This was my favorite Pokemon when I first started BW UU so yay :D
Question - Is a Choice Scarf set good? If so, should I just tack the item slashed to Life Orb or make an entirely new set?
[Pros]
<ul>
<li>Wide special movepool</li>
<li>Hidden ability Sheer Force boosts all of its special moves and nullifies Life Orb recoil</li>
<li>It can now use its Poison-typing to hit Fairy-types supereffectively, and is one of the few that can do so viably</li>
<li>Attack got boosted to 102 so it can run an effective mixed or physical set with moves such as Poison Jab and Rock Slide</li>
</ul>
[Cons]
<ul>
<li>Sub-par stats, especially its base SpA of 85</li>
<li>81/77/75 defenses leave much to be desired</li>
<li>No secondary effects on its moves means Nidoking will not be parahaxing or burnhaxing to save your ass</li>
<li>Four-moveslot-syndrome</li>
<li>Slow</li>
</ul>
[Set Recommendations]
<p>name: Special Attacker<br />
move 1: Earth Power<br />
move 2: Fire Blast<br />
move 3: Ice Beam<br />
move 4: Sludge Wave / Poison Jab<br />
ability: Sheer Force<br />
item: Life Orb<br />
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe<br />
nature: Timid / Modest</p>
[Checks and Counters]
Question - Is a Choice Scarf set good? If so, should I just tack the item slashed to Life Orb or make an entirely new set?

[Pros]
<ul>
<li>Wide special movepool</li>
<li>Hidden ability Sheer Force boosts all of its special moves and nullifies Life Orb recoil</li>
<li>It can now use its Poison-typing to hit Fairy-types supereffectively, and is one of the few that can do so viably</li>
<li>Attack got boosted to 102 so it can run an effective mixed or physical set with moves such as Poison Jab and Rock Slide</li>
</ul>
[Cons]
<ul>
<li>Sub-par stats, especially its base SpA of 85</li>
<li>81/77/75 defenses leave much to be desired</li>
<li>No secondary effects on its moves means Nidoking will not be parahaxing or burnhaxing to save your ass</li>
<li>Four-moveslot-syndrome</li>
<li>Slow</li>
</ul>
[Set Recommendations]
<p>name: Mixed Attacker<br />
move 1: Poison Jab / Sludge Wave<br />
move 2: Earth Power<br />
move 3: Sucker Punch / Fire Blast<br />
move 4: Rock Slide<br />
ability: Sheer Force<br />
item: Life Orb<br />
evs: 120 Atk / 136 SpA / 252 Spe<br />
nature: Hasty / Naive</p>
<p>name: Choice Scarf<br />
move 1: Poison Jab / Sludge Wave<br />
move 2: Earth Power<br />
move 3: Fire Blast<br />
move 4: Rock Slide<br />
ability: Sheer Force<br />
item: Life Orb<br />
evs: 120 Atk / 136 SpA / 252 Spe<br />
nature: Hasty / Naive</p>
move 1: Poison Jab / Sludge Wave<br />
move 2: Earth Power<br />
move 3: Sucker Punch / Fire Blast<br />
move 4: Rock Slide<br />
ability: Sheer Force<br />
item: Life Orb<br />
evs: 120 Atk / 136 SpA / 252 Spe<br />
nature: Hasty / Naive</p>
- With the boost Nidoking got in Attack, it can run a mixed set quite well
- Life Orb + Sheer Force = hitting hard without recoil :D
- Poison Jab is a powerful physical STAB
- Sludge Wave can be used over Poison Jab for a strong special STAB that hits extremely hard
- Earth Power is an amazing special STAB that hits many physical walls hard
- Sucker Punch allows Nidoking to take out weakened foes and also helps mitigate its mediocre speed
- Fire Blast can be used instead for a strong special attack that gets rid of pesky defensive threats such as Ferrothorn and Forretress
- Rock Slide is the final slash to easily get through Flying-types - especially Talonflame
- Nature boosts its Speed without hindering its attacking stats, though Nidoking will be a little more frail.
- The given EVs are able to OHKO Florges while coming close to getting an OHKO on Blissey (if it switches in on Poison Jab it will die on the next hit)
- Ice Beam can be slotted in somewhere to get rid of Gliscor
- Pairs well with Pursuit-trappers such as Scizor to get rid of Psychic-types that pester Nidoking
- Mega Vensaur or Roserade help get rid of Water- and Grass-types, though they will need to watch out for Psychic-types
<p>name: Choice Scarf<br />
move 1: Poison Jab / Sludge Wave<br />
move 2: Earth Power<br />
move 3: Fire Blast<br />
move 4: Rock Slide<br />
ability: Sheer Force<br />
item: Life Orb<br />
evs: 120 Atk / 136 SpA / 252 Spe<br />
nature: Hasty / Naive</p>
- With the boost Nidoking got in Attack, it can run a mixed set quite well
- Choice Scarf mitigates Nidoking's poor Speed stat
- Life Orb + Sheer Force = hitting hard without recoil :D
- Poison Jab is a powerful physical STAB
- Sludge Wave can be used over Poison Jab for a strong special STAB that hits extremely hard
- Earth Power is an amazing special STAB that hits many physical walls hard
- Fire Blast is a strong special attack that gets rid of pesky defensive threats such as Ferrothorn and Forretress
- Rock Slide is the final slash to easily get through Flying-types - especially Talonflame
- Nature boosts its Speed without hindering its attacking stats, though Nidoking will be a little more frail.
- The given EVs are able to OHKO Florges while coming close to getting an OHKO on Blissey (if it switches in on Poison Jab it will die on the next hit)
- Ice Beam can be slotted in somewhere to get rid of Gliscor
- Pairs well with Pursuit-trappers such as Scizor to get rid of Psychic-types that pester Nidoking
- Mega Vensaur or Roserade help get rid of Water- and Grass-types, though they will need to watch out for Psychic-types
<p>name: Special Attacker<br />
move 1: Earth Power<br />
move 2: Fire Blast<br />
move 3: Ice Beam<br />
move 4: Sludge Wave / Poison Jab<br />
ability: Sheer Force<br />
item: Life Orb<br />
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe<br />
nature: Timid / Modest</p>
- Sheer Force + Life Orb allows Nidoking to hit like a truck with no recoil
- Earth Power is a strong STAB attack that can put dents in most threats and gets more supereffective coverage than Sludge Wave
- Fire Blast lets Nidoking muscle through Ferrothorn and Forretress with ease
- Ice Beam hits Dragon-types hard, especially those x4 weak to it such as Dragonite and Garchomp
- Sludge Wave is a powerful STAB with more base power than Earth Power and can hit the new Fairy type supereffectively
- Poison Jab can OHKO Florges even uninvested and is worth considering over Sludge Wave
- Pursuit trappers like Scizor to handle pesky special attackers
- Teammates to handle Water- and Ground-types are appreciated, so things like Mega Venusaur are good teammates
[Checks and Counters]
- Difficult to counter because of its wide movepool
- Blissey
- Azumarill (Aqua Jet)
- Snorlax
- Choice Scarf users because Nidoking is relatively slow
- Alakazam and other fast Psychic-types
- Mamoswine, who has STAB supereffective priority Ice Shard, STAB Earthquake, and fears only the rare Focus Blast
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