[OVERVIEW]
* Giratina's high bulk combined with Pressure allows Giratina to be a great Defogger.
* It has many support moves such as Defog and Toxic, making it a good fit on teams.
* Pressure allows Giratina to PP stall opponents, which is useful in many cases. Thanks to Pressure, Giratina can stall out Stealth Rock with Defog, despite Defog's lower PP.
* However, its passivity means that Giratina can only fit on stall teams.
* Although Giratina's typing can avoid Shadow Tag, it is weak to Fairy-, Dark-, and Ghost-types, which are common in the metagame.
* Giratina's only form of recovery is Rest. This is further discouraged by the fact that it can't run Sleep Talk, as it would mean Giratina must sacrifice one of its moves, which generally is a better choice than Sleep Talk.
[SET]
name: Defog Support
move 1: Defog
move 2: Dragon Tail/ Roar
move 3: Toxic/ Will-O-Wisp
move 4: Rest
item: Leftovers
ability: Pressure
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP/ 204 Def/ 52 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Defog allows Giratina to remove hazards for its team. This is further improved by Pressure and its high bulk.
* Dragon Tail does chip damage, phazes opponents, and isn't affected by Taunt.
* Alternatively, Roar can be run, as it has more PP and can phaze Fairy-types. However, this makes Giratina get shut down completely by Taunt.
* Toxic allows Giratina to cripple switch-ins and spread status, allowing Giratina to stall some foes out.
* As Steel-types are getting more common in the meta, Will-O-Wisp is an alternative option, which can hit Steel-types and cripple Physical attackers even more.
* Rest is Giratina's only form of recovery, healing Giratina to max and removing status that has affected Giratina.
Set Details
========
* Max HP and 52 Special Defense EVs allows Giratina to absorb two Ice Beams from a 252+ Primal Kyogre.
* The remaining EVs along with an Impish nature are used to maximize phsyical bulk.
* 30 Speed IVs can be used to make Giratina be slower than Stealth Rock users such as Dialga and uninvested Primal Groudon, allowing it to Defog after a predicted Stealth Rock. However, most Stealth Rock Primal Groudon users now run -Speed natures, which means Giratina will still outspeed Primal Groudon.
* Leftovers gives it a passive form of recovery other than Rest.
Usage Tips
========
* Giratina can easily switch in and check physical attackers such as Ho-Oh and Necrozma-Dusk-Mane, so don't be afraid to switch them in when you can.
* However, most physical attackers have an alternative set that can break through Giratina, so it's best that you scout the moveset of the Pokemon first.
* It's best that you keep Giratina to check Pokemon, as Giratina can get overwhelmed easily since Rest will give free turns for the opponent to either switch-in or slowly damage Giratina.
* Take advantage of Pressure by switching it on status moves or on hazard moves.
Team Options
========
* Fairy-type checks are necessary when using Giratina. Necrozma-Dusk-Mane and Ho-Oh are examples of these Pokemon. Ho-Oh can also play as a backup Defogger.
* As Giratina is easily overwhelmed, it's best to have a secondary hazard remover such as Arceus-Ground.
* Spikes users such as Ferrothorn can make Giratina's phazing more effective and threatening.
* Arceus-Dark provides an alternative to Defog and can check most Dark- and Ghost-types.
* Giratina is weaker on the special side, so special walls such as Chansey and Blissey can handle special threats.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* Sleep Talk is an option, allowing Giratina to fight back when asleep. However it must sacrifice Defog, status, or phazing moves. Those moves generally have more success than using Sleep Talk.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fairy-types**: Most Fairy-types such as Xerneas and Arceus-Fairy can hit Giratina's special side super effectively, and are immune to Dragon Tail. Some Fairy-types can even use Giratina as a setup fodder, as Giratina can't phaze them out. However, most Fairy-types dislike Toxic.
**Dark-types**: Dark-types such as Yveltal, Arceus-Dark, and Tyranitar can hit it hard with their Dark-type moves, easily punching holes into Giratina, although most Dark-types dislike status. Even then, defensive sets of Tyranitar sometimes carry Rest, which can shrug off status.
**Ghost-types**: Ghost-types will easily dent Giratina with their STAB moves. Although Marshadow dislikes Will-O-Wisp, Marshadow can hit it hard with Spectral Thief and Soul-Stealing-7-Star-Strike. Mega Gengar and Lunala can break it thanks to them hitting Giratina's weaker Special Defense. Many Ghost-types dislike status though.
**Special Attackers**: As Giratina doesn't invest much in Special Defense, Special attackers such as Primal Kyogre can easily defeat Giratina.
**Taunt**: Taunt users such as Yveltal and Mega Gengar forces Giratina to either use Dragon Tail or Struggle, shutting it down and forcing it to switch. Even if Giratina runs Dragon Tail, the opponent can switch in a Fairy-type, forcing Giratina to switch out.
* Giratina's high bulk combined with Pressure allows Giratina to be a great Defogger.
* It has many support moves such as Defog and Toxic, making it a good fit on teams.
* Pressure allows Giratina to PP stall opponents, which is useful in many cases. Thanks to Pressure, Giratina can stall out Stealth Rock with Defog, despite Defog's lower PP.
* However, its passivity means that Giratina can only fit on stall teams.
* Although Giratina's typing can avoid Shadow Tag, it is weak to Fairy-, Dark-, and Ghost-types, which are common in the metagame.
* Giratina's only form of recovery is Rest. This is further discouraged by the fact that it can't run Sleep Talk, as it would mean Giratina must sacrifice one of its moves, which generally is a better choice than Sleep Talk.
[SET]
name: Defog Support
move 1: Defog
move 2: Dragon Tail/ Roar
move 3: Toxic/ Will-O-Wisp
move 4: Rest
item: Leftovers
ability: Pressure
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP/ 204 Def/ 52 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Defog allows Giratina to remove hazards for its team. This is further improved by Pressure and its high bulk.
* Dragon Tail does chip damage, phazes opponents, and isn't affected by Taunt.
* Alternatively, Roar can be run, as it has more PP and can phaze Fairy-types. However, this makes Giratina get shut down completely by Taunt.
* Toxic allows Giratina to cripple switch-ins and spread status, allowing Giratina to stall some foes out.
* As Steel-types are getting more common in the meta, Will-O-Wisp is an alternative option, which can hit Steel-types and cripple Physical attackers even more.
* Rest is Giratina's only form of recovery, healing Giratina to max and removing status that has affected Giratina.
Set Details
========
* Max HP and 52 Special Defense EVs allows Giratina to absorb two Ice Beams from a 252+ Primal Kyogre.
* The remaining EVs along with an Impish nature are used to maximize phsyical bulk.
* 30 Speed IVs can be used to make Giratina be slower than Stealth Rock users such as Dialga and uninvested Primal Groudon, allowing it to Defog after a predicted Stealth Rock. However, most Stealth Rock Primal Groudon users now run -Speed natures, which means Giratina will still outspeed Primal Groudon.
* Leftovers gives it a passive form of recovery other than Rest.
Usage Tips
========
* Giratina can easily switch in and check physical attackers such as Ho-Oh and Necrozma-Dusk-Mane, so don't be afraid to switch them in when you can.
* However, most physical attackers have an alternative set that can break through Giratina, so it's best that you scout the moveset of the Pokemon first.
* It's best that you keep Giratina to check Pokemon, as Giratina can get overwhelmed easily since Rest will give free turns for the opponent to either switch-in or slowly damage Giratina.
* Take advantage of Pressure by switching it on status moves or on hazard moves.
Team Options
========
* Fairy-type checks are necessary when using Giratina. Necrozma-Dusk-Mane and Ho-Oh are examples of these Pokemon. Ho-Oh can also play as a backup Defogger.
* As Giratina is easily overwhelmed, it's best to have a secondary hazard remover such as Arceus-Ground.
* Spikes users such as Ferrothorn can make Giratina's phazing more effective and threatening.
* Arceus-Dark provides an alternative to Defog and can check most Dark- and Ghost-types.
* Giratina is weaker on the special side, so special walls such as Chansey and Blissey can handle special threats.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* Sleep Talk is an option, allowing Giratina to fight back when asleep. However it must sacrifice Defog, status, or phazing moves. Those moves generally have more success than using Sleep Talk.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fairy-types**: Most Fairy-types such as Xerneas and Arceus-Fairy can hit Giratina's special side super effectively, and are immune to Dragon Tail. Some Fairy-types can even use Giratina as a setup fodder, as Giratina can't phaze them out. However, most Fairy-types dislike Toxic.
**Dark-types**: Dark-types such as Yveltal, Arceus-Dark, and Tyranitar can hit it hard with their Dark-type moves, easily punching holes into Giratina, although most Dark-types dislike status. Even then, defensive sets of Tyranitar sometimes carry Rest, which can shrug off status.
**Ghost-types**: Ghost-types will easily dent Giratina with their STAB moves. Although Marshadow dislikes Will-O-Wisp, Marshadow can hit it hard with Spectral Thief and Soul-Stealing-7-Star-Strike. Mega Gengar and Lunala can break it thanks to them hitting Giratina's weaker Special Defense. Many Ghost-types dislike status though.
**Special Attackers**: As Giratina doesn't invest much in Special Defense, Special attackers such as Primal Kyogre can easily defeat Giratina.
**Taunt**: Taunt users such as Yveltal and Mega Gengar forces Giratina to either use Dragon Tail or Struggle, shutting it down and forcing it to switch. Even if Giratina runs Dragon Tail, the opponent can switch in a Fairy-type, forcing Giratina to switch out.
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