Intro
Stats
Giratina EX
is a Pokémon EX; currently all have been
“Legendary” Basic Pokémon worth two
Prizes when KOed, something I hope
continues since there aren’t a lot of
good ways to otherwise represent the raw
“power” of said Pokémon (which usually
have superior video game stats,
Abilities, and access to moves than most
other Pokémon).
It will enjoy all the benefits of
being a Basic Pokémon in this format
(access to
Eviolite,
Prism Energy,
Revive, and
Skyarrow Bridge) on top of the
normal benefits (1 slot in deck = 1
Pokémon to play, easy to play from hand
or deck, etc.), so already we are off to
a promising start.
Giratina EX
is one of the new Dragon-Type Pokémon;
nothing is Resistant to them, and so far
all Dragon-Type Pokémon share a Weakness
to their own Type which sets up a
scenario not unlike what happened with
Mewtwo EX.
Simply put the easiest way to
handle Dragon-Type Pokémon is by running
one of your own, though this is not as
easy as
Mewtwo EX was as there is no big,
Basic Dragon-Type Pokémon with a
damaging Colorless attack.
There are also two pieces of
Dragon-Type Support that
Giratina EX can tap;
Altaria (BW: Dragons Exalted
84/124, BW Promo BW48) can boost
its damage by 20 per copy due to its
“Battle Song” Ability, while
Gabite (BW: Dragons Exalted
89/124) can search it from the deck.
Giratina EX
clocks in at 180 HP; for Modified legal
cards, only
Wailord (BW: Dragons Exalted
26/124) has more (200 HP, specifically).
This will allow
Giratina EX to easily take one hit,
outside of Weakness, and if your
opponent isn’t mounting a strong
offense, often two.
Being so large, even though it is
worth two Prizes upon being KOed, is a
huge advantage.
Keep in mind this is the most
common score for a Pokémon EX with just
over half of the 18 different Pokémon EX
we’ve seen released (that is, 10)
possessing that score.
As already mentioned,
Giratina EX (like all other
Dragon-Types) is Dragon-Weak and that is
one of the few times you’ll need to be
wary of a OHKO.
No Resistance is annoying but
understandable and won’t really hurt the
card; I don’t think it would cause
problems, but given how potent Pokémon
EX have been so far, I too would be
leery of overpowering Dragon-Type
Pokémon.
Finishing off the Stats is the
Retreat of three; big enough to be a
definite pain (and
Skyarrow Bridge won’t shave enough
off to really matter).
You’ll need
Switch or
Darkrai EX (BW: Dark Explorers
63/108, 107/108) if you don’t want
Giratina EX getting stranded up
front… or a strategy to help it tank.
Still, it isn’t all bad, as it
makes it a legal target for
Heavy Ball.
Effects
Like most Pokémon EX,
Giratina EX brings two attacks to
the table.
Neither attack is small; one
requires three Energy while the other
requires four.
Both attacks also require two
different Energy Types, though
thankfully it is the same two different
Types for each.
So for (GPC),
Giratina EX sports Shred, an attack
we saw on
Rayquaza (BW: Dragons Exalted
128/124).
It was good but pricey there and
it is good but pricey here.
Three for 90 is roughly the going
rate, but with nothing less expensive to
open with and needing two different
Energy Types, it is kind of steep.
Fortunately the effect of Shred
is almost surprisingly useful in this
format.
There are more and more damage
reducing effects (that reside on the
Defending Pokémon) cropping up, and
Weakness and Resistance are NOT
considered effects; they are
considered fundamental game mechanics.
So without healing or boosting HP
(e.g.
Giant Cape), only
Wailord is safe from being 2HKOed.
Dragon Pulse is actually a bit
disappointing; milling three cards from
your own deck is pretty risky.
Without that effect, the attack
would still seem fair to me: 130 points
of damage for four Energy, especially
when again two of those Energy
requirements are of different,
non-Colorless Types it already seems
comparable to what we see on most
Pokémon EX.
Still, when you need a brute
force attack and your opponent has no
protective effects, only the largest
Stage 1 Pokémon and “medium size” and up
Stage 2 Pokémon can take that… besides
of course most Pokémon EX.
For what it is worth, at least
Double Colorless Energy can be used
for this attack as well.
Usage
Giratina EX
is not that Pokémon EX you’re going to
splash into any and every deck, like
Mewtwo EX (BW: Next Destinies
54/99, 98/99) or
Tornadus EX (BW: Dark Explorers
90/108, 108/108), who possess great
attacks that can use any Type of Energy
to boot!.
It isn’t like
Darkrai EX (mentioned earlier),
whose body and common usage of
Rainbow Energy and
Prism Energy still got it splashed
into a lot of decks to make use of its
Retreat zeroing Ability, and is still a
reason why many decks are partially
“Darkness-Type”.
It isn’t even
Terrakion EX (BW: Dragons Exalted
71/124, 121/124) or
Entei EX (BW: Dark Explorers
13/108, BW: Dark Explorers
103/108) that delivers a solid attack
while building the next attacker.
Giratina EX would seem to be in
danger, because it keeps company with
the several Pokémon EX that are little
more than “beatsticks”; straight up or
nearly straight up attackers: how can it
rise above such competition, especially
when I already mentioned two beatsticks
that can use any Energy?
By doing something none of the others
can.
None of the other Pokémon EX we
currently have can bypass Abilities like
“Safeguard” on
Sigilyph (BW: Dragons Exalted
52/124) or “Bouffer” on
Bouffalant (BW: Dragons Exalted
110/124), which still hold the promise
of becoming widely played counters to
Pokémon EX heavy decks… other than
Mew EX but it has to copy the Shred
or a similar attack from another
Pokémon.
Bouffalant is challenging
(especially when it has an
Eviolite so it is soaking 40 points
of damage per hit) to take down before
it fells a Pokémon EX, but
Sigilyph is a real threat for the
classic “Pokémon EX plus Bench-sitter”
builds, completely walling against
Pokémon EX.
It also can, and now you know why I keep
repeating this fact, hit other
Dragon-Type Pokémon for double damage
due to Weakness.
Not one single Dragon-Type Pokémon can
survive a hit from Shred.
Yes,
Rayquaza EX (BW: Dragons Exalted
85/124, 123/124) can do the same thing,
but it also needs three Energy and
discards two of them,
plus those two Energy Types are Fire
and Lightning… which don’t share a
Blend Energy.
The “secret-rare”
Rayquaza (BW: Dragons Exalted
128/124) can dish it out but can’t take
it as well as that same lack of a
compatible
Blend Energy.
Yes,
Prism Energy is an option but still,
discards or just 120 HP.
Garchomp
(BW: Dragons Exalted 90/124) can
also OHKO anything on its own for (WF)
Energy but has to discard two cards from
the top of its deck or be backed by at
least two
Altaria.
Hydreigon (BW: Dragons Exalted
97/124) needs (PDDC) and has two discard
two Darkness Energy.
Hydreigon (BW: Dragons Exalted
98/124) doesn’t actually hit hard enough
to punch through an
Eviolite but otherwise can OHKO an
unprotected Dragon for (PDCC).
Every other released Dragon comes
up short; since most that are left are
lower Stages of an Evolution line, that
isn’t a surprise.
Is that enough?
For a specific deck, yes: the key
here ends up being
Hydreigon (BW: Dragons Exalted
97/124),
Blend Energy GRPD, and
Max Potion.
You can run a single copy in a
Dark Trance deck and OHKO all other
Dragons with at least a slight chance of
surviving.
Opposing Dark Trance decks that
can only attack with
Hydreigon are taking a huge risk
pushing for the OHKO,
Garchomp decks as stated need two
Altaria or to risk one of their
Blend Energy WLFM, and
Rayquaza EX is already a main
attacker, but as a fellow Pokémon EX you
trade even on Prizes.
The “plain”
Rayquaza is the only one that can
safely attack and won’t be giving up a
lot of cards (it’s a Basic) or just as
many Prizes (it isn’t a Pokémon EX), and
that doesn’t fit well into a Dark Trance
deck.
In Unlimited, this effect can actually
be handy, and being 180 HP makes it hard
for the traditional Sabledonk strategy
(which relies on spamming damage counter
placement effects for a first turn KO).
Some variants are already
prepared for this, however, using
Drifblim (HS: Undaunted
12/90) to return the Pokémon to the
deck.
Otherwise it is just a big
beatstick that can bypass effects on the
Defending Pokémon; nice if you slam into
something old-school like a
Mr. Mime (Jungle 6/64, 22/64)
or
Erika’s Dratini (Gym Heroes
42/132) is handy, but that same slot
could be used for
Tornadus EX or
Mewtwo EX which will be “nicer” and
easier to work in most of the time.
In Limited, this is an almost automatic
run.
Unless you’re fortunate enough to
pull any
Blend Energy GRPD, there is a
significant chance you could struggle to
get a deck that can run enough
Grass Energy and
Psychic Energy.
Fortunately both Types are well
represented this set alongside the
Limited mainstay of Colorless-Type
Pokémon, and most other Types have
several candidates with “splash”
friendly attack costs.
Basically, unless you also pull
something like
Rayquaza EX, you’re probably good.
Just mind all the other
Dragon-Type Pokémon.
Ratings
Unlimited:
2/5
Modified:
3.25/5
Limited:
4.75/5
Summary
If a good Grass- or Psychic-Type deck
comes along, especially one that
actually has compatible Energy
acceleration (unlikely at the moment),
then we'll get another place for this
card. For now, it is just a great splash
for your Dark Trance deck – smacking
around the popular new Pokémon-Type and
giving you less to fear from
anti-Pokémon-EX walls - and that isn’t a
bad thing.
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Exactly what is up is a bit
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