Shadow Moltres is in local-only Shadow Tier 5 raids on weekends in October. They’ll presumably end on October 29 (although may possibly end earlier if October 28-29 end up being a Shadow Lugia raid weekend as rumored).

In this article, I cover its role as both a fire and a flying-type attacker, as well as whether it’s worth the cost.

My analyses of other types are in this spreadsheet. You can also follow me on Twitter (X) and Threads!

Charts: Fire Types

Charts: Flying Types

Main Points

For a TL;DR, read the main paragraphs and ignore bullets.

One of the top-tier attackers in both Fire and Flying types, but outclassed by overpowered (OP) legendaries on both fronts.

• Fusion Flare Reshiram and Dragon Ascent Rayquaza are both better than Shadow Moltres, in particular.

As a fire type, it’s also very similar to Shadow Entei, Apex Shadow Ho-Oh, and Shadow Blaziken. These top shadows are largely indistinguishable (albeit all worse than FF Reshiram). In practice, typing will likely be the most important factor, followed by IVs.

• Having one of each is a good idea for those who can afford them, unless you go the “multiple FF Reshirams” route.
• It’s also probably okay to just go with the one(s) with the best IVs among these 4.
• Shadow Blaziken lags behind this group a bit in Estimator (if you care about relobbies) due to its glassiness, but it’s by far the cheapest, easiest to get good IVs, and easiest to XL. (Even Blaze Kick is very good – see its own analysis).

Shadow Moltres’s main advantage is role compression as both a fire and a flying attacker, so you can essentially get “2 attackers” for 1 legendary’s cost in Rare Candies and ECTM. Reshiram and possibly Rayquaza fare worse in that aspect.

• You can kind of see Shadow Moltres as a “thrifty legendary” in terms of RC, being a middle ground between non-RC options (Shadow Blaziken) and more specialized legendaries (Reshiram). That is, if you can spare the ECTM(s) for Sky Attack.
• For the best specialized teams, Reshiram and Rayquaza are still the way to go.
  • Meteorites (thus DA Ray) being limited in quantity means Shadow Moltres still has a big role on flying teams, but you can also use an Oblivion Wing Yveltal without an ETM if caught this August.

Overall, Shadow Moltres can benefit the vast majority of raid teams, but it’s not a big necessity. The question is whether it’s worth it for you.

• Having a mix of premium and cheaper fire attackers seems fine, unless you do T4/5 solo challenges.
• Flying attackers generally have low utility, so heavy investment (ETM included) may be questionable.

Imgur Links and Additional Charts

General attacker charts: ASE, ASTTW and ASE Dodge*

• Fire
• Flying

Comparisons:

• Fire
• Flying

* indicates additional charts that are not in the main post.