads, Movesets, and Held Items to use with Galarian Moltres, as well as its strengths and weak points.

Galarian Moltres - Related Guides
Evolution and Learnset	Build for Ranked Battle

Basic Information for Galarian Moltres

Types and Abilities

Pokemon	Type 1	Type 2
Galarian Moltres
Abilities
Berserk	Raises Special Attack when HP drops below half.

Galarian Moltres Weaknesses and Resistances

	Type
Takes 4x damage	-
Takes 2x damage
Takes 0.5x damage
Takes 1/4x damage
Takes 0x damage

What is Type Effectiveness?

Base Stats

Best Nature for Galarian Moltres

Singles Movesets for Galarian Moltres

Nasty Plot Sweeper Moveset & Best Build

Thanks to its great special bulk, Galarian Moltres has plenty of chances to switch in and set up with Nasty Plot.

About Galarian Moltres' Moves

Nasty Plot boosts Galarian Moltres' Special Attack by two stages, allowing it to hit hard with its two main STAB moves: Fiery Wrath and Hurricane.

Fiery Wrath is a powerful Dark-type special attack that has a 20% chance to flinch the target. Hurricane, on the other hand, is a strong STAB Flying-type move. While it has poor accuracy, it has a 30% chance to confuse the target.

It's last move is Taunt so that Galarian Moltres can disable special walls that can otherwise switch into it and distrupt its sweep with its status moves.

About Galarian Moltres' EV Spread

We're using a simple special attacking EV spread with full investment in Special Attack and Speed so that Galarian Moltres can hit as hard and as fast as possible. The remaining 4 EVs are placed in Defense to round off its bulk.

About Galarian Moltres' Ability

Berserk is Galarian Moltres' only ability. This ability raises its Special Attack by one stage if its HP drops below half.

Since Galarian Moltres is bulkier on its special side, you can semi-reliably activate this ability by switching into a special attacker that can reduce its HP to half but not quite KO it.

About Galarian Moltres' Held Item

Galarian Moltres has several options for held items.

Weakness Policy is a good all-round choice since Galarian Moltres' natural special bulk means it can often surive a super effective hit, ensuring it gets the +2 special attack boost from the item.

Sitrus Berry is a safer choice, healing 25% percent of its maximum HP if it falls below 50%. Note: Berserk will activate before Sitrus Berry's healing effect.

Other Viable Moves

Choice Scarf Moveset & Best Build

Galarian Moltres is an effective Choice Scarf users, chasing down check and counters that will usually outspeed it, and surprising them with its STAB moves.

About Galarian Moltres' Moves

Fiery Wrath is its main STAB move, and has a 20% chance to flinch the target. Air Slash is its secondary STAB move, and has a 30% chance to flinch the target. With these two moves, Galarian Moltres can potentially flinch the opposing Pokemon reliably and prevent them from attacking.

U-Turn is its main pivoting move, allowing Galarian Moltres to quickly switch out and swap to a teammate. It's last move is Sleep Talk and ensures Galarian Moltres can attack even if it's put to sleep.

About Galarian Moltres' EV Spread

We're using a simple special attacking EV spread with full investment in Special Attack and Speed so that Galarian Moltres can hit as hard and as fast as possible. The remaining 4 EVs are placed in Defense to round off its bulk.

About Galarian Moltres' Ability

Berserk is Galarian Moltres' only ability. This ability raises its Special Attack by one stage if its HP drops below half.

About Galarian Moltres' Held Item

We're giving Galarian Moltres Choice Scarf, an item which boosts its speed by 50% but restricts it to using only the initial move it used during its turn.

How to Use Galarian Moltres Effectively

Use it as a Dynamax Pokemon

Galarian Moltres is a good choice for a team's main Dynamax Pokemon. Access to Max Airstream allows it to support its team, and the HP boost it gets allows it to activate Weakness Policy and Berserk reliably.

How to Build a Team with Galarian Moltres

Galarian Moltres faces some competition with its fellow Galarian Legendary Birds, but it's good neutral coverage with its main STAB moves make it an attractive choice if you're looking to fill out your team's coverage.

Hyper Offense Flinch Sweeper

Galarian Moltres has a small niche in offensive teams as a Flinch Sweeper, especially Choice Scarf variants. Hyper Offense teams have a difficult time getting through full defensive teams, but Galarian Moltres can deter these by threatening them with its STAB moves - both of which have a very high flinch rate.

Example Offensive Team

Lead	Offensive Pivot	Special Sweeper
Mimikyu	Celesteela	Galarian Moltres

Galarian Moltres takes a backseat in this build and is only sent out when you predict a defensive Pokemon looking to wall Mimikyu. Both Nasty Plot and Choice Scarf variants are good choices; the Nasty Plot sweeping build, in particular, is good at wallbreaking as it has plenty of chances to set up Nasty Plot when predicting a switch.

Celesteela is a great partner for both Pokemon and can set up Leech Seed to provide some form of recovery for its team.

How to Build an Offensive Team

Counters for Galarian Moltres

Weakness

Counter it with a Resistant Pokemon

Galarian Moltres has a very limited special movepool, and although Dark/Flying has great neutral coverage, there are Pokemon that can resist this Dual STAB and even take advantage of it!

Best Pokemon to Use

Pokemon	Description
Terrakion	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Resists Galarian Moltres' two STAB moves ・Can switch into Fiery Wrath, which activates its Justified Ability, boosting its Attack ・Faster than Galarian Moltres and can easily KO it with Stone Edge Moveset & Best Build for Terrakion
Lucario	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Resists Galarian Moltres' two STAB moves ・Can switch into Fiery Wrath, which activates its Justified Ability, boosting its Attack ・Can outspeed Galarian Moltres and KO it with Stone Edge or Thunder Punch Moveset & Best Build for Lucario
Tyranitar	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Resists all of Galarian Moltres' STAB Moves ・Sandstorm boosts its Special Defense by 50% ・Can threaten and potentially KO Galarian Moltres with STAB Stone Edge Moveset & Best Build for Tyranitar
Tapu Koko	Ranking: ★★★★ ・Resists all of Galarian Moltres' STAB Moves ・Can KO Galarian Moltres with Moonblast or Thunderbolt Moveset & Best Build for Tapu Koko

Take Advantage of its Weaknesses

While it boasts some bulk, Galarian Moltres is weak against many common attacking types. It's possible to KO it on the first turn if using a Pokemon with a powerful super effective move.

Best Pokemon to Use

Pokemon	Description
Mimikyu	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Disguise lets it set up Swords Dance safely ・Can KO Galarian Moltres with Play Rough Moveset & Best Build for Mimikyu
Azumarill	Ranking: ★★★★ ・Choice Band variants can easily KO Galarian Moltres with Play Rough ・Assault Vest variants can shrug off all of Galarian Moltres' moves Moveset & Best Build for Azumarill
Cinderace	Ranking: ★★★ ・Naturally faster than Galarian Moltres ・Can heavily damage Galarian Moltres with Pyro Ball Moveset & Best Build for Cinderace

Related Links

All Competitive Builds for Ranked Battle

Competitive Guides for Pokemon Sword and Shield

Competitive Pokemon Battle Guides
Tier List		Best Builds		Series 10 List of Contenders
Doubles Tier List		Team Building		Rental Teams

Best Builds for The Crown Tundra Pokemon

Movesets & Best Builds for The Crown Tundra Pokemon
Galarian Articuno	Galarian Zapdos	Galarian Moltres
Raikou	Entei	Suicune
Articuno	Zapdos	Moltres
Tornadus	Thundurus	Landorus
Tapu Koko	Tapu Lele	Tapu Bulu
Tapu Fini	Regieleki	Regidrago
Latios	Latias	Heatran
Cresselia	Glastrier	Spectrier
Nidoking	Swampert	Dragonite
Salamence	Garchomp	Metagross
Galarian Slowking	Nihilego	Naganadel
Pheromosa	Buzzwole	Celesteela
Kartana	Stakataka	Blaziken
Kyogre	Yveltal	Xerneas
Necrozma (Dusk Mane)	Calyrex (Shadow Rider)	Mewtwo
Calyrex (Ice Rider)	Dialga	Lugia
Black Kyurem	Zekrom	Ho-Oh
Rayquaza	Zygarde	Reshiram
White Kyurem	Groudon	Regirock
Palkia	Regigigas	Registeel
Regice	Giratina	Solgaleo
Lunala	Kyurem	Necrozma
Uxie	Mesprit	Azelf
Calyrex