The Indigo Disk DLC brought a lot of Pokémon from previous generations to Scarlet and Violet, and this includes Generation VI’s Malamar, who has the potential to be one of the best support ‘mons to take into Tera Raids.
What makes six-star and seven-star Tera Raids so difficult is when the raid boss constantly boosts their stats to hit harder and harder. But, as pointed out in a Dec. 20 Reddit thread, Malamar can easily flip the script on the most annoying raid bosses out there, thanks to its Contrary ability and the move Skill Swap.
Contrary is an interesting ability that reverses the effects of the user’s stat changes. For example, anytime an opponent tries to lower Malamar’s stats, the stats will be increased instead. Likewise, if Malarmar tries to boost its stats with a move like Nasty Plot, it will unfortunately lower its stats.
Since Tera Raid bosses often boost their stats, they would weaken themselves if they somehow acquired the Contrary ability. By using Skill Swap, Malamar can give its Contrary ability to the raid boss. In fact, Malamar is the only Pokémon in the Gen IX games with access to Contrary and Skill Swap, meaning it’s the only Pokémon that can pull off this fun strategy. And, if the boss is a physical attacker, Malamar can further reduce their Attack by using Swagger after Contrary is swapped onto them. This will also confuse the raid boss at the same time.
On top of reversing the stat boosts, this Malamar strategy is also helpful in stealing the raid boss’ Ability. Many bosses depend on their Ability to increase their damage output or make the raid harder, so taking that perk away from them will make your life a lot easier.
While this may encourage you to start bringing Malamar to every Tera Raid, it’s better if you reserve it for coordinated groups where everyone is aware of the Contrary/Skill Swap strategy. Otherwise, it could backfire. NPCs and random players might still try to lower the boss’ stats with moves like Metal Sound or Charm, even after you swap Contrary onto it. In that unfortunate scenario, they would unknowingly be boosting the raid boss’ stats.
So avoid solo raids, and make sure everyone is on the same page if you bring Malamar to group raids. That way, Malamar can be the MVP of the toughest raids around.
