Giratina (Altered Forme)
Attack
Defense
Stamina
Best Movesets
Analysis
Oh Giratina, why don't you go back to the Distortion World where you have decent stats and a good moveset? Oh, apparently you finally did!
On its release, Giratina - Altered Forme was pretty weak. It was bulky, but we didn't have PvP, so there was basically no niche for it to call its own. But then it got its Signature Move: Shadow Force. This powerful Ghost Type move gave Giratina a second wind, and made it.... just barely worth considering in the event that you lack better options. But this teeny tiny niche all but dried up when Giratina - Origin Forme was given access to it too.
So where does Giratina - Altered Forme sit now? Squarely in the PvP meta.
Offense
- Shadow Claw is Giratina’s best fast move for neutral damage.
- Dragon Breath is only useful when fighting against Dragon, Normal, or Dark-type Pokemon.
- Shadow Force is Giratina's signature move and is an excellent charged move
- Dragon Claw is essentially Giratina’s only other charged move.
- Ancient Power and Shadow Sneak are so weak that they’re inferior even when dealing super effective damage.
Shadow Claw has good damage with great energy gain. Dragon Breath can also be viable for its superior damage output, but results in less usage of Giratina's charge moves. Generally speaking, Shadow Claw is preferred in the Master League, but both Fast Attacks are viable in the Ultra League.
Dragon Claw costs the least amount of energy, gets STAB, and can be used very frequently. Shadow Sneak is pitiful, but offers consistent Ghost coverage to pressure most Dragon resists. Ancient Power can offer coverage against some Ice-type Pokemon and certain other threats such as Yveltal and Togekiss. Shadow Force, Giratina's signature move, is intentionally given horrendous PvP parameters for balance reasons, but is a viable alternative as a closing nuke and is more effective than Shadow Sneak at beating tanky Pokemon.
Until Giratina gets released as a Research Breakthrough, there’s no way to get it into Great League. Fingers crossed.
