[OVERVIEW]
While Nihilego shines in DOU as a menacing attacker that can quickly turn a game in its favor, it is particularly held back by its one-dimensional nature, lacking coverage, and vulnerability to the tier's various physical threats. Its access to the combination of STAB-boosted Meteor Beam and Beast Boost make it quite dangerous, with the ability to completely dominate the game off a single KO being its main selling point. This is supplemented by its impressive offensive stats, as its base 127 Special Attack is quite high and its Speed allows it to outrun a large swathe of the metagame, only beaten by the likes of Zeraora, Dragapult, and Naganadel. Outside of purely attacking, though, Nihilego can only really utilize its astounding Special Defense to soak some special hits in a pinch; it otherwise offers no team-wide utility whatsoever, which means it's completely useless in opposing speed control, as it wouldn't be able to safely attack. Its paper-thin Defense leaves it prey to the likes of Rillaboom, Urshifu-R, and Zeraora, and it's also completely walled by Zygarde and Metagross. Fake Out and redirection support from Incineroar, Rillaboom, Blastoise, and Amoonguss can be handy in giving it the space to operate, with Incineroar also having Intimidate to hide Nihilego's low Defense, while the likes of Dragapult, Kyurem-B, and Genesect help in making up for Nihilego's lacking coverage. Most glaring, though, is how predictable Nihilego can be, as it practically needs Meteor Beam to be truly threatening, and its set is also essentially telegraphed due to needing both reliable STAB moves and having a lacking movepool.
[SET]
name: Meteor Beam Attacker
move 1: Meteor Beam
move 2: Sludge Bomb
move 3: Power Gem
move 4: Protect
item: Power Herb
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
* Meteor Beam, in conjunction with Power Herb, gives Nihilego insane burst damage with a Special Attack boost.
* Beast Boost lets Nihilego snowball through teams, pairing well with Meteor Beam, as Nihilego instantly gets to +2 Special Attack if it KOes.
* Power Gem and Sludge Bomb are reliable STAB attacks typically used to get KOs post-Meteor Beam, with Sludge Bomb being the default move for its higher power and Power Gem being handy for hitting Steel-types such as Heatran and Genesect as well as targets such as Kyurem-B, Zapdos, and Volcanion super effectively.
* Protect gives Nihilego safety as its team maneuvers around current positions, and it can be particularly handy in stalling out field conditions such as Tailwind and Trick Room.
* The given EV investment maximizes Nihilego's offensive presence, with the Speed in particular letting it get the jump on base 100 Speed Pokemon such as Zapdos and Mew as well as Urshifu-R.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
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Stealth Rock and Toxic Spikes, used either with Meteor Beam or on a dedicated set with Focus Sash, can give Nihilego the utility it needs to shine in cases where it can't offensively, though they would also exacerbate Nihilego's already existing flaws as an attacker. Dazzling Gleam can be an option to hit Zygarde and Kommo-o as well as for having a spread move to clean with if sufficient Special Attack boosts are accumulated, though neither of Nihilego's STAB moves are easy to give up. Sludge Wave can be used similarly and is a bit stronger due to STAB, but it hitting teammates makes it tough to use effectively.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Memoric, 215000]]
- Quality checked by: [[Yoda2798, 243661], [emma, 294304]]
- Grammar checked by: [[deetah, 297659]]
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