Surprise 7-star Tera Raids makeover has Pokémon Scarlet and Violet players excited

With two new seven-star Tera Raids announced in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet alongside the return of two others, it’s clear the big raid events are now heading in a different direction—and we’re here for it.

We have four huge Tera Raid events lined up to keep Pokémon players busy until September, according to Serebii today. First, we’ll see the return of seven-star Pikachu Tera Raids with Shiny Mass Outbreaks for Pichu, Pikachu, Raichu, Alolan Raichu, and Mimikyu from July 12 to 25. 

Then, from July 26 to Aug. 8, we’re getting another seven-star raid—except this one involves Dondozo with the Water Tera Type. For the most part, seven-star Tera Raid events have stayed consistent with Starter Pokémon like Pikachu, Charizard, and most recently, Sceptile. However, we did get one Legendary seven-star raid with Mewtwo and a Christmas special with Iron Bundle to break the Starter streak. If I had to guess, I think the Dondozo event will be similar to the Iron Bundle one without all the holiday cheer.

And after Shiny Gimmighoul Tera Raids make their return, the Gen I pseudo-Legendary Dragonite is next in line for seven-star Tera Raids from Aug. 23 to Sept. 1 with the Normal Tera Type. Between the Dondozo and Dragonite events, it really does feel as though seven-star raids are getting a makeover, which honestly might be a good thing.

While it’s a little weird to see Unrivaled Starter Tera Raids put on pause with only a small handful left, they were getting somewhat repetitive. In the beginning, the Starter raids were fun and exciting because they gave us an opportunity to catch ‘mons that were otherwise unobtainable in the Gen IX games at the time. But since The Indigo Disk DLC was released in December, all Starters became quite easy to catch in Blueberry Academy’s upgraded Terarium, meaning there was one less incentive for the raids.

Sure, Dondozo and Dragonite are also already available in Scarlet and Violet, but it’s just a nice and unexpected change from what we’ve been doing, as suggested by fans. It helps that these raid bosses will come with the rare Mightiest Mark just like in previous seven-star raid events, and there will be Mass Outbreaks with boosted Shiny odds to accompany them. Tatsugiri Mass Outbreaks will fittingly pop up alongside the Dondozo raids, while the Dragonite raids will be accompanied by Larvitar, Bagon, Goomy, Hisuian Sliggoo, and Beldum Mass Outbreaks to match the pseudo-Legendary theme.

After the Dondozo and Dragonite raid events wrap up, it’ll be interesting to see if Starter Tera Raids will return with the likes of Incineroar and Torterra. Or will this new trend continue with non-Starters as seven-star raid bosses?