[Question] Samurott Tera Raid strats?

[Sandslash Fan]

Anyone have builds they are thinking about for the Samurott tera raid coming out this Friday? I was thinking about Cloyster since it would avoid crits with Shell Armor and it can learn Rock Blast which would be strong against the Bug tera type. Not sure about EVs, but definitely going to be HP, Defense, and Attack.

Cloyster
Ability: Shell Armor
Nature: Impish (+Def, -SAtk)
Tera: Rock
Held Item: Shell Bell (or Loaded Dice if I have Aqua Ring or Life Dew as the fourth move)
- Iron Defense
- Shell Smash
- Rock Blast
- Aqua Ring / Life Dew / Tera Blast (not sure what to use for the last slot)

 

[Devalue]

Expects Megahorn, a Water move, and a special Ice move. May also know something like Sacred Sword, Aerial Ace, Swords Dance, Drill Run, and Smart Strike.

Some ideas:

Corviknight
Ability: Mirror Armor
Nature: Adamant (+Attack / -Special Attack)
Effort Values: Max Hitpoints and Attack
Tera: Flying
Held Item: Shell Bell
Moves: Drill Peck, Bulk Up, Roost, and Screech

Handles all the above moves decently well. Reflects any surprise irritations like Chilling Water, Razor Shell, and Liquidation stat drops. Recovers well enough to stay out of critical range, barring a Focus Energy start.

Downside: Slow. Takes 9 turns of set-up, not including recovery. Might be able to work around buff/debuff clears, depending on timing. Wonders if going all-in with a single Brave Bird + Expert Belt would work. Hits hard enough.

Looked through other Pokemon. Found nothing super convincing for solo. Maybe Gastrodon? Gyarados? Bellibolt? Avalugg? Kingambit with Icy Wind Defiant boosts, perhaps? Bets on Azumarill being great support between Charm and Mud-Slap in multiplayer. Could also go for the Polteageist Skill Swap (with Weak Armor), then Phantom Force to not die, depending on your team composition.

Loves/hates the idea of an Azumarill (Tera: Rock) with Mud-Slap, Belly Drum, Defense Curl, and Rollout. Suppresses Samurott with Mud-Slap until it faints. Returns with Belly Drum. Uses Defense Curl, and then Terastallize + Rollout to victory. Doubts this plan succeeding regularly (and quite possibly at all). Would be unique, though.

Could be a tough raid.

 

[Amore]

Corviknight is an obvious choice - just a shame that its been made so hard to get hold of berries as my shiny is a Defensive spread. I like your set but I don't have the patience - or the level of game completion - to go solo. Gyarados is actually an excellent idea, if Samurott follows the pattern of previous raids in not debuffing its own stats until the shield goes up you've potentially got it nerfed whilst you set up. Helps with fainting too, as you at least get an Atk drop to reduce the chance of it happening again.
Sadly they've robbed Gyarados of Bounce this generation for some dumb reason. So it would need an accuracy-boosting item to help Stone Edge hit. Perhaps a bulky set with Wide / Zoom Lens (the one that boosts if you're slow)? Could pack Sunny Day to help any potential team-mates tank Water moves. Dragon Dance is a great boosting move, although Speed doesn't really count for too much in these raids. A bulky Swords Dancer would be ideal.

 

[Devalue]

Gyarados is actually an excellent idea, if Samurott follows the pattern of previous raids in not debuffing its own stats until the shield goes up you've potentially got it nerfed whilst you set up. Helps with fainting too, as you at least get an Atk drop to reduce the chance of it happening again.
Sadly they've robbed Gyarados of Bounce this generation for some dumb reason. So it would need an accuracy-boosting item to help Stone Edge hit. Perhaps a bulky set with Wide / Zoom Lens (the one that boosts if you're slow)? Could pack Sunny Day to help any potential team-mates tank Water moves. Dragon Dance is a great boosting move, although Speed doesn't really count for too much in these raids. A bulky Swords Dancer would be ideal.

Do not forget about Tera Blast. Basically reverses Stone Edge's power and accuracy to be, on average, equal. Gains no benefit from increased critical chance against Shell Armor. Requires you to be Terastallized, of course. Acquires a Tera: Flying Gyarados much easier than forking over 50 shards for Tera: Rock, however. Prefers taking a non-STAB Ice move over a STAB Water move as a bonus.

Alternatively, Chilling Water over Sunny Day. Lowers Attack while building your Tera Orb charge. Depends whether your allies benefit from stronger Fire/weaker Water moves and how frequent the debuff clears are, of course.

 

[Sandslash Fan]

I am thinking it will have Megahorn, Night Slash, Aqua Cutter, and Sacred Sword. Extra moves being Swords Dance and Icy Wind. I could even see Focus Energy on there to boost the crits even further (maybe after the shield goes up). At first I didn't think Game Freak would be so mean to put Sacred Sword on there, since people wouldn't dare run Rock-type against a Water-type, but Decidueye did have the Low Sweep for use against Steel and Rock.

After considering it even more, I really think Focus Energy with the +crit moves is something a challenging 7-star raid would have. The +crit moves go well with Hisuian hidden ability Sharpness, so I was thinking the might be on the raid version in preparation for Pokémon Home compatibility and people would port their Legends Arceus versions over for PvP.

 

[B-BoiPakYu]

Honestly, I'm thinking of running w/ a Koraidon with Screech/Flare Blitz holding Expert Belt or Shell Bell. Or even, a Muscle Band. We shall see how well this strat works.

 

[Sandslash Fan]

Honestly, I'm thinking of running w/ a Koraidon with Screech/Flare Blitz holding Expert Belt or Shell Bell. Or even, a Muscle Band. We shall see how well this strat works.

I saw that on a Discord server about a Turn 1 kill, but needed others also using Screech and the Attack cheer.

 

[Devalue]

Looked around for other ideas. Mentioned Tauros in there for Anger Point in the context of a one-shot build. Sees potential there as a solo pick, if criticals are in play. Does not require burning Tera Shards like a Tera: Fire Dry Skin Toxicroak either. Build:

Paldean Tauros (Blaze Breed)
Ability: Anger Point
Nature: Adamant (+Attack / -Special Attack)
Effort Values: Max Hitpoints and Attack
Tera: Fire
Held Item: Shell Bell
Moves: Raging Bull, Flare Blitz, Sunny Day, and whatever

Uses Sunny Day on Turn 1 to both reduce the incoming Water damage and boost its damage output. Ideally triggers Anger Point immediately. Deals strong damage very quickly. May end up fainting once. Returns to fighting form easily. Could probably manage a victory even after fainting twice with good enough Terastallizing tactics.

Mainly plans to use Raging Bull. Put Flare Blitz in there if it is going to faint anyways. Noticed nothing else great in the moveset. Accomplishes more with Sunny Day than Tail Whip. Gains nothing from stalling with Endure, Substitute, or Protect. Likely cleanses a Will-o-Wisp burn too quickly to be useful. Already outspeeds Samurott, making Rock Tomb a little pointless.

Should be okay, even with a late Focus Energy. Relies on the usual Intimidate partners to lower damage until then. Builds Tera Orb charges until the main event.

Downside: Assumes a critical-focused Samurott without too much investment in Special Attack. Loses a hefty chunk of health from Air Slash.

 

[B-BoiPakYu]

I saw that on a Discord server about a Turn 1 kill, but needed others also using Screech and the Attack cheer.

Well, it's your "luck-of-the-draw", I guess. Hopefully, there's people who utilizes Koraidon or another Pokemon that synergizes with Koraidon.

 

[Devalue]

Reports back in with a blind, first try solo win with the Paldean Tauros above. Did not even reset for Intimidate partners. (Ran with Arboliva, Drifblim, and Sylveon, for anyone curious.) Fainted three times. (Really expected Terastallized +6 Flare Blitz to finish the job. Probably would have fainted anyway. Might have just lost Sunny Day, though?) Technically defeated Samurott the instant Tauros returned. Finished it from ally damage, perhaps Aftermath related? Recommends an Intimidate in there.

Gets pretty scary. Immediately uses Focus Energy. Pulled out a Swords Dance around the midway point. Fired off a Bulldoze early between turns too. Looking at the caught Samurott: +Attack / -Defense nature. Aqua Cutter, Megahorn, Night Slash, and Drill Run. Has the Shell Armor ability, unsurprisingly.

Did not pay close attention to buff/debuff clears. Something like two debuff clears and one buff clear? Was not affected by any of it.

 

[Amore]

Reports back in with a blind, first try solo win with the Paldean Tauros above. Did not even reset for Intimidate partners. (Ran with Arboliva, Drifblim, and Sylveon, for anyone curious.) Fainted three times. (Really expected Terastallized +6 Flare Blitz to finish the job. Probably would have fainted anyway. Might have just lost Sunny Day, though?) Technically defeated Samurott the instant Tauros returned. Finished it from ally damage, perhaps Aftermath related? Recommends an Intimidate in there.

Gets pretty scary. Immediately uses Focus Energy. Pulled out a Swords Dance around the midway point. Fired off a Bulldoze early between turns too. Looking at the caught Samurott: +Attack / -Defense nature. Aqua Cutter, Megahorn, Night Slash, and Drill Run. Has the Shell Armor ability, unsurprisingly.

Did not pay close attention to buff/debuff clears. Something like two debuff clears and one buff clear? Was not affected by any of it.

I was in a group - my support Corviknight, 2 Gyarados, and a Salamence. They didn't even try to attack until turn 5, when it put up the shields (seems to go turn 2 or 5). So annoying, took twice as long as necessary. I even Tera'd my Corviknight, which I never do. Still, got my Lure Ball, now back to my main for Moon Ball!

Seen a lot of people claim luck with both special Tauros breeds, so I'm going to enquire for an Apriball one and breed it up tomorrow. Hopefully I don't get told to go away by Salamence obssessives, as OHKOs are way more fun!

 

[Alex_Among_Foxes]

I just got mine solo with a dang Ceruledge! Bitter Blade + Will-O_Wisp + Swords Dance + Tera Type Fire + Life Orb.
Pure. Luck.

 

[B-BoiPakYu]

Well, got mine within the first 30 minutes. Team consisted of a Miraidon, Koraidon x3. All Koraidon's spammed Screech first turn and the player with Miraidon did Attack cheer-up. Was able to OHKO next turn with Flare Blitz and Miraidon using Overheat.

 

[Sandslash Fan]

I was so happy to see I was right about it having Focus Energy and the +crit moves. I am not going to do the raid until week 2 though, since I want to farm shards from Blissey some more.

 

[Yoshi808]

Watched Austin John Fitts and his adamant atk-def fire Tauros (raging bull, tail whip, sunny day). Looked easy and it was. First try Samurott in a love ball.

 

[Devalue]

Decided to try to solo Samurott with some different Pokemon. Managed a victory each for Avalugg, Falinks, and Flamigo. Expected much less success than this. Came down to the wire, admittedly. Listed builds, for anyone interested.

Avalugg
Tera: Ice
Ability: Ice Body
Nature: Adamant (+Attack / -Special Attack)
Effort Values: Maximum Hitpoints and Attack
Held Item: Shell Bell
Moves: Curse, Snowscape, Recover, and Avalanche

Basic idea: Use Snowscape for some damage reduction. (Helps you through criticals, unlike screens and defense buffs.) Use Curse to build damage. Recover as needed. Never fell below...40% health?

Falinks
Tera: Fighting
Ability: Battle Armor
Nature: Adamant (+Attack / -Special Attack)
Effort Values: Maximum Hitpoints and Attack
Held Item: Shell Bell
Moves: Rock Slide, Rock Smash, Swords Dance, and No Retreat.

Basic idea: Builds some defense drops for the shield phase. Switches to Swords Dance and Rock Slide for damage. May want to use a heal cheer or two. Heavily advises Intimidate partners (per usual). Appreciates a burn partner too, particularly after the shield drop. Might be able to do well with Bulk Up also, perhaps?

Flamigo
Tera: Flying
Ability: Scrappy (no difference)
Nature: Adamant (+Attack / -Special Attack)
Effort Values: Maximum Hitpoints and Attack
Held Item: Shell Bell
Moves: Aerial Ace, Brave Bird, Swords Dance, and Roost

Basic idea: Deals pretty weak damage (...especially when you Hyper Train Special Attack instead of Attack). Goes more in-depth for how rough this was. Went to +2 Attack and built up Tera Orb charges on the first life. Soared to +4 Attack, Terastallized, and Brave Birded to smash the shield on the second life. Grew to +6 Attack before departing with another Brave Bird as Samurott's Swords Dance came in for life #3. Settled for +2 Attack to finish it with Aerial Aces on life #4. (Healed once with Roost in there, thanks to Drifblim's burn.) Opted to finish with Brave Bird with the timer pixels away from emptying. Counted as a win, despite Flamigo flopping over for a fourth time.

Provides a bit of rough, possibly incorrect information on Samurott. Seems to Swords Dance at 50% health. Triggers a debuff clear with half of the timer depleted. Clears your buffs twice and the debuffs on itself once, in total. (Technically clears status by bringing up the shield too.)

Good partners:
- Intimidate partners (Arcanine, Tauros, and Staraptor). Helps a ton when using Pokemon immune to criticals. Dampens Swords Dance for other Pokemon as well.
- Burn (Arcanine, Drifblim). Reduces damage taken.
- Maybe Sylveon (critical immunity only)? Saw a Charm from it once. Might have been around the Swords Dance time. Notes Staraptor with Feather Dance.

Never spotted any Leers (Weavile, Arcanine) or Rock Smashes (Mudsdale). Would be helpful if they use them. Rarely checks the raid boss's stat changes. (Needed every second.)

Hesitates to recommend any of these three for anyone hungry for their first win. Came very close. Bets on Tauros (Blaze Breed) being one of the best, with some strategy finetuning. Mainly hoped to highlight that multiple Pokemon can pull off a solo win. Heard about Annihilape working too, for example. Just remember to do all the preparation (level, nature, IVs, EVs) and bring some way to deal strong damage eventually, be it through buffs and/or debuffs. Good luck.

Edit for emphasis: Applies only to solo raids. Considers "solo-viable" and "multiplayer-viable" two different things.

 

[Sheep]

Our run was pretty easy. We had 2 people using Corviknight with Screech, myself using Koraidon with Swords Dance + Flare Blitz (though this did cause me to faint since it has recoil and the move didn't OHKO the Samurott, so I was considering swapping out to Fire Fang or something), and a fourth person with Cinderace. The wins were pretty easy after some debuffing and Attack stat buffing. Probably one of the easier raids for me so far, unlike Decidueye that was a pain lol.

 

[Sandslash Fan]

Finally did the raid (I was farming Blissey last week). My Cloyster solo'd easily. It took forever, since I forgot to put Shell Smash on there instead of Razor Shell. With 1-2 Iron Defense up, I was easily able to heal any damage done with Aqua Ring.