How to beat 7-star Charizard Tera Raid: Best counters in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet

Charizard is one of the most beloved Pokemon in the whole franchise and players are thrilled it got the Dragon Tera Type in Scarlet & Violet’s 7-Star Tera Raid. If you want to get this fierce creature, here’s everything you need to know about the ideal counters to take to one of the hardest fights in the game.

The celebratory announcements from Pokemon Day 2024 kicked off with a special Scarlet & Violet event featuring the three Kanto starters.

All three final stages from Gen 1 starters are the protagonists of the newest 7-Star Tera Raids and will be featured as Bosses one week at a time, starting with Venusaur, followed by Blastoise, and ending with Charizard.

The trio will have particular Tera Types -with Charizard taking on the Dragon type- as well as the Mightiest Mark, a special recognition of the most ferocious Pokemon players can face in battle.

If you’re planning on challenging the mighty Dragon-Tera Type Charizard during its special week, here’s everything you need to know.

Contents

• When will Charizard appear in Tera Raids?
• Charizard moveset & type
• Best Azumarill build to counter Charizard
• Best Sylveon build to counter Charizard
• Best Gardevoir build to counter Charizard
• Best Grimmsnarl build to counter Charizard
• Honorable mentions

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When will Charizard appear in Tera Raids?

The 7-Star Tera Raid featuring Dragon Tera-type Charizard is returning to Pokemon Scarlet & Violet from March 13, 2024, at 00:00 UTC until March 17, 2024, at 23:59 UTC.

Keep in mind that 7-Star Tera Raids are only available to trainers who’ve beaten the main game and as such, these battles are going to be extremely difficult even with three other trainers to help out.

More so, you will only be allowed to catch one Dragon-Tera Type Charizard per save, and because this is a returning encounter, you won’t be able to catch this mighty beast if you already did back in the 2022 event.

Charizard moveset & type

The 7-Star boss will take on the Dragon Tera Type, which will make it weak against Fairy and Dragon-type moves. Do not take with you any Pokemon that is vulnerable to Dragon, Fire, or Flying-type attacks if you don’t want to be killed in a matter of seconds.

Dual Fire/Flying Charizard has a moveset that includes attacks like Dragon Pulse, Fire Blast, and Hurricane, but due to this being a 7-Star Tera Raid, it will be able to use up to four extra moves.

The powerful Overheat and Inferno are among the other moves Dragon-Tera Type Charizard can use against you, so be careful when picking your partner.

POKEMON	LEVEL	MOVES	ABILITY	NATURE	TERA TYPE
	100	– Dragon Pulse – Fire Blast – Hurricane – Focus Blast – Overheat – Tera Blast – Sunny Day – Inferno	Solar Power	Modest	Dragon

Best Azumarill build to counter Charizard

For the purposes of this guide, we’ll keep Azumarill’s section fairly brief, but those who want to read a more in-depth guide for using Azumarill in these 7-Star Charizard Raids can check out our full guide here.

As a Water/Fairy-type, Azumarill is an excellent option to take on 7-Star Charizard as it mitigates its new Dragon typing and its Fire-type moves.

This particular Tera Raid build utilizes Azumarill’s Huge Power ability – which doubles its attack stat – as well as the moves Belly Drum and Play Rough. With this combo, trainers should be able to one-shot Tera Raid Charizard. However, it’s important to remember that Azumarill has fairly frail Defenses, meaning this is sort of an ‘all-or-nothing’ type build.

Though Belly Drum is considered an Egg Move for Azumarill, there is a quicker way to have one learn the move, which trainers can read through our Azumarill Tera Raid build guide.

POKEMON	LEVEL	MOVES	ABILITY	NATURE	TERA TYPE	HELD ITEM
	100	– Belly Drum – Play Rough – Helping Hand – Liquidation	Huge Power	Adamant	Fairy	Shell Bell

Best Sylveon build to counter Charizard

Sylveon is a strong Fairy-type that is relatively easy to obtain in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. Players simply need to find an Eevee in the wild and level it up with high friendship.

Some of Sylveon’s best natures would probably be Calm (+Sp. Def, -Atk) or Modest (+Sp. Atk, -Atk) as Special Attack and Special Defense are two of Sylveon’s highest stats.

Additionally, Sylveon learns strong Fairy-type moves to attack as well as excellent utility moves to both heal and aid its teammates.

If trainers can get Sylveon’s Pixelate ability through the Ability Patch items, any Normal-type moves it uses will become Fairy-type moves. This means powerful Normal Special Attack moves like Hyper Beam could do very high damage to Charizard.

POKEMON	LEVEL	MOVES	ABILITY	NATURE	TERA TYPE	HELD ITEM
	100	– Moonblast – Hyper Voice – Draining Kiss – Calm Mind	Pixelate	Modest	Fairy	Shell Bell

Best Gardevoir build to counter Charizard

Gardevoir is another strong Special Attacker who should do quite well against Charizard, especially since it’s slightly faster than Sylveon. Of course, each Pokemon has its strengths and weaknesses, and using one over the other may just be a matter of preference.

In Ralts’ case, it can be found a bit earlier than Eevee but is a rare spawn. However, lucky players might have caught one at the start of their journey making Gardevoir an easy pick.

Gardevoir is a strong Fairy-type Special Attacker who has the added benefit of Psychic typing.

POKEMON	LEVEL	MOVES	ABILITY	NATURE	TERA TYPE	HELD ITEM
	100	– Reflect – Light Screen – Helping Hand – Life Dew	Synchronize	Impish	Fairy	Light Clay

Best Grimmsnarl build to counter Charizard

Finally, Grimmsnarl differs a bit from Sylveon and Gardevoir in that it functions as a mixed attacker with a slightly higher Attack stat.

Players likely won’t find Impidimp or its evolution Morgrem until the latter half of their adventure, as they’re located in Tagtree Thicket. However, they’re very powerful Dark/Fairy-type Pokemon that will prove to be a welcome addition to any team.

While Play Rough has slightly more power than Spirit Break, lowering Charizard’s Special Attack stat with Spirit Break could prove useful. 

POKEMON	LEVEL	MOVES	ABILITY	NATURE	TERA TYPE	HELD ITEM
	100	– Reflect – Light Screen – Spirit Break – Taunt	Prankster	Impish	Fairy	Light Clay

Honorable mentions

While the Pokemon above are excellent picks for taking on the 7-Star Charizard Tera Raid, some honorable mentions go to Flutter Mane for Pokemon Scarlet players and Iron Valiant for Pokemon Violet players.

These two are very strong late-game Pokemon that are Fairy-types that pack quite the punch. Those who haven’t trained up one of the three Pokemon listed above can find these Pokemon at a high level in the Great Crater of Paldea (Area Zero).

That’s all you need to know about the 7-Star Tera Raid encounter against Charizard in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. For more game content, check our other guides below:

Paldea Pokedex | Best starter Pokemon | How to get Marks in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet | Are Pokemon Scarlet & Violet compatible with Pokemon Home? | Unlocking 5 & 6-star Tera Raids in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet | How to unlock Rotom Phone cases in Scarlet & Violet | How to change clothes in Scarlet & Violet | How to co-op with friends in Scarlet & Violet | All Shiny forms in Scarlet & Violet | Sandwich recipes in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet | Pokemon Scarlet & Violet egg breeding guide | How to get Rare Candy in Scarlet & Violet