We just got done with a Fire-Starter pokemon, but the Pokemon Company seems to want to give us ways to keep warm this winter in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: We now know that Delibird will be featured in 1- to 5-star raids in the game from December 23rd to 25th, hopefully with bonus rewards, as that’s basically all it brings to the table.
Even bigger news is the arrival of Fighting-tera-typed Unrivaled Cinderace with the Mightiest Mark badge, which like Charizard before it is guaranteed to have max IVs but is limited to a single ‘mon reward, with further raid wins resulting in only the item rewards (which are still quite worth it).
One troubling aspect of having another Fire pokemon with a tera-type weakness to Fairy is the hope of recycling last Mighty-‘mon’s pick; we’ve argued for the usefulness of Fairy types, but releasing Cinderace in such a fashion could be a trap from the developers. Players should recall that Cinderace has a very diverse movepool, among which is the poison move Gunk Shot, which could mean the Charizard Fairy counters could be taking heavy Super Effective damage and thus become a liability. It also learns Shadow Ball, so Mimikyu and Fluttermane (Fairies that are neutral to Poison) plus Psychic counters could all be at Super Effective risk too. We don’t know what moves Cinderace will come with, and that one alone could making reusing pokemon a nonstarter.
Aside from Shadow Ball, Psychics also need to consider Dark moves Snarl and Sucker Punch. That also means all of the most popular support pokemon (Chansey, Grimmsnarl, Sylveon, Umbreon, Hatterene, and even surprise picks like support Lucario or Gallade) may not be safe.
If you’re thinking to invest in something that will at least resist Cinderace instead of doing super-effective damage, recall that the soccer bunny also learns Electro Ball, an electric attack that deals more damage as the user’s Speed outpaces the target’s, so using Water or Flying to resist attacks is tough, especially anything slower than Ace. Cinderace also has 119 speed, while well-known speedy attacker Gengar sits at only 110. Cinderace may not be the fastest pokemon, but it outpaces many.
Fighting-types have to worry about Psychic move Zen Headbutt, Fires have Mud Shot as the worst possible move, and Grounds must consider Trailblaze as a Grass-type move that only makes Cinderace faster. While obviously Cinderace won’t have all of these moves, it does mean choosing investments to make in advance is more difficult than some people realize.
Dragon looks to be one of the few types that are quite safe from Ace’s movepool, and they often have quite high stats. Even Dragon/Flying at least may take neutral damage from a potential Electro Ball should Ace get it, while Ground/Dragon Garchomp takes neutral damage from a potential Trailblaze. This may be Goodra and Haxorus‘ time to shine, or at least, they may be the safest neutral picks out there.
Haxorus, though, has the advantage of learning Aerial Ace via TM, dealing super-effective damage against Cinderace’s Fighting-tera-typing. Swords Dance could be used to buff its attack higher. Breaking Swipe could be used as a kind of attack-support move, dealing neutral damage but being guaranteed to lower Ace’s attack stat, which is its main attack type. Rain Dance can also help negate Fire attacks. Body Slam could be used to potentially inflict Paralysis, which would further help negate damage, or you could simply use Tera Blast for big neutral damage, which is especially important once the raid target’s shields go up.
Rotoms with the Levitate ability, especially Heat Rotom and Fan Rotom, may be interesting picks as they take neutral damage from everything Ace can throw at them. Oddly, Rotom could be a support choice, having access to Reflect to cut down on damage, Thunder Wave for paralysis while preventing occasional attacks or Will-O-Wisp for chip damage and reducing attack damage, and Confuse Ray to also potentially prevent damage while simultaneously causing Ace to hit itself. And of course, there’s Helping Hand; someone can be dealing the damage needed to win the fight. Since you can change Rotom’s form at will, it may be the best support pokemon to invest in until we learn what moves Cinderace is bringing to its next matches – December 31st through January 1st and again January 13th through 15th.
12/30 Update: Cinderace has arrived. Early reports note that it has Iron Head, which Azumarill can take a few of (especially if you buff your Defense), but it’s not recommended. It also has Acrobatics (Flying), High Jump Kick (Fighting), Pyro Ball (Fire), and Bulk Up, the last of which buffs its attack and defense stats. The above thread also has notes on soloing if you’re so inclined, though Espathra with Opportunist (ability), Reflect, and Lumina Crash seems to be one choice for both adding some support while also attacking. Slowbro can work too with multiple builds.
In theory, Misdreavus built according to this should also work too, though I would start with Taunt to prevent the Bulk Up spamming.
