PKMBuy SV guide: How to beat the 7 star Greninja Tera Raid?

Please don't use Azumarill this time
Pokemon Scarlet & Violet brings its third 7-Star Tera Raid battle into the game, and with it comes a change of pace. Previous Charizard and Cinderace raids favored Pokemon that could tank Fire-Type hits like champions, but many of these monsters wouldn't necessarily hold up against Greninja. There is a returning title, but we'll talk about that later.

In the tradition of 7-star raids thus far, you can only catch one Greninja while the event is running. That said, you can freely swipe this raid for higher rare item drop rates like skill patches and bottle caps. What's more, since Greninja will always use the same move and Poison Tera-Type, you can repeat the winning strategy multiple times if your teammates are willing to cooperate. Here's how to take down this frog ninja.

Greninja's movements
Unlike previous raids, Greninja was a hybrid raider. It will use Gunk Shot and Night Slash to deal physical poison and dark attribute damage respectively. Instead, it uses ice beams and hydraulic pumps to deal ice and water type damage proportional to its special attack. Its attack pattern ultimately depends on your Pokémon's stats and type. No matter what hurts you the most, Greninja is usually spamming.

Having said that, it is clear that Glennia's special attack attribute is much higher than its physical attack. This allows for strategies that may seem downright silly at first glance. Depending on your Pokemon's stats, Greninja may choose to use moves you resist instead of moves that deal neutral damage to you. Keep this in mind when deciding whether to build a Pokemon that prioritizes its defense or special defense stats.

Additional mechanics for Greninja
At the start of the fight, Greninja will use Toxic Spikes and Double Teams. If your Pokemon returns to the battlefield after being knocked down, Stinger will poison your Pokemon. The obvious solution here is "don't die," but that's easier said than done. Double Team is written to be used when Greninja's health is down, so it won't necessarily spam when your team sets its buffs. That said, once Greninja's evasion is boosted high enough, it becomes a major pain point for any attack. Fortunately, choosing a Pokemon can deal with this.

Other than that, Greninja's mechanics are similar to other 7-star Tera Raids. It will remove your stat boost on turn 3 of the encounter. This will weaken your team's ability to buff themselves early in the fight, but luckily your stats will improve after that. Greninja will also clear its stat debuffs during or after its shield phase, so make sure Greninja doesn't stealthily get knocked down after this happens. Otherwise, the normal rules for the shield phase remain here. Status moves and debuffs don't land, but attacks with secondary effects like ice water still work.

Thanks to Greninja's mechanics, the best counterattacks depend on which Pokemon you bring to the battlefield. That said, as a general rule of thumb, definitely prioritize your defenses. Even if Greninja clears your stat boost early, it's still worth buffing yourself up against its initial attack. That said, keep in mind that cheers or actions like Light Screen will still persist after Greninja clears your stat boost.

The best Pokémon
After some initial confusion, the meta against Greninja revolves around a familiar friend returning to rule Havoc. No, this isn't Azumarill; in fact, Azumarill's belly drum shouldn't be anywhere near this encounter. That said, remember to maximize the EV and IV of any Pokemon you bring along as we recommend in our Azumarill build guide.

DPS MVP: Slowbro
As it turns out, Cinderace's Stored Power strategy was too good for even Greninja to resist. Considering the super effective damage Slowbro takes from Greninja's Nightslash, it's incredible how well it does in this fight.

Attack and Support MVP: Gastrodon
Anecdotally, Slowbro is the most consistent force popping up in rooms online. Gastrodon hasn’t seen as much usage in my testing, but when played well, this monster can help this fight go very smoothly.

Healer Option: Cloyster
This is my personal build for this encounter. Thanks to Cloyster’s monstrous Defense, Greninja will be goaded into spamming Hydro Pump. This is based on a universal HP/Defense build, so allocate points into Special Defense or adopt a Careful Nature to make this build comfier in this fight. Use Light Screen to protect yourself and party members vulnerable to Special Attacks, and throw in a Defense Cheer for good measure. Remember, these won’t expire when Greninja clears your stat boosts. Have Cloyster hold Light Clay to extend the duration of Light Screen.

Slowbro’s Bro: Qwilfish
If you want the return of Slowbro’s Stored Power defeating the boss in one hit, bring a Qwilfish to play pure support.
First off, Qwilfish can learn Intimidate as a hidden ability. This will make a significant impact on the party’s early survivability, especially for Slowbro as it takes Night Slashes. Once Greninja clears your stats, use Haze to write off its evasion boosts. From there, use Chilling Water until Greninja’s damage output is at an acceptable level, and use a mix of Acupressure and Acid Spray. The idea with Acupressure is to give Slowbro as many stat boosts as possible to bolster Stored Power even further, and Acid Spray will help Slowbro hit way, way harder. If another party member is not using Yawn, Thunder Wave can work here as well.

Honorable mention 1: Clodsire
From here, just a quick overview of other viable options. Clodsire fits a similar niche as Gastrodon, especially given its Water immunity via Water Point. Your build options are similar, though you can opt for Acid Spray as support here as well. Clodsire can run Curse and Earthquake, so if you aren’t a fan of Slowbro, there’s an option there.

Honorable Mention 2: Vaporeon
Vaporeon is also worth a quick shout since it can run a Stored Power set like Slowbro. While it’s more favorable defensively, it does lack Slowbro’s STAB boost to the move as well as a consistent healing option. Vaporeon does get Wish, but you’ll have to play around the move’s delayed effect.

If you're interested in learning more about Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, check out our other guides on Pokemon, along with all potions, all special evolution conditions, secret gift codes, all held items, and more. Of course, you can also buy Pokemon SV shiny and held items on pkmbuy.