by Doc – Owner, Founder, Generally Not Considered Normal
For most of my time doing Tera Raids in Pokémon, I refused to use Normal type builds as a type of attack. Normal types have no real defensive benefits besides an immunity to Ghost, and their lack of a super effective typing means there is no Tera type against which I can use them. Logically, there should then be no situation where a Normal type is preferable to something that is super effective.
This line of reasoning is still pretty good reasoning. Super effectiveness accelerates the raid and increases your ability to self-heal, and the faster you can get that raid done and the less likely it is that you die while doing so, by definition the better off you are. There’s just one problem.
Some of the Normal types are really freaking good.
Arceus is the obvious example here, as a base 720 stat Pokémon. He packs Acid Spray, Calm Mind, Cosmic Power, Taunt, Thunder Wave, all of the terrains and any other number of fantastic moves. His base attack, Judgment, gets STAB and he can hold a Shell Bell if he’s Normal type. Frankly, being Normal type is actually his only drawback and he’s good enough to function in a lot of raids despite the drawback. He’s a stellar Tera raider and basically singlehandedly carries the torch of actually good Normal type raids (no, Ursaluna’s not good enough).
Meloetta is another interesting example. While not superior to her Pirouette form, there is a playstyle of Meloetta that revolves around spamming Relic Song, which hilariously puts the opponent to sleep 20% of the time (thanks to Serene Grace, her ability) and also changes her form each turn. Meloetta packs great stats and is well-suited for that play style, and receives STAB bonus on Relic Song as well.
Don’t get me wrong here – if you’re searching for a raider to use in an especially difficult raid, your top priorities should always be a Pokémon that is resistant to the opponent’s attacks as much as possible, and if possible super effective against those attacks, or at least neutral to them. Normal types need not apply. But the representation for the Normal type is so fantastic that you still ought to consider them as a way of slicing the Gordian knot instead of untangling it.
Amiibo Doctor 