Nidoking (Update)

I'm taking over for Thund(whose analysis is here), all credit for the sets and skeleton go to him, I'm merely writing up the actual analysis.
Note: It has already gone through the QC stage incase anyone was wondering.



http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/nidoking

[Overview]

<p>Thanks to its massive movepool and key resistances to Electric-, Fighting-, and Rock-type attacks, Nidoking is able to fulfill a role on nearly any team. Although it might seem outclassed by fellow wallbreaker Blaziken, Nidoking boasts the ability to single-handily dismantle the hugely popular Fire-Water-Grass core thanks to its diverse movepool. Nidoking's typing grants it immunities to both Thunder Wave and Toxic, allowing it to switch into the likes of Registeel and Chansey with ease, which is something Blaziken cannot do. If you need a Pokemon to break through walls, revenge kill, or sweep late-game, definitely consider Nidoking for a slot on your team, as it is certainly a force to be reckoned with in the UU metagame.</p>

[SET]
name: Classic Mixed
move 1: Earth Power
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Thunderbolt
move 4: Superpower
item: Life Orb
ability: Poison Point
nature: Rash
evs: 80 Atk / 252 SpA / 176 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Nidoking's main attraction is its awesome type coverage, and this set abuses that coverage to the fullest, making it hard for the opponent to predict around it. The main advantage of using this set over a purely physical one is this set's ability to take care of Water- and Grass-type Pokemon with super effective assaults. The 80 Attack EVs guarantee an OHKO on Chansey with Superpower if it switches into Earth Power with Stealth Rock in play, while Pokemon such as Registeel can barely scratch Nidoking and are 2HKOed by STAB Earth Power. Ice Beam and Thunderbolt form the crux of this set, creating the infamous BoltBeam combo that hits a good portion of the metagame for super effective damage and is only resisted by Magneton, Lanturn, and Shedinja in UU, the former two which are destroyed by Earth Power. This set is meant to be an effective wallbreaker, weakening and dismantling walls so that your late-game sweeper can sweep with ease.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>While Nidoking can easily take care of the previously mentioned walls, this is limited because of its lack of power on the physical side. However, this set Nidoking is quite fast, outspeeding neutral nature base 80s, allowing it to sweep very effectively. If you would like, you can transfer 44 Speed EVs to Attack, allowing Nidoking to effectively use Earthquake. This allows Nidoking to beat specially defensive Pokemon such as Chansey and Clefable, and gives it a much easier time plowing through stall teams.</p>

<p>Since Nidoking can still be switched into and outsped by common base 80 Pokemon, most notably Venusaur and Blaziken, defensive teammates are greatly appreciated to sponge hits for Nidoking. Venusaur is a great partner, as it can take incoming Water- and Grass-type attacks directed at Nidoking and incapacitate opposing Pokemon with Sleep Powder. Entry hazards are extremely useful, as they can turn many potential 2HKOs into OHKOs for Nidoking. Uxie can set up Stealth Rock while crippling faster sweepers with Thunder Wave, allowing Nidoking to plow through the opponent's team later in the match. Nidoking attracts a lot of Ghost- and Psychic-types, so Spiritomb and Drapion are ideal partners, as they are unaffected by Psychic-type attacks and can proceed to trap and KO Ghost- and Psychic-types with Pursuit.</p>

[SET]
name: New Mixed
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Thunderbolt
move 4: Shadow Ball / Taunt
item: Life Orb
ability: Poison Point
nature: Naive / Hasty
evs: 24 Atk / 232 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>This set is similar to the Classic Mixed set, as it tries to smash through the opponent's walls, except it focuses on maximizing Nidoking's Speed in order to outspeed the ubiquitous base 80 Speed tier and tie with postive natured Toxicroak. Earthquake allows Nidoking to dispose of Chansey, Clefable, and Registeel, scoring a 2HKO on all of them, and is Nidoking's primary STAB move. Ice Beam and Thunderbolt provide excellent coverage, hitting many Pokemon for super effective damage. The last slot can be filled with either Shadow Ball, (which helps Nidoking deal with Mismagius and Rotom), or Taunt (which allows Nidoking to prevent walls from recovering their health or inflicting status). Since the majority of priority moves are physically based, it is worth using a Naive nature so Nidoking does not lose any of its already poor physical defense.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>While this set allows Nidoking to deal with a wider variety of Pokemon than the Classic Mixed set, the loss in power can make it easier to counter. Entry hazards are a good way to compensate for Nidoking's slight drop in offense, securing certain KOs (for instance, the presence of Stealth Rock guarantees that Nidoking 2HKOes standard Milotic) that this set would normally lose out on. Having a scout such as Ambipom or Uxie with U-turn will make predicting your opponent's switches easier; Nidoking will have a better shot at scoring a super effective hit on incoming Pokemon this way. Additionally, Nidoking excels at forcing switches, thereby racking up entry hazard damage that will be beneficial not only to Nidoking but also to its teammates. Having bulky Grass-types such as Venusaur and Tangrowth on your team can be useful for dealing with specially defensive Water-types such as Milotic that can take a Thunderbolt and KO back with Surf.</p>


[SET]
name: Anti-Lead
move 1: Taunt
move 2: Stealth Rock
move 3: Earth Power
move 4: Ice Beam / Toxic Spikes
item: Focus Sash
ability: Poison Point
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Nidoking fares well against most common leads, having access to both Taunt and Stealth Rock. This set focuses on setting up entry hazards while at the same time preventing slower leads from setting up any of their own. Steelix, Omastar, and Kabutops are all outsped and can be Taunted on the first turn, and then KOed by Earth Power the next; however, Kabutops usually carries Focus Sash and a priority move in Aqua Jet, so immediately attacking it with Earth Power is recommended. As mentioned above, Taunt is great not only for preventing the opposing team's entry hazards from being dispensed, but also for stopping status inducers both early- and mid-game, something most anti-leads do not have access to. Setting up Stealth Rock early in the match puts pressure on the opponent, and is a good method to reduce the threat that is Moltres, which is one of the most common UU sweepers. Earth Power is Nidoking's primary STAB move and enables it to effectively eliminate Omastar and Steelix leads. Ice Beam rounds off this set's coverage, boasting great synergy with Earth Power and hitting Grass-types that resist Nidoking's STAB attack for super effective damage. Toxic Spikes is an option to consider, although it is worth noting that Poison-types are quite common. Focus Sash allows Nidoking to deal with priority priority users such as Kabutops in a better manner and allows Nidoking to survive if you mispredict. For instance, if you Taunt Mespirit assuming it will Stealth Rock only to find it uses Psychic on Nidoking, you'll get a second chance to outplay your opponent.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Spiritomb is an ideal partner, as it can switch in on leads that Nidoking has problems with, most notably Ambipom and Uxie, and set up or Pursuit them as they attempt to switch out. Compared to Drapion, Nidoking can set up Toxic Spikes with less pressure, thanks to its ability to deal with common spinners and Poison-types that would usually switch into it to absorb Toxic Spikes. A common example of a spinner is Donphan, who can easily switch into Drapion without fear and proceed to spin away the entry hazards or Earthquake Drapion to oblivion. Nidoking, however, has Ice Beam, which can easily 2HKO Donphan, and Earth Power, which can annihilate common Poison-types such as Toxicroak and Drapion.</p>

[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Earth Power
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Thunderbolt
move 4: Shadow Ball / Thunder
item: Life Orb
ability: Poison Point
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>This set focuses solely on Nidoking's huge special movepool. Earth Power starts off the set, scoring a KO on most Rock- and Steel-types who lack the special bulk to take an Earth Power. As stated previously, Ice Beam and Thunderbolt form the infamous Boltbeam combo, pairing nicely and having good coverage with Earth Power, hitting a good portion of the metagame for super effective damage. The last slot features both Shadow Ball and Thunder, both of which have their advantages. Shadow Ball is a reliable means of destroying Levitators that are weak to Ghost-type moves, such as Rotom and Mismagius, while Thunder, despite its shaky accuracy, has a chance to KO Milotic if it switches into Earth Power.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Since this set only hits from the special side, having a means of removing specially defensive walls before Nidoking attempts to sweep is useful. Blaziken is a good choice, capable of destroying both Chansey and Clefable, two common walls. Pokemon with Trick are good teammates as well, crippling Pokemon that prevent Nidoking from attempting a sweep. Dugtrio, despite sharing a lot of weaknesses with Nidoking, is another excellent teammate, trapping special walls thanks to its ability and finishing them off with its STAB Earthquake. A Timid nature allows Nidoking to outspeed positive nature base 80 Speed Pokemon that would normally switch in on Nidoking and attempt to finish it off, only to find themselves at the mercy of a STAB Earth Power or Ice Beam. Fire Blast is an option to consider as it can nail Venusaur, who would usually survive an Ice Beam, but apart from that it does not have many uses.</p>



[SET]
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Stone Edge
move 3: Megahorn
move 4: Sucker Punch
item: Life Orb
ability: Poison Point
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>This set aims to take advantage of Nidoking's decent Attack stat and good physical movepool. Earthquake is Nidoking's primary attack, with the rest of the set offering great type coverage. As most people would expect Nidoking to carry Earth Power, this set a good way to lure and destroy special tanks and Registeel, who usually packs few Defense EVs. Stone Edge is for Flying-types such as Altaria and Moltres; Megahorn rips through Grass-types such as Tangrowth and Leafeon, as well as severely denting Uxie and Mespirit, both of which are immune to Nidoking's STAB attacks; and Sucker Punch is a somewhat reliable priority move for taking out faster threats such as Rotom and Mismagius, although it allows Substitute Mismagius and Rotom to set up on Nidoking if the opponent predicts well. The EVs are set to maximize Nidoking's Attack and Speed, allowing it to outspeed common base 80 Speed Pokemon such as Blaziken and Venusaur and proceed to destroy them with Earthquake.</p>


[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>This set is focused on taking out weakened counters and sweeping, rather than weakening and taking out walls like the mixed sets. Superpower is definitely an option to consider, as it allows Nidoking to easily dispose of Chansey and Clefable, both of whom aren't OHKOed by Earthquake. Pursuit users such as Spiritomb and Drapion can take care of Pokemon with Levitate, as the majority of them are Ghost- and Psychic-types, allowing Nidoking to sweep with Earthquake late-game. Nidoking is an excellent recipient of Swords Dance boosts, as it outspeeds a good portion of the metagame with a Jolly nature and needs the boost in its power to expand the number of targets it can OHKO. Dealing with potential revenge killers before attempting a sweep is vital. Milotic and Tangrowth can take incoming hits well and retaliate with an attack or status. Nidoking benefits from Pokemon who can take attacks from Pokemon who try to revenge kill it, or Pokemon who can take a hit and KO back. Milotic, Steelix, and even Regirock come to mind, since all three are able to take an Earthquake from Nidoking and KO back with Surf or Earthquake, respectively. However, Tangrowth can take Surf and Earthquake all day, while also threatening the aforementioned Pokemon with its STAB Power Whip.</p>

[Team Options]

<p>Nidoking's ability to clear the field of many common walls, such as Steelix, Registeel, and Chansey, means sweepers can set up more easily. For example, Pokemon such as Mismagius often have trouble getting by Registeel, but Nidoking can take Registeel out of the match with a STAB Earthquake or Earth Power.</p>

<p>Entry hazard support is vital for Nidoking. Uxie and Mespirit can set up Stealth Rock while crippling opposing Pokemon with Thunder Wave or Yawn. Most Spikes users lack good synergy with Nidoking due to its many weaknesses, although Cloyster, which resists Water- and Ice-type can come in on bulky Water-types and start to set up (just be wary of Ground-type attacks). Nidoking also helps its team by absorbing Toxic Spikes. Stat-boosting Pokemon such as Espeon really appreciate this, and return the favor by taking down some of Nidoking's bulkier counters.</p>

<p>Defensively, bulky Water- and Grass-types such as Milotic and Venusaur make good teammates for Nidoking, resisting most of its weaknesses. Milotic can sponge Water- and Ice-type attacks directed at Nidoking and cripple other sweepers with Toxic or hit them with STAB Surf, while Venusaur can incapacitate opposing Pokemon with Sleep Powder, allowing Nidoking to switch in safely. Spiritomb can take care of Ghost- and Psychic-type Pokemon while also being able to set up or Will-O-Wisp incoming tanks or sweepers that Nidoking lures in depending on the set it is running. Registeel and Chansey can take most special attacks thrown at Nidoking and can cripple the opponent with Thunder Wave or Toxic, the former being more useful since the majority of Nidoking revenge killers are fragile and outspeed it.</p>

[Optional Changes]

<p>You can utilize Nidoking's secondary STAB attacks, Sludge Bomb and Poison Jab, although they provide worse coverage than Ice Beam. Surf is another option, although Nidoking's Ground-type STAB paired with Ice Beam gives the same coverage, but it has its uses against Rhyperior. Dragon Pulse is another option, although with Altaria being the only common Dragon-type in UU, it is not worth running, and Ice Beam does more damage anyway. Aqua Tail's only benefit is that it can hit Moltres, which is not affected by Earthquake. Apart from that, it does not provide any good coverage and is outclassed by Earthquake. Fire Blast is a good choice on the Classic Mixed set as it can KO Venusaur, who would usually outspeed Nidoking before it can 2HKO with Ice Beam. Focus Punch, if used on the physical set, can OHKO Chansey, although it would require Nidoking to perhaps use Substitute to ensure it hits. Rivalry can provide a very welcome boost provided Nidoking is facing a male opponent, although Nidoking will have its offense dropped when facing a Pokemon of the opposite gender. However, a boosting item like Life Orb does compensate for this somewhat. Overall, though, Poison Point is the safer ability.</p>

[Counters]

<p>Due to its massive movepool, countering Nidoking is by no means an easy task. The best way to "counter" it is to send in a generic wall, find out Nidoking's set and item, and work from there. Milotic is a good counter due to its impressive bulk and ability to sponge almost any attack that Nidoking is capable of throwing at it. Weezing is not weak to any of Nidoking's attacks and can cripple it with Will-O-Wisp, although it should watch out for Taunt variants. Chansey and Clefable can easily wall the special set and slowly finish it off with Seismic Toss, while the latter can actually use it as set up fodder for stacking up Calm Mind boosts. Physical sets are stopped cold by Donphan, which can easily take any of Nidoking's attacks and retaliate with STAB Earthquake. Any fast Pokemon that can use a super effective move can easily revenge kill Nidoking. Espeon is a good example, as it can Substitute to scout for Sucker Punch as well as OHKO Nidoking with STAB Psychic. Mismagius and Rotom in general aren't the best of counters, but they are immune to Nidoking's Ground-type STAB attack, and can Substitute on an incoming Sucker Punch or dismantle Nidoking with Will-O-Wisp. Positive Speed nature Venusaur can come in various sets not running a Jolly or Timid nature on a predicted Megahorn or Thunderbolt and proceed to hit Nidoking with Leaf Storm or put it to sleep via Sleep Powder.</p>

Oops, this was my bad. I forgot Thund was in the process of writing up Nidoking here. I'm sure Thund could use some help finishing it up though if you were to ask him.

Sorry Somalia... :(

Oglemi said:

Oops, this was my bad. I forgot Thund was in the process of writing up Nidoking here. I'm sure Thund could use some help finishing it up though if you were to ask him.

Sorry Somalia... :(

Click to expand...

Don't worry about it, Flora kindly asked him and he agreed to let me write it up.

Oh, good. Carry on then.

Ready for GP checks.

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OK, I don't normally do full checks, but I felt this had to be addressed. Please make all of the necessary changes.

Appreciated, Will make changes, although some require me to state quite obvious points, which the reader should already know if he/she is playing competitively. For instance referring to which Pokemon can setup entry hazards multiple times in the analysis is pointless as all the sets require the same defensive+support teammates.

Yes, but you don't need to list the same ones each time. Like sometimes you could say Uxie, then the next time say Cloyster and Donphan, then the next time say Cacturne or something. It doesn't have to be repetitive.

EDIT: And we are writing these analyses for those who are interested in battling competitively. We can't assume that they know everything about battling when we write these. What would be the point of writing them for people who already know how to use them? We are writing them to get people to know the metagame and how to use each Pokemon. We can't assume anything.

Thank you, made changes/additions, to suit the audience.

Well, you made like maybe 1/4 of the changes... You still need to add more to OC, mention U-turn users in the New Mix set, how the Anti-lead set fairs against the common leads (it's a lead analysis, you can spend as much time as you like describing you to react to each one), de-Capslock Overview, Team Options, OC, and Counters, and change +ve to positive.

These all need to be made in order for this to even be considered for the queue SOMALIA. Trust me, either I tell you to do it or Rising_Dusk will.

-Made brief mention of U-turn users and why they are useful regarding the Mixed set...
-Changed +ve to positive.
-De-captilized 'overview', 'team options', 'optional changes' and 'counters'.
-The optional changes section I added Dragon Pulse, Fire Blast, Surf and Aqua Tail.
-Added briefly how Nidoking fares against common leads.

Regarding team options, I have added a few more Pokemon but don't feel comfortable adding anymore simply because Nidoking has very few partners that have good synergy with it ._.

When Oglemi meant de-capitalizing Overview, Team Options, Optional Changes, and Counters, he didn't mean de-capitalize each letter. Each of the above sections should have the first letter in their titles capitalized, instead of each letter being capitalized. Just saying.
Additionally, look over your update again, because there are a couple errors that I spotted in it. For example, in the Set Comments of the Anti-Lead set, change "fairs" to "fares". Also, I personally think that the Special Attacker and Physical Attacker sets need to be expanded upon.

Flashrider57 said:

When Oglemi meant de-capitalizing Overview, Team Options, Optional Changes, and Counters, he didn't mean de-capitalize each letter. Each of the above sections should have the first letter in their titles capitalized, instead of each letter being capitalized. Just saying.
Additionally, look over your update again, because there are a couple errors that I spotted in it. For example, in the Set Comments of the Anti-Lead set, change "fairs" to "fares". Also, I personally think that the Special Attacker and Physical Attacker sets need to be expanded upon.

Click to expand...

Changed, will expand on the sets.

Mention in the AC of the physical attacker that Nidoking makes a great recipient of SD passes.

Done;p

SOMALIA, why are you being so brief with this analysis? I more than anybody want to get these done, but I'm not for skimping on quality. It's kind of sad that my Raticate analysis has more text than your entire Nidoking analysis does.

I understand it may be hard to think of different Pokemon to add for teammates, or that it may be a little repetitive, but PLEASE expand on these sets.

The Anti-Lead set especially still needs expanding on how to deal with at least the top 10 leads in detail. (Omastar and Steelix are not the only leads in existence).

Don't be afraid to add more info. I'd rather you have too much info than not enough SOMALIA. And if it's because you're afraid of the whole conciseness ordeal, don't be. I don't think you're in any way close enough to that being an issue. Or, if you need help in writing this, please ask somebody. I don't have enough experience with Nidoking to really allow me to help you write it, but I'm sure somebody is willing to help you who does.

Finish it anyway, and we'll go from there.

here's the check, Oglemi you're in charge here so do with this what you will...

I'll stamp (if this is a valid check) once everything is tidied up.

removals in red
additions in bold

Yeah, this will count as an official check when all the changes are made, because I really just want at the very least 3-4 more sentences for each set and the Team Options, OC, and Counters and possibly 1 or 2 more paragraphs for the Lead set.

If the next GP checker feels this will need a third check, so be it.

I received a few PMs about this, so I decided to look into this and see what all the commotion was. I think, after having read the thing, that there is a little lack of information in the set writeups that could be included. While there is good stuff here, you definitely want to discuss some of the important lead match-ups for the anti-lead set. Why would you use this over other attacking leads, like Arcanine or Kabutops? What benefits does it bring to the table? I think those things should be discussed in sufficient detail, regardless of what it does to the length of the analysis. Note also that you (SOMALIA) were concerned about the length of the analysis, but that is mostly a result of having so many sets, not excessive verbosity. Just take a look at Celebi and you'll see that this type of length is not bad. Just don't write a 2000 word essay for each set and you're fine.

Otherwise, I like what Oglemi is suggesting. I don't think discussing all 10 top leads in every lead set is useful, since the popularity of leads wanes and boons depending on the metagame. Just discuss the important match-ups that differentiate it from other leads, and you should be good.

Ok Rising Dusk, thanks, I'll add what you suggested to the Anti-lead set and Oglemi, I'll beef up the analysis overall. Sorry for this guys, I'll make sure to include alot of essential info+extra and then you can take out what you want.

EDIT: Done ._., please actually read what I've added rather than saying oh, 'he only added 3 extra lines on so and so set' that isn't enough. Thank you.

OK, that's better, thank you.

uragg you can stamp this if SOMALIA made all of the changes.

Implemented the changes.

All looks good to me. I've added this to the GP queue, and made uragg's check count as 1/2. I'm not sure why the OP suggests 1/3, since the necessity of a 3rd check is decided by the 2nd checker.

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