http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/giratina
This is my first peer edit ever, so try to be nice in your criticisms.
-Added team comments to each set.
-Added Team Options section
-Moved Choice Band and Choice Specs sets to Other Options, because both sets are simply outclassed by too many other Pokemon. Giratina just doesn’t have the offenses to use it too effectively. If you absolutely feel those sets must be in there, and give good supportive evidence, then I’ll add them back in.
-Reworded a few sentences and fixed grammar and spelling where it needed to be fixed.
-Decided to keep existing mentions of Arceus, he’ll be released soon enough.
Main Concerns
-Are the Team Options good enough? Do any of you guys have more suggestions?
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[SET]
name: The Great Wall
move 1: Will-O-Wisp
move 2: Rest
move 3: Sleep Talk
move 4: Dragon Claw/ Dragon Pulse / Outrage
item: Leftovers
ability: Pressure
nature: Bold / Impish
evs: 248 HP / 248 Def / 12 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p> Giratina is arguably one of the best physical walls in the game. With colossal base 150 HP and massive base 120 Defense, Giratina defiantly stands in the faces of powerful physical sweepers such as Metagross and Groudon, blocking their paths to victory. As they unleash their most powerful attacks, it seems that there is no possibility that Giratina could survive. However, to the opponent’s disbelief, Giratina stands alive with over half of its health.</p>
<p>Giratina’s physical walling ability is enhanced by its ability to use Will-O-Wisp, which cuts the opponent’s Attack stat in half. Imagine the pain of those physical attackers who are now incapable of hurting Giratina. They continue to harass Giratina with powerful physical attacks, yet the attacks do so little. Then, as they see the door to victory after continuous bombardment, and are certain that one more shot will end Giratina once and for all. Giratina Rests, effectively erasing all the hard-earned damage; leaving no hope. As the opponent continues to attack, they will soon find all of their PP drained due to Pressure.</p>
<p>Sleep Talk enables Giratina to absorb status and ensures that it isn’t set up bait for Rayquaza and Arceus, seeing as Sleep Talk may pick Will- O-Wisp and ruin their fun. Dragon Claw enables Giratina to severely damage other Dragon-types, OHKO Deoxys-A, and deal a respectable amount of damage to Ho-oh and Darkrai; whereas Dragon Pulse carries a dash more power against Groudon.</p>
<p>Instead of using Impish and Dragon Claw, one might choose to use Bold and Dragon Pulse. Dragon Pulse has a slight chance of 3HKOing opposing Giratina and will always break Groudon's Substitutes, in case one tries to Substitute to block Will-O-Wisp. Outrage gives Giratina extra power and does not lock Giratina into a single attack.</p>
<p>Many of the powerful special attackers in Ubers will quickly decimate Giratina with their powerful strikes. It doesn’t help that Giratina possesses weaknesses to Dragon -, Ice-, Ghost-, and Dark-type attacks, all of which are commonly used attack types in the tier. Calm Mind Mewtwo will laugh as it Taunts in Giratina’s face, preventing recovery from Rest. It will then happily Calm Mind and blast Giratina away with a powerful Ice Beam or Shadow Ball. Nasty Plot Darkrai is in a similar boat, as it is able to get a free Nasty Plot, and then OHKO Giratina with STAB Dark Pulse. Many of the powerful Dragon-typed special attackers, such as Dialga, Palkia, the Lati twins, and Giratina-O, will easily steamroll Giratina with STAB Dragon-type moves; though the latter three will not want to eat Giratina’s STAB Dragon Claw. Kyogre can easily pick off Giratina with Ice Beam or sometimes Water Spout, should Giratina be weakened, or set up on it with Calm Mind. Finally, there a few physical sweepers that will easily KO Giratina, such as Rayquaza, Choice Band Garchomp, and Bulk Up Dialga; although the former two will hate Will-O-Wisp. Steel-types make great teammates for Giratina, as they resist all of Giratina’s weaknesses, and can beat many of its common counters. Specially Defensive Scizor is a superb example of a good teammate. It can easily switch in on Mewtwo (beware of Flamethrower), Darkrai (watch out for +2 Focus Blast), Latias, and Latios (watch for Hidden Power Fire), and OHKO them all with U-Turn, trap them with Pursuit, or pick them off with Bullet Punch. Thanks to Scizor’s Dragon-type resistance, it can easily switch on Dialga and Palkia’s Dragon-type attacks as well, provided they aren’t holding Choice Specs. Watch out for versions without Choice items, as many carry Fire-type moves especially for these situations. Scizor can also revenge kill Rayquaza and Garchomp, if they are locked into Outrage, with Bullet Punch, which they will likely be, as they are forced to use it to KO Giratina. Scizor also makes a decent Giratina-O check, resisting both of Giratina-O's STABs and weakening it with Bullet Punch. Another good partner for Giratina is Jirachi, since it can take any Dragon- or Ice-type attacks aimed at Giratina and can cripple threats such as Calm Mind Mewtwo, Calm Mind Kyogre, Latias, and Latios with Toxic, hampering their ability to set up on Giratina effectively. It can also stall out non-Choice Specs Kyogre and Palkia with a combination of Wish, Protect, and Toxic, and, like Scizor, Jirachi can revenge kill Garchomp and Rayquaza locked into Outrage. Jirachi can also enhance Giratina’s ability to take hits with Wish, Reflect, and / or Light Screen. Blissey can take any special attack thrown at Giratina,use Wish to help ease Giratina switching in to battle. A supporting Dialga can deal with non-Choice Specs Kyogre, and can cripple Mewtwo, Latias, Latios, and other special attackers by using Thunder Wave. Additionally, a Calm Mind Latias of your own, despite sharing Giratina’s weaknesses, can take on most Kyogre variants and can beat Giratina-O (if SR isn't up), mixed Dialga, and Palkia. Be careful though, as Latias is 2HKOed by Choice Specs Kyogre’s Ice Beam. Groudon also gets a mention, as it can deal with the physical attackers that Giratina cannot, thanks to its high Defense, lack of a Dragon weakness, and Dragon Claw. Groudon also has the advantage of crippling problem sweepers with Thunder Wave, like the aforementioned Dialga can.</p>
<p>Giratina walls physical attackers, such as Groudon, Scizor, Metagross, Heracross, some Tyranitar, and physical versions of Ho-oh almost effortlessly, so sweepers who normally have trouble with these threats make good offensive teammates for Giratina. Nasty Plot Darkrai loves having Scizor, Metagross, and Heracross out of the picture, as they are some of its main counters. With them gone, Darkrai can easily sweep the enemy team with little effort (it still gets stopped by ResTalk Ogre). Shaymin-S is also a good sweeper to pair with Giratina, as it too will have little difficultly taking down an opponent’s team once Scizor and Ho-oh are gone. Rayquaza is also an excellent complement, as Groudon (watch out for Thunder Wave), Scizor, and Metagross can no longer stop Rayquaza from sweeping once they have their attack cut by Will-o-Wisp. Garchomp works the same way as Rayquaza. Since most of the Pokemon that Giratina stops are also counters to the common Psychic-types in Ubers, they too make great offensive partners. Mewtwo, Latios, Latias, and Deoxys-A all benefit from having Giratina around to incapacitate Scizor, Metagross, and Heracross.</p>
[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Dragon Pulse
move 3: Rest
move 4: Sleep Talk / Will-O-Wisp / Shadow Ball / Roar
item: Leftovers
ability: Pressure
nature: Bold
evs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 SpA
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Giratina can also utilize Calm Mind in order to boost its stats on the special side without having many problems with taking physical assaults, thanks to its high Defense. To keep Giratina alive, it must Rest so it can continue to set up more Calm Minds and eventually unleash a powerful Dragon Pulse. To further aid its set-up, it can use Sleep Talk to use moves while it sleeps. It is the preferred option so Giratina does not become set-up bait for opposing sweepers. It can then use its sleeping turns to further stat up or dent your opponent with Dragon Pulse. Will-O-Wisp lowers the opponent’s Attack, allowing it to take hits on the physical side with greater ease. Roar keeps other Calm Minders from setting up on you. Shadow Ball lets it hit Psychic-type Ubers such as Mewtwo and Deoxys-D while still doing a decent amount of damage to Metagross. You must be aware, however, that most of Giratina’s weaknesses lay on the special side, which may hamper its ability to set up, unless it already has a few Calm Minds under its belt.</p>
<p>Even though Giratina will be boosting it’s Special Defense with Calm Mind, it still has problems with all of the Pokemon listed above in the previous set, so any of the teammates from that set will work just as well with this Giratina. However, there are a few more Pokemon that this Giratina will have a tough time with. The first is Tyranitar because it can 2HKO Giratina with a Choice Band boosted Crunch, and will laugh at even a boosted Dragon Pulse , especially since the sandstorm will boost its Special Defense. Tyranitar can also employ Taunt and Dragon Dance to set up on Giratina, as it can Taunt Giratina to prevent it from setting up, then Dragon Dance while it tries to hurt Tyranitar with Dragon Pulse. This, however, cannot be done if you are using Will-O-Wisp on the switch. Swords Dance Lucario can also switch in on Rest, use Swords Dance, and 2HKO you with Crunch, while a +1 Dragon Pulse won’t even 2HKO Lucario. Lastly, this set greatly fears phazers because they can Roar or Whirlwind away Giratina’s boosts. It certainly doesn’t help that the most common phazers, Groudon, Lugia, and Skarmory, can all survive a Dragon Pulse without much of problem. Forretress helps Giratina immensely, because it can switch into Tyranitar’s Choice Banded Crunches and defeat it with Gyro Ball. Forretress can also lay down the dreaded Toxic Spikes, which means Blissey can no longer stall you, and it also helps weaken Giratina’s opponents to make its sweep easier. Giratina also has the advantage of blocking Rapid Spin, thanks to its Ghost-typing, and since there are no Poison-typed Ubers and neither Roserade nor Tentacruel are used, Toxic Spikes can’t be removed as long as Giratina is in play. Kyogre is an excellent way to deal with the above phazers, severely hurting them all with its powerful Surf or Thunder attack. Choice Scarf Dialga works in much the same way, but it provides resistances to Ghost- and Dark-type moves, and is a much more reliable check for Lucario, thanks to it’s resistance to Extremespeed</p>
[Other Options]
<p> There is not much to use that is not mentioned above. Toxic and Roar are usable options on the Rest/Talking set, but that means you can’t touch Steel-types. Losing Will-O-Wisp means you lose part of Giratina's ability to wall things physically. Of course, one cannot forget its signature move, Shadow Force. While it does have base 120 power, it is incapable of hitting Normal-types such as Blissey and Arceus, who may attempt to switch in on the charging turn. In addition, Steel-types like Skarmory and Forretress can take it without much trouble.</p>
<p>One should not underestimate Giratina’s offensive capabilities. It has a large offensive movepool and two of the best STAB in Ubers, so it can make use of a Choice Band or a Choice Specs set to hit hard and surprise its counters. However, Giratina is rather slow,. While Base 100 offenses aren’t bad, they are slightly below average for Uber play. Furthermore, its cousin, Giratina-O, generally outclasses Giratina in the way of offense.</p>
[EVs]
<p>Giratina’s EVs are listed in every set. Dumping the EVs into Special Defense instead of Defense is an option. However, since Giratina's weaknesses are more often special than physical, it isn't recommended. 24 EVs in Speed allows Giratina to outrun a max Speed Tyranitar and no Speed Groudon and Dialga.</p>
[Team Options]
<p>Like any defensive wall, Giratina greatly appreciates the added protection of Reflect and Light Screen to help it take the powerful attacks of opposing sweepers. It also means that Giratina does not have to Rest as often, as it can sometimes be set up on while sleeping. Good users of the Dual Screens are Jirachi, Bronzong, and Mewtwo, the former two getting special mention as they can take Dragon- and Ice-type moves thrown Giratina’s way. Giratina’s main role in a team, in addition to walling, is usually to block Rapid Spin so that the opponent cannot remove your entry hazards from the field, so pairing it with users of such moves can be quite beneficial to your team. Groudon, Dialga, and Deoxys can set up Stealth Rock, Skarmory, Forretress, and Deoxys can lay down Spikes, and Forretress can set up Toxic Spikes. Toxic Spikes is particularly beneficial to Giratina, as it hampers opposing set-up sweepers and aids in Giratina’s stalling capabilities.</p>
<p>Giratina is no slouch at offense either, as it can use Calm Mind to boost the power of its attacks and can easily rampage through an unprepared team with its STAB Dragon Pulse if played correctly. Giratina can also outstall even Calm Mind Blissey thanks to Rest, immunity to Seismic Toss, and Pressure; especially if Toxic Spikes are present. However, Giratina does run into a few roadblocks when trying to sweep. Choice Band Tyranitar can easily swap in and 2HKO you with Crunch or use you as set-up bait with Taunt and Dragon Dance, while Giratina can do little damage back. Phazers are also a huge problem for Giratina, as they can easily Whirlwind or Roar away its boosts. Groudon, Lugia, and Skarmory are the main users of such moves,. However, it should be pointed out that none of them can beat Giratina if it is the last Pokemon. Nevertheless, Kyogre, as mentioned earlier, is capable of destroying all of the aforementioned threats with Surf and Thunder. Darkrai can incapacitate any of the above threats with Dark Void. It can then rip through many of Giratina’s counters thanks to it’s high Speed, Nasty Plot, and powerful STAB Dark Pulse.</p>
<p>As mentioned previously, Giratina cannot take many special attacks, as most of such attacks are usually one of the Dragon-, Dark-, Ghost-, or Ice-types, all of which Giratina is weak to. Darkrai, Mewtwo, Kyogre, and Dialga are the most dangerous foes, as none of them will particularly mind a Dragon Claw, due to Giratina’s lackluster Attack. Mewtwo and Darkrai can render you useless while sleeping due to Taunt and will easily set up with Calm Mind (or Nasty Plot in Darkrai’s case) and annihilate Giratina with powerful, super effective strikes. Kyogre can also Calm Mind, and shut down Giratina with Ice Beam. Dialga isn’t weak to Dragon-type attacks and will OHKO Giratina with Draco Meteor. Blissey can take any Special Attack aimed at Giratina, barring a Choice Specs Water Spout from Kyogre, and respond with status or Seismic Toss. However, Blissey is vulnerable to Taunt and will lose to Rest + Sleep Talk Kyogre if it has Calm Mind. However, it should be noted that Giratina can beat Rest + Sleep Talk Calm Mind Kyogre if Giratina is also packing Calm Mind because of Pressure and its resistance to Water-type moves. Scizor is also an excellent teammate for Giratina. Scizor resists all of Giratina’s weaknesses, and can easily KO Mewtwo and Darkrai with U-Turn or Bullet Punch, while resisting or being neutral to the usual attacks that these Pokemon usually carry. Scizor also resists Dragon-type moves, so it can take Dragon-type attacks from Dialga without too much of a problem, and 2HKO it with Superpower. However, Scizor needs to watch out for boosted Focus Blasts from Darkrai and can’t take repeated hits from Choice Specs Dialga. However, there are a few physical sweepers that can make quick work of Giratina, such as Bulk Up Dialga and, if Giratina lack Will-O-Wisp, Tyranitar. Groudon can take on both of these threats with it’s high Defense and powerful STAB Earthquake. Choice Specs Heatran resists Dragon, and can OHKO Bulk Up Dialga if the sun is up. A defensive Groudon can also deal with some other physical attackers that might make Giratina think twice about staying in, such as Rayquaza, Swords Dance Lucario (if you lack Will-O-Wisp), and Choice Band Garchomp, though all three must beware of Will-O Wisp and none them can OHKO Giratina without setup (except Draco Meteor from a Mixed Rayquaza).</p>
<p>Giratina’s most fearsome opponents, which are Mewtwo, Darkrai, Dialga, and Kyogre, are usually paired with Groudon and offensive Dragon-types such as Garchomp, Rayquaza, and Palkia. Latias with Soul Dew can usually take on Palkia, surving any special attack and OHKOing Palkia with Dragon Pulse. Beware of Choice Scarf variants, as they can outspeed and KO next turn. Latias can also come in on Groudon’s Earthquake and OHKO it with Grass Knot. A Groudon of your own is another good teammate to help Giratina deal with Garchomp and Rayquaza. Scizor can also switch in on Outrages from Garchomp and Rayquaza and destroy them with Bullet Punch. It can also take Dragon-type attacks from Palkia, and weaken it with U-turn. Giratina can handle Groudon by itself, but the Swords Dancer can cause Giratina some problems if Giratina lacks Will-O-Wisp. Skarmory can switch in and phaze Groudon away with Whirlwind, but fears Fire Punch. This type of Groudon is also easily revenge killed, thanks to its low Speed, by strong special attackers, such as Scarf Dialga, Palkia, Latias, and Mewtwo.</p>
[Opinion]
<p>The fact that it is a Ghost-type Uber with an insane physical walling ability makes Giratina a staple on Uber stall teams. Due to Giratina's Ghost-typing, it blocks Rapid Spin; meaning Toxic Spikes, Spikes and Stealth Rock will not be removed easily. Giratina’s immunity to Explosion means that it cannot be swiftly brought down. While its weaknesses are commonly used attacking types in the Uber metagame, one should not overlook its two immunities and six resistances. Giratina’s massive defenses on both sides make it difficult to KO (even a Modest Kyogre’s Ice Beam fails to 2HKO a Giratina with no SpD EVs). On the physical side, there are no unboosted physical attacks that will OHKO Giratina. Giratina’s Defense is so high that it is possible to survive a Choice Banded Outrage from an Adamant Rayquaza. Giratina is often noted as one of the few counters to the “Extreme Killer” Arceus.</p>
<p>However, Giratina does lack a reliable recovery move. For a winged lizard, it shamefully does not get Roost. However, it does not truly need such a move, as Rest, Sleep Talk, and colossal defenses are enough to make up for that loss.</p>
[Counters]
<p>For the standard Great Wall set, Dark -type Arceus will easily Calm Mind and launch a super effective Judgment against Giratina. The same applies for Ghost- and Ice-type Arceus. Dragon-type Arceus can do the same too, but Dragon Claw will dent it. Blissey can Calm Mind and eventually beat Giratina with Ice Beam. Dialga can switch into anything Giratina throws at it and OHKO with Draco Meteor (most variants also 2HKO with Dragon Pulse) or Bulk Up and eventually defeat it with Outrage. Dialga can also use Rest to remove burn. Darkrai can come in on Rest, Taunt Giratina, and then Calm Mind or Nasty Plot and wipe Giratina off the battleground with Dark Pulse. With Giratina self-resting to remove the damages dealt to it, Darkrai is now able to put another member to sleep with Dark Void, since Sleep Clause is not active. Mewtwo is capable of doing the same, minus the Dark Void. Mew can Taunt Giratina and then Nasty Plot and Baton Pass away to a dangerous recipient, such as Palkia or Arceus.</p>
<p>The Calm Minder set is harder to counter. Your best bet is a Dark-type Arceus with Substitute to laugh at any status attack it throws at you, but beware of Roar. Latios and Latias can easily Calm Mind alongside Giratina, Recovering any Dragon Pulse damage it throws at any of them. They must, however, be aware of Toxic or Roar if they decide to Calm Mind alongside Giratina. While Giratina Rests, physical attackers, such as Ghost-type Arceus, are able to take advantage of the situation and set up, following up with a dangerous Shadow Claw. Tyranitar has a safe switch in on Calm Mind, Dragon Pulse or Rest due to the Special Defense boost from sandstorm, but must be wary of Toxic and Will-O-Wisp. If those are absent, Tyranitar can easily inflict serious injury with Crunch.</p>
This is my first peer edit ever, so try to be nice in your criticisms.
-Added team comments to each set.
-Added Team Options section
-Moved Choice Band and Choice Specs sets to Other Options, because both sets are simply outclassed by too many other Pokemon. Giratina just doesn’t have the offenses to use it too effectively. If you absolutely feel those sets must be in there, and give good supportive evidence, then I’ll add them back in.
-Reworded a few sentences and fixed grammar and spelling where it needed to be fixed.
-Decided to keep existing mentions of Arceus, he’ll be released soon enough.
Main Concerns
-Are the Team Options good enough? Do any of you guys have more suggestions?
______________________________________________________________________________
[SET]
name: The Great Wall
move 1: Will-O-Wisp
move 2: Rest
move 3: Sleep Talk
move 4: Dragon Claw/ Dragon Pulse / Outrage
item: Leftovers
ability: Pressure
nature: Bold / Impish
evs: 248 HP / 248 Def / 12 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p> Giratina is arguably one of the best physical walls in the game. With colossal base 150 HP and massive base 120 Defense, Giratina defiantly stands in the faces of powerful physical sweepers such as Metagross and Groudon, blocking their paths to victory. As they unleash their most powerful attacks, it seems that there is no possibility that Giratina could survive. However, to the opponent’s disbelief, Giratina stands alive with over half of its health.</p>
<p>Giratina’s physical walling ability is enhanced by its ability to use Will-O-Wisp, which cuts the opponent’s Attack stat in half. Imagine the pain of those physical attackers who are now incapable of hurting Giratina. They continue to harass Giratina with powerful physical attacks, yet the attacks do so little. Then, as they see the door to victory after continuous bombardment, and are certain that one more shot will end Giratina once and for all. Giratina Rests, effectively erasing all the hard-earned damage; leaving no hope. As the opponent continues to attack, they will soon find all of their PP drained due to Pressure.</p>
<p>Sleep Talk enables Giratina to absorb status and ensures that it isn’t set up bait for Rayquaza and Arceus, seeing as Sleep Talk may pick Will- O-Wisp and ruin their fun. Dragon Claw enables Giratina to severely damage other Dragon-types, OHKO Deoxys-A, and deal a respectable amount of damage to Ho-oh and Darkrai; whereas Dragon Pulse carries a dash more power against Groudon.</p>
<p>Instead of using Impish and Dragon Claw, one might choose to use Bold and Dragon Pulse. Dragon Pulse has a slight chance of 3HKOing opposing Giratina and will always break Groudon's Substitutes, in case one tries to Substitute to block Will-O-Wisp. Outrage gives Giratina extra power and does not lock Giratina into a single attack.</p>
<p>Many of the powerful special attackers in Ubers will quickly decimate Giratina with their powerful strikes. It doesn’t help that Giratina possesses weaknesses to Dragon -, Ice-, Ghost-, and Dark-type attacks, all of which are commonly used attack types in the tier. Calm Mind Mewtwo will laugh as it Taunts in Giratina’s face, preventing recovery from Rest. It will then happily Calm Mind and blast Giratina away with a powerful Ice Beam or Shadow Ball. Nasty Plot Darkrai is in a similar boat, as it is able to get a free Nasty Plot, and then OHKO Giratina with STAB Dark Pulse. Many of the powerful Dragon-typed special attackers, such as Dialga, Palkia, the Lati twins, and Giratina-O, will easily steamroll Giratina with STAB Dragon-type moves; though the latter three will not want to eat Giratina’s STAB Dragon Claw. Kyogre can easily pick off Giratina with Ice Beam or sometimes Water Spout, should Giratina be weakened, or set up on it with Calm Mind. Finally, there a few physical sweepers that will easily KO Giratina, such as Rayquaza, Choice Band Garchomp, and Bulk Up Dialga; although the former two will hate Will-O-Wisp. Steel-types make great teammates for Giratina, as they resist all of Giratina’s weaknesses, and can beat many of its common counters. Specially Defensive Scizor is a superb example of a good teammate. It can easily switch in on Mewtwo (beware of Flamethrower), Darkrai (watch out for +2 Focus Blast), Latias, and Latios (watch for Hidden Power Fire), and OHKO them all with U-Turn, trap them with Pursuit, or pick them off with Bullet Punch. Thanks to Scizor’s Dragon-type resistance, it can easily switch on Dialga and Palkia’s Dragon-type attacks as well, provided they aren’t holding Choice Specs. Watch out for versions without Choice items, as many carry Fire-type moves especially for these situations. Scizor can also revenge kill Rayquaza and Garchomp, if they are locked into Outrage, with Bullet Punch, which they will likely be, as they are forced to use it to KO Giratina. Scizor also makes a decent Giratina-O check, resisting both of Giratina-O's STABs and weakening it with Bullet Punch. Another good partner for Giratina is Jirachi, since it can take any Dragon- or Ice-type attacks aimed at Giratina and can cripple threats such as Calm Mind Mewtwo, Calm Mind Kyogre, Latias, and Latios with Toxic, hampering their ability to set up on Giratina effectively. It can also stall out non-Choice Specs Kyogre and Palkia with a combination of Wish, Protect, and Toxic, and, like Scizor, Jirachi can revenge kill Garchomp and Rayquaza locked into Outrage. Jirachi can also enhance Giratina’s ability to take hits with Wish, Reflect, and / or Light Screen. Blissey can take any special attack thrown at Giratina,use Wish to help ease Giratina switching in to battle. A supporting Dialga can deal with non-Choice Specs Kyogre, and can cripple Mewtwo, Latias, Latios, and other special attackers by using Thunder Wave. Additionally, a Calm Mind Latias of your own, despite sharing Giratina’s weaknesses, can take on most Kyogre variants and can beat Giratina-O (if SR isn't up), mixed Dialga, and Palkia. Be careful though, as Latias is 2HKOed by Choice Specs Kyogre’s Ice Beam. Groudon also gets a mention, as it can deal with the physical attackers that Giratina cannot, thanks to its high Defense, lack of a Dragon weakness, and Dragon Claw. Groudon also has the advantage of crippling problem sweepers with Thunder Wave, like the aforementioned Dialga can.</p>
<p>Giratina walls physical attackers, such as Groudon, Scizor, Metagross, Heracross, some Tyranitar, and physical versions of Ho-oh almost effortlessly, so sweepers who normally have trouble with these threats make good offensive teammates for Giratina. Nasty Plot Darkrai loves having Scizor, Metagross, and Heracross out of the picture, as they are some of its main counters. With them gone, Darkrai can easily sweep the enemy team with little effort (it still gets stopped by ResTalk Ogre). Shaymin-S is also a good sweeper to pair with Giratina, as it too will have little difficultly taking down an opponent’s team once Scizor and Ho-oh are gone. Rayquaza is also an excellent complement, as Groudon (watch out for Thunder Wave), Scizor, and Metagross can no longer stop Rayquaza from sweeping once they have their attack cut by Will-o-Wisp. Garchomp works the same way as Rayquaza. Since most of the Pokemon that Giratina stops are also counters to the common Psychic-types in Ubers, they too make great offensive partners. Mewtwo, Latios, Latias, and Deoxys-A all benefit from having Giratina around to incapacitate Scizor, Metagross, and Heracross.</p>
[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Dragon Pulse
move 3: Rest
move 4: Sleep Talk / Will-O-Wisp / Shadow Ball / Roar
item: Leftovers
ability: Pressure
nature: Bold
evs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 SpA
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Giratina can also utilize Calm Mind in order to boost its stats on the special side without having many problems with taking physical assaults, thanks to its high Defense. To keep Giratina alive, it must Rest so it can continue to set up more Calm Minds and eventually unleash a powerful Dragon Pulse. To further aid its set-up, it can use Sleep Talk to use moves while it sleeps. It is the preferred option so Giratina does not become set-up bait for opposing sweepers. It can then use its sleeping turns to further stat up or dent your opponent with Dragon Pulse. Will-O-Wisp lowers the opponent’s Attack, allowing it to take hits on the physical side with greater ease. Roar keeps other Calm Minders from setting up on you. Shadow Ball lets it hit Psychic-type Ubers such as Mewtwo and Deoxys-D while still doing a decent amount of damage to Metagross. You must be aware, however, that most of Giratina’s weaknesses lay on the special side, which may hamper its ability to set up, unless it already has a few Calm Minds under its belt.</p>
<p>Even though Giratina will be boosting it’s Special Defense with Calm Mind, it still has problems with all of the Pokemon listed above in the previous set, so any of the teammates from that set will work just as well with this Giratina. However, there are a few more Pokemon that this Giratina will have a tough time with. The first is Tyranitar because it can 2HKO Giratina with a Choice Band boosted Crunch, and will laugh at even a boosted Dragon Pulse , especially since the sandstorm will boost its Special Defense. Tyranitar can also employ Taunt and Dragon Dance to set up on Giratina, as it can Taunt Giratina to prevent it from setting up, then Dragon Dance while it tries to hurt Tyranitar with Dragon Pulse. This, however, cannot be done if you are using Will-O-Wisp on the switch. Swords Dance Lucario can also switch in on Rest, use Swords Dance, and 2HKO you with Crunch, while a +1 Dragon Pulse won’t even 2HKO Lucario. Lastly, this set greatly fears phazers because they can Roar or Whirlwind away Giratina’s boosts. It certainly doesn’t help that the most common phazers, Groudon, Lugia, and Skarmory, can all survive a Dragon Pulse without much of problem. Forretress helps Giratina immensely, because it can switch into Tyranitar’s Choice Banded Crunches and defeat it with Gyro Ball. Forretress can also lay down the dreaded Toxic Spikes, which means Blissey can no longer stall you, and it also helps weaken Giratina’s opponents to make its sweep easier. Giratina also has the advantage of blocking Rapid Spin, thanks to its Ghost-typing, and since there are no Poison-typed Ubers and neither Roserade nor Tentacruel are used, Toxic Spikes can’t be removed as long as Giratina is in play. Kyogre is an excellent way to deal with the above phazers, severely hurting them all with its powerful Surf or Thunder attack. Choice Scarf Dialga works in much the same way, but it provides resistances to Ghost- and Dark-type moves, and is a much more reliable check for Lucario, thanks to it’s resistance to Extremespeed</p>
[Other Options]
<p> There is not much to use that is not mentioned above. Toxic and Roar are usable options on the Rest/Talking set, but that means you can’t touch Steel-types. Losing Will-O-Wisp means you lose part of Giratina's ability to wall things physically. Of course, one cannot forget its signature move, Shadow Force. While it does have base 120 power, it is incapable of hitting Normal-types such as Blissey and Arceus, who may attempt to switch in on the charging turn. In addition, Steel-types like Skarmory and Forretress can take it without much trouble.</p>
<p>One should not underestimate Giratina’s offensive capabilities. It has a large offensive movepool and two of the best STAB in Ubers, so it can make use of a Choice Band or a Choice Specs set to hit hard and surprise its counters. However, Giratina is rather slow,. While Base 100 offenses aren’t bad, they are slightly below average for Uber play. Furthermore, its cousin, Giratina-O, generally outclasses Giratina in the way of offense.</p>
[EVs]
<p>Giratina’s EVs are listed in every set. Dumping the EVs into Special Defense instead of Defense is an option. However, since Giratina's weaknesses are more often special than physical, it isn't recommended. 24 EVs in Speed allows Giratina to outrun a max Speed Tyranitar and no Speed Groudon and Dialga.</p>
[Team Options]
<p>Like any defensive wall, Giratina greatly appreciates the added protection of Reflect and Light Screen to help it take the powerful attacks of opposing sweepers. It also means that Giratina does not have to Rest as often, as it can sometimes be set up on while sleeping. Good users of the Dual Screens are Jirachi, Bronzong, and Mewtwo, the former two getting special mention as they can take Dragon- and Ice-type moves thrown Giratina’s way. Giratina’s main role in a team, in addition to walling, is usually to block Rapid Spin so that the opponent cannot remove your entry hazards from the field, so pairing it with users of such moves can be quite beneficial to your team. Groudon, Dialga, and Deoxys can set up Stealth Rock, Skarmory, Forretress, and Deoxys can lay down Spikes, and Forretress can set up Toxic Spikes. Toxic Spikes is particularly beneficial to Giratina, as it hampers opposing set-up sweepers and aids in Giratina’s stalling capabilities.</p>
<p>Giratina is no slouch at offense either, as it can use Calm Mind to boost the power of its attacks and can easily rampage through an unprepared team with its STAB Dragon Pulse if played correctly. Giratina can also outstall even Calm Mind Blissey thanks to Rest, immunity to Seismic Toss, and Pressure; especially if Toxic Spikes are present. However, Giratina does run into a few roadblocks when trying to sweep. Choice Band Tyranitar can easily swap in and 2HKO you with Crunch or use you as set-up bait with Taunt and Dragon Dance, while Giratina can do little damage back. Phazers are also a huge problem for Giratina, as they can easily Whirlwind or Roar away its boosts. Groudon, Lugia, and Skarmory are the main users of such moves,. However, it should be pointed out that none of them can beat Giratina if it is the last Pokemon. Nevertheless, Kyogre, as mentioned earlier, is capable of destroying all of the aforementioned threats with Surf and Thunder. Darkrai can incapacitate any of the above threats with Dark Void. It can then rip through many of Giratina’s counters thanks to it’s high Speed, Nasty Plot, and powerful STAB Dark Pulse.</p>
<p>As mentioned previously, Giratina cannot take many special attacks, as most of such attacks are usually one of the Dragon-, Dark-, Ghost-, or Ice-types, all of which Giratina is weak to. Darkrai, Mewtwo, Kyogre, and Dialga are the most dangerous foes, as none of them will particularly mind a Dragon Claw, due to Giratina’s lackluster Attack. Mewtwo and Darkrai can render you useless while sleeping due to Taunt and will easily set up with Calm Mind (or Nasty Plot in Darkrai’s case) and annihilate Giratina with powerful, super effective strikes. Kyogre can also Calm Mind, and shut down Giratina with Ice Beam. Dialga isn’t weak to Dragon-type attacks and will OHKO Giratina with Draco Meteor. Blissey can take any Special Attack aimed at Giratina, barring a Choice Specs Water Spout from Kyogre, and respond with status or Seismic Toss. However, Blissey is vulnerable to Taunt and will lose to Rest + Sleep Talk Kyogre if it has Calm Mind. However, it should be noted that Giratina can beat Rest + Sleep Talk Calm Mind Kyogre if Giratina is also packing Calm Mind because of Pressure and its resistance to Water-type moves. Scizor is also an excellent teammate for Giratina. Scizor resists all of Giratina’s weaknesses, and can easily KO Mewtwo and Darkrai with U-Turn or Bullet Punch, while resisting or being neutral to the usual attacks that these Pokemon usually carry. Scizor also resists Dragon-type moves, so it can take Dragon-type attacks from Dialga without too much of a problem, and 2HKO it with Superpower. However, Scizor needs to watch out for boosted Focus Blasts from Darkrai and can’t take repeated hits from Choice Specs Dialga. However, there are a few physical sweepers that can make quick work of Giratina, such as Bulk Up Dialga and, if Giratina lack Will-O-Wisp, Tyranitar. Groudon can take on both of these threats with it’s high Defense and powerful STAB Earthquake. Choice Specs Heatran resists Dragon, and can OHKO Bulk Up Dialga if the sun is up. A defensive Groudon can also deal with some other physical attackers that might make Giratina think twice about staying in, such as Rayquaza, Swords Dance Lucario (if you lack Will-O-Wisp), and Choice Band Garchomp, though all three must beware of Will-O Wisp and none them can OHKO Giratina without setup (except Draco Meteor from a Mixed Rayquaza).</p>
<p>Giratina’s most fearsome opponents, which are Mewtwo, Darkrai, Dialga, and Kyogre, are usually paired with Groudon and offensive Dragon-types such as Garchomp, Rayquaza, and Palkia. Latias with Soul Dew can usually take on Palkia, surving any special attack and OHKOing Palkia with Dragon Pulse. Beware of Choice Scarf variants, as they can outspeed and KO next turn. Latias can also come in on Groudon’s Earthquake and OHKO it with Grass Knot. A Groudon of your own is another good teammate to help Giratina deal with Garchomp and Rayquaza. Scizor can also switch in on Outrages from Garchomp and Rayquaza and destroy them with Bullet Punch. It can also take Dragon-type attacks from Palkia, and weaken it with U-turn. Giratina can handle Groudon by itself, but the Swords Dancer can cause Giratina some problems if Giratina lacks Will-O-Wisp. Skarmory can switch in and phaze Groudon away with Whirlwind, but fears Fire Punch. This type of Groudon is also easily revenge killed, thanks to its low Speed, by strong special attackers, such as Scarf Dialga, Palkia, Latias, and Mewtwo.</p>
[Opinion]
<p>The fact that it is a Ghost-type Uber with an insane physical walling ability makes Giratina a staple on Uber stall teams. Due to Giratina's Ghost-typing, it blocks Rapid Spin; meaning Toxic Spikes, Spikes and Stealth Rock will not be removed easily. Giratina’s immunity to Explosion means that it cannot be swiftly brought down. While its weaknesses are commonly used attacking types in the Uber metagame, one should not overlook its two immunities and six resistances. Giratina’s massive defenses on both sides make it difficult to KO (even a Modest Kyogre’s Ice Beam fails to 2HKO a Giratina with no SpD EVs). On the physical side, there are no unboosted physical attacks that will OHKO Giratina. Giratina’s Defense is so high that it is possible to survive a Choice Banded Outrage from an Adamant Rayquaza. Giratina is often noted as one of the few counters to the “Extreme Killer” Arceus.</p>
<p>However, Giratina does lack a reliable recovery move. For a winged lizard, it shamefully does not get Roost. However, it does not truly need such a move, as Rest, Sleep Talk, and colossal defenses are enough to make up for that loss.</p>
[Counters]
<p>For the standard Great Wall set, Dark -type Arceus will easily Calm Mind and launch a super effective Judgment against Giratina. The same applies for Ghost- and Ice-type Arceus. Dragon-type Arceus can do the same too, but Dragon Claw will dent it. Blissey can Calm Mind and eventually beat Giratina with Ice Beam. Dialga can switch into anything Giratina throws at it and OHKO with Draco Meteor (most variants also 2HKO with Dragon Pulse) or Bulk Up and eventually defeat it with Outrage. Dialga can also use Rest to remove burn. Darkrai can come in on Rest, Taunt Giratina, and then Calm Mind or Nasty Plot and wipe Giratina off the battleground with Dark Pulse. With Giratina self-resting to remove the damages dealt to it, Darkrai is now able to put another member to sleep with Dark Void, since Sleep Clause is not active. Mewtwo is capable of doing the same, minus the Dark Void. Mew can Taunt Giratina and then Nasty Plot and Baton Pass away to a dangerous recipient, such as Palkia or Arceus.</p>
<p>The Calm Minder set is harder to counter. Your best bet is a Dark-type Arceus with Substitute to laugh at any status attack it throws at you, but beware of Roar. Latios and Latias can easily Calm Mind alongside Giratina, Recovering any Dragon Pulse damage it throws at any of them. They must, however, be aware of Toxic or Roar if they decide to Calm Mind alongside Giratina. While Giratina Rests, physical attackers, such as Ghost-type Arceus, are able to take advantage of the situation and set up, following up with a dangerous Shadow Claw. Tyranitar has a safe switch in on Calm Mind, Dragon Pulse or Rest due to the Special Defense boost from sandstorm, but must be wary of Toxic and Will-O-Wisp. If those are absent, Tyranitar can easily inflict serious injury with Crunch.</p>
