No Path, No Problem — Giratina Slaps in Post-Rotation

Hello everyone! As I’m writing this, I’m making my way back from EUIC, and you’ll probably be reading it after Orlando Regionals has taken place. Our new format is now in full swing, and the results from EUIC were somewhat surprising. My group actually ended up playing [card name=”Giratina VSTAR” set=”Crown Zenith GG” no=”GG69″ c=”name”][/card], which was not a deck on my radar a week prior to the tournament. However, our testing led us to the deck, and we teched out the list for several troublesome matchups.

The tournament went alright for my group, but it could have gone better. I was somewhat close to making Top 8, just needing to win rounds 14 and 15. Unfortunately, I tied round 14, and then ID’d round 15 to guarantee cash since I was out of Top 8 contention at that point. Azul and Caleb made Top 16 and 32, respectively, with the same 60.

Giratina was, and continues to be, a strong play in this format for several reasons. First, it is a no-nonsense deck that has few weaknesses. It has a nice balance of consistency and power. While it can be slow at times, this does not necessarily affect its win rate. When playing Giratina, I feel I have a good shot to win any matchup. Furthermore, the deck has plenty of versatility and skill expression, which I enjoy.

[cardimg name=”Iron Leaves ex” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”203″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

The other great thing about Giratina is its matchup spread. While it initially seems to have several unfavored matchups, we included several techs into our list to patch them up. The [card name=”Charizard ex” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”234″ c=”name”][/card] matchup is favored thanks to the inclusions of [card name=”Spiritomb” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Iron Leaves ex” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card]. Spiritomb also fixes the [card name=”Snorlax” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] Stall matchup, and helps tremendously against [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card]. We aggressively teched against Lugia at EUIC, opting to play two [card name=”Temple of Sinnoh” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card] in addition to the Spiritomb. Giratina naturally destroys [card name=”Iron Hands ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Arceus VSTAR” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] decks, making those matchups quite good as well. [card name=”Baxcalibur” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] and Lost Box are two slightly unfavorable matchups. You don’t want to face them, though they are very winnable. Giratina’s worst matchup is Ancient Box. If they start [card name=”Flutter Mane” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card], you’re going to have a bad time. Even if they don’t, you’re strictly unfavored. That said, the matchup is still far from an auto-loss.

I would be remiss not to discuss the [card name=”Banette” set=”Lost Origin” no=”73″ c=”name”][/card] version of Giratina that took second place at EUIC. [card name=”Banette ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] functions as a hard counter to Baxcalibur, making it an efficient tech that solves an otherwise bad matchup. There are also some other spots where Item lock could be useful, such as against Charizard or other Lost Zone decks. Furthermore, Banette ex’s Poltergeist isn’t a bad attacking option, especially against stall decks. The non-ex Banette essentially repurposes your [card name=”Shuppet” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”87″ c=”name”][/card] in every game where you aren’t using the ex, which is most games. Banette’s Puppet Offering is a powerful Ability that turbocharges your Lost Zone while also grabbing any Supporter out of the discard. This functions as an incredible consistency piece, as you can simply leave Banette on your Bench until you need it. This usually gets an extra [card name=”Colress’s Experiment” set=”Lost Origin” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card], and it can be used to recover off a [card name=”Roxanne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”150″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”name”][/card]. Otherwise, it functions as an extra [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] or Roxanne, depending on the situation.

Banette is certainly interesting and useful, but of course, I think my list is better overall. Banette was a good call for EUIC because Baxcalibur was popular, but I expect there to be less Baxcalibur in the future. That deck underperformed, and it doesn’t even beat Charizard now that many lists have [card name=”Eri” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”146″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Technical Machine: Devolution” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”177″ c=”name”][/card]. I also expect Lugia to slightly dip in popularity following its underperformance at EUIC. Lugia is undoubtedly powerful, but it is quite inconsistent and loses hard to Iron Hands. Therefore, I don’t think it’s entirely necessary to play two Temple of Sinnoh going forward.

Enough yapping. Here’s my list. It covers as many bases as possible without sacrificing much consistency. In the end, it’s not a special or revolutionary list, but it does its job well.

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[decklist name=”tina po ro” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Giratina VSTAR” set=”Lost Origin” no=”131″][pokemon amt=”16″]3x [card name=”Giratina VSTAR” set=”Lost Origin” no=”131″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Giratina V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Comfey” set=”Lost Origin” no=”79″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Manaphy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”41″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Spiritomb” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”89″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Iron Leaves ex” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”25″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Radiant Greninja” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”46″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Sableye” set=”Lost Origin” no=”70″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Cramorant” set=”Lost Origin” no=”50″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”31″]2x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Roxanne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”150″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Colress’s Experiment” set=”Lost Origin” no=”155″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Mirage Gate” set=”Lost Origin” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”181″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Buddy-Buddy Poffin” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”144″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”188″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”186″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Switch” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”194″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Switch Cart” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”160″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Prime Catcher” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”157″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Rescue Board” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”159″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Temple of Sinnoh” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”155″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”13″]3x [card name=”Jet Energy” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”190″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Psychic Energy” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Water Energy” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Grass Energy” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist]It’s Giratina. It’s been around for a while now, and it’s not much different than before. Of course, the deck loses its beloved [card name=”Path to the Peak” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card] from the rotation, but that’s fine. New additions — such as [card name=”Rescue Board” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card], Iron Leaves ex, and, most importantly, [card name=”Prime Catcher” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”157″ c=”name”][/card] — give the deck some power to make up for the rotation. Even without Path lock, this deck can still mount impressive comebacks off the back of Roxanne, [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card], and Prime Catcher. After all, Knocking Out [card name=”Pidgeot ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card] against Charizard is effectively the same as locking a Path in play.

The Pokemon lineup is fairly straightforward. There are two optional tech Pokemon in here: Spiritomb and [card name=”Manaphy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card]. Both of these Pokemon were great calls for EUIC, but it’s perfectly reasonable to cut them going forward. As I mentioned before, Spiritomb is for Charizard, Snorlax, and Lugia. It is significantly less effective against Charizard if they play [card name=”Cleffa” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”80″ c=”name”][/card] — it’s still useful, but not as devastating if they can draw using an attack. Spiritomb flips the Snorlax Stall matchup from bad to good, though it’s less impactful against the Pidgeot ex build. Sure, shutting off their [card name=”Rotom V” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”45″ c=”name”][/card] is nice, but if they set up Pidgeot, it doesn’t matter as much. They often want to be attacking against Giratina anyway. Since Pidgeot was the much more successful version at EUIC, it’s possible that straight Snorlax Stall will decrease in popularity. Spiritomb remains just as useful as ever against Lugia, and it’s nice to be able to beat that deck. However, Lugia is likely to see some decrease in popularity for now.

Manaphy is great against Baxcalibur, Lost Box, and the mirror. Lost Box doesn’t seem to be very popular at the moment, and it’s an unfavorable matchup even with Manaphy. The same goes for the Baxcalibur matchup. That said, I feel like I have a reasonable chance of beating those decks with Manaphy versus a near auto-loss without Manaphy, so it’s a tough call. Some Giratina lists may follow the Banette trend, which doesn’t even play Water Energy, so Manaphy would be no good in those matchups. Therefore, it makes sense to cut Manaphy if you are so inclined.

In short, Manaphy and Spiritomb are decent tech cards. I don’t know if it’s correct to keep or cut them, and I think both options are reasonable. I will keep them for now.

[cardimg name=”Prime Catcher” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”157″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

We played just one Boss’s Orders at EUIC, which is fine, but two is probably better. Although this deck can easily one-shot anything, it needs to gust more often than you think. Boss’s Orders is incredible on turns where your hand doesn’t get disrupted, because you don’t necessarily have to play Colress’s Experiment that turn. Against any deck with Pidgeot ex or their own Giratina, you want to Boss-KO them expeditiously. Prime Catcher is broken and won me many games, but it can only do so much by itself. This deck has no reliable way to find it. Sometimes it gets prized or discarded by Eri, and you only have one use of it.

Roxanne was better than expected, even without Path to combo with. You don’t rely on Roxanne to brick your opponents, except against Ancient Box, but sometimes that’s your win condition and you win games you otherwise would lose because of Roxanne. At the very least, it prevents opponents from having combos on specific turns, especially against Lost Zone decks. If you’re running low on Colress, Roxanne comes in as two extra draw Supporters for you at the end of the game. Of course, it is annoying that Roxanne is useless for most of the game, so it often ends up in the Lost Zone. Regardless, the card is too good not to play.

[card name=”Buddy-Buddy Poffin” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”144″ c=”name”][/card] is both more and less limited than [card name=”Battle VIP Pass” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”225″ c=”name”][/card]. It’s annoying that it only gets [card name=”Comfey” set=”Lost Origin” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card], Manaphy, and Spiritomb, but it’s still an important consistency piece. It is always amazing on turn one and single-handedly gets things going by finding two Comfey. In that respect, it’s the same as VIP Pass. Even in the games where you go attach-pass on turn one, there is some hope to see a Colress-into-Poffin on turn two and stay in the game. I would like to play a fourth Poffin for consistency, and I was shocked to see that the second-place list only played two.

[card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”186″ c=”name”][/card] is another consistency card. I got some good luck off Pokegear during EUIC, almost always hitting Colress on the seventh card. Although Pokegear commonly ends up in the Lost Zone, it also frequently saves your games due to the deck’s reliance on Colress. Furthermore, you can set up guaranteed Roxanne or Boss plays in the late game when your deck is thin enough, which is quite nice.

We weren’t sure what the switch-card split should be, so we arbitrarily decided to go with two [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card] and two [card name=”Switch Cart” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card]. Caleb was concerned with Giratina VSTAR getting stuck in the Active Spot, while I valued the healing against Lost Zone decks. Azul brought us to the middle ground, which seemed to be fine. Switch Cart is primarily helpful against opposing [card name=”Sableye” set=”Lost Origin” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card], and we still have three [card name=”Jet Energy” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”190″ c=”name”][/card] and Rescue Board to help Giratina VSTAR get out of the Active Spot in case it ever gets stuck — not to mention Mirage Gate!

Rescue Board is obviously a great card for Comfey. There is some redundancy with Jet Energy, but extra Jet Energy get conveniently repurposed with Lost Impact or otherwise saved in case Rescue Board gets hit with [card name=”Lost Vacuum” set=”Lost Origin” no=”162″ c=”name”][/card] (which happens somewhat often).

Temple of Sinnoh is kind of a sketchy tech for the Lugia matchup. There is no way to consistently find it, so you might just not have it at the right time. This is partially why we played two at EUIC. However, it’s hard to justify that, because it’s practically useless in most other matchups. That said, Temple is highly impactful against Lugia. Usually you’ll use it to one-shot their Lugia through [card name=”V Guard Energy” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Mist Energy” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”161″ c=”name”][/card], or to attack with Sableye through Mist Energy. Since they don’t play many counter Stadiums and don’t necessarily want to use Tempest Dive all the time, there is a high chance of Temple sticking in play. It’s also worth noting that some Charizard lists play Mist Energy, so you’ll want Temple against those as well.

Three Water Energy is great, because [card name=”Radiant Greninja” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card]’s attack is broken. You can potentially get value from it in any matchup, and it’s nice to be able to attack with a 130 HP single-Prize Pokemon. Moonlight Shuriken wins games outright if the opponent neglects or prizes their Manaphy. Otherwise, it’s useful against decks that don’t play Manaphy, such as Lugia or Ancient Box.

Three Psychic Energy definitely felt low, and you have to be very careful with them. Three Jet Energy is fine. Four Grass Energy makes sense with the inclusion of Iron Leaves ex. You have to be careful with Grass Energy against Charizard, but otherwise you have excess.

Matchups

Charizard — Favorable

One of Giratina’s biggest selling points is its positive Charizard matchup. They cannot KO Giratina at the beginning of the game, and you take advantage of this. Starting by attacking with [card name=”Cramorant” set=”Lost Origin” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card] is often bait, but sometimes it is fine. If you start attacking with a clean Giratina VSTAR, it can take four Prize cards uncontested. This is negated if you’ve taken a Prize card with Cramorant first.

The biggest priority is Knocking Out their Pidgeot ex. This is important because it gets value from your 280-damage attack before you get ten in the Lost Zone for Star Requiem, and, more importantly, takes away their engine. In your ideal scenario, you’ll take your first two Prize cards with Lost Impact on a Pidgeot. They can’t one-shot your VSTAR, so you follow up with Star Requiem for two more Prizes. After that, you’ll take your last two Prizes any way you like, often with Iron Leaves. Of course, reality is not so kind, so you’ll have to improvise most of the time.

That said, often you will win by taking two single-Prize Knock Outs at some point. Taking that first Prize with Cramorant applies a lot of pressure and works well when you have a way to immediately take another single-Prize KO, or an immediate two-Prize KO followed by an immediate single-Prize KO after that. However, going down to three Prize cards is less than ideal because then their Charizard can one-shot Giratina VSTAR with a damage modifier, and some Charizard lists now play Roxanne.

In general, Iron Leaves is better later rather than sooner. When you’re at four, they can one-shot Iron Leaves, but not Giratina VSTAR. Roxanne is especially good after you KO their Pidgeot, but isn’t necessarily needed if you’re ahead in the Prize trade.

Lugia — Slightly Unfavorable

This matchup is super close. Spiritomb isn’t a super high priority, but you really want to put it on your Bench at some point so they can’t use [card name=”Lumineon V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] for Boss or Iono in the late game. Taking out [card name=”Minccino” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card] can be effective, as they cannot one-shot Giratina VSTAR without [card name=”Cinccino” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card]. If they don’t put enough Energy in play, you can achieve something similar by Knocking Out an [card name=”Archeops” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card]. There are a lot of ways this matchup can go, so it can be difficult to navigate. If you don’t know what to do, at least do something. I’ve even used Spinning Attack with Comfey to set up for a Lost Impact KO through V Guard against Lugia VSTAR before — though I can’t say that’s a common occurrence.

Taking out both Archeops can be a good way to get two Prize cards, but it’s difficult to pull off because of Mist Energy. You’ll either use Moonlight Shuriken twice or use your Temple to Sableye through Mist Energy. And you usually want that Temple to one-shot their Lugia. Cramorant is the go-to attacker to one-shot Minccino and Cinccino. Sometimes you use Cramorant with Boss to snipe them off the Bench.

Baxcalibur — Slightly Unfavorable

This matchup is somewhat out of your control. If they draw well, you might get steamrolled. If they do not have Iron Hands on their board, you can start to pick apart their Bench with Radiant Greninja and Sableye. This is your best way to win. You can also use Roxanne for disruption while using Sableye to KO their [card name=”Bibarel” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card]. If they start attacking with Iron Hands, you are forced to respond with Giratina, so be ready for that. You don’t want to let Iron Hands take more than two Prize cards. Abyss Seeking is risky because your Basic [card name=”Giratina V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”185″ c=”name”][/card] may just be KO’d by [card name=”Chien-Pao ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card], so avoid using it if you don’t have to.

Stall / Control — Favorable

[cardimg name=”Spiritomb” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”158″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Slam Spiritomb immediately. Start attacking with Abyss Seeking and Shred as soon as possible. If they are playing the Pidgeot version, KO the Pidgeot at the earliest opportunity. Starting with Giratina is optimal. If you do, don’t play down any other Basics besides Spiritomb and another Giratina later on (in case they go with [card name=”Radiant Charizard” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”11″ c=”name”][/card]). Once they hit something with [card name=”Erika’s Invitation” set=”151″ no=”160″ c=”name”][/card], you can play down your other Pokemon to stop a future gust with Erika.

Try to get value from Jet Energy early against Quad Snorlax, because they will stick their own Temple of Sinnoh in play eventually. Some Pidgeot lists don’t play Temple of Sinnoh, so you can save your Jets and instead use switch Items early. Because of Eri and [card name=”Miss Fortune Sisters” set=”Lost Origin” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card], they can apply pressure if you play too passively, so try to apply pressure yourself. Going in with Giratina VSTAR when you’re at four Prize cards or so is fine. Shred is too weak to one-shot most of their Pokemon, but if you start using Lost Impact too early, you’ll run out of gas.

Iron Hands — Favorable

This matchup is just free. Get a bunch of Giratina in play and use Star Requiem to bypass [card name=”Heavy Baton” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”151″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Gift Energy” set=”Lost Origin” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card]. You don’t necessarily have to KO their [card name=”Miraidon” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] unless you have nothing better to do. Against the heavy Counter Catcher build, sometimes it is better to never KO their Miraidon. Watch out for [card name=”Mew ex” set=”151″ no=”151″ c=”name”][/card], but their only way to power it up is with Heavy Baton, so you’ll see it coming and can choose not to play into it.

Conclusion

Giratina feels similar to how it always has been. The deck is good, somewhat difficult to play, not too inconsistent, and has decent matchups. Even its unfavorable matchups aren’t that bad, so you feel like you have a decent chance to win against them. If you want a deck that crushes Charizard, Stall, and Iron Hands, give Giratina a try! Thanks for reading!

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