How to counter, defeat, and capture Giratina in Pokemon GO
Get into the Halloween spirit in Pokemon GO with the return of Altered Forme Giratina.
There’s going to be a spooky theme to Pokemon GO raids in the second half of October, with Niantic announcing that Altered Forme Giratina is going to be the five-star raid boss. The Pokemon will be preceded by Douse Drive Genesect, who will be in raids from October 1 to 12. After Giratina is cycled out, Darkrai will take Giratina’s place.
Giratina has been available in Pokemon GO in the past, but not all fans have had the chance to get both its Origin Forme and Altered Forme. Altered Forme Giratina will be returning in Pokemon GO raids next month, so it’s worth going over everything there is to know about Giratina.
Where can I find Giratina in Pokemon GO?
Giratina has exclusively appeared as a raid boss in seasonal Pokemon GO events. To date, this has been the only way to capture Giratina.
Altered Forme Giratina will appear in raids from October 12 to 22.
To date, there have been only a few legendary and mythical Pokemon that are ghost type with just Marshadow, Lunala, and Spectrier going alongside Giratina. None of those other Pokemon have been added to Pokemon GO yet, which has left Giratina as a go-to raid boss for the spooky Halloween season, which has resulted in Giratina repeatedly appearing in October.
After defeating Giratina in the raid, the Pokemon will appear again as an encounter. The same tricks that work on other raid boss Pokemon work against Giratina.
Is Giratina any good?
Giratina is an incredibly powerful Pokemon in every sense and in every format. Players that don’t have one are missing out.
Purely in terms of statistics, Giratina has one of the highest CP ceilings in Pokemon GO with Altered Forme able to hit 3,820 at level 50 while Origin Forme can reach 4,164. But it’s Giratina’s ghost-dragon typing that actually makes it particularly valuable.
Throughout its entire history, the Pokemon series has struggled to keep psychic types balanced. While this was done to some degree by introducing the dark type in generation two, that balance has been undone by the frequent release of powerful psychic-type Pokemon. Though ghost types were meant to be the original counter to psychic Pokemon, they’ve never really filled that niche.
Giratina is the only ghost type that serves as a strong counter to legendary psychic Pokemon. Its CP is high enough to easily go toe-to-toe with the likes of Mewtwo, Lugia, and Latios. Not only that but its ghost typing offers double resistance to normal and fighting-type moves. All this combines to make Giratina one of the strongest Pokemon available in Pokemon GO.
How to counter Altered Forme Giratina in Pokemon GO
Altered Forme Giratina is countered by dark, ice, ghost, fairy, and dragon attacks.
None of these attacks are doubly effective against Giratina but there are a number of different types to choose from. Do remember that ghost and dragon types are weak to their own respective attacks, which means that the ideal counters to Giratina are Pokemon that can use those attacks but aren’t dragon or ghost types.
The strongest counter to Giratina are powerful fairy types outside of Gardevoir. Giratina only has access to ghost and dragon-type attacks, with fairy Pokemon being doubly resistant to dragon moves while taking regular damage from ghost attacks. Togekiss, Sylveon, and Zacian are all particularly strong options for raids against Giratina.
Past those three, strong dark and ice types are the best bet. Tyranitar, Articuno, Weavile, and Mamoswine can all deal some heavy damage to Giratina.
How to counter Origin Forme Giratina in Pokemon GO
As with Altered Forme Giratina, Origin Forme Giratina is countered by dark, ice, ghost, fairy, and dragon attacks.
Both forms of Giratina have the same move sets and typing in Pokemon GO and can be approached by players in the same way. This isn’t the case in the mainline Pokemon games as Origin Forme Giratina has immunity to ground-type attacks, but that isn’t the case in Pokemon GO.
What is the difference between Altered Forme Giratina and Origin Forme?
The two different forms of Giratina have shuffled around stats, with Origin Forme Giratina having higher attack stats while Altered Forme Giratina has higher defense stats.
In the mainline Pokemon games, this made the two Giratina forms relatively comparable, with both forms having some benefits. That said, in Pokemon GO Origin Forme is the definitively superior one.
The two Altered Giratina and Origin Giratina have identical move options, but Origin Giratina has a higher CP ceiling. There is some strategic value to Altered Forme Giratina, but Origin is preferred in most cases.
Steven Rondina is a true lifelong gamer. His earliest memories are of playing video games, and he has continued playing them throughout his life with no plans to stop any time soon. Steven’s favorite franchises in gaming include Pokemon, Dark Souls, and Counter-Strike. He has previously published with Bleacher Report and other gaming outlets.
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