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[VGC] Nidoqueen Moveset - Special Attacker (Sheer Force) - Printable Version

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[VGC] Nidoqueen Moveset - Special Attacker (Sheer Force) - SnackPack - Oct 15, 2015

The core of this Pokemon is the ability. Sheer Force removes secondary effects while boosting the power of the move by one third(i.e. Thunderbolt not having a chance for paralysis but having a base power of 120 instead of 90). So the ability itself is nice, and Nidoqueen has access to a good bit of moves with Secondary effects. However, the thing that makes this set amazing, is the way Life Orb and Sheer Force interact. Sheer Force negates all effects after the primary attack. This means, Pokemon with Sheer Force don't lose the HP that Life Orb normally takes, while still giving the damage boost. This is essentially a free boost, which makes this Pokemon fantastic for Battle Spot Singles or Doubles.

(Also, credit to RebornFX for helping me out with this set, as my original was flawed in some areas)

[Image: 031.png]
TYPE: Poison/Ground
WEAKNESSES: Ground(x2), Water(x2), Psychic(x2), Ice(x2)
RESISTANCES: Fighting(x1/2), Poison(x1/2), Rock(x1/2), Bug(x1/2), Fairy(x1/2)
IMMUNITIES: Electric
ABILITIES: Poison Point-When a Pokémon with this Ability is hit by a move that makes contact, there is a 30% chance that the attacking Pokémon will become poisoned.
If a Pokémon with this Ability is hit by a multi-strike move that makes contact (such as Fury Swipes), each hit has an independent chance to activate this Ability

Rivalry-Rivalry raises the base power of a move by 25% if the foe and the user have the same gender, but reduces base power by 25% if the foe and the user have opposite genders.
If the user or the foe is genderless, the move's base power is unaffected

Sheer Force-Sheer Force raises the base power of all attacking moves that have an additional effect by 30%, but the additional effects are ignored.
Sheer Force does not negate primary effects such as recoil, stat penalty or status condition for the user, increased critical hit rate, moves that never miss, moves that change power, two-turn moves, etc. Sheer Force will, however, negate all secondary effects, such as reducing the target's stats, increasing the user's stats, or causing a status condition to the target. Moves that have both a primary and secondary effect will have only their secondary effect negated (and gain the power boost). For example, Flare Blitz has both a primary recoil effect and a secondary chance to burn; its damage will be boosted by 30% (but not cause burn) and still inflict recoil to the user after attacking.
If (and only if) a move is boosted by the effect of Sheer Force, it will no longer trigger item or Ability effects that activate after attacking. This includes the effects of Eject Button, Shell Bell, and Red Card, as well as the Ability Color Change. If an item has two effects, only the effect(s) that activate after attacking will be negated. Therefore, if a Pokémon holds a Life Orb, it will gain the passive damage boost (because it is not activated after the attack) but the recoil effect afterward will be ignored.

BASE STATS: HP 90/ATK  92/ DEF 87/ SP ATK 75/ SP DEF 85/ SPEED 76

Special Attacker




[Image: 031.png]


Nidoqueen @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EV's: 252 SP ATK / 126 HP / 126 DEF
Modest Nature
IV's: Atk is not needed, but having 31 in the rest is very useful. SpA is required.
  -Sludge Bomb
  -Flamethrower/Earth Power
  -Thunderbolt/Thunder
  -Blizzard/Ice Beam

This Nidoqueen is designed for lots of special damage and type coverage. Nidoqueen is has super effective moves against the following types: Bug, Dragon, Fairy, Flying, Grass, Ground, Ice, Water and Steel. That's half of the types. And considering so many Pokemon are dual type Nidoqueen has great type coverage in my opinion. The other thing about this Pokemon is the Sheer( KappaHD ) damage it does. Considering the 1/3 boost with Sheer Force and the additional 1/3 boost the Life Orb has, this Pokemon can destroy, especially when its super effective. Not to mention the STAB bonus Sludge Bomb and Earth Power get. The base power of Sludge Bomb and Earth Power with the effects on go from 90 to a whopping 230. Even without the STAB bonus Blizzard has 185 base power, and Flamethrower,Thunderbolt, and Ice Beam have a base power of 152. All of this without the loss of HP Life Orb usually brings.

I chose the items for all the reasons above. The entire core of this set comes in the Life Orb/ Sheer Force interaction, so I don't really think any other items are useful here.

I chose the EV's in SpA for the obvious. All of the moves used are Special. As for the HP and Def, I want to be able to take some more physical hits. The spread is adjustable, but I personally like the one I listed.

As for the moves, I chose the moves that were affected by Sheer Force that had the best type coverage along with the highest base power. There were better Special options than Physical, so that's why I chose to run a Special Attacker rather than a Physical one, despite Nidoqueens Base Atk being higher.
Damage Calculations

Defensive(Opponent vs. Nidoqueen)-For these I looked at some of the top Pokemon used in Battle Spot Doubles


252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. 136 HP / 0 SpD Nidoqueen: 523-616 (147.3 - 173.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Fire Blast vs. 136 HP / 0 SpD Nidoqueen in Sun: 360-424 (101.4 - 119.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
232 SpA Mega Gardevoir Psyshock vs. 136 HP / 0 Def Nidoqueen: 348-410 (98 - 115.4%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 136 HP / 0 Def Nidoqueen: 264-312 (74.3 - 87.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Mega Kangaskhan Earthquake vs. 136 HP / 0 Def Nidoqueen: 180-212 (50.7 - 59.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Heatran Earth Power vs. 136 HP / 0 SpD Nidoqueen: 226-266 (63.6 - 74.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Cresselia Psychic vs. 136 HP / 0 SpD Nidoqueen: 176-210 (49.5 - 59.1%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Solar Beam vs. 136 HP / 0 SpD Nidoqueen: 175-206 (49.2 - 58%) -- 97.7% chance to 2HKO
0 SpA Politoed Scald vs. 136 HP / 0 SpD Nidoqueen in Rain: 272-324 (76.6 - 91.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Mega Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 136 HP / 0 SpD Nidoqueen: 184-217 (51.8 - 61.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Earth Plate Landorus-T Earthquake vs. 136 HP / 0 Def Nidoqueen: 390-462 (109.8 - 130.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Offensive(Nidoqueen vs. Opponent) I did the same thing as the defensive calculations


252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoqueen Sludge Bomb vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Kangaskhan: 188-224 (53.5 - 63.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoqueen Blizzard vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 556-660 (145.5 - 172.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoqueen Blizzard vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Thundurus: 278-330 (92.9 - 110.3%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoqueen Blizzard vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Amoonguss: 538-634 (243.4 - 286.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoqueen Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Amoonguss: 588-694 (266 - 314%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoqueen Sludge Bomb vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Mega Gardevoir: 291-346 (85.8 - 102%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoqueen Sludge Bomb vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Charizard Y: 168-199 (56.5 - 67%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Potential Partners

Any good support Pokemon that can restore your HP.
Another good partner is Politoed. With Drizzle it will get rid of sun and add rain, making M-Charizard Y less of a threat, and allowing you to use thunder with 100% accuracy.
A tailwind setter like Whimsicott could be useful, as could a Trick Room setter.
A Rage Powder Pokemon like Amoongus could be useful, especially if you fear a Knock Off, as you don't lose the Life Orb


Threats(Not all, but some)

M-Charizard Y- The Sun Fire Blast is a guaranteed OHKO, and Solar Beam is 2HKO. Counter it with a Rain Dance or Drizzle Pokemon as a partner

Landorus-T- Both Earth Power and Earthquake are guaranteed OHKO. You can counter it with a Tailwind setter to land a OHKO Blizzard or a Rage Powder Pokemon to take the Earth Power.

M-Gardevior- Psyshock has a 80% chance to OHKO, so be careful.


RE: [VGC] Nidoqueen Moveset -Special Attacker(Sheer Force) - RebornFX - Oct 15, 2015

A decent write up on a pretty under used powerhouse. There are just some things I would change.

Firstly, get rid of the entire first sentence. This is for a completely different format and is irrelevant to VGC, and may confuse newer players.

Secondly your calcs are wrong. For the Amoonguss calc, your Nidoqueen is level 100 while Amoonguss is level 50. Same with your Gardevoir calc.
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoqueen Blizzard vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Amoonguss: 146-172 (66 - 77.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
You will almost never see a 0 HP / 0 SpDef Thundurus, they practically all carry sitrus berry, and a 252 HP / 252+ SpDef Sylveon is not a set. Charizard also often carry 252 HP / 20 SpDef as it allows it to survive Rock Slide for neutral Mamoswine and Garchomp and Modest Specs Draco from Hydreigon.

Third, I'm not a fan of the arbitrary speed investment. What specifically do those EVs allow you to outspeed, and what do you give up through having those EVs in speed as opposed to defences?

Finally the moves...why Blizzard? Ice beam guarantees the same OHKOs, has a higher base damage as it is single target and has 100% accuracy. While having a powerful spread move can be nice, having a reliable way of OHKOing M-Salamence, Landorus-T and Garchomp and 2HKOing anything weak to it is invaluable, especially where missing t=said move often means you lose the game due to the massive offensive pressure these mons provide. I also don't see why you have Flamethrower over Earth Power. While the ability to hit Ferrothorn and Scizor might be nice, being able to OHKO/2HKO more common Pokemon like Aegislash and Heatran which otherwise completely wall this set is far more valuable. Finally, Protect is far better in the final slot than Thunderbolt. You shouldn't be keeping Nidoqueen in against bulky waters and you have Ice Beam to KO flying types. The massive offensive pressure Nidoqueen provides, especially under tailwind, often makes it a target, so being able to prevent double targets can be very nice, allowing your partner to capitalise.

The following build was made by Bennett Piercey, who used it to great success, winning US Nationals Senior Division.

Nidoqueen @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
Level: 50
EVs: 148 HP / 84 Def / 252 SpA / 20 SpD / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
– Sludge Bomb
– Earth Power
– Ice Beam
– Protect

The EVs allowed him to survive a 252+ Earthquake from Landorus-T 100% of the time. He used tailwind support to mitigate Nidoqueen's poor speed. I think a build like this is far more suited to the current meta, being able to score important KOs and not having to bank on poor accuracy.

RE: [VGC] Nidoqueen Moveset -Special Attacker(Sheer Force) - SnackPack - Oct 15, 2015

(Oct 15, 2015, 05:15 PM)RebornFX Wrote: A decent write up on a pretty under used powerhouse. There are just some things I would change.

Firstly, get rid of the entire first sentence. This is for a completely different format and is irrelevant to VGC, and may confuse newer players.

Secondly your calcs are wrong. For the Amoonguss calc, your Nidoqueen is level 100 while Amoonguss is level 50. Same with your Gardevoir calc.
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoqueen Blizzard vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Amoonguss: 146-172 (66 - 77.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
You will almost never see a 0 HP / 0 SpDef Thundurus, they practically all carry sitrus berry, and a 252 HP / 252+ SpDef Sylveon is not a set. Charizard also often carry 252 HP / 20 SpDef as it allows it to survive Rock Slide for neutral Mamoswine and Garchomp and Modest Specs Draco from Hydreigon.

Third, I'm not a fan of the arbitrary speed investment. What specifically do those EVs allow you to outspeed, and what do you give up through having those EVs in speed as opposed to defences?

Finally the moves...why Blizzard? Ice beam guarantees the same OHKOs, has a higher base damage as it is single target and has 100% accuracy. While having a powerful spread move can be nice, having a reliable way of OHKOing M-Salamence, Landorus-T and Garchomp and 2HKOing anything weak to it is invaluable, especially where missing t=said move often means you lose the game due to the massive offensive pressure these mons provide. I also don't see why you have Flamethrower over Earth Power. While the ability to hit Ferrothorn and Scizor might be nice, being able to OHKO/2HKO more common Pokemon like Aegislash and Heatran which otherwise completely wall this set is far more valuable. Finally, Protect is far better in the final slot than Thunderbolt. You shouldn't be keeping Nidoqueen in against bulky waters and you have Ice Beam to KO flying types. The massive offensive pressure Nidoqueen provides, especially under tailwind, often makes it a target, so being able to prevent double targets can be very nice, allowing your partner to capitalise.

The following build was made by Bennett Piercey, who used it to great success, winning US Nationals Senior Division.

Nidoqueen @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
Level: 50
EVs: 148 HP / 84 Def / 252 SpA / 20 SpD / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
– Sludge Bomb
– Earth Power
– Ice Beam
– Protect

The EVs allowed him to survive a 252+ Earthquake from Landorus-T 100% of the time. He used tailwind support to mitigate Nidoqueen's poor speed. I think a build like this is far more suited to the current meta, being able to score important KOs and not having to bank on poor accuracy.

Thanks for the constructive criticism, sorry about those calculation errors. I'll make some adjustments.