Emboar Tera Raids have arrived in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, and they’re tricky to beat unless you’ve got a strong counter and solid game plan.
The seven-star Emboar raids are making two appearances in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet—one starting Thursday, June 13 at 7pm CT to Sunday, June 16 at 6:59pm CT, and again from Thursday, June 20 at 7pm CT until Sunday, June 23 at 6:59pm CT. The special black crystal raids can be found somewhere in the Paldea region during this time, so challenge and catch the mighty Emboar before it’s too late. Don’t forget to bring along a reliable counter.
Beating the Unrivaled Emboar Tera Raid in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
Unrivaled Emboar is a hard-hitting physical attacker that deals extra damage with its recoil moves thanks to its Reckless ability. The key to defeating it is to hit its weak spot while minimizing the damage your Pokémon takes in return. We’ll take a look at the details for this raid to determine which Pokémon best counters Emboar.
What type is Unrivaled Emboar?
Emboar is naturally a Fire/Fighting-type Pokémon, and it has the Electric Tera Type for this specific raid. This means its biggest weakness is Ground. Ground-type Pokémon are not only immune to Electric attacks, but they can also hit Emboar for super-effective damage with strong STAB moves like Earth Power or Earthquake.
What moves does Unrivaled Emboar know?
Emboar’s entire moveset is filled with physical attacks with the exception of one setup move. It hits extra hard with Reckless-boosted Flare Blitz, Wild Charge, and Head Smash, while also utilizing Drain Punch and Heat Crash.
When its HP bar hits 40 percent, it will use two Bulk Ups to increase its Attack and Defense. That means it’ll be doing a hefty amount of damage while being more tanky to physical attacks. This sticky situation can be avoided if you bring a Pokémon that knows Taunt or has access to the ability, Unaware.
Moves
- Flare Blitz
- Drain Punch
- Wild Charge
- Head Smash
Additional Moves
- Bulk Up
- Heat Crash
Best counter for the Unrivaled Emboar Tera Raid in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
This raid was more challenging to solo than the previous seven-star Tera Raids. To my surprise, it wasn’t a natural Ground-type Pokémon that helped me beat the raid.
I first tested the Grass/Dragon-type Appletun with the Ground Tera Type and came extremely close to defeating Emboar multiple times, but it just wasn’t dealing enough damage and I ran out of time. I was eventually successful, however, with a trusty Paradox Pokémon—Raging Bolt.
Best Raging Bolt Tera Raid build in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
What’s great about Raging Bolt here is its advantageous typing over Emboar. As an Electric/Dragon-type, Raging Bolt naturally resists Unrivaled Emboar’s STAB Flare Blitz and Tera-boosted Wild Charge. This resistance bought me enough time to set up.
| Tera Type | Held Item | Ability | Nature | Moveset | EVs |
| Ground | Shell Bell | Protosynthesis | Modest (+ Special Attack, – Attack) | Tera Blast Calm Mind Dragon Pulse | 252 HP 252 Special Attack Four Defense |
First, I used Dragon Pulse three times to build Raging Bolt’s Tera Charge. After Emboar reset my Pokémon’s stats, I clicked Calm Mind six times to max out its Special Attack. From there, I Terastallized Raging Bolt to the Ground Tera Type and spammed Tera Blast.
To be fair, I got lucky with an NPC Staraptor for Intimidate and a Gardevoir for Life Dew healing. If you’re soloing this raid, aim for NPC allies with at least one Intimidate user to lower Emboar’s Attack and a Gardevoir so you don’t have to heal as much. As an added bonus, Gardevoir has the Synchronize ability, so if it happens to get burned by Emboar’s Flare Blitz, it’ll burn the pig and cut its Attack stat. At that point, you shouldn’t be taking too much damage from any of Emboar’s attacks until it resets its stats.
The main downside to using Raging Bolt is it’s stuck as a Scarlet-exclusive DLC Pokémon. We’re still working on figuring out a reliable alternative.
