okay, so heres what I added.
-I added team options to the sets, and the team options section.
-added a Calm Mind Rest+Sleep Talk set (Thank you Jibaku!)
-I put HP Fire as an option on the mixed set, and added Thunder Wave to other options
-most of the new things are in blue (that red color burns my eyes).
-changed the EV spread to something better
-I removed the section "how to use Calm Mind Giratina-O" as most of what it said is now in the set.
Special thanks to Jibaku, who not only helped with the EV spread, but also wrote the non-team options of the Calm Mind+Restalk set! He also wrote the analysis from before.
[SET]
name: Calm Mind Stall Breaker
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Dragon Pulse / Shadow Ball
move 3: Shadow Ball / Aura Sphere / Thunder
move 4: Substitute
item: Griseous Orb
nature: Modest
EVs: 86 HP / 216 SpA / 96 SpD / 112 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Giratina-O is a fantastic special sweeper. Often underrated, Giratina-O sports some valuable qualities that other special sweepers can only wish for. It has a great Special Attack stat, complemented by Calm Mind, and a myriad of options in terms of Special Attacks at its disposal. Being part Dragon-type gives Giratina-O an amazing STAB that hits most opponents neutral or super effectively. Being also part Ghost-type, Giratina-O is immune to Seismic Toss, shutting down Blissey’s main method of damaging it, and with Substitute it gains virtual immunity to status ailments, preventing any attempts from the obese egg nurse to inflict status onto it. Base 150 HP and 100 / 100 defenses are no laughing matter either, especially when they are coupled with Levitate to allow immunity against Spikes and Toxic Spikes. To top it all off, Giratina-O has the ever elusive immunity to the item-removing effects of Trick and Knock Off, which will allow Giratina-O to switch into a predicted Trick from a Choice item user, and use the time to set up.</p>
<p>Dragon Pulse is a good option in general, only resisted by Steel-types not named Dialga. In a Dragon infested metagame, Dragon Pulse will find itself fitting in to this moveset easily, as it OHKOes both Rayquaza and Palkia, and has a 90% chance of 2HKOing max HP/no Special Defense Groudon, even if you don't Calm Mind. Shadow Ball is a powerful STAB move that provides an easy OHKO on 6 HP / no Special Defense Mewtwo, after it takes damage from Stealth Rock, and dealing more damage to other Psychic-types than Dragon Pulse could, including Metagross and Lugia. Thunder inflicts massive damage to Kyogre, which is extremely common and is a pain to take down without it, and can cause paralysis which aids it in its sweep by pseudo-fixing its base 90 Speed. After one use of Calm Mind, Giratina-O has a 92% chance of OHKOing a 4 HP / 0 SpD Kyogre with Thunder, after Kyogre switches into Stealth Rock. Substitute, as previously stated, is a great guard against status, therefore shutting down standard Blissey in the Uber metagame, and also aids in prediction. Be careful, though, as Giratina-O has no recovery, so its ability to throw out Substitutes is very limited, so make each Substitute count. Aura Sphere allows Giratina-O to severely damage Dialga, Blissey, and, most importantly, always 2HKO Tyranitar, the latter otherwise being its nemesis with its high Special Defense, allowing it to absorb Dragon Pulses, painful STAB Payback, Crunch or Pursuit, and Sandstorm cutting through Giratina-O’s zero recovery. If one does not care about Blissey, he or she can use Calm Mind/Dragon Pulse/Thunder with Shadow Ball/Aura Sphere for maximum coverage in Ubers. Finally, an option to drop Dragon Pulse in favor of the unresisted combination of Aura Sphere and Shadow Ball is open. While Giratina-O loses the super effective hit against Palkia and Rayquaza and loses some power against Kyogre and Latias, it provides super effective hits on Lugia, Wobbuffet, Mewtwo, and Mew, while still hitting Tyranitar and Dialga super effectively with Aura Sphere.</p>
<p>112 Speed EVs allow it to outrun Jolly Tyranitar, which can prove to be handy , as you can hit it with boosted attacks before it can threaten you with Crunch, and you should also be able to outrun most Kyogre and Groudon. The Speed EVs also allow Giratina-O to outrun Jirachi who do not invest in Speed, allowing Giratina-O to put a Substitute before Jirachi uses Toxic. The defensive EVs give it guaranteed survival against a Spacial Rend from Timid Palkia, even after taking a Stealth Rock damage. Also, if Stealth Rock is not counted at all, Dragon Claw from a Groudon is only a 3HKO against this. The rest of the EVs are dumped into Special Attack; 216 Special Attack EVs give it a very high chance of 2HKOing max HP, no Special Defense Kyogre with Thunder, and after a Calm Mind it is almost guaranteed to OHKO no HP / Special Defense variants after Stealth Rock damage (Timid Specs/Scarf without a Calm Mind boost. Dragon Pulse also scores above 50% against Latias, unboosted, and has a decent chance of 2HKOing special defensive Dialga after variants).</p>
<p>Giratina-O is an excellent choice on offensive teams that require a way to beat stall. Recall that an Uber stall team often consists of Groudon, Forretress, Blissey, Latias, Giratina, and a filler (often Lugia to abuse the entry hazards set up by Forretress with Whirlwind). As one can see, Giratina-O can switch in on two of those Pokémon (Blissey and Forretress) without much of a problem, and threaten devastation. The only Pokemon that prevent this devastation from occurring is Latias, and in order to do so, she must sacrifice herself, if Stealth Rock is set up against her team, to deal massive damage to Giratina-O, ensuring that it is unusable afterwards. The loss of Latias enables Pokemon like Kyogre to devastate the remaining team members. Giratina-O's main card here is that it can threaten a sweep against stall teams unless it is stopped promptly, and the Pokemon that does try to stop it often dies afterwards, opening up a potential sweep for another team member.</p>
<p>When you know the opponent's team, Substitute can be used as the opponent switches to their best answer and can allow Giratina-O to eliminate the switch in. For example, some teams will switch Rayquaza into Giratina-O, expecting it to Calm Mind. If Giratina-O uses Substitute as it switches in, Rayquaza will either be forced to switch (and often take more damage from Stealth Rock) or die to Giratina-O's Dragon Pulse. Another good example of this is Darkrai. If one either uses Substitute or Dragon Pulse as Darkrai switches in, it will take a massive amount of damage, often putting Darkrai in the KO range of Scizor's Bullet Punch.</p>
<p>An important thing to note when using Giratina-O is that, despite its many resistances and excellent HP and Defensive stats, Giratina-O has no form of recovery in this set. Because of this and Giratina-O’s slow Speed, it is recommend to not switch Giratina-O into powerful attacks, such as Choice Specs Kyogre’s Surf. While Giratina-O may resist it, attacks like that will wear down Giratina-O, and can lead to its demise. It is instead best to switch Giratina-O into moves that it is immune to. The best candidates for this are Blissey’s Seismic Toss and other support moves, besides Toxic or Thunder Wave; Forretress’s Rapid Spin, Spikes, Toxic Spikes, or Explosion; and Choiced Earthquakes from the likes of Garchomp and Groudon. Wobbuffet can be an extremely helpful partner for Giratina-O, as it is able to allow Giratina-O to switch in much more easily. Wobbuffet can use its combination of Encore and Shadow Tag to force opponents to repeat support moves such as Toxic and Stealth Rock, or to Encore moves that Giratina-O is immune to. Wobbuffet can then use Safeguard if it has encored a status move, and provide a free switch in for Giratina-O.</p>
<p>When using Giratina-O, Deoxys-S is always a good consideration as a lead. Giratina-O is one of the few Rapid Spin blockers in Ubers, which means that Deoxys-S can freely set up its entry hazards without the worry of Forretress Rapid Spinning them away thanks to Giratina-O’s Ghost-typing. If one does not like the idea of using Deoxys-S, Forretress is desirable. Forretress resists all of Giratina-O’s weaknesses, while Giratina-O resists Forretress’s only weakness, Fire. Forretress can set up Spikes, Toxic Spikes, or Stealth Rock on Pokemon such as Choice Scarf Garchomp, Scizor, and Lugia. Should your opponent try to Rapid Spin, Giratina-O can switch in and set up as long as the opposing Forretress lacks Light Screen and Payback.</p>
<p> An interesting thing about Giratina-O is that it can beat many of its common switch-ins with a bit of prediction, opening up sweeps for its teammates. Thus, it is best to scout the opponents team, and then predict their switch in to Giratina-O, and devastate it with the correct moves. A common switch into Giratina-O is Latias. If Giratina-O uses Calm Mind as Latias switches in, it will be able to OHKO the standard Latias with Dragon Pulse after it takes Stealth Rock damage, while Latias will be unable to OHKO Giratina-O. In order to survive, Latias must use Calm Mind herself, and even then Latias is still 2HKOed by Giratina-O’s Dragon Pulse, while Latias is still unable to OHKO a Giratina-O that has Calm Minded once, unless it gets a critical hit. Thus, the best Latias can do is to do a severe amount of damage to Giratina-O with a boosted Dragon Pulse before being KOed. While Giratina-O maybe crippled beyond usability, it is not in vain, because Latias is one of the few counters to Calm Mind Kyogre that have Rest and Sleep Talk. With Latias out of the way, this “Boosting Tank” Kyogre can easily demolish entire teams.</p>
<p>Dialga is another common switch-in to Giratina-O. Giratina-O is able to defeat or severely weaken Support, Bulk up, and Choice Scarf sets, if it uses Calm Mind as Dialga switches in. When Choice Scarf Dialga switches in on Giratina-O as it uses Calm Mind, it will be unable to OHKO Giratina-O with even Draco Meteor. Giratina-O can either severely damage it with Dragon Pulse or have a 53% chance of OHKOing Dialga with Aura Sphere, after it switches into Stealth Rock. While Giratina-O will die the next turn, it is again not in vain. Dialga will be weakened enough to the point that later on in the match, it will no longer be able to survive 2+ Life Orbed Extremespeeds from Lucario or Rayquaza, potentially opening up a sweep. Support Dialga is 2HKOed by a+1 Dragon Pulse, while it still can not OHKO Giratina-O with Draco Meteor after Giratina-O has used Calm Mind. With Support Dialga out of the way, many teams will have a more difficult time dealing with mixed Palkia. Finally, a Bulk Up Dialga will be 2HKOed by a 1+ Aura Sphere, while Dialga will not be able to OHKO Giratina-O with Outrage. With Bulk Up Dialga eliminated, Shaymin-S will have an easier time using its combination of Substitute and Leech Seed. A Darkrai with Substitute, Salac Berry and Dark Void will also have a much easier time sweeping. Finally, many Kyogre sets will appreciate the removal of Bulk up Dialga, due to Bulk Up Dialga's ability to set up on several Kyogre sets.</p>
<p>Tyranitar, as previously noted, will commonly switch into Giratina-O. However, if Giratina-O is carrying Aura Sphere, Giratina-O is able to use either that or Substitute followed by Aura Sphere to ruin Tyranitar or 2HKO it. With Tyranitar severely weakened or KOed, stopping a sweep from Calm Mind Mewtwo will be a much more difficult task for the opponent. With Tyranitar dramatically weakened, Latios and Latias will have a much easier time setting up Calm Minds as well (provided that they have Grass Knot).</p>
<p>Kyogre is another common switch-in to Giratina-O. If Giratina-O uses Calm Mind as Kyogre switches in, Giratina-O will have a 92% chance of OHKOing a minimum HP Kyogre with Thunder, after it switches into Stealth Rock. Even if Kyogre is carrying 252 HP EVs, it will often be out sped by Giratina-O and be easily 2HKOed by a +1 Thunder. Even a Modest Choice Specs Kyogre will be unable to OHKO Giratina-O with Ice Beam after one Calm Mind. A Rest + Sleep Talk Kyogre with Calm Mind will not be able to out speed Giratina-O, and thus will be 2HKOed by a +1 Thunder even after it uses Calm Mind. Even if Giratina-O is facing a Timid Calm Mind Kyogre, a +1 Thunder will still 2HKO Kyogre if it attempts to set up Calm Minds. With Kyogre out of the way, Lugia will have a much easier time setting up Calm Minds, especially if it lacks Thunder. A Calm Mind Mewtwo that lacks Thunder will also appreciate the removal of Kyogre as well. Finally, teams based around Groudon’s Drought ability will be able to function better without Kyogre changing the weather. Ho-oh in particular will be much harder to stop when Kyogre is eliminated.</p>
<p>As mentioned before, Tyranitar is Giratina-O’s arch enemy, especially if Giratina-O lacks Aura Sphere. The combination of Tyranitar’s powerful STAB super effective Dark attacks and the sandstorm it brings will dramatically cut Giratina-O’s life short. Because of this, Groudon makes an excellent teammate for Giratina-O. Groudon can switch into Tyranitar with ease (beware of Pursuit, which can mortally wound Giratina-O), and threaten it a STAB Earthquake. Groudon also changes the weather, meaning that Giratina-O will not have to face the damaging effects of Tyranitar’s sandstorm. Another way to deal with Tyranitar is to use Lucario to switch into a Dark-type attack. However, this is often not the best course of action, because if Tyranitar has Dragon Dance, it can out speed and OHKO Lucario with Earthquake. Garchomp can work in a similar manner that Groudon does, except Garchomp is able to use the sandstorm to its advantage and possibly avoid Tyranitar’s assaults. Although Blissey will normally cause no problems for Giratina-O, Calm Mind Blissey can set up alongside Giratina-O, and will eventually KO it with Ice Beam. In a similar manner, a Blissey with Psych Up can copy Giratina-O’s boosts, and eventually eliminate it with Ice Beam. Bulk Up Dialga can be a fantastic partner for Giratina-O to deal with Calm Mind Blissey and Psych Up Blissey. Dialga can easily switch into Blissey, and use Bulk Up as to boost its Attack stat. Blissey will not be able to even 2HKO Dialga with 6 Calm Minds, while Dialga only requires 3 Bulk Ups to always OHKO Blissey with Outrage. Generally, the best way to deal with a Calm Mind or Psych Up Blissey is to send in powerful physical attackers such as Groudon, Lucario, Choice Band Garchomp, and Scizor as Blissey attempts to set up, as this will often scare Blissey away. If one wanted to make sure Blissey is completely eliminated, using Tickle Wobbuffet and a Scizor with Pursuit is recommended. If Calm Mind Blissey dares attack Wobbuffet, it can eventually destroy Blissey with Mirror Coat. If Blissey decides to use Calm Mind or Softboiled, Wobbuffet should use Tickle on Blissey four times. After that, an Adamant Scizor with 100 Attack EVs and a Life Orb will OHKO Blissey with Pursuit if it attempts to flee. Although Forretress is normally set up bait for Giratina-O, if it is carrying Payback and Light Screen, it can beat Giratina-O one-on-one. This is because thanks to Light Screen, Forretress will take minimal damage from Giratina-O's attacks, while Payback will 3HKO Giratina-O. Lucario can be a good way to take advantage of this. Payback will do a pathetic amount of damage to Lucario, while Lucario can use Swords Dance, and threaten to OHKO Forretress with a Life Orbed Close Combat. Dialga is also able to set up Bulk Ups on Forretress with ease. A mixed Rayquaza can not only roast Forretress with Fire Blast, but it can also use Brick Break to destroy Light Screen. Mixed Dialga works in a similar manner. Finally, if one wishes for Forretress to be eliminated on sight, Giratina-O can be equipped with Hidden Power Fire. This is not recommended though, as Hidden Power Fire will generally only be used to eliminate Scizor, Forretress, and Lucario when its not raining, and will cause you to lose potential speed ties to other Giratina-O, further weakening it, as it has no recovery move. Finally, if you are not willing to sacrifice Giratina-O for the sake of beating Latias, there are other options. If Latias lacks Thunder, Scizor can easily switch into it and either hit Latias with Pursuit as it switches out, or OHKO it with U-turnshould it stay in. Choice Band Metagross can OHKO Latias with Meteor Mash after Stealth Rock damage, or use Pursuit to KO Latias as it attempts to switch. Finally, Blissey can easily wall most Latias and use Toxic to cripple it, unless Latias has Refresh or Safeguard.</p>
[SET]
name: Boosting Sleeping Beauty
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Dragon Pulse
move 3: Rest
move 4: Sleep Talk
item: Griseous Orb
nature: Modest
EVs: 200 HP / 46 Def / 216 SpA / 40 SpD / 8 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set combines the stat-boosting threat from the Substitute + Calm Mind set with a form of recovery to take advantage of Giratina-O's bulk. At the expense of Substitute and an extra attacking move, Giratina-O gains virtual immunity to status and more freedom to switch into attacks. At first, it would seem that Giratina would perform this type of set better, given its higher defenses and Leftovers, allowing it to set up much easier. However, that is untrue and Giratina-O possesses a fair number of advantages over Giratina.</p>
<p>Giratina-O may not find as much room to set up as Giratina, but its added power from the focus in Special Attack and Giratina-O's Griseous Orb neutralize such a need. For example, Giratina needs 3 Calm Minds to match the power of a Giratina-O that has used Calm Mind once. This extra power allows Giratina-O to smash down Latias that would plague Giratina. Giratina-O can also KO a defensive Groudon starting at around 70% with a +1 Dragon Pulse, as well as 2HKOing max HP/ no Special Defense Kyogre, after it takes Stealth Rock damage.</p>
<p>Unlike Giratina, as well as many other sleep absorbers in the game, Giratina-O packs a unique immunity to Trick. This trait, along with Rest and Sleep Talk, effectively shuts down Choice Scarf Darkrai’s main crippling techniques. Although Giratina-O is at risk of being jammed by Dark Pulse, the ability to switch into 3/4ths of a standard Choice Scarf Darkrai’s moveset is remarkable. At later stages of the game, this immunity helps prevent Trick + Choice item users from shutting Giratina-O’s set up process down.</p>
<p>Finally, Giratina-O has the useful ability Levitate, allowing it to float over the Spikes and Toxic Spikes that curse Giratina, cutting up its ability to switch in and set up. Although Giratina can Rest off the damage or status cause by these entry hazards, it takes turns, which can be better spent setting up Calm Minds. Having an immunity to Earthquake never hurts either-the more free switch ins possible, the better.</p>
<p>The EVs give Giratina-O a balanced amount of defenses, while holding enough power to take down the standard Latias with a Calm Mind boosted Dragon Pulse. The Defense EVs ensure that Payback from Forretress does not 3HKO, allowing Giratina-O to Calm Mind on it and Rest off the damage, only fearing a critical hit. A Life Orb Dragon Claw from Jolly Rayquaza will never OHKO this Giratina-O, even after Stealth Rock damage, while the Adamant variant can not OHKO, if Giratina-O has not taken Stealth Rock damage. Since this set focuses more on bulk, the speed EVs from the previous sets are dropped.</p>
<p>On the common Uber stall team, the only Pokemon that will out speed Giratina-O, after taking down Latias, is Lugia. This can be a problem, because if Stealth Rock is in play, Giratina-O will die on the second switch in due to Stealth Rock. To solve this, a Wobbuffet with Tickle and a Scizor with Pursuit can be a great asset. Wobbuffet can Encore and then use Tickle on Lugia 5 times to get it into the KO range of Scizor's Pursuit as it flees. With Lugia gone, this means that once Giratina-O beats Latias, it will often be able to restore its health with Rest before the opposition attacks, letting it continue its sweep. Wobbuffet can also use Tickle on Calm Mind Blissey 4 times, Scizor will be able to OHKO her with Pursuit as she switches out. Eliminating Calm Mind Blissey means that the match will not come down to which Pokémon that gets a critical hit first. Wobbuffet also displays the ability to Encore moves such as Earthquake or status moves. This can allow Giratina-O to have free time to use either Rest or recover or Calm Mind to set up.</p>
<p>Much like the first set, Tyranitar will give Giratina-O some serious issues, as it is able to 2HKO Giratina-O with Crunch, bypassing Giratina-O's possible Calm Mind boosts. A Jolly Tyranitar can also use Taunt as Giratina-O uses Sleep Talk, and then set up a sweep with Dragon Dance. A Calm Mind Lugia that has Whirlwind can also set up on Giratina-O, due to the absence of Shadow Ball, and Whirlwind Giratina-O away. When Giratina-O is sleeping, Mewtwo can switch in as Giratina-O attempts to use Sleep Talk (although a +1 Dragon Pulse has a 66% chance of OHKOing a 4 HP Mewtwo after Stealth Rock damage) and use Taunt on it. Mewtwo can now easily set up Calm Mind as Giratina-O is helpless without being able to use Sleep Talk. To beat Calm Mind Lugia, a Mewtwo of your own can easily set up on it with Taunt and Calm Mind. Opposing Mewtwo that carry Taunt and Calm Mind will often lack Fire-type attacks. This means that Scizor can switch in, and either threaten to do massive damage with Pursuit, or OHKO with U-turn. In a similar manner, Mewtwo will often take huge amounts of damage from Choice Band assaults from Metagross. Finally, Tyranitar is best handled by Garchomp or Groudon. Thunder Wave Groudon is a particularly useful Pokemon to use with this Giratina-O. This is because Groudon can often paralyze fast threats such as Lugia and Mewtwo. This means that Giratina-O can be sent in on the later, which allows Giratina-O to use Rest before they land a finishing blow.</p>
[SET]
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Outrage
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Shadow Force / Shadow Claw
item: Griseous Orb
nature: Adamant
EVs: 86 HP / 216 Atk / 96 SpD / 112 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>While the special sweeper set may be very appealing, one can not forget that Giratina-O’s Attack stat is equivalent to its Special Attack. It is a force to be reckoned with, hitting most Pokemon in Ubers in their softer physical defenses. With access to STAB 120 Base Power Outrage, along with a Griseous Orb boost, it is not to be taken lightly, as Outrage will 2HKO a 252 HP Dialga, and will always 2HKO a 252 HP / 252 Def Kyogre, unless it is Bold. Outrage will also score a OHKO on Darkrai after it switches into Stealth Rock. However, being locked into Outrage can be displeasing, as Giratina-O has mediocre Speed and is weak to Dragon-type attacks, making it very susceptible to the rampant Draco Meteor. This can often be remedied by using Substitute beforehand to minimize punishment during the turns in which Giratina-O is locked into Outrage. Substitute also protects Giratina-O, in case your opponent switches to a counter during Shadow Force's charge turn. Earthquake pairs up with Outrage pretty well, destroying Dragon-type resisters such as Metagross and Registeel, while giving Giratina-O a move to destroy Dialga with that does not lock its move choice. Even if Outrage does slightly more to Dialga than Earthquake does, Earthquake still sports a great chance of 2HKOing after Dialga takes a bit of Stealth Rock damage. The choice between Shadow Force and Shadow Claw is very much up to the user. They both serve as Giratina-O’s secondary STAB and are helpful in disposing of Psychic-types. Shadow Claw is the choice for reliability, while Shadow Force is the choice for sheer power. Shadow Claw can KO some key targets though. For example, a 4 HP / 0 Def Mewtwo will be OHKOed 87% of the time after taking Stealth Rock damage. Latias will also always be OHKOed by Shadow Claw after it takes damage from Stealth Rock.</p>
<p>Many people view Shadow Force as being a terrible move due to the fact that it’s a charge up move. Shadow Force isn’t necessarily a great move, but it’s certainly quite underrated and packs a punch. As long as there’s a Normal-type on the field, though, Shadow Force becomes fairly useless. Luckily, only one Normal-type makes a common appearance in Ubers, and that is Blissey, who isn’t going to really switch into Giratina-O, due to its fear of Outrage. What this really means is that Blissey isn’t going to switch in even if it sees Shadow Force coming, because after the Shadow Force, Giratina-O can abuse Blissey’s inability to do anything to it and set up a free Substitute. Once their Normal-type is gone, Shadow Force can deal massive damage to even things that resist it; for example, Darkrai is 2HKOed by Shadow Force. Shadow Force also OHKOes physical wall Mewtwo, something that Shadow Claw can not. One possible good moment to use Shadow Force is when Giratina-O's weakened opponent can be KOed by it, but not by Earthquake, and at the same time when Outrage is very risky to use due to its locking side-effect.</p>
<p>The EVs are pretty much equivalent to the special sweeper set, except with the switch between Special Attack and Attack. The bulk on this set is otherwise the exact same as the previous one, being able to survive Timid Palkia’s Spacial Rend after Stealth Rock.</p>
<p>A good way to use this set is to almost always use Substitute on the switch. This is because some players may suspect that Giratina-O is using a Calm Mind set, and may send in Pokemon such as Calm Mind Blissey, Tyranitar, or Latias. Giratina can then 2HKO Blissey with Outrage, 2HKO Tyranitar with Earthquake, and can either OHKO Latias with Outrage or with Shadow Claw, after Latias takes damage from Stealth Rock. With Calm Mind Blissey or Tyranitar weakened or KOed, many other users of Calm Mind, such as Latias and Substitute Mewtwo, will have a much easier time sweeping. With Latias being dead, Rest + Sleep Talk Kyogre with Calm Mind can easily crush teams.</p>
<p>Physical Giratina-O is walled by four main Pokemon: Forretress, Scizor, Skarmory, and Lugia. Forretress, Scizor, and Skarmory resist both of Giratina-O’s STAB attacks, and take little damage from Earthquake (or none in Skarmory’s case). While Lugia takes a heavy amount of damage from Shadow Force, Lugia is faster than Giratina-O and can therefore cushion the hit with Reflect and Roost. Because of this, a Support Groudon with Fire Punch and Toxic partners with Giratina-O well. Fire Punch will easily OHKO Forretress and Scizor, while Skarmory is 2HKOed. Groudon will often lure in Lugia, who can be crippled by Toxic. Although Magnezone does not fit on many Uber teams, it can trap and kill Forretress, Scizor, and Skarmory. Dialga can also easily switch into the Steel-types, and threaten to roast them with Fire Blast. Dialga, like Groudon, can also use Toxic to cripple Lugia. Finally, Wobbuffet can use Encore then Tickle 5 times on Lugia, and switch to Scizor, who can then OHKO Lugia with Pursuit if it attempts to switch. Something to note is that although Kyogre is not the safest switch into Scizor, Kyogre can work well with physical Giratina-O because it can OHKO all 4 Pokemon with its STAB Water-type attacks and Thunder, if it is carrying Choice Specs.</p>
[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Dragon Claw / Outrage
move 2: Shadow Ball / Draco Meteor
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Thunder / Hidden Power Fire
item: Griseous Orb
nature: Lonely / Naughty
EVs: 252 Atk / 146 SpA / 112 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With both its Attack and Special Attack base stats at 120, Giratina-O is a great mixed sweeper. At first, one would criticizeit by saying that Dialga does the job better, but that is not true. First of all, Giratina-O has a different typing and Levitate, allowing it to switch into different things than Dialga. Secondly, Giratina-O has one move that separates it from Mixed Dialga and that is STAB Shadow Ball, allowing it to break through opponents which Mixed Dialga struggled with, such as Deoxys-D and Recover Mewtwo, as well as being able to hit Lugia’s Psychic-typing super effectively, which is an advantage over Thunder, because Lugia can theoretically stall Thunder out with Roost when the sun is up. Another great feature Giratina-O has over Dialga is its ability to block Rapid Spin, which can be a very valuable asset on Uber teams.</p>
<p>The moveset listed give Giratina-O maximum coverage in the Uber metagame , and make it virtually impossible to wall. Dragon Claw is a reliable physical STAB that has enough power to 2HKO Blissey after Stealth Rock damage. Being a Dragon-typed move, it gives Giratina-O coverage against Latios, Latias, Palkia, and Rayquaza, all of whom are capable of countering Giratina-O to an extent without Dragon Claw. Outrage should be used only if the user feels daring, because being locking into a move here is quite undesired, as the mixed set has a hit-and-run feel to it. However, the extra power from Outrage scores a 2HKO against Kyogre and Dialga, and does massive damage to everything else that doesn’t resist it, bar Lugia, and can under certain conditions help Giratina-O's sweep in late game. Shadow Ball is explained already, but adding to that is the ability to 3HKO Groudon, who otherwise walls the set unless Giratina-O uses Outrage. However, if one does not need the coverage against Psychictypes, Draco Meteor is a great option as it hits Groudon, Dialga, and Giratina harder than the rest of its moves. Earthquake helps you deal with Steel-types, such as Jirachi and Heatran, and finally, Thunder is there to lay a powerful hit on Kyogre, 3HKOing a 252 HP / no Special Defense variant with ease, and stops both Skarmory and Forretress. If one is more concerned about Scizor, then using Hidden Power Fire is recommended. This will allow Giratina-O to OHKO Scizor in the sun, as well as OHKO Forretress and have around a 58% chance of OHKOing Skarmory, after it takes damage from Stealth Rock.</p>
<p>The EVs are more straightforward and more flexible this time. When it has its focus on both offensive stats it has no more EVs to place in its defenses. Maximum attack allows it to deal as much damage as possible to Dialga and Blissey, both which can take Giratina-O’s Special Attacks pretty well. 112 Speed EVs allow Giratina-O to outrun max Speed Jolly Tyranitar, and the rest are dumped into Special Attack to power up Shadow Ball, and either Hidden Power Fire or Thunder. When using Hidden Power Fire, take 4 EVs from Attack and put them in Speed, so Giratina-O can still out speed Jolly Tyranitar.</p>
<p>The key to mixed Giratina-O is to take advantage of its unpredictability to open up sweeps. For example, say you use Dragon Claw against Blissey. Realizing that it could 2HKO, the opponent is likely to switch. If they switch to Forretress, you can use Hidden Power Fire the next turn if its sunny, and OHKO it. With Forretress gone, your entry hazards can not be blown away by Rapid Spin, thus wearing down the team for a potential sweep. Scizor is a common switch into mixed Giratina-O, as Scizor will normally wall it. However, if the weather is sunny, Scizor will be OHKOed by Hidden Power Fire. With Scizor out of the way, Darkrai will have an easier time sweeping. Latias will often switch into Giratina-O, but if it switches into Dragon Claw is will easily be OHKOed. This can open up a sweep for Calm Mind Kyogre that have Rest and Sleep Talk.</p>
<p>Mixed Giratina-O’s main issues are with Lugia and Scizor. Lugia is able to out stall Shadow Ball with its amazing defenses unless a Special Defense drop occurs, while itcan then whittle away at Giratina-O’s health with Ice Beam. Scizor will wall any Giratina-O that lacks Hidden Power Fire as well, and in the rain even that won’t stop it. A good way to beat Lugia is to lure it in with Groudon, and then use Toxic to cripple it. Groudon’s sun will also aid Giratina-O in beating Scizor, Forretress, and Skarmory if it is carrying Hidden Power Fire. The Tickle Wobbuffet + Pursuit Scizor strategy works well once again in eliminating Lugia.</p>
[SET]
name: Sleeping Beauty (Physical)
move 1: Outrage
move 2: Shadow Force / Earthquake / Shadow Claw
move 3: Rest
move 4: Sleep Talk
item: Griseous Orb
nature: Adamant
EVs: 86 HP / 216 Atk / 96 SpD / 112 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Giratina-O is reasonably bulky and can run a physical Rest / Sleep Talk set fairly effectively too. No longer does one have to worry about status or being continuously worn down by Stealth Rock; this set scoffs at all of those. The combination of Rest and Sleep Talk also means that Lugia will be unable to do much to Giratina-O beyond phasing it or using Reflect. Outrage is Giratina-O’s attack of choice, as it is very devastating to most Ubers, as previously mentioned in the physical attacker set. When picked by Sleep Talk, Outrage loses its locking side-effect, and essentially becomes a 120 BP STAB move with no drawbacks. This is extremely helpful for Giratina-O, because most of the other sets are easily revenge killed when using Outrage. Shadow Force is the preferred option out of the three moves listed on the second moveslot, as it can not be picked with Sleep Talk, giving Giratina-O a higher chance to fire a very deadly Outrage. This is a win-win situation, as when it is awake, it has two offensive moves to choose from, and when it is asleep, it has a high chance of picking Outrage with Sleep Talk. If one were to find Shadow Force distasteful, he or she can choose either Shadow Claw or Earthquake. While both of these moves interfere with Sleep Talk's chances of picking Outrage, they are more reliable than Shadow Force when Giratina-O is awake. Earthquake gives coverage against Steel-types, while Shadow Claw decimates Psychic-types.</p>
<p>Much like the physical attacking sets, Giratina-O will struggle against Forretress, Skarmory, and Scizor. A Groudon with Overheat can be helpful here, as it can lure in Skarmory, only to be OHKOed. Groudon can also take any of Scizor’s attacks, and hit back with either Fire Punch or Overheat. A Choice Specs Kyogre can also switch in while Scizor uses Bullet Punch, or while Skarmory and Forretress use anything else, and OHKO them all with Surf or Water Spout, provided Kyogre gets in with more than 63% of its health. A support Dialga can also be helpful for similar purposes, being able to roast all 3 Steel-types with Fire Blast, while also being able to set up Stealth Rock.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Thunder Wave can be a good option on some Giratina-O sets. Thunder Wave can ruin many common Giratina-O switch-ins such as Kyogre, Latias, and the many Pokémon that might attempt to switch in expecting Giratina to set up (such as Rayquaza and Darkrai). Will-o-Wisp can be used to weaken physical attackers such as Groudon and Metagross, and lets Giratina-O to set up on them, but it will cost it a secondary attack. Finally, as a Dragon-type, it has access to Draco Meteor, which can be fit in the mixed set, should one decide that it is better off to hit Groudon harder instead of Mewtwo, Lugia, and Deoxys-D. Of course, there is an option of running a straight up special sweeper. Other than those, there’s not much, really.</p>
[EVs]
<p>The EVs are explained already in each set, but should one choose to be different, there are a couple more he or she can choose from. To start off, some users may feel that having 112 Speed EVs is a waste. In that case, Giratina-O’s Speed can be lowered to 24 EVs, putting it at 222 Speed, outrunning Adamant Tyranitar and some Kyogre, Groudon, Giratina, Deoxys-D , and Dialga. The extra 22 points can be placed in HP or Defenses for more survivability. For instance, the EV spread 196 HP / 40 Def / 24 Spe / 232 SpA / 18 SpD for the Calm Minder allows it to have a guaranteed survival against a Life Orbed Dragon Claw from Jolly Rayquaza, and very close to a guaranteed survival against a Modest Palkia’s unboosted Draco Meteor, after Giratina-O has a Calm Mind. Both are calculated after Giratina-O has taken Stealth Rock damage. With 34 HP / 24 Spe / 232 SpA / 220 SpD, Giratina-O is capable of holding up against Surfs from the standard Rest/Sleep Talk Kyogre, provided that both Giratina-O and Kyogre has the same number of boosts, and Giratina-O packs Thunder. This makes Giratina-O, although its not really recommended to be used like this, a very good counter to Rest/Sleep Talk Kyogre. The Special Defense EVs also allow it to take less than 50% from Choice Specs Ice Beam from a 399 Special Attack Kyogre.</p>
<p>196 HP / 246 Atk / 24 Spe / 4 SpD can be used on the physical attacker. It will guarantee that after a Stealth Rock damage, Giratina-O will survive a Life Orbed Dragon Claw from Jolly Rayquaza and an unboosted Spacial Rend from Timid Palkia.</p>
<p>Finally, there are the options of extremes; maximizing and minimizing the Speed stat. The classic 6 HP / 252 Speed / 252 Special Attack, along with Timid, can be used on Giratina-O, outrunning Adamant Rayquaza and tying with other +Speed natured base 90 Speed Pok émon, such as Kyogre and Groudon, provided that neither carries Choice Scarf. For the physical attacker, just replace Timid with Jolly. This can make Giratina-O into an effective revenge killer for Lucario and Adamant Rayquaza, thanks to Giratina-O's immunity to Extremespeed. On the other hand, lowering down its Speed to an absolute minimum, which is at 166, allows it to be used in Trick Room where it may compensate for its slowness. Being very slow also reduces punishment when using Shadow Force, at the cost of not being able to use the vanishing part of the move to dodge attacks. At this slow speed, it should under-speed Dialga, so that in case Dialga decides to switch in during Shadow Force’s charge up turn, it would be forced to strike first and Giratina-O would avoid the punishment from a potential Draco Meteor, or other Dragon-type move. The slowness, however, can prove to be a disadvantage though, so be wise when deciding to use it or not.</p>
<p>Lastly, it’s important to note that Giratina-O shouldnot be EVed in a way that makes its counterpart, Giratina, completely overshadow it stat wise. Never is an overstatement, though, as one may decide that having Levitate is crucial to his or her team, and may resort into using an extremely defensive Giratina-O just because of that.</p>
[Team Options]
<p>When using Giratina-O, Stealth Rock, Spikes, and even Toxic Spikes are extremely helpful. The reason for this is because Giratina-O is one of the few viable Rapid Spin blockers in the Uber metagame. Deoxys-S is an excellent example of this. Deoxys-S’s set up is ruined by Forretress’s Rapid Spin, thus Giratina-O that are not purely physical attackers can not only block Rapid Spin, but can also threaten to set up a sweep (unless Forretress has Light Screen and Payback together). Deoxys-S’s other main problem is Choice Scarf Darkrai leads. Although risky, you can use also use a Sleep Talking Giratina-O to absorb either Trick or Dark Void, which means that Deoxys-S can set up entry hazards later, however, watch out for Dark Pulse. If Deoxys-S is not desirable for your team, there are other options. Forretress is an excellent partner for setting up entry hazards. Forretress not only has the capability to use Spikes and Stealth Rock, but is also the few viable Uber users of Toxic Spikes. Two layers of Toxic Spikes are very helpful for Giratina-O that use Calm Mind, as this can make Calm Mind Blissey useless against it. Skarmory is another great user of Spikes and Stealth Rock, because it can easily take hits from physical revenge killers such as Garchomp, and set up Spikes. Forretress resists all of Giratina-O’s weaknesses, and vica-versa; Skarmory also resists all of Giratina-O’s weaknesses, with the exception of Ice. The combination of good defensive synergy and the ability to set up entry hazards make Skarmory and Forretress superb teammates for Giratina-O. Deoxys-D is also a consideration due to its ability to set up Spikes and Stealth Rock, though it shares Giratina-O’s weakness to Dark and Ghost. Dialga and Groudon are also good users of Stealth Rock to consider.</p>
<p>One of Giratina-O’s biggest issues is that not only is it slow, but it’s typing makes it weak to a wide variety of common Uber attacks. This problem is worsened by the lack of any recovery outside of Rest, as Giratina-O is unable to carry Leftovers. Wish support is extremely helpful for Giratina-O, because thanks to its huge HP, it means that Giratina-O can be a powerful threat that is still hard to kill. Paralysis support is also extremely helpful for Giratina-O, as this can fix its speed problem. The 3 main users of Wish in Ubers are Blissey, Latias, and Jirachi. Jirachi makes a fabulous teammate for Giratina-O, asor Thunder Wave to paralyze opponents, meaning that Giratina-O will have a much easier time sweeping. Blissey is also a great teammate for Giratina-O, as, in addition to having Thunder Wave and Wish, Blissey can also uses its gigantic HP and Special Defense to take the powerful Special Attacks that are often aimed at Giratina-O. Latias, although sharing many weaknesses with Giratina-O, is not out of the question. This is because unlike the other two Wish users, Latias can switch into Choice Specs Kyogre’s Water Spouts. Groudon is an excellent user of Thunder Wave for Giratina-O, as it can cripple Pokemon such as Rayquaza and Lugia if they attempt to switch into Earthquake. Kyogre is particularly good at using Thunder Wave as well, because Kyogre can often lure in Latias, only for it to be crippled by Thunder Wave. With Latias paralyzed, Giratina-O can easily destroy entire stall teams. When you are ever using a Giratina-O with Calm Mind, Wobbuffet is always a very good choice as a teammate, because it can help Giratina-O set up via Encore and Shadow Tag. Wobbuffet can also use Tickle when paired with a user of Pursuit to take down Lugia and Blissey for when they are problems for certain Giratina-O sets.</p>
<p>While Giratina-O is very difficult to counter, it is very easy to revenge kill, especially with the many Dragon-types in Ubers, almost all of whom are faster than it. If Dialga and Palkia are carrying Choice Specs, they can OHKO Giratina-O with Draco Meteor. In a similar manner, Latios can break through Giratina-O's Calm Mind and always OHKO it with Draco Meteor, after Stealth Rock damage. Choice Band Dialga can also easily OHKO Giratina-O with Outrage. Garchomp has a 79% chance of OHKOing Giratina-O with Outrage after Stealth Rock, with Life Orb it will always OHKO. Rayquaza can destroy Giratina-O with its STAB Dragon attacks as well. Finally, if Sleep Clause has not been activated yet, Darkrai can use Dark Void to put Giratina-O to sleep, and then slam it with Dark Pulse. Because of these many threats, Jirachi makes an excellent teammate. Jirachi can survive these powerful Draco Meteors, and use Wish to not only restore its health, but to also restore Giratina-O's healt Jirachi’s typing means that it resists Giratina-O’s Ice and Dragon weaknesses, while Giratina-O resists Jirachi’s Fire weakness and is immune to Earthquake, thus Wish passing can be made easier. To top this off, Jirachi can use Body Slam (which paralyzes 60% of the time due to Serene Grace) h. Jirachi also has the option of using Ice Punch to seriously wound Rayquaza and Garchomp, or Fire Punch, to potentially burn them, weakening their physical attacks. A specially defensive Scizor can also take these attacks, and use Roost to restore its health. Skarmory can usually handle Garchomp and Choice Band Dialga with ease, and set up Spikes on them. Blissey will also easily handle any Special Dragon-typed assaults coming its way. Rayquaza in particular can be very difficult to deal with, as it may attempt to use Dragon Dance or Swords Dance to set up as you switch. Choice Scarf Steel-types such as Dialga, Metagross, and Heatran can switch into Rayquaza's Dragon-type assaults, and OHKO Rayquaza with their Dragon or Ice attacks (Dragon Pulse or Dialga, Ice Punch for Metagross, and Hidden Power Ice for Heatran). These Choice Scarf Steel-types will also beat Rayquaza if it attempts to set up Swords Dance. If Rayquaza is a Dragon Dancer, you will be forced to either sacrifice your Steel-type or predict an Earthquake and revenge kill it. Dragon Dance Rayquaza can be revenge killed by numerous users of Choice Scarf carrying Ice or Dragon attacks, such as Garchomp, Shaymin-S, Palkia, Darkrai, and many more. Lugia can also beat Swords Dance Rayquaza most of the time with Ice Beam after Stealth Rock damage, though it will take massive damage from a Dragon Danced Outrage. A defensive Groudon can also defeat most Rayquaza with Stone Edge, but will fall to a Mixed Rayquaza. Dialga with a Choice Scarf can outrun Swords Dance Rayquaza, and hit it with a Dragon-type move, while it resists Extremespeed. For Darkrai, you can use a Rest + Sleep Talk Kyogre to absorb Dark Void, and then switch in either Life Orb Mewtwo to OHKO it with Aura Sphere, or send in Choice Scarf Dialga or Choice Scarf Palkia to OHKO it with Draco Meteor. In a similar manner, Choice Scarf Kyogre can revenge kill Darkrai if you choose to use another Dark Void absorber.</p>
<p>Giratina-O’s weaknesses are Ice-, Dragon -, Ghost-, and Dark-type moves, thus any Pokemon that can cover those will work well for Giratina-O. Excellent examples of this are Scizor and Forretress. Forretress and Scizor resist all of Giratina-O’s weaknesses, while Giratina-O can set up on Fire Blasts that are aimed at Forretress and Scizor. In fact, Giratina-O and Scizor or Forretress resist almost every single attacking type, the only ones not covered are Flying- and Rock-type moves. Skarmory works in a similar manner, though it lacks a Ice-type resistance. Metagross and Jirachi also work well, as they resist Dragon- and Ice-type attacks, while Giratina-O covers there weaknesses to Fire- and Ground-type attacks. Dialga is another excellent teammate, because not only does Dialga resist Ghost- and Dark-type attacks, but Giratina-O is also immune to its only two weaknesses, Fighting- and Ground-type. Although Lucario lacks good defenses, it is still a good choice to use with Giratina-O. This is because many opponents revenge kill Lucario with Choice Scarf Dialga and other fast Pokemon that can survive ExtremeSpeed. Giratina-O is immune to two of Lucario’s weaknesses, Fighting- and Ground-type moves, and also resists Fire-type attacks. Thus, Giratina-O can set up on Choiced Pokemon that attempt to revenge kill Lucario. Kygore resists Ice-type attacks, and can lure in Choiced Grass- and Electric-type attacks for Giratina-O to switch into. Although Giratina-O shares its Dark- and Ghost-type weaknesses with the many Psychic-types of Ubers, Giratina-O can most certainly help them take Bug-type attacks from Scizor, thanks to its Ghost-typing. Finally, Tyranitar and Giratina-O have an excellent defensive synergy. Tyranitar resists Ghost- and Dark-type attacks, and can often take little damage from Ice-type attacks and Special Dragon-type attacks thanks to Sand Stream's Special Defense boosts, while Giratina-O resists Water-, Bug-, and Grass-type moves, and is immune to Ground- and Fighting-type moves. However, Giratina-O hates the sandstorm due to its lack of Leftovers. To solve this problem, one should use either Kyogre or Groudon with Tyranitar and Giratina-O. If Giratina-O has Rest, the sandstorm becomes less of an issue.</p>
[Opinion]
<p>Whereas Giratina is a wall that never dies, Giratina-O is a sweeper that can puncture many holes in the opponent’s team. Despite only five sets being listed, its massive movepool means that it’s often a guessing game for the opponent when it’s first sent out, and a wrong guess in the opposition often leads to severe punishment. Arguably one of the most underrated Ubers to date, Giratina-O’s strengths are quite unique and should be exploited. It can be a special sweeper that can not be stopped by most Blissey, a physical sweeper that pinpoints most Ubers’ weaker side with STAB and often super effective STAB Outrage and Shadow Claw/Force, and a deadly mixed sweeper that can not be walled by Deoxys-D and Recover Mewtwo.</p>
<p>Levitate is an amazing ability that grants Giratina-O the ability to switch in without being scathed by Spikes and Toxic Spikes. Because of this ability and part Ghost -typing Calm Mind Giratina-O is a magnificent stall breaker, because it is able to switch in a number of times before it is worn down by Stealth Rock, and cannot be stopped by a regular Blissey. The mixed sweeper is also a great way to weaken stall as most Pokémon in a stall team are incapable of handling it, and will require prediction. Immunity to Rapid Spin means that Forretress can not Spin away any entry hazards that is set up by Giratina-O’s teammate(s), and helps wear down incoming Pokémon in the opposite side. Immunity to Trick and the item removing effect of Knock Off are also quite exclusive and can prove to be helpful in some cases.</p>
<p>However, it does have some pretty disturbing weaknesses; Giratina-O only has a base 90 Speed which is quite slow for Uber standards. It has weaknesses to the most common types in the Uber metagame, some that not even its massive defenses can save it from. Dragon -, Ice-, Ghost-, and Dark-type moves can prove to be quite nasty to Giratina-O. And finally, its most fundamental flaw is its inability to hold anything else besides Griseous Orb, which is what Giratina-O is most often criticized for. The inability to hold any other items ruins what would otherwise be an amazing potential. Being able to hold Leftovers would be so great for the Calm Mind set. However, to make up for this Giratina-O has some excellent strengths that can be extremely helpful for offensive teams. Giratina-O is the only viable offensive Rapid Spin blocker in the Uber tier, meaning that Giratina-O can help keep an offensive team’s momentum vs. a stall team. Giratina-O’s wonderful offensive typing also hits a large amount of the Uber tier super effectively. Giratina-O can easily sweep through stall teams as well, which is extremely helpful for offensive teams. Although Giratina-O will usually not sweep offensive teams, it can lure and take out key Pokemon (such as Latias and Dialga) that can stop sweeps from your other Pokemon (such as Kyogre and Rayquaza), thus allowing your other Pokémon to sweep. Overall, Giratina-O is a fantastic asset to many offensive teams, despite its limitations.</p>
<p>For those that play on Wi-Fi, it is a very, very annoying fact that it can not be used in that environment for a very odd and unknown reason. It can, however, be used in Link battles.</p>
[Counters]
<p>Giratina-O is tough to counter directly, considering that it has a huge offensive move pool. The Special Attacker can be stopped by Latias with proper EVs , but only if Stealth Rock is not present. While a regular Blissey is countered by the special sweeper, Calm Mind or Psych Up Blissey is a great counter to the special sweeper set. Her high Special Defense can let her Ice Beam away through its Substitutes, eventually until its death. In the absence of Aura Sphere, Tyranitar switches in with no qualms and destroys Giratina-O in many ways. Its high Special Defense allows it to switch into Dragon Pulse without taking a whole lot, and in return, Tyranitar inflicts painful damage with Crunch, Pursuit, or Payback. Furthermore, sandstorm cuts away at Giratina-O’s HP, and helps speed up its demise. Without Thunder, a Special Defensive Kyogre can Calm Mind alongside it and Roar it away. Choice Scarf Dialga can penetrate Giratina-O's Special Defense with Draco Meteor, while taking a neutral hit from Dragon Pulse. However, Giratina-O's Dragon Pulse, even being a neutral hit, takes over 50% of Dialga's health away, and due to such it can only be sent in once. If Giratina-O Calm Minds on the switch, Draco Meteor will not OHKO even after Stealth Rock damage, while a Calm Mind boosted Aura Sphere is likely to OHKO 4 HP / 0 SpD Dialga after it takes its Stealth Rock damage. A Choice Specs Dialga with EVs in HP canswitch in on the turn it uses Calm Mind and survive the Aura Sphere while OHKOing Giratina-O with Draco Meteor, but it can not switch into Giratina-O's Aura Sphere and Dragon Pulse without the fear of being 2HKOed, Stealth Rock or not. If Dragon Pulse is absent, Palkia can switch in and KO it with Draco Meteor or Spacial Rend, however, it is unlikely that Dragon Pulse will be absent. Its 120 base Special Defense protects it from being 2HKOed if Stealth Rock is absent. Rayquaza is in a similar vein as Palkia, being able to switch into Shadow Ball once and threatening it with Outrage or Draco Meteor. However, Rayquaza takes 25% damage from Stealth Rock, and can be OHKOed after a Calm Minded Shadow Ball after it takes the indirect damage from the entry hazard.</p>
<p>The physical sets are countered by Skarmory and Scizor. Both Pok émon are capable of Roosting away at whatever Giratina-O throws at it. Forretress can set up Toxic Spikes and Spikes, and can hurt Giratina-O with Gyro Ball. Lugia is faster than Giratina-O and can wall anything but Shadow Claw/Force and set up a Reflect. It can switch in during Shadow Force’s charging turn and set up a Reflect, cutting away Shadow Force’s power. Lugia can then Roost off the damage and either Whirlwind Giratina-O away, slowly chip its health away with Ice Beam, or just sit there PP stalling Giratina-O to death. Lugia can also inflict Toxic or Thunder Wave on Giratina-O, thus numbering down its chances to sweep. Lugia, however, can not do anything against the Rest/Sleep Talk version, as it is practically immune to status, and Ice Beam doesn’t do a lot to it. Besides those, though, it’s mostly putting Giratina-O into an unfavorable position using the turns it is locked into Outrage or Shadow Force.</p>
<p>The mixed set is the hardest to counter out of all of the three sets. The best counter to it is a Special Defensive Scizor, who can laugh at Thunder and the rest of the moves Giratina-O throws at it. In the rain, Scizor can take on Hidden Power Fire with relative ease. In return, Scizor can fire Bullet Punches and slowly chip away at Giratina-O’s monstrous health. Besides Scizor, though, it’s all about prediction. For instance, Lugia can come in on Outrage/Dragon Claw, or Earthquake, and inflict Toxic onto it. It can then attempt to Roost away at Giratina-O’s Shadow Balls so long as no Special Defense drop occurs, and wait until it is in Ice Beam’s kill range, which won’t be long.</p>
<p>Otherwise, just take advantage of Giratina-O’s slow Speed and lack of recovery (with the exception of the Rest / Sleep Talker). Try to dent Giratina-O with weak attacks upon it switching in if you can’t hit it with powerful ones. For example, try to hit it with Forretress’ Gyro Ball when it switches in so that it can be placed into the kill zone of moves such as Palkia’s Spacial Rend, Rayquaza’s Dragon Claw , or Dialga’s Dragon Pulse. Once again Giratina-O rarely makes a full sweep, but it will usually bring down one or two members with it.</p>
