Project SS RU Next Best Thing - On break

[Yourwelcomethanku]

YO VERY EPIK PICK thank you. Protect Substitute
Raikou @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Scald
- Protect
- Substitute

Pressure + Substitute + Protect is pretty effective at PP stalling an opponent, and can let Raikou beat things you may not think it should such as some Flygon variants, Registeel, Dhelmise, and Calm Mind Reuniclus. Leftovers in conjunction with Substitute and Protect gives Raikou good if not deceptively good longevity. Scald is the coverage move of choice as it hits Steelix, Nidoqueen, and Golurk, this does leave the set walled by Gastrodon and Seismitoad. To alleviate this issue a Pokemon that can lure in the aforementioned water-types with Toxic like Darmanitan or Cobalion is near required for this sets effectiveness. While they are under the effect of Toxic they can be harassed a lot by this Raikou set stalling them as they take more and more damage or in Seisimtoad's case potentially straight up lose. The latter is also capable of punishing Umbreon very hard which does wall this set. This set can also struggle with Grass-types namely Roserade and Celebi, Crobat makes a good teammate for this reason, though Crobat isn't a very good Celebi answer so you could have something like a bulky Swords Dance Knock Off Necrozma or Umbreon to answer it.

Reserving Assault Vest

The totally viable ORAS Raikou

 

[BT89]

reserving choice band

 

[Steel With It]

Raikou @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt / Discharge
- Scald
- Substitute
- Calm Mind

SubCM Raikou trades being a reliable pivot for being a reliable wincon, with surprising utility in the midgame before cleaning lategame; Sub pairs famously well with Pressure, stalling out moves like non-Scarf Flygon's Earthquake and turning a supposed check into setup fodder, while Scald and Discharge (if running it) spread burns and paralysis respectively. Storm Drain Gastrodon and Water Absorb Seismitoad obviously hard-walls this set's coverage, but Toxic or TSpikes support from a teammate can flip that around fairly easily.

EDIT: Seismi moved up, which means so did this set! =P

 

[Expulso]

crokoune



Raikou @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 Spe
Timid Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Scald
- Calm Mind

what if raikou was a suicune? this hits 330 spe and u beat the grounds while also pretty much beating rose. u can actually burn dhelmise too and beat that as well. pretend gastrodon and, of all things, milotic do not exist

 

[SimonBoi]

Sub Magnet Rise Raikou

Raikou @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 60 HP / 52 Def / 48 SpA / 96 SpD / 252 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Charge Beam
- Substitute
- Magnet Rise
- Shadow Ball
This set is aimed for setting up on Passive Walls with Charge Beam. Magnet Rise also allows you to set up on Ground types like Steelix and Gastrodon.
I honestly think this set could be better, but this has too much 4MSS and this has nothing in terms of utility. The Speed allows Raikou to outspeed +Speed 100's and everything below that. The HP EV's are for a Sub Number and Lefties number. The SpAtk EV's are leftovers.

Calcs

4 Atk Steelix Heavy Slam (60 BP) vs. 60 HP / 52 Def Raikou: 33-40 (9.8 - 11.9%) -- possibly the worst move ever
Possible damage amounts: (33, 34, 34, 35, 36, 36, 36, 36, 37, 37, 38, 38, 39, 39, 39, 40) Allows the Sub to not 2HKO'd by Heavy Slam and I tested that Magnet Rise also affects Subs.
0 SpA Gastrodon Scald vs. 60 HP / 96+ SpD Raikou: 67-79 (19.9 - 23.5%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery

 

[C0nfiden1 0yster]

Magnet Rise Calm Mind

Raikou @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Magnet Rise
- Extrasensory / whatever second move you like for CM kou
- Thunderbolt

Prty simple concept here, Magnet Rise on something like Steelix, click CM and win games.

 

[TONE]

Raikou @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Scald
- Roar

Standard set, but Roar over Toxic to rack up entry hazard damage especially in conjunction with hazard stack with something like Roserade which deals with Gastrodon and a Knock Off user like Incineroar to get rid of Heavy-Duty Boots so opponents take the hazard damage.

 

[A Very Gay Girl]

Voting time! Here are this week's submissions!

Assault Vest by TailGlowVM
Eerie Impulse by nameless90
SubTect by Yourwelcomethanku
Substitute + CM by Steel With It
Crokou by Expulso
Magnet Rise + Charge Beam by SimonBoi
Magnet Rise + CM by C0nfiden1 0yster
Roar Pivot by TONE

You may vote for one set, and you can't vote for your own set. If you have any questions, don't be shy about reaching out to me! Contact info is in my signature.
​

 

[Yourwelcomethanku]

 

[Voyager]

crocune because it was what i was gonna post before sniped

 

[TONE]

Crocune

 

[nameless90]

Substitute + CM by Steel With It

 

[Expulso]

Roar by tone tho i’d probably use esensory>volt to do better vs boots rose

Do not let crokou win guys omg

 

[SimonBoi]

Eerie Impulse.

Also what Expulso said is true, CroCune and CroKou are garbage.

 

[A Very Gay Girl]

This week's winner is CroKou by Expulso! Congratulations, your set will be added to the Hall of Fame!

Nidoqueen has recently returned to the RU tier and has since begun to settle down quite nicely into the metagame. With a solid stat spread, fantastic movepool, and use of the Sheer Force ability, Nidoqueen has a large variety of potential sets it can use, and that's exactly the type of mon we like here!

No banned sets this week! I wanna see everything y'all can come up with! Submissions will be open until Sunday, cheers!​

 

[Yourwelcomethanku]

Defense Curl Body Press
Nidoqueen (F) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 248 HP / 236 Def / 20 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Defense Curl
- Body Press

Boosting your defense with defense curl makes Body Press stronger this could let Nidoqueen get past Umbreon which normally walls it. Just defense curl 6 times in front of the Registeel and sweep. Black Sludge for better survivability alongside Defense curl. In terms of the EVs just slide the bars till the numbers look pretty.

 

[zizalith]

Nidoqueen (F) @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Power-Up Punch
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab
- Ice Punch

This set aims for a new more unpredictable Nidoqueen. 252 attack EVs and an adamant nature are to make sure you will be hitting physically as hard as possible. 168 speed EVS let you outpace max speed base 55s and up to uninvested base 95s, and the remaining 88 EVs go into HP for some extra bulk. You can use power-up punch to boost your attack and use ice punch to have completely perfect neutral coverage and hits flying, ground, and dragon types for nice damage. Earthquake is a strong stab attack that hits many mons for good damage. Jab is another great stab that hits grass and fairy types for massive damage. And last but not least Power up Punch, the main merit of this set! Earhtquake hits extremly hard as at +1 and powerup punch punishes switch ins harshly and nails common pokemon like Abomasnow, Bewear, Pangoro, Snorlax, Tyrantrum and Umbreon. These calcs show how powerful a boosted Sheer Force earthquake Nidooqueen can really be. However, this set may struggle a bit with waters when unboosted, so if you choose not to run PP punch, make sure you have a decent answer for waters just in case.


Non- boosted:
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoqueen Earthquake vs. 12 HP / 244 Def Snorlax: 286-339 (61.6 - 73%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoqueen Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Bewear: 331-391 (86.8 - 102.6%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO


+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoqueen Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Umbreon: 253-300 (64.2 - 76.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

 

[LBN]

So I Heard you Wanna Lure (Nidoqueen) (F) @ Payapa Berry
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Whirlpool
- Throat Chop
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab

This "set" aims to to attain your inner demon and trap 2/4 premier checks to Nidoqueen with Whirlpool, namely Bronzong and AV Reuniclus. Bronzong simply gets trapped and proceed to get 2 tapped by Throat Chop, while Reuniclus suffers the same fate while you stomach any 1 shot thanks to Payapa Berry. Calcs Below

I'm not a good person

Bronzong
252+ Atk Sheer Force Nidoqueen Throat Chop vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Bronzong: 172-204 (50.8 - 60.3%) -- 85.9% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Bronzong Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Nidoqueen: 146-174 (45.3 - 54%) -- 46.5% chance to 2HKO
Reuniclus
252+ Atk Sheer Force Nidoqueen Throat Chop vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Reuniclus: 250-296 (59.1 - 69.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
24+ SpA Reuniclus Psyshock vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Payapa Berry Nidoqueen: 132-156 (40.9 - 48.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
24+ SpA Reuniclus Future Sight vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Payapa Berry Nidoqueen: 202-238 (62.7 - 73.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

 

[C0nfiden1 0yster]

Sub toxic tect

Nidoqueen (F) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 40 SpA / 36 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Toxic
- Protect
- Earth Power

Defense invested so Umbreon Foul Play doesn't break Sub, also has some defensive utility dealing with gross ok, Coba ok, and Lucario ok. The idea is to click toxic, then sub, then protect. The only things that can't be poisoned are poison types and steel types. Both of which lose to earth power. 36 speed lets u outspeed pangoro and Milo which are important ig. Toxic hits some of its would be checks such as AV reun, the already mentioned Umbreon, and Porygon2.

Edit: I forgot to include that black sludge has use outside of recovery. Lots of trick scarfers have been roaming the tier as of late and nido can switch in on a couple of them (ok just Mowtom but like its top 5 or 4 in SCL usage rn) and they can be chipped

 

[SimonBoi]

Dragon Tail Nidoqueen

Nidoqueen (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 88 HP / 24 Atk / 108 SpA / 252 SpD / 36 Spe
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Dragon Tail
- Sludge Wave
- Earth Power
This set aims to use Dragon Tail to chip opponents with SR, and the only types that are immune to Dragon are Fairy Types, and you know the end story... The only Fairy types I think that can switch in somewhat safely and actually threaten Nidoqueen are Gardevoir, Togekiss, and the pretty niche Galarian Rapidash. The 36 Speed EV's are for outspeeding no Speed Togekiss and everything below that. The 24 Attack EV's are leftovers.

Calcs

252 SpA Volcanion Steam Eruption vs. 88 HP / 252+ SpD Nidoqueen: 288-342 (83.9 - 99.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
108 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoqueen Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Volcanion: 322-382 (106.9 - 126.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Gardevoir Psychic vs. 88 HP / 252+ SpD Nidoqueen: 230-272 (67 - 79.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (was specifically calced for this until made the Spread Bulkier)
108 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoqueen Sludge Wave vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gardevoir: 281-330 (101.4 - 119.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

 

[nameless90]

Bulky hazards setter Nidoqueen

Nidoqueen @ Black Sludge
Ability: Poison Point
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic Spikes
- Seismic Toss
- Super Fang


This set takes advantage of the bulk of Nidoqueen in order to set-up one or two layers of hazards.

Seismic Toss + Super Fang are chosen in order to keep some offensive presence without the need of EVs into the SpA, thus leaving us free to invest into the bulk alone. This trait is really huge because we are able to run Black Sludge (which is better than Leftovers in the case of an opposing Trick) to have some recovery.

Poison Point is picked over Sheer Force because, although it is situational, it may punish random Knock Off/U-turn users not immune to Poison.

 

[Cirlo]

Nidoqueen (F) @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Power-Up Punch
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab
- Ice Punch

Power-up Punch effect is nullified by Sheer Force

 

[zizalith]

no its not

 

[TailGlowVM]

Nidoqueen @ Black Sludge
Ability: Poison Point
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Curse
- Earthquake / Poison Jab
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

This set allows Nidoqueen to act as a bulky win condition, and the bulk boost makes it a better check to Pokemon like Xurkitree. You're going to have to pick between being walled by Steel or Flying-types, it's team dependent and needs support.

 

[SimonBoi]

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ru-1431355733-rvh3viybyef5f3b17ytiw0x5sijks79pw
AHEM.