Pokémon games aren’t known for their difficulty, but post-game content has always been one area where the franchise amps it up and actually requires players to have a somewhat solid grasp on various mechanics otherwise not used during the story. As a result, challenges like the Mighty Cinderace Tera Raid event give Pokémon Scarlet and Violet an extra kick, pun entirely intended.
Even experienced players struggle mightily when facing the event-exclusive seven-star Tera Raid battles, which feature Level 100 Pokémon with boosted strength and require at least a little coordination between the four trainers who enter a raid den together.
There are still some early bugs that impact high-level raids like this, but the main course of action for every player is still the same: study your opponent, bring a Pokémon that is built to counter it, and try to coordinate with your teammates to the best of your ability.
Whether you are going in solo or grouping up for an easier attempt, here is how you can challenge the Might Cinderace in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and walk away with seven stars worth of rewards. And since this is the final time it will appear for the foreseeable future, you need to hop to it.
How to beat the Mighty Cinderace Tera Raid in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
Once you enter a seven-star raid in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, your first order of business is assessing your teammates. Right from the ready-up screen, you can coordinate your Pokémon picks to ensure at least one person is bringing a support Pokémon rather than four attackers.
It is also highly recommended that you ensure the Pokémon you are using is Level 100 before entering a seven-star raid. The Mighty Cinderace is going to be Level 100 and features additional boosts, so if you bring in underleveled Pokémon, you are much more likely to get steamrolled by early KOs and drag your team down.
Related: 11 major mistakes to avoid in Pokémon Tera Raids
With those two tips in mind, Cinderace will only appear with a Fighting Tera Type during this event, and it actually has three fewer move options than the previous Charizard raids. You will need to watch out for Pyro Ball and High Jump Kick above all else, but Cinderace has access to Acrobatics and Iron Head for type coverage, along with Bulk Up to potentially set up massive damage.
Now onto the best Pokémon to use as counters against the Mighty Cinderace in raids.
Best counters for the Mighty Cinderace Tera Raid in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
Azumarill
The Azumarill memes have been circulating since Cinderace was first announced as the next seven-star raid event, mostly because it was the most-used Pokémon during the Charizard raid event, and you can’t really go that long in normal raids without seeing a Belly Drum Azu showing up.
Related: How to get your Azumarill to learn Belly Drum in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
With how Cinderace is poised here, you can probably safely recycle your Azumarill for this event too, but it is far from the best option. And, if you do use Azumarill, you might want to avoid Terastallizing into a Fairy-type until you can confirm if the Cinderace you are facing has Iron Head or not.
- Belly Drum
- Play Rough
- Helping Hand
- Liquidation
Belly Drum is not as reliable as most players think due to the ability Tera Raid bosses have to nullify stat changes at a moment’s notice. So try to set up and end the battle quickly if you can, but at least Helping Hand gives you a way to support teammates if you do end up messing things up somehow.
Pelipper
Move over, Azumarill, there is a new best Water-type counter on the market, and it is also a Flying-type, which makes it even better for this matchup.
Pelipper essentially walls everything Cinderace wants to do, and sets up the rain to nerf Fire-type moves while boosting Water-type attacks coming from its side. While the rain is up, Hurricane is a 100 percent accurate move that will deal massive damage between helping teammates or healing up. Chilling Water will also reduce Cinderace’s Attack stat upon impact.
- Hurricane
- Roost
- Chilling Water
- Rain Dance/Helping Hand/other flex moves
Building your Pelipper as a defensive wall and giving it a Damp Rock will ensure that the Drizzle Bird does its job perfectly.
Ceruledge and Armarouge
This duo of Fire-types arguably provide the best spread coverage against Cinderace that you could want, with full resistance or immunity to all but Acrobatics and enough versatility to fill out an entire team completely by themselves.
Ceruledge is going to be the offensive option, with access to Psycho Cut and Bitter Blade, along with a boosting move like Swords Dance. You can also run Will-O-Wisp, Clear Smog, or Taunt to ensure you have a way to support your team by hindering Cinderace too.
- Psycho Cut
- Swords Dance
- Bitter Blade
- Reflect/Will-O-Wisp/Taunt
Meanwhile, Armarouge can deal a lot of damage while also setting up Reflect. Using Psychic Terrain to boost Expanding Force’s damage is also an easy way to take an edge, with Clear Smog and Acid Spray working as additional support moves.
Related: Best Armarouge Tera Raid builds in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
- Expanding Force
- Psychic Terrain
- Reflect
- Acid Spray/Clear Smog
Arcanine
Umbreon was an MVP pick against Charizard because it never took super-effective damage and could tank hits while supporting the team—Arcanine will take that spot now due to Cinderace’s advantage on the Dark-type Eeveelution.
Related: Best Espathra Tera Raid builds in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
Arcanine is rather bulky naturally and doesn’t mind taking most of the hits Cinderace can dish out since it has no super effective options. More than that, giving your Arcanine Flash Fire eliminates one option entirely, and you can pack a number of different moves across the board while focusing on either a pure defense or a hybrid build.
Since most players will be running offensive sets, a defensive Arcanine with moves like Charm, Helping Hand, and Will-O-Wisp is the recommended path to take. You can pick between running Psychic Fangs or Play Rough as an offensive option and replace any of the support moves with Howl too, which will boost your team’s physical Attack stat.
- Charm
- Helping Hand/Howl
- Will-O-Wisp
- Psychic Fangs/Play Rough
Bronzong
Much like how Arcanine will take Umbreon’s slot in this raid event, Bronzong is going to be the better option for anyone who was running a Grimmsnarl last time. This is due to Bronzong’s Heatproof ability nullifying its weakness to Fire moves and Cinderace’s access to Iron Head.
Using Bronzong will allow players to set up Reflect for their team, use Metal Sound to lower Cinderace’s Special Defense for allies, and much more. It has some offensive options, too, though those will be secondary to supporting your allies.
- Reflect
- Metal Sound
- Iron Defense/Rain Dance
- Stored Power/Zen Headbutt
Slowbro is also a good option with the Stored Power approach, though you will likely be using Nasty Plot instead of Iron Defense unless you really want to run the risk of having all of your boosts negated at some point.
Bulky Water and Flying-types will work here
Unlike with the Charizard raid, Cinderace is more limited in what it can do to Pokémon who generally hold an advantage over it. It has no way of hitting bulky Pokémon like Gyrados, Quagsire, Gastrodon, and Dragonite for real damage beyond just trying to brute force through their defenses. With the right moveset, any Pokémon with high Defense stats can hold its own—and this spreads beyond Pokémon who normally have these types too.
If you have a Pokémon that can become Water or Flying-type via Terastallization, it can likely be used to some effect in this battle. Just be aware that you still have to survive multiple turns against the Mighty Cinderace before you even have a chance of Terastallizing, so it is probably better to just go with a Pokémon that is always prepared.
