Farigarif, the Long Neck Pokémon. Now that the brain waves from the head and tail are synced up, the psychic power of this Pokémon is 10 times stronger than Girafarig’s. The hardened head from the tail protects the head of the main body as Farigiraf whips its long neck around to headbutt enemies.

Overview

Girafarig getting an evolution in the region based off Spain was surprising, but a great boon to an otherwise neglected Pokémon. And Farigarif does show a good amount of love, having fantastic HP along with 3 stellar abilities and Wish that further increase its durability. Base 110 Special attack is potent too and with the synergy of Farigarif’s STAB combination, along with the wide coverage expected of most Psychic types and boosting moves in Calm Mind and Nasty Plot enable Farigiraf as a potent bulky sweeper.

However, Farigiraf falls by the wayside in many other aspects. Psychic Normal is poor defensively, having next to no resistances and immunities. That and below average defenses leave Farigiraf’s durability not as impressive as what its HP would imply. Poor Base 60 Speed makes these lacking defenses all the more apparent as Farigiraf has to rely on them to setup. And Farigiraf’s need to setup leads to its second problem; it is simply outclassed by many other Psychic types. Slowbro, Slowking, and Scream Tail are all far better defensively, while Espathra, Galarian Articuno, and Armarouge offer superior offensive capabilities. This new giraffe has potential in the herd but its solo act surprisingly does not stand out.
Positives
Base 120 HP is incredible, giving Farigiraf a noticeable degree of bulk and fueling massive Wishes
Armor Tail, Sap Sipper and Cud Chew are all amazing abilities giving Farigiraf valuable protection or increased recovery, further accentuating its defenses.
Good Base 110 Special Attack and the movepool to abuse it, with numerous coverage options, STAB, and boosting.

Negatives
Lack of resistances and Base 70 defenses leave Farigiraf’s hit taking ability less than ideal.
Base 60 Speed ensures Farigiraf will often be moving last, taking unnecessary attacks.
Outclassed by other Psychic types.

Movesets

Double the Heads, Double the Dance

-Agility
-Nasty Plot
-Stored Power
-Dazzling Gleam
Ability: Cud Chew
Item: Sitrus Berry
EVs and Nature:
4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature

Double Dance Farigiraf makes for a terrifying Stored Power sweeper once it gets going, using its excellent HP to soak up attacks while setting up. One Agility suffices to out run almost every unboosted Pokémon around, easing further setup with Nasty Plot. After a single Nasty Plot + Agility, you have a STAB base 100 Stored Power to throw around and start crushing your opponent’s team. Dazzling Gleam rounds out the set, as vital coverage against Dark types that are immune to Farigarif’s Stored Power. Cud Chew is recommended for ability, giving Farigiraf considerable recovery for ease of setting up and attempting the sweep.

Tera Types:
Since Stored Power is the star of the show here, Tera Psychic pushes its damage from impressive to utterly ridiculous and reduces the number of times Farigiraf needs to setup to get to lethal. Tera Fairy is fantastic for resisting both of Farigiraf’s weaknesses and giving a boost to Dazzling Gleam for targets immune or resistant to Stored Power. Other standby options like Tera Fighting for hitting both Dark and Steel types and Tera Steel for just the wide array of resistances are also worth considering.

EVs and Items:
Max Speed and Special Attack are recommended for Farigiraf to get the most out of setting up. Timid Nature enables Farigiraf to outrun more opponents pre and post setup, such as Scarf Mabostiff, and Scarf Heracross while Modest gives a noticeable boost to power at the cost of missing speed thresholds like that. Sitrus Berry is highly recommended due to the synergies with Cud Chew. If not running Cud Chew, Leftovers is good for resilience while setting up, or Twisted Spoon to safely bolster Stored Power.

Partners:
As Farigiraf really needs both Agility and Nasty Plot to be threatening with Stored Power, any method to blunt an opponent’s offense to enable setup is highly recommended. Grimmsnarl is fantastic for this, able to setup Screens as well as threaten Psychic and Dark types with its STABs, removing a common resist and attacker to Farigiraf is greatly appreciated. Tauros-Blaze is another option, offering Intimidate and Will-O-Wisp to ease setting up while eliminating opposing Bug and Dark types that may interrupt a setup attempt as well as Steel types that may resist Stored Power. Umbreon is a third option with Yawn and Snarl support to enable setup. Pokémon that can pre-emptively eliminate Psychic, Dark and Steel types that can stop a sweep are greatly appreciated for Farigiraf. Heracross and Slither Wing fit this bill nicely, their STABs a quick answer to most common checks Farigiraf has while also applying immediate pressure and softening the opposing team up for the sweep.

Other Options:
Shadow Ball -Psychic types can be a big stop for Stored Power sweeps and having an answer to them never hurts.
Thunder Bolt -Excellent coverage against some of the part Flying Psychic and Dark types that give Farigiraf trouble like Bombirdier and Galarian Articuno.
Armor Tail -while doing little while setting up, keeps Farigiraf insulated from being revenge KO’d by priority post setup.
Psychic/Psyshock -if only running a Single Boosting move, better to run the more stable Psychic STABs.
Hyper Voice -another stable STAB option with wide neutral coverage.

Doubles and VGC Options

Much like Giraffes in real life, Farigiraf works best supporting its team. And it does so by being the second best Trick Room setter currently available after Cresselia. Farigiraf’s low speed becomes a boon, becoming shockingly fast under Trick Room and unlike Cresselia, does not need to Terastalize to avoid getting destroyed by Flutter Mane’s Ghost STAB. And Farigiraf is a near perfect storm of Trick Room support. Armor Tail is amazing in doubles with Fake Out and Prankster Taunt being popular options to stop Trick Room from being setup as well as bypass Trick Room’s effects post setup, while Psychic STAB threatens the two most popular opposing Trick Room exploiters in Amoongus and Iron Hands, both common even on non-Trick Room teams. Sadly, Farigiraf’s lacking defenses continues to trouble it, leaving it vulnerable to the numerous stronger threats like Flutter Mane, Chien-Pao, Chi-Yu and Urshifu Single able to KO it quickly despite the bulk Trick Room teams are known for.

Palindrome Room

-Trick Room
-Protect
-Imprison
-Psychic
Ability: Armor Tail
Item: Safety Goggles
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef Bold Nature

Farigiraf stars as a premier Trick Room setter and enabler once Trick Room is setup. Armor Tail is amazing for Trick Room, not only making Farigiraf and its partner immune to Fake Out and Prankster Taunt that would stop Trick Room but also stop priority users that would otherwise ignore Trick Room while it is up. Protect is the best move in doubles, enabling Farigiraf to scout, bait and take advantage of foes liking to focus fire on Farigiraf to remove it before it can throw up Trick Room. Imprison is what helps push Farigiraf as one of the best Trick Room supporters. The best strategy to counter Trick Room once it goes up is to either stall it out or use an opposing Trick Room setter to wipe it away. Imprison locks out both options, forcing your opponent to make calculated switches or be forced to take a lot of damage. Psychic rounds out the set, hitting Amoongus and Iron Hands hard, both being common threats that can turn the tables on dedicated Trick Room teams.

Safety Goggles is for preventing Amoongus from disrupting Trick Room from being setup or wasting turns with Spore. EVs are to maximize bulk so that Farigiraf to help guarantee Trick Room. Tera Fairy gives valuable Fighting and Dark resistances to further enable setup.

Other Options & Partners:
Helping Hand -sometimes the best help is to have Farigiraf’s more offensive partner apply as much damage as possible.
Nasty Plot -turns Farigiraf from Trick Room supporter to Trick Room sweeper and a threat your opponent must answer.
Hyper Voice -great STAB spread damage, and invaluable given how tight a clock Trick Room teams are on.
Dazzling Gleam -fantastic coverage against the many Dark types that give Farigiraf problem and synergizes well with Farigiraf’s favorite Tera.
Rillaboom -offers Fake Out support to help setup Trick Room as well as passive recovery to keep Farigiraf around longer and often is on the slower side thanks to preferring bulk.
Iron Hands -a Trick Room abuser that offers Fake Out support for setup as well as forming a Psychic-Fighting core makes Iron Hands one of the best partners for Farigiraf.
Basculegion is another Trick Room abuser that offers wide coverage with its STAB as well as clean up with Aqua Jet once Trick Room has expired.

Countering Farigiraf

Farigiraf excels when it is given time to setup, so applying immediate offensive pressure so it can’t do so is often best. STAB Dark and Bug attackers like Mabostiff, Heracross, Bombirdier, Zoroark all naturally outspeed and OHKO Farigiraf.

Otherwise checks vary wildly based on set. Setup sets are rife with problems, vulnerable to Haze Vaporeon and Articuno, and Encore from Sableye. On top of this, there is always gaps in their coverage that must be handled by Farigiraf’s teammates.

Sets lacking Shadow Ball are walled by opposing bulky Psychic types, with Hoopa, Meloetta all able to wall and force Farigiraf out. Sets lacking Dazzling Gleam can find themselves utterly walled by opposing Dark types who can either OHKO with STAB in the case of Houndoom or ruin Farigiraf’s Special Attack with Snarl in the case of Umbreon. Chansey and Blissey are also problematic, requiring excessive setup to muscle through but require Farigiraf to be softened up first to win out.

Supportive sets are annoying in that they directly enable Farigiraf’s teammates more than making Farigiraf the direct threat and tend to be bulkier. Hazards will greatly limit the number of times Farigiraf can provide its support and non Prankster Taunt users can completely shutdown any support Farigiraf tries to provide and force it to run.

Anime Appearences

Farigiraf has yet to make an appearance in the anime # -English Episode Name- -Jp. Episode Name- Pics