How to defeat 7 Star Empoleon in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

The new Tera Raid Battle for 7 Star Empoleon is currently live in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, and we’ve put together a new guide on how to take it down.

Empoleon knows Surf, Flash Cannon, Grass Knot, and Ice Beam as its normal moves. It’s Tera Ice, and it also uses Snowscape, Blizzard, and Iron Defense as additional moves during the battle. Empoleon is available to battle from now until February 4, and then again from February 9 to 11. If you don’t have any Pokemon ready for this wave, feel free to check out our guide and prepare your counter for the next wave.

7 Star Empoleon Tera Raid Battle guide

One of the best Pokemon to defeat 7 Star Empoleon is a little difficult to obtain – it’s Gholdengo. This Pokemon is generally a great pick for raid battles, and this is thanks to its ability to use Nasty Plot + Make It Rain to deal super-effective Steel-type damage on certain opponents. 7 Star Empoleon is one such opponent, and since it’s Tera Ice, it’ll be weak to Steel. Though Gholdengo doesn’t resist Water-type moves, it does resist both Ice and Steel. A great strategy would be to bring a Gholdengo with HP and Sp. Attack investment, set up three Nasty Plots, and then wreak havoc with Make It Rain. You can then go with Flash Cannon and Light Screen as your last two moves, and then use a Shell Bell or Light Clay for your item.

Unfortunately, Empoleon’s Competitive Ability is a big problem here. If you try to do the raid with CPUs, they can bring Arcanine, Tauros, and Staraptor – which all have the Intimidate Ability. This means that at the start of the battle and each time they are revived, these Pokemon will give Empoleon a free Sp. Attack boost that allows it to devastate your team. To prevent this, it’s a good idea to play with friends. One of them can use a Bronzong with Skill Swap, Metal Sound, Sunny Day, and Light Screen. It can set Sunny Day to reduce Surf’s damage and Blizzard’s accuracy, and then Skill Swap Competitive off of Empoleon. This allows Bronzong to use Metal Sound to lower Empoleon’s Sp. Defense, which makes Gholdengo’s Make It Rain attack deal more damage.

Slowking and Slowbro are good options here, as they resist all of Empoleon’s offensive moves bar Grass Knot and can also use both Light Screen and Sunny Day. Slowking is the superior option, as it has higher Sp. Defense than Slowbro. Rotom-Wash has access to Light Screen + Sunny Day as well. Again, if you’re having trouble, it’s probably best to use a full team of four. If you get Arcanine, Tauros, or Staraptor as teammates, they’ll sharply boost Empoleon’s Sp. Attack every time you switch in – which adds an element of randomness to being able to win at all.

Those are the counters that worked best for us, but how about you? Did you manage to clear 7 Star Empoleon’s Tera Raid Battle event with a different Pokemon? If so, feel free to share down below. We have lots more guides available for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, and you can check out the full list of them right here.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now for Switch. Find the official website here.