Best counters and builds for defeating 7-star Sceptile Tera Raids in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Unrivaled Sceptile Tera Raids have officially landed in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Challenge and defeat the Generation III Grass Starter for an opportunity to catch it.

From Thursday, June 27 at 7pm CT to Sunday, June 30 at 6:59pm CT, seven-star Sceptile Tera Raids will appear somewhere in the Paldea region. They will make another appearance the week after from Thursday, June 27 at 7pm CT through to Sunday, June 30 at 6:59pm CT in case you miss it the first time.

During the event, Sceptile will possess the rare Mightiest Mark—perfect for anyone collecting the Unrivaled Starters in Scarlet and Violet. But, before you can catch this Unrivaled Sceptile, you must first defeat it. And that requires a strong counter with the right build.

Here’s what you need to know about Unrivaled Sceptile and how to beat the seven-star Tera Raid in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

Beating the Unrivaled Sceptile Tera Raid in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

To defeat Sceptile, be prepared to counter its Dragon Dance-boosted Attack or risk being taken out in one or two hits. It’s also ideal to bring a Pokémon with immunities to Dragon and Grass-type moves to minimize damage.

We’ll break down what to expect during the raid and how to properly counter Unrivaled Sceptile.

What type is Unrivaled Sceptile?

Sceptile is a pure Grass-type Pokémon, and it’ll have the Dragon Tera Type for this Unrivaled event. This gives it three defensive weaknesses: Dragon, Ice, and Fairy. Out of these three, start with a Fairy-type Pokémon for your best counter since they have the perk of being completely immune to Dragon attacks.

What moves does Unrivaled Sceptile know?

This Sceptile mostly has physical moves but also one special attack and one setup move. Its physical moves are Leaf Blade, Breaking Swipe, Thunder Punch, and Earthquake. It only uses its special attack, Leaf Storm, once at the beginning. To boost its Attack and Speed, Sceptile may use multiple Dragon Dances throughout the raid.

Moves

• Leaf Blade
• Breaking Swipe
• Dragon Dance
• Thunder Punch

Additional moves

• Leaf Storm
• Earthquake

Best counter for the Unrivaled Sceptile Tera Raid in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Admittedly, this seven-star Tera Raid event was harder than I thought it would be because Sceptile actually hits pretty hard. Still, I was able to successfully solo the raid with the help of my trusty Azumarill and beneficial NPCs.

Best Azumarill Tera Raid build in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Azumarill is known to be a very good Tera Raid counter with its ability to set up quickly and dish out massive damage. If you previously used Azumarill against seven-star Tera Raid bosses like Unrivaled Charizard or Cinderace, you can make tweaks to that build and strategy to help you succeed against Sceptile. The two biggest changes here involve utilizing the Sap Sipper ability instead of Huge Power and using Chilling Water.

The Sap Sipper ability gives Azumarill immunity to any Grass-type attacks, on top of being immune to Dragon moves. You do have to give up a lot of damage from Huge Power, but at least your Azumarill will remain relatively safe from the majority of Sceptile’s moves. It only reallly needs to worry about Earthquake and super-effective damage from Thunder Punch, which can be reduced with Terastallization.

Like in other raids, Azumarill’s goal is to set up with Belly Drum and spam Play Rough. You just need to add a step before that: Spam Chilling Water at the beginning to lower Sceptile’s Attack while building up your Tera charge. I found by keeping Sceptile’s Attack down, it’ll keep spamming Dragon Dance instead of attacking with Thunder Punch.

Terastallize to the Fairy Tera Type as soon as you’re able to on turn four. This reduces the damage of Sceptile’s Thunder Punch. You must be quick about Terastallizing or else the raid boss will steal some of your Tera charge.

After Sceptile resets Azumarill’s stats, that’s your cue to set up with Belly Drum. From there, spam Play Rough to chip away at that massive HP bar until you win.

To be fair, this Pokémon Scarlet and Violet strategy unfortunately requires a mix of good NPCs and timely RNG. I was lucky to get Staraptor for Intimidate, Gardevoir for healing, and Dudunsparce for paralysis. Sceptile ended up being fully paralyzed for multiple turns through the raid, and that definitely helped me stay alive and ultimately win.