Nidoking
QC: [3/3] - Amaroq / dodmen /Bouff
GP: [1/1] - Kris
[OVERVIEW]
* Nidoking is a powerful wallbreaker with a wide array of coverage options.
* Sheer Force is an amazing ability that boosts Nidoking's wallbreaking abilities.
* A decent defensive typing in Poison / Ground gives Nidoking useful resistances to Fairy and Fighting, as well as an immunity to Electric-type moves.
* Base 85 Speed allows Nidoking to outpace Pokemon in the crowded base 80 Speed tier such as Chandelure and Togekiss.
* Nidoking lacks significant bulk, and its Speed tier is still considered average, which can leave it weak to many fast offensive Pokemon.
[SET]
name: All-out Attacker
move 1: Sludge Wave
move 2: Earth Power
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Taunt / Superpower
item: Life Orb
ability: Sheer Force
nature: Timid / Naive
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Sludge Wave is Nidoking's most powerful STAB move and should always be used over Sludge Bomb, as Sludge Wave has higher Base Power.
* Earth Power provides Nidoking with a secondary STAB move that is also bolstered by Sheer Force, unlike Earthquake.
* Ice Beam provides Nidoking with excellent coverage against the likes of Crobat, Mega Aerodactyl, and Gliscor.
* Taunt allows Nidoking to heavily pressure bulky Pokemon such as Mew, Gastrodon, and Slowbro by disabling their recovery options.
* Superpower allows Nidoking to 2HKO Blissey after it takes Stealth Rock damage, which would otherwise shut down all of its options.
* Sucker Punch can be used in the last slot to give Nidoking a way to hit fast Psychic-type Pokemon like Latias and Alakazam for good damage.
* Thunderbolt is a special coverage option for Nidoking's last move, as it pefectly rounds out Nidoking's neutral coverage against the majority of the metagame, including being able to heavily damage Mantine. However, this leaves it unable to pressure other special walls the way that Taunt can.
* Flamethrower can be a useful option to allow Nidoking to hit Bronzong harder, threaten Magnet Rise Klefki, and OHKO Scizor.
Set Details
========
* Maximum investment in Special Attack and Speed maximizes Nidoking's offensive presence.
* Life Orb is Nidoking's item of choice to bolster the Base Power of its attacks.
* Sheer Force should always be Nidoking's ability, as the boost stacks in conjunction with Life Orb with the added benefit of negating Life Orb recoil from Sheer Force-boosted attacks.
* A Timid nature ensures that Nidoking will outspeed non-Choice Scarf variants of Pokemon like Scizor, Togekiss, Volcanion, Chandelure, and Magneton.
* A Naive nature should be used in conjunction with Superpower or Sucker Punch to increase their damage output. 12 Attack EVs with also guarantee that Nidoking OHKOes Alakazam with Sucker Punch.
Usage Tips
========
* The main reason to use Nidoking over its counterpart Nidoqueen is the higher Speed stat. As such, teams that need to outspeed Pokemon like Togekiss or Volcanion should use Nidoking.
* Nidoking should be used to deal heavy damage to the foe as often as possible, so you should predict aggressively to attempt to bring Nidoking in, as well as using moves such as U-turn and Volt Switch.
* Nidoking needs to be played with a fair amount of aggression to allow it the most room to open holes in the foe's Defense, so making good predictions while using Nidoking will help bring out its full potential.
* Nidoking lacks the ability to invest into bulk as Nidoqueen does. As such, avoid bringing Nidoking directly in on strong attacks as often as possible.
* Be sure to account for the slight lack of power Nidoking has compared to Nidoqueen. Nidoking absolutely needs the increased Speed and cannot afford to run a Modest nature.
Team Options
========
* Nidoking makes a good partner for many offensive Water- and Flying-types that appreciate its ability to stop Electric-type moves while not being overly passive like Hippowdon, such as Mega Aerodactyl and Starmie. Nidoking must be wary of switching directly into most Electric-types, as they commonly carry Hidden Power Ice, which can cleanly 2HKO Nidoking.
* Volt Switch and U-turn users such as Hydreigon and Raikou make good teammates for Nidoking, as they can utilize those moves to give Nidoking more free switches.
* Dragon-types like Hydreigon, Latias, and Haxorus make good teammates for Nidoking, as they all appreciate Nidoking's ability to beat Fairy- and Steel-types to allow them to spam their powerful Dragon-type moves.
* Pokemon that resist or are immune to Ground such as Latias and Togekiss cover Nidoking's Ground-type weakness well.
* Teammates like Scizor and Bisharp can alleviate the pressure that powerful Psychic-types like Alakazam and Latias apply to Nidoking.
* Pokemon such as Celebi, Gastrodon, and Volcanion make for good checks to Water-types that threaten Nidoking with their strong Water-type moves like Keldeo and Starmie.
* As Nidoking causes the bulkiest of special walls such as Mew and Blissey to switch in, powerful physically oriented wallbreakers such as Bisharp and Scizor can make good partners for Nidoking.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* Nidoking can use Focus Blast to hit bulky Normal-types such as Porygon2 and Snorlax more consistently, as well as scoring a significant OHKO on Hydreigon and Bewear, which its other coverage moves are unable to do.
* Nidoking can provide Stealth Rock for a team, but it should only be done if absolutely necessary, as Nidoking is hurt by losing out on a coverage move.
* Shadow Ball is an option that Nidoking can use to compress its super effective coverage against Psychic-types such as Slowbro, Cresselia, and Bronzong.
* Poison Jab is a decently powerful option that Nidoking can use to heavily damage Clefable that have acquired multiple Calm Mind boosts.
* Choice Scarf is an alternative item that Nidoking can use to surprise many common offensive checks to it, such as Krookodile and Starmie. However, Nidoking loses a large amount of power without Life Orb, so Choice Scarf should only arise as an option when absolutely necessary for a team.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Faster Pokemon**: There are a myriad of fast offensive Pokemon that can outpace Nidoking's somewhat average base 85 Speed and threaten to hit it with strong attacks, such as Hydreigon, Zygarde-10%, and Celebi.
**Psychic-types**: Fast offensive Psychic-types such as Latias and Alakazam are extremely threatening to Nidoking, as they possess the ability to easily pick Nidoking off with super effective Psychic-type moves.
**Ground-types**: Nidoking's Poison typing leaves it susceptible to strong Ground-type moves, allowing Pokemon like Krookodile and Zygarde-10% to easily threaten it.
**Water-types**: Faster Water-type attackers such as Keldeo and Starmie threaten to easily take Nidoking out with super effective Water-type moves.
**Special Walls**: Extremely bulky special walls such as Blissey, Porygon2, Bronzong, and Snorlax all take pitiful damage from Nidoking's attacks, regardless of the varying coverage. However, Bronzong must be wary of taking a large amount of damage from Flamethrower, while Blissey must be wary of switching into Superpower.
**Cresselia**: Cresselia is the most effective check to Nidoking, as it can threaten it with super effective Psychic STAB and can take repeated attacks from any Nidoking variant throughout a match.
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