Giratina (Origin Forme)
Attack
Defense
Stamina
Best Movesets
Analysis
True to the power that it wields within its Distortion World, Giratina - Origin Forme looms like a shadow over the Ghost Type meta. While most of its contemporaries are glass cannons that rack up huge damage quickly, Giratina Origin makes a point of staying on the field for as long as possible. Despite its substantially lower attack stat, this monster's extreme staying power gives it a high average damage that tends to be competitive with many other big names, though its real claim to fame is its ability to stay in the game while keeping up high DPS thanks to having a strong Ghost Type moveset.
On the Halloween Event of 2022, Giratina Origin received its signature move, Shadow Force. The move's generous parameters make it an even better move than Shadow Ball on average, although its 1-bar nature can make it unwieldy at times. For maximum dps, Giratina Origin can run Shadow Ball alongside it to minimize the potential for energy waste.
Several new releases have put Giratina Origin on the backseat in terms of Ghost DPS. New competitors such as Shadow Chandelure, Shadow Gengar, and Shadow Tyranitar (remember, Dark has virtually the same coverage as Ghost) have all placed Giratina Origin in the backseat. During Summer 2024, the Legendary Dawn Wings Necrozma debuted, outclassing every other Ghost-type option by a significant margin. Giratina Origin is still decent and is great at anchoring Ghost-type parties, but is no longer the frontrunner in terms of offense.
Offense
- Shadow Claw be paired with Shadow Ball or Shadow Force* for great damage. Shadow Force is slightly better than Shadow Ball.
- Dragon Tail should be paired with Dragon Pulse, though this moveset is outclassed.
- Ominous Wind is a poor raid move.
Shadow Claw allows it to do solid, narrowly resisted, STAB damage while also gaining energy very quickly. Dragon Tail can be chosen for strong Dragon-type damage, which is useful against other Dragon-types, but is more likely to be resisted by counters like Steel and Fairy Pokemon. In the Master League, Shadow Claw is often preferred over Dragon Tail due to the abundance of other Dragon-type attacking options, while Giratina's consistent and powerful Ghost-type damage is relatively unique.
Shadow Ball gets STAB, hits hard, and is now the primary charge move, following the nerf of Ominous Wind. The latter can still the used due to bait shields with its lesser energy cost and fish for the rare buffs that can make Giratina a titanic threat, but it can result in poor damage output if the bait fails. Dragon Pulse is not as efficient as Shadow Ball, but offers coverage to help against Normal-, Dragon-, and Dark-type Pokemon. Shadow Force has awful parameters and should not be considered.
A Great League Giratina-O can be obtained by trading one from research and rolling fairly low IVs. Keep in mind that a research Giratina-O may be rare.
Giratina-O brings a unique typing into the Great League; it is a strong Ghost attacker that boasts the defensive qualities of the Dragon-type. Great League often has a greater prominence of Water-, Grass-, Fire-, and Electric-type threats compared to other Leagues, which gives Giratina-O plenty of targets. On top of this, Giratina-O's stats are very reasonable. Keep in mind that it is completely blanked by various Normal- and Dark-type Pokemon such as Lickitung, Umbreon, and Mandibuzz, so pairing it with the likes of Vigoroth or Wigglytuff can help it manage.
