Summary
The ongoing online multiplayer challenge inPokemon Scarlet and Violet,Tera Raidsoffer players strong Pokemon, rare Pokemon, and valuable items. While there are hundreds of Pokemon to pick from in Paldea, Kitakami, and the Blueberry Academy, a select few stand high above the rest.
Several Pokemon can qualify as great choices for Tera Raids, but only some are strong enough to deal with raids without coordination with other players, as well as not needing immense or specific setup. Additionally, Tera Raids featuring Pokemon with theMightiest Mark are special cases, usually requiring highly specific Pokemonand general coordination to take down. For the vast majority of Tera Raids, these Pokemon can handle Terastallized boss Pokemon with ease.
6Belly Drum Pokemon
Extremely Strong But Situational
With online Tera Raids, Pokemon thatutilize the moveBelly Drumare a common, if sometimes unfortunate, sight. Azumarill, Ursaluna, Cetitan, and Iron Hands, among others, are fantastic Pokemon when used correctly, and dead weight if used otherwise. Given the nature of using Belly Drum, it’s important to understand that the Pokemon that use it are better for sprints than marathons when it comes to Tera Raids.
Any Belly Drum user should stay far away from 6 and 7-star Raids, but beyond that, even with the halved health from a first turn of Belly Drum, the maxed stats should clear out any Tera Raid Pokemon weak to the Belly Drum user.
5Koraidon
Prehistoric Power
One notable element of the box Legendaries ofScarlet and Violetis how both dragons are built for Tera Raids. Withboth paradoxical Legendsgetting a stat boost from their abilities when entering battle, dealing with the powerful Pokemon in the Raids is a breeze.Koraidoncan easily handle anything weak to its dual Fighting and Dragon type.
With access to Swords Dance and Bulk Up, along with its signature move, Collision Course, dealing even more damage if it’s super-effective, Koraidon is a perfect choice for any Tera Raid Pokemon weak to Fighting types. While Koraidon’s harsh sunlight is easily replaced by other weather effects, it’s still a powerful Pokemon perfect for Raids.
4Miraidon
Futuristic Force
Like Koraidon,Miraidonis engineered to handle raids with ease. As the Special Attack counterpart to Koraidon’s physical Attack, Miraidon gets access to moves like Charge and Calm Mind to increase the damage dealt by its signature move of Electro Drift, which deals even more damage when it’s super-effective.
Similar to Koraidon, Miraidon adds Electric Terrain when it enters the field, boosting its Special Attack instantly. Unlike its prehistoric counterpart, however, Terrain isn’t as commonly replaced in Tera Raids, making Miraidon slightly more effective. Additionally, with access to Metal Sound in combination with the Throat Spray item, which raises a Pokemon’s Special Attack after using a sound move, Miraidon can further boost itself while alsoweakening the Raid boss, ending most raids instantly.
3Ogerpon
One Of The Strongest Legendary Pokemon
Ogerponis one of the strongest Pokemon in both casual play and competitive play, and as expected, it is one of the strongest choices for Raids. As its ability changes depending on which mask it’s wearing, along with its signature move of Ivy Cudgel changing type, Ogerpon handles anything weak to Grass, Rock, Fire or Water types.
The best choices for Ogerpon tend to be either its base form,the titular Teal Mask, as that allows the Pokemon to hold any item the player chooses, or its Hearthflame form, as that gives Ogerpon access to Mold Breaker and an Attack boost when Terastallizing. For its moves, Ogerpon’s Ivy Cudgel has a higher critical hit chance, making it useful against defensive Tera Pokemon, as well as having access to a healing move in Horn Leech.
2Annihilape
A Pokemon Built For Raids
The long awaited evolution to Primeape,Annihilapeis a fantastic Pokemon for Tera Raids in practically every way, and it’s more accessible than theScarlet and VioletLegendaries. Annihilape has access to the Defiant ability, almost guaranteeing its Attack stat will never decrease, along with access to Drain Punch and Bulk Up. Beyond all that, however, is the true power of this Pokemon, its signature move: Rage Fist.
Rage Fist is a perfect move for Tera Raids for one simple reason; every time Annihilape takes direct damage from the Raid Pokemon, the move increases in base power. This does not reset if Annihilape faints, and the move’s power caps out at 350 base power. With this, Annihilape with a Ghost Tera type and the Metronome item can cause immense damage, especially if the Tera Raid lasts longer.
1Serperior
A Stellar Tera Pokemon
Since the addition of the Stellar Tera type inthe Indigo Disk DLC,Serperior has skyrocketed to the top of the powerful Tera Raid Pokemon list. While it doesn’t have the raw power of the previous Pokemon listed, it has access to two important things; the aforementioned Stellar type and the Contrary ability.
With Contrary, Serperior is able to max out its Special Attack in three turns using Leaf Storm, giving it access to Terastallizing at its most powerful. After Terastallizing into the Stellar type, Serperior will instead use the now-Stellar-boosted Tera Blast, which will always be super-effective against Terstallized Pokemon. While Tera Blast normally decreases the Pokemon’s Attack and Special Attack stats when used, Contrary saves the day again, meaning Serperior can only get stronger in a Tera Raid, even if the boss Pokemon clears abilities and stat changes. The only thing stopping Serperior is its Grass type weakness, but beyond that, this starter is truly superior.
