Pokémon Nihilego

[readytolose]

Nihilego

Base Stats - 109 HP / 53 Atk / 47 Def / 127 SpA / 131 SpD / 103 Spe
Abilities: Beast Boost (When this Pokemon knocks out another Pokemon with an attack, its highest stat gets +1.)

full move list

Level Up Moves:
- [01] Wrap
- [01] Pound
- [05] Acid
- [10] Tickle
- [15] Acid Spray
- [20] Clear Smog
- [25] Power Split
- [25] Guard Split
- [30] Venoshock
- [35] Headbutt
- [40] Toxic Spikes
- [45] Venom Drench
- [50] Power Gem
- [55] Stealth Rock
- [60] Mirror Coat
- [65] Wonder Room
- [70] Head Smash
TMs:
- [TM14] Thunder Wave
- [TM17] Light Screen
- [TM19] Safeguard
- [TM21] Rest
- [TM22] Rock Slide
- [TM24] Snore
- [TM25] Protect
- [TM32] Sandstorm
- [TM39] Facade
- [TM48] Rock Tomb
- [TM70] Trick Room
- [TM71] Wonder Room
- [TM73] Cross Poison
- [TM74] Venoshock
- [TM76] Round
- [TM77] Hex
- [TM97] Brutal Swing
TRs:
- [TR01] Body Slam
- [TR08] Thunderbolt
- [TR09] Thunder
- [TR11] Psychic
- [TR20] Substitute
- [TR22] Sludge Bomb
- [TR25] Psyshock
- [TR26] Endure
- [TR27] Sleep Talk
- [TR54] Toxic Spikes
- [TR57] Poison Jab
- [TR63] Power Gem
- [TR69] Zen Headbutt
- [TR73] Gunk Shot
- [TR74] Iron Head
- [TR76] Stealth Rock
- [TR77] Grass Knot
- [TR78] Sludge Wave
- [TR81] Foul Play
- [TR83] Ally Switch
- [TR91] Venom Drench
- [TR92] Dazzling Gleam
Armor Tutors:
- Corrosive Gas
- Meteor Beam

Notable Moves:
Meteor Beam
Power Gem
Sludge Bomb
Sludge Wave
Stealth Rock
Thunderbolt
Thunder
Grass Knot
Toxic Spikes
Psychic
Psyshock
Knock Off
Thunder Wave
Head Smash
Clear Smog
Charge Beam
Acid Spray


Pros:
- The new addition of Meteor Beam gives it explosive breaking power. Nihilego has the strongest Meteor Beam in the game, and it can even deal severe damage to less-bulky resists.
- It can be an effective Stealth Rock setter as it has the tools to threaten every Defogger in the tier.
- Beast Boost combos well with Meteor Beam, letting it potentially get two boosts in one turn if it knocks out a foe with Meteor Beam.

Cons:
- A very imperfect STAB combo plus flawed coverage means Nihilego struggles against Ground and Steel-types. Losing Hidden Power hurts it even more, as it can hardly touch Steel-types like Ferrothorn, Excadrill, and Magearna.
- Low physical bulk means priority users like Rillaboom can pick it off easily.
- Between the coverage moves it DOES have, there's a bit of 4MSS as it still can't quite cover everything.
- It's very reliant on Meteor Beam to get things done, so after its Power Herb is used up, most of its effectiveness is lost if it needs to switch out again.

Potential Movesets:

Meatiest Beam
Nihilego @ Power Herb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Meteor Beam
- Sludge Wave
- Thunder / Thunderbolt
- Stealth Rock / Power Gem / Toxic Spikes / Grass Knot / Dazzling Gleam

This set focuses on using the power of Meteor Beam to brutalize slower teams. Just for reference of how strong it is, it does over half to any variant of Corviknight, Celesteela, or Toxapex, letting you take them out with a Thunderbolt immediately after. Generally, you want to bring in Nihilego on something it can threaten out, then click Meteor Beam on whatever switches in, chunking it, then going from there. If the opponent has a very bulky Meteor Beam resist like Ferrothorn or AV Magearna, it may be wiser to to double out and attempt to wear it down more before committing to Meteor Beam. Sludge Wave is a consistent STAB option that you can use without the Power Herb, and is Nihilego's strongest STAB option. Thunder lets you threaten Toxapex as well as Defoggers like Corviknight and Tapu Fini, and it also gives you a decent neutral hit against Magearna. The choice between it and Thunderbolt is a classic power vs. consistency thing. It's worth noting that +1 Thunder has a high chance of OHKOing Toxapex after rocks and preventing it from Hazing your boosts away, and the extra paralysis chance helps limit checks like Ferrothorn and Magearna in the long run. Stealth Rock is a great move, as Nihilego threatens all relevant defoggers, and its also a good move to click on predicted switches to the things that wall Nihilego. Worth noting is that Excadrill can absolutely shut down Nihilego, so still pairing up with a spinblocker is ideal. For this reason I generally don't recommend leading with Nihilego if they have an Excadrill. Power Gem can be used to prevent Landorus or Landorus-T from switching in completely freely and get a good neutral hit on Heatran; it can be run as your main STAB (instead of Sludge Wave) or in the last slot. Note that other Defoggers it hits like Zapdos and Rotom-H are sufficiently threatened by Sludge Wave. If you predict Landorus or Heatran to switch in and you have big balls, you could always just go for Meteor Beam on the switch, so because of that I don't think it's too necessary. If Nihilego is your primary Volcarona check though, I think it should be considered. Toxic Spikes lets you dissuade certain grounded switch-ins like Zygarde and Garchomp; it also works well on a team based around a Tapu Koko + Regieleki core to wear down those Ground types. I suggest running it in the last slot so you can continue to threaten Toxapex with your Electric move. Running Stealth Rock and Toxic Spikes on the same set is certainly possible, but you lose out on key coverage by doing so and relegates Nihilego to more of a lead role, which can be useful in non-Excadrill matchups. Grass Knot is an option that does a lot to Hippowdon, Gastrodon, Rhyperior, and Tyranitar. Dazzling Gleam can be used instead to do a little more to Zygarde, Garchomp, and Kommo-o. One meme option you can run on either Power Herb set I'll just mention is Charge Beam, which can let you get even more boosts and can be punishing to foes pivoting around trying to bait the Meteor Beam.


Speed-Boosting Sweeper
Nihilego @ Power Herb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 80 Def / 176 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Meteor Beam
- Sludge Wave
- Thunder / Thunderbolt
- Power Gem / Dazzling Gleam / Stealth Rock

With these EVs, Beast Boost causes Nihilego to get a Speed boost from knocking out a foe. The remaining 80 EVs are put in Defense to give you the best possible chance of surviving Adamant LO Rillaboom's Grassy Glide (with 80 Defense, you have a 56.2% chance of surviving it). An alternate EV spread is 24 HP / 40 Def / 176 SpA / 16 SpD / 252 Spe. This EV spread gives you the minimum amount of special bulk needed to always survive Timid 252 SpA Heatran's Earth Power. The rest is put into Defense to try and sponge priority hits better. It only has a 31.2% chance of surviving the same Grassy Glide, so weigh your options wisely. Naturally, this set has more use at cleaning up offenses, so because of this, the recommended coverage options are different. Sludge Wave allows it to always OHKO Tapu Koko and Tapu Lele, and sometimes OHKO Urshifu. It is a safer move to click against a Cinderace if you know it is Sucker Punch, since Sludge Wave has a chance to OHKO it if it turns into a Dark type. It also lets you OHKO LO Rillaboom if you can survive its Grassy Glide. In general, it just does as much damage as possible to a neutral target. Thunder or Thunderbolt does more to Steel-types like Corviknight and Magearna, and the choice between the two is power vs. consistency, as usual. Power Gem lets you take out a slightly weakened Landorus or Landorus-T and does the most neutral damage to Heatran, Naganadel, and Spectrier. Dazzling Gleam can be used to take out a weakened Garchomp, Dragapult, or Zygarde. Grass Knot is okay, but most of its targets are very bulky; it's better on the special attack boosting set. Stealth Rock or Toxic Spikes can be run on this too, and can be just thrown out before dying.


Choice Scarf
Nihilego @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Power Gem
- Sludge Wave
- Thunderbolt / Thunder
- Dazzling Gleam

Choice Scarf Nihilego was one of the main sets in the early SM OU meta, and while it didn't last long, it can find a niche in highly offensive early metas like this. Notably, it is the slowest mon that always outspeeds max speed neutral nature Regieleki, and it outspeeds Scarfers in the base 95-102 Speed range (Genesect, Tapu Lele, Garchomp, Zapdos-G, Victini, Hydreigon), letting you turn the tables on them. It's capable of revenge killing Volcarona and Kyurem-B, which can be very valuable to certain teams, and Beast Boost can let it potentially snowball if it gets a KO, letting it clean up a sufficiently weakened team. This set is even worse at wearing down it's checks, but in the current offense-fest it actually does great. Dazzling Gleam is chosen here to potentially revenge kill a weakened Zygarde or Garchomp, and Thunderbolt vs. Thunder is the same debate. I think this set prefers the consistency of Thunderbolt. You could slot Stealth Rock or Toxic Spikes on this too, I guess. A funny option you could run in your last slot is actually Meteor Beam. A +1 Meteor Beam is actually stronger than using Power Gem twice, making you slightly less useless against bulky teams if you can predict well. Also, if you get Knocked Off by Clefable or Toxapex or something, it could actually let you get a mini-sweep going.

 

[OPPQRST]

I've been using an air balloon set to act as a hard switch into Landorus-I (on a predicted earth power) & general support. It's not perfect by any means, but I think it's a viable set.

Nihilego @ Air Baloon
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Power Gem
- Sludge Wave
- Thunder Wave
- Toxic Spikes

Power Gem Calcs:
252 SpA Nihilego Power Gem vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Landorus: 172-204 (53.9 - 63.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Other Calcs:
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Focus Blast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Nihilego: 177-208 (49.3 - 57.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock