Statistics
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
70
|
- |
281 |
344 |
- |
| Atk |
80
|
176 |
196 |
259 |
284 |
| Def |
65
|
149 |
166 |
229 |
251 |
| SpA |
90
|
194 |
216 |
279 |
306 |
| SpD |
65
|
149 |
166 |
229 |
251 |
| Spe |
85
|
185 |
206 |
269 |
295 |
Girafarig can Baton Pass a myriad of stat boosts, of which only the best are included in the above set. Agility boosts Speed and Calm Mind boosts Special Attack and Special Defense, so Girafarig can then pass these boosts for its own team members.
This Girafarig's purpose is very linear: Agility, Reflect and hope the opponent switches to a special attacker, Mirror Coat, and finally Baton Pass to a teammate. Reflect is boosted by Light Clay, and hopefully the 6 turns of essentially double defense that the teammate receives is enough to allow it to increase its own attacking stats and sweep.
242 Speed is reached to outspeed +Speed nature Omastar, Crawdaunt, Clefable, and Lapras. After an Agility, Girafarig also outspeeds Choice Scarf Manectric, and Rapidash. The reason so many Special Defense EVs are given is because without any EV investment, Girafarig only has 166 Special Defense, which actually causes it to be OHKOed by various UU Choice Specs users.
Early Bird is chosen specifically over Inner Focus because Girafarig benefits greatly from having sleep reduced to 1 or 2 turns. However, if Hitmontop, Persian, or Purugly seem to be exceedingly annoying, Inner Focus could be viable. 0 Attack IV and Timid are recommended specifically for the scenario where Girafarig is confused, as they will allow Girafarig to minimize the damage it does to itself.
Girafarig’s Special Attack and Speed stats aren’t horrible, and its movepool is often overlooked. Given Girafarig’s bad defenses, it can probably only attack once before being forced to switch, so it won’t have the time to use boosting attacks if it wants to attack, which is why a boosting item is in order. Shadow Ball lets Girafarig take on other Psychic-types, while Hidden Power Fighting deals with Steel and Dark-types.
Its Attack stat is only average, but, if anything, this set has the potential to surprise many Pokémon that expect Girafarig to attack from the special side. Zen Headbutt and your choice of Normal move are for STAB. Crunch tackles fellow Psychic-types, while Earthquake counters Steel-types that expect to wall you.
With decent defenses, Inner Focus, and Magic Coat, Girafarig is able to make an excellent lead, thwarting many of the most common UU lead strategies. Girafarig's ability, Inner Focus, prevents flinching from common leads, such as Fake Out Hitmontop, Persian, and Purugly, all while Girafarig Psychics each for an OHKO or 2HKO. Magic Coat turns the tables on sleeper leads, such as Venusaur and Persian, allowing you to sleep their lead by firing back Hypnosis or Sleep Powder, as well as crippling other status leads such as Froslass. Grass Knot is used to damage bulky ground leads such as Claydol. Wish is a useful move in the final slot for team support and general scouting purposes. Wish also helps to keep Girafarig itself healthy and with this more defensive build Girafarig will find ample time to make use of the move. Reflect or Light Screen also help in supporting the team and with Magic Coat often giving Girafarig free turns you'll find more then enough time to set up the defensive screen of choice.
The EVs are highly specialized for the UU metagame. 68 Speed EVs let Girafarig outrun 221 Speed Hitmontop. A Modest nature with 160 Special Attack EVs guarantee a 2HKO on common leads such as Electrode and Persian with Psychic, amongst several others. The remaining EVs were delegated to HP and Defense to allow Girafarig to take a few hits in the process.
Other Options
Reflect and Light Screen can provide protection from the physical and special side respectively, not only for your team, but also for Girafarig’s own frail defenses. Skill Swap is an okay move on Girafarig, given that its two possible abilities, Inner Focus and Early Bird, can be readily disposed of and swapped for something that can probably be more useful. Given enough Special Defense, it can Mirror Coat to surprise an unsuspecting opponent, which is a new DP addition to Girafarig’s movepool. In addition, Girafarig gets access to Thunder Wave, which cripples the opponent with paralysis. Wish is also a move that Girafarig can use. Grass Knot can go over Energy Ball if you prefer.
EVs
The Baton Passer needs maximum Speed. The Choice Specs and Choice Band sets require as much of the respective attacking stat and Speed as possible.
Opinion
Girafarig is the only Psychic Pokémon that is immune to a type which most other Psychic Pokémon are weak to: Ghost. Unfortunately, this is barely worth capitalizing on in DP, where the usage of Shadow Ball has dwindled considerably in favor of the Dark-typed Crunch, which Girafarig is still weak to. Thus, Girafarig’s novel Normal/Psychic typing is seen to be relatively worthless in DP, and, in turn, condemns Girafarig to even more useless territory. At least it can still Baton Pass a rather lengthy list of stat boosts.
Counters
As already stated, Girafarig’s usage will be in the middle to lower tiers. Most faster Pokémon will counter the Baton Pass set, since Girafarig can really not take a good hit at all, even if it is for neutral damage. Against the Choice Specs set, most Psychic Pokémon with an above average Special Defense stat can switch in relatively safely, and threaten to take a stab at Girafarig’s low defenses. These include Grumpig and Hypno. Steel and Dark Pokémon can also switch in with a bit of prediction, but watch out for Hidden Power Fighting.
