Card art for Delphox from Pokemon TCG: Forbidden Light.
Image via The Pokemon Company

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

That wand can do some serious damage.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet players are booking another brief stop in Kalos thanks to the Unrivaled Delphox Tera Raid event, which ends a month-long drought for new seven-star raids.

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With the first run of Delphox’s event set to go from July 7 to 9, this will be the first time players can catch the Gen VI Fire-type Starter. The only catch? You have to complete a boosted Tera Raid to catch it.

Delphox making its Pokemon Scarlet and Violet debut in Tera Raid form.
Fairy-type Delphox with raid boosts is no joke. Image via The Pokemon Company

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

Delphox isn’t known for much besides its high Special Attack stat, which means players don’t need to worry about physical attacks.

Once you find a seven-star Tera Raid, which you need to unlock through Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s post-game content, you can challenge the event with friends, random players, or solo—though I recommend you don’t do the latter since Unrivaled raids can be very difficult. The Raid Boss is set to level 100, gains boosts through Tera Raid mechanics, and has a moveset filled with counters to its core weaknesses.

Delphox will only appear as a Fairy Tera Type, but you won’t want to bring any Steel or Poison-type Pokémon since Delphox still has powerful Fire and Psychic-type attacks. Here is its full moveset, so you know what to expect.

  • Main Moves
    • Fire Blast
    • Psychic
    • Dazzling Gleam
    • Will-O-Wisp
  • Additional Moves
    • Dazzling Gleam
    • Magic Room
    • Nasty Plot

Outside of trying to stop the magical fox from setting up with Nasty Plot, you will likely want to bring Special Attackers to avoid being burned and losing damage output.

Magic Room is a gimmick move that lets Delphox completely neutralize all Held Items for five turns. This might impact Pokémon that use Berries or something like a Shell Bell to heal, so keep it in mind when building out your counters—and here are some of the best options to fit that mold. 

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

Best Ceruledge build for the Unrivaled Delphox Tera Raid in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

It is finally time for Ceruledge to get the spotlight in another Tera Raid event, thanks to its typings being reliable to counter everything Delphox can throw out. 

Related: Easiest way to beat Unrivaled Delphox Tera Raids in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

You won’t like taking a Psychic, but Ceruledge can eat basically any non-boosted move from Delphox and heal with Bitter Blade. That also covers for the loss of Ceruledge’s main Held Item in raids, Shell Bell, so you can still reliably heal or set up with Swords Dance and chip away at the raid boss with Iron Head. 

AbilityEVHeld ItemMovesNatureTera Type
Flash Fire252 HP252 Attack4 Special DefenseShell BellBitter BladeIron HeadSwords DancePhantom Force/Tera BlastAdamant (+ Attack, – Special Attack) Steel or Ghost

Best Armarouge build for the Unrivaled Delphox Tera Raid in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

If you would rather rely on your teammates, you can bring Ceruledge’s less popular brother Armarouge to the party with moves like Light Screen and Acid Spray.

Coordinating with other players to focus on hitting Delphox with Special Attacks is a great strategy, and Armarouge can boost your odds at success by dropping the raid boss’ Special Defense with Acid Spray and increasing your entire field’s resilience with Light Screen. 

From there, you can either get greedy with Calm Mind or just spam Flash Cannon to take chunks of health off of the fox. 

AbilityEVHeld ItemMovesNatureTera Type
Flash Fire252 HP252 Special Attack 4 Special DefenseShell BellAcid SprayLight ScreenFlash CannonCalm MindModest (+ Special Attack, – Attack) Steel

Best Bronzong build for the Unrivaled Delphox Tera Raid in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Bronzong is a bell ringer in a lot of Tera Raid events, with great bulk and a versatile support moveset that can adjust to multiple situations. Delphox won’t want to face off against this Steel/Psychic-type, largely because it has an answer for everything. 

Heatproof lets Bronzong halve the damage it takes from Fire moves and it resists most of Delphox’s other options. That lets it easily set up a Light Screen and use Metal Sound to lower the boss’ Special Defense for its teammates—or use Rain Dance to further dampen Fire-type damage. 

Insert another iteration of me telling you to spam Flash Cannon once that is done here. 

AbilityEVHeld ItemMovesNatureTera Type
Heatproof252 HP252 Special Attack 4 Special DefenseShell Bell or Light ClayLight ScreenMetal SoundFlash Cannon
Rain Dance
Calm (+ Special Defense, – Attack) Steel

Dot will add more counters for the Unrivaled Delphox Tera Raid as the event continues.


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Author
Cale Michael
Lead Staff Writer for Dota 2, the FGC, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and more who has been writing for Dot Esports since 2018. Graduated with a degree in Journalism from Oklahoma Christian University and also previously covered the NBA. You can usually find him writing, reading, or watching an FGC tournament.