Have you ever wanted to use a Nidoking in battle, but was worried that your move set would be an absolute waste on the Pokemon? Well, have no worries, I'm here to help with a perfect move set for the monster of the UU metagame!
Nidoking is an interesting Pokemon to say the least and its had a wild ride since its debut in Red and Blue. Today, it has cemented itself as one of the most dangerous Poison-types in the game, and for good reason to. Thanks to a useful ability in Sheer Force, powerful STABs in Ground- and Poison-types, along with a wide movepool with plenty of useful coverage, it's a threat that you cannot dismiss. While Nidoking's stats aren't the most impressive, they aren't terrible either. A decent Speed and Special Attack give it all the tools it needs to wreak havoc on the game's slower Fairy-, Poison-, Ground-, Steel-, and Rock-types. A nice Attack stat gives it plenty of physical options, though it's almost always better as a special attacker. Strong STABs like Sludge Wave, Earth Power, and Sludge Bomb along with useful coverage moves like Thunderbolt, Surf, Ice Beam, Flamethrower, Dragon Pulse, Focus Blast, and Shadow Ball give it an unpredictability that most Pokemon could only wish for. It even has access to useful support moves like Substitute, Taunt, and Stealth Rock, which only bolsters its usefulness in battle. Combine all of this with a Life Orb, and you've got a deadly opponent for sure. However, despite all of these positives, Nidoking has numerous things that hold it back. While a base 85 Speed isn't bad by any means, it definitely isn't good and it often holds it back from sweeping, seeing as many Pokemon can outspeed and prey upon its mediocre bulk. Poison- and Ground- are strong offensively, but carry a number of weaknesses to Psychic-, Water-, Ice, and Ground-types, and these are all fairly common. Its base 85 Special Attack isn't bad, but it's far from good, and even when combined with Sheer Force and a Life Orb, it can often fall short of several important KOs. Lastly, Nidoking has a severe case of four moveslot syndrome, meaning it can't fit in everything it might want on one set. You'll want your STABs of course, but then you've gotta decide whether you want Thunderbolt to take on Pokemon like Gyarados, Pelipper, Mantine, and other Water-types, but you'll also need Ice Beam to take care of opposing Ground- and Dragon-types. Flamethrower and Focus Blast also seem tempting, but you might want Stealth Rock to apply pressure to the opponent, Substitute to avoid status, and unfortunately you can't fit all of these on one set. All in all, Nidoking is a threat that you need to be prepared for, but it has numerous weaknesses that can easily be taken advantage of.
Here's a move set that I use for my own competitive team, and it's rarely let me down!
Nidoking@Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Sp. Def
Moves:
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
The nature allows Nidoking to completely max out its Speed, and it needs as much Speed as it can get. The EVs allow it to also boost its Sp. Attack to great heights, allowing it to potentially net a few KOs. Sheer Force exponentially increases Nidoking's damage output at the cost of negating secondary effects, though this is worth it. The Life Orb pushes Nidoking's damage to even higher levels and thanks to Sheer Force, it negates the HP draining effect of the Life Orb. All of this combined gives Nidoking immense special power, turning it into a deadly threat. However, you need to be wary of strong special tanks like Snorlax, Chansey, and Porygon2, and thanks to Sheer Force, there's gonna be absolutely no chance of you being able to hit them with an important status ailment. Despite maximum investment in its Speed, it'll often fall short of stronger Pokemon and due to its mediocre defenses, OHKOs are likely if you're not careful. Entry hazard support and Pokemon that can clear away special tanks are greatly appreciated for Nidoking.
COMPETITIVE OVERVIEW
Nidoking is an interesting Pokemon to say the least and its had a wild ride since its debut in Red and Blue. Today, it has cemented itself as one of the most dangerous Poison-types in the game, and for good reason to. Thanks to a useful ability in Sheer Force, powerful STABs in Ground- and Poison-types, along with a wide movepool with plenty of useful coverage, it's a threat that you cannot dismiss. While Nidoking's stats aren't the most impressive, they aren't terrible either. A decent Speed and Special Attack give it all the tools it needs to wreak havoc on the game's slower Fairy-, Poison-, Ground-, Steel-, and Rock-types. A nice Attack stat gives it plenty of physical options, though it's almost always better as a special attacker. Strong STABs like Sludge Wave, Earth Power, and Sludge Bomb along with useful coverage moves like Thunderbolt, Surf, Ice Beam, Flamethrower, Dragon Pulse, Focus Blast, and Shadow Ball give it an unpredictability that most Pokemon could only wish for. It even has access to useful support moves like Substitute, Taunt, and Stealth Rock, which only bolsters its usefulness in battle. Combine all of this with a Life Orb, and you've got a deadly opponent for sure. However, despite all of these positives, Nidoking has numerous things that hold it back. While a base 85 Speed isn't bad by any means, it definitely isn't good and it often holds it back from sweeping, seeing as many Pokemon can outspeed and prey upon its mediocre bulk. Poison- and Ground- are strong offensively, but carry a number of weaknesses to Psychic-, Water-, Ice, and Ground-types, and these are all fairly common. Its base 85 Special Attack isn't bad, but it's far from good, and even when combined with Sheer Force and a Life Orb, it can often fall short of several important KOs. Lastly, Nidoking has a severe case of four moveslot syndrome, meaning it can't fit in everything it might want on one set. You'll want your STABs of course, but then you've gotta decide whether you want Thunderbolt to take on Pokemon like Gyarados, Pelipper, Mantine, and other Water-types, but you'll also need Ice Beam to take care of opposing Ground- and Dragon-types. Flamethrower and Focus Blast also seem tempting, but you might want Stealth Rock to apply pressure to the opponent, Substitute to avoid status, and unfortunately you can't fit all of these on one set. All in all, Nidoking is a threat that you need to be prepared for, but it has numerous weaknesses that can easily be taken advantage of.
Here's a move set that I use for my own competitive team, and it's rarely let me down!
Nidoking@Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Sp. Def
Moves:
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
The nature allows Nidoking to completely max out its Speed, and it needs as much Speed as it can get. The EVs allow it to also boost its Sp. Attack to great heights, allowing it to potentially net a few KOs. Sheer Force exponentially increases Nidoking's damage output at the cost of negating secondary effects, though this is worth it. The Life Orb pushes Nidoking's damage to even higher levels and thanks to Sheer Force, it negates the HP draining effect of the Life Orb. All of this combined gives Nidoking immense special power, turning it into a deadly threat. However, you need to be wary of strong special tanks like Snorlax, Chansey, and Porygon2, and thanks to Sheer Force, there's gonna be absolutely no chance of you being able to hit them with an important status ailment. Despite maximum investment in its Speed, it'll often fall short of stronger Pokemon and due to its mediocre defenses, OHKOs are likely if you're not careful. Entry hazard support and Pokemon that can clear away special tanks are greatly appreciated for Nidoking.
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