http://www.smogon.com/bw/pokemon/giratina-o
[Overview]
<p>When talk comes of spinblockers in the Uber tier, it is impossible to not mention the holy trinity—Ghost Arceus, the Father, Giratina, the Son, and of course, Giratina-O, the Holy Spirit. Trying to distinguish which one of them is the best is like trying to decide who the best classical music composer; Bach, Mozart, or Beethoven. On the surface, it may appear that Giratina-O is outclassed by the two other parts of the trinity. It does not appear to be as dangerous offensively as Ghost Arceus, which is faster, has less weaknesses and has Recover; it is also not as good defensively as Giratina, which boasts higher defenses and the ability to hold Leftovers. The biggest problem is the fact that Giratina-O lacks reliable recovery, which means that every bit of damage counts. However, despite this flaw, Giratina-O remains a fierce competitor for the title of being the best spinblocker in the entire game. This is largely due to its ability, Levitate, which gives it an immunity to both Spikes and Toxic Spikes, both of which are used excessively in Ubers. Furthermore, unlike Giratina, Giratina-O's Dragon Tail is quite powerful, allowing it to fully abuse the entry hazards that it keeps down due to its Ghost-typing. Never overlook the power of Giratina-O, lest you end up like Team Galactic Boss Cyrus, wandering around the Distortion World and being fed its nightmares for all of eternity.</p>
[SET]
name: Support
move 1: Dragon Tail
move 2: Shadow Sneak
move 3: Earthquake / Will-O-Wisp
move 4: Substitute / Magic Coat
item: Griseous Orb
nature: Adamant
evs: 164 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def / 84 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set takes advantage of pretty much all of Giratina-O's fabulous qualities. If given a free turn, it is a monster. Dragon Tail is the main attack, allowing Giratina-O to deal respectable damage while simultaneously racking up entry hazard damage. Shadow Sneak picks off wounded opponents from all the entry hazard damage, while also allowing Giratina-O to check weakened Latias, Latios, Ghost Arceus, and Mewtwo. For the third slot, Earthquake is preferred as it hits many Rapid Spinners for heavy damage, most notably Mold Breaker Excadrill, Tentacruel, and Kabutops, and also allows Giratina-O to hit Tyranitar for super effective damage. However, Will-O-Wisp allows Giratina-O to cripple many physical attackers, most notably ExtremeKiller Arceus and Groudon.</p>
<p>As for the final slot, Substitute is the best option, as it allows Giratina-O to avoid status and gives it free rein to spam Dragon Tail. Magic Coat, however, stops Giratina-O from becoming hazard fodder, doing very well against Spiking leads, as well as surprising Darkrai that think they can spam Dark Void indiscriminately.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Outrage can be used in the third or fourth slot for more power. Aqua Tail can be used on rain teams to hit Gliscor. Stone Edge can be used to OHKO Ho-oh. However, these moves are relatively specific and therefore you should only use them to plug up certain holes in your team.</p>
<p>Maximum Attack EVs allows Dragon Tail to be as powerful as possible. 84 Speed EVs allow Giratina-O to outspeed minimum Speed Tentacruel and Jirachi, and smack them incredibly hard with Earthquake. 164 HP EVs gives Giratina-O a large amount of bulk while minimizing damage from Stealth Rock, and the rest go into Defense to give Genesect, which tend to run a physical Choice Scarf set, a Special Attack boost.</p>
<p>One thing to remember when using Giratina-O is that while is it is a very sturdy spinblocker, it needs to be careful in switching into common Rapid Spinners, as they have many ways to disrupt it. Forretress and Excadrill often carry Toxic, Kabutops can hit Giratina-O very hard with Stone Edge, while Tentacruel can either burn Giratina-O with Scald, or use Ice Beam for chip damage that prevents Giratina-O from setting up Substitutes.</p>
<p>Being a spinblocker, Giratina-O obviously operates best when the opponent's side is littered with entry hazards. Forretress, Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Deoxys-S are just a few of the good entry hazard users in the metagame. Since Giratina-O has no means of recovery, Wish and Heal Bell support is highly appreciated. Chansey and Blissey can provide both relatively reliably, while synergizing well with Giratina-O. Jirachi can also pass relatively large Wishes to Giratina-O. In terms of weather, Giratina-O prefers sun or rain, since they do not cause it to take residual damage, meaning that Groudon and Kyogre are good teammates. In the same vein, removing Stealth Rock through Rapid Spin also helps Giratina-O last longer. Excadrill, Kabutops, Tentacruel, Starmie, and Forretress are the most reliable Rapid Spin users in the tier. Rapid Spin also helps the fact that Giratina-O tends to attract entry hazard layers, and even if Giratina-O is immune to both Spikes and Toxic Spikes, they are still detrimental to the rest of its team.</p>
<p>Pokemon that can take on Giratina-O's weaknesses are obvious teammates. Fighting Arceus with Toxic, RestTalk Kyogre, and Ho-Oh are excellent counters to Darkrai and Ghost Arceus. A Darkrai of your own can also take on Ghost Arceus. Steel-types can switch into Dragon-types that seek to beat down Giratina-O. Many of those Steel-types can also set up entry hazards that Giratina-O can so readily abuse. A number of these Steel-types, such as Jirachi and Steel Arceus, can also take on Kyurem-W which also poses a great threat to Giratina-O.</p>
<p>Lugia tends to not care about anything Giratina-O can do, apart from Toxic that can get bounced back by Magic Coat. Darkrai, Zekrom, and Kyurem-W can also defeat Lugia quite easily. Ho-Oh that invest EVs into Defense take zero net damage from Dragon Tail due to Regenerator. The easiest way to deal with these two is to set up Stealth Rock as soon as possible, which is rather convenient, as Giratina-O block Rapid Spin. The only Pokemon left that stops Stealth Rock are Pokemon with the ability, Magic Bounce. Fortunately, the Pokemon that have Magic Bounce are generally quite weak and fragile. Dialga sets up Stealth Rock very reliably against Xatu and Espeon. Deoxys-A is generally too threatening for Xatu and Espeon to block, while Mold Breaker Excadrill ignores Magic Bounce completely.</p>
[SET]
name: RestTalk
move 1: Rest
move 2: Sleep Talk
move 3: Dragon Tail
move 4: Roar / Shadow Sneak / Outrage
item: Griseous Orb
nature: Jolly
evs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set aims to address the biggest thorn in Giratina-O's side—theit's lack of recovery. This set allows Giratina-O to last longer and care less about residual damage. This set also allows Giratina-O to take advantage of +0 priority phazing when it is asleep with Sleep Talk. The last slot depends on what you want Giratina-O to do. Roar is preferred to maximise +0 priority phazing, which gives a higher chance for Giratina-O to phaze. Shadow Sneak lets Giratina-O revenge kill Deoxys-A, weakened Mewtwo, Latios, and Latias, while Outrage allows Giratina-O to hit hard, and does not lock it in when it is asleep.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Max Speed and a Jolly nature allow Giratina-O to at the least speed-tie with all Pokemon with base 90 Speed, allowing it force out as many Pokemon as possible. If Giratina-O is using Outrage, it also allows Giratina-O to outspeed Adamant Rayquaza and revenge kill it. The EVs can be changed, however. Giratina-O can either invest in Attack or Defense at the cost of Speed. Attack EVs can be used to patch up Dragon Tail's low base power, while Defense EVs allow Giratina-O to take on Extreme Killer Arceus and other physical attackers better. In terms of other moves that can be used in the last moveslot, Hidden Power Fire can be used to defeat Forretress, Will-O-Wisp can cripple physical attackers such as Extreme Killer Arceus and Groudon, and Earthquake can be used to hit Tyranitar and Excadrill for super effective damage. If Giratina-O is not using Shadow Sneak, it may be a good idea to carry a relatively sturdy Mewtwo check, as Shadow Sneak goes a long in helping to take it down.</p>
<p>Entry hazard layers thrive with Giratina-O's spinblocking support. Rapid Spin users are ideal teammates, as Giratina-O tends to be helpless in stopping opposing entry hazard layers, unless Hidden Power Fire (for Forretress) or Shadow Sneak (for Deoxys-S) is used. While this Giratina-O set has usable recovery, it still prefers to not get hit by sandstorm or hail, therefore Groudon or Kyogre support are still preferred.</p>
<p>RestTalk Kyogre, Fighting Arceus with Toxic, and Ho-oh are excellent counters to Darkrai, Ghost Arceus, and Dark Arceus, which can all threaten Giratina-O. Kyogre and Ho-oh also handle Kyurem-W relatively well. Steel-types such as Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Forretress, Steel Arceus, and Scizor can switch into Dragon-types. A Darkrai of your own, as well as Kyurem-W and Zekrom, can easily take out Lugia, while Rock Arceus counters Ho-oh.</p>
[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Draco Meteor
move 2: Shadow Sneak
move 3: Dragon Tail / Outrage
move 4: Hidden Power Fire / Thunder / Earthquake
item: Griseous Orb
nature: Naughty / Lonely
evs: 252 Atk / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>A staple of late DPP and early BW, mixed attacking Giratina-O takes full advantage of its offensive prowess. It is an excellent check to offensive Ground-types, namely Groudon and Landorus-T. Draco Meteor obliterates Groudon that do not invest in Special Defense while hitting very hard in general. Shadow Sneak revenge kills weakened Psychic-types and Ghost Arceus. Dragon Tail allows Giratina-O to do what it normally does (take advantage of entry hazards), although Outrage can be used to 2HKO Ho-Oh. Hidden Power Fire is the most preferable option as it OHKOes Forretress in the sun and severely damages it in neutral weather, while also 2HKOing Ferrothorn. Thunder is the better move to use in the rain to hit Steel-types, 2HKOing Skarmory, as well as hitting Kyogre very hard. Earthquake allows Giratina-O to 2HKO both Tyranitar and Excadrill.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Max Attack and Special Attack is preferred as it allows Giratina-O to hit as hard as possible, leaning more towards Attack since Giratina-O's weaker attacks (Shadow Sneak and Dragon Tail) are physical, and thus need as much investment as possible. A good EV spread if you're using Hidden Power Fire is 248 Atk / 64 SpA / 196 Spe with a Naive nature. This allows Giratina-O to outspeed Swords Dance Rayquaza and revenge kill it with Draco Meteor. If you're using Thunder, 112 Atk / 204 SpA / 192 Spe with a Naive nature still outspeeds Adamant Rayquaza, and the additional Special Attack allows Giratina-O to 3HKO Forretress.</p>
<p>Will-O-Wisp allows Giratina-O to cripple physical attackers such as Groudon and ExtremeKiller Arceus. Substitute eases prediction, and Stone Edge OHKOes Ho-Oh. Magic Coat allows Giratina-O to bounce Dark Void back at Darkrai, as well as bounce back entry hazards. Tailwind can either allow Giratina-O to clean up late-game or facilitate a teammate's sweep. If Tailwind is used, Outrage is preferable to Dragon Tail as the physical STAB attack, due to its lack of negative priority.</p>
<p>Entry hazard layers thrive with Giratina-O serving as a spinblocker. Depending on the choice of last attack, sun or rain support is appreciated. If Hidden Power Fire is used, Groudon support allows Giratina-O to OHKO Forretress, while Kyogre is an ideal teammate if Giratina-O is using Thunder. Giratina-O also appreciates Wish support from Blissey, Chansey, or Jirachi.</p>
<p>RestTalk Kyogre, Fighting Arceus with Toxic, and Ho-Oh are once again excellent counters to Darkrai, Ghost Arceus, and Dark Arceus, which can all threaten Giratina-O as per usual. Kyogre and Ho-Oh also handle Kyurem-W relatively well. Steel-types such as Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Forretress, Steel Arceus, and Scizor can switch into Dragon-types. A Darkrai of your own, as well as Kyurem-W and Zekrom, can easily defeat Lugia, while Rock Arceus counters Ho-Oh.</p>
[SET]
name: SubCM
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Calm Mind
move 3: Dragon Pulse / Shadow Ball
move 4: Aura Sphere / Thunder / Shadow Ball
item: Griseous Orb
nature: Modest
evs: 212 HP / 72 Def / 224 SpA
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Originally Giratina-O's flagship set, this set has falling out of favor mainly due to the other sets being more versatile, as well as Ghost Arceus being a more reliable Calm Mind user. However, this set still has distinct advantages. The ability to create massive Substitutes, coupled with immunity to Toxic Spikes, allow Giratina-O to set up easily on classic stall teams that are relatively slow and lacking in firepower. With its Ghost-typing and a number of other resistances, Giratina-O can set up easily on Seismic Toss and other weak attacks. In general, a classic stall team would have to either sacrifice or allow heavy damage to be taken by a key Pokemon, usually Latias, to take down Giratina-O. This allows you to take advantage of that hole with other sweepers.</p>
<p>Dragon Pulse is the preferred STAB attack as it is more powerful, while hitting the numerous Dragon-types in the metagame such as Palkia for super effective damage. Shadow Ball, while weaker, hits Lugia and Ghost Arceus for super effective damage, two Pokemon that can be seen on stall teams. It also hits stall Mewtwo for super effective damage. As for the last slot, Aura Sphere best complements Dragon Pulse or Shadow Ball for its ability to hit Steel-types, most notably Ferrothorn and Excadrill, as well as being the only attack that can threaten Tyranitar. Thunder hits most Steel-types with the exception of Excadrill and Forretress hard, as well hitting Skarmory for super effective damage. It also hits Lugia for super effective damage, making it a good choice if Shadow Ball is not used. It also smacks Kyogre incredibly hard. Finally, Shadow Ball can be used as a secondary STAB attack which is Giratina-O's best weapon against Jirachi as well as being able to hit Ghost Arceus while keeping Dragon Pulse. However, its inability to hit most other Steel-types makes it relatively undesirable.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EVs listed allow Giratina-O to survive an Outrage from Choice Scarf Garchomp, as well as Choice Scarf Spacial Rend from Palkia without a Calm Mind boost. The remainder is put into Special Attack and a Modest nature is used to give Giratina-O as much power as possible. In terms of other moves that Giratina-O can use, Hidden Power Fire can be used to OHKO Forretress and deal huge damage to Ferrothorn, however, it is quite weak otherwise. Earth Power can used to OHKO Heatran and deal significant damage to Tyranitar.</p>
<p>Giratina-O, being a stallbreaker, works by forcing key Pokemon on stall teams to sacrifice themselves to take it down. This allows other Pokemon to take advantage of the absence of those key defenders. For example, a boosting Giratina-O would force Latias to come in and stop it, severely damaging itself in the process. Pokemon such as Calm Mind Kyogre, Lustrous Orb Palkia, and Calm Mind Fighting Arceus pose a much bigger threat with Latias out of commission. If using Thunder, it can lure in Pokemon such as Lugia and specially defensive Kyogre to take a lot of damage to phaze it out. Again, Calm Mind Fighting Arceus works well with these two severely damaged. Kyurem-W finds much easier to mindlessly spam Ice Beam when Kyogre is out of the way.</p>
<p>Giratina-O can obviously still act as a spinblocker with its Ghost-typing, which means the more entry hazards on the opposing side, the better. If Thunder is used, then Kyogre support is preferred for perfect accuracy, although it is not compulsory. Giratina-O also appreciates Wish support from Blissey, Chansey, or Jirachi.</p>
<p>Depending on the moves used, Giratina-O will find it hard to bust through certain Pokemon. If it lacks Shadow Ball, it will find it hard to get past Ghost Arceus, Deoxys-D, or (if Giratina-O also lacks Thunder) Lugia. If it lacks Aura Sphere, it will fail to defeat Tyranitar and will also have problems against Ferrothorn that carries Gyro Ball. If it lacks Dragon Pulse, it will potentially have a lot more trouble against balanced and offensive teams that have more powerful Dragon-types. Darkrai is an excellent teammate to run alongside SubCM Giratina-O to defeat Ghost Arceus and Lugia. Groudon and other bulky Ground-types defeat Tyranitar as well as being able to defeat Ferrothorn. Fighting Arceus does something very similar. For Dragon-types that threaten to take down Giratina-O, Steel-types are obviously the best Pokemon to go to. Steel Arceus, Jirachi, Forretress, and Ferrothorn are just a few of many good Steel-types.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Giratina-O can run an offensive Calm Mind set with max Speed and three attacks, but is mostly outclassed by Ghost Arceus in this role, which boasts higher Speed and a typing that makes it harder to revenge kill. A Calm Mind RestTalk set is another option, but with BW's sleep mechanics and the relative ease of stopping such a set, it is not as useful as it was in DPP. A set comprised of Substitute and Shadow Force looks relatively enticing, especially if coupled with Toxic Spikes, but Shadow Force is rather easy to play around. Giratina-O also has access to Hone Claws, but generally has better things to do.</p>
<<p>Thunder Wave is an interesting option for Giratina-O. Like many Pokemon, however, Giratina-O does not have much use for Thunder Wave, as it has better things to do. Likewise, Toxic can be used, but justifying its use over Will-O-Wisp is difficult. Destiny Bond can be a nasty surprise for Pokemon such as Dialga that think they can easily take down Giratina-O. Pain Split can be used as a source of recovery for Giratina-O, but you must be very careful in using it due to Giratina-O's massive HP stat, and you may end up losing health instead of gaining it a majority of the time.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>There are three general ways of dealing with Giratina-O. There are Pokemon that don't care about anything that Giratina-O does. If Stealth Rock is not up, Ho-Oh does not care about anything Giratina-O does outside of the rare Stone Edge. Lugia, in general, is bulky enough to take on most anything Giratina-O throws at it and has reliable recovery to get its health back. The only exception are SubCM versions with Shadow Ball, against which Lugia would be forced to take a large amount of damage before forcing Giratina-O out with Whirlwind, unless Multiscale is intact. Bulky Arceus formes that are not weak to Giratina-O generally do not mind it either. Wallceus gets a special mention due to its physical bulk, access to Leftovers, and Will-O-Wisp to weaken Dragon Tail, as well as Roar to force Giratina-O out first.</p>
<p>If you do not carry these Pokemon, however, it is important to remember that with the likely presence of entry hazards, it is difficult to counter Giratina-O directly, since Dragon Tail would force your counter to take a lot of damage along with the entry hazards and will likely force you into a poor matchup. This is why having Pokemon that can absorb Dragon Tail relatively well, as well as having Pokemon that can outright KO Giratina-O, is very important. The general strategy is to allow a Pokemon that can absorb Dragon Tails to take them and then wait for a favourable matchup. Pokemon that can absorb Dragon Tail tend to have substantial passive recovery, resistance or immunity to entry hazards, and/or high effective Defense or a resistance to Dragon Tail. Gliscor is an excellent example. Its large Defense stat means it can take Dragon Tail relatively well, while Poison Heal allows it to recover lost health quickly. Landorus-T and (if Stealth Rock is not up) Gyarados can Intimidate Giratina-O to weaken Dragon Tail. If Stealth Rock is not up, Tornadus-T, while taking significant damage from Dragon Tail, recovers most of it due to Regenerator, making it a decent switch-in to Giratina-O. Skarmory also takes Dragon Tail quite well, while having Roost to regain what little health it loses. If Spikes are not up, then bulky Steel-types such as Steel Arceus, Bronzong, and Jirachi can also take Dragon Tail quite easily. Steel Arceus is especially useful for the fact that if it does not come in on Dragon Tail, it can force Giratina-O out with Roar first. Another way to make it difficult for Giratina-O is making it take residual damage while spamming Dragon Tail. Ferrothorn forces Giratina-O to take a lot of residual damage every time it is hit by Dragon Tail due to Iron Barbs, and Rocky Helmet Skarmory can do something similar. Just be very careful that some Giratina-O may be running a mixed set; switching your Landorus-T into an incoming Draco Meteor can prove incredibly costly.</p>
<p>As for Pokemon that take down Giratina-O, the list is quite long. These include any strong Dragon-type, Darkrai, Ghost Arceus, Dark Arceus, and Tyranitar. If a physical Pokemon is being used for this role, just make sure that it doesn't get it burned by Will-O-Wisp.</p>
<p>Finally, unless you have the Pokemon that do not care about Giratina-O as a whole, the above strategy of absorbing Dragon Tail and hoping for a good matchup often falls flat against the SubCM variant. It is therefore, a good idea to scout Giratina-O's set just in case. The SubCM set, if lacking Shadow Ball, can be defeated by Deoxys-D that has Taunt, Night Shade, and Recover, as well as Ghost Arceus, and if lacking Thunder as well, Lugia. If Giratina-O lacks Aura Sphere, then Ferrothorn with Gyro Ball can check it, as can Tyranitar. If it lacks Thunder, Kyogre will cause it trouble in general. Skarmory can also Whirlwind Giratina-O out quite easily as well if it lacks Thunder. If Giratina-O lacks Dragon Pulse, then Latias has a better chance of taking it down, as can most Dragon-types in the tier.</p>
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