Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: Greninja Weakness and Best Counters

As the next seven-star black crystal Tera Raid event rolls around, trainers will be perfecting their knowledge of type matchups in preparation for the next battle. Following the Charizard Tera Raid and the Cinderace Tera Raid, it’s quickly become well-known that 7-Star Events are not for the faint of heart, and only the strongest trainers will come out on top. However, even following the strength of two fire-type Pokémon, Greninja’s speed paired with a selection of status-affecting poison moves means precautions need to be taken if you’re looking for a window to catch this frog and add another rare species to your boxes. Unfortunately, since Greninja doesn’t spawn naturally in Paldea, this is one of the only opportunities players will get to catch one, so read on to find out how you can target its weaknesses.

Best Counters for Greninja in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

As Greninja is a dual dark/water type, there are several weaknesses the species has, such as Fairy, Fighting, Electric, Bug, and Grass. However, the Poison Tera Type of the 7-Star event species makes the challenge far more challenging. As Fairy-Type Pokémon are weak to poison, you are vulnerable to getting hit once before your Pokémon is knocked out, similar to Grass Pokémon. Generally speaking, a ground-type Pokémon like Dugtrio is a good combat for Poison moves, which is ideal for this Tera Raid, but for trainers just facing Greninja competitively, any fairy, fighting, electric, bug, or grass Pokémon will do the job.

One thing to consider regarding battling Greninja is the speed of the Pokémon, so your active Pokémon should be prepared to take a hit first. Given Greninja’s type, it can learn Poison, Dark, and Water moves, so Fairy Pokémon will still be vulnerable to any Poison-based attacks. In the Tera Raid, Greninja will immediately use Double Team and Toxic Spikes, which is worth taking into account if you have any Pokémon to combat status-affecting moves directly, like Dachsbun’s Well-Baked Body ability.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are available on Nintendo Switch.