Best Pokémon to counter Unrivaled Blaziken Tera Raid event in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Blaziken is finally getting its moment in the spotlight as the focus of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s latest seven-star Tera Raid event, and this raid battle shouldn’t be too much trouble if you have the right counter and strategy.

The Gen III Fire Starter from Hoenn will first appear in special seven-star Tera Raids from Thursday, Jan. 11 at 6:00pm CT until Sunday, Jan. 14 at 5:59pm CT, reappearing the following week from Thursday, Jan. 18 at 6:00pm CT until Sunday, Jan, 21 at 5:59pm CT. The first event period happened to coincide with the release of the DLC epilogue, so it’s a good time to pick the game up again and crush some Blaziken Tera Raids along the way.

And while you can obtain Blaziken along with the rest of the Starters in the Gen IX games thanks to The Indigo Disk DLC, you might still want to take on the raid to catch and add the rare Unrivaled Blaziken to your collection. If that’s the case, we’ve got you covered on everything you need to know to beat the Blaziken Tera Raids.

How to beat the Unrivaled Blaziken Tera Raid in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

At first glance, this raid battle sounds tough, especially since Blaziken is one of the more offensive Starter Pokémon out of the bunch. You might feel stumped when figuring out which Pokémon can counter this powerful Blaziken, but the key is to identify its strengths and weaknesses based on its typing and moveset.

What type is Unrivaled Blaziken in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Tera Raids?

By nature, Blaziken is a Fire/Fighting-type Pokémon, and this specific Unrivaled Blaziken has the Flying Tera Type. This means it hits the hardest with Fire, Fighting, and Flying moves, while it’s defensively weak against Rock, Electric, and Ice-type attacks. 

Among its three weaknesses, Electric is the only type Blaziken cannot hit for super-effective damage with a STAB move. Electric Pokémon still need to watch out for Blaziken’s Earthquake, but at least that doesn’t get the same-type attack bonus.

What moves does Unrivaled Blaziken know in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Tera Raids?

Unrivaled Blaziken’s moveset has surprisingly good coverage combined with setup moves that can get out of hand very quickly if you aren’t prepared. If given the opportunity, Blaziken tries to set up with Swords Dance and Bulk Up, allowing it to hit very hard on the physical side. All of Blaziken’s attacking moves are physical (except for Overheat), so you might want to consider EV training your Pokémon in Defense to soak up those hits.

Moves

• Blaze Kick
• Brave Bird
• Earthquake
• Low Kick

Additional Moves

• Overheat
• Rock Slide
• Swords Dance
• Bulk Up

Best counters for the Unrivaled Blaziken Tera Raid in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Looking at Unrivaled Blaziken’s typing and moveset, your best bet is to bring an Electric-type counter to hit it for super-effective damage. More specifically, many players are beating the raids with Miraidon and Bellibolt.

Best Miraidon Tera Raid build in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Miraidon is likely the best option to bring against Blaziken if you’re a Violet player or happen to have one in your boxes. With the right strategy and under the right circumstances, the Electric/Dragon Legendary has the potential to beat the Tera Raid in just five turns.

For example, content creator 1DarkKnight shared a simple Miraidon build and strategy to help you solo Blaziken.

The game plan is to start by lowering Blaziken’s Special Defense with Metal Sound three times, use one Charge, and one-shot the raid boss with a massive Electro Drift. As straightforward as this sounds, RNG and the AI can affect your chances of success. Metal Sound, for example, can miss with 85-percent accuracy. It may also be harder if the NPCs don’t bring Pokémon that can paralyze, burn, or lower Blaziken’s Attack.

If you aren’t getting lucky with the one-shot strategy, the YouTuber also suggested spamming Parabolic Charge with Miraidon holding the Metronome instead of the Life Orb.

Best Bellibolt Tera Raid build in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

If you don’t have the Violet-exclusive Miraidon, Bellibolt is another great Electric-type counter for Blaziken. As seen on content creator DanSquared’s stream, Bellibolt can power through the Blaziken raid with a combination of just two moves—Acid Spray and Parabolic Charge. Acid Spray lowers Blaziken’s Special Defense, while Parabolic Charge does damage and heals Bellibolt.

The goal is to get Blaziken’s Special Defense down as quickly as possible with Acid Spray—but heal when necessary—so that you can just keep spamming the Metronome-boosted Parabolic Charge. Again, this is a situation where it helps a lot to have ally NPCs with ways to paralyze, burn, or Intimidate the Blaziken.