Pokémon Scarlet & Violet: Best Cinderace Build for Tera Raids

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s best Cinderace build for Tera Raids is under discussion since the addition of the Galarian Pokémon to the Generation 9 games. Cinderace was not originally available in the open-world titles and arrived via a Tera Raid event. During a limited time, players could take on a 7-Star Tera Raid centered around a Fighting Tera type Cinderace and, in case it was defeated, capture one.

With impressive Attack stats and strong moves, the Tera Raid Cinderace melted through multiple challenging teams. Pokémon Trainers who prepared strong Fairy-type Pokémon, such as Azumarill and Sylveon had a particularly hard time because of the opponent’s Steel-type Iron Head move, if not its mere striking power with High Jump Kick or Pyro Ball, boosted by Bulk Up. Due to its wide coverage against its main meta weakness, Cinderace’s Tera Raid in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet was especially frustrating.

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet: Cinderace’s Strengths Make Him A Resilient Striker

Scorbunny’s final evolutionary form is a powerful attacker, so obtaining Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s best Cinderace build is a matter of taking advantage of its main powers. With this in mind, players must Effort Value (EV) train their Attack stat to the maximum. To accompany it, its HP stat should also be taken to the limit with EV training, granting it superior survivability. The remaining points should be invested in either Defense or Special Defense which will further boost its resistances.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s Cinderace impacts Gen 9’s competitive scene because of its impressive stats and the way it operates on the field, and in Tera Raids it is not so different. After its EV training, players should also Individual Value (IV) train to extend the reach of its other stats. This can be done with Bottle Caps or Golden Bottle Caps in the Northern city of Montenevera. Players can ignore IV training its Special Attack stat. Exemplifying this, even more, Trainers should use an Adamant Mint to change its Nature, in case it was not already Adamant. This will boost its Attack at the expense of its Special Attack.

With its stats built and its level maxed out to 100, players should then focus on deciding what Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Tera type they want for Cinderace. While Game8 says that an Electric Tera type is the best build for Tera Raids, Trainers can ultimately decide which type of attacker they want and for what type of Tera Raids they will use it. An Electric-type Cinderace can be a surprising choice, but may inevitably suffer to super-effective strike Water-types during the raid’s duration since Cinderace’s Fire-type makes him vulnerable to these opponents.

With the Libero Hidden Ability, however, it could change its Type to Electric with the first use of an Electro Ball, granting it resistance against both Water-type foes. Although Electro Ball is a move that disregards the user’s Attack stat in favor of its Special Attack, this could be a strategy to set the stage for a late-game sweep with an Electric Terastallized Tera Blast. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s Terastal Form variations are a game-changer and, because of this, the Electric Tera type Cinderace is a functional approach, being especially good against Flying-types.

Besides its Electro Ball to activate Libero and Tera Blast to wipe out the opponent, Game8 recommends that it knows Swords Dance, to improve its Attack, and Low Sweep, to decrease the foe’s Speed. Because it should have only one round of passive build-up with Swords Dance, Cinderace should hold a Shell Bell, which will cure it for every hit it lands. This build works, though it is not the best.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: Cinderace Should Be A Fighting Or Fire Tera Type

Maintaining Cinderace’s Fighting Tera type and building its moveset around it is also a viable option. Regardless of Trainers facing Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s Cinderace Tera Raids solo or in a group, one thing made itself clear during all encounters: its variety of moves. Though giving it a Fighting Tera type implies focusing on Fighting-type moves, players should keep some of its moveset variety. As such, its signature move, Pyro Ball, is also recommended.

Of course, this is not true if its Ability is Libero and it initiates the fight with a Fighting-type move. Nonetheless, with a Fighting-type focused Cinderace, players can build it as an alternative for the popular Iron Hands, for instance. For its other two moves, Trainers can keep Swords Dance for great Attack stat boosting or choose Bulk Up, which will only boost one instance of Attack but also a bit of its Defense. Cinderace is among Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s best Fighting-type Pokémon, and keeping its aforementioned Fighting-type Low Sweep is a good decision to keep the Tera opponent under check and maintain Cinderace’s superiority on the field.

Of course, another option for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s best Cinderace build for Tera Raids is building it around its natural Fire-type. With its stats unchanged from previous builds, Cinderace should invest in a stat-boosting move, like Swords Dance or Bulk Up, use a Flame Charge as its first offensive move, and proceed the fight with STAB physical Fire-type moves, like Pyro Ball. Flare Blitz can be a strong finishing move while Fire Punch is a safer and steadier option.

Despite its wider flexibility, for a Fire Tera type Cinderace, players should change its Ability from Libero to Blaze. Changing Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s Hidden Abilities to normal ones requires the use of an Ability Patch. Blaze is a better Ability for this build because it boosts Fire-type moves when the Pokémon’s HP is below 50%. While Libero can be useful on other occasions, it will not be useful with a Fire-type build because Cinderace should not change its type.

Alternative held items for Shell Bell, regardless of the chosen Tera type, are Leftovers, which will cure it even if it doesn’t use an offensive move, and Clear Amulet, which prevents its stats from being lowered. The latter is great for Tera Raids because this mechanic has a few stat-lowering instances which may mean players need to start boosting all over again. One of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s best-held items for Fire-types is Charcoal, which resonates well with a Fire Tera-type build. Ultimately, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s best Cinderace build for Tera Raids is up to players’ preferences and the use they will apply to the Galarian Pokémon.