Pokémon Day 7* Tera Raids (Paldea Starters and Pseudos)

[Worldie]

I beat the boss first try online which on its own was a surprise, expecially since I accepted the team going just as a "ok let's see what the AI does" and having no expectation of success.

In fact I am writing this cause I wanted to showcase the couple interesting teammates I had.

I was on Milotic, a very similar set to Vengeance417 's except mine had leftovers and Scald as main offensive move (not that it does anything against a fire type, but I just happened to already have it and PP upd so...)

The host was a Swampert, which I don't think had anything special, looked like just spamming stabs.

The first other pokemon was a Goodra. The bigbrain I think was that it had Gooey as ability (so triggering over and over from the Flame Charge / Stomping Tantrum and tricking the AI in keeping using those) and... Tearful Look. I forgot this move existed. He spammed it over and over at start of the fight since the shield on Skeledirge is pretty late, then moved to spam Acid Spray once the barrier was up. He also shown he had Rain Dance as we used it at same time at some point, no idea what the 4th move was.
I checked the boss at some point and it was at like -4 or -6 on every stat basically.

The other guy was a Kommo-O. I had no clue what the plan was, but looks like it was a soundproof Kommo-o. Immune to Torch Song, doesn't care of shadow ball since good spdef and Tera Normal. Went for Boomburst spam after tera (was just using Dragon Pulse / Drain Punch to stack up tera before. I assume he probably also had Clangorous Soul and just not used it cause Unaware).

All things considered we literally facerolled the fight and the only casualty was Swampert which I assume got crit twice in a row after the debuff reset, as it dropped to half and then died before I could Life Dew.

 

[pika pal]

In general I notice the most consistent strategy is to create a field state where Torch Song is not Skeledirge's preferred attack option (AI doesn't seem to actively account for the boosting) with things like resistance + Rain to outweigh the Tera stacking, then stack Debuffs, hence the Dachsbun support working so well since early Rain and Well-Baked Body encourages Shadow Ball, then Stomping Tantrum after Snarl stacks up a bit.

The reason Malamar has anti-Synergy with Randos is because Skeledirge's Tera-Fire means people already build to avoid that Type's damage, meaning even if you slap Contrary on, Dirge won't un-boost itself enough to make up for Malamar's lacking support in other categories.

 

[Vengeance417]

The more full fire-resistant teams I run into, the less I feel Skill Swap and Throat Chop are necessary for random raids. The clearly-best strategy is to just brute force it with Rain and Water-type attacks. Keeping Unaware on Skeledirge is actually good because it’ll ignore your SpDef drops if it procs any with Shadow Ball, and Rain and Fire-resists will mean Torch Song won’t be used until the end where it attacks randomly.

On another note, whenever comps need more offense, I bring my own and I’ve been running Bulldoze / Rain Dance / Muddy Water / Water Spout with a shell bell. It’s the big stupid offense mon that also provides utility for the team with the initial Drizzle, speed control, accuracy drops, more rain later, and just beating the raid fast lol.

 

[DougJustDoug]

I’ve been using Kommo-o lately versus Skeledirge and I’ve had success in solo and in randoms. After trying a few different things, I’ve settled on the following build as best suited to my tastes:


Kommo-o @ Shell Bell
Tera Type: Normal
Ability: Soundproof
Adamant Nature
EVs: 252 Atk / 68 SpDef / 188 Speed
- Body Slam
- Screech
- Throat Chop
- Swords Dance

This build is somewhat similar to a few other Kommo’s I’ve seen out there using Soundproof and Tera Normal to make Kommo-o almost untouchable by anything threatening from Skeledirge. I briefly toyed with the idea of Throat Chop and Bulletproof to achieve a similar effect, but the prospect of eating a quadruple-SE Disarming Voice on Turn 0 was not a great start to any battle, so I went back to Soundproof.

I stayed with Throat Chop though, even though it seems pointless for a Soundproof mon. The fact is, even with Soundproof, Skeledirge is still inclined to use Torch Song on your teammates, and that means Kommo-o is going to be eating boosted Shadow Balls until it can go tera Normal. By using Throat Chop and clicking quickly at the beginning of the battle, you keep those Torch Songs to a minimum. Also, if you are fighting online, you help your teammates by preventing Torch Song and Hyper Voice. Also, by using Throat Chop and watching the timer, you avoid getting blasted by the scripted Hyper Voice on the one ability wipe turn where you don’t have Soundproof protection. So, counterintuitive though it may seem, using Soundproof and Throat Chop together serves as a belt-and-suspenders approach to the various sound-based moves Skeledirge uses in this raid.

I originally had a special attacking Tera Normal Kommo that abused the massive BP Boomburst it gets. But after doing damage calcs, running Body Slam and Screech is a MUCH bigger damage dealer. And in online raids, your teammates appreciate the speed control from the frequent paralysis of Body Slam. Swords Dance is useless in solo, because Skeledirge has Unaware. But many online teammates do Skill Swap on Dirge, in which case Kommo-o becomes a juggernaut with +6 Attack vs Dirge at -6 Defense, and the raid is cleared in no time.

EVs are to maximize Attack and give Kommo-o 253 speed to outspeed Skeledirge after the Turn 0 Flame Charge boost. The Special Defense is for the pre-Tera Shadow Balls that Kommo has to endure. After Tera, Dirge only uses Stomping Tantrum, which is barely noticeable with Kommo’s beefy 125 base Defense stat.

Here’s the move sequence I use in solos with Kommo-o: Throat Chop - Screech - Throat Chop - Screech - Throat Chop - Screech (go Tera) - spam Body Slam until the shield breaks - Screech a few times more - Body Slam until clear.

 

[Vengeance417]

I originally had a special attacking Tera Normal Kommo that abused the massive BP Boomburst it gets. But after doing damage calcs, running Body Slam and Screech is a MUCH bigger damage dealer.

Kommo-o gets Metal Sound as a TM, which would make Boomburst deal a lot more damage vs a -6 SpDef Skeledirge compared to Body Slam vs -6 Def. Metal Sound can also be good alongside Kyogre players since they’ll appreciate the SpDef drops.

 

[DougJustDoug]

Kommo-o gets Metal Sound as a TM, which would make Boomburst deal a lot more damage vs a -6 SpDef Skeledirge compared to Body Slam vs -6 Def. Metal Sound can also be good alongside Kyogre players since they’ll appreciate the SpDef drops.

Good catch, Vengeance417. I totally missed Metal Sound in Kommo’s learnset. There’s still utility in the speed control and free turns from Body Slam, and its combination with fast boosting in Swords Dance on Skill Swapper online teams. But I agree that the big damage increase with MS + Boomburst and the synergy with Kyogre, other special attackers and Acid Sprayers makes special attacking Kommo-o a very attractive option for the Skeledirge raid.

 

[DougJustDoug]

After Vengeance417 pointed out that Metal Sound + Boomburst was a better damage combo than Screech + Body Slam on Kommo-o for the Skeledirge raid, I quickly made a special attacker Kommo-o and tried it out in solo. It did not go as easily as I expected, but more on that in a moment. For reference, here is the special attacking set I used :


Kommo-o @ Shell Bell
Tera Type: Normal
Ability: Soundproof
Modest Nature
EVs: 252 SpAtk / 68 SpDef / 188 Speed
- Boomburst (ppmax)
- Metal Sound
- Throat Chop
- Noble Roar

This is basically a special attacking mirror image of the physical set I posted earlier. I used the same playbook and move sequence as the earlier set -- throat chop and debuff to build tera, then go tera and spam Normal attacks against a fully debuffed boss to clear the raid. Simple enough, right? Uh... not really.

When I used this in solo, I was expecting the solo to be much faster and easier than the physical set, because this special set does a lot more damage. The physical set required fast clicking to get in enough hits to clear the raid, usually just barely before the timer ran out. Well, I was surprised that with the special set, I seemed to be fainting much more easily at the start of the battle than I did with physical Kommo-o.

This doesn't mean I couldn't still win the solo even though I fainted. But, I have a kinda self-imposed criteria that a "good solo solution" to any raid, must be able to clear the raid relatively consistently without fainting, and without resetting for particular NPC partners. This isn't some unbreakable rule of mine, it's just something I aim for before repping some set as a good solution to a raid.

With the physical set, I don't recall fainting much at all, and only quit one solo when I missed two Screeches in a row at the beginning and knew it was gonna be a slog. With the physical set, I do remember I got some NPC help from Bellibolt setting Light Screen in one raid, and another raid Weavile or Arcanine did a Leer to help debuff the boss faster. But I distinctly remember winning one raid with no NPC help at all really.

With the special set, my first solo attempt had a Sylveon NPC and I was thinking Moonblast might give me some SpDef drops to help me along the way, but I died before I could even go Tera and start using special attacks. I reset and got another not helpful NPC squad (Garganacl, Tauros, and Toxapex, iirc) and missed a Metal Sound and then died again before I could go Tera. This continued for two or three more "failed" solo attempts (meaning I quit as soon as I fainted) and then I finally got an NPC squad with both Bellibolt (Light Screen cutting Shadow Ball damage) and Gardevoir (Life Dew healing) and I was able to survive long enough to go Tera and win the raid. And yes, after I made it to Tera without fainting, the raid went much faster than the physical set, with lots of timer to spare.

After the raid, I did some damage calcs to figure out why the special set seemingly needed NPC help to win solo, and the physical set seemingly didn't. My damage scenarios might be flawed in the details, but in general, I think the key difference is in the Shell Bell healing that comes from using Throat Chop (a physical move) with a max Attack mon using a Defense debuff move versus a max Special Attack mon using a Special Defense debuff move.

Here's a turn-by-turn comparison of damage taken by Kommo-o for the two sets, assuming roughly average damage rolls, no misses, no crits, and assuming no help from NPC's at all:

Physical Kommo-o Turn-By-Turn

Physical Kommo-o

Turn 1: Kommo-o uses Throat Chop, Skeledirge uses Shadow Ball
No Shell Bell recovery, since Kommo moves first and is at 100% HP
-22% damage from Shadow Ball
78% HP remaining

Turn 2: Kommo-o uses Screech, Skeledirge uses Shadow Ball
No Shell Bell recovery, since it's a status move
-22% damage from Shadow Ball
56% HP remaining

Turn 3: Kommo-o uses Throat Chop, Skeledirge uses Shadow Ball
+8% Shell Bell recovery against -2 Defense Skeledirge
-22% damage from Shadow Ball
42% HP remaining

Turn 4: Kommo-o uses Screech, Skeledirge uses Shadow Ball
-22% damage from Shadow Ball
20% HP remaining

Turn 5: Kommo-o uses Throat Chop, Skeledirge uses Shadow Ball
+12% Shell Bell recovery against -4 Defense Skeledirge
-22% damage from Shadow Ball
10% HP remaining

Turn 6: Kommo-o uses Screech and goes Tera Normal, Skeledirge uses Shadow Ball
0% damage from Shadow Ball
10% HP remaining

Turn 7 Onward: Kommo-o uses Body Slam and recovers a ton every turn
Skeledirge uses Stomping Tantrum and does barely anything
Kommo-o wins

Special Kommo-o Turn-By-Turn

Special Kommo-o

Turn 1: Kommo-o uses Throat Chop, Skeledirge uses Shadow Ball
No Shell Bell recovery, since Kommo moves first and is at 100% HP
-22% damage from Shadow Ball
78% HP remaining

Turn 2: Kommo-o uses Metal Sound, Skeledirge uses Shadow Ball
No Shell Bell recovery, since it's a status move
-22% damage from Shadow Ball
56% HP remaining

Turn 3: Kommo-o uses Throat Chop, Skeledirge uses Shadow Ball
+2.5% Shell Bell recovery against -2 SpDefense Skeledirge
-22% damage from Shadow Ball
36.5% HP remaining

Turn 4: Kommo-o uses Metal Sound, Skeledirge uses Shadow Ball
-22% damage from Shadow Ball
14.5% HP remaining

Turn 5: Kommo-o uses Throat Chop, Skeledirge uses Shadow Ball
+2.5% Shell Bell recovery against -4 SpDefense Skeledirge
17% HP remaining
-22% damage from Shadow Ball
Kommo-o faints

This explains why the physical Kommo-o set is seemingly a "cleaner solo" according to my definition. But, both Kommo-o sets probably appreciate some NPC help, since crits and misses happen alarmingly often. And like I said, the special Kommo-o set is far from doomed by a faint. In fact, even with the faint, and the fact that it won't get that third Metal Sound in before the shield, it probably still wins before the timer runs out because it does such good damage with Boomburst.

I just found this interesting to see the difference in Shell Bell recovery in the early turns and how it can affect the ability to go Tera and achieve the wincon.

 

[Emergence]

What does everyone think the duck will run? My guess is Adamant with the mandatory Aqua Step and Low Kick(?). I think it will have coverage in either Ice Spinner or Triple Axel, and Acrobatics or Knock Off. Ice Spinner could be especially annoying with disrupting Miraidon's shenanigans, which we all know everyone and their mother will bring. Triple Axel would hit harder generally and cost us more time with the multi hit. Moxie will be problematic in solos with bad npcs, or with bad randos. As for other possible moves, it has Swords Dance and Bulk Up to set up, and Feather Dance or Encore to pester us. Maybe a Wave Crash or two for good measure.

 

[Rex The Eater Of Worlds]

What does everyone think the duck will run? My guess is Adamant with the mandatory Aqua Step and Low Kick(?). I think it will have coverage in either Ice Spinner or Triple Axel, and Acrobatics or Knock Off. Ice Spinner could be especially annoying with disrupting Miraidon's shenanigans, which we all know everyone and their mother will bring. Triple Axel would hit harder generally and cost us more time with the multi hit. Moxie will be problematic in solos with bad npcs, or with bad randos. As for other possible moves, it has Swords Dance and Bulk Up to set up, and Feather Dance or Encore to pester us. Maybe a Wave Crash or two for good measure.

I agree with everything you said. Maybe it might even have a scripted Close Combat to just absolutely nuke someone.

 

[Vengeance417]

Skill Swapping Moxie off of Quaquaval, or at least nullifying it through Worry Seed, Gastro Acid, etc, will be necessary for randoms and especially solos. Malamar will be good again for Contrary Skill Swap, with Aqua Step making the duck slower with each use. Water-resists will be necessary for limiting Aqua Step usage, too, similar to limiting Torch Song. Intimidate NPCs will be very crucial.

Iron Defense shouldn't have anything to fear from Quaquaval, and once you get Moxie via Skill Swap, a funny thing you can do is knock your ally NPCs out for extra attack boosts to make Stored Power stronger. Would be a neat way to ensure a potential kill through shield.

 

[Worldie]

A lot of Quaquaval potential difficulty or not boils down to what coverage they give it. Triple Axel / Acrobatics are both very likely, both of which neuter my favourite option (Worry Seed Amoongus :( )

Also I'm considering pretty obvious the presence of a Bulk Up somewhere, either scripted or lord forsake if it's in the moveset. I think realistically a Contrary Skill Swap may actually be needed if that were to happen, but otherwise it's possible online to just run a supportive Slowbro or Azumarill (or similar stuff) to spam chilling water and keep it in check while the other 3 do their things.

 

[Rex The Eater Of Worlds]

Just caught Skeledirge using Arctiblast's Golduck build without too much trouble. You do have to make sure you never die and lose Unaware in solos, because otherwise the Torch Song boosts are gonna destroy you.

 

[Vengeance417]

/

Victreebel / Weepinbell @ Yache Berry / Coba Berry / Eviolite
Ability: Chlorophyll
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 132 HP / 252 Def / 124 Spe (Victreebel)
Or
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA (Weepinbell)
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Gastro Acid
- Acid Spray
- Strength Sap
- Giga Drain

A blast from some of the past 7 star raids. These two have unique access to the combination of Gastro Acid and Strength Sap, turning off Moxie and potentially nullifying attack boosts from extra moves like Bulk Up while healing back to full. Acid Spray and Giga Drain then provide the offensive support, dealing heavy super effective STAB damage while healing the user. Victreebel has the advantage of better speed (initially, anyway) better SpA, and item flexibility, while Weepinbell goes all in on Eviolite-boosted bulk.

The big downside is the Ice and Flying weakness, but Strength Sap, Gastro Acid, and Giga Drain should hopefully counteract this drawback.

 

[Rex The Eater Of Worlds]

Quagsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Chilling Water
- Acid Spray
- Helping Hand
- Recover
Simple support Quagsire build. You shouldn't really ever get killed by Quaquaval and can help partners stay alive for longer by negating any Moxie boosts and keeping the duck's attack low. Acid Spray and Helping hand are also really nice to have.

I do feel a bit silly now after remembering to make some calcs, seems I underestimated Moxie. I was really hoping Appletun got Worry Seed, but alas, it doesn't get it. Quagsire build should still work if you want to play support online, it's just a shame none of the others will (Rotom takes too much damage when Tera Electric'd, even if the duck is burned).

I also think Tera Stellar Corviknight works in this raid if you don't wanna use Slowbro.
Corviknight @ Shell Bell
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Stellar
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Power Trip
- Agility
- Bulk Up
- Roost
Corviknight build won't be any faster than Slowbro, but it takes an amount of damage that is manageable at least.
+6 0+ Atk Tera Water Quaquaval Aqua Step vs. +6 252 HP / 252+ Def Corviknight: 104-124 (26 - 31%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
It's gonna be a slow raid tho, that's for sure.

 

[Vengeance417]

Sinistcha @ Zoom Lens
Ability: Hospitality
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Modest / Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Strength Sap
- Iron Defense
- Nasty Plot
- Matcha Gotcha

I think Sinistcha will be deadly vs Quaquaval. Strength Sap is insurances vs potential turn 1 Bulk Up, Iron Defense and Nasty Plot for set up, and Matcha Gotcha is straight up better Giga Drain while holding a Zoom Lens; 5 BP stronger, more PP, and a 20% burn chance.


Appletun @ w/e item you want lol
Ability: Thick Fat
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Modest / Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Iron Defense
- Apple Acid
- Giga Drain
- Reflect / Recover

One of my favorite Pokemon looks to be good in a 7* raid once again. Thick Fat halves the damage of Ice Spinner, and as Tera Grass, Appletun takes the same amount from Ice Spinner as Tera Water Aqua Step. Turn 1 Bulk Up, then Acrobatics, might be a bit scarier, though.

I don't think either of these sets would be great for solo, but alongside human teammates that bring Skill Swap / Gastro Acid support.


Serperior @ Wide Lens / Shell Bell
Ability: Contrary
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Modest Nature
- Gastro Acid
- Breaking Swipe
- Leaf Storm
- Giga Drain

Here's another solo set, though, thanks to Gastro Acid. Should work in randoms, too.

 

[Terimas]

Bellibolt @ Leftovers
Ability: Electromorphosis
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA
- Parabolic Charge
- Acid Spray
- Chilling Water
- Reflect / Charge Beam / Mud-Slap

For public lobbies the old faithful Bellibolt should do the trick. As long as no one faints, Moxie boosts shouldn't be an issue, and you can keep Quaquaval in check with Chilling Water.


Dedenne @ Aguav Berry
Ability: Cheek Pouch
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Parabolic Charge
- Charge Beam
- Charm
- Entrainment

Depending on how aggressive Quaquaval is, Dedenne might be able to pull off a solo clear. Entrainment denies Moxie, and Charm helps survival. From there, you can alternate Parabolic Charge and Charge Beam for damage until the end of the raid. Should be a fun spice choice.

 

[Vengeance417]

Got it on my first try using Bellibolt, alongside a second Bellibolt, a Miraidon, and a support Mew who knew what was going on since it had Skill Swap. Has Ice Spinner AND Brave Bird, which was mostly expected (I was assuming Acrobatics, but BB is pretty much that in a raid's case). Also expected the t1 Bulk Up. Brick Break was a shocking reveal, though, which means no Reflect. Gonna switch to Mud-Slap for future attempts.

All 3 Paldean starters are now in Beast Balls :D

 

[SadisticMystic]

Once Quaquaval gets to +6 speed, you don't have to worry about it ever picking Aqua Step again, unless you get some teammates who use speed-drop moves to give it some headroom again. That leaves its other damage types more tolerable, even if it got a couple Moxie boosts along the way.

 

[doipy hooves]

I think Quaquaval might have had the most difficult Azumarill solo out of the Paldea starters so far? At the least, the raw damage and setup was an actual problem to deal with combined with handling the timing of two debuff resets and the shield, but as usual Azumarill managed to deal with it like any other.

My first attempt fit in Tickle + 3 Mud-Slaps into Belly Drum right after the reset and tera Play Rough, which ended up hitting Quaquaval really hard and also triggering both debuff resets at the same time. Then things went downhill fast with the shield still being up, and in subsequent attempts with Defense Curl, I found that dealing with the debuff resets individually and stalling for any longer was just begging for things to go wrong with Moxie. So I decided to just thread the needle and get Play Rough spam online as soon as possible and finish the fight fast, not spending any more time than needed.

My strategy with Azumarill ended up being to Mud-Slap 3 times, hope for Quaquaval to choose Ice Spinner over Brave Bird enough times and/or lose turns to misses/paralysis to retain health, wait for the buff reset, then fit in a Belly Drum and tera Play Rough to get a good hit in barely before the shield, to make sure the shield goes down just around the 45% HP debuff reset and allow the NPCs to get debuffing again. Moxie is still a problem post-debuff-reset, and I did go for one more Mud-Slap for safety, but otherwise I just hoped Play Rough would carry the day from there, and it did.

(A +4 Ice Spinner still kind of hurts.)

I'm definitely glad I kept the locked on NPCs here. Charm, Leer, Intimidate, and paralysis are all pretty great, especially when they don't die T1 and Mud-Slap/defense cheers can keep them going. Though Quaquaval choosing Ice Spinner over Brave Bird was a great help too. Overall the real issue of this fight was figuring out how to deal with the span of time when Quaquaval is immune to NPC debuffs with the shield up right after its initial debuff resets and can freely snowball Moxie, which was an interesting enough challenge to resolve and had some nice interplay with the slight bit of freedom you have in timing when the shield goes up with an attack.

EDIT: Also speaking of moves it uses, I barely saw any Aqua Step usage even though it should be an easy option being STAB-tera-Water-rain-boosted. I guess the AI is just kind of weird in general with these Gen 9 additions.

 

[Slowpokeking]

Overall not tough.

 

[R_N]

Just going to use Bellibolt

Attempt 1: Miraidon, Zapdos (uh oh), Cresselia

went great until the status reset at which point everyone died. Cresselia's nice support, at least.

Attempt 2: Meowscarada, Koraidon, Iron Ha--

Attempt 2 (real): Regieleki, Black Kyurem, Toxapex
OK now this is an interesting set of folks. I locked in when I saw the toxapex. My assumption was it would spam chilling water while I spam mud slap. Which turned out to be very correct

This did not matter because Quaquaval immediately kills Regieleki, very badly. We sped into the rain phase and then I Died and then the OTHER status reset happened...

Attempt 3: I realized I had this bellibolt invested in HP rather than Defense, so I swapepd around before
Then mashed A as I locked into a Bellibolt, Toxapex and....Skeledirge....team comp.
But thankfully once the battle actually started it turned out the dirge was a raging bolt!

This battle was much safer, as you might imagine from 3 supports and one beat stick. Nobody died, the three supports stayed in their lane, the toxapex & I timed our Chilling Waters at the stat resets, the other bellibolt used acid spray and eventually parabolic charge towards the end. That said I really feel like I had some desynch at points....felt like i missed a lot of turns or had moves just happen out of step.


Caught in a Lure Ball.

 

[Emergence]

My Bellibolt with Electivire, Milotic, and Gouging Fire. Bellibolt did Bellibolt things, starting with support and later becoming a powerhouse after a few Acid Sprays and Electromorphosis boosted, Tera Electric boosted Parabolic Charges. Electivire was just spamming Thunderbolt and died 3 times (the only one who died at all). Milotic had Marvel Scale, Flame Orb, Aqua Ring, Chilling Water, Life Dew, and Scald support. Gouging Fire was support and pretty much just used Burning Bulwark to burn before spamming Breaking Swipe. Caught in a Luxury Ball like the other starters.

 

[Arcticblast]

Quagsire @ Ability Shield
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Tera Blast
- Curse
- Recover
- Drain Punch

This solo Quagsire build does pretty much exactly what it looks like it should. Dondozo can do this almost identically well, but Quagsire is cuter. Drain Punch builds Tera and helps top off your health a little early in the fight. Ability Shield and Recover together mean you don't need to worry about Quaquaval removing Unaware. This build does go almost to the end of the timer though, so once you're using Tera Blast, get ready to button mash.

 

[Rex The Eater Of Worlds]

Dedenne @ Aguav Berry
Ability: Cheek Pouch
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Parabolic Charge
- Charge Beam
- Charm
- Entrainment

Depending on how aggressive Quaquaval is, Dedenne might be able to pull off a solo clear. Entrainment denies Moxie, and Charm helps survival. From there, you can alternate Parabolic Charge and Charge Beam for damage until the end of the raid. Should be a fun spice choice.

I decided to use this build here because Dedenne seemed like a cool idea and I was going in solo
Attemp 1 with Dedenne:
Turn one and Dedenne got down to 90 HP, which is just enough for Dedenne to not eat the berry. This one doesn't count because I said so.
The REAL attempt 1 with Dedenne
I changed Aguav berry for Passho and Dedenne just didn't eat it I guess? When I looked in the menu it said I was still holding the berry, not sure if that happens even when it's been eaten. Weird berry observations aside, I managed to roll a lucky double Intimidate partners. I still managed to die in the early on in the raid, which ended up mattering as I lost to time (duck's health was really low too, probably below 10%).
Also, reminder to anyone using Dedenne to PP max Charge Beam. I was a dummy and forgot, got unlucky with boosts and I lost because of it.
Attempt 2 with Dedenne
Decided to play it safe and use Sitrus berry over Aguav and Passho. I also pp maxed Charge Beam so I felt pretty good coming in. Rolled an Intimidate partner again, this time only one though. Lucky for me, it was an Arcanine and would probably die quite a bit during the raid. Sitrus helped me top up my health almost to full again, getting Quaquaval down to -3 as well. From there, the beaming started. I got really unlucky with my first few beams only 2/6 gave me a boost and I think 2 missed of those, but I got really close. Alas, my little mouse friend died at the last second and there was nothing I could do but restart.
Attempt 3 with Dedenne
I'll spare everyone all the details, but third time really was the charm (again, the first first attempt didn't count). I got to +6 relatively easily and only really feared for my life once. I was at yellow health and Quaquaval used Ice Spinner at neutral attack, I believe. Or it would've been neutral attack if the absolute GOAT Arcanine didn't come in again, activating Intimidate and letting me live on 38 HP, o7 Arcanine. Unfortunately I didn't have Lure ball, so Great Ball it is. Whatever, it still has good color coordination. Some might even say it has a  great color coordination.

Over all, not the toughest raid, definitely felt a little luck dependent with the Charge Beams tho. I really did like the idea of Entrainment + Electric type, so I built this really quickly and tried it out.
Pawmot @ Shell Bell
Ability: anything/Iron Fist
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Supercell Slam/Thunder Punch
- Bulk Up
- Charm
- Entrainment
It has slightly less reason to fear Quaquaval because of higher defenses and Bulk Up defense boosts. Also attack boosts aren't up to chance, so that's nice. Only drawbacks are now you're neutral to Brave Bird for a bit, don't charge up tera as fast, and you can't afford to run Sitrus/Aguav *.

Attempt 1 with Pawmot
Right away no Intimidate users and aqua step deals more than half, yikes.
Attempt 1 with Pawmot for real now
No Intimidaters but I did get partner Gardevoir, so I decided to just roll with it. Managed to live first 2 turns by a combo of Gardevoir's Life Dew and heal cheer of my own, getting off my charm and going back up to a decent bit of health. From there I just started bulking up and never really had any dangerous situations other than a crit Brave Bird somewhere in the middle. It wasn't really faster than Dedenne, looking at the timer it was like what, 20 seconds faster maybe? It did feel less rng reliant so I guess that's good, but Dedenne honestly felt more fun. Looking at the damage in the first few turns, maybe you could afford to run Adamant and reset for a Gardevoir and/or Intimidater, but it's a test that will have to be made tomorrow.

Apologies for the wall of text, but I really wanted to get into the details.
EDIT: *it also just occured to me that Dedenne is just WAY less of a pain to get than Pawmot. You can just run around close to Medali with a sandwich and get Dedenne really easily, while Pawmot just takes a good chunk of time to evolve.
EDIT 2: Don't run Adamant, it's not worth it. After a solid 40 mins of trying I only got one clear (with no salty herba to boot).

 

[doipy hooves]

I changed Aguav berry for Passho and Dedenne just didn't eat it I guess? When I looked in the menu it said I was still holding the berry, not sure if that happens even when it's been eaten. Weird berry observations aside, I managed to roll a lucky double Intimidate partners. I still managed to die in the early on in the raid, which ended up mattering as I lost to time (duck's health was really low too, probably below 10%).

Passho Berry triggers on super-effective hits, not just any move of the type (unlike Chilan for Normal).

---

Here's Quaquaval's raid script from https://stevecooktu.github.io/sv_raid_lookup/ for preservation.

The moveset is basically the same as my playthrough starter but with Brick Break, despite Brave Bird being the TM. The 550s timer follows Skeledirge, with a sizeable 35% HP shield but only a 30x HP multiplier. The 50% double attack phase once again starts at 40% HP like the rest of the Paldea starters, and is telegraphed with Bulk Up this time. I don't mind this trend as much if it means making the latter half post-shield get noticeably scary and needing to end the battle fast afterwards.