[Overview]
<p>As a defensive Ground-type with a Fighting resist, Nidoqueen is generally overshadowed by Gliscor. However,
Nidoqueen she holds two key assets over Gliscor: the ability to
absorb and lay lay and absorb (nitpicking but I think laying is more important and should therefore come first; feel free to ignore it) Toxic Spikes. These two assets make
her Nidoqueen preferable for pure
Stall stall teams in need of a Toxic Spiker. She provides her team with vital resistances to Rock-, Bug-,
and Fighting-
type attacks,
while having an immunity to and Electric-type attacks, allowing her to function as a sturdy switch-in to many top threats such as Tyranitar, Lucario, Scizor, Toxicroak, and Terrakion.</p>
<p>However, Nidoqueen similarly lacks two key assets that make Gliscor the preferable choice. Firstly, she lacks any reliable recovery outside of Leftovers, making her very susceptible to being worn down. She also suffers from a Ground weakness, making her unable to counter top sand threats such as Excadrill, Garchomp, and Landorus. If your team doesn't require Toxic Spikes support and
(space)/
(space) or absorption, then Gliscor is generally the superior choice. Also, any attempts to sweep or wall-break are better left to her male counterpart, Nidoking, who boasts higher speed and better attacking stats.</p>
[Set]
name: Toxic Spike Support
move 1: Toxic Spikes
move 2: Earth Power / Earthquake
move 3: Flamethrower
move 4: Ice Beam
item: Leftovers
ability: Sheer Force
nature: Bold / Relaxed
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With respectable 90 / 87 / 85 defenses
, (remove comma) and a unique typing that resists both Rock- and Fighting-type attacks, Nidoqueen has an easy time switching into the ubiquitous Tyranitar
, (comma) as well as the countless new
fighters Fighting-types released this generation. From there, she provides her team with Toxic Spikes support, while scaring off grounded Poison-types with her STAB Ground attacks. Thanks to Sheer Force, Nidoqueen has the equivalent of uninvested 112/104 offensive stats, allowing her to hit back hard enough to avoid being set up bait.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>HP and Defense EVs are maximized in order to make her as physically bulky as possible so that she can abuse her good resistances. The choice between Earth Power and Earthquake is choosing between running all special attacks with a neutral speed nature versus hitting Tyranitar and Terrakion harder
, (comma) as well as being harder to switch into due to
being able to attack attacks from both sides of the spectrum.
Both Ground
STABs STAB (it's kinda obvious they hit the same types...) hit hits three common absorbers, Nidoking, Toxicroak
, (comma) and Tentacruel, for super effective damage,
preventing punishing (it doesn't prevent but it can make sure they don't absorb more than once so I think punishing is better) them from absorbing her Toxic Spikes and ruining her hard work.
Flamethrower is there to hit the Steel-types that are immune to Poison that try to set up on you, such as Scizor, Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Forretress, as well as super effectively hitting the fourth and final common absorber, Venusaur. Flamethrower is a fantastic coverage attack that does great damage to Pokemon immune to Poison, including Steel-types such as Scizor, Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Forretress, as well as the ever-common Venusaur. Ice Beam helps
Nidoqueen to hit
Flying types Flying-types immune to Toxic Spikes (they're all immune so no need to say this), most notably Gliscor.</p>
<p>With weaknesses to Water, Ice, Ground, and Psychic, Nidoqueen really appreciates bulky Water-types as teammates. They shrug off Water- and Ice-type attacks
, (comma) while Nidoqueen absorbs their worst enemy, Toxic Spikes. Jellicent stands out as one of the better Water-types
for to pair Nidoqueen
with, spinblocking any foes attempting to rid the field of
the Toxic Spikes. Slowbro also synergizes well with Nidoqueen, being able to pick up that Psychic resist, as well as handling Excadrill and Landorus, the two sand threats
that Nidoqueen has trouble with. Blissey, Jirachi, and Vaporeon all help to cover Nidoqueen's
special specially oriented weaknesses
, (comma) while providing
Wishes as Nidoqueen's only source of health replenishment Wish support to help with Nidoqueen's durability. Nidoqueen covers Tyranitar's Fighting weakness
, (comma) while Tyranitar provides Nidoqueen with eternal Sandstorm to wear down her opponents. Skarmory synergizes well with Nidoqueen,
providing her with setting up (too many "provides") Spikes and
an ability being able to phaze
, (comma) as well as being immune to Ground-type attacks
, (comma) . Skarmory also handles therefore handling Excadrill, Garchomp, and Landorus. Celebi also boasts Water-, Ground-, and Psychic-type resists, and serves as a free
switch in switch-in to Nidoqueen's biggest counter, Rotom-W, while Nidoqueen cushions the U-turns that prey on Celebi's dangerous 4x Bug weakness.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Balanced teams can invest more EVs in Special Attack and equip a Life Orb in order to net some important OHKOs at the cost of
sacrificing Nidoqueen's precious bulk and ability to recover her health from Leftovers in Sandstorm. Stealth Rock can be used if required by your team, but must be used alongside Poison Point
, (comma) since it is illegal with Sheer Force, which means Earthquake becomes a bit more advantageous than Earth Power. Fire Blast can be used over Flamethrower for more power, but does not manage to net any important OHKOs that Flamethrower misses. Super Fang can be used to punish switch-ins that Nidoqueen cannot hurt. Nidoqueen also has the option of running Taunt, but is generally too slow to abuse it.
Nidoqueen's Her strongest
Poison STAB attack, Sludge Wave, allows her to hit switch-ins such as Rotom-W and Celebi, who shrug off
Earthquakes Earthquake (nitpicking), but it generally lacks in coverage beyond those two. Dragon Tail provides Nidoqueen
with the ability to phaze, allowing it to rack up residual damage and avoid giving free switch-ins to dangerous foes such as Gyarados and Latios, but is usually dismissed in favor of the ability to scare out key threats with the coverage of Ice Beam and Fire Blast.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Pokemon that switch into Nidoqueen and take no damage from Toxic Spikes can cause a lot of trouble. Rotom-W is the
chief best example, taking no
significant (I may be nitpicking here but "no damage" = immunity) damage from any of Nidoqueen's attacks and scaring her out with a STAB Hydro Pump. Starmie also proves be a nuisance with Natural Cure, Rapid Spin, and Recover, giving it the ability
to endlessly force out and ruin Nidoqueen's
set-up setup. Without Ice Beam, Nidoqueen provides a free switch in to flyers who evade her Toxic Spikes. Without Fire Blast, Steel-types such as Scizor, Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Forretress use Nidoqueen as
set up set-up bait. Without Dragon Tail, Taunt
DD Dragon Dance Gyarados and Latios wreck complete havoc on Nidoqueen's team. Reuniclus laughs at any hazards
set up by Nidoqueen's team and begins to set up its devastating Calm Minds.</p>
