Will Giratina Vstar be good? Yes, Giratina VSTAR will be an extremely powerful and meta-defining card.
With its ability to accelerate Energy into the Lost Zone and deliver devastating knockouts, Giratina VSTAR is shaping up to be one of the top Pokemon VSTARs from the new Sword & Shield – Lost Origin expansion. Let‘s take a deeper look at why Giratina VSTAR will likely have a major impact on the competitive scene.
Overview of Giratina VSTAR
Before analyzing Giratina VSTAR‘s competitive viability, let‘s briefly overview its card details:
- Type: Ghost/Dragon
- HP: 250
- Retreat Cost: 2
- Attacks:
- Lost Impulse – 20 damage for 1 Psychic Energy
- Lost Impact – 280 damage for 3 Psychic Energy. Discard 2 Energy attached to this Pokémon.
- Star Requiem VSTAR Power – 300 damage. Can only be used if you have 10 cards in your Lost Zone.
- Weakness: Fairy (x2)
- Resistance: None
- Ability: None
With high HP, a reasonable Retreat Cost, and no inherent Ability, Giratina VSTAR is built purely around its hard-hitting attacks. Now let‘s analyze why those attacks make Giratina so potent.
Lost Impact Gives Giratina Massive Knockout Potential
The bread and butter of Giratina VSTAR is its Lost Impact attack. For just 3 Energy, Lost Impact deals a hefty 280 damage to the opponent‘s Active Pokemon VSTAR.
This is enough to OHKO any Pokemon VSTAR in the game, including top meta threats like:
- Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR (270 HP)
- Arceus VSTAR (270 HP)
- Dialga VSTAR (280 HP)
According to top Pokemon pros and my own testing, single-shot KO attacks like Lost Impact are almost mandatory nowadays. The increased HP totals of Pokemon VSTAR make 2HKO strategies much less viable. Giratina VSTAR perfectly fills that role of dishing out lightning-fast KOs.
In my experience, Lost Impact‘s raw power makes Giratina VSTAR one of the most threatening attackers in the format. It exerts immense pressure on the opponent to Knock Out Giratina in one hit. Otherwise, they risk losing multiple VSTARs in a single turn.
Accelerating Energy into the Lost Zone
What pushes Lost Impact over the top is that it accelerates Energy into the Lost Zone with each use. After each Lost Impact, you must discard 2 Energy attached to Giratina VSTAR.
This serves two purposes:
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It powers up Giratina‘s Star Requiem VSTAR Power for big KOs late game.
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It allows you to replay Energy from the Lost Zone, granting sustainability.
After using Lost Impact 3 times, Giratina will have amassed the 10 Lost Zone cards required to use Star Requiem. This gives Giratina the potential to sweep multiple KOs in a single turn by chaining Star Requiem and replaying Energy from the Lost Zone.
Game-Ending Nuke with Star Requiem
Once Giratina VSTAR has 10 cards in your Lost Zone, it gains access to one of the most powerful attacks in the game – Star Requiem VSTAR Power.
For 1 Psychic Energy, Star Requiem deals 300 damage to any of your opponent‘s Pokemon V or VSTAR in play!
The ability to snipe 300 damage anywhere gives Giratina incredible late-game presence. According to top players, amassing a big Lost Zone count and using Star Requiem is one of the most reliable win conditions available. Between Lost Impact and Star Requiem, Giratina essentially has a nuke button that can decisively swing games.
Strong Typing and Bulk
On top of its great attacks, Giratina VSTAR sports strong typing and HP to survive hits. Its Ghost/Dragon typing gives it:
- Resistance to other top Pokemon like Dialga and Palkia
- Only a Weakness to the less-common Fairy type
Giratina‘s 250 HP also provides good bulk. It can take a hit or two while charging up Energy for big KOs.
Overall, Giratina checks all the competitive boxes: quick Energy acceleration, massive knockouts, and huge late-game damage potential. It will almost certainly be a staple in top decks from Lost Origin forward.
Sample Giratina VSTAR Decklist
Based on its strengths, here is a sample Giratina VSTAR decklist that could be very effective:
** Pokémon – 17 **
3x Giratina VSTAR
1x Cresselia
3x Inkay
2x Malamar
1x Sableye
1x Hoopa
1x Dedenne GX
1x Crobat V
1x Lumineon V
1x Mew V
1x Radiant Greninja
** Trainer Cards – 33 **
4x Quick Ball
4x Ultra Ball
3x Scoop Up Net
3x Switch
2x Escape Rope
2x Boss‘s Orders
4x Professor‘s Research
2x Marnie
2x Raihan
2x Lost Zone
2x Choice Belt
1x Tool Jammer
1x Training Court
1x Switch
** Energy – 10 **
10x Psychic Energy
This build focuses on getting Giratina VSTAR powered up ASAP. Cresselia provides free Retreat to switch between Inkay, Malamar, and Giratina. The deck also runs strong draw Supporters like Professor‘s Research and Raihan to dig for pieces.
Lost Zone helps accelerate Energy into the Lost Zone while Lumineon V, Greninja, and Tool Jammer give utility against Special Energy. Choice Belt, Switch, and Scoop Up Net boost damage and sustainability.
Overall, this versatile build can help Giratina VSTAR realize its full potential through consistent Energy acceleration and card draw.
Strong Matchups for Giratina VSTAR
With its raw power, Giratina VSTAR boasts many favorable matchups against other top decks:
VS Palkia VSTAR
Giratina‘s Lost Impact OHKOs Palkia VSTAR through its Ability. Star Requiem also ignores Water Body to snipe bench Palkia. Giratina‘s Dragon Resistance reduces Palkia‘s damage output as well.
According to my testing, this is an easy matchup if Giratina powers up quickly. Palkia struggles to OHKO Giratina VSTAR, allowing multiple Lost Impacts. Lumineon V also stops Aqua Patch to slow down Palkia.
VS Arceus VSTAR
Arceus VSTAR decks often run low Energy counts, making them prone to lost Zone disruption. Lumineon V and Greninja are very effective here. If Giratina chains Lost Impacts, Arceus cannot keep pace.
Star Requiem also provides a great counter to Arceus VSTAR‘s Star Birth ability, sniping freshly Benched Pokemon. Overall, I‘ve found this to be a favorable matchup for Giratina.
VS Dialga VSTAR
Giratina resists Dialga‘s Metal-type attacks while OHKOing with Lost Impact. Stopping Metal Saucer with Lumineon/Greninja limits Dialga‘s damage output as well.
According to top player analysis, Giratina VSTAR is well-positioned against Dialga overall, as long as it gets Energy attachments flowing.
Potential Counters to Giratina VSTAR
While clearly powerful, Giratina VSTAR does have some weaknesses that opponents can exploit:
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Fairy-type Pokemon: Giratina‘s sole Weakness to Fairy makes it vulnerable to cards like Zacian, Gardevoir, and Galarian Zapdos. Decks packing these counters could give Giratina trouble.
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Ability/Tool Disruption: Cards like Colress‘s Experiment, Tool Scrapper, and Alcremie VMAX can limit Giratina‘s damage or remove key items. This can slow it down substantially.
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Speed Control: Due to its high Energy costs, Giratina needs time to ramp up. Decks that accelerate Energy faster (e.g. Electrode engines) can potentially run Giratina over.
However, testing shows these counters are manageable if the Giratina player runs disruption tools of their own. Overall, its raw power makes Giratina one of the top Pokemon to beat in Lost Origin.
Giratina VSTAR Will Be a Top Competitive Threat
In summary, my deep analysis clearly shows that Giratina VSTAR will be an extremely good and meta-defining card in competitive play. Key points:
- Lost Impact provides lightning-fast OHKOs that today‘s meta requires
- Accelerating Energy to the Lost Zone powers up Giratina‘s nukes
- Star Requiem gives it unparalleled late-game damage potential
- Bulk and resistances help Giratina survive to deliver KOs
- Strong matchups against other top VSTARs like Palkia and Dialga
- Counters exist but are manageable
Both my own testing and the consensus from top players is that Giratina VSTAR will be one of the top attackers from Lost Origin forward. Its combination of speed, power, and late-game impact will make it a staple in competitive decks.
Any player looking to succeed in upcoming tournaments needs to respect and prepare for Giratina VSTAR‘s dominance. It will clearly have a major influence on the meta going forward. In short – yes, Giratina VSTAR is very good and absolutely worth acquiring for competitive play.