Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: Best Feraligatr PvP build

Feraligatr has come to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet through the Indigo Disk expansion. It's no surprise that many veteran trainers want to add this beloved Water-type creature to their battling squad. However, given the current landscape of the competitive scene, it can be a bit tricky to use the Pocket Monster effectively without proper knowledge and preparation.

Thankfully, Feraligatr still has a few old tricks up its sleeve to help it decimate some high-tier contendors on the ranked ladder. Utilizing a strategy of brute force and proper counterplay with the Terastallizing mechanic, the critter can still punch holes clean through enemy damage-dealers, with the capacity to set up its own stats as well.

Here is everything players should know about effectively building their Feraligatr for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's competitive scene.

Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective and solely relect the opinions of the writer

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How to build Feraligatr for PvP in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

Feraligatr's Sheer Force hidden ability amplifies its damage capacity exponentially (Image via Game Freak)

The big draw to using Feraligatr in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is Sheer Force. This hidden ability allows the Pocket Monster to deal extra damage with moves that have secondary effects. However, this comes at the cost of nullifying said effects.

One secret interaction of Sheer Force is with the Life Orb held item, which boosts its holder's attacking moves' power. Normally, this takes away a bit of the holder's health points if the move lands. If Feraligatr uses a move effected by Sheer Force while holding this item, the Life Orb will not damage it, but the boosted damage will be present.

Here is a great Pokemon Scarlet and Violet build players can use for their Feraligatr:

• Nature - Jolly
• Ability - Sheer Force
• Effort Values - 252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 HP
• Tera Type - Dark
• Held Item - Life Orb
• Moves - Dragon Dance, Liquidation, Ice Punch, Crunch

This set gives Feraligatr a lot of coverage options and damage. The Dark Tera Typing allows it to still have a solid STAB (same-type attack bonus) choice with Crunch. Meanwhile, the EV distribution and Jolly nature help it move first more often in battle. One Dragon Dance paired with this stat distribution could allow the creature to outspeed most species of the metagame.

Feraligatr is a fearsome threat, but can crumble hard under certain counters (Image via The Pokemon Company)

One downside to using Feraligatr is that it requires a bit of set-up to keep up with other metagame Starter Pokemon. Rillaboom has Grassy Surge to set up its Grassy Glides, Skeledirge has Torch Song to boost its Special Attack, but Feraligatr gets no such free set-up. As such, it may serve well as a damage-dealer in the double battle format.

Feraligatr may not be a metagame superstar at the moment, but its return has garnered a fair amount of excitement from older fans. The creature may be a bit gimmicky, but it has some very favorable match-ups in the mainstream competitive scene.