[OVERVIEW]
* Giratina is one of the most durable Defog users on stall teams. Its typing and enormous bulk enable it to blanket check a huge portion of the tier, with the notable threats being Primal Groudon, Necrozma-DM, Ho-Oh, and Mega Lucario.
* Giratina sets itself apart from other Defog users commonly found stall teams with a number of special attributes. Giratina's Ghost typing lets it evade Shadow Tag users, and its access to various status moves like Toxic and Will-O-Wisp lets it meaningfully punish many switch-ins that attempt to take advantage of it.
* Pressure gives Giratina an upper hand against majority of the entry hazard users in the tier, as Giratina's Defog will outlast hazard setters' PP. This allows Giratina to heavily limit the usefulness of troublesome hazard setters like defensive Primal Groudon, Ferrothorn, and Toxapex.
* While Giratina is capable of compressing a lot of utility options, it cannot afford to use Sleep Talk and remains very passive while asleep. This, combined with Giratina's reliance on status moves and inability to function properly without cleric support, leaves it unable to fit on any playstyle apart from stall, leaving Giratina-O a far better option on any other type of teams.
* Giratina is completely shut down by Taunt users like Yveltal, Mewtwo, and Deoxys-S, and it is vulnerable to common threats like Xerneas, Mega Gengar, and Marshadow.
* Giratina's ability to spread various status ailments well is somewhat sullied by the fact that all relevant clerics;Xerneas, Magearna, Chansey, and Blissey aren't threatened by Giratina at all; to make this worse, the former two force out Giratina with their typing.
[SET]
name: Defog
move 1: Defog
move 2: Rest
move 3: Toxic
move 4: Will-O-Wisp / Roar
item: Leftovers
ability: Pressure
nature: Relaxed
evs: 248 HP / 208 Def / 52 SpD
ivs: 30 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Giratina's ability to contend against threatening foes like Primal Groudon makes it a solid user of Defog.
* Rest is the only form of recovery Giratina has access to, and it fully restores Giratina's health while removing any status ailments.
* Toxic puts switch-ins on a timer, and the spread of poison is generally useful for Giratina to wear down foes like Primal Groudon, Ho-Oh, and certain Arceus formes it is tasked to face.
* Will-O-Wisp burns Steel-types like Ferrothorn and Celesteela, ensuring that they aren't taking advantage of Giratina for free. The move also prevents dangerous setup sweepers like Necrozma-DM and Mega Lucario from freely using Giratina as setup fodder.
* Roar can be used to phaze foes and is preferred over Dragon Tail, as Dragon Tail fails to properly break Substitute from Zygarde-C, Arceus-Ground, Primal Kyogre, and Extreme Killer Arceus.
Set Details
========
* 52 Special Defense EVs allow Giratina to avoid the 2HKO from Modest Primal Kyogre's Ice Beam with Leftovers recovery. The rest of the EVs are invested in HP and Defense to reliably take on physical attackers. A Relaxed nature and 30 Speed IVs are used for Giratina to be slower than defensive Primal Groudon so it can use Defog after Primal Groudon uses Stealth Rock.
* Leftovers provides Giratina with passive recovery, which is especially valuable, as it reduces Giratina's reliance on Rest.
* Pressure makes any move directed at Giratina lose an additional PP, limiting entry hazard setters' effectiveness against Giratina and generally limiting the number of times foes can attack Giratina.
Usage Tips
========
* Thanks to its colossal bulk and typing, Giratina can switch into essentially most physical attackers that can't hit it super effectively. Other than taking hits, Giratina can take advantage of Pressure to PP stall entry hazard setters like Primal Groudon, defensive Necrozma-DM, Ferrothorn, and Toxapex, as all of them are unable to immediately threaten Giratina. Giratina can also be switched into status moves to limit their PP with Pressure as well, and it is especially effective with absorbing them while asleep.
* Due to Giratina's obligations to switch into possible entry hazard users the majority of the time, it will mostly end up removing entry hazards with Defog if they were set on the switch. Otherwise, Giratina can proceed to cripple a foe with an appropriate status move. Roar can be utilized to rack up damage on foes with entry hazards up.
* Do the best to minimize the loss of momentum and keep Giratina in a healthy condition. A healthy Giratina can handle many boosted attacks and respond with a status move or Roar. In order for this to be possible, one of the clerics on your team has to cure Giratina as fast as possible after it has used Rest so foes that would otherwise be walled by Giratina won't freely set entry hazards or set up.
* Though Giratina is bulky enough to survive strong attacks when healthy, it must be wary of possible Z-Move users like Necrozma-DM and Arceus-Ground, as a boosted Z-Move is capable of outright OHKOing Giratina. If Giratina's Defog support is desired in the long run, refrain from recklessly taking on the aforementioned foes until their movesets and items have been identified.
Team Options
========
* As Giratina cannot function effectively without its teammates and is very passive, it is best fit on stall teams. Cleric support is mandatory, and Blissey can fulfill this role well, as it also avoids Shadow Tag trapping with Shed Shell, wakes up Giratina with Heal Bell, checks Fairy-types and Calm Mind Arceus formes, and can easily switch into most attacks and status moves from support Arceus formes. Magearna is also a valid option for similar reasons, and it can handle Dark-types well. Common clerics paired with Giratina appreciate Giratina's ability to cover their vulnerability against Primal Groudon, Ho-Oh, and Steel-types.
* Although Giratina is a good Defog user in its own right, it is recommended to pair it with another Defog user or even a Magic Bounce user, as repeated attacks will eventually draw Giratina to the point where it is forced to use Rest and be left asleep until it yields a significant amount of momentum or a cleric cures its status. Ho-Oh is a good choice, as it can take more offensive approaches to punish Steel-types, check Fairy-types, Yveltal, and Lunala, and aid Giratina with spreading status. Support Arceus formes are also solid Defog users and additionally blanket check Primal Groudon, Ho-Oh, and Marshadow depending on their typing. Arceus-Dark deserves a special mention, as it is not vulnerable to Shadow Tag users, checks Ghost- and Dark-types, and appreciates Giratina's ability to keep Primal Groudon and Fighting-types in check. Skarmory can switch into Toxic for Giratina, provide utility in phazing for Giratina lacking Roar, and notably stand against Arceus-Ground, Arceus-Fairy, and Necrozma-DM with Stealth Rock without much struggle.
* Ho-Oh can also fit alongside Giratina and provide offensive and defensive utility. Ho-Oh appreciates Giratina's Defog support and ability to spread burns which improves its matchup against physical attackers. Lugia also appreciates Defog support, as it cannot utilize Multiscale when Stealth Rock is on the field. In return, Lugia can employ Ice Beam to deal with Substitute variants of Zygarde, which use Giratina lacking Roar as setup fodder. Lugia also can blanket check some formidable threats to stall teams, such as physically oriented Primal Kyogre and Swords Dance Primal Groudon.
* Primal Groudon aids Giratina in various ways. It checks Fairy-types and Primal Kyogre, sets Stealth Rock, threatens Steel-types, and makes up for Giratina's passivity to a large extent. n return, Giratina can check opposing Primal Groudon and support Arceus-Ground and cripple Mega Salamence.
* Ferrothorn and Toxapex can fit with Giratina thanks to their ability to check Fairy-types. They are also able to provide entry hazard support that Giratina can take advantage of with Roar. Ferrothorn also checks Primal Kyogre, while Toxapex checks Marshadow. Both of them appreciate Giratina checking Primal Groudon. It is important to note, however, that neither of them are reliable checks to Xerneas.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* Dragon Tail may seem like an appropriate option over Roar due to it letting Giratina phaze foes when afflicted by Taunt and do damage while doing so, but its inability to properly break Substitutes from setup sweepers makes this a disappointing option.
* Thunder Wave is an alternative option for a status move, but Toxic and Will-O-Wisp already hinder many threats.
* Sleep Talk lets Giratina function while it is asleep, but forgoing a utility move for it is generally not worth it.
* Iron Head OHKOes Hasty Mega Diancie, which is a notable threat to Giratina and its conventional teammates, but it has little use outside of this.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fairy-types**: Giratina is easily forced out by Xerneas, Arceus-Fairy, and Magearna, as they can heavily damage it with their STAB attacks. Apart from being offensive checks, both Xerneas and Magearna have access to cleric moves, and Arceus-Fairy can set Stealth Rock while Giratina is forced out.
**Dark-types and Ghost-types**: Yveltal and Arceus-Dark are offensive checks to Giratina due to their typing. While Yveltal is hindered by well-timed Toxic, Arceus-Dark with Refresh does not mind status moves. Ghost-types are more threatening, as Mega Gengar, Giratina-O, and Lunala are all capable of OHKOing Giratina after Stealth Rock under the right conditions. Giratina-O and Lunala despise switching into Toxic, however.
**Magic Bounce Users**: Due to the fact that Giratina cannot afford to employ any attacking moves, it is useless against Mega Sableye and Mega Diancie. Mega Diancie is especially troublesome due to its typing and ability to set Stealth Rock on a forced switch. Mega Sableye, however, cannot significantly threaten Giratina and despises getting PP stalled.
**Taunt**: Giratina usually does not carry any attacking moves, and it is easily shut down by Taunt users like Mega Gengar, Yveltal, and Mega Gyarados as a result.
**Substitute Users**: Giratina lacking Roar is completely shut down by Substitute users like Zygarde-C, Arceus-Ground, Primal Kyogre, and Extreme Killer Arceus, and they can freely set up while avoiding status.
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