Giratina V · Lost Origin (LOR) #130

3 comments

1. 

   Hibachi

   (3 years ago)

   In terms of “because it’s a Dragon type, it has wonky Energy costs”, Giratina hasn’t really been represented as a Dragon type in the full sense of it since Gen 6’s Ancient Origins. (Generation 7 opted to usually represent it as a Psychic type, and for the Giratina & Garchomp Tag Team GX card, we can read the Psychic & Fighting attack costs as faithful to each other’s second, non-dragon typing.)

   It’s worth pointing out that Giratina is keeping Grass and Psychic as its “signature” idiosyncratic Energy cost, because it has sometimes changed for Dragon types across the eras. I’ve seen people suggest dragons get their TCG attack costs from colors on their body, but nothing about Giratina is green or purple. It’s clearly getting the [P] cost from its secondary ghost type, and your guess is as good as mine on the [G] cost. (My guess would be that Giratina looks somewhat like a giant centipede, and the [G] is for the bug type, not grass.)

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     TwylisHibachi

     (3 years ago)

     It’s a bit of a stretch, but you could also relate it to Palkia’s Water and Dialga’s Metal. Those are both inorganic compounds that fit squarely into liquid or solid, neither of which are alive; Grass, however, covers organisms with solid forms yet high water content, in addition to covering many forms of life (botanical, fungal, and animal).

     Not sure if they had such complex reasoning, but it fits with Giratina’s general theming. Minerals and liquids are just elements; they obey laws. Life is chaotic, it rebels and flourishes even in places it shouldn’t. Very appropriate for the Renegade Pokemon.

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       TwylisTwylis

       (3 years ago)

       As an aside, Palkia’s Water relates to the vastness of space, mostly empty yet flexible in all it can contain, while Dialga’s Steel relates to the rigid immobility of time, moving forward and never stopping. The whole trio’s types are very theme-driven, so Giratina’s energy costs likely are too.

       And Ghost is just a natural fit for antimatter by default, of course.

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