Pokemon Scarlet & Violet has been a resounding success despite its rather rough launch. A great campaign coupled with a solid post-game has players long after they’ve conquered Paldea. This is, in part, thanks to the end-game Tera Raid battles that crop up once you’ve proven your worth.
7-Star Tera Raids are where it’s at, and they contain some of the strongest Pokemon the game has to offer. Previously players got the opportunity to take on Charizard, and boy was that Gen 1 legend a pain to take out. The latest Pokemon to get the 7-Star treatment is last generation’s Fire-Fighting all-star, Cinderace.
More Pokemon Scarlet & Violet content:
IV Training | Starfall Street Guide | Tera Raid Battles | How To Get Charizard
When Can You Catch Cinderace?
Cinderace, like Charizard, will only be available at certain times during the event. The times are:
- December 29th, 7pm ET – December 31st, 7pm ET
- January 13th, 7pm ET – January 15th, 7pm ET
Once Cinderace is gone, there is no telling when the Pokemon will return. If you want to have Cinerace kicking around in your party, then make sure you are around during the event.
Tera Raid Cinderace Type
Cinderace has always been a Fire/Fighting type, which, interestingly, is one of the most common typings for Starter Pokemon. Pokemon Scarlet & Violet added Tera Types, however, and this allows Pokemon to take on different typings. Cinderace doesn’t do anything too whacky here thankfully.
If you want to take on Cinderace, you will be fighting a Tera Fighting Cinderace. This will alter Cinderace’s weaknesses and greatly enhance all of its Fighting attacks. Cinderace, being pure Fighting during this fight is weak to: Psychic, Fairy, and Fighting.
Tera Raid Cinderace Moveset
Knowing a Pokemon’s typing is one thing, but Game Freak are sneaky buggers. They will often put powerful mixed movesets on their Pokemon, and Cinderace is no different. Cinderace has the following attacks:
- Pyro Ball (Fire)
- Iron Head (Steel)
- Acrobatics (Flying)
- High Jump Kick (Fighting)
Cinderace will also use Bulk Up to increase its Defence and Attack.
So what does all of this mean? Well, Cinderace is quite a nightmare. One of the best Pokemon in Tera Raids, Azumarill, is worthless in this fight. Azumarill may be Fairy/Water, but Cinderace is rocking Iron Head and this will devastate any trainer attempting to cheese this with the usual strats.
On top of that, Cinderace will constantly buff its stats with Bulk Up making it very hard to take out with Physical Attacks, as well as making its Physical attacks very potent. This is a nightmare with High Jump Kick as this gains multiple buffs due to Cinderace’s Tera Type.
Thankfully, Pyro Ball seems to be Cinderace’s go-to attack and it will use this more than any other attack in its lineup. This is Cinderace’s signature attack and deals serious damage. Avoid any Pokemon weak to fire as a result.
Best Pokemon To Fight Tera Raid Cinderace
Plenty of Pokemon can take on Cinderace, however, our go-to Pokemon was Espathra. Espathra is a Psychic Pokemon, making it Super Effective against Cinderace’s Tera form in addition to resisting Fighting attacks.
What’s more, Espathra has access to an amazing Ability, Opportunist. This Ability will mirror any buffs Cinderace receives. Considering that Cinderace is a Physical Attacker who is regularly buffing Physical Defense, the usually-squishy Espathra becomes shockingly resilient in this fight.
Outside of this, we recommend taking the following attacks:
- Lumina Crash
- Reflect
- Roost
- *final slot filled to taste*
Espathra is incredibly potent thanks to some great Sp.Atk stats and access to Lumina Crash. This should be used to deal large chunks of damage to Cinderace. Reflect can be used to further reduce incoming Physical Damage from Cinderace. Finally, Root allows Espathra to quickly heal in case you have taken too much damage.
Like all Tera Raid battles, fainting in combat rapidly decreases the time you have to defeat Cinderace. Having a bit of sustain here in a pinch can help. You can get Roost on Espthra through Egg Move Transfer.
Your final ability can be anything you fancy. Running something like Calm Mind can further increase your damage, for example.
We also recommend running a Shell Bell or Leftovers on Espathra to provide some passive healing during this fight. Again, you want to avoid fainting at all costs.
Be sure to have Espathra Hyper and EV trained to maximise stats. You will also want Espathra to be Level 100.
Final Advice
When fighting Cinderace, expect to lose a few times if you are battling with randoms or NPCs. Even knowing everything about Cinderace and bringing the best Pokemon you can, sometimes you get a bad party. Providing you are doing everything you can to win the encounter, you will eventually get a like-minded team who will do the same.
Failing that, team up with some friends and wail on Cinderace with a team of perfectly crafted Pokemon. You might still get a couple of defeats, but this is by far the easiest way to come out on top.
We have extensively covered Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, so check those out if you want more tips and tricks.
