An alternate gear option is Bait or Matcha, but Matcha will lose you some tempo and requires the total stamina be increased by a point or two so you can rest -> attack seamlessly. I recommend that you do not play Molgu without a stamina gear.
What is Molgu's role in PVP?
On the battlefield, this Molgu is meant to act as a hard-hitting bruiser that can reliably access its utility for teamwide momentum. During pick/ban, Molgu acts as a surprisingly versatile pick that can bait the opponent into making poor decisions, assuming Molgu is in a properly constructed team that utilizes its synergy.
What teams appreciate Molgu?
Molgu seems to fit best with toxic-oriented allies on teams that don't mind moving slower in exchange for hitting hard and taking hard hits.
This Molgu set is more oriented for Toxic-based teams with the added benefit of synergizing well with Electropunch users and buff/debuff allies. While Molgu can be a really nasty threat worthy of its own spotlight, this also lets Molgu be a neat "glue" for Toxic teams that want to justify running electric tems to account for any Wind weaknesses. Molgu's Splitter also makes it effectively immune to most Toxics (excluding Nidrasil), which can help its Toxic allies when facing vs. another toxic team. However, currently the meta trait is Sentinel, because of the prevalence of sleep users (Turbo Choreography and Hypnosis, more specifically). Toxic teams are usually slower, which makes them especially susceptible to sleep control, making Sentinel invaluable right now.
Think of this Molgu as a hinge its team can use to open doors of opportunity. Its typing combined with its movepool allow for it to bait or force an opponent into a suboptimal play and then trap them in their own mistakes. A well piloted Molgu feels smooth for the user and a pain in the butt for the enemy, even during Pick/Ban phase.
Also, Faraday Cage with synergy hits like a truck, especially if the Molgu was given an attack buff or the enemy was given a debuff. It can absolutely tear through unprepared teams.
Specific Allies:
Raignet is listed because Molgu offers Cage + Digital synergy to Raignet's Electropunch. Meanwhile, Raignet's Electric Custodian trait means Molgu is unlikely to be hit by moves it is weak to. Raignet can also use Cage itself, allowing both tems to "catch out" important enemies weak to the other (although Cage Raignet is more off-meta). Molgu can force a swap from or finish off a Seismunch for example, while Raignet can prevent enemy digital types from fleeing the field.
Nagaise with Deceit Aura allows for Molgu to use a fast synergy Digithreat, but more importantly Molgu is now shooting off very fast and very nasty damage. Nagaise can also cleanly swap into water attacks and hit back decently with mental moves. Nagaise also likes being paired with Raignet!
Mushook is almost a must-have ally with Molgu. Perfect Jab on the enemy followed up by synergy Faraday Cage can be devastating.
Nidrasil and Gharunder offer different toxic synergy options that can still buff Molgu. Nidrasil is a very, very reliable tem while Thick Skin Gharunder is a toxic option that actively resists wind damage, even if it can't hit wind types back very well.
During pick/ban phase on Blue side, you can first pick Molgu with any of its combos. This gives you the opportunity to bait a Water or Electric enemy pick and then choose either a toxic ally or electric ally to deny their lead. For example, you first pick Molgu, the enemy chooses Ukama. You have a Toxic in your backline, so on Turn 1 you swap in the Toxic and absorb the water attack to deny the enemy all of its damage while still being able to attack with Molgu's ally.
Similarly, you can sometimes second pick Molgu as a "steady" lead in games where Molgu isn't important for your win condition, letting you hit the enemy for respectable damage and then Cage on the turn that Molgu otherwise dies before moving. This lets your allies safely swap in and easily kill both enemies in revenge for just one Molgu knockout.
Sometimes you might pick Raignet, and then the enemy picks seismunch + support (like kinu). You can then pick Molgu, and on turn 1 or turn 2 you swap out Raignet for Nidrasil. You will have tempted them into making a bad choice, and now Molgu can just start blasting through their team.
What is the goal of this specific spread?
This offense investment of this spread hits things weak to Digital pretty hard, hits things not weak to Digital pretty hard with team support, and allows for Molgu to offer surprisingly good utility the rest of the time.
One of Molgu's biggest problems is its low stamina stat, so this investment allows Molgu to use Faraday Cage three times without overexerting. Fake Beard + this stamina investment means Molgu can Faraday x3 -> Rush/cage. Molgu can "rush down" any survivors or buy as much time as it wants under certain circumstances. You will have to recalculate the stamina investment if you use a gear other than Fake Beard. Also, do not use Molgu without a stamina gear because you will waste 200+ TVs trying to make it able to click more than two moves.
A lot of this spread is invested into bulk, which allows Molgu to survive for 2-4 turns depending on circumstances. This Molgu does not love taking special attacks to the face, but most special attackers also do not like taking Faraday Cages to the face. If you are playing Molgu correctly, that may be a mistake that you can capitalize on. As long as it isn't enduring super effective damage or an offensive hyperthreat like double Nature Koish, it should be able to do its job under most circumstances.
The defense and special defense are just additional touches to help vs. the high damage threats like Venx, Seismunch, etc. It is optional, so if you want a little more oomph to your Molgu consider taking off those defense investments and putting them into attack.
[The last two move slots are actually flexible. Pick two from Cage/Rush/Double Edge.]
Final Words
Molgu is likely to be underwhelming or inconsistent unless it is placed on teams built for it. However, on those teams, it hits like a truck and is often underestimated.
