New Moves

Several new moves have been introduced in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (SV). Read on to learn about the newest moves introduced in Gen 9 and our thoughts on the competitive viability for each of them!

List of All New Moves

Move	Type	Effect
Alluring Voice		Damages and confuses a target if it a stat is raised on the same turn.
Aqua Cutter		This attack has an increased Critical Hit ratio.
Aqua Step		Increases the user's Speed by one stage.
Armor Cannon		Lowers the user's Defense and Special Defense stats by one stage.
Axe Kick		Has a chance to make the target confused if the move lands. If it misses, the user takes half of its max HP as damage.
Bitter Blade		The user recovers half the damage inflicted.
Blood Moon		The user unleashes the full brunt of its spirit from a full moon that shines as red as blood. This move can't be used twice in a row.
Burning Bulwark		Protects the user from attacks and burns any Pokemon that makes direct contact with the user.
Chilling Water		Lowers the opponent's Attack by one stage.
Chilly Reception		The user switches out with another Pokemon in the party and summons a snowstorm that lasts for five turns.
Collision Course		Deals 30% more damage if the move is super-effective.
Comeuppance		The user attacks the last opposing Pokemon that hit it with either a physical or special attack, and deals double the damage of the move.
Doodle		The user changes both its and its ally's Ability to that of the target.
Double Shock		Causes the user to lose its Electric typing if used by an Electric type. The move will fail if the user is not an Electric type.
Dragon Cheer		Raises an ally's critical hit ratio by one stage or by two stages if it has a Dragon-typing.
Electro Drift		Deals 30% more damage if the move is super-effective.
Electro Shot		The user charges vast quantities of energy and attacks on the next turn. The user can immediately fire off this attack when it is raining.
Fickle Beam		Has a 30% chance to deal double damage.
Fillet Away		Raises the user's Attack, Special Attack, and Speed by two stages, but sacrifices half of its max HP. Fails if the user's health is below 50%.
Flower Trick		This attack will always land a critical hit and never miss.
Gigaton Hammer		The move cannot be used consecutively.
Glaive Rush		Causes the next attack to the user to be a guaranteed hit and deal double damage.
Hard Press		Does more damage the higher the target's health is.
Hydro Steam		The user blasts the target with boiling-hot water. This move's power is not lowered in harsh sunlight but rather boosted by 50 percent.
Hyper Drill		This attack goes through Protect, Detect, and the like.
Ice Spinner		The move destroys any terrain, and does not fail even if the ground hasn't been turned into a terrain.
Ivy Cudgel		The user strikes with an ivy-wrapped cudgel. This move's type type changes depending on the mask worn by the user, and it has a heightened chance of landing of critical hit.
Jet Punch		Has an increased Speed priority of 1, allowing it to go faster than most moves. If multiple Pokemon use a move with the same Speed priority, the one with higher Speed will go first.
Kowtow Cleave		This attack will never miss.
Last Respects		The move's base power is increased by 50 for each fainted ally in the user's party.
Lumina Crash		Lowers the opponent's Special Defense stat by two stages.
Make It Rain		Lowers the user's Special Attack stat by one stage. The user also gains money after battles in the main game.
Malignant Chain		Has a chance to badly poison the target.
Matcha Gotcha		The user heals half of the damage dealt as HP, and has a 20% chance to burn its target. The move will also thaw out the user or its target if it is frozen.
Mighty Cleave		Deals damage even if the target protects itself.
Mortal Spin		The user removes moves that trap Pokemon, and inflicts poison on its target.
Order Up		Raises a specific stat by one stage depending on the form of Tatsugiri in the user's mouth: Attack with Curly Form, Defense with Droopy Form. Speed with Stretchy Form.
Population Bomb		The user attacks 1-10 times. Accuracy is checked on each strike.
Pounce		Lowers the opponent's Speed by one stage.
Psyblade		The user rends the target with an ethereal blade. This move's power is boosted by 50 percent if the user is on Electric Terrain.
Psychic Noise		This move bathes the target in abrasive sound waves. This attack also prevents the target from recovering HP through moves, Abilities, or items for a certain number of turns.
Rage Fist		The move's power is increased by 50 each time the user has been hit during the battle. The counter is not reset if the user is switched out or has fainted.
Raging Bull		This move's type can change between Fighting, Fire, or Water depending on the user's form. This attack also destroys protective barriers in play.
Revival Blessing		Revives a fainted Pokemon in the party and restores half of its max HP.
Ruination		Damages the opponent for 50% of its current HP.
Salt Cure		Delas damage, then deals 1/8 of the target's max HP as residual damage per turn. Residual damage is doubled if the target is a Steel or Water type.
Shed Tail		The user creates a decoy by sacrificing 25% of the its max HP, and switches out with a Pokemon waiting in the party which will receive the decoy.
Silk Trap		Prevents the user from being hit by the opponent's attack. but has a chance of failing when used consecutively. Lowers the opponent's Speed by one stage if the attack blocked would have made contact.
Snowscape		Activates a snowstorm for five turns and boosts Defense of Ice types while active.
Spicy Extract		Raises the target's Attack stat by two stages and lowers the target's Defense stat by two stages.
Spin Out		Lowers the user's Speed stat by two stages.
Supercell Slam		Deals damage, but if the move misses the user will take damage instead.
Syrup Bomb		This move coats the target in syrup and causes its Speed stat to lower each turn for three turns.
Tachyon Cutter		This move never misses, allowing the user to unleash two successive hits on a target.
Temper Flare		Damage dealt is doubled if the user's last move fails.
Tera Blast		When used while the user is Terastallized, this move's type changes depending on the its Tera Type. Tera Blast becomes a physical move if the user's Attack stat is higher, while it becomes a special move if the user's Special Attack stat is higher.
Tera Starstorm		When used by Terapagos in its Stellar Form, the attack hits both opposing Pokemon.
Thunderclap		This move allows the user to move first if the opposing Pokemon has chosen an attack as its next move, but will fail if the target was not readying an attack of its own.
Tidy Up		The user removes Substitute decoys and moves that trap Pokemon. The user's Attack and Speed stats are also raised by one stage.
Torch Song		Increases the user's Special Attack stat by one stage.
Trailblaze		Increases the user's Speed by one stage.
Triple Dive		The user attacks thrice in a row.
Twin Beam		The user attacks twice in a row.
Upper Hand		The user reacts to the target's movements and strikes with the heel of its palm. If the target was trying to use a priority move, the user will get the jump on them, allowing the user to attack first and cause their opponent to flinch without fail. This move will fail if the target wasn’t readying a priority move.

Competitive Viability of New Moves

On August 21st, the Competitive Play Trailer was released. It introduced several new moves, items, and mechanics that would influence the competitive battles in the Paldea region. Three new moves were also revealed on a trailer that was released on September 7, along with new Pokemon.

Shed Tail

Cyclizar creates a 73 HP Substitute before switching out and passing it to a Magnezone.

The first of the moves introduced is called Shed Tail it is seen used by the newly introduced Pokemon Cyclizar. It appears to have the combined effects of Substitute and Baton Pass.

The active Pokemon is seen taking 1/2 of their max HP (rounded down) to create a decoy before they switch to a different party member. The Pokemon switching in will keep the decoy created by the user of Shed Tail.

Competitive Viability

The move Substitute has been a popular move in competitive Pokemon because it allows for strong Pokemon to have a decoy that will take hits that it would otherwise take directly. It also keeps the Pokemon behind the substitute safe from being inflicted with Status Conditions. Having a substitute up allows for the active Pokemon to remain healthy for as long as the decoy is on the field.

In the past, the only way to pass a Substitute decoy is by also having the move Baton Pass. Without Baton Pass, the substitute disappears upon switching out. However it looks like Shed Tail combines the effects of both moves, at the cost of additional HP to create the decoy.

Shed Tail users would benefit from having decent bulk since the decoy has an HP equal to the HP drained from the Pokemon who made it. It also maximizes the health of the decoy for the Pokemon switching in.

Tera Blast

A Terastallized Tyranitar with a Ghost Tera Type uses a Ghost-type Tera Blast to deal super effective damage on the opposing Gallade.

The second new move introduced is called Tera Blast, a Normal-type Move that can be learned via TM. When a Terastallized Pokemon uses this move, it becomes the same type as the user's Tera Type.

Notably, Tera Blast inflicts damage using either the user's Attack stat or Special Attack stat - whichever is higher! This guarantees that the user deals the highest damage it could with that move.

It seems to be reminiscent of the move Hidden Power, a move that has been absent in Pokemon Sword and Shield. It is currently unclear how the move functions when a Pokemon is not Terastallized.

Competitive Viability

The ability to change types itself is already a mechanic that requires a lot of skill to fully maximize. However, the most useful application of this move is providing a reliable STAB-move for when a Pokemon changes into their Tera Type. The fact that it uses the higher offensive stat gives a dependable move of a type that may not be in the user's movepool.

The Base Power is relatively decent at 80, according to Sierra Dawn, who was given early access by Nintendo to the game. Tera Blast therefore offers a stronger alternative for Pokemon who may not have stronger moves in their learnset.

As an example: Flareon, despite its high Attack Stat, does not have any Physical Fire-type move options outside of Flare Blitz. By Terastallizing into a Fire-type, Flareon can gain a strong Physical Fire-type move without worrying about recoil damage.

All Terastal Forms and Tera Types

Trailblaze

Brassius' Sudowoodo dealing super-effective damage after using Trailblaze on a Water-type Quaxly.

Trailblaze is a new move that was shown being used by the Grass-type Gym Leader Brassius' Sudowoodo which has been Terastalized into a Grass-type.

Unfortunately, not a lot of information was revealed about the move but we do know that it could potentially be a Grass-type move as Brassius' Sudowoodo was able to deal super-effective damage on the player's Quaxly, which is a Water-type Pokemon, after using Trailblaze.

Competitive Viability

From the looks of it, we are speculating that Trailblaze is a physical Grass-type move. If this move is powerful enough and can be easily learned via TMs and the like, it can be a possible staple move for Pokemon with high Attack stat and take advantage of same-type attack bonus (STAB) for Grass-type Pokemon or it can be used as coverage!

Armor Cannon

Armarouge fires up Armor Cannon which lowers its Defense and Special Defense.

Armor Cannon is a special Fire-type move which was shown to be used by the new Pokemon Armarouge, and it is possible that it is the signature move of the Fire Warrior Pokemon.

This move seems like a Fire-type variant of Close Combat, as using it will lower the user's Defense and Special Defense stat.

Competitive Viability

Armor Cannon's base power has not been revealed yet, but if it is similar to Close Combat which has 120 base power, this can potentially be one of the strongest Fire-type moves available in the game and can be the go-to Fire-type move for special attackers provided that Armor Cannon is a move not exclusive to Armarogue.

Additionally, if Armor Cannon has accuracy higher than 85, then it can be a good alternative to Fire Blast. The latter is a common choice for a special Fire-type move but is weighed down by its low accuracy, although the former lacks the chance to burn the target.

Bitter Blade

Ceruledge uses Bitter Blade which is super-effective against Sneasel.

Bitter Blade is a new physical Fire-type move which was revealed to be used by the new Pokemon Ceruledge, and can be the signature move of the Fire Blades Pokemon.

This move is similar to Giga Drain, as it can restore the user's HP by up to half of the damage taken by the target.

Competitive Viability

Bitter Blade, as a Fire-type move, can be an effective move to use against bulky Grass-type Pokemon which have their own methods of restoring HP.

This move allows the user to cancel out the healing done by its target if used constantly to drain their health even if the target recovers HP, along with the fact that the move is super-effective against Grass-type Pokemon which can deal a lot of damage.

Assuming that this move is not exclusive to Ceruledge, Bitter Blade can be an option for Fire-type Pokemon that need a bit of help in surviving longer in the field as there are only a handful of Pokemon that can learn Giga Drain, Leech Seed, and the like.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Related Links

List of All Moves

Moves by Type and Category

Moves by Type
Grass	Water	Fire
Electric	Ice	Fighting
Ground	Poison	Flying
Psychic	Bug	Rock
Ghost	Dragon	Dark
Steel	Fairy	Normal
Moves by Category
Physical	Special	Status
Moves by Effects
Stat-Boosting Moves	Stat-Reducing Moves	Status-Inflicting Moves
Moves that Never Miss	Moves that Set Entry Hazards	Sound-Based Moves
High-Critical Hit Moves	Moves that Change Weather	Moves that Change Terrain
Powder/Spore Moves	Moves that Restore HP	Redirection Moves
Multi-Hit Moves	One-Hit Knockout Moves	Trapping Moves
Moves with Recoil Damage	List of Priority Moves	Moves that Block Attacks
Status Restoring Moves	Switching Moves	Wind Moves
List of Set Damage Moves	Moves That Remove Screens	List of Moves Boosted When Terastallized
Other Move Guides
All Gen 9 New Moves	Unavailable Moves	List of New DLC Moves
Returning DLC Moves	The Teal Mask DLC New TMs	The Indigo Disk DLC New TMs