Pokemon Go Giratina Altered Raid Guide: Best Counters, Weaknesses, Raid Hours, And More Tips

Giratina is coming back to Pokemon Go Gyms near you in its Altered Forme for a limited-time appearance in five-star raid battles. This legendary Pokemon is bringing along the start of Part 1 of Pokemon Go’s annual Halloween event.

Giratina Altered Raid Schedule

Altered Forme Giratina is appearing as the only five-star raid boss in Pokemon Go starting at 10 AM local time on October 20, 2022 and will remain available to battle until the same time on November 1. Raids do not generally follow a set schedule, and Giratina raids will appear randomly at Gyms around the world during this time period, but you will receive a notification from the game when a raid is about to begin nearby.

Your best chance to find Giratina Altered raids is during the Raid Hours in which the Renegade Pokemon will be featured. Every Wednesday from 6 PM to 7 PM local time, the majority of Gyms host five-star raids for Trainers to work together to take down. The only Raid Hour that will occur while Altered Forme Giratina is available to challenge will be on October 26. As with all raids, you’ll need your free daily Raid Pass or a Premium Battle Pass to join a raid in person, or a Remote Raid Pass to join a raid remotely.

Can I Catch a Shiny Giratina?

Altered Forme Giratina’s incredibly designed shiny form was released in 2019, so trainers will continue to have an opportunity to catch a shiny Giratina after defeating it in a raid. Remember that a shiny is never guaranteed, and you won’t know if a Xerneas will be shiny until after you’ve completed the raid, so be sure to do as many as you can to increase your chances of finding a shiny.

Giratina Weaknesses and Counters

Giratina is a Dragon and Ghost-type Pokemon. This means it takes super effective damage from Fairy, Dark, Ice, Dragon, and Ghost-type attacks. Some recommended Pokemon include:

• Fairy: Gardevoir, Granbull, Togekiss, Primarina
• Dark: Mega Gyarados, Tyranitar, Hydreigon, Darkrai, Yveltal
• Ice: Mega Abomasnow, Mamoswine, Weavile, Glaceon, Galarian Darmanitan
• Dragon: Mega Charizard X, Salamence, Rayquaza, Dragonite, Palkia
• Ghost: Mega Gengar, Chandelure, Giratina Origin

A Mega Tip: A Mega Evolved Pokemon boosts the damage of all Pokemon in the raid by 10%, and the damage of all Pokemon using attacks that share a type with the Mega Evolved Pokemon by 30%. Coordinate those Megas with your raid group for added damage. Note that while Mega Altaria will boost the damage of fellow Fairy and Dragon types in the raid, its defensively oriented stats mean it likely won’t output enough damage of its own to be worth using. Mega Gengar, Gyarados, Houndoom, or Abomasnow would be ideal Megas to use in Giratina raids.

Don’t be afraid of the shadows: Shadow Pokemon deal 20% more damage than their non-shadow counterparts, so the shadow versions of any of the suggested Pokemon that have them can help you win.

Giratina’ Altered Forme is defensively-oriented and very bulky, which can make it a more challenging raid. Make sure you have strong counters or a larger group to avoid wasting a Raid Pass.

Types to Avoid

Ghost and Dragon are somewhat unique types in that they are super-effective against themselves, meaning that Giratina can hit back against the Ghosts and Dragons used to challenge it. Also keep in mind that Giratina’s typing provides it with resistances to Poison, Bug, Fire, Water, Grass, and Electric-type attacks, and double resistances to Fighting and Normal-type attacks.

Usefulness

Is Altered Forme Giratina worth raiding after you’ve gotten the new Pokedex entry or shiny? If your primary focus is on raiding, probably not. Altered Forme’s defensive stats make it a poor choice for raiding, so players with this priority should probably hold off until the more offensively-oriented Origin Forme returns to raids following Altered Forme’s departure. Even with the new exclusive move Shadow Force, Giratina Altered is unlikely to have a strong presence as a raid attacker.

PvP, on the other hand, is a different story. Bulky Pokemon like Giratina Altered are generally preferred in PvP, and though it has had challenges to its throne, Altered Forme Giratina has long been a dominant force in open Ultra League. It has similarly had strong play in Master League, even if it has gotten overshadowed by its Origin Forme in that league. The impact that Shadow Force will have on these leagues (Giratina can’t be obtained below 1500 CP for Great League) remains to be seen since Niantic has only announced the base power of the move and not the energy cost. A strong finishing move could be just what the Pokemon world’s devil needs to cement its dominance in both metas as long as Niantic doesn’t make it unreasonably expensive. Even without Shadow Force, though, Giratina Altered is worth adding to your rosters for Ultra and Master Leagues if you don’t already have it.