Pokémon Scarlet and Violet 7-star Meowscarada Tera Raid: Dates, location, and best counters

As part of the Pokémon Day celebration, we’re finally getting three new seven-star Tera Raid events featuring the Paldean Starters in Scarlet and Violet. The first of the three is Meowscarada.

This Meowscarada Tera Raid will be tough since it comes with the rare Mightiest Mark, so you must come prepared with fully-trained Pokémon that can counter all of its tricks. Just make sure you beat the raid before the event ends because we don’t know if or when Unrivaled Meowscarada will return again.

Here’s everything you need to know about Meowscarada and the seven-star Tera Raid event in Scarlet and Violet.

When is the seven-star Meowscarada Tera Raid event in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet?

The Meowscarada Tera Raid event will only be around for a week from Thursday, Feb. 27 at 6:00pm CT until Thursday, March 6 at 5:59pm CT. After that, it will be followed by seven-star Tera Raid events for the other two Paldean Starters—Skeledirge and Quaquaval.

Throughout the three Tera raid events, there will also be special mass outbreaks for Charcadet, Smoliv, Finizen, Applin, Sewaddle, Poliwag, Porygon, Scyther, and Lapras across Paldea, Kitakami, and Blueberry Academy’s Terarium.

How to find seven-star Meowscarada Tera Raids in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

It’s quite easy to find the Meowscarada Tera Raids, but it requires you to connect to the internet and have seven-star Tera Raids unlocked.

Follow these steps to challenge the seven-star raid: 

• During the event period, connect to the internet and make sure your Poké Portal news is updated.
• Open your Paldea map and look for a black Tera Raid icon with the Grass Tera Type symbol. Set that as your destination. 
• Fly to the nearest Pokémon Center or landmark and follow the orange flag on your mini map until you reach your destination.
• Interact with the black crystal and make sure it’s a seven-star raid with a silhouette of Meowscarada. 
• To join an online group raid hosted by another player, use the Tera Raid Battle Search feature in the Poké Portal. This requires a Nintendo Switch Online membership.

Can you catch more than one Meowscarada in the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Unrivaled Tera Raid event?

You are limited to catching one Unrivaled Meowscarada with the Mightiest Mark from the seven-star Tera Raid event. The game won’t stop you from rechallenging the raid for rewards, but you won’t be able to catch another Meowscarada with that same rare mark.

Thankfully, there are a few other ways to obtain Meowscarada in Scarlet and Violet outside of this event if you want another one.

How to catch Meowscarada in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

As one of the three Paldean Starters, Meowscarada is rarer than most Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet. The most obvious way to obtain it is to select Sprigatito as your Starter and evolve it all the way up to Meowscarada.

If you chose one of the other two Starters, you’ll have to trade for a Meowscarada from another player. Once you have a Meowscarada in your possession, you can then breed it and hatch more if necessary. There was a free Mystery Gift Sprigatito up for grabs at one point, but that code has now expired.

Beating the Unrivaled Meowscarada Tera Raid in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

After successfully beating the Meowscarada Tera Raid multiple times, it’s safe to say this cat is strong but not too hard to defeat. Its gimmick centers around critical hits, so the battle could get scary if Meowscarada lands too many crits against you.

Aside from dodging critical hits, the most important thing is to bring a Pokémon that can deal super-effective damage and take a few hits. I tested several different Pokémon that can get the job done without too much trouble, but it also really helps to have NPC allies with the Intimidate ability to constantly cut Meowscarada’s Attack.

What type is Unrivaled Meowscarada?

Meowscarada is a Grass/Dark-type Pokémon by nature, and it will have the Grass Tera Type for this specific Tera Raid event. This means the kitty cat’s Grass-type moves will be extra strong and dangerous. Counter it with super-effective types like Fire, Flying, Ice, Bug, or Poison.

What moves does Unrivaled Meowscarada know?

This Meowscarada is an offensive threat with five physical attacks and two setup moves.

It will open up the battle with Hone Claws to boost its Attack and Accuracy, immediately making your Pokémon vulnerable to an incoming attack. This is where it helps to have an NPC ally with Intimidate to keep reducing Meowscarada’s damage output. 

The two attacks you need to watch out for are Flower Trick and Night Slash. Flower Trick always lands a critical hit, meaning it ignores any stat drops in its Attack. Night Slash also has an increased chance to crit, but it’s not guaranteed.

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

The Meowscarada Tera Raid is not as difficult as other seven-star raids, so there are likely a lot of different Pokémon that can successfully counter it. The three Pokémon that I found very reliable were Ogerpon, Chi-Yu, and Galarian Weezing because they all have strong type matchups against Meowscarada.

Best Ogerpon Tera Raid build in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Hearthflame Mask Ogerpon offers massive super-effective damage against Meowscarada with its Ivy Cudgel, Embody Aspect, Swords Dance, and the sun.

To set your Hearthflame Ogerpon up for success, aim to use Swords Dance two to three times to boost its Attack stat. Just before you start attacking, use Sunny Day to power-up Ivy Cudgel. From there, you can keep spamming Ivy Cudgel and healing with Synthesis when necessary.

The one downside to Ogerpon here is its weakness to Meowscarada’s Acrobatics. Thankfully, Ogerpon will lose that weakness after Terastallizing, and it’s okay if you get knocked out once before committing to the Tera.

Best Chi-Yu Tera Raid build in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Chi-Yu works similarly to Ogerpon, but it doesn’t have any defensive weaknesses to worry about in this battle. My Chi-Yu actually had the wrong defensive EVs, and yet it was still able to tank hits and beat Meowscarada.

All you need to do is boost Chi-Yu’s Special Attack with two to three Nasty Plots, set up the sun with Sunny Day, spam Flamethrower, and Terastallize to the Fire Tera Type. Chi-Yu’s signature ability, Beads of Ruin, will automatically give it an extra boost in special attack damage, and it can heal itself after each attack thanks to the Shell Bell.

Best Weezing Tera Raid build in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

If you don’t want to use one of the Legendary Pokémon options, Weezing is a fantastic Poison-type counter to try out. I used Galarian Weezing, but the standard Weezing has the same stats and moveset to function in the same way.

Rather than boosting its own stats, Weezing’s job is to lower Meowscarada’s Special Defense with three Acid Sprays. Once that’s done, you can spam Sludge Bomb. If you happen to poison Meowscarada with Sludge Bomb, switch to Venoshock to deal even more damage.

What is the best Nature for Sprigatito, Floragato, and Meowscarada in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet?

Sprigatito, Floragato, and Meowscarada can be trained to be strong and speedy with the right Nature. Since the grass cat evolution line excels in Speed and Attack, the best Nature would be Jolly (+ Speed, – Special Attack) or Adamant (+ Attack, – Special Attack).

A Jolly or Adamant Meowscarada can capitalize on its 123 base Speed and strong physical attacks like Night Slash, Knock Off, U-turn, and its signature move Flower Trick. Meowscarada is one of the faster Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet, so a Jolly nature gives it a pretty good chance to move before its opponent—unless it’s facing something even faster like Flutter Mane or Chien-Pao.