Giratina-O

[Jibaku]

Type: Ghost/Dragon
Ability: Levitate
Base stats: 150 / 120 / 100 / 120 / 100 / 90
Movepool: http://www.smogon.com/bw/pokemon/giratina/moves

Description:
This generation just got a whole lot more interesting for Giratina-O. A batch of good news and bad news are knocking on its door. Let's start with the bad news first. The addition of Fairy types also makes it difficult for Giratina-O to spam Dragon Tail (and other Dragon-type moves, in general). Combined with Spikes being much more easily removable now with Defog, Giratina-O's previous role gets thrown down the drain. The good news is that Ghosts received a substantial buff this generation, with Steels no longer resisting them. This makes Giratina-O's Shadow Force a force to be reckoned with. Additionally, Giratina-O can no longer be trapped by Shadow Tag. Even though the new Ubers Yveltal and Xerneas are not very kind to it, Giratina-O may still just find a way to remain as a powerful threat thanks to its movepool and relatively balanced stats.

 

[auroraskyes]

Giratina-O could use iron head to deal with the fairies.

 

[Donkey]

Giratina-O could use iron head to deal with the fairies.

doesn't hit them hard enough and gira gets ohkod back. hes better off using a moveset from gen 5 and just having strong team support imo since there are only 2 fairies really worth worrying about.

 

[Hiddenfreezer]

Giratina O with Defog sounds promising, especially considering its bulk. Furthermore, with the buff for ghosts (steel don't cockblock it anymore), using a mixed giratina with draco meteor/defog, aura sphere, shadow sneak and outrage with both attacking stats maxed could give your team priority, deal with stuff like groudon or similar or defog support your team.

However, there is one thing I wanted to use in Uber since gen 1:

 

[DontStealMyPenguin]

I currently use defog, shadow sneak, earthquake (dragon claw might be better), Will-O-Wisp.
EVs are: 252+ attack, 244 spdef, 12 speed.

It works as a good defogger and can spreads burns easily, especially with the new improved will-o-wisp accuracy. Super effective shadow sneak hits like classic extremekiller's extremespeed and neutral dragon claw hits like extremespeed. Earthquake deals with a few threats with it's property of being SE against 5 types. Defog is needed to support my ho-oh, which my team generally revolves around.

 

[RufflesPro]

Assault Vest can work well on this guy, and so might the new berries that increase Defense/SpD

 

[Haruno]

Assault Vest can work well on this guy, and so might the new berries that increase Defense/SpD

Gira-o cannot use assault vest
Gira-a gets fucked hard if it uses it

 

[RufflesPro]

Gira-o cannot use assault vest
Gira-a gets fucked hard if it uses it

Sorry meant Gira-A

I don't get why it's a bad item on him, Yes Leftovers is a solid recovery but Assault Vest is sweet

 

[Haruno]

Gira-a isn't doing shit without its support moves. 100 offenses are horrible. Not to mention w/e the hell switches in to gira would be something that doesn't give a crap about WoM

 

[Fireburn]

I kind of want to give a Shadow Force a try on the old SubShuffler set since it looks like it could really mess stuff up with Ghost's offensive buff:

Giratina-O@Griseous Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 168 HP/252 Atk/88 Speed
Adamant Nature
-Substitute
-Shadow Force
-Dragon Tail
-Shadow Sneak / Will-O-Wisp

Basically you set up a Sub on Groudon or something and smack stuff with Shadow Force. Shadow Force wrecks a lot of physical walls (Lugia, Giratina) and hits most things very hard since there are so few Ghost resists in Ubers now and Blissey can't do jack to Giratina-O behind a Sub. Dragon Tail swats away blobs, Arceus-Normal, and Yveltal, which are really the only Uber Pokemon that will enjoy Shadow Force, and with hazards can wear stuff out until you finally decide to use the Force. The Force also does tons of damage to Geomancy Xerneas which will make it think twice about setting up on you. Sneak is valuable as it can be used to finish off faster Pokemon after hitting them with the Force (like Palkia or Scarf Kyogre). On the other hand, Will-O-Wisp keeps Lugia from abusing Multiscale and hampers Yveltal and SD Arceus.

Obviously you'd want to pair this with hazards. At least SR support would be fine.

 

[alexwolf]

Here is the set i look forward to using:

Giratina-O @ Griseous Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe (yeah we will all Speed creep)
Modest
- Shadow Ball
- Thunder
- Will-O-Wisp
- Defog

Shadow Ball is a great move with the Ghost buff, and only a few Pokemon are not threatened by it. Thunder takes care of or at least deals decent damage to Kyogre, Ho-Oh, and Yveltal, some of the Pokemon that can take a few Shadow Ball hits, while WoW cripples any Pokemon that you can't threaten with your other moves, such as NormalCeus and DarkCeus, and is in general a good move to spam when expecting defensive Pokemon to switch in. Defog offers great team support, and is even more good on Giratina-0 because it can switch into many hazard setters with little fear (Groudon, Ferrothorn, Forretress, Arceus Grass), get rid of their hazards and threaten back with the rest of its moves.

 

[Hack]

^Looks like a really cool set, will test that set later. Giratina-O is still going strong the generation IMO. Strong team support and standard gen5 sets performs excellent, it checks E-killer, Groudon, MMX, Terrakion etc. You shouldn't be too worried about fairies intercepting Dragon Tail too much as there are only two fairies to be really concerned about in the tier, and with proper teambuilding those two should be checked by other members anyway. Here is a set I've been tinkering with:

Giratina-Origin @ Griseous Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 112 Atk / 24 Spd / 248 HP / 100 Def / 24 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Will-O-Wisp
- Dragon Tail
- Defog

EVs might seem a bit inefficient, and they probably are for overall purpose. They are quite team specific for my team. Atk EVs is for a 2HKO on LO Mewtwo (after Life Orb recoil in between) with Shadow Sneak, the HP+defense allows you to always take one +2 LO shadow claw from Adamant E-killer, which could be something you face every once in a while on the ladder at least. 248 defense EVs could allow for the same physical bulk- and allow you to dump more EVs in attack- but on the team I used this Giratina-O on I wanted to have good overall bulk as it also does decently as a detterent to scarf Kyogre. 24 speed is an arbitrary speed creep, mainly for Groudon and and Giratina (so you can outphaze). For moves, I find priority+phazing useful as always on Giratina-O. Will-o-wisp is almost as reliable as phazing physical threats out in this generation, and especially finds really good use vs support Groudon who you can outstall and Defog on. Defog is a neat move on this mon. While it isn't the fastest and can therefore be taunted, it's only really Taunt Yveltal Giratina-O is worried about since the two other common taunters, Mega Gengar and MMX aren't too big threats to Giratina-O at all.

 

[Manaphy]

^Looks like a really cool set, will test that set later. Giratina-O is still going strong the generation IMO. Strong team support and standard gen5 sets performs excellent, it checks E-killer, Groudon, MMX, Terrakion etc. You shouldn't be too worried about fairies intercepting Dragon Tail too much as there are only two fairies to be really concerned about in the tier, and with proper teambuilding those two should be checked by other members anyway. Here is a set I've been tinkering with:

Giratina-Origin @ Griseous Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 112 Atk / 24 Spd / 248 HP / 100 Def / 24 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Will-O-Wisp
- Dragon Tail
- Defog

EVs might seem a bit inefficient, and they probably are for overall purpose. They are quite team specific for my team. Atk EVs is for a 2HKO on LO Mewtwo (after Life Orb recoil in between) with Shadow Sneak, the HP+defense allows you to always take one +2 LO shadow claw from Adamant E-killer, which could be something you face every once in a while on the ladder at least. 248 defense EVs could allow for the same physical bulk- and allow you to dump more EVs in attack- but on the team I used this Giratina-O on I wanted to have good overall bulk as it also does decently as a detterent to scarf Kyogre. 24 speed is an arbitrary speed creep, mainly for Groudon and and Giratina (so you can outphaze). For moves, I find priority+phazing useful as always on Giratina-O. Will-o-wisp is almost as reliable as phazing physical threats out in this generation, and especially finds really good use vs support Groudon who you can outstall and Defog on. Defog is a neat move on this mon. While it isn't the fastest and can therefore be taunted, it's only really Taunt Yveltal Giratina-O is worried about since the two other common taunters, Mega Gengar and MMX aren't too big threats to Giratina-O at all.

Yeah that was basically the set I was using a few days ago, just with more attack. Actually plays more or less the same from last gen, except that Ghost is a better STAB so you don't really need another moveslot for a third attacking option as much.

I think Giratina-O's main niche this gen will be as a Defogger, as it's one of the only viable ones along with Arceus (Giratina can't run RestTalk and Defog very effectively). It could free up that Arceus slot for something more offensive since you don't have to squeeze Defog on it anymore.

 

[Ascension]

Yeah, I'm going to have to agree with many of the above posts. Giratina O does a wonderful job at defogging. It provides the team support i've always wanted. Plus, although it is minor, the lack of resistance steels have to ghost moves is very welcome for this guy too. It makes late game cleaning with shadow sneak a little easier. It seems like my favorite pokemon has only gotten better this gen.

 

[Noobish]

A decent set I've found is:
Giratina-Origin @ Griseous Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252Hp/252Atk/4SpD
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Sneak/Shadow Claw/Shadow Force
- Will-O-Wisp/Defog
- Outrage
- Roar

A big threat to G-O, Xerneas, enjoys switching in on Outrage to set up with Geomancy. Outrage then cancels out without confusion. Giratina-O can phaze Xerneas out with Roar, consuming Xerneas' Power Herb to no avail.

 

[Haruno]

A decent set I've found is:
Giratina-Origin @ Griseous Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252Hp/252Atk/4SpD
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Sneak/Shadow Claw/Shadow Force
- Will-O-Wisp/Defog
- Outrage
- Roar

A big threat to G-O, Xerneas, enjoys switching in on Outrage to set up with Geomancy. Outrage then cancels out without confusion. Giratina-O can phaze Xerneas out with Roar, consuming Xerneas' Power Herb to no avail.

Or you know xerneas instead chooses to ohko gira with moonblast in which case you'll be fucked

 

[Noobish]

Or you know xerneas instead chooses to ohko gira with moonblast in which case you'll be fucked

252 SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Giratina-O: 420-494 (83.3 - 98%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Assuming no SR, nope. But most Giratina-O don't run Roar, so surprise factor there

 

[Hack]

Haruno was being more illustrative than anything. Giratina-O is still beyond repair and now it can't check the threats like it's supposed to. Use a good Xerneas check with it instead (Aegislash) because that set is just a waste of potential.

 

[ChaosNemesis]

With fairies around I like dragon tail no more. Second point a ghost type is no more a staple cause spinblock is no more required (defog).
Sure Gira is a nice EK check, but there's better (Arceus rock).
I don't know, I think this poor thing as lost it's place in this generation.

I'm starting to like Gira-A more than this.

 

[kingmidas]

With fairies around I like dragon tail no more. Second point a ghost type is no more a staple cause spinblock is no more required (defog).
Sure Gira is a nice EK check, but there's better (Arceus rock).
I don't know, I think this poor thing as lost it's place in this generation.

I'm starting to like Gira-A more than this.

Arceus rock can't be lum adamant because +2 EQ will deal it nicely with the two chances it gets, as it won't set up on you. But yeah giratina-A no longer being complete set up bait with the lack of hazards it has been helped a little bit. But the Gen 6 legends just smash you in the mouth and giratina-O is a better defogger.

 

[MMII]

<JibaNOTHERE> ok I just tested
<JibaNOTHERE> Knock Off doesnt get the dmg boost on giratina-o
<JibaNOTHERE> have fun~

 

[Jimmyftw]

<JibaNOTHERE> ok I just tested
<JibaNOTHERE> Knock Off doesnt get the dmg boost on giratina-o
<JibaNOTHERE> have fun~

Well, that opens up a niche for Giratina-O as the only Blaziken counter.

 

[Haruno]

<JibaNOTHERE> ok I just tested
<JibaNOTHERE> Knock Off doesnt get the dmg boost on giratina-o
<JibaNOTHERE> have fun~

Still doesn't salvage gira-o n_n it's still pretty average thanks to its horrendous weaknesses and lackluster defenses/offenses.

 

[Noobish]

A decent set I've found is:
Giratina-Origin @ Griseous Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252Hp/252Atk/4SpD
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Sneak/Shadow Claw/Shadow Force
- Will-O-Wisp/Defog
- Outrage
- Roar

A big threat to G-O, Xerneas, enjoys switching in on Outrage to set up with Geomancy. Outrage then cancels out without confusion. Giratina-O can phaze Xerneas out with Roar, consuming Xerneas' Power Herb to no avail.

Well, after countless Showdown battles, I can say that WoW+Shadow Sneak+Outrage+Roar is excellent, and is usually a safe way for me to open up. I cannot even begin to count how many people have switched in Xerneas on Outrage (often to their surprise that it cancels, often without confusion) and go Geomancy with their Power Herb, only to be trollishly switched out. In short, it DOES in fact work. And well, too.

 

[Haruno]

Well, after countless Showdown battles, I can say that WoW+Shadow Sneak+Outrage+Roar is excellent, and is usually a safe way for me to open up. I cannot even begin to count how many people have switched in Xerneas on Outrage (often to their surprise that it cancels, often without confusion) and go Geomancy with their Power Herb, only to be trollishly switched out. In short, it DOES in fact work. And well, too.

Can we say how useful a mon is against competent players? Playing against laddertards that clearly don't know what they're doing is not an accurate representation of how useful a mon actually is in competitive play.