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While previous generations featured Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, and Dynamaxing, Gen 9 will introduce Terastallizing. With this function, players will be able to change the type of their Pokemon, turning the tides of battle and surprising their opponents. Of all the Pokemon confirmed to appear in Scarlet & Violet so far, these ones would benefit most from Terastallizing.
8 Gyarados
As one of the most iconic Pokemon to come out of the 1st generation, Gyarados is always a potential teammate for hardcore players. The Water/Flying-type has seen better years competitively, however. As of now, it’s consistently ranked in the UU tier, albeit receiving a boost to OU with its Water/Dark-type Mega Evolution.
With Terastallizing, players may find a new reason to keep Gyarados around. As a Water and Flying type Pokemon, it suffers an egregious 4x weakness to Electric-type Pokemon. However, a quick switch to Ground Tera-type can counter that weakness, while also giving it STAB on powerful moves like Earthquake and Bulldoze.
7 Scizor
Like Gyarados, Scizor is guilty of having a 4x weakness, its soft spot being Fire-type Pokemon. However, the addition of the mysterious Terastal phenomenon will be a positive change for players who prefer Scizor over other Bug/Steel-types, like Forretress or Genesect. To counter Fire-types, Scizor could change to Water, Ground, or Rock-type.
The only flaw of Scizor changing into any of these types would be its limited movepool, not having access to STAB moves. However, the game developers thought ahead, giving all Pokemon access to the move Tera Blast, which changes to a Pokemon’s specific Tera type. Scizor can also take advantage of non-STAB movies with its Technician ability.
6 Altaria
Altaria had quite the improvement in the 6th generation games with her Mega Evolution, which gave it the unique Dragon/Fairy-typing. This gave it immunity to Dragon-types, while also trading its weakness to Rock with Poison and Steel. Since Mega Evolution doesn’t seem to be returning, however, Altaria will be stuck with its standard Dragon/Flying-typing.
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That is, until it takes advantage of the ability to Terastallize. Given that its standard form is 4x weak to Ice-type, it would be wise to pick a Tera type that would counter this. Fighting or Steel type would be a good counter, which Steel-type giving it an extra edge against threatening Fairy-type attackers and making it a good defense for Alolan Ninetales.
5 Lucario
Despite Lucario’s popularity in the anime and the Super Smash Bros franchise, the Pokemon hasn’t shone brightly in competitive play. It had a brief stint in the Uber tier with Mega Lucario, but Mega Evolution’s absence in later gens hasn’t been a positive for Lucario. It usually struggles due to its mediocre Speed and HP stats.
Particularly, its weakness to Fighting-types and Ground-types makes it a difficult Pokemon to succeed competitively, especially in a world of Therian Landoruses and Groudons. However, by changing its Tera type to Water or Fairy, Lucario could all of a sudden be a smart counter to some competitive threats, though its Speed is still an issue.
4 Gogoat
After being absent from Gen 8 entirely, Gogoat makes a highly-anticipated return in Scarlet & Violet. Gogoat still boasts incredible HP and some Ability boosts if paired with Grassy Terrain. However, it’s never stood out competitively due to being a pure-Grass type, resulting it in having five type disadvantages: Flying, Poison, Bug, Fire, and Ice.
Fortunately, Terastallizing with some strategy would do wonders for Gogoat. If turned into a Rock-type Pokemon, Gogoat would counter four of his five usual weaknesses, which can definitely be a detriment to opponents. It even has access to powerful Rock-type moves like Rock Slide and Rollout, though it could always rely on Tera Blast for STAB.
3 Lycanroc
Speaking of pure-Rock types, Lycanroc will be returning in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. Lycanroc is pretty special thanks to its three alternate types, its hard-to-obtain Dusk form being a fan-favorite in the competitive scene, despite its under-usage. Even in spite of its weakness to five different types, Lycanroc can turn the tide by using the Terastal ability.
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Some good types for Lycanroc would be Flying, Grass, Fire, or Ice-types. Fire, for instance, covers its weaknesses to Grass and Steel, while Grass covers its Ground and Water disadvantages. Lycanroc also has a diverse enough moveset to warrant Tera-type changes into Fairy-type (for Play Rough STAB) or Dark-type (for Sucker Punch and Crunch).
2 Hisuian Zoroark
Hisuian Zoroark debuted in the spin-off title Pokemon Legends: Arceus, which takes place in an ancient version of the Sinnoh region. Upon its announcement, Hisuian Zoroark caught the eye of prospective competitive players due to its extremely unique Normal/Ghost-typing. Additionally, it boasts very strong Attack, Special Attack, and Speed stats.
It may seem sacrilegious to mess with Hisuian Zoroark’s incredibly viable typing, but, given its confirmed appearance in Scarlet & Violet, players might as well experiment. For instance, Hisuian Zoroark’s one weakness is Dark-type Pokemon, so turning into a Fairy-type would be a great switch, although Zoroark has better STAB options with Fighting-type.
1 Paldean Wooper
In Scarlet & Violet’s new Paldea region, it’s been confirmed there will be new regional forms to encounter. The only one confirmed so far is Paldean Wooper, who trades its Water/Ground-typing for Poison/Ground, which it only shares with Nidoking and Nidoqueen. With Paldean Wooper sure to have a new Quagsire to evolve into, its typing may change again.
Particularly, Paldean Wooper is very weak to its original form’s types: Water and Ground. Fortunately, these types could be easily countered if Paldean Wooper changes its Tera type to Grass-type. Like Gogoat, this would make it susceptible to many other types, but perhaps Paldean Wooper will have a diverse enough movepool to make up for it.
Pokemon Scarlet & Violet will release for Nintendo Switch on November 18, 2022.
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