[Overview]
<p> Giratina-O possesses a titanic base 150 HP, combined with respectable base 100 Defense and Special Defense, granting it a great amount of bulk to switch into attacks repeatedly. Levitate makes this even easier, as it can avoid Toxic Spikes and Spikes, and allows Giratina-O to act as the team’s Ground-type immunity. Offensively, Giratina-O can cause serious amounts of damage with its amazing base 120 Attack and Special Attack, along with access to very powerful moves such as Draco Meteor and Outrage, as well as a priority move in Shadow Sneak. But Giratina-O’s most powerful utility comes with its amazing Ghost/Dragon typing, which grants it many resistances and immunities, as well as giving STAB to its powerful moves. Although Giratina-O has common weaknesses and can only hold the Griseous Orb, the aforementioned traits are more than enough to make Giratina-O a monster offensively and defensively, and of course, one of the best spinblockers in the game.</p>
[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Draco Meteor
move 2: Hidden Power Fire
move 3: Shadow Sneak
move 4: Dragon Tail
item: Griseous Orb
evs: 248 Atk / 252 SpA / 8 Spe
nature: Naughty / Lonely
[SET COMMENTS]
<p> Thanks to its STABs, high offensive stats, and the boost from Griseous Orb, Giratina-O is a deadly mixed attacker. It may not be as powerful as Dialga or Rayquaza, but its typing and bulk set it apart from them. Draco Meteor is Giratina-O’s strongest attack and will leave gaping dents on anything that does not resist it, bar Blissey and Eviolite Chansey. Hidden Power Fire allows Giratina-O to fulfill its spinblocking role by roasting Forretress and Excadrill, the two most common Rapid Spinners in the Uber metagame. It also complements Draco Meteor well and takes care of problematic Steel-type Pokemon such as Ferrothorn and Metagross. Shadow Sneak appears weak at first, but it allows Giratina-O to pick off weakened sweepers. Amongst the most notable are Mewtwo and Ghost Arceus, as they are both weak to it. Dragon Tail allows it to phaze enemies around and racking up damage with entry hazards (which Giratina-O conveniently spinblocks), and making set ups extremely difficult. Combined with STAB, Giratina-O's naturally high Attack, and Griseous Orb boost, it will often leave a fair dent on most Pokemon in the game.</p>
<p>Unlike what is normally expected on mixed attackers, Giratina-O’s EVs are tailored to maximize its offenses instead of its Speed. This is because Giratina-O is already one of the slower Pokemon in the Uber metagame, and combined with the Speed IV imperfection granted by Hidden Power Fire, it cannot expect to outrun the offensive base 90 Speed Pokemon. However, the reason the natures are Naughty / Lonely instead of Brave is that Giratina-O would like to outrun the defensive base 90 Speed Pokemon such as Groudon and Kyogre. If the Speed EVs are insufficient, you may drop some from either offensive stats and invest more in Speed. Naive and Hasty are also options for the speed freaks. With at least 244 Speed EVs, Giratina-O can outrun Excadrill when sandstorm is not raging. Giratina-O can also run Defense EVs instead of Special Attack to make it a great emergency check to the likes of Swords Dance Arceus, Groudon, and Blaziken. For instance, with max Defense, Giratina-O will always survive Max Attack Adamant +2 Life Orb Shadow Claw from Arceus and Blaziken after taking Stealth Rock damage.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Giratina-O absolutely loves entry hazard support, perhaps more than any Pokemon in the game due to its ability to block Rapid Spin and its tendency to wreak havoc with Dragon Tail. Forretress, Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Deoxys-S are all able to set up Stealth Rock and Spikes. Forretress in particular gets a nod as it can lay down Toxic Spikes, and is also resistant to all of Giratina-O’s weaknesses, and vice versa. Groudon, Dialga, and some Arceus variants are great at setting up Stealth Rock and provide defensive backup. Since Giratina-O lacks recovery, Wish support is helpful. Blissey can sponge special attacks (particularly Draco Meteor) aimed at Giratina-O, and pass on its gigantic Wishes to Giratina-O. Jirachi and Giratina-O’s typings complement each other defensively, but Giratina-O’s massive HP stat means Jirachi’s Wish won’t heal as much. Regardless, the support remains helpful.</p>
[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Substitute
move 3: Dragon Pulse / Shadow Ball
move 4: Aura Sphere / Shadow Ball / Thunder
evs: 208 HP / 76 Def / 216 SpA / 8 SpD
nature: Modest
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Although Giratina-O's Speed may not be appealing, Giratina-O can still attempt a sweep via Calm Mind due to its excellent bulk and reasonably powerful attacks. What makes this set appealing, however, is courtesy of Giratina-O's Ghost/Dragon typing and access to Levitate, granting it crucial immunities to Seismic Toss, Rapid Spin, and entry hazards. These traits allow it to set up Calm Mind with relative ease against stall teams and inflict major damage, while rendering Blissey or Chansey useless with the use of Substitute.</p>
<p>It is recommended to have Dragon Pulse as Giratina-O's main attack, due to its amazing neutral coverage as well as hitting a myriad of Ubers super effectively. However, Shadow Ball allows Giratina-O to deal significant amount of damage to Mewtwo, Mew, Wobbuffet, and most importantly, Lugia, who could otherwise wall it to an extent. Whichever move you choose, Aura Sphere complements the coverage, hitting Pokemon such as Steel Arceus, Heatran, Dialga, Ferrothorn and Tyranitar for super-effective damage. Thunder should only be used with Dragon Pulse for the best coverage. It hits Forretress, Kyogre, and Ho-Oh harder than any of its other moves, as well as dealing a decent amount to Lugia. However, rain support is needed to ensure that it never misses. Finally, you can utilize both of Giratina-O's STAB attacks to hit many Ubers super effectively, sacrificing general neutral coverage in the process. Be warned, however, as Ferrothorn can defeat Giratina-O without Aura Sphere.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Hidden Power Fire may be used to immediately cut through Forretress and Ferrothorn in the sun. The combination of Hidden Power Fire and Dragon Pulse is only resisted by Heatran.</p>
<p>The EV spread allows Giratina-O to survive Choice Scarf Garchomp Outrage and Choice Scarf Palkia's Spacial Rend after Stealth Rock damage. The rest are thrown into Special Attack to power up its attacks. However, if being slow and defensive does not suit you well, maximizing Speed and Special Attack, with Timid nature, is an option.</p>
<p>Like the previous set, Giratina-O appreciates Steel-type teammates and entry hazards support. It is also fortunate that most of the viable Spikes-laying Pokemon in the Uber metagame are Steel-typed (Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Forretress). Wish support is highly recommended to keep Giratina-O at high health in order for it to have more chances at pulling a successful sweep, so Jirachi and Blissey/Chansey work well as partners. As far as counters go, there aren't a whole lot of counters for this set because Giratina-O can take just about anything with a Calm Mind and inflict massive damage back. However, it suffers from a two-attack syndrome. Lugia and Ghost Arceus can take it on without Shadow Ball, while Dragon-type Pokemon such as Palkia and Zekrom pose problems to those without Dragon Pulse. Ferrothorn, Tyranitar, and Heatran also annoy those without Aura Sphere.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Should Dragon Tail's negative priority and low base power not appeal to you on the mixed set, Dragon Claw or Outrage are options. If defensive Kyogre and Ho-Oh are problematic, Outrage is the superior option as it 3HKOes the former and 2HKOes the latter. It can also deal over 50% to 4 HP / 0 Def Arceus (unless the Arceus is Steel-typed), and combined with Toxic Spikes, Arceus will have a difficult time trying to stall it out. If none of the aforementioned problems are of your concern, Dragon Claw is better as it lacks the locking drawback of Outrage, and thus can be thrown about much more easily. Keep in mind that combined with entry hazards, Dragon Tail will do more damage on average than Dragon Claw and can potentially place the opponent into a terrible position.</p>
<p>Rest and Sleep Talk allow Giratina-O to preserve its bulk, but severely limits its attacking option. They are best used with Calm Mind and Dragon Pulse. Will-O-Wisp can burn unsuspecting enemies such as Tyranitar. Combined with a physically defensive spread, Giratina-O can act as a check to Ground Arceus. Stone Edge can be used to take down Ho-Oh but offers no real use outside of that. Giratina-O's signature move, Shadow Force, deals an incredible amount of damage, but its charge up turn can be played around against and leave Giratina-O vulnerable. Thunder Wave can cripple faster attackers such as Arceus and Choice Scarf Dialga. Destiny Bond is usable for surprise kills once in a while, but with Giratina-O's middling Speed, it is extremely unreliable and should not be used often. Magic Coat can be used to bounce back Spikes from Deoxys-S and Ferrothorn, and Dark Void from Darkrai, should you want to put Giratina-O in the leading role. Giratina-O can also attempt to sweep from the physical side, utilizing Hone Claws, Shadow Sneak, Earthquake, and Dragon Claw, but its power in that department leaves a lot to be desired.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Lugia can generally wall whatever Giratina-O throws at it and whittle it down with Ice Beam or blow it away with Whirlwind, while setting up Reflect to significantly weaken its physical moves. The rare Cresselia also follows the same principle, minus Whirlwind. Steel and Dark Arceus, with its great bulk and Speed, can switch into almost anything that Giratina-O throws at it and Recover the damage. It can proceed to severely damage Giratina-O with Judgment. Heatran can counter Mixed versions without Earthquake and Calm Mind versions without Aura Sphere. Tyranitar and Jirachi are also annoying for the Mixed attacker without Earthquake. Dialga can take a hit from Giratina-O can OHKO back with its own STAB Dragon-type attacks. Keep in mind that Dragon Tail makes countering Giratina-O harder than it seems, however.</p>
<p>Giratina-O isn't too difficult to revenge kill due to its weaknesses, lack of item options, and having average Speed. Choice Scarf Palkia, Dialga, Reshiram, and Zekrom can OHKO Giratina-O. Darkrai outruns Giratina-O, resists Shadow Sneak, and can severely cripple it with Dark Pulse (or put it to sleep with Dark Void). Be wary of the Calm Mind set, as it won't be so easily taken down. However, it doesn't have as much initial power as the Mixed Attacker and requires set up, and thus can be taken advantage of.</p>
[Dream World]
<p> Giratina-O did not receive a new Dream World ability (though its cousin, Giratina, received Telepathy). However, it has a competition for a spinblocker - Shadow Tag Shandera, who can immeidately trap and kill Forretress. Giratina-O still maintains a number of advantages though, such as having a Ground immunity, much more bulk, access to Dragon Tail and a better set of resistances.</p>
<p> Giratina-O possesses a titanic base 150 HP, combined with respectable base 100 Defense and Special Defense, granting it a great amount of bulk to switch into attacks repeatedly. Levitate makes this even easier, as it can avoid Toxic Spikes and Spikes, and allows Giratina-O to act as the team’s Ground-type immunity. Offensively, Giratina-O can cause serious amounts of damage with its amazing base 120 Attack and Special Attack, along with access to very powerful moves such as Draco Meteor and Outrage, as well as a priority move in Shadow Sneak. But Giratina-O’s most powerful utility comes with its amazing Ghost/Dragon typing, which grants it many resistances and immunities, as well as giving STAB to its powerful moves. Although Giratina-O has common weaknesses and can only hold the Griseous Orb, the aforementioned traits are more than enough to make Giratina-O a monster offensively and defensively, and of course, one of the best spinblockers in the game.</p>
[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Draco Meteor
move 2: Hidden Power Fire
move 3: Shadow Sneak
move 4: Dragon Tail
item: Griseous Orb
evs: 248 Atk / 252 SpA / 8 Spe
nature: Naughty / Lonely
[SET COMMENTS]
<p> Thanks to its STABs, high offensive stats, and the boost from Griseous Orb, Giratina-O is a deadly mixed attacker. It may not be as powerful as Dialga or Rayquaza, but its typing and bulk set it apart from them. Draco Meteor is Giratina-O’s strongest attack and will leave gaping dents on anything that does not resist it, bar Blissey and Eviolite Chansey. Hidden Power Fire allows Giratina-O to fulfill its spinblocking role by roasting Forretress and Excadrill, the two most common Rapid Spinners in the Uber metagame. It also complements Draco Meteor well and takes care of problematic Steel-type Pokemon such as Ferrothorn and Metagross. Shadow Sneak appears weak at first, but it allows Giratina-O to pick off weakened sweepers. Amongst the most notable are Mewtwo and Ghost Arceus, as they are both weak to it. Dragon Tail allows it to phaze enemies around and racking up damage with entry hazards (which Giratina-O conveniently spinblocks), and making set ups extremely difficult. Combined with STAB, Giratina-O's naturally high Attack, and Griseous Orb boost, it will often leave a fair dent on most Pokemon in the game.</p>
<p>Unlike what is normally expected on mixed attackers, Giratina-O’s EVs are tailored to maximize its offenses instead of its Speed. This is because Giratina-O is already one of the slower Pokemon in the Uber metagame, and combined with the Speed IV imperfection granted by Hidden Power Fire, it cannot expect to outrun the offensive base 90 Speed Pokemon. However, the reason the natures are Naughty / Lonely instead of Brave is that Giratina-O would like to outrun the defensive base 90 Speed Pokemon such as Groudon and Kyogre. If the Speed EVs are insufficient, you may drop some from either offensive stats and invest more in Speed. Naive and Hasty are also options for the speed freaks. With at least 244 Speed EVs, Giratina-O can outrun Excadrill when sandstorm is not raging. Giratina-O can also run Defense EVs instead of Special Attack to make it a great emergency check to the likes of Swords Dance Arceus, Groudon, and Blaziken. For instance, with max Defense, Giratina-O will always survive Max Attack Adamant +2 Life Orb Shadow Claw from Arceus and Blaziken after taking Stealth Rock damage.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Giratina-O absolutely loves entry hazard support, perhaps more than any Pokemon in the game due to its ability to block Rapid Spin and its tendency to wreak havoc with Dragon Tail. Forretress, Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Deoxys-S are all able to set up Stealth Rock and Spikes. Forretress in particular gets a nod as it can lay down Toxic Spikes, and is also resistant to all of Giratina-O’s weaknesses, and vice versa. Groudon, Dialga, and some Arceus variants are great at setting up Stealth Rock and provide defensive backup. Since Giratina-O lacks recovery, Wish support is helpful. Blissey can sponge special attacks (particularly Draco Meteor) aimed at Giratina-O, and pass on its gigantic Wishes to Giratina-O. Jirachi and Giratina-O’s typings complement each other defensively, but Giratina-O’s massive HP stat means Jirachi’s Wish won’t heal as much. Regardless, the support remains helpful.</p>
[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Substitute
move 3: Dragon Pulse / Shadow Ball
move 4: Aura Sphere / Shadow Ball / Thunder
evs: 208 HP / 76 Def / 216 SpA / 8 SpD
nature: Modest
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Although Giratina-O's Speed may not be appealing, Giratina-O can still attempt a sweep via Calm Mind due to its excellent bulk and reasonably powerful attacks. What makes this set appealing, however, is courtesy of Giratina-O's Ghost/Dragon typing and access to Levitate, granting it crucial immunities to Seismic Toss, Rapid Spin, and entry hazards. These traits allow it to set up Calm Mind with relative ease against stall teams and inflict major damage, while rendering Blissey or Chansey useless with the use of Substitute.</p>
<p>It is recommended to have Dragon Pulse as Giratina-O's main attack, due to its amazing neutral coverage as well as hitting a myriad of Ubers super effectively. However, Shadow Ball allows Giratina-O to deal significant amount of damage to Mewtwo, Mew, Wobbuffet, and most importantly, Lugia, who could otherwise wall it to an extent. Whichever move you choose, Aura Sphere complements the coverage, hitting Pokemon such as Steel Arceus, Heatran, Dialga, Ferrothorn and Tyranitar for super-effective damage. Thunder should only be used with Dragon Pulse for the best coverage. It hits Forretress, Kyogre, and Ho-Oh harder than any of its other moves, as well as dealing a decent amount to Lugia. However, rain support is needed to ensure that it never misses. Finally, you can utilize both of Giratina-O's STAB attacks to hit many Ubers super effectively, sacrificing general neutral coverage in the process. Be warned, however, as Ferrothorn can defeat Giratina-O without Aura Sphere.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Hidden Power Fire may be used to immediately cut through Forretress and Ferrothorn in the sun. The combination of Hidden Power Fire and Dragon Pulse is only resisted by Heatran.</p>
<p>The EV spread allows Giratina-O to survive Choice Scarf Garchomp Outrage and Choice Scarf Palkia's Spacial Rend after Stealth Rock damage. The rest are thrown into Special Attack to power up its attacks. However, if being slow and defensive does not suit you well, maximizing Speed and Special Attack, with Timid nature, is an option.</p>
<p>Like the previous set, Giratina-O appreciates Steel-type teammates and entry hazards support. It is also fortunate that most of the viable Spikes-laying Pokemon in the Uber metagame are Steel-typed (Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Forretress). Wish support is highly recommended to keep Giratina-O at high health in order for it to have more chances at pulling a successful sweep, so Jirachi and Blissey/Chansey work well as partners. As far as counters go, there aren't a whole lot of counters for this set because Giratina-O can take just about anything with a Calm Mind and inflict massive damage back. However, it suffers from a two-attack syndrome. Lugia and Ghost Arceus can take it on without Shadow Ball, while Dragon-type Pokemon such as Palkia and Zekrom pose problems to those without Dragon Pulse. Ferrothorn, Tyranitar, and Heatran also annoy those without Aura Sphere.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Should Dragon Tail's negative priority and low base power not appeal to you on the mixed set, Dragon Claw or Outrage are options. If defensive Kyogre and Ho-Oh are problematic, Outrage is the superior option as it 3HKOes the former and 2HKOes the latter. It can also deal over 50% to 4 HP / 0 Def Arceus (unless the Arceus is Steel-typed), and combined with Toxic Spikes, Arceus will have a difficult time trying to stall it out. If none of the aforementioned problems are of your concern, Dragon Claw is better as it lacks the locking drawback of Outrage, and thus can be thrown about much more easily. Keep in mind that combined with entry hazards, Dragon Tail will do more damage on average than Dragon Claw and can potentially place the opponent into a terrible position.</p>
<p>Rest and Sleep Talk allow Giratina-O to preserve its bulk, but severely limits its attacking option. They are best used with Calm Mind and Dragon Pulse. Will-O-Wisp can burn unsuspecting enemies such as Tyranitar. Combined with a physically defensive spread, Giratina-O can act as a check to Ground Arceus. Stone Edge can be used to take down Ho-Oh but offers no real use outside of that. Giratina-O's signature move, Shadow Force, deals an incredible amount of damage, but its charge up turn can be played around against and leave Giratina-O vulnerable. Thunder Wave can cripple faster attackers such as Arceus and Choice Scarf Dialga. Destiny Bond is usable for surprise kills once in a while, but with Giratina-O's middling Speed, it is extremely unreliable and should not be used often. Magic Coat can be used to bounce back Spikes from Deoxys-S and Ferrothorn, and Dark Void from Darkrai, should you want to put Giratina-O in the leading role. Giratina-O can also attempt to sweep from the physical side, utilizing Hone Claws, Shadow Sneak, Earthquake, and Dragon Claw, but its power in that department leaves a lot to be desired.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Lugia can generally wall whatever Giratina-O throws at it and whittle it down with Ice Beam or blow it away with Whirlwind, while setting up Reflect to significantly weaken its physical moves. The rare Cresselia also follows the same principle, minus Whirlwind. Steel and Dark Arceus, with its great bulk and Speed, can switch into almost anything that Giratina-O throws at it and Recover the damage. It can proceed to severely damage Giratina-O with Judgment. Heatran can counter Mixed versions without Earthquake and Calm Mind versions without Aura Sphere. Tyranitar and Jirachi are also annoying for the Mixed attacker without Earthquake. Dialga can take a hit from Giratina-O can OHKO back with its own STAB Dragon-type attacks. Keep in mind that Dragon Tail makes countering Giratina-O harder than it seems, however.</p>
<p>Giratina-O isn't too difficult to revenge kill due to its weaknesses, lack of item options, and having average Speed. Choice Scarf Palkia, Dialga, Reshiram, and Zekrom can OHKO Giratina-O. Darkrai outruns Giratina-O, resists Shadow Sneak, and can severely cripple it with Dark Pulse (or put it to sleep with Dark Void). Be wary of the Calm Mind set, as it won't be so easily taken down. However, it doesn't have as much initial power as the Mixed Attacker and requires set up, and thus can be taken advantage of.</p>
[Dream World]
<p> Giratina-O did not receive a new Dream World ability (though its cousin, Giratina, received Telepathy). However, it has a competition for a spinblocker - Shadow Tag Shandera, who can immeidately trap and kill Forretress. Giratina-O still maintains a number of advantages though, such as having a Ground immunity, much more bulk, access to Dragon Tail and a better set of resistances.</p>
