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USA Today Sports Media Group
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Josh Broadwell

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet 7-star Decidueye Raid tips and counters

The Pokemon Scarlet and Violet 7-star Decidueye Raid is live, giving you a chance to add the Hisuian variant of the Alolan starter to your team in the latest Pokemon game – if you manage to take it down. Like previous 7-star raids, the Decidueye battle is not an easy one, but we’ve come up with a few good ways to make it through comparatively unscathed.

This Scarlet and Violet Decidueye raid guide breaks down everything you need to know about Decidueye’s move set and the best counters to make it through.

When does the Scarlet and Violet Decidueye raid start?

The Scarlet and Violet Decidueye raid takes place over two weekends. Unlike previous starter Pokémon raids, this raid runs across two consecutive weekends.

  • Oct. 6, 2023, to Oct. 8, 2023
  • Oct. 13, 2023, to Oct. 15, 2023

This is a one-shot Raid, which means if you miss it during the first weekend, you have to wait until the next weekend to try again.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: 7-Star Tera Raid Decidueye moves and abilities

Here’s what to expect from Hisuian Decidueye. 

The Mightiest Decidueye – Level 100

  • Nature: Adamant
  • Ability: Scrappy
  • Tera-type: Grass

Like other 7-star Tera Pokemon, Hisuian Decidueye knows eight moves. This is the official moveset:

  • Leaf Blade
  • Triple Arrows
  • Brave Bird
  • Shadow Claw
  • Bulk Up
  • Grassy Terrain
  • Leaf Storm
  • Swords Dance

Hisuian Decidueye is more dangerous than its Alolan counterpart, with a higher attack stat and a broad range of moves that covers most of the traditional counters.

H-Decidueye’s Grass Tera typing means that signature Triple Arrows will hit especially hard, thanks to a 2x boosted same-type tera boost. Triple Arrows is already a pretty rough move to handle, with 90 base power, a boost to critical hit ratio, a chance to drop the defense of the defending Pokémon, and, as if that weren’t enough, even a chance to flinch. 

Bulk Up and Swords Dance make this ‘mon’s other moves dangerous, and Grassy Terrain boosts its Grass-type moves as well. You can counter all of these pretty easily, though, along with pretty much everything else that isn’t Triple Arrows. 

Best counters for Hisuian Decidueye Raid

The most important thing to bring to the fight is a defender, a Pokemon with bulky defense, and a special attacker, one who can get around Decidueye’s Bulk Up-enhanced defense. You also need something that has advantages against Grass-type Pokemon. That sounds like a tall order, but we have a few picks that should help see you through this fight with comparative ease.

Skeledirge

Skeledirge is the best starter evolution in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and one of the best options for this raid. Its signature move, Torch Song, boosts special attack with each use, which means you don’t have to spend time setting up. Skeledirge’s hidden ability Unaware is its secret weapon. It ignores the target Pokemon’s stat boosts, so even after three rounds of Swords Dance, H-Decidueye won’t be knocking out Skeledirge in one hit.

The strategy here is pretty straightforward. Fire off a Will-O-Wisp on turn 1 to burn H-Decidueye and reduce its attack. Set up a Mud Slap or Sunny Day to lower accuracy or boost Fire-type moves, respectively, and then use Torch Song until the fight ends

Skeledirge’s egg move Slack Off can restore HP when needed.  

On the item front, you’ve got two choices. Shell Bell will keep Skeledirge healthier for longer, while Metronome will boost Torch Song’s power even further the more times you use it consecutively.

Here’s our suggested set for Skeledirge:

Skeledirge – Level 100

  • Nature: Bold
  • Ability: Unaware
  • Item: Shell Bell/Metronome
  • Tera-type: Fire
  • Move set
    • Torch Song
    • Will-O-Wisp
    • Mud Slap/Sunny Day
    • Slack Off

Indeedee (F)

Female Indeedee is an exceptional support option, with a strong move pool built around helping allies. That means Indeedee won’t do the attacking. She’s just here to support, set up, and keep friends alive and healthy.

Psychic Terrain is a must to counter H-Decidueye’s Grassy Terrain, while Helping Hand will boost an ally’s next attack. Heal Pulse restores a sizeable amount of HP to an ally, and Charm will lower H-Decidueye’s attack by two stages before and after the shield is up.

Here’s our suggested Indeedee (F) set:

Indeedee (F) – Level 100

  • Nature: Lax
  • Ability: Own Tempo
  • Item: Terrain Extender
  • Tera-type: Fire
  • Move set:
    • Psychic Terrain
    • Helping Hand
    • Charm
    • Heal Pulse

Charjabug

Charjabug seems like a meme choice, but it genuinely is one of the best supportive Pokémon in this raid. Charjabug’s Battery ability raises its allies’ special attack by 30 percent, making it a perfect partner for any special attacker. Charjabug already has a very high defense, but giving it Eviolite increases that by a further 50 percent, making it one of the bulkiest Pokémon around.

Mud Slap lowers H-Decidueye’s accuracy, while Pounce lowers speed, and Lunge will drop its attack. Iron Defense is really just a nice bonus to reduce any unnecessary damage.

Here’s our suggested set for Charjabug:

Charjabug – Level 100

  • Nature: Relaxed
  • Ability: Battery
  • Item: Eviolite
  • Tera-type: Bug
  • Move set:
    • Mud Slap
    • Iron Defense
    • Pounce
    • Lunge

Armarouge

Armarouge, one of the best Pokemon in Scarlet and Violet, fills a role similar to Skeledirge’s. It may not set up as easily as the fire croc, but it can lower H-Decidueye’s stats – even behind the shield. The key move here is Clear Smog. Clear Smog deals a small amount of damage, but the important thing is that it negates any stat boosts H-Decidueye might give itself. 

Flamethrower is Armarouge’s big damage move, especially after Terastalization, but you’ll need to set up first. A few Iron Defenses at the start of the battle should be enough to keep it alive until H-Decidueye pops its shield, and that’s when you should use Calm Mind to boost special attack. 

Armarouge is pretty bulky, but it may get knocked out with a hard-hitting move like Shadow Claw. Make sure to keep up with your Clear Smogs to prevent H-Decidueye from snowballing is a must.

Here’s our suggested set for Armarouge:

Armarouge – Level 100

  • Nature: Modest
  • Ability: Flash Fire
  • Item: Shell Bell
  • Tera-type: Fire
  • Move set:
    • Armor Cannon/Flamethrower
    • Clear Smog
    • Calm Mind
    • Iron Defense

Written by Oliver Brandt and Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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