Most Outrageous Card in Pokémon TCG Pocket Ranked: Giratina EX

The Shining Revelry expansion has been at the forefront of the first-ever Ranked season of Pokémon TCG Pocket but there’s one particular card that has been terrorizing the meta: Giratina EX.

What was initially touted as a disappointing card has proved all naysayers wrong by becoming the crux of the meta’s best decks. So, let us take a crack at what makes this Pokémon so special and why you should definitely give it a try in your decks.

Unwrapping Giratina EX’s Broken-Space Bellow

Giratina EX is a rather bulky 150 HP card that deals 130 DMG on gaining 4 Energy. What’s really interesting is how it can gather all that Energy! Its ability, Broken-Space Bellow is, well, actually broken. You see, whenever you use this ability, Giratina EX gains 1 Psychic Energy from your Energy Zone, regardless of what your deck’s type is. So, even if you use Giratina EX in a Darkness set with Darkrai EX and limit the deck to Darkness Energy, Giratina EX would still be able to pull Psychic Energy for itself.

Sounds amazing! However, to balance things out in the “broken” department and prevent Giratina EX from getting banished (Arceus already did that, let’s not subject poor Giratina to that torment again), there are some factors that come into play:

1. Whenever you use Broken-Space Bellow, your turn ends. So be sure to use it only when you’ve done everything else you intended to do in a turn (attacking, drawing cards, attaching Energy, retreating, healing, etc.). Only use Giratina EX’s ability at the end of the turn (don’t forget!) and don’t do it if attacking is required by another Pokémon on the Active Spot).
2.  On using the 130 DMG Chaotic Impact, you lose 20 HP as well. Since losing HP is never nice, try to heal Giratina EX or attach Giant Cape to make it bulkier. With Trainer cards like Red and Rocky Helmet hovering around the meta, and this being an EX card (loses 2 points on KO), it is best to use Giratina EX as a finisher.
3. Two Giratina EX cards are always recommended in decks that don’t have too many other Pokémon cards (2x Giratina EX, 18 Trainer | 2x Giratina EX, 1x Mewtwo EX, 17 Trainer | 2x Giratina EX, 2x Darkrai EX, 1x Druddigon). One Giratina EX can act as a tank with Rocky Helmet and healing, while the other one on the Bench can be readied to deal the winning blow.
4. Aside from Articuno EX, Giratina EX is another viable card that can be run solo with 18 Trainer cards (or with 1x Mewtwo EX and 17 Trainers). Such cases call for Psychic Energy wherein Giratina EX can be ready to go by your 3rd turn! Being able to hit 130 DMG (140 with Giovanni, 150 with Red vs EX opponent) is OP, and can win you games right away.
5. Giratina EX loves to go first! When you’re running a deck with this Legendary, you never really have to worry about your turn order. Just Bellow! Even if you go second, you are again gaining 2 Energy per turn, just that going first is a tad faster. Either way, you don’t have to worry too much about your turn order when battling with Giratina EX.

Using Giratina EX the right way

• Chaotic Impact has base 130 DMG, enough to grab OHKOs early in battle, whether it’s against low HP cards or EX cards without enough Energy to attack.
• Use Sabrina to gain some tempo early on so that you’re ready to attack quicker than your opponent. If your opponent is trying to ramp up a particular card with Energy, try to bring it out to the Active and OHKO it. To take better advantage of this schtick, partner Giratina EX with Darkrai EX to bring Cyrus to the party as well. 
• Giant Cape is more or less mandatory on Giratina EX to not only buff it up to 170 HP but also survive Red-induced hits by opposing Giratina EX in the mirror match.
• While adding Red is absolutely necessary to one-shot EX cards like Arceus, Darkrai, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, etc., arming your deck with Giovanni is also useful to take out un-Caped non-EX threats like Meowscarada and Magnezone.
• Another cool trick to improve Giratina EX’s survivability is using Blue to get 10 less damage from the opponent. This is often a game-changing move as non-Caped or one Cha otic Impact used Giratina EX survives the attack with 10 HP and can go for the kill. Or, it can prevent the opponent from attacking and you can then retreat, preventing the loss of 2 points or the battle altogether.
• The Team Rocket Grunt is a double-edged sword for Giratina EX. If your opponent goes lucky with it, Giratina EX gets more or less crippled. On the other hand, if your Team Rocket Grunt card goes your way, Giratina EX can tackle big HP mons like Charizard EX and Beedrill EX, rendering them helpless.
• Giratina EX can even take on a supportive role before it’s all set to blast the opponent. So imagine that you have Giratina EX in the Active Spot collecting Energy thanks to its ability and you have something like Mewtwo EX or even Mew EX on the Bench (whom you’re sppplying Energy from each turn). If hitting the opponent with Mewtwo or Mew EX is more convenient, retreat using Giratina EX’s 2 Energy and use Dawn to transfer Energy to the new attacker. This is especially useful mid- or late-game.

Trainer cards to pair with Giratina EX

I’ve mentioned “Pokémon” decks since the current meta offers a lot of flexibility and range with the Trainer cards.

Giratina EX is a multifaceted card that paves the way for the usage of several Trainer card permutations and combinations. There’s honestly no thumb rule of Trainer cards to include, and you can get an idea of YOUR best Giratina EX deck by testing out various combos in solo or non-Ranked versus matches. 

But, to help you gauge their functionality, here are some examples of how Trainer cards work together.

• You may choose to go with more Potions, Giant Cape, and Pokémon Center Lady if you want to focus on bulk and healing, keeping Giratina EX afloat in its high HP echelon.
• Red, Giovanni, Team Rocket Grunt, Rocky Helmet, and Blue maximize Giratina EX’s offensive prowess.
• Mars, Iono, Team Rocket Grunt, and some healing Trainers play mind games with your opponent and if any of these cards work out in your favor, you throw their strategies out of the window and earn a concede more often than not.
• Dawn, Pokémon Tools, and Leaf offer great support.
• Sabrina, Cyrus, Red, Leaf, and Giant Cape are standard inclusions with the obvious Poké Ball and Professor’s Research.

Keep in mind that you would ideally need to combine Trainer cards from each parameter mentioned above to create an optimal Giratina EX deck. 

Now, let’s list out the best Pokémon to combine with Giratina EX.

Best Pokémon cards for Giratina EX decks

Giratina EX | Druddigon | Darkrai EX

This is arguably the scariest Giratina EX deck out there, with two deadly combatants added to the mix. Druddigon (with Rocky Helmet) takes up the Active Spot while the other stalwarts are comfortably seated on the Bench.

• Giratina EX keeps on using its ability to gather Energy. Remember that Chaotic Impact requires 3x Psychic Energy and 1x Colorless Energy, so you can fill the latter with 1x Darkness Energy. Darkrai EX keeps on hitting the opponent’s Active mon for 20 DMG with its ability. Other than the Active Druddigon, have another Druddigon on the Bench to keep your EX cards safe from Sabrina.
• All Pokémon in this deck are notorious for their abilities and with Druddigon and Darkrai EX, you threaten continuous damage, weakening the opposition.
• If you happen to come across a Fighting-type deck that would usually have Hitmonlee for 30 DMG to Benched Pokémon each turn, then go with Darkrai EX in the Active and fill up your Bench later.

• Leaf is crucial in this setup (if necessary add an X Speed as well). These retreat cards let you pivot freely since having Druddigon in the Active Spot for too long is only helping the opponent cook up a string offensive formation.
• Needless to say, Sabrina and Cyrus are excellent for this deck. Add Team Rocket Grunt, Red, and Giovanni for the fun. Pokémon Tools Giant Cape and Rocky Helmet are very important. Remember that 1x Red is sufficient in most cases since Darkrai EX consistently does chip damage.
• Dawn is a great card since an early Energy transfer from Giratina EX to Darkrai EX gets Dark Prism ready by just the third turn! This is in addition to 40 DMG done already in the two previous turns thanks to Darkrai EX’s ability. It also works the other way around with Darkrai EX sending 1x Energy to Giratina EX’s way.
• Dawn is often a match-winner late game when a copy (2nd Darkrai EX/Giratina EX) needs 1 extra Energy to finish the job.

• If an opponent is a lowly non-EX and in easy KO range but is shielding an EX on the Bench, then retreat Giratina EX (with 2 Energy, not Leaf/X Speed), use Cyrus to pull the EX, bring Darkrai EX to the Active Spot, attach the turn’s Energy now, and attack. If an opposing EX is already in play, retreat without Leaf/X Speed, bring Darkrai EX, and attach Red to deal a massive blow. Basically, you need to take advantage of Darkrai EX inflicting 100 base damage courtesy of its ability. This is all situational so crunch the damage numbers in your head quickly before bringing in Darkrai EX.
• Your strongest attacker at the end of the day is Giratina EX. The crux of this deck remains significant in any part of the match, and that’s doing 20 chip damage with Darkrai, and blasting the opponent off with Giratina EX, often complemented by Red or Giovanni.
• You can also run this deck without Druddigon. This gives you room for two more Trainer cards. In this case, Mars is cool (helps a lot against the mirror and against Meowscarada) and you can even include healing cards (Potions and/or Pokémon Center Lady) since Giratina EX or Darkrai EX would be stalling. As such, you can even substitute some previous cards with these healers.

Giratina EX | Mewtwo EX

This is a stronger variant of the Giratina EX | 18 Trainer deck wherein you take advantage of Mewtwo EX’s strong attacks (even at 2 Energy) and Dawn’s Energy transfers to bring some relief to Giratina EX. Fittingly, it’s called the Giratina EX | Mewtwo EX | 17 Trainer deck.

• Giratina EX is the combustible fuel while Mewtwo EX is the engine of this setup. Mewtwo EX poses massive damage output and with some non-Leaf retreats and Dawn transfers, Mewtwo EX clocks 60 DMG in no time. Then, 150 DMG is a natural progression.
• Since this deck is entirely Psychic Energy, Giratina EX is online and raging super fast, in just 3 turns! With Giratina EX hitting all cylinders, you can add the turn Energies to Mewtwo EX and take Dawn’s help to get another powerful attacker ready to fire.
• Healing is quite important here so Potions and the Pokémon Center Lady come in handy… a lot!
• Since you have only three Pokémon and it’s highly likely you get them in play pretty quick, use Mars to rattle your opponent’s plans. Seriously, Mars can slay teams having more Pokémon and make them quit even before points are obtained!
• Red and Giovanni again, ladies and gentlemen. Ah yes, Sabrina and Cyrus as well. Iono is not mandatory but useful if you’re searching for specific Trainer cards that can win matches instantly at some later point of the match (like Cyrus or Red). So, do consider Iono as well.

• This is a strong deck that can quickly go nuclear and destroy anything. This  (along with the Darkrai EX | Druddigon combo) is one of the top-performing decks in TCG Pocket tournaments and yes, 1x Mewtwo EX has done better than 2x Mewtwo EX sets.

Giratina EX | Druddigon | Magnezone

If you think of it, Giratina EX is a modified version of the Magneton-Magnezone trope. So, why not combine them with Druddigon as added spice?!

• Druddigon is your usual stall, absorbing damage and doing chip damage with its ability and Rocky Helmet.
• Giratina EX is also at its usual best and note that this deck should be Psychic type as well to get this Legendary raring to go in no time!
• Magneton (Genetic Apex) is the core of its evolution line. With its Volt Charge ability, it pulls a free Lightning type Energy from your Energy Zone (Psychic, in this arrangement) and attaches it to itself. However, unlike Giratina EX, using this ability doesn’t end the turn.
• With Magneton, the objective is to gather at least 4 Energy in all, preferably 1x Psychic and the rest, 3x Lightning from its ability. With this up and running, it can also use its Spinning Attack to dish out 60 DMG.
• Magnezone (Space-Time Smackdown) is the attacker in this line though, doing a neat 110 DMG with the 3 Energy (1x Lightning, 2x Colorless) Thunder Blast. That said, remember that whenever Magnezone uses this move, it drops 1 Lightning Energy. That’s why, it’s recommended to stock up as much sensible Lightning Energy as possible through Magneton’s Volt Charge ability. With at least 2x Lightning Energy, you can use this move twice.
• Being a non-EX card, Magnezone can be used as a sacrificial pawn, but only after dealing massive damage of 110 (130 with Red against EX cards, 120 with Giovanni). A crash-and-burn approach.
• Magnezone being a stage 2 card is a challenge so be sure to include Iono and/or Pokémon Communication to make the process quicker. 
• Magnezone only has 140 HP so Giant Cape and some healing cards sound great. In general, until Magnezone is ready to roll, avoid bringing it to the Active Spot since the entire line technically has low HP. As such, Leaf and/or X Speed are fantastic.
• The EX cards of Gyarados and Palkia hate this deck! It’s once again an ability-based squad that can threaten the strongest opponents.

Some spicy Giratina EX decks

With Giratina EX’s ability to blend into any deck, you won’t be surprised that players have come up with innovative decks built around it. These are not reliable enough to get you consecutive wins but can certainly win you some matches even against the most veteran battlers! 

Once again, the choice of Trainer cards is left to you. Be sure to practice with them before hitting the Ranked mode.

With that being said, here are some spicy Giratina EX decks you could run:

• Giratina EX | Mew EX | Giratina (Space-Time Smackdown)
• Giratina EX | Druddigon | Dragonite
• Giratina EX | Shaymin | Arceus EX

So there you have it, Trainers! This was all about the biggest menace in Pokémon TCG Pocket during the Shining Revelry | Ranked Season 1 meta. There’s a high chance that Giratina EX will continue to reign supreme even in the upcoming meta, it’s just so good! After all, even Ranked Season 1 saw the comeback of many older cards.

Giratina EX can fit in Psychic decks or anything else for that matter. This versatility gives it a good shot to be a future-proof Pokémon.

It’s of no doubt that Giratina EX has shaken the meta to the core whilst still being a balanced card thanks to the turn-ending nature of its ability and 20 recoil damage upon using its attack. Such cards are welcome!

Beware, Trainers! Giratina EX is here to dominate the meta, you better be on its side!

All the best, TCG Pocket-ers!