It's Good to be the King

[JacobJinglepocket]

Since the Gen V changes came to the metagame, OU's been something of a challenge for me to get into. No matter where I go, all I see are DragonSpam teams, or Rain/Sun/Sand offensive. Now, admittedly, I understand why these teams are everywhere: they work spectacularly in the right hands. Yet even so, I longed for a change of pace, if even a small one.

Enter Nidoking, a fairly decent Pokemon through Gens I-IV who gained a fantastic Dream World ability to finally allow it to break into OU (and break down its walls). I've always admired the Pokemon for its wide movepool, cool typing, and fearsome appearance, and now I finally have a valid reason to use him in the big leagues. With him in mind, I decided to form a team around him to see just how viable he could be in this heavily offensive meta.

TEAM AT A GLANCE

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Teambuilding Process

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Obvious Nidoking is obvious. It'd be kinda weird to base a team around him without including him :P

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With Nidoking chosen, I needed something that had decent type synergy with him. I quickly latched onto the idea of Hydreigon, being an under appreciated force in OU in addition to his natural cool factor.

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I now had two somewhat bulky heavy hitters on my team, but their slow speed (by OU standards) left something to be desired. I chose Jirachi for its ability to spread paralysis, lay down Stealth Rocks, and the multitude of resistances it brings to the table.

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My team was leaning a little too heavily towards special attackers, so I needed someone with a little more brute force. Scizor provided me with a second Dragon resistance in addition to ridiculously powerful attacks, so in it went.

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I had the idea, early on that, since weather was such a prevalent threat, I would need some way to change it. Physically defensive Politoed would have decent synergy with Jirachi, as well as allow it and Nidoking to run Thunder on their own sets.

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With the fury of a storm on my side, I now needed a steed that would gallop through the enemy team. Keldeo was thrown in for its semi-unique ability to take on Chansey and Blissey without needing to go mixed, which earned its spot on the team.
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As I thought more about my team, however, I decided that a defensive Politoed would lose me too much momentum in the long run. I replaced it with Rotom-W, who had better synergy with both Jirachi and Nidoking, as well as creating a VoltTurn core to get Nidoking and co. in safely.
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Without a way to change the weather, my team suddenly became very weak to popular sun sweepers such as Venusaur. I needed something both powerful and able to outspeed such threats in the sun. It was with a heavy heart that I replaced Hydreigon with the weaker, but speedier Latios.

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Even with the change, I still needed some more insurance against the sun. Noticing that my team was still a little too specially inclined, I replaced Keldeo with Terrakion.​

In-Depth Explanations:

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@ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Def, 252 SpAtk, 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
~Earth Power
~Thunderbolt
~Ice Beam
~Fire Blast

One of my favorite Pokemon throughout the years, Nidoking finally gets a chance to prove itself in the OU ring. Its multitude of special attacks, in addition to the boost from its new toy Sheer Force, it shatters standard walls such as Ferrothorn, Heatran, and Landorus-T.

I went with the standard set on Smogon's strategy dex, as it really is his most powerful option. Earth Power is self explanatory, hitting anything that doesn't resist it hard. Thunderbolt and Ice Beam give me the legendary BoltBeam combo, which hits almost all of OU for neutral damage. I chose Fire Blast over Flamethrower to net the 2HKO on Ferrothorn in the rain, who is generally a nuisance to the rest of my team.

@ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP, 252 SpAtk, 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
~Draco Meteor
~Psyshock
~Surf
~Trick

Latios is here for insurance against fast threats such as Venusaur and the other Dragon-types that litter OU. Again, the bog standard set applies here: Draco Meteor to obliterate the enemy Pokemon, Psyshock to defeat specially tanky opponents such as Blissey, as well as score the KO on the aforementioned Venusaur; Surf to round out my coverage, hitting Heatran and Tyranitar hard; and Trick, to screw over any walls that foolishly try to switch in on a resisted or weak attack.

@ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spe
Nature: Jolly
~Stone Edge
~Close Combat
~Earthquake
~X-Scissor

Before I included Terrakion on my team, I had a real problem with popular sweepers, with Volcarona being a particular worry. Terrakion solved that problem, and then some. The sheer power he brings to the table is unreal, much more so than the Keldeo I replaced him with. Stone Edge and Close Combat provide nearly unresisted coverage, Earthquake to help round it out, and Rock Slide, for when I can't afford to miss the enemy. Choice Scarf is the chosen item to outspeed threats such as +1 Volcarona and Tornadus-T.

@ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP, 224 SpDef, 32 Spe
Nature: Careful
~Body Slam
~Iron Head
~Stealth Rock
~Wish

Jirachi provides needed support and vital resistances for my team, being able to freely switch into threats such as Tornadus-T and Latios without fear. I chose Thunder Wave over Body Slam as my team fears the likes of Gengar more than Garchomp, though I'm willing to change it if anyone can give me a convincing argument for it. Iron head for rage-quit inducing hax in conjunction with the paralysis chance; Stealth Rock to help my team net those OHKO's the normally wouldn't get; and Wish, to keep my heavy hitters healthy while the manhandle the enemy team.

I've been thinking about switching out Jirachi with Ferrothorn, as it does a lot of the same things Jirachi does, but has Leech Seed to further weaken my opponents. I'm just not sure adding a Fighting-type weakness, a Ground-type neutrality, and losing an Ice- and Flying-type resistance is worth the change. Bronzong is also a candidate for its immunity to Ground-type attacks, though I would miss the paralysis Jirachi gives me.

@ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP, 252 Atk, 8 Spe
Nature: Adamant
~Bullet Punch
~Pursuit
~Superpower
~U-Turn

Scizor is here to weaken the enemy team with strong, repeated U-Turns so Latios and Terrakion can clean up with their powerful moves, all the while picking off weakened enemies with one of its other moves. Bullet Punch's strong damage and priority is also appreciated. Pursuit traps problem Pokemon such as Gengar and Latios, while Superpower is pretty much there to hit Steel-type switch-ins for heavy damage.

@ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP, 24 SpAtk, 232 SpDef
Nature: Modest
~Volt Switch
~Hydro Pump
~Thunder Wave
~Pain Split

The other half of my VoltTurn core, Rotom-W's excellent utility and synergy with my key players cemented its spot on the team. Volt Switch is the core move for this set, hitting the enemy and allowing me to switch out to the appropriate counter. Hydro Pump discourages Ground-types from switching in. Will-O-Wisp ends sweeps from the likes of Dragonite and opposing Scizor early, as well as breaking things like Focus Sashes and Sturdy. Hidden Power [Ice] is there to hit Dragon-types and Breloom hard, though I'm thinking about switching it out for Pain Split to help keep Rotom-W alive.


And so, that's my team. Any criticism is welcome. Thank you for reading!
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[Mr. Green]

Hi, there

The only weakness I see is a Keldeo with Choice Scarf, which under the Rain, it's quite bad to the whole team, to beat it you only have two revenge killer, one of which (Terrakion), can not afford to get on its Hydro Pump , and Rotom-W, however, takes a lot of damage in the rain. Now not to slow down your team does not recommend changing evs spread in a more bulky, but at least to put Thunder Wave> Will-o-Wisp and Pain Split> HP Ice.
With Thunder Wave, you can paralyze Keldeo making it slower than your whole team, so you can hit it well with all the Pokemon, HP Ice is not very useful since the Dragons already hit them with Latios Scarf, Scarf Terrakion and Scizor Bullet Punch and if you are faster with Ice Beam by Nidoking, Breloom also hits him with Latios, Terrakion and Scizor Bullet Punch. Thunder Wave + Pain Split, held at bay for good Keldeo, because once you paralyze you can use Pain Split to recover energy, directly or Volt Switch, Thunder Wave in any case it weakens a lot because it will slow just enough that you can hit with everyone.

Now I want to change something about that Jirachi Body Slam> Thunder Wave. Body Slam is much better because it combined Seren Grace has excellent chance of paralyzing also can paralyze Ground, as Hippowdon, Garchomp and Landorus and Thundurus-T, Jolteon and not cheap especially for the last two that can cause big problems. Thunder Wave Gengar would be useful just to keep him at bay, however, that even with Wish + Iron Head, you can also kill it with Scizor, Terrakion and Latios. Do not recommend to remove Jirachi for Ferrothorn, as would provide a 4x weakness to fire and increase the weakness to fight, Bronzong does not sound like a good option because we lose the paralysis that is important and also Bronzong, not aiutarebbe against Gengar because being without Recovery move would KO power sooner or later. That is all.
Good luck, with your team!

tl;dr

Hide

Pain Split > HP Ice (for Rotom-W)
Thunder Wave > Will-o-Wisp (for Rotom-W)
Body Slam > Thunder Wave (for Jirachi)

where a more bulky moveset for Rotom-W will not slow down too much the team suggest this evs spread 252 HP / 232 SDef / 24 SAtk. Able to cash in even more on the different special moves (for example on Landorus, Keldeo).

 

[Neliel]

Hey,

I like nidoking, its quite underrated and its movepool is very good, so its ability. the first thing i would suggest you is a different set on Nidoking. I've used it in the past, and i understood that when people doesnt have a dedicated counter for it(like, blissey maybe?) they try to switch into predicted attacks in order to have something faster than you that can revenge kill you. For example, if you switch in agianst ferrothorn to threaten it with fire blast, people tends to switch to something that takes nothing by Fire blast, like, Latios for example, so that they can spam a strong Draco meteor. To avoid this, i tried Substitute, and it worked good. It works similarly to Sub hydreygon, since people tends to do the same thing when they face it, you can put a sub to avoid predictions and to force people to sac a mon in order to break your sub. This is in my opinion the best way to make nidoking work in Ou. Now, since you said ferrothorn is hard to deal with, i think you can put Sub instead of Thunderbolt, because water pokemon are already hit hard by epower. If you feel the need to hit Rotom-w however, you can try to put it instead of Fire blast, its up to you.

Now, i think that two scarfed mon are redundant. You dont need to fast scarf to revenge kill things, since you also have CB scizor to finish off weakened threaths. What i think you can change here is Scarf Latios. Scarf latios does not hit hard as you say, it barely does 3ko to blissey, Heatran and tyranitar with the correct move. Also, having your scarf weak to pursuit will make you weaker to Scizor and Tyranitar, and the lack of Life orb is noticeable. What i think you can try over Scarf latios is Life orb Latios. Simply, it helps you facing rain teams because you can recover some damages, and it helps you to check thundurus and Landorus better. In addiction, the Life orb power is really appreciated, giving you the power to hit as hard as you want.
Also, take the green's suggestion, they will help you.

Hide

Your current latios--> Latios (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Psyshock
- Recover

Thunderbolt--> Substitute

 

[JacobJinglepocket]

Your current latios--> Latios (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Psyshock
- Recover

Thunderbolt--> Substitute

You seem to have missed the point of these Pokemon entirely. First of all, Nidoking doesn't have any form of recovery, and with his weakness to a multitude of popular attacking types, vulnerability to Spikes, and the lack of coverage T-Bolt provides, Substitute will only serve to piss away his health. Not to mention the fact that I lose the ability to even touch Rotom-W and Vaporeon.

As for Latios, I need it to be Scarfed to outspeed and KO such threats as Venusaur in the sun, who runs circles around my team otherwise. Not to mention the fact that, if I no longer need the extra speed, I can simply Trick away the Scarf to something that can't use it.

As for Mr. Green's advice, I've implemented them, and while I miss WoW on Rotom-W, I enjoy the added paralysis and the healing from Pain Split. I'm not too sure about the changed EV spread, though. I'll play a few more matches, but I'd like to do more damage with him. Body Slam is also an improvement for Jirachi. Thank you for you advice!