Scarlet and Violet is the first fully open-world mainline Pokemon game, and Terastallization changes the tier list in ways no previous gimmick has. Any Pokemon can change to any type mid-battle with a Tera Type, meaning a Water-type Garganacl or Flying-type Annihilape is fair game. Gholdengo's Good as Gold ability blocks all status moves. Kingambit at 550 BST with Supreme Overlord hits harder for each fainted teammate. Three storylines run in parallel, so your team needs to handle gyms, Titan Pokemon, and Team Star bases.

How to read this tier list
Elite Pokemon
Base Stat Total of 600+
Legendary
Story-central, catchable in-game
Mythical
Rare, event-exclusive
BST
Base Stat Total (sum of all 6 stats)
Fast with strong offense
Bulky with good offense
Very high offense, slow
Extremely bulky, low offense
High offense but fragile
Bulky support, low offense
Fast utility, momentum control

  • Gholdengo. Steel/Ghost typing with Good as Gold blocks every status move in the game — no Toxic, no Thunder Wave, no Spore. 133 Sp. Atk hits hard with only two weaknesses. Kingambit (Dark/Steel) with Supreme Overlord gets an Attack boost for each fainted teammate, making it a devastating late-battle sweeper. Both are S-Tier for the main story and competitive.

  • Fuecoco. Skeledirge's Fire/Ghost typing has great STAB coverage and its signature move Torch Song raises Sp. Atk every time it's used, so it snowballs through fights. Quaxly into Quaquaval (Water/Fighting) is a fast physical attacker with Aqua Step boosting Speed. Sprigatito into Meowscarada (Grass/Dark) is the fastest but fragile. All three work in the open world.

  • Terastallization lets any Pokemon change to a specific Tera Type once per battle. The new type replaces your STAB calculations — a Water Tera on a Fire-type means Water moves get STAB instead. This makes bad matchups winnable and strong Pokemon even stronger. Every Pokemon has a fixed Tera Type when caught, but Tera Raids let you change it. It's the most flexible battle gimmick in the series.

  • Scarlet gets Koraidon (Fighting/Dragon) and past-themed Paradox Pokemon like Great Tusk and Flutter Mane. Violet gets Miraidon (Electric/Dragon) and future Paradox Pokemon like Iron Hands and Iron Valiant. Iron Hands is one of the best Pokemon in the game with 140 Attack and massive bulk, giving Violet a slight competitive edge. Both box legendaries are your ride Pokemon from the start.

  • Skeledirge (starter), Gholdengo from collecting Gimmighoul coins, Garchomp from Gible near Glaseado Mountain, Kingambit from Bisharp in North Province, Gyarados from Magikarp in lakes, and Annihilape from Primeape using Rage Fist 20 times. Strong across gyms, Titan fights, and Team Star bases with no dead weight.

  • Paradox Pokemon are version-exclusive variants inspired by past (Scarlet) or future (Violet) versions of existing Pokemon. They have no evolution, high BST, and unique typings. Flutter Mane (Ghost/Fairy, Scarlet) has 135 Sp. Atk and 135 Speed. Iron Hands (Fighting/Electric, Violet) has 140 Attack with massive HP. They're found in Area Zero during the story and are some of the strongest non-legendary Pokemon available.

  • Yes. The Teal Mask adds Kitakami with new Pokemon like Ogerpon (Grass with four Tera mask forms). The Indigo Disk adds Blueberry Academy and over 200 returning Pokemon from past gens plus Terapagos as the DLC legendary. The base game and post-DLC tier lists are significantly different since the DLC nearly doubles the available roster.