Giratina - Altered Forme PvP IV Deep-Dive

Giratina Altered Forme has dominated the Ultra League ever since the dawning of time. Given that Giratina is a Raid exclusive Pokemon, there is an incentive to trade with other players to lower Giratina’s Atk stat to gain more bulk. The Giratina Altered Forme PvP IV Deep Dive aims to highlight the important stat checks that will free you from trading indefinitely. Oddly enough, you may have your eyes on the wrong prize too, as a variety of higher Atk weights do look pretty powerful. Also, this guide highlights how much your level 50 XL Giratina Altered Forme can thrift on IVs for the Master League should you lack the hundo. 

This guide discusses the hidden true stats of Pokemon in Pokemon GO. In order to see these true stats you need to use an IV checking app (CalcyIV, Pokegenie) or an IV checking website (GOStadium, PvPIVs.com, or PvPoke itself). To make things simple, the guide also features PvP IV tables. 

If you’re not familiar with PvP IVs, check out this PvP IVs Simplified video.

In the Ultra League, Giratina Altered Forme stands as a mighty wall that aims to Fast Move farm poor little Pokemon down with Shadow Claw to unload a flurry of Charge Moves on the next thing in. The typical moveset is Shadow Claw + Dragon Claw + Ancient Power, with Shadow Sneak occasionally swapped in over Ancient to manage Steel-types better. Dragon Breath + Dragon Claw + Shadow Sneak is also a powerful option, trading Giratina’s flexibility for raw Fast Move power along with subverting expectations. 

In the Master League, Giratina Altered Forme lives in the Origin Forme’s shadow. Its niche utility is as “the Giratina that can use Dragon & Rock-type attacks but has poor closing power.” This isn’t to say Giratina Altered Forme is bad, it’s just not as explicitly good as other options. Also, while it isn’t 100% clear yet, Giratina Altered Forme may benefit from Shadow Force here more than it would in the Ultra League. With its bulk and farming potential, the boosted closing power of Shadow Force (as poor of an attack as it is) could be useful.

The tables below feature the IV spreads that meet some of the more important stat checks highlighted in the article. It’s important to review the guide itself to make sure you’re getting what you want out of your Giratina Altered Forme. For example, you may want even more HP for big farms.

Shadow Claw Slight Atk (134.38 Atk, 159.21 Def, 200 HP)

• Table is cut just after the Rank 1 Raid IV, you can remove this limit to see all 1854 options

Dragon Breath, Big Atk (138.17 Atk, 159.21 Def, 200 HP)

• This Atk weight is a bit too high for most Raid IVs (aside from the 14/10/10)
  • If you don’t want to trade, this table is more friendly (136.79 Atk)
• Even if you only care about bulk, try not to drop below ~134.24 Atk for the mirror

Shadow Claw/Dragon Breath Bulk

• There are currently no identified bulk goals that are reasonable to achieve beyond 159.21 Def and 200 HP
  • This isn’t to suggest that higher bulk isn’t useful, there just isn’t a clear “goal”

Generally, Giratina-A’s main utility in the Ultra League is as a behemoth wall from hell that farms up whatever poor neutral/resist hitting Pokemon happens to get locked into it. To that end, generally high bulk is preferred. However, given that there don’t appear to be any major Def Breakpoints, and there are niche benefits to having slight Atk weights, it isn’t very clear how much you ought to roll for its bulk. For Dragon Breath Giratina in particular, you may even want a higher Atk weight.

Shadow Claw Atk Breakpoints are as follows:

• 132.25+, Giratina-A mirror breakpoint vs Rank 1 Raid IV (11/15/13)
• 134.38, Best Buddy Galarian Stunfisk 1-1 with Shadow Sneak
  • Can enable the 2-2 without Shadow Sneak
• 136.17, Scrafty 2-2 potential
• 136.81, Venusaur 2-2 and improved farming

Of the Shadow Claw Atk weights, only the Mirror and Galarian Stunfisk ones appear to be a priority. Given that you will likely face lower Atk, higher bulk Giratina-A’s out in the field, the 134.38 Atk is probably a better goal for the mirror anyways. If you have a Raid IV Giratina-A, you’ve got little to think about, as even the Rank 1 Raid IV (11/15/13) has a 136.16 Atk stat. It’s kind of funny how it just misses the Rank 1 Scrafty, but most UL Scrafty use an Egg Hatch IV weight anyways.

As a reminder, it’s difficult to say if 134.38 Atk is the “goal” or just a tie-breaker/consolation prize. Giratina-A’s primary goal is to trap and farm swap locked suckers, not get by a little better vs Stunfisk. Overall though, these Atk weights suggest that you may not even have to trade for “better” IVs, as these consolation prizes are decent enough. You may want to trade for Dragon Breath Giratina-A however, and in the complete opposite direction than what you’re used to.

Dragon Breath Atk Breakpoints are as follows:

• 134.24, Giratina-A mirror breakpoint vs Rank 1 Trade IV (1/12/15)
• 135.29+, Dragon Breath Gyarados 2-2
  • Likely higher as Gyarados prefers a slight Def weight (or at least it did back when Atk Snorlax was a thing)
• 135.74, Cofagrigus 1-0, 2-1, and 2-2
• 136.79, Swampert 1-2 and farming
• 137.36, Talonflame 1-2 and farming
• 138.17, Greedent 2-2 & farming, and Best Buddy Umbreon 1-0

Real GO Battle League veterans may remember the original 136.79 Atk weight to dunk on Swampert. Back in the day, Swampert was THE safe swap in the Ultra League, lauded for its ability to flip the script on Giratina. Unless of course, Giratina had the Breakpoint. In today’s meta, Swampert is still quite relevant, but an even higher Atk weight of 138.17 may have even more utility. Unfortunately, the 14/10/10 is the only Raid IV spread that meets this Atk weight, so you will likely have to trade to reach it. 

Given that DB Giratina wants a trade Atk weight and SC Giratina enjoys having a trade bulk weight, trading for improved Giratina Altered Forme IVs is kind of a win-win. As for the Def and HP checks, it’s not exactly clear on what precisely helps or hurts Giratina Altered Forme. Given that Giratina will most likely be eating a handful of Charge Moves, it could be best to just follow Stat Product as a tie-breaker after reaching your desired Atk weight. As a general rule, try to stay above 159.21 Def to avoid Atk weighted Trevenant, among other things.

As a general rule, in the Master League you want the 100% 15/15/15 IV Pokemon. However, in the ~80 Raids it takes to get all the XL Candy you need (assuming you’re using a level 3 Mega Pokemon and have a 100% capture rate), you only have a 30% probability of having the 15/15/15 IV. Even after doing 300 raids (~$200 USD), there is a 25% probability you still don’t have it. 

Reasonably, we may have the thrift on our IVs. If that’s the case, what is “15/15/15 enough?”

• 15 Atk, Mirror CMP & Snorlax 1-0 & 2-1 (SC)
• 14 Atk, Mega Gengar 2-2 (SC)
• 15 Def, Togekiss 1-1 (SC+AP)
• 14 Def, Kyogre no flips
• 13 Def, Landorous Therian 0-1 & 1–2 (DB), 1-2 (SC)
• 14 HP, Melmetal 1-0 (DB), 1-1 (SC), DT Garchomp 2-1 (SC)
• 13 HP, Mirror

Unfortunately, it appears Giratina Altered Forme stands to lose several key matchups if dipping below 15/15/14. However, this extra IV option almost doubles your probability of obtaining a “good” IV! Those 80 required Raids for the XL Candy now give you a 55% probability instead of 30%. It is very likely you’ll obtain a Master League ready Giratina Altered Forme in under $100 USD!

In the Ultra League, Giratina Altered Forme is surprisingly comfortable with its Raid IVs. There are some benefits to having an even higher Atk weight for Dragon Breath and there is room for more bulk for Shadow Claw, but unless you’re a true Ultra League enthusiast, your special trades may be better spent elsewhere. 

As for the Master League, 15/15/14 is looking pretty tough as a minimum. Fortunately, Giratina Altered Forme is more niche here, having no major pull factors to build it. If you miss out, you could put those XL Candies towards the Origin Forme instead.