Unrivaled Swampert is taking over seven-star Tera Raids in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, and you’ll need a strong and reliable counter to win the battle.
Seven-star Swampert Tera Raids will begin appearing in Paldea from Thursday, May 30 at 7pm CT to Sunday, June 2 at 6:59pm CT and again the following week from Thursday, June 6 at 7pm CT to Sunday, June 9 at 6:59pm CT. Like previous seven-star raid bosses, Unrivaled Swampert is no joke and it’ll cause you a lot of problems if you come unprepared.
Here’s what you need to know about the Unrivaled Swampert Tera Raid and how to beat it in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.
This Swampert has a few surprises up its sleeve, but if you have the right Pokémon and build, you’ll still come out on top in this Scarlet and Violet Tera Raid. We’ll go over its typing, weaknesses, moves, and the best Pokémon counters.
What type is Unrivaled Swampert?
Swampert is normally Water/Ground-type and will have the Poison Tera Type for this specific raid. This means it has just two defensive weaknesses: Ground and Psychic-type attacks. Between the two, Psychic is going to be the safer option since Ground ‘mons are weak to Swampert’s Water-type attacks.
Perhaps the scariest part of Swampert’s Poison Tera Type is the threat of being poisoned by one of its moves. This can be avoided if your counter is Poison or Ground, or if it’s holding the Covert Cloak item to prevent secondary effects.
What moves does Unrivaled Swampert know?
All of Swampert’s moves are offensive except one, but that doesn’t mean the battle won’t have any annoying gimmicks.
When it comes to offense, Swampert has a mix of physical and special attacks. It’ll hit your Pokémon on the physical side with Earthquake and Liquidation, while its special attacks are Hydro Pump, Sludge Wave, and Muddy Water. The one status move it does have is Yawn, which puts the target to sleep on the following turn.
We all know how frustrating it is to be put to sleep for a few turns, but you also have to watch out for the secondary effects of Swampert’s offensive moves. Muddy Water may lower accuracy, Liquidation may lower Defense, and Sludge Wave could leave your ‘mon poisoned. As previously stated, the easiest way to avoid all of these secondary effects is to have your Pokémon hold the Covert Cloak. Then you’ll only have to worry about sleep, which can’t easily be avoided unless your ‘mon has a Chesto Berry or the Insomnia ability.
Moves
- Hydro Pump
- Liquidation
- Earthquake
- Sludge Wave
Additional Moves
- Muddy Water
- Yawn
Best counters for the Unrivaled Swampert Tera Raid in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
The ideal counter for Swampert is one that can tank a lot of hits and deal super-effective damage at the same time. That’s why I went with the Water/Psychic-type Slowbro, a popular counter for other difficult Tera Raids.
Another great alternative would be Vaporeon. Both of these Water Pokémon use the same Stored Power strategy to crush the Gen III Starter.
Best Slowbro Tera Raid build in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
Slowbro was the MVP of the Cinderace and Greninja Tera Raid events, and it works great against Swampert, too. You can even recycle the same or similar build if you participated in those two other raid events.
| Tera Type | Held Item | Ability | Nature | Moveset | EVs |
| Psychic | Covert Cloak | Own Tempo or Oblivious | Modest (+ Special Attack, – Attack) | Stored Power Nasty Plot Amnesia Slack Off | 252 HP 252 Special Attack Four Defense or Special Defense |
The game plan is simple—set up with Iron Defense, Amnesia, Nasty Plot, or Calm Mind to boost the damage of Stored Power. I went with just Nasty Plot and Amnesia, but you could also swap those for Calm Mind and Iron Defense. The annoying part is Swampert will reset your stat boosts early on in the battle, so aim to use three Nasty Plots and one or two Stored Powers before the shield goes up and before your boosts disappear.
After Slowbro’s stats reset, focus on setting up again, starting with the defensive boosts to reduce incoming damage. For example, I used three Amnesias to max Slowbro’s Special Defense and then three Nasty Plots to max its Special Attack. Using Calm Mind and Iron Defense instead of Amnesia and Iron Defense technically gives you more setup potential, but it’ll take a little longer. Either way, spam Stored Power and Terastallize to the Psychic Tera Type after setting up. Use Slack Off to heal Slowbro’s HP when necessary.
Best Vaporeon Tera Raid build in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
Like Slowbro, Vaporeon does fantastic against Swampert with the Stored Power strategy while also being immune to all Water-type attacks thanks to the Water Absorb ability. That means you won’t have to worry about an accuracy drop from Muddy Water or a Defense drop from Liquidation. Here’s a reliable Vaporeon build and game plan shared by popular content creator Austin John Plays:
| Tera Type | Held Item | Ability | Nature | Moveset | EVs |
| Psychic | Shell Bell | Water Absorb | Modest (+ Special Attack, – Attack) | Stored Power Calm Mind Acid Armor | 252 HP 252 Special Attack Four Defense |
Start by setting up one Acid Armor and one Calm Mind. Spam Stored Power until Vaporeon’s stats are reset. Set back up with one Acid Armor and six Calm Minds. Then all you need to do is spam Stored Power and Terastallize to the Psychic Tera Type. You can even use a heal cheer to wake Vaporeon up early after it falls asleep from Yawn.
Whether you go with Vaporeon or Slowbro, Unrivaled Swampert can be soloed without too much stress. Once you’ve beaten the raid, catch the Mightiest Mark ‘mon.
