How to beat the 7-Star Samurott Tera Raid in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet

destructoid.com:

I feel like a broken record saying this, but Samurott could be the most unexpected 7-Star raid in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet yet. Sure, it follows the formula of basing a raid around a previous Generation’s starter, but the meta and strategies for this fight aren’t like anything we’ve seen until now. Whether that’s good or bad is up to you, but either way, prepare for a fierce challenge that prioritizes very specific strategies.

If you’ve participated in Tera Raids since Scarlet & Violet launched, you know the deal by now. Samurott will always have the Bug Tera Type, and it will use the same strategy in every encounter. You’re limited to catching one Samurott per save file, but you can continue to farm the fight for Ability Patches, Bottle Caps, and other useful goodies. Decidueye codified a trend of boosted Tera Shard gains per victory, and thankfully that tradition continues here. I doubt you’d need to change many Pokemon’s Tera Type to Bug, but hey, more shards are better than less.

As far as the fight itself, I’ve got one thing to say to you: do you like critical hits? I hope you do, because Samurott has a lot of them to give. That sounds scary, but this fight is bizarrely simple to clear if you’re going in solo. Here’s what you should expect.

As we initially expected, Samurott is a strictly physical attacker. Throughout the fight, it will use Aqua Cutter, Megahorn, Night Slash, and Drill Run. This lets Samurott deal Water, Bug, Dark, and Ground-Type damage. That said, Samurott will typically use whatever move deals the most damage to you. Any Pokemon you bring will likely need to defend against Aqua Cutter and Megahorn over anything else.

At the battle’s beginning, Samurott will use Focus Energy to boost its Critical