Diophantine
Banned deucer.
[OVERVIEW]
Nidoqueen is the most dominant and centralizing Pokemon in GSC UU. It has an excellent typing and bulk; the former reduces the viability of the Electric types in the tier - such as Ampharos - while also granting immunity to both Toxic and Thunder Wave, and the latter allows it to pose a threat throughout the game with natural longevity. Nidoqueen’s movepool allows it to pack its own countermeasures for its supposed checks, and the ease of keeping Spikes on the field means that it is able to apply pressure to opposing teams fairly easily. Nidoqueen is most certainly the most commonly seen Pokemon, fitting on playstyle with little or no drawback to using it.
[SET]
name: The Queen of UU (3 attacks)
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Thunder
move 3: Ice Beam / Fire Blast
move 4: Lovely Kiss / Moonlight
item: Leftovers
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Earthquake is Nidoqueen’s necessary STAB attack, which allows it to be the threat that it is. Thunder is also necessary to nail the bulky Water-type pair of Slowbro and Slowking and is also very handy with its 30% chance to paralyze a Pokemon that is not a Ground-type provided it hits. Nidoqueen’s next coverage move allows it to punch through more checks and has a useful chance to either freeze or burn. Ice Beam hits Jumpluff and Gligar like a truck, whereas Fire Blast is useful for dealing even more damage to Bellossom and is a better option for winning against Scyther one-on-one - another dominant Pokemon in this tier. Lovely Kiss and Moonlight are not legally compatible with each other on Nidoqueen, so one must choose which utility option to run. Lovely Kiss is more commonly seen on hyper offense teams, as Nidoqueen can then spread status for itself or its teammates to plow through teams, whereas Moonlight is usually on other playstyles, as it improves Nidoqueen's longevity to allows the user to make some risky plays with the safety net of being able to recover.
Team Options
========
As said earlier, Nidoqueen is the most splashable Pokemon in the tier, so it is a useful teammate with any other Pokemon. There are certainly other Pokemon that, when paired with it, increase Nidoqueen’s ability to dominate including Baton Passers such as Girafarig and Scyther that can pass on +2 Special Defense, Speed, and Attack boosts to prepare for a Nidoqueen sweep. Spikes support from Qwilfish is incredibly useful, as it allows Nidoqueen to punish the opponent for switching in, for example, their Slowbro to attempt to eat up the expected Earthquake. Of course, countermeasures for Psychic- and Water-types should be included when teambuilding, so Thief users and Electric-types are great at pressuring these such Pokemon. Psychic-types themselves are also good teammates for Nidoqueen, so Slowbro and the like are commonly seen paired with it because they cover Nidoqueen's weaknesses such as opposing Psychic-types and can shrug off the Water-types too.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Thief is an option to use on Nidoqueen, but it generally gets more utility out of Lovely Kiss or Moonlight and the type-coverage moves and Thief is also usable on other Pokemon such as Haunter and Electabuzz. An all-out attacking set is also a possibility with Ice Beam, Earthquake, Fire Blast, and Thunder, but again, the opportunity cost of missing out on Lovely Kiss or Moonlight is quite high. Roar is also an option, as Nidoqueen forces a lot of switches and can really rack up chip damage with Spikes support. Counter is incompatible with Moonlight but can be another option for luring in and punishing physical attacks such as Hidden Power Ground from Scyther and Return from Granbull.
Checks and Counters
===================
There is not one counter to Nidoqueen, and it requires good teambuilding skills and outplaying to get around; however, there are some decent measures to Nidoqueen. Bulky Sleep Talk users such as Slowbro, Slowking, Granbull and Blastoise all switch in and can threaten Nidoqueen while being able to restore any damage with Rest. Inflicting Nidoqueen with status such as sleep or paralysis are viable threats to it from Pokemon such as Jumpluff and Haunter. Gligar can take on Nidoqueen lacking Ice Beam, and Bellossom and Pinsir have a good matchup against non-Fire Blast variant but must watch out for Lovely Kiss. Qwilfish outspeeds and can 2HKO with Hydro Pump, but it cannot switch in and must risk sacrificing a lot of its HP one-on-one. Psychic-types such as Mr. Mime and Hypno also threaten Nidoqueen with both status and hard-hitting Psychic attacks. Lastly, bulky Ground-types such as Piloswine, given it is not the Fire Blast set, and Quagsire can switch in and threaten Nidoqueen themselves.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Diophantine, 370164]]
- Quality checked by: [[Earthworm,15210], [Lavos,129513]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Estronic, 240732], [Eien,100418 ]]
Nidoqueen is the most dominant and centralizing Pokemon in GSC UU. It has an excellent typing and bulk; the former reduces the viability of the Electric types in the tier - such as Ampharos - while also granting immunity to both Toxic and Thunder Wave, and the latter allows it to pose a threat throughout the game with natural longevity. Nidoqueen’s movepool allows it to pack its own countermeasures for its supposed checks, and the ease of keeping Spikes on the field means that it is able to apply pressure to opposing teams fairly easily. Nidoqueen is most certainly the most commonly seen Pokemon, fitting on playstyle with little or no drawback to using it.
[SET]
name: The Queen of UU (3 attacks)
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Thunder
move 3: Ice Beam / Fire Blast
move 4: Lovely Kiss / Moonlight
item: Leftovers
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Earthquake is Nidoqueen’s necessary STAB attack, which allows it to be the threat that it is. Thunder is also necessary to nail the bulky Water-type pair of Slowbro and Slowking and is also very handy with its 30% chance to paralyze a Pokemon that is not a Ground-type provided it hits. Nidoqueen’s next coverage move allows it to punch through more checks and has a useful chance to either freeze or burn. Ice Beam hits Jumpluff and Gligar like a truck, whereas Fire Blast is useful for dealing even more damage to Bellossom and is a better option for winning against Scyther one-on-one - another dominant Pokemon in this tier. Lovely Kiss and Moonlight are not legally compatible with each other on Nidoqueen, so one must choose which utility option to run. Lovely Kiss is more commonly seen on hyper offense teams, as Nidoqueen can then spread status for itself or its teammates to plow through teams, whereas Moonlight is usually on other playstyles, as it improves Nidoqueen's longevity to allows the user to make some risky plays with the safety net of being able to recover.
Team Options
========
As said earlier, Nidoqueen is the most splashable Pokemon in the tier, so it is a useful teammate with any other Pokemon. There are certainly other Pokemon that, when paired with it, increase Nidoqueen’s ability to dominate including Baton Passers such as Girafarig and Scyther that can pass on +2 Special Defense, Speed, and Attack boosts to prepare for a Nidoqueen sweep. Spikes support from Qwilfish is incredibly useful, as it allows Nidoqueen to punish the opponent for switching in, for example, their Slowbro to attempt to eat up the expected Earthquake. Of course, countermeasures for Psychic- and Water-types should be included when teambuilding, so Thief users and Electric-types are great at pressuring these such Pokemon. Psychic-types themselves are also good teammates for Nidoqueen, so Slowbro and the like are commonly seen paired with it because they cover Nidoqueen's weaknesses such as opposing Psychic-types and can shrug off the Water-types too.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Thief is an option to use on Nidoqueen, but it generally gets more utility out of Lovely Kiss or Moonlight and the type-coverage moves and Thief is also usable on other Pokemon such as Haunter and Electabuzz. An all-out attacking set is also a possibility with Ice Beam, Earthquake, Fire Blast, and Thunder, but again, the opportunity cost of missing out on Lovely Kiss or Moonlight is quite high. Roar is also an option, as Nidoqueen forces a lot of switches and can really rack up chip damage with Spikes support. Counter is incompatible with Moonlight but can be another option for luring in and punishing physical attacks such as Hidden Power Ground from Scyther and Return from Granbull.
Checks and Counters
===================
There is not one counter to Nidoqueen, and it requires good teambuilding skills and outplaying to get around; however, there are some decent measures to Nidoqueen. Bulky Sleep Talk users such as Slowbro, Slowking, Granbull and Blastoise all switch in and can threaten Nidoqueen while being able to restore any damage with Rest. Inflicting Nidoqueen with status such as sleep or paralysis are viable threats to it from Pokemon such as Jumpluff and Haunter. Gligar can take on Nidoqueen lacking Ice Beam, and Bellossom and Pinsir have a good matchup against non-Fire Blast variant but must watch out for Lovely Kiss. Qwilfish outspeeds and can 2HKO with Hydro Pump, but it cannot switch in and must risk sacrificing a lot of its HP one-on-one. Psychic-types such as Mr. Mime and Hypno also threaten Nidoqueen with both status and hard-hitting Psychic attacks. Lastly, bulky Ground-types such as Piloswine, given it is not the Fire Blast set, and Quagsire can switch in and threaten Nidoqueen themselves.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Diophantine, 370164]]
- Quality checked by: [[Earthworm,15210], [Lavos,129513]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Estronic, 240732], [Eien,100418 ]]
Last edited:
