Giratina (QC: 3/3) (GP: 2/2)

polop · May 17, 2013

Giratina
This is gonna be huge, I'll change the tag to QC when its ready to be QC checked since putting all the info for revamp might take a while
Trickroom gets credit for everything bar Chestorest set, and Shrang gets credit for that.

I USED A LOT OF TRICKROOM'S ORIGINAL PROSE SO CREDIT GOES TO HIM, I HAVE PERMISSION TO USE IT TOO
I ended up reusing most of Shrang's prose since there was really nothing wrong with most of it and I needed to just add on info, so credit goes to him

EDIT: Now ready for QC checks, if anyone wants to add something / change something go ahead and post.
EDIT2:Credits to original prose are in hide tag, revamp is done, I reused most of the original prose to make it easier on the GP team because already checked prose should have fewer grammatical mistakes then new prose
EDIT3: Ready for GP, analysis is in writeup hide tag
EDIT4: NOW READY TO BE UPLOADED
QC: Shrang, Trickroom, Melee Mewtwo
GP: Oglemi, Melvini

[Overview]

Even though Dragon-types have always served to limit Giratina's impressive walling potential, one would regret discounting it as a defensive threat. Giratina is the most resilient spinblocker of the Ubers metagame and an excellent counter to potent threats such as Rock Polish Groudon and almost all physical variants of Arceus. While its low attack does turn Giratina into setup fodder for some entry hazard users, such as Forretress and Ferrothorn, and some dangerous threats, such as Rayquaza and Darkrai, Giratina still finds a niche on stall teams as both a spinblocker and wall. Dragon Tail and Roar prevent Giratina from being complete setup bait, somewhat alleviating its issues. Giratina can even take advantage of its natural bulk to set up multiple boosts, allowing it to sweep an unsuspecting team. While Ghost Arceus gives it serious competition, Giratina still has many notable advantages. Its sheer bulk and ability to hold Leftovers allow it to stop Excadrill and Kabutops from spinning, something Ghost Arceus is incapable of. Its unique typing allows it to avoid getting 2HKOed by Choice Specs Kyogre's Water Spout and wall Blaziken, Pokemon that would OHKO Ghost Arceus. While the lack of a recovery move outside of Rest does hinder Giratina's walling capabilities, one would be foolish to think this stops it from fulfilling its role. Finally, its titanic defenses allow it to viably use RestTalk as a method of recovery, a feat few Uber Pokemons can boast.

[SET]
name: The Great Wall
move 1: Rest
move 2: Sleep Talk
move 3: Roar / Dragon Tail
move 4: Will-O-Wisp / Dragon Tail
item: Leftovers
ability: Pressure
nature: Impish
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD

[Set Comments]

Giratina's impressive defenses and access to Will-O-Wisp allow it to counter many prominent physical threats, including most physical Arceus variants, any Groudon, Ho-Oh, Blaziken, Scizor, Metagross, and many more. Giratina's enormous defenses make it the only spinblocker capable of preventing Kabutops and Excadrill that have used Swords Dance from spinning. It should be noted that Excadrill will 2HKO Giratina after it has used Swords Dance, so Giratina is at best able to phaze it and Rest. Giratina can't even burn Excadrill without fainting. Dragon Tail is an alternative phazing move that works even while Taunted, which stops Giratina from being setup fodder for many powerful setup sweepers such as Mewtwo. It also allows Giratina to punish any Dragon-type or Pokemon with weak defenses that thinks it can switch in freely, denting said Pokemon while forcing it out. The ability to phaze and deal respectable damage in the process often makes Dragon Tail appear to be the preferred move, but its inability to phaze Pokemon that use Substitute, such as Ho-Oh and Excadrill, often makes Roar the better choice. Giratina can use both phazing moves, but forgoing Will-O-Wisp prevents it from permanently crippling physical attackers. However because Giratina is often used on general Uber stall teams, Will-O-Wisp might be worthless if your team focuses heavily on wearing down the opponent with Toxic Spikes. Will-O-Wisp, however, still has the ability to burn Steel-types such as Steel Arceus and Ferrothorn, slightly hampering their bulk. Needless to say, Giratina has the ability to block Rapid Spin, but it's worth noting that Giratina cannot hurt Forretress at all, while it has an easy time setting up Spikes on Giratina. Whether or not you want to use Roar depends upon what your team needs.

[Additional Comments]

You can consider investing additional Speed EVs if you wish to engage in a Speed creep contest with opposing Groudon, Dialga, and Giratina. Other moveslot options include Toxic and Thunder Wave. Thunder Wave might have some use as a lure for fast attackers such as Darkrai, but Will-O-Wisp has more overall utility as this Giratina is supposed to counter physical threats. Earthquake pairs well with Dragon Tail and kills Heatran in one hit, when it would otherwise wall Giratina completely.

Giratina is countered by sweepers who can capitalize on its numerous common weaknesses. In particular, Darkrai, Dark Arceus, and Dialga terrorize Giratina as it can't really hurt them aside from preventing them from coming in through smart Dragon Tail use. Powerful Dragon-types such as Rayquaza, Reshiram, Zekrom, Latios, Latias, Kyurem-W, and Palkia can also easily 2HKO Giratina at worst with their incredibly powerful Dragon attacks provided they safely switch in. However, all of these Dragon-types hate to stomach a Dragon Tail or a potential Will-O-Wisp. In order to deal with these Pokemon, it's recommended to use partners such as Chansey, Blissey, Groudon, and Lugia. All in all, the best partner for Giratina is probably Forretress: the two have excellent type synergy, Giratina protects the entry hazards set up by Forretress, and Forretress spins away the nasty Spikes that hurt Giratina. Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Genesect are decent partners to Giratina too. All three boast Dragon-, Dark-, and Ghost-type resistances and the first two can launch Spikes onto the opposing battlefield that Giratina conveniently blocks. Genesect can assist in stacking entry hazard damage and also destroys Latios and Latias with its powerful U-turn. Ho-Oh is a decent partner because its special bulk and typing help against the strong special attackers such as Dark Arceus and Palkia that plague Giratina. Lugia might share Ice-, Dark-, and Ghost-type weaknesses with Giratina, but it checks most physical Dragon-types that plague Giratina and Giratina in return can absorb Thunder and Bolt Strike for Lugia. Groudon checks the physical sweepers Giratina cannot stop such as Rayquaza, Garchomp, Zekrom, Dialga, and Salamence thanks to its massive Defense stat and lack of Dragon-type weakness. Scizor gets a mention for sharing good type synergy with Giratina and countering most Dark-types.

[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Rest
move 2: Sleep Talk
move 3: Roar / Dragon Tail
move 4: Will-O-Wisp / Dragon Tail
item: Leftovers
nature: Careful
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD

[Set Comments]

Many people argue that Ghost Arceus overshadows Giratina. This set utilizes Giratina's main advantage over Ghost Arceus: resistances and Leftovers. While Ghost Arceus lacks nasty Dragon- and Ice-type weaknesses, Giratina has resistances to Fire-, Water-, Electric-, and Grass-type moves, something Ghost Arceus can only dream about. Instead of focusing on Defense, this set takes a different approach to using Giratina. With the EVs and nature used on this set, Giratina can even survive two full-power Choice Specs-boosted Water Spouts from the most powerful of Kyogre given that no entry hazards are up. This in conjunction with Pressure allows Giratina to stall out Choice Specs Kyogre locked into any move not named Ice Beam with ease. If your team lacks something to stomach Blue Flares from the deadly Reshiram or a check to Calm Mind Arceus, Mewtwo, or Deoxys-A, this Giratina can do it well. No Calm Mind Arceus, Mewtwo, or Deoxys-A will be able to 2HKO it even after Stealth Rock damage. In fact, Giratina will always a survive Life Orb-boosted Draco Meteor from Reshiram or Rayquaza, given that no entry hazards are up. Ghost Arceus can never achieve such amazing feats. In fact, Ghost Arceus is always OHKOed by Choice Specs Kyogre. Giratina can easily stall out Shaymin-S's Seed Flare as well with its resistance, bulk, and Pressure. Even when using this set, Giratina still retains a lot of its physical bulk. For example, it can still survive a Choice Scarf Zekrom's Outrage after Stealth Rock damage, taking only 74% - 87.5%, and it can still stop Excadrill and Kabutops from spinning. It should be warned that Swords Dance boosted Earthquake from Excadrill will OHKO with Stealth Rock and sandstorm damage though.

Will-O-Wisp ruins physical attackers such as Garchomp and Zekrom that might attempt to take advantage of this Giratina's weaker Defense stat. Dragon Tail phazes and damages Pokemon, which helps quickly accumulate damage onto an opponent's team, and is not blocked by Taunt. This combined with its ability to severely harm Dragon-types that try switching into Giratina makes it a wonderful move. Roar blasts through Substitute, which can be useful if you are facing a Kyogre or Shaymin-S with Substitute. RestTalk is all Giratina has as recovery, but it's really all it needs. With those moves, Giratina can also act as a status absorber for the team.

[Additional Comments]

You can consider investing additional Speed EVs if you wish to engage in a Speed creep contest with opposing Groudon, Dialga, and Giratina. Other moveslot options include Toxic and Thunder Wave. Thunder Wave might have some use as a lure for fast attackers, but Will-O-Wisp has more overall utility.

This Giratina is meant to utilize its resistances and absorb resisted powerful special hits such as Kyogre's Water Spout. However, even with this layout, Giratina still hates facing powerful Draco Meteors. Therefore, Blissey and Chansey are great teammates. Other teammates, such as Forretress, Lugia, Groudon, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory, work for this set as well. Forretress and in fact spinners in general, are a particular necessity for Giratina. Because the presence of entry hazards will make Giratina get 2HKOed by attacks that it would otherwise avoid getting 2HKOed from, such as Choice Specs Water Spout from Kyogre, a spinner or Magic Bounce user greatly helps it perform its job as a special sponge.

[SET]
name: ChestoRest
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Rest
move 3: Dragon Pulse
move 4: Aura Sphere / Thunder
item: Chesto Berry
ability: Pressure
nature: Modest
evs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

One playstyle is always associated with Giratina, and that is stall. This set attempts to capitalize on that stereotype and catch the opponent by surprise, although it should be noted that the lack of Leftovers might prematurely reveal it to the opponent, as it is one of the few viable Giratina sets that does not use Leftovers. While standard Giratina is more suited for stall teams, ChestoRest Giratina can be used as an aggressive spinblocker on more offensively based teams. Giratina is easily the bulkiest Pokemon in the entire game, which means that it can very easily snag one or two Calm Mind boosts. This set plays a lot like ChestoRest Kyogre, but trades power for much more overall bulk and coverage. While an offensive Calm Mind set is usually more suited to Giratina-O, its inability to hold a Chesto Berry automatically disqualifies it from running this particular set. This Giratina hits surprisingly hard after a Calm Mind or two, and outside of extremely powerful physical attacks, it will not faint without first netting at least one or two kills. To illustrate, it easily 2HKOes Extreme Killer Arceus and Dialga with a +1 Aura Sphere; neither Pokemon is able to OHKO in return, unless Dialga is carrying Choice Specs.

The best part about that set is that most people attempt to take it out like they would the regular defensive sets; that is, by using Toxic and attacking it while it is sleeping. ChestoRest Giratina flips that concept on its head by casually setting up with Calm Mind until its health gets low, using Rest to get back to full health, and waking up immediately thanks to the Chesto Berry. Dragon Pulse is preferred for the main STAB. Aura Sphere gives the best overall coverage as it is unresisted alongside Dragon Pulse, and most importantly, it 2HKOes Ferrothorn and Tyranitar at +1. However, if Ferrothorn is of no concern, Thunder is useful as it takes down Kyogre, Skarmory, and Lugia much more easily.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

Shadow Ball can be used as the STAB attack to hit Mewtwo, Lugia, and Ghost Arceus harder, but its relatively low power and inability to take out Dragon-types is a letdown. Will-O-Wisp can be used in the last slot to cripple physical attackers, but as this set is attempting to sweep, it isn't exactly helpful. Earth Power is Giratina's best weapon against Jirachi and Metagross, who could potentially be annoying, and also grants it an easy OHKO on Heatran. Hidden Power Fire allows Giratina to OHKO Scizor and do more damage to Ferrothorn, but it is rather useless otherwise. Substitute allows Giratina to avoid Ferrothorn's Leech Seed, status, and helps it avoid getting revenge killed by faster Dragon-types, but ir is largely useless outside of that.

A Modest nature and maximum Special Attack investment allow Giratina to hit as hard as possible, while the rest of the EVs make it as bulky as possible. A more physically bulky spread of 112 HP / 252 Def / 144 SpA can be used to survive a Life Orb-boosted Outrage from Jolly Rayquaza at full health, although the power drop is very significant. Additionally, even if Giratina does survive such a hit, it's not going to be sweeping much anyway. Giratina can reallocate EVs from its HP stat into its Speed stat to Speed creep, but doing so lowers its bulk, which might make it harder to get Calm Minds. On the other hand, it is useful for outspeeding slower Kyogre, Zekrom, Reshiram, Dialga, and Giratina and Resting or killing said Pokemon before they can harm Giratina.

Strong, super effective physical attacks are the key to taking down Calm Mind Giratina. Life Orb- or Choice Band-boosted Outrage from Rayquaza, Zekrom, and Garchomp can OHKO Giratina, and Choice Band Crunch from Tyranitar and Icicle Crash from Mamoswine will also leave a huge dent. In addition, Bulk Up Dialga can defeat Giratina if it has some Speed investment and Outrage. Choice Band Metagross can be problematic as it resists Dragon Pulse and has enough bulk to tank Aura Sphere, and Giratina's lack of Will-O-Wisp allows Metagross to Meteor Mash it with impunity. Skarmory can force +1 Giratina out with Whirlwind if Giratina lacks Thunder; Jirachi can also be annoying with paralysis and Iron Head flinches.

Physically defensive Steel-types are excellent teammates for Giratina. Forretress can Rapid Spin away the Toxic Spikes that might force Giratina to Rest earlier than is desirable, and can set up Toxic Spikes of its own, allowing Giratina to defeat Blissey and Chansey more easily. Skarmory can also switch into Outrage and set up Spikes, but it must watch out for Zekrom's Bolt Strike and Rayquaza's V-create. It is worth noting that these entry hazards are easily kept on the field by Giratina's spinblocking abilities. Magnezone can trap and KO Skarmory as well as Metagross locked into Meteor Mash. Groudon, especially Swords Dance variants, can take on Dialga, Tyranitar, Jirachi, and Metagross easily.

Giratina's other major enemies are specially defensive Calm Mind users. Steel Arceus resists Giratina's STABs and outspeeds it, allowing Steel Arceus to cushion Aura Sphere with its own Calm Mind; Dark Arceus and Ghost Arceus can do the same thing. Ho-Oh is therefore another great teammate for Giratina, as it can defeat most of the Calm Mind users that Giratina has trouble against. Darkrai is also an excellent offensive check to Ghost Arceus as it outspeeds and can put Ghost Arceus to sleep with Dark Void and then set up Nasty Plot to sweep. Giratina won't be able to sweep all the time either, but it will generally leave a hole in the enemy team for another Pokemon to take advantage of and sweep. As such, Pokemon that can finish off Giratina's sweep are appreciated. Steel Arceus excels at this. It not only synergizes nicely with Giratina but can also wage a winning Calm Mind war against any enemy Calm Mind Arceus that Giratina encounters, thanks to its access to Roar.

[SET]
name: Boosting Tank Giratina
move 1: Rest
move 2: Sleep Talk
move 3: Calm Mind
move 4: Dragon Pulse
item: Leftovers
ability: Pressure
nature: Bold
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD

[Set Comments]

While Giratina is usually seen as a wall, its amazing defenses in conjunction with Calm Mind mean it can easily set up on many threats. After a Calm Mind, it is nearly impossible to OHKO Giratina with any attack. Only extremely powerful attacks like Kyurem-W's Choice Specs Draco Meteor and Choice Band Kyurem-B's Outrage can OHKO Giratina consistently after it has used Calm Mind. If supported properly, Giratina should be able to achieve six Calm Minds, but as always, exercise discretion when setting up. Unfortunately, even after six Calm Minds, Giratina fails to 2HKO Blissey and Chansey, but both of them can be PP stalled with Pressure, a strategy that works better with Toxic Spikes support from Forretress. This set beats mono-attacking Calm Mind Kyogre and Fire Arceus one-on-one due to its resistances and Pressure.

[Additional Comments]

If you want to forgo Sleep Talk, Giratina has a number of options. Shadow Ball is useful against Mewtwo, and Will-O-Wisp is an option if you want this Giratina to act as a lure for Tyranitar, or as a check to physical Arceus variants and Groudon. Roar allows Giratina to boost alongside the opponent and Roar it out.

Unfortunately, none of these options let Giratina defeat its counters, which include many powerful attackers such as Darkrai, Dark Arceus, Ghost Arceus, Steel Arceus, and Dialga. As such, Scizor, Genesect, Blissey, and Chansey are good options for teammates. You might want Heal Bell support from Chansey and Blissey particularly because of the BW sleep mechanics. Finally, you will probably want Toxic Spikes support from Forretress to help handle Chansey and Blissey, who give Giratina trouble otherwise. Ho-Oh also checks most Calm Mind Arceus and Darkrai for Giratina and scares of Chansey and Blissey. Heatran is a decent partner for Giratina as it resists all of Giratina's weaknesses and Giratina protects it from Groudon and Earthquake Ho-Oh. Heatran can also check Dark, Ghost, and Steel Arceus, all of whom can beat Giratina easily. Kyogre can be used to absorb Ice Beam and check most Calm Mind Arceus.

Weather doesn't really matter to Giratina, but Groudon is recommended as a check to the physical attackers Giratina cannot handle such as Zekrom and Rayquaza. One of the Steel-type Spikers, Forretress, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory, is a required partner for Giratina because of their type synergy and ability to lay entry hazards. Genesect can also work as a partner for Giratina, switching into Rayquaza or Zekrom's Outrage and KOing in return with Download-boosted Ice Beam. Forretress is probably the best partner for Giratina, as it also removes Spikes with Rapid Spin, which can be a particular nuisance if Giratina gets phazed while they are up. Giratina is greatly annoyed by enemy phazers, especially Perish Song Arceus, as they can completely remove its boosts, so it's recommended that you either weaken or take down the phazers so that Giratina can more easily sweep. Chansey, Blissey, Ho-Oh, and Kyogre all help check the special attackers that trouble Giratina. Kyogre's turbulent rain will make Reshiram sad while a powerful Surf can easily drown it. Chansey and Blissey can handle the special attacks that are too powerful for Giratina to handle such as a Choice Specs Dialga's Draco Meteor. They can also wake Giratina up immediately after using Rest with Aromatherapy or Heal Bell. Kyogre can set up alongside most Calm Mind Arceus formes and eventually win the Calm Mind war with Surf or Scald, thanks to the weather and Kyogre's superior special stats.

If Giratina is used with Groudon and Forretress, you can use Ho-Oh and Heatran, which are other excellent checks to Giratina's counters such as Dark, Steel, and Ghost Arceus. Heatran can Taunt and eventually kill most special attacking Arceus formes, and Ho-Oh can bypass Calm Mind boosts with its incredibly powerful Sacred Fire and Brave Bird. Scizor and Genesect can still work as partners to counter Darkrai and Dark Arceus. Outside of that, however, Scizor and Genesect are pretty much useless. Metagross is also a decent teammate for Giratina, thanks to its Steel typing and great Attack stat. Metagross can 2HKO most Arceus formes with its bone-shattering Choice Band Meteor Mash. Lugia can assist Giratina in walling physical or mixed attackers such as Rayquaza and Garchomp. Steel Arceus resists most of Giratina's weaknesses and beats Dark Arceus one-on-one. Excadrill gets a mention for Rapid Spin and resistances to Dragon-, Ghost-, and Dark-type moves. It can also beat Dark and Steel Arceus one-on-one.

[Other Options]

Giratina can use Dragon Claw, but Dragon Tail is recommended for phazing, and Outrage is recommended for more power. Shadow Sneak has the merit of being able to pick off Pokemon that Giratina has worn out with its constant phazing, but outside of that it has little to no use and is generally not worth the moveslot. Earthquake allows Giratina to destroy Heatran and 2HKO Excadrill, but it is weak when hitting other Pokemon. Giratina can also utilize an attacking lead set with Magic Coat, but it is generally too unreliable. Giratina's offensive stats are mediocre especially by Uber standards. Hidden Power Fire doesn't even kill Forretress after Stealth Rock, and Ferrothorn and Skarmory can even laugh at it. If you want to go on the offensive, Giratina is not the one to fulfill your needs. Giratina-O and Ghost Arceus are the offensive spinblockers you should be using. A Choice Scarf Giratina is a gimmick because it is very weak and largely outclassed by others such as Choice Scarf Dialga. Using a Choice item also means Giratina wastes its tremendous bulk. Spite can be used effectively thanks to Giratina's massive walling capabilities. Spite combined with Pressure can easily drain tons of PP in an environment where most moves only have 8 PP. Giratina can use Substitute or Roar well on its Calm Mind sets. The former enables it to avoid status and Leech Seed while the latter eases its issues with enemy phazers, but missing out on coverage generally makes these two moves inferior.

[Checks and Counters]

While Giratina is a phenomenal wall, it suffers heavily due to its common weaknesses. Darkrai, Ghost Arceus, and Dark Arceus in particular destroy it easily. Darkrai can even put to sleep another of Giratina's teammates if it is sleeping due to Rest. Giratina's complete reliance on preventing itself from being set up on through Roar or Dragon Tail makes it very vulnerable to Taunt, and if a phazer faster than Giratina, such as Lugia, confronts it, it will be rendered useless as it cannot do anything aside from statusing said phazer. Reliance on RestTalk for recovery makes Giratina that much more vulnerable to Taunt and phazing when entry hazards are up. Gyarados and Gliscor are perfect examples of Pokemon that utilize all these attributes to easily destroy Giratina. Gliscor and Gyarados can simply Taunt Giratina to prevent it from recovering, use Substitute to prevent themselves from getting phazed by Dragon Tail, and wear down Giratina with Toxic, or in Gyarados's case, Dragon Tail. Giratina doesn't even need to have one Pokemon to specifically counter it. If Giratina uses Rest and entry hazards are up, it can be continuously phazed or threatened out by the presence of an offensive Dragon-type, eventually causing it to faint due to the fact it takes a lot of damage from entry hazards as it is weak to all of them.

There are a few Pokemon that can counter Giratina on their own. Powerful Dragon-type sweepers such as Rayquaza, Choice Band Garchomp, Dragon Arceus, Salamence, Kyurem-B, and Zekrom can all threaten to 2HKO Giratina if they can avoid a burn when switching in. These Dragon-types won't enjoy Dragon Tail, however. If Giratina uses Rest, all of those Dragon-types can come in and force it out. If Tyranitar avoids Will-O-Wisp, it can 2HKO Giratina with Choice Band Crunch, and it is a great counter to both the boosting tank Giratina set and ChestoRest Giratina set due to the Special Defense buff Tyranitar gets from the sandstorm it creates.

One of Giratina's roles is spinblocking, but there is one Pokemon that even Giratina cannot stop from spinning. Cloyster can easily Shell Smash as Giratina comes in to stop it and OHKO with Icicle Spear, preventing Giratina from spinblocking. Giratina also has considerable problems with Substitute Excadrill with Swords Dance and Pain Split Forretress with Toxic. The former's Substitute cannot be broken by Dragon Tail, so if Giratina lacks Roar it will eventually get beaten down by Earthquake. The latter will never get worn down from Giratina's Dragon Tails and entry hazards due to Pain Split, meaning Giratina will be turned into permanent Spikes fodder and might eventually even go down to continuous Toxic and Pain Split damage.

If it is the last Pokemon, Bulk Up Dialga with Rest defeats Giratina quite handily. Dragon Arceus with Calm Mind easily beats most Giratina sets. Pokemon that have their moves boosted by an item that wield powerful STAB Draco Meteors can exploit Giratina's typing and KO it. Latios, Latias, Choice Specs Dialga, Choice Specs Palkia, Choice Specs Reshiram, and Life Orb Kyurem-W can all OHKO Giratina with a powerful STAB Draco Meteor. Reshiram in particular excels at doing this as it can come into Will-O-Wisp for free. Finally, Wobbuffet can exploit Dragon Tail's negative priority in order to Encore Giratina and help a dangerous sweeper set up.

[Overview]

Very good bulk
Ghost typing = spin blocker
Not much offensive presence but can prevent being setup on using Dragon Tail + Roar, can't stop Forry though which is bad.
Dragon-typing = unique set of resistances but also inability to switch into Dragon-type attacks. Can get destroyed by reshi / zek / kyurems / Lati@s
Has to rely on Rest for Recovery
Still a great wall the can stop most physical sweepers, and the only one that can stop Roarless Blaziken, and serve as a check to Kyogre.
Can also utilize very high defense to setup boosts, making it less of a setup fodder and providing more offensive presence
Faces competition from Giratina-o and Ghost Arc as a spinblocker. But greater bulk gives it a niche as a wall for stall.
Also unlike the two previous spin blockers, can stop +2 LO Exca + Kabutops from spinning and phaze em out while avoiding getting OHKOed.

[SET]
name: The Great Wall
move 1: Rest
move 2: Sleep Talk
move 3: Roar / Dragon Tail
move 4: Will-o-Wisp / Dragon Tail
item: Leftovers
nature: Impish
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD

[Set Comments]

Great Wall is great.
Avoids OHKO from +2 LO Kabutops , +2 LO Ekiller (well all Arceus forms really barring Ghost), +2 LO Exca, and Double Dance Groudon and can burn / phaze them out. Also walls LO lacking Ho-oh ALL DAY (unless crit).
Note that Excadrill can 2HKO even after burn so phazing it out is perferred.
Rest + Sleep talk is what tina-a has to rely on for recovery.
Roar phazes through Substitute, stopping sub Ho-oh.
Dragon Tail actually deals damage while phazing but can't go through subs but goes through Taunt. Harshly punishes Dragon-types that think they can switch in.
WoW = burn sweepers and render physical ones useless. Works great with that gigantic bulk.
Does this while all being a Ghost, so its a spin blocker, but it is setup for Forry.

[Additional Comments]

Needs hazards or else this thing will just sit there and do nothing but wall and sleep and switch.
Doesn't like hazards on its side, hazards wear it down really quickly due to Rest mechanics being terrible (restarts when you switch out) and its weak to them all.
Forry can do everything + tank Outrages, nice typing.
Can't take Dragon-type attacks, especially Draco Meteor. Lati@s / Kyurem-W / Palkia / Dialga / Zekrom / Reshiram / Kyu-black / Rayquaza suck.
Also annoyed by Darkrai + Ghost Arc + Dark Arc + Ice Arc (any arc that can take advantage of its weaknesses).
Chansey checks all specially based mons barring Darkrai, but Giratina can take Darky's Void. Can also use Heal Bell to remove Giratina's sleep.
A support Arceus or a Lugia will be able to stop physically offensive Dragons.
You can speed creep to phaze first against other mons.
Giratina can spread paralysis + punish Darkrai with Twave.
Samething with Toxic.
Can use EQ to OHKO Heatran and 2HKO Exca.
Using these moves aren't recommended though since Giratina generally can't find a spot for the above moves.

[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Rest
move 2: Sleep Talk
move 3: Roar / Dragon Tail
move 4: Will-o-Wisp / Dragon Tail
item: Leftovers
nature: Careful
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD

[Set Comments]

Can switch into Specs Ogre Spout and phaze out those annoying CM Arceus + Mewtwo + Deo-A (can also kill this with Dtail lol)!!!!
Also a spin blocker yay.
Still has a ton of physical bulk because its Giratina, still not OHKOed by Exca and Blaze and Kabutops but it'll barely live and phaze. Exca for example actually has a good chance of OHKOing if SR is up. Ho-oh that lack Life Orb will now 3HKO meaning you can't rest stall them for eternity.
Dtail = phaze while punishing Dragons and through taunt but not through sub.
Roar = phaze through sub.
WoW = cripple physical attacker + sneak residual damage in.

[Additional Comments]

Repeat everything in first set. Except emphasize that the lack of hazards is even more important know since Giratina-a barely avoids key KOes. (if SR is up it can't switch into Specs Spout any more or stop exca).
Can take a Draco now but taking a Draco Meteor is by no means enjoyable.

[SET]
name: ChestoRest
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Rest
move 3: Dragon Pulse
move 4: Aura Sphere / Thunder
item: Chesto Berry
nature: Modest
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe

Something offensive! SpA investment lets it actually hurt things after a single CM.
CM = boost, Rest + Chesto = instant recovery, Dragon Pulse = STAB, Aura Sphere and Thunder = coverage.
Aura Sphere hits Ferro + Heatran, Thunder prevents Lugia / Kyogre / Skarm from phazing you for free.
Idea is to use bulk + surprise factor to accumulate Calm Minds and then sweep or at least break holes in a bulky fashion.
Speed Creeping is completely viable.
Can take an Outrage from scarf Dragon at full HP and OHKO back with Dragon Pulse

[Additional Comments]

Shadow Ball > Dragon Pulse if you wanna hit Lugia / Mewtwo for more damage but realize that you can't OHKO Dragons in one hit and that they will probably Outrage you and KO you the turn after as a result.
Stuff that can take advantage of the holes it breaks in a team = good.
It can use Substitute to make it less prone to getting revenge killed / hit by an outrage from a dragon, but taking coverage away makes it easier to phaze. Also lets it lol at Ferrothorn + Forry as it accumulates 6 CMs infront of it.
Physically Bulky spread can work but less offensive presence = less time to use surprise factor + Outrages still hurt.
Enemy Calm Minders will win the Calm Mind war, so try to stop them.
Everything in the previous AC paragraphs on how steel type to take outrages like gene / Forry is good.

[SET]
name: Boosting Tank Giratina
move 1: Rest
move 2: Sleep Talk
move 3: Calm Mind
move 4: Dragon Pulse
item: Leftovers
nature: Bold
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD

[Set Comments]

Can actually attempt to use bulk to boost up and sweep.
CM boosts stats.
Rest + Sleep talk is recovery.
Dragon Pulse is STAB move of choice.
EVs used to have a lot of physical bulk as special bulk is boosted by Calm Mind.
Will setup to +6 fairly easily unless phazed / Outrage user is present.
A bit weak but meh. Setting up to +6 itself is awesome.
NOT A WALL.

[Additional Comments]

Basically repeat everything said earlier, except emphasize that this isn't a wall and more a win condition.
Stuff to tank Outrages. <- Gene / Forry
More emphasis on how important Giratina needs to have a field that doesn't have hazards. If it gets Dragon Tailed while sleeping + hazards are up, its screwed.
Perish Song Arceus sucks. Remove all Calm Mind Arceus before trying to setup since they will beat you if they Calm Mind alongside you in the end :(.

[Other Options]

Twave + Toxic
EQ = Heatran OHKO + Exca 2HKO.
Habantina can stop an unsuspecting Dragon + limit Deo-s to one layer. But it generally sucks. For reference it can't even check Blaziken in the sun anymore as +2 LO Flare Blitz OHKOes.
Shadow Sneak for picking off weakened stuff.
Sub / Roar with Calm Mind works interestingly, can use Calm Mind set w/ot chesto berry or rest but its longevity is on the line. Mention Sub + CM + Roar here.
Using Spite on Water Spout / Hpump / Fire Blast / any move with 8 pp = lol.

[Checks and Counters]

Any physically offensive dragon's Outrage will do a huge number on it. Banded dragons like Zekrom and Rayquaza will be able to OHKO Great Wall Giratina after Stealth Rock. Banded Kyruem-W doesn't need Stealth Rock.
Samething with Specially Offensive Dragons, Lati@s, Palkia, Dialga, Kyurem-W, Reshiram and Rayquaza, can deal huge amounts of damage to Giratina with a Draco Meteor, but they'll need SR to OHKO Sp Def gira-a.
Darkrai, Ghost Arceus, and Dark Arceus can also prey on Dialga's weakness to ghost and Dark-type moves and deal immense damage to it. Ghost Arceus's +2 Shadow Force will OHKO Great Wall giratina, and Calm Mind boosted Judgements will 2HKO Specially Defensive versions. Darkrai can deal massive damage with Dark Pulse, and since Giratina needs Rest it can send another mon to sleep with Dark Void.
All sweepers be aware of being crippled by Twave / Toxic / WoW.
Roar Blaziken says FU to Giratina if it has hazard support. Since it can't really do anything to it.
Sub Excadrill slays Giratina lacking Roar.
Pain Split forry can never be worn down by Giratina, and if Giratina chooses to spin block it, Giratina will get many hazards setup on it.
Since it has to rely on Rest, phasing it while its asleep and constantly resetting the sleep timer while putting hazards on the field helps in wearing it down.
Cloystar's Icicle Spear 2HKOes Giratina, meaning it can't stop it from Rapid Spiinning D:.
Gliscor with Taunt + sub lols at this thing. its helpless against it and can't stop the toxic from killing it. Taunt in general is dangerous. yes it gets Dragon Tail but it can't rest anymore. and if it lacks it, its forced to switch or STRUGGLE.

Bossness · May 23, 2013

Proposed changes

MENTION HOW IT CANNOT HURT FORRY which is reallly bad for an uber wall.

Mentioning has to rely on rest for recovery

something about its typing, the resistances it gets is great, can now take on Kyogre, but its also bad since it can't switch into Draco Meteor.

If we're mentioning Reshiram + Zekrom then we are mentioning Latios / Latias / Kyurem forms.

Only thing that can pretty reliably stop Excadrill from spinning (Giratina-o gets OHKOed by +2 LO Iron Head unless it lacks a lot of investment, Ghost Arceus gets destroyed by +2 LO EQ. Somewhat similar deal with kabutops.

Only true counter to +2 LO Roarless Blaziken in sun.

What? +2 Life Orb Earthquake followed by +2 Life Orb burned Earthquake KOs Giratina. If Excadrill flinches with Iron Head, is using Substitute, or has Lum Berry (I see it sometimes), then Giratina gets KO'd without doing anything at all.

Focus · May 23, 2013

This might be a little early to say this, but your proposed slashes can be made a little cleaner by writing it like this:
Move 3: Roar / Dragon Tail
Move 4: Will-o-Wisp / Dragon Tail

Whether or not Sleep Clause gets retained may effect how big a mention Darkrai deserves in Checks and Counters, and other metagame stuff. It might be best to wait a few weeks to see how things play out with suspect testing before finalizing everything.

ElectivireRocks · May 24, 2013

Mention that Giratina can't reliably stop Cloyster from spinning. Even without Shell Smash Cloyster outspeeds any Giratina without significant speed investiment and 2HKO's with Icicle Spear.
Yes, Cloyster is a viable spinner in ubers for this reason alone.

polop · May 24, 2013

Mention that Giratina can't reliably stop Cloyster from spinning. Even without Shell Smash Cloyster outspeeds any Giratina without significant speed investiment and 2HKO's with Icicle Spear.
Yes, Cloyster is a viable spinner in ubers for this reason alone.

All right, I mentioned it in Checks and Counters.

This might be a little early to say this, but your proposed slashes can be made a little cleaner by writing it like this:
Move 3: Roar / Dragon Tail
Move 4: Will-o-Wisp / Dragon Tail

Whether or not Sleep Clause gets retained may effect how big a mention Darkrai deserves in Checks and Counters, and other metagame stuff. It might be best to wait a few weeks to see how things play out with suspect testing before finalizing everything.

I changed the slashes. Sleep Clause testing might effect Giratina-a a little bit but I'm letting the analysis be like this for now. If the clause is removed then I'll alter the analysis to shift for the presence of sleep clause (in that case a lot of analysis I think would go though QC again / need revamps, so everything should be fine)

What? +2 Life Orb Earthquake followed by +2 Life Orb burned Earthquake KOs Giratina. If Excadrill flinches with Iron Head, is using Substitute, or has Lum Berry (I see it sometimes), then Giratina gets KO'd without doing anything at all.

Everything you say is true but Giratina can phaze Exca out. I already mentioned Sub Exca in counters for Giratina lacking roar :P. Yeah its not the best thing ever to phaze it but the other spin blockers fare a lot worse against +2 LO Exca. This is also more reason to use EQ aside for beating up Heatran so I'll add that in OO.

I'm partially at fault though for not mentioning you should phaze out Exca that have Swords Danced when you switched in and are holding LO / Lum (you can tell if its this since the only other items it can use are ballon (Gliscor) and Leftovers, and both of those are visible when exca switches in with SR up). So I mentioned that now.

trickroom · Jun 21, 2013

QC APPROVED 1/3

Good job. The Reshiram mention in the Specially Defensive set was just to show how bulky Giratina is, not encouraging people to come in on Reshiram. The great thing is Giratina can take on Specs Blue Flare fairly well.

Yeah mention Earthquake strikes Excadrill as well, not just Heatran. It also does a fair amount of damage to Dialga switch ins. Giratina is still the best one to block Excadrill, since it also has leftovers recovery to neuter Sand damage. Giratina-O can take a +2 Iron Head but just barely, and after Stealth Rock, sand damage, it will be almost dead.

MMII · Jun 22, 2013

QC APPROVED 2/3

You can make the ChestoRest set have 248 HP like everywhere else and just stick the leftover EVs in speed or something.

polop · Jun 22, 2013

Since I have two QC checks, I'll start writing it up. Furai can give the last QC check after its been written.

You can make the ChestoRest set have 248 HP like everywhere else and just stick the leftover EVs in speed or something.

I put it in Speed and I'll just mention in AC you can run more to creep.

Good job. The Reshiram mention in the Specially Defensive set was just to show how bulky Giratina is, not encouraging people to come in on Reshiram. The great thing is Giratina can take on Specs Blue Flare fairly well.

Yeah mention Earthquake strikes Excadrill as well, not just Heatran. It also does a fair amount of damage to Dialga switch ins. Giratina is still the best one to block Excadrill, since it also has leftovers recovery to neuter Sand damage. Giratina-O can take a +2 Iron Head but just barely, and after Stealth Rock, sand damage, it will be almost dead.

Well actually...
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Iron Head vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Giratina-O: 383-452 (93.41 - 110.24%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Iron Head vs. 164 HP / 4 Def Giratina-O: 382-450 (79.25 - 93.36%) -- 43.75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

Giratina-o has no chance of living if mix, while the sub shuffler set lives but is OHKOed after taking 1 round of SR + Sand damage, the only one Giratina-o set that can truly stand up to Exca is the rest talker one but it takes a ton of damage and can't do anything aside phaze it out which might leave it screwed if the wrong thing gets phazed in.

I'll put in a calculation to show its bulkiness, Modest / Rash / Mild Specs Draco Meteor from any dragon with a base 150 Special Attack always OHKOes Specially Defensive tina-a, so I'll substitute that mention with neutral LO Draco Meteor from the same dragon since Specially Defensive tina-a actually always lives that. Still shows how bulky it is :P and is more accurate.

MMII · Aug 4, 2013

Not sure if you were already planning to do so but I think the SpDef set should recieve a stronger mention of Dtail. Roar is still a must cause of Ho-Oh but Dragon Tail has a lot of extra use on SpDef Tina since it gets some chip damage on Specs Ogre (early ones may be in before you have hazards up so just Roaring it out won't do too much to weaken the Spouts for next time) as well as taking advantage of his bulk to beat some Taunt users such as Torna-T. (although I guess the physical set is better at handling Mewtwo since Taunt is mostly seen on StallTwo, the biggest plus is the early chip damage on Kygore, though) You also don't risk quite as much seeing as you won't be even attempting to use SpDef Tina to check Ho-Oh like you might with physically defensive. (unless you got really desperate mid battle)

Edit: Ignore me I'm stupid

polop · Aug 4, 2013

Not sure if you were already planning to do so but I think the SpDef set should recieve a stronger mention of Dtail. Roar is still a must cause of Ho-Oh but Dragon Tail has a lot of extra use on SpDef Tina since it gets some chip damage on Specs Ogre (early ones may be in before you have hazards up so just Roaring it out won't do too much to weaken the Spouts for next time) as well as taking advantage of his bulk to beat some Taunt users such as Torna-T. (although I guess the physical set is better at handling Mewtwo since Taunt is mostly seen on StallTwo, the biggest plus is the early chip damage on Kygore, though) You also don't risk quite as much seeing as you won't be even attempting to use SpDef Tina to check Ho-Oh like you might with physically defensive. (unless you got really desperate mid battle)

I'll go ahead and give Dragon Tail a stronger mention, but really Giratina should just Rest in front of Kyogre after it absorbs the second spout. Water Spout's already lost 4 pp, if Kyogre stays in Water Spout runs out of pp. If you phaze Kyogre out with Dragon Tail your left with a very weakened Giratina that needs a free turn to Rest or else it'll most likely be useless (and can no longer check specs ogre). With a bit of bad luck with phazing Kyogre might've just turned that Giratina into death fodder if it doesn't rest. Generally the only thing aside bypassing Taunt Dragon Tail has is the ability to severly punish Dragons that think they can come in for free (so that Palkia trying to Spacial Rend / Draco Meteor you coming in on what it believes is Rest can get phazed out and heavily damaged if you predict it coming).

176+ Atk Ho-Oh Brave Bird vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Giratina: 174-205 (34.59 - 40.75%) -- 60.11% chance to 3HKO

Specially Defensive Tina-a is barely 3HKOed by Tank Ho-oh's Brave Bird, its not that big of an issue for it to just come in on Sacred Fire / Brave Bird and phaze it out really ;_;, Roar is useful for that :p. Your point on Tornadus-T and Stall Two is valid though, although I don't get why you'd switch in Giratina into Mewtwo after you figure out its Stall Two. Roar shouldn't be rendered inferior though, stopping Sub Seed Skymin is ridiculosly hard if not impossible if you forgo Roar. Same deal with Pokemon that use Substitute that aren't weak to Dragon Tail (Sub CM Kyogre or Lugia for example).

sammao · Aug 5, 2013

On the Chesto Rest set, you should mention that a normal Giratina always hold leftovers, and once the opponent sees the absent of it, it will tip them it is very possibly a Chesto Rest set.

polop · Aug 6, 2013

On the Chesto Rest set, you should mention that a normal Giratina always hold leftovers, and once the opponent sees the absent of it, it will tip them it is very possibly a Chesto Rest set.

Mentioned.

shrang · Aug 7, 2013

After a Calm Mind, it is practically impossible to OHKO Giratina with any attack; even a Choice Band-boosted Outrage from Adamant Zekrom

Just saying, Adamant CB Zekrom does 91.05% - 107.36% to 248/252+ Giratina, so you're still looking at a 41% chance to get OHKOed. This would obviously mean CB Rayquaza does the same amount while CB Kyurem-B has a 92% chance to OHKO. Specs Dialga has a 2/3 chance to OHKO you even at +1, while Kyurem-W OHKOes you outright at +1.

Other than that, QC APPROVED 3/3

polop · Aug 7, 2013

I can't use a damage calculator X_X.

I changed that sentence to make Giratina look less invincible and be more accurate on damage calcs.

Thanks for the QC check Shrang.

This is now ready for GP checks.

Oglemi · Aug 9, 2013

add/edit
remove

[Overview]

Even though Dragon-types have always served to limit Giratina's impressive walling potential, one would regret to discount it as a defensive threat. Giratina is the most resilient spinblocker of the Ubers metagame, and an excellent counter to potent threats such as Rock Polish Groudon and almost all physical variants of Arceus. While its low attack does turn Giratina into setup fodder for some entry hazard users such as Forretress and Ferrothorn, and some dangerous threats like Rayquaza and Darkrai, Giratina still finds a niche on stall teams as being both a spinblocker and wall. Dragon Tail and Roar prevent Giratina from being complete setup bait, somewhat alleviating its issues. Giratina can even take advantage of its natural bulk to setup multiple boosts, allowing it to sweep an unsuspecting team. While the newly improved Ghost Arceus gives it serious competition, Giratina still has many notable advantages. Its sheer bulk and the ability to hold Leftovers allow it to stop Excadrill and Kabutops from spinning, something Ghost Arceus is incapable of. Its unique typing allows it to avoid getting 2HKOed by Choice Specs Kyogre's Water Spout and wall Blaziken, Pokemon that would otherwise OHKO Ghost Arceus. While the lack of a recovery move outside of Rest does hinder Giratina's walling capabilities, one would be foolish to think this stops the Dragon from fulfilling its role. Finally, its titanic defenses allow it to viably use Rest and Sleep Talk as a method of recovery, a feat few Uber Pokemon can boast.

[SET]
name: The Great Wall
move 1: Rest
move 2: Sleep Talk
move 3: Roar / Dragon Tail
move 4: Will-O-Wisp / Dragon Tail
item: Leftovers
nature: Impish
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD

[Set Comments]

Giratina's impressive defenses and access to Will-O-Wisp allow it to counter many prominent physical threats, including most physical Arceus variants, any Groudon, Ho-Oh, Blaziken, Scizor, Metagross, and many more. Giratina's enormous defenses also allow it to become the only spinblocker capable of preventing Kabutops and Excadrill that have used Swords Dance from spinning. It should be noted that Excadrill will 2HKO Giratina after it has used a Swords Dance, so Giratina is only at best able to phaze the mole out and Rest. It can't even burn Excadrill without fainting. The new generation gave it Dragon Tail, a 60 Base Power Dragon-type phazing move that works even while Taunted, which stops it from being setup fodder for many powerful setup sweepers such as Mewtwo. It also allows Giratina to punish any Dragon or Pokemon with weak defenses that think it can switch in freely, denting said Pokemon while forcing it out. The ability to phaze and deal respectable damage in the process often makes Dragon Tail appear to be the preferred move, but its inability to phaze Pokemon that use Substitute, such as Ho-Oh and Excadrill, often makes Roar the better choice. Giratina can use both phazing moves, though but forgoing Will-O-Wisp prevents it from permanently crippling physical attackers. Needless to say, Giratina has the ability to block Rapid Spin, but it's worth noting that Giratina cannot hurt Forretress at all, while the glorified shell has an easy time setting up Spikes on Giratina. Whether or not you want to use Roar depends upon what your team needs. Giratina can sometimes drop Will-O-Wisp for Roar since it also phazes through Substitutes from the likes of Ho-Oh or Shaymin-S, unlike Dragon Tail. Since Giratina is most likely used in a general Uber stall team, Will-O-Wisp might be worthless if your team focuses heavily on wearing down the opponent with Toxic Spikes. Will-O-Wisp, however, still has the ability to burn Steel-types such as Steel Arceus and Ferrothorn, slightly hampering their bulk. 

[Additional Comments]

You can consider investing additional Speed EVs if you wish to engage in a Speed creep contest with opposing Groudon, Dialga, and Giratina. Other moveslot options include Toxic or Thunder Wave. Thunder Wave might have some use as a lure for fast attackers such as Darkrai, but Will-O-Wisp has more overall utility since this Giratina is supposed to counter physical threats. Earthquake pairs well with Dragon Tail, and kills Heatran in one hit, when it would otherwise wall Giratina completely.

Giratina is countered by sweepers who can capitalize on its numerous common weaknesses. In particular, Darkrai, Dark Arceus, and Dialga will terrorize Giratina since it can't really hurt them aside preventing them from coming in through smart Dragon Tail use. Powerful Dragon-types such as Rayquaza, Reshiram, Zekrom, Latios, Latias, Kyurem-W, and Palkia can also easily 2HKO Giratina at worst with their incredibly powerful Dragon attacks provided they safely switched in on Giratina. However, all of the aforementioned Dragon-types hate to stomach a Dragon Tail or a potential Will-O-Wisp. In order to deal with these Pokemon, it's recommended to use partners such as Chansey, Blissey, Groudon, or Lugia. All in all, the best partner for Giratina is probably Forretress: the two have excellent type synergy, and Giratina protects the entry hazards set up by Forretress, while Forretress spins away the nasty Spikes which may hurt Giratina. Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Genesect are decent partners to Giratina too. All three boast Dragon-, Dark-, and Ghost-type resistances and the former two can launch Spikes into the opposing battlefield which Giratina conveniently blocks. Genesect can assist in stacking hazard damage while also destroying Latios and Latias with a powerful U-turn. Ho-Oh is a decent partner because its special bulk and typing helps against the strong special attackers such as Dark Arceus and Palkia that plague Giratina. Lugia may share Ice-, Dark-, and Ghost-type weaknesses with Giratina, but it checks most physical Dragon-types who plague Giratina while Giratina in return can absorb Thunder and Bolt Strike for Lugia. Groudon checks the physical sweepers Giratina cannot stop such as Rayquaza, Garchomp, Zekrom, Dialga, and Salamence thanks to its massive Defense stat and lack of Dragon-type weakness. Scizor gets a mention for sharing good typing synergy with Giratina and countering most Dark-types.

[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Rest
move 2: Sleep Talk
move 3: Roar / Dragon Tail
move 4: Will-O-Wisp / Dragon Tail
item: Leftovers
nature: Careful
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD

[Set Comments]

Many people argued that Ghost Arceus overshadows Giratina. This set utilizes Giratina's main advantage over Ghost Arceus: resistances and Leftovers. While Ghost Arceus lacks a nasty Dragon- and Ice-type weakness, Giratina has resistances to Fire-, Water-, Electric-, and Grass-type moves, something Ghost Arceus can only dream about. Instead of focusing on Defense like the first set, this set takes a different approach to using Giratina. With the EVs and nature used in this set, Giratina can survive even 2 full-power Choice Specs-boosted Water Spouts from the most powerful of Kyogre given that no entry hazards are up. This in conjunction with Pressure allows Giratina to stall out Choice Specs Kyogre locked on any move not named Ice Beam with ease. If your team lacks something to stomach Blue Flares from the deadly Reshiram or a check to Calm Mind Arceus, Mewtwo, or Deoxys-A, this Giratina can do it well. No Calm Mind Arceus, Mewtwo, or Deoxys-A will be able to 2HKO this Giratina even after Stealth Rock damage. In fact, Giratina will always survive Life Orb-boosted Draco Meteor from Reshiram or Rayquaza, given that no entry hazards are up. Ghost Arceus can never achieve such amazing feats. In fact, Ghost Arceus is always OHKOed by Specs Kyogre. Giratina can easily stall out Shaymin-S's Seed Flare as well with its resistance, bulk, and Pressure. Even when using this set, Giratina still retains a lot of its physical bulk. For example, it can still survive a Choice Scarf Zekrom's Outrage after Stealth Rock damage, taking only 74% - 87.5%, and it can still stop Excadrill and Kabutops from phazing. It should be warned though, that Swords Dance-boosted Earthquake from Excadrill will OHKO with Stealth Rock and sandstorm damage though if Stealth Rock is up and there is a Sandstorm.

Will-O-Wisp ruins physical attackers such as Garchomp and Zekrom who may attempt to take advantage of this Giratina's weaker Defense stat. Dragon Tail phazes and damages Pokemon which helps quickly accumulate damage onto an opponent's team while not getting blocked by Taunt. This combined with its ability to severely harm Dragon-types that try switching into Giratina makes it a wonderful move. Roar blasts through Substitute which can be useful if you are facing a Kyogre or Shaymin-S with Substitute. Rest and Sleep Talk is all Giratina has as a recovery move, but it's really all it needs. With those moves, Giratina can also act as a status absorber for the team.

[Additional Comments]

You can consider investing additional Speed EVs if you wish to engage in a Speed creep contest with opposing Groudon, Dialga, and Giratina. Other moveslot options include Toxic or Thunder Wave. Thunder Wave might have some use as a lure for fast attackers, but Will-O-Wisp has more overall utility.

This Giratina is meant to utilize its resistances and squander resisted powerful special hits such as Kyogre's Water Spout. However, even with this layout, Giratina still hates facing powerful Draco Meteors. Therefore, Blissey and Chansey are great teammates. The previously mentioned teammates, such as Forretress, Lugia, Groudon, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory, work for this set as well. Forretress, in fact spinners in general, are a particular necessity to Giratina. Since the presence of entry hazards will force make Giratina get 2HKOed by attacks that it would otherwise avoid getting 2HKOed from, like Choice Specs Water Spout from Kyogre, a spinner Rapid Spinner or Magic Bounce user greatly helps Giratina perform its job as a special sponge.

[SET]
name: ChestoRest
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Rest
move 3: Dragon Pulse
move 4: Aura Sphere / Thunder
item: Chesto Berry
nature: Modest
evs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

One playstyle is always associated with Giratina, and that is stall. This set attempts to capitalize on that stereotype and catch the opponent by surprise, although it should be noted that the lack of Leftovers may prematurely reveal this set to the opponent, as this is one of the few viable Giratina sets that do not use Leftovers. While standard Giratina is more suited for stall teams, ChestoRest Giratina can be used as an aggressive spinblocker on more offensively based teams. Giratina is easily the bulkiest Pokemon in the entire game, which means that it can very easily snag one or two Calm Mind boosts. This set plays a lot like ChestoRest Kyogre, but trades power for much more overall bulk and coverage. While an offensive Calm Mind set is usually more suited to Giratina-O, the latter's its inability to hold a Chesto Berry automatically disqualifies it from running this particular set. Even so, This Giratina hits surprisingly hard after a Calm Mind or two, and outside of extremely powerful physical attacks, Giratina will not faint without first netting at least one or two kills. To illustrate, it easily 2HKOes Extreme Killer Arceus and Dialga with a +1 Aura Sphere; neither Pokemon is able to OHKO in return, unless Dialga is carrying Choice Specs.

The best part about the set is that most people would attempt to take it out like they would the regular defensive sets; that is, by using Toxic and attacking it while it is sleeping. ChestoRest Giratina flips that concept on its head by casually setting up with Calm Mind until its health gets low, using Rest to get back to full health, and waking up immediately thanks to the Chesto Berry. Calm Mind, Rest, and Chesto Berry are the keys to this set. Dragon Pulse is preferred for the main STAB. Aura Sphere gives the best overall coverage as it is unresisted alongside Dragon Pulse, and most importantly, it 2HKOes Ferrothorn and Tyranitar at +1. However, if Ferrothorn is of no concern, Thunder is useful as it takes down Kyogre, Skarmory, and Lugia much more easily.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

Shadow Ball can be used as the STAB attack to hit Mewtwo, Lugia, and Ghost Arceus harder, but its relatively low power and inability to take out Dragon-types is a letdown. Will-O-Wisp can be used in the last slot to cripple physical attackers, but as this set is attempting to sweep, it is a bit counter-intuitive. Earth Power is Giratina's best weapon against Jirachi and Metagross, who could potentially be annoying, and also grants it an easy OHKO on Heatran. Hidden Power Fire allows Giratina to OHKO Scizor and do more damage to Ferrothorn, but it is rather useless otherwise. Substitute allows Giratina to avoid Ferrothorn's Leech Seed, status, and helps it avoid getting revenge killed by Dragons faster than it, but is largely useless outside of that.

A Modest nature and maximum Special Attack investment allows Giratina to hit as hard as possible, while the rest of the EVs make it as bulky as possible. A more physically bulky spread of 112 HP / 252 Def / 144 SpA can be used to survive a Life Orb-boosted Outrage from Jolly Rayquaza at full health, although the power drop is very significant. Additionally, even if Giratina does survive such a hit, it's not going to be sweeping much anyway. Giratina can reallocate EVs from its HP stat into its Speed stat to Speed creep, but doing so lowers its bulk which may make it harder to get Calm Minds. On the other hand, it is useful for outspeeding slower Kyogre, Zekrom, Reshiram, Dialga, and Giratina and Resting or killing said Pokemon before it can harm Giratina.

Strong, super effective physical attacks are the key to taking down Calm Mind Giratina. Life Orb- or Choice Band-boosted Outrage from Rayquaza, Zekrom, and Garchomp can OHKO Giratina, while Choice Band Crunch from Tyranitar and Icicle Crash from Mamoswine will also leave a huge dent. In addition, Bulk Up Dialga can defeat Giratina if it has some Speed investment and Outrage. Choice Band Metagross can be problematic as it resists Dragon Pulse and has enough bulk to tank Aura Sphere, and Giratina's lack of Will-O-Wisp allows Metagross to Meteor Mash it with impunity. Skarmory can force +1 Giratina out with Whirlwind if Giratina lacks Thunder; Jirachi can also be annoying with paralysis and Iron Head flinches.

For the reasons listed above, physically defensive Steel-types are excellent teammates for Giratina. Forretress can Rapid Spin away the Toxic Spikes that might force Giratina to Rest earlier than is desirable, while being able to set up Toxic Spikes of its own, which allows Giratina to defeat Blissey and Chansey more easily. Skarmory can also switch into Outrage and set up Spikes, but must watch out for Zekrom's Bolt Strike and Rayquaza's V-create. It is worth noting that these entry hazards are easily kept on the field by Giratina's spinblocking abilities. Magnezone can trap and KO Skarmory as well as Metagross locked into Meteor Mash. Groudon, especially Swords Dance variants, can take on Dialga, Tyranitar, Jirachi, and Metagross easily.

Giratina's other major enemies are specially defensive Calm Mind users. Steel Arceus resists Giratina's STABs and outspeeds it, allowing Steel Arceus to cushion Aura Sphere with its own Calm Mind while outspeeding to cushion Aura Sphere with its own Calm Mind; Dark Arceus and Ghost Arceus can do the same thing. Ho-Oh is therefore another great teammate for Giratina, as it can defeat most of the Calm Mind users that Giratina has trouble against. Darkrai is also an excellent offensive check to Ghost Arceus as it outspeeds and puts Ghost Arceus to sleep with Dark Void, and can then set up Nasty Plot to sweep. Giratina won't be able to sweep all the time either, but it will generally leave a hole in the enemy team for another Pokemon to take advantage of and sweep. As such, Pokemon that can finish off Giratina's sweep are appreciated. Steel Arceus excels at this. Steel Arceus not only synergizes nicely with Giratina but can also wage a winning Calm Mind war against any enemy Calm Mind Arceus that Giratina encounters, thanks to its access to Roar.

[SET]
name: Boosting Tank Giratina
move 1: Rest
move 2: Sleep Talk
move 3: Calm Mind
move 4: Dragon Pulse
item: Leftovers
nature: Bold
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD

[Set Comments]

While Giratina is usually seen as a wall, its amazing defenses in conjunction with Calm Mind mean it can easily set up on many threats. After a Calm Mind, it is nearly impossible to OHKO Giratina with any attack. Only extremely powerful attacks like Kyurem-W's Choice Specs Draco Meteor and Choice Banded Kyurem-B's Outrage can OHKO Giratina consistently after it has used Calm Mind. If supported properly, Giratina should be able to achieve 6 Calm Minds, but as always, exercise discretion when setting up. Unfortunately, even after 6 Calm Minds, Giratina fails to 2HKO Blissey and Chansey, but both of them can be PP stalled with Pressure, a strategy that works better with Toxic Spikes support from Forretress. This set beats mono-attacking Calm Mind Kyogre and Fire Arceus one-on-one due to its resistances and Pressure.

[Additional Comments]

If you want to forgo Sleep Talk, Giratina has a number of options. Shadow Ball is useful against Mewtwo, while Will-O-Wisp is an option if you want this Giratina to act as a lure for Tyranitar, or as a check to physical Arceus variants and Groudon. Roar allows Giratina to boost alongside the opponent and Roar it out.

Unfortunately, none of these options let Giratina defeat its counters, which include many powerful attackers such as Darkrai, Dark Arceus, Ghost Arceus, Steel Arceus, and Dialga. As such, partners to this set mirror that of the last two sets, meaning that Scizor, Genesect, Blissey, and Chansey are good options for teammates. You may wish for Heal Bell support from Chansey and Blissey particularly because of the BW sleep mechanics in this generation: the sleep counter resets upon leaving the field. Finally, you will probably want Toxic Spikes support from Forretress to help handle Chansey and Blissey, who give Giratina trouble otherwise. Ho-Oh also checks most Calm Mind Arceus and Darkrai for Giratina while scaring off the pink blobs at the same time. Heatran is a decent partner for Giratina as it resists all of Giratina's weaknesses while Giratina protects Heatran from Groudon and Earthquake Ho-Oh. Heatran can also check Dark, Ghost, and Steel Arceus, all whom can beat Giratina easily. Kyogre can be used to absorb Ice Beam and check most Calm Mind Arceus.

Weather doesn't really matter to Giratina, but Groudon is recommended as a check to the physical attackers Giratina cannot handle such as Zekrom and Rayquaza. One of the Steel-type Spikers, Forretress, Ferrothorn, or Skarmory, is a required partner for Giratina because of their type synergy and ability to lay entry hazards. Genesect can also work as a partner for Giratina, switching into Rayquaza's or Zekrom's Outrage and KOing in return with Download-boosted Ice Beam. Forretress is probably the best partner for Giratina, since it also removes Spikes with Rapid Spin, which can be a particular nuisance if Giratina gets phazed while they are up. Giratina is greatly annoyed by enemy phazers, especially Perish Song Arceus as they can completely remove Giratina of its boosts, so it's recommended that you either weaken or take down the phazers so that Giratina can more easily sweep. Chansey, Blissey, Ho-Oh, and Kyogre all help check the special attackers that trouble Giratina. Kyogre's turbulent rain will make Reshiram sad while a powerful Surf can easily drown it. Chansey and Blissey can handle the special attacks which are too powerful for Giratina to handle such as a Choice Specs Dialga's Draco Meteor. The pink blobs can also wake Giratina up immediately after using Rest with Aromatherapy or Heal Bell. Kyogre can set up alongside most Calm Mind Arceus formes and eventually win the Calm Mind war with Surf or Scald, thanks to the weather and Kyogre's superior special stats.

If Giratina is used with Groudon and Forretress, you can use Ho-Oh and Heatran, which are other excellent checks to Giratina's counters such as Dark, Steel, and Ghost Arceus. Heatran can Taunt and eventually kill most special attacking Arceus formes, while Ho-Oh can bypass Calm Mind boosts with its incredibly powerful Sacred Fire or Brave Bird. Scizor and Genesect can still work as a partner to counter Darkrai and Dark Arceus. Outside of that, however, Scizor and Genesect are pretty much useless. Metagross is also a decent teammate for Giratina, thanks to its Steel typing and great Attack stat. Metagross can 2HKO most Arceus formes with its bone-shattering Choice Band Meteor Mash. Lugia can assist Giratina in walling physical or mixed attackers such as Rayquaza and Garchomp. Steel Arceus resists most of Giratina's weakness and beats Dark Arceus one-on-one. Excadrill gets a mention for Rapid Spin and resistances to Dragon-, Ghost-, and Dark-type moves. The mole can also beat Dark and Steel Arceus one-on-one.

[Other Options]

Giratina can employ Toxic or Thunder Wave for additional status support, but Will-O-Wisp is recommended to counter physical threats such as Arceus which Giratina is infamous for countering. It can use Dragon Claw, but Dragon Tail is recommended for phazing, and Outrage is recommended for more power. Shadow Sneak has the merit of being able to pick off Pokemon that Giratina has worn out with its constant phazing, but outside of that it has little to no use and is generally not worth the moveslot. Earthquake allows Giratina to destroy Heatran and 2HKO Excadrill, but is weak at hitting other Pokemon. Giratina can also utilize an attacking lead set with Magic Coat, but it is generally too unreliable. Giratina's offensive stats are mediocre especially by Uber standards. Hidden Power Fire doesn't even kill Forretress after Stealth Rock while Ferrothorn and Skarmory can even laugh at it. If you want to go on the offensive, Giratina is not the one to fulfill your needs. Giratina-O and Ghost Arceus are the offensive spinblockers you should be using. A Choice Scarf Giratina is considered a gimmick because it is very weak and largely outclassed by others such as Choice Scarf Dialga. Using a Choice item also means Giratina wastes its tremendous bulk. Spite can also be used effectively thanks to Giratina's massive walling capabilities. Spite combined with Pressure can easily drain tons of PP in an environment where most moves only have 8 PP. Giratina can use Substitute or Roar well on its Calm Mind sets. The former enables it to avoid status and Leech Seed while the latter eases its issues with enemy phazers, but missing out on coverage generally makes these two moves inferior.

[Checks and Counters]

While Giratina is a phenomenal wall, it suffers heavily due to its common weaknesses. Darkrai, Ghost Arceus, and Dark Arceus in particular destroy it easily. Darkrai can even put to sleep another of your teammates if Giratina is sleeping due to Rest. Giratina's complete reliance on preventing itself from being setup through Roar or Dragon Tail makes it very vulnerable to Taunt, and if a phazer faster than Giratina, like Lugia, confronts Giratina, Giratina will be rendered useless as it cannot do anything aside status said phazer. Reliance on Rest and Sleep Talk for recovery makes Giratina that much more vulnerable to Taunt and phazing when entry hazards are up. Gyarados and Gliscor are the perfect examples of Pokemon that utilize all these attributes to allow them to easily destroy Giratina. Gliscor and Gyarados can simply Taunt Giratina to prevent it from recovering, use Substitute to prevent themselves from getting phazed by Dragon Tail, and wear down Giratina with Toxic, or in Gyarados's case, Dragon Tail. Giratina doesn't even need to have one Pokemon to specifically counter it. If Giratina uses Rest and entry hazards are up, it can be continuously phazed or threatened out by the presence of an offensive Dragon, eventually causing it to faint due to the fact it takes a lot of damage from entry hazards as it is weak to all of them.

There are however a few Pokemon that can counter Giratina on their own. Powerful Dragon-type sweepers such as Rayquaza, Choice Band Garchomp, Dragon Arceus, Salamence, Kyurem-B, and Zekrom can all threaten to 2HKO Giratina if they can avoid a burn when switching in. The aforementioned Dragon-types won't enjoy Dragon Tail, however. If Giratina uses Rest, all of those Dragon-types can come in and force Giratina out. If Tyranitar avoids Will-O-Wisp, it can 2HKO Giratina with Choice Band Crunch and is a great counter to both the Boosting Tank Giratina set and ChestoRest Giratina set due to the Special Defense buff Tyranitar gets from the sandstorm it creates.

One of Giratina's roles is spinblocking, but there is one Pokemon that even Giratina cannot stop from spinning. Cloyster can easily Shell Smash as Giratina comes in to stop it from spinning, and OHKO Giratina with Icicle Spear, preventing Giratina from spinblocking Cloyster. Giratina also has considerable problems with Substitute Excadrill with Swords Dance and Pain Split Forretress with Toxic. The former's cannot be broken by Dragon Tail, so if Giratina lacks Roar it will eventually get beaten down by Excadrill's Earthquakes. Forretress will never get worn down from Giratina's Dragon Tails and entry hazards due to Pain Split, meaning Giratina will be turned into permanent Spikes fodder for Forretress, and might eventually even go down to continuous Toxic and Pain Split damage.

If it is the last Pokemon, Bulk Up Dialga with Rest defeats Giratina quite handily. Dragon Arceus with Calm Mind easily beats most Giratina sets. Pokemon who have their moves boosted by an item that wield powerful STAB Draco Meteors can exploit Giratina's flaws in its typing and KO it. Latios, Latias, Specs Dialga, Specs Palkia, Specs Reshiram, and Life Orb Kyurem-W can all OHKO Giratina with a powerful STAB Draco Meteor. Reshiram in particular excels at doing this since it can come into Will-O-Wisp and be immune to it, thanks to its Fire-typing for free. Finally, Wobbuffet can exploit Dragon Tail's negative priority in order to Encore Giratina and help a dangerous sweeper set up.

GP Approved 1/2

polop · Aug 11, 2013

I've implemented the above check. Thanks Oglemi.

melvni · Aug 13, 2013

GP check. Good job on writing this.
Additions in Blue
Subtractions in Red
Comments in Purple

[Overview]

Even though Dragon-types have always served to limit Giratina's impressive walling potential, one would regret to discount discounting it as a defensive threat. Giratina is the most resilient spinblocker of the Ubers metagame, (remove comma) and an excellent counter to potent threats such as Rock Polish Groudon and almost all physical variants of Arceus. While its low attack (capitalize this if you're referring to the Attack stat here) does turn Giratina into setup fodder for some entry hazard users (add comma) such as Forretress and Ferrothorn, and some dangerous threats (add comma) like such as Rayquaza and Darkrai, Giratina still finds a niche on stall teams as being both a spinblocker and wall. Dragon Tail and Roar prevent Giratina from being complete setup bait, somewhat alleviating its issues. Giratina can even take advantage of its natural bulk to setup set up multiple boosts, allowing it to sweep an unsuspecting team. While the newly improved (keep this if there's something recent that improved Ghost Arceus, but whatever this initially referred to was new over a year ago when the Overview pre-revamp went on site) Ghost Arceus gives it serious competition, Giratina still has many notable advantages. Its sheer bulk and the ability to hold Leftovers allow it to stop Excadrill and Kabutops from spinning, something Ghost Arceus is incapable of. Its unique typing allows it to avoid getting 2HKOed by Choice Specs Kyogre's Water Spout and wall Blaziken, Pokemon that would otherwise OHKO Ghost Arceus. While the lack of a recovery move outside of Rest does hinder Giratina's walling capabilities, one would be foolish to think this stops the Dragon it from fulfilling its role. Finally, its titanic defenses allow it to viably use Rest and Sleep Talk RestTalk as a method of recovery, a feat few Uber Pokemons can boast.

[SET]
name: The Great Wall
move 1: Rest
move 2: Sleep Talk
move 3: Roar / Dragon Tail
move 4: Will-O-Wisp / Dragon Tail
item: Leftovers
ability: Pressure (cuz Telepathy sucks)
nature: Impish
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD

[Set Comments]

Giratina's impressive defenses and access to Will-O-Wisp allow it to counter many prominent physical threats, including most physical Arceus variants, any Groudon, Ho-Oh, Blaziken, Scizor, Metagross, and many more. Giratina's enormous defenses also allow it to become make it the only spinblocker capable of preventing Kabutops and Excadrill that have used Swords Dance from spinning. It should be noted that Excadrill will 2HKO Giratina after it has used a Swords Dance, so Giratina is only at best able to phaze the mole it out and Rest. It Giratina can't even burn Excadrill without fainting. The new generation gave it Dragon Tail, a 60 Base Power Dragon-type Dragon Tail is an alternative phazing move that works even while Taunted, which stops it Giratina from being setup fodder for many powerful setup sweepers such as Mewtwo. It also allows Giratina to punish any Dragon Dragon-type or Pokemon with weak defenses that think thinks it can switch in freely, denting said Pokemon while forcing it out. The ability to phaze and deal respectable damage in the process often makes Dragon Tail appear to be the preferred move, but its inability to phaze Pokemon that use Substitute, such as Ho-Oh and Excadrill, often makes Roar the better choice. Giratina can use both phazing moves, but forgoing Will-O-Wisp prevents it from permanently crippling physical attackers. However because Giratina is often used on general Uber stall teams, Will-O-Wisp might be worthless if your team focuses heavily on wearing down the opponent with Toxic Spikes. Will-O-Wisp, however, still has the ability to burn Steel-types such as Steel Arceus and Ferrothorn, slightly hampering their bulk. Needless to say, Giratina has the ability to block Rapid Spin, but it's worth noting that Giratina cannot hurt Forretress at all, while the glorified shell it has an easy time setting up Spikes on Giratina. Whether or not you want to use Roar depends upon what your team needs. Giratina can sometimes drop Will-O-Wisp for Roar since it also phazes through Substitutes from the likes of Ho-Oh or Shaymin-S, unlike Dragon Tail. (this is already mentioned above) Since Giratina is most likely used in a general Uber stall team, Will-O-Wisp might be worthless if your team focuses heavily on wearing down the opponent with Toxic Spikes. Will-O-Wisp, however, still has the ability to burn Steel-types such as Steel Arceus and Ferrothorn, slightly hampering their bulk. (moving this to earlier section about running both phazing moves) 

[Additional Comments]

You can consider investing additional Speed EVs if you wish to engage in a Speed creep contest with opposing Groudon, Dialga, and Giratina. Other moveslot options include Toxic or and Thunder Wave. Thunder Wave might have some use as a lure for fast attackers such as Darkrai, but Will-O-Wisp has more overall utility since as this Giratina is supposed to counter physical threats. Earthquake pairs well with Dragon Tail, (remove comma) and kills Heatran in one hit, when it would otherwise wall Giratina completely.

Giratina is countered by sweepers who can capitalize on its numerous common weaknesses. In particular, Darkrai, Dark Arceus, and Dialga will terrorize Giratina since as it can't really hurt them aside from preventing them from coming in through smart Dragon Tail use. Powerful Dragon-types such as Rayquaza, Reshiram, Zekrom, Latios, Latias, Kyurem-W, and Palkia can also easily 2HKO Giratina at worst with their incredibly powerful Dragon attacks provided they safely switched in on Giratina switch in. However, all of the aforementioned these Dragon-types hate to stomach a Dragon Tail or a potential Will-O-Wisp. In order to deal with these Pokemon, it's recommended to use partners such as Chansey, Blissey, Groudon, or and Lugia. All in all, the best partner for Giratina is probably Forretress: the two have excellent type synergy, and Giratina protects the entry hazards set up by Forretress, while and Forretress spins away the nasty Spikes which that hurt Giratina. Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Genesect are decent partners to Giratina too. All three boast Dragon-, Dark-, and Ghost-type resistances and the former first two can launch Spikes into onto the opposing battlefield which that Giratina conveniently blocks. Genesect can assist in stacking entry hazard damage while also destroying and also destroys Latios and Latias with a its powerful U-turn. Ho-Oh is a decent partner because its special bulk and typing helps help against the strong special attackers such as Dark Arceus and Palkia that plague Giratina. Lugia may might share Ice-, Dark-, and Ghost-type weaknesses with Giratina, but it checks most physical Dragon-types who that plague Giratina while and Giratina in return can absorb Thunder and Bolt Strike for Lugia. Groudon checks the physical sweepers Giratina cannot stop such as Rayquaza, Garchomp, Zekrom, Dialga, and Salamence thanks to its massive Defense stat and lack of a Dragon-type weakness. Scizor gets a mention for sharing good typing type synergy with Giratina and countering most Dark-types.

[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Rest
move 2: Sleep Talk
move 3: Roar / Dragon Tail
move 4: Will-O-Wisp / Dragon Tail
item: Leftovers
ability: Pressure
nature: Careful
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD

[Set Comments]

Many people argued argue that Ghost Arceus overshadows Giratina. This set utilizes Giratina's main advantage over Ghost Arceus: resistances and Leftovers. While Ghost Arceus lacks a nasty Dragon- and Ice-type weakness weaknesses, Giratina has resistances to Fire-, Water-, Electric-, and Grass-type moves, something Ghost Arceus can only dream about. Instead of focusing on Defense, this set takes a different approach to using Giratina. With the EVs and nature used in on this set, Giratina can even survive even 2 two full-power Choice Specs-boosted Water Spouts from the most powerful of Kyogre given that no entry hazards are up. This in conjunction with Pressure allows Giratina to stall out Choice Specs Kyogre locked on into any move not named Ice Beam with ease. If your team lacks something to stomach Blue Flares from the deadly Reshiram or a check to Calm Mind Arceus, Mewtwo, or Deoxys-A, this Giratina can do it well. No Calm Mind Arceus, Mewtwo, or Deoxys-A will be able to 2HKO this Giratina it even after Stealth Rock damage. In fact, Giratina will always survive a Life Orb-boosted Draco Meteor from Reshiram or Rayquaza, given that no entry hazards are up. Ghost Arceus can never achieve such amazing feats. In fact, Ghost Arceus is always OHKOed by Choice Specs Kyogre. Giratina can easily stall out Shaymin-S's Seed Flare as well with its resistance, bulk, and Pressure. Even when using this set, Giratina still retains a lot of its physical bulk. For example, it can still survive a Choice Scarf Zekrom's Outrage after Stealth Rock damage, taking only 74% - 87.5%, and it can still stop Excadrill and Kabutops from phazing spinning. It should be Be warned that Swords Dance boosted Earthquake from Excadrill will OHKO with Stealth Rock and sandstorm damage though.

Will-O-Wisp ruins physical attackers such as Garchomp and Zekrom who may that might attempt to take advantage of this Giratina's weaker Defense stat. Dragon Tail phazes and damages Pokemon (add comma) which helps quickly accumulate damage onto an opponent's team (add comma) while not getting and is not blocked by Taunt. This combined with its ability to severely harm Dragon-types that try switching into Giratina makes it a wonderful move. Roar blasts through Substitute (add comma) which can be useful if you are facing a Kyogre or Shaymin-S with Substitute. Rest and Sleep Talk RestTalk is all Giratina has as a recovery move, but it's really all it needs. With those moves, Giratina can also act as a status absorber for the team.

[Additional Comments]

You can consider investing additional Speed EVs if you wish to engage in a Speed creep contest with opposing Groudon, Dialga, and Giratina. Other moveslot options include Toxic or and Thunder Wave. Thunder Wave might have some use as a lure for fast attackers, but Will-O-Wisp has more overall utility.

This Giratina is meant to utilize its resistances and squander absorb resisted powerful special hits such as Kyogre's Water Spout. However, even with this layout, Giratina still hates facing powerful Draco Meteors. Therefore, Blissey and Chansey are great teammates. The previously mentioned Other teammates, such as Forretress, Lugia, Groudon, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory, work for this set as well. Forretress and, (remove comma) in fact spinners in general, (remove comma) are a particular necessity to for Giratina. Since Because the presence of entry hazards will make Giratina get 2HKOed by attacks that it would otherwise avoid getting 2HKOed from, like such as Choice Specs Water Spout from Kyogre, a spinner or Magic Bounce user greatly helps Giratina it perform its job as a special sponge.

[SET]
name: ChestoRest
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Rest
move 3: Dragon Pulse
move 4: Aura Sphere / Thunder
item: Chesto Berry
ability: Pressure
nature: Modest
evs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

One playstyle is always associated with Giratina, and that is stall. This set attempts to capitalize on that stereotype and catch the opponent by surprise, although it should be noted that the lack of Leftovers may might prematurely reveal this set it to the opponent, as this it is one of the few viable Giratina sets that do does not use Leftovers. While standard Giratina is more suited for stall teams, ChestoRest Giratina can be used as an aggressive spinblocker on more offensively based teams. Giratina is easily the bulkiest Pokemon in the entire game, which means that it can very easily snag one or two Calm Mind boosts. This set plays a lot like ChestoRest Kyogre, but trades power for much more overall bulk and coverage. While an offensive Calm Mind set is usually more suited to Giratina-O, its inability to hold a Chesto Berry automatically disqualifies it from running this particular set. This Giratina hits surprisingly hard after a Calm Mind or two, and outside of extremely powerful physical attacks, Giratina it will not faint without first netting at least one or two kills. To illustrate, it easily 2HKOes Extreme Killer Arceus and Dialga with a +1 Aura Sphere; neither Pokemon is able to OHKO in return, unless Dialga is carrying Choice Specs.

The best part about the that set is that most people would attempt to take it out like they would the regular defensive sets; that is, by using Toxic and attacking it while it is sleeping. ChestoRest Giratina flips that concept on its head by casually setting up with Calm Mind until its health gets low, using Rest to get back to full health, and waking up immediately thanks to the Chesto Berry. Dragon Pulse is preferred for the main STAB. Aura Sphere gives the best overall coverage as it is unresisted alongside Dragon Pulse, and most importantly, it 2HKOes Ferrothorn and Tyranitar at +1. However, if Ferrothorn is of no concern, Thunder is useful as it takes down Kyogre, Skarmory, and Lugia much more easily.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

Shadow Ball can be used as the STAB attack to hit Mewtwo, Lugia, and Ghost Arceus harder, but its relatively low power and inability to take out Dragon-types is a letdown. Will-O-Wisp can be used in the last slot to cripple physical attackers, but as this set is attempting to sweep, it is a bit counter-intuitive (counterintuitive would mean that it seemed weird but was actually a good idea; you want a different word here I think). Earth Power is Giratina's best weapon against Jirachi and Metagross, who could potentially be annoying, and also grants it an easy OHKO on Heatran. Hidden Power Fire allows Giratina to OHKO Scizor and do more damage to Ferrothorn, but it is rather useless otherwise. Substitute allows Giratina to avoid Ferrothorn's Leech Seed, status, and helps it avoid getting revenge killed by Dragons faster than it faster Dragon-types, but it is largely useless outside of that.

A Modest nature and maximum Special Attack investment allows allow Giratina to hit as hard as possible, while the rest of the EVs make it as bulky as possible. A more physically bulky spread of 112 HP / 252 Def / 144 SpA can be used to survive a Life Orb-boosted Outrage from Jolly Rayquaza at full health, although the power drop is very significant. Additionally, even if Giratina does survive such a hit, it's not going to be sweeping much anyway. Giratina can reallocate EVs from its HP stat into its Speed stat to Speed creep, but doing so lowers its bulk (add comma) which may might make it harder to get Calm Minds. On the other hand, it is useful for outspeeding slower Kyogre, Zekrom, Reshiram, Dialga, and Giratina and Resting or killing said Pokemon before it they can harm Giratina.

Strong, super effective physical attacks are the key to taking down Calm Mind Giratina. Life Orb- or Choice Band-boosted Outrage from Rayquaza, Zekrom, and Garchomp can OHKO Giratina, while and Choice Band Crunch from Tyranitar and Icicle Crash from Mamoswine will also leave a huge dent. In addition, Bulk Up Dialga can defeat Giratina if it has some Speed investment and Outrage. Choice Band Metagross can be problematic as it resists Dragon Pulse and has enough bulk to tank Aura Sphere, and Giratina's lack of Will-O-Wisp allows Metagross to Meteor Mash it with impunity. Skarmory can force +1 Giratina out with Whirlwind if Giratina lacks Thunder; Jirachi can also be annoying with paralysis and Iron Head flinches.

For the reasons listed above, physically Physically defensive Steel-types are excellent teammates for Giratina. Forretress can Rapid Spin away the Toxic Spikes that might force Giratina to Rest earlier than is desirable, while being able to and can set up Toxic Spikes of its own, which allows allowing Giratina to defeat Blissey and Chansey more easily. Skarmory can also switch into Outrage and set up Spikes, but it must watch out for Zekrom's Bolt Strike and Rayquaza's V-create. It is worth noting that these entry hazards are easily kept on the field by Giratina's spinblocking abilities. Magnezone can trap and KO Skarmory as well as Metagross locked into Meteor Mash. Groudon, especially Swords Dance variants, can take on Dialga, Tyranitar, Jirachi, and Metagross easily.

Giratina's other major enemies are specially defensive Calm Mind users. Steel Arceus resists Giratina's STABs and outspeeds it, allowing Steel Arceus to cushion Aura Sphere with its own Calm Mind; Dark Arceus and Ghost Arceus can do the same thing. Ho-Oh is therefore another great teammate for Giratina, as it can defeat most of the Calm Mind users that Giratina has trouble against. Darkrai is also an excellent offensive check to Ghost Arceus as it outspeeds and puts and can put Ghost Arceus to sleep with Dark Void, (remove comma) and can then set up Nasty Plot to sweep. Giratina won't be able to sweep all the time either, but it will generally leave a hole in the enemy team for another Pokemon to take advantage of and sweep. As such, Pokemon that can finish off Giratina's sweep are appreciated. Steel Arceus excels at this. Steel Arceus It not only synergizes nicely with Giratina but can also wage a winning Calm Mind war against any enemy Calm Mind Arceus that Giratina encounters, thanks to its access to Roar.

[SET]
name: Boosting Tank Giratina
move 1: Rest
move 2: Sleep Talk
move 3: Calm Mind
move 4: Dragon Pulse
item: Leftovers
ability: Pressure
nature: Bold
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD

[Set Comments]

While Giratina is usually seen as a wall, its amazing defenses in conjunction with Calm Mind mean it can easily set up on many threats. After a Calm Mind, it is nearly impossible to OHKO Giratina with any attack. Only extremely powerful attacks like Kyurem-W's Choice Specs Draco Meteor and Choice Banded Band Kyurem-B's Outrage can OHKO Giratina consistently after it has used Calm Mind. If supported properly, Giratina should be able to achieve 6 six Calm Minds, but as always, exercise discretion when setting up. Unfortunately, even after 6 six Calm Minds, Giratina fails to 2HKO Blissey and Chansey, but both of them can be PP stalled with Pressure, a strategy that works better with Toxic Spikes support from Forretress. This set beats mono-attacking Calm Mind Kyogre and Fire Arceus one-on-one due to its resistances and Pressure.

[Additional Comments]

If you want to forgo Sleep Talk, Giratina has a number of options. Shadow Ball is useful against Mewtwo, while and Will-O-Wisp is an option if you want this Giratina to act as a lure for Tyranitar, (remove comma) or as a check to physical Arceus variants and Groudon. Roar allows Giratina to boost alongside the opponent and Roar it out.

Unfortunately, none of these options let Giratina defeat its counters, which include many powerful attackers such as Darkrai, Dark Arceus, Ghost Arceus, Steel Arceus, and Dialga. As such, Scizor, Genesect, Blissey, and Chansey are good options for teammates. You may wish for might want Heal Bell support from Chansey and Blissey particularly because of the BW sleep mechanics in this generation. Finally, you will probably want Toxic Spikes support from Forretress to help handle Chansey and Blissey, who give Giratina trouble otherwise. Ho-Oh also checks most Calm Mind Arceus and Darkrai for Giratina while scaring off the pink blobs and scares off Chansey and Blissey at the same time. Heatran is a decent partner for Giratina as it resists all of Giratina's weaknesses while and Giratina protects Heatran it from Groudon and Earthquake Ho-Oh. Heatran can also check Dark, Ghost, and Steel Arceus, all of whom can beat Giratina easily. Kyogre can be used to absorb Ice Beam and check most Calm Mind Arceus.

Weather doesn't really matter to Giratina, but Groudon is recommended as a check to the physical attackers Giratina cannot handle such as Zekrom and Rayquaza. One of the Steel-type Spikers, Forretress, Ferrothorn, or and Skarmory, is a required partner for Giratina because of their type synergy and ability to lay entry hazards. Genesect can also work as a partner for Giratina, switching into Rayquaza's Rayquaza or Zekrom's Outrage and KOing in return with Download-boosted Ice Beam. Forretress is probably the best partner for Giratina, since as it also removes Spikes with Rapid Spin, which can be a particular nuisance if Giratina gets phazed while they are up. Giratina is greatly annoyed by enemy phazers, especially Perish Song Arceus (add comma) as they can completely remove Giratina of its boosts, so it's recommended that you either weaken or take down the phazers so that Giratina can more easily sweep. Chansey, Blissey, Ho-Oh, and Kyogre all help check the special attackers that trouble Giratina. Kyogre's turbulent rain will make Reshiram sad while a powerful Surf can easily drown it. Chansey and Blissey can handle the special attacks which that are too powerful for Giratina to handle such as a Choice Specs Dialga's Draco Meteor. The pink blobs They can also wake Giratina up immediately after using Rest with Aromatherapy or Heal Bell. Kyogre can set up alongside most Calm Mind Arceus formes and eventually win the Calm Mind war with Surf or Scald, thanks to the weather and Kyogre's superior special stats.

If Giratina is used with Groudon and Forretress, you can use Ho-Oh and Heatran, which are other excellent checks to Giratina's counters such as Dark, Steel, and Ghost Arceus. Heatran can Taunt and eventually kill most special attacking Arceus formes, while and Ho-Oh can bypass Calm Mind boosts with its incredibly powerful Sacred Fire or and Brave Bird. Scizor and Genesect can still work as a partner partners to counter Darkrai and Dark Arceus. Outside of that, however, Scizor and Genesect are pretty much useless. Metagross is also a decent teammate for Giratina, thanks to its Steel typing and great Attack stat. Metagross can 2HKO most Arceus formes with its bone-shattering Choice Band Meteor Mash. Lugia can assist Giratina in walling physical or mixed attackers such as Rayquaza and Garchomp. Steel Arceus resists most of Giratina's weakness weaknesses and beats Dark Arceus one-on-one. Excadrill gets a mention for Rapid Spin and resistances to Dragon-, Ghost-, and Dark-type moves. The mole It can also beat Dark and Steel Arceus one-on-one.

[Other Options]

Giratina can employ Toxic or Thunder Wave for additional status support, but Will-O-Wisp is recommended to counter physical threats such as Arceus which Giratina is infamous for countering. (removing this because you already mention it in AC of most sets already; if you keep it though, please change infamous to famous) It Giratina can use Dragon Claw, but Dragon Tail is recommended for phazing, and Outrage is recommended for more power. Shadow Sneak has the merit of being able to pick off Pokemon that Giratina has worn out with its constant phazing, but outside of that it has little to no use and is generally not worth the moveslot. Earthquake allows Giratina to destroy Heatran and 2HKO Excadrill, but it is weak at when hitting other Pokemon. Giratina can also utilize an attacking lead set with Magic Coat, but it is generally too unreliable. Giratina's offensive stats are mediocre especially by Uber standards. Hidden Power Fire doesn't even kill Forretress after Stealth Rock (add comma)while and Ferrothorn and Skarmory can even laugh at it. If you want to go on the offensive, Giratina is not the one to fulfill your needs. Giratina-O and Ghost Arceus are the offensive spinblockers you should be using. A Choice Scarf Giratina is considered a gimmick because it is very weak and largely outclassed by others such as Choice Scarf Dialga. Using a Choice item also means Giratina wastes its tremendous bulk. Spite can be used effectively thanks to Giratina's massive walling capabilities. Spite combined with Pressure can easily drain tons of PP in an environment where most moves only have 8 PP. Giratina can use Substitute or Roar well on its Calm Mind sets. The former enables it to avoid status and Leech Seed while the latter eases its issues with enemy phazers, but missing out on coverage generally makes these two moves inferior.

[Checks and Counters]

While Giratina is a phenomenal wall, it suffers heavily due to its common weaknesses. Darkrai, Ghost Arceus, and Dark Arceus in particular destroy it easily. Darkrai can even put to sleep another of your Giratina's teammates if Giratina it is sleeping due to Rest. Giratina's complete reliance on preventing itself from being setup set up on through Roar or Dragon Tail makes it very vulnerable to Taunt, and if a phazer faster than Giratina, like such as Lugia, confronts Giratina it, Giratina it will be rendered useless as it cannot do anything aside status from statusing said phazer. Reliance on Rest and Sleep Talk RestTalk for recovery makes Giratina that much more vulnerable to Taunt and phazing when entry hazards are up. Gyarados and Gliscor are perfect examples of Pokemon that utilize all these attributes to allow them to easily destroy Giratina. Gliscor and Gyarados can simply Taunt Giratina to prevent it from recovering, use Substitute to prevent themselves from getting phazed by Dragon Tail, and wear down Giratina with Toxic, or in Gyarados's case, Dragon Tail. Giratina doesn't even need to have one Pokemon to specifically counter it. If Giratina uses Rest and entry hazards are up, it can be continuously phazed or threatened out by the presence of an offensive Dragon Dragon-type, eventually causing it to faint due to the fact it takes a lot of damage from entry hazards as it is weak to all of them.

There are a few Pokemon that can counter Giratina on their own. Powerful Dragon-type sweepers such as Rayquaza, Choice Band Garchomp, Dragon Arceus, Salamence, Kyurem-B, and Zekrom can all threaten to 2HKO Giratina if they can avoid a burn when switching in. The aforementioned These Dragon-types won't enjoy Dragon Tail, however. If Giratina uses Rest, all of those Dragon-types can come in and force Giratina it out. If Tyranitar avoids Will-O-Wisp, it can 2HKO Giratina with Choice Band Crunch (add comma) and it is a great counter to both the Boosting Tank boosting tank Giratina set and ChestoRest Giratina set due to the Special Defense buff Tyranitar gets from the sandstorm it creates.

One of Giratina's roles is spinblocking (add comma) but there is one Pokemon that even Giratina cannot stop from spinning. Cloyster can easily Shell Smash as Giratina comes in to stop it from spinning, (remove comma) and OHKO Giratina with Icicle Spear, preventing Giratina from spinblocking Cloyster. Giratina also has considerable problems with Substitute Excadrill with Swords Dance and Pain Split Forretress with Toxic. The former's Substitute cannot be broken by Dragon Tail, so if Giratina lacks Roar it will eventually get beaten down by Excadrill's Earthquakes Earthquake. Forretress The latter will never get worn down from Giratina's Dragon Tails and entry hazards due to Pain Split, meaning Giratina will be turned into permanent Spikes fodder for Forretress, (remove comma) and might eventually even go down to continuous Toxic and Pain Split damage.

If it is the last Pokemon, Bulk Up Dialga with Rest defeats Giratina quite handily. Dragon Arceus with Calm Mind easily beats most Giratina sets. Pokemon who that have their moves boosted by an item that wield powerful STAB Draco Meteors can exploit Giratina's flaws in its typing and KO it. Latios, Latias, Choice Specs Dialga, Choice Specs Palkia, Choice Specs Reshiram, and Life Orb Kyurem-W can all OHKO Giratina with a powerful STAB Draco Meteor. Reshiram in particular excels at doing this since as it can come into Will-O-Wisp for free. Finally, Wobbuffet can exploit Dragon Tail's negative priority in order to Encore Giratina and help a dangerous sweeper set up.

GP: 2/2

polop · Aug 16, 2013

Thanks for the check melvni, its been implemented.

Giratina is now ready to be uploaded.

Nexus · Aug 16, 2013

Uploaded.

Giratina (QC: 3/3) (GP: 2/2)

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