The standard Nidoking set, applied to Nidoqueen. Nidoqueen lacks Megahorn, but it can remedy that by hitting Meganium with STAB Sludge Bomb and Solrock with Shadow Ball. Ice Beam OHKOs Gligar and does a lot of damage to other Grounds, as well as Fearow, who is immune to two of your moves.
Requires prediction to work. Your main attacking move here is Earthquake, so like with above set, hit Fliers like Gligar with Ice Beam, Shadow Ball is for Solrock, and Sludge Bomb is for Meganium (and it hits Fearow quite hard as well). This set makes Nidoqueen do notable damage if used right. You can use this set in standard. Superpower OHKOs Tyranitar, and does massive damage to Snorlax, Blissey, and Regice. Another good idea is to use Thunderbolt, Thunder or Fire Blast in the last slot to 2HKO Skarmory. If you're using Ice Beam for Gligar, use 56 Special Attack EVs and Hasty or Naive nature (taking EVs from HP and Speed), so you can OHKO it. Same goes if you're using a Special Attack for Skarmory in standard. Other OptionsCounter is an awesome move on Nidoqueen, since she usually survives even STAB Earthquakes if she has a defensive EV spread. Charm can be annoying as hell for physical switch-ins like Fearow, Snorlax or any Ground. Roar Nidoqueen can be used for teams based around Baton Pass (both in standard and UU) and it can easily Roar away Ninjask or Scizor as well. Nidoqueen is defensive enough to pull off a Rest / Sleep Talk set, but it's better to use her outstanding versatility. Substitute helps against Weezing if it's not running Flamethrower or Fire Blast. Aerial Ace or Hidden Power Flying is an option if you really want to kill Heracross in standard. In the same way, Hidden Power Grass 2HKOs Swampert, Quagsire and Whiscash, but you should be using it on the switch or they will KO you with Earthquake, Surf or Hydro Pump. Use Crunch if you're using a Nidoqueen that's focused on Special Attack (though that's not recommended as it lacks STAB); it will damage Gengar, Solrock and Misdreavus badly. Double Kick makes Nidoqueen quite a good Tyraniboah counter, it resists Focus Punch and is immune to Thunderbolt, and with Double Kick you'll be able to break the Substitute and damage Tyranitar in the same turn. EVsIf you want to OHKO max HP Gligar with Ice Beam guaranteed, you need 200 Special Attack. The main sets should have offensive spreads like suggested, but if you're using Counter or just want a more sturdy Nidoqueen, I recommend using 252 HP / 140 Attack / 36 Defense / 80 Speed with Adamant nature (when not using any Special Attacks). With this, you survive STAB Earthquakes from the likes of Sandslash and Flygon. This means you'll be easily living through Nidoking, non-Swords Danced Gligar and any non-STAB Earthquake. OpinionNidoking is usually better suited for your competitive needs because his higher Speed and offenses in addition to Megahorn make it a lot easier to pulverize opposing teams. However, Nidoqueen is much better at using Counter due to higher sturdiness. Because of this tankish nature, Nidoqueen is also better at using the nice resistances given to the Poison / Ground typing, but still you should be wary of these nasty weaknesses to Earthquake, Psychic and Surf. CountersNidoqueen is versatile, but since its attacking stats are on the low side it doesn't hurt much if it's not dealing STAB or super effective damage. In standard, tankish Waters like Suicune, Milotic, Slowbro and Swampert are failsafe switch-ins. Their high HP and Defense enables them to come in pretty often on even Thunderbolts or Choice Band Earthquakes. Swampert has more trouble with Hidden Power Grass Nidoqueen, however. Suicune and Milotic can beat Nidoqueen with Surf, Swampert with Hydro Pump, Surf or Earthquake and Slowbro with Psychic or Surf. Weezing generally walls Nidoqueen: Levitate makes it immune to Earthquake, the resistance to Focus Punch, Superpower, and Sludge Bomb in addition to high Defense and Will-O-Wisp to further lower Nidoqueen's attacking powers make it nearly impossible for Nidoqueen to get past it. Substitute can be a hindrance however, as it will take two Sludge Bombs to break it and the Substitute will protect Nidoqueen from Will-O-Wisp. Flygon can come in on Earthquake, Rock Slide, Sludge Bomb as well as Fire or Electric moves. If it doesn't get Ice Beamed on the switch, it can badly damage Nidoqueen with Earthquake, or OHKO if Flygon is Choice Banded. The defensive Nidoqueen suggested in the EVs section survives non-Choice Band Flygon and can kill it with Counter, but it will need a load of Special Attack to KO with Ice Beam. Claydol takes barely 30% from Ice Beam with enough Special Defense EVs, and can Ice Beam Nidoqueen to death, or use its STAB Earthquake, but again Nidoqueen can Counter that. Donphan is 2HKOed by Ice Beam and should not switch into Nidoqueen once it gets below 50% unless Nidoqueen doesn't have Ice Beam, but further makes a nice counter due to its high Defense. Skarmory takes any physical attack coming from Nidoqueen easily, though Focus Punch does about 37% damage usually. As long as Nidoqueen doesn't use Thunderbolt, Thunder, Fire Blast or Flamethrower, Skarmory can easily get Spikes in, Roar / Whirlwind Nidoqueen away for Spikes damage, or wear it down with Drill Peck. The immunities to Sludge Bomb and Earthquake make it very easy for Skarmory to wall her. Forretress isn't as easily killed by Thunderbolt or Thunder, but is OHKOed by Fire Blast. However, it can damage Nidoqueen more easily with super effective Earthquake, so it's something to watch out for. Celebi resists Earthquake, but is weak to Shadow Ball and Sludge Bomb. Non-Choice Banded attacks still don't do much damage though; Celebi can Recover them off rather easily and hit Nidoqueen hard with STAB Psychic. Dugtrio can come in after Nidoqueen has KOed something, or can switch in at the same time as Nidoqueen, and OHKO with STAB Choice Banded Earthquake while Nidoqueen has nowhere to go. Thunderbolt, Fire Blast, and Sludge Bomb also make good switch-ins. In UU, it's again mostly Waters and Grounds that Nidoqueen fears. Politoed, Slowking, and Blastoise take on non-Choice Banded Nidoqueen easily, though they may get worn down after a while. If Nidoqueen is not using Hidden Power Grass, Quagsire and Whiscash are failsafe counters in the same way. Poliwrath usually doesn't run Earthquake or a Water move, but if it does it's a good Nidoqueen counter as well. Sandslash takes Ice Beam even worse than Donphan does, so it's only good as an early game counter that shouldn't switch into Ice Beam, and preferably not into Earthquakes either. Watch out for Sludge Bomb's Poison chance, too, as well as the rare Hidden Power Grass. Gligar can come in with some prediction to avoid Ice Beam, but it cannot OHKO Nidoqueen with Earthquake when Nidoqueen is at (near) full health, so just use it as a finisher. It will get OHKOed by most Ice Beaming Nidoqueen. Solrock, Misdreavus and Lunatone are immune to Earthquake and resist Sludge Bomb, so as long as they don't eat a Shadow Ball they're good counters. Solrock can even set up a Reflect to avoid too much damage. Solrock can Earthquake Nidoqueen (watch out for Counter), Misdreavus can Perish Trap or Calm Mind up, Lunatone can Calm Mind up and use Ice Beam / Psychic. |
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