Greninja will appear in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet…

Greninja will appear in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet’s 7-Star Tera Raids between January 27 and 30, 2023, as well as February 10 and 13, 2023. Everyone’s favorite frog ninja comes with the guaranteed Poison Tera-type. Additionally, these 7-Star Tera Raids drop a bunch of very useful materials and items such as ability patches and capsules, candy, and tera shards. These are going to help you prepare for future raid events as well as competitive PvP battles.

This guide provides you with all the knowledge you need about Greninja’s moveset and best counters in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet.

7-Star Tera Raid Greninja stats, moves – Pokémon Scarlet & Violet

Here’s Greninja’s full predicated set as a 7-Star Tera Raid boss in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet:

• Potential nature – Adamant (Physical) / Modest (Special)
• Ability – Protean
• Item – None
• Tera-type – Poison
• Potential physical moves – Swords Dance, Tera Blast, Night Slash, Liquidation, Acrobatics, Facade, Brick Break
• Potential special moves – Gunk Shot, Dark Pulse, Hydro Pump, Water Shuriken, Rain Dance, Blizzard, Grass Knot, Extrasensory, Double Team

Since the full extent of Greninja’s moves is not going to be announced before the raids are available in the game, we can only make some educated guesses about its capabilities. In general, Greninja is a quick sweeper featuring a strong offense and high speed, but lacking in defense.

While that makes it difficult to determine how you should lay out your own defense, we do know how you’ll be able to dish out the most damage. Its ability, Protean, should be no issue since it doesn’t really work with the Terastylization mechanic.

While moves such as Double Team and Smokescreen could give Greninja some survivability, it lacks defensive support moves, which you can use to your advantage.

Best counters for Greninja – Pokémon Scarlet & Violet

We’ll be able to adjust our picks based on which moves Greninja brings to the table once the raid battles are available, but for now we can offer you some Pokémon that should work well against it based on the information we have at the moment.

West Sea Gastrodon

Gastrodon can redirect Water-type attacks due to its ability Storm Drain, boosting its Special Attack at the same time. Thanks to a good amount of Ground-type attacks as well as support moves, it should be a powerful option against the Poison Tera-type creature. While Gastrodon generally has a lot of bulk and can take punishment, it’s not advised to use it in case Greninja packs the Grass-type move Grass Knot.

• Nature – Bold or Calm, HP and (Special) Defense invested
• Ability – Storm Drain
• Item – Ability Shield
• Tera-type – Ground
• Potential moves – Earth Power, Recover, Yawn, Amnesia/Acid Armor, Helping Hand

Klefki

Klefki is a neat mix of types for this battle, as it negates the usual weakness of Fairy-types against Poison moves with the addition of the Steel category. Coupled with Prankster as an ability, its impressive set of support moves make it a great addition to a team raiding Greninja. If the frog ninja brings a Fighting-type move to the table, we’d recommend not using Klefki, though.

• Nature – Bold or Calm, HP and (Special) Defense invested
• Ability – Prankster
• Item – Ability Shield
• Tera-type – Steel
• Potential moves – Flash Cannon, Metal Sound, Swift, Sunny Day, Reflect/Light Screen, Rest, Iron Defense/Calm Mind, Stored Power

Paldean Tauros (Aqua Breed)

Greninja will likely be able to dish out a critical hit or two, which makes Anger Point a useful ability to bring. When hit by a critical hit, Anger Point maximizes the Attack stat and enables you to strike back with a devastating counter attack. Paldean Tauros (Aqua Breed) also comes with a range of moves that boost its Defense stat and packs a bunch of very accurate attacks, which comes in handy if Greninja uses evasion techniques like Double Team. However, Grass Knot or Extrasensory could cause issues with this pick.

• Nature – Bold or Calm, HP and (Special) Defense invested
• Ability – Anger Point
• Item – Shell Bell
• Tera-type – Steel/Psychic
• Potential moves – Smart Strike, Bulk Up, Rest, Sleep Talk

Gholdengo

It might be one of the worst Pokémon designs introduced in Scarlet & Violet, but Gholdengo is quite bulky and comes with an ability that helps it against status moves. Thanks to a high Special Attack stat it could also cause massive damage to Greninja in a short amount of time. While Extrasensory may be problematic for Gholdengo, it should survive long enough to get a few strong hits in.

• Nature – Bold or Calm, HP and (Special) Defense invested
• Ability – Good as Gold
• Item – Ability Shield
• Tera-type – Steel
• Potential moves – Metal Sound, Recover, Nasty Plot, Flash Cannon/Make it Rain, Light Screen/Reflect

Tinkaton

Another Fairy-Steel-hybrid, Tinkaton is threatened by Fighting-type moves, but has little else to fear. It just needs to bring Gigaton Hammer backed up by a bunch of support moves to be an effective participant in the fight against Greninja.

• Nature – Bold or Calm, HP and (Special) Defense invested
• Ability – Own Tempo
• Item – Shell Bell
• Tera-type – Steel
• Potential moves – Gigaton Hammer, Reflect/Light Screen, Swords Dance, Helping Hand, Thunder Wave

We have a few general Tera Raid tips for you in store as well, if you want to make some additional preparations.