UU Spotlight: Nidoking vs. Nidoqueen

Introduction

Until BW, the most famous royal pair in Pokémon were anything but regal.

Nidoking peaked in GSC as "the premier mixed attacker" in OU, to quote his analysis, largely on the strength of his impressive base 85 Speed tier and access to Lovely Kiss (a move that is now illegal), and then slowly declined in viability until he reached B rank in DPP UU. Meanwhile, Nidoqueen remained in UU until that same generation, when a suddenly much stronger tier had no place for her and let her drop as far as NU.

It's very possible that, considering how much the tier has evolved, there would be no place for Nidoking and Nidoqueen in UU in ORAS if not for the advent of Sheer Force in Gen 5. This ability transformed two Pokémon with middling Attack and Special Attack stats and no setup potential into incredibly powerful wallbreakers capable of punching holes in teams almost at will. After the introduction of Sheer Force, they were better able to take advantage of their unique offensive typing, lack of recoil from Life Orb, and enviably diverse movepools (Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Surf, Fire Blast, Focus Blast, Superpower, Megahorn, and Sucker Punch doesn't even approach an exhaustive list of coverage options) to scare off common checks and walls. Nidoqueen, with her impressive bulk allowing her to take advantage of the useful defensive typing the pair share, catapulted to A rank in the BW UU Viability Rankings largely on the strength of Sheer Force, while Nidoking was able to maintain his B rank in a significantly stronger and more diverse tier. Their rankings have largely remained stable up to the present day, when the King and Queen sit comfortably at B+ and A-, respectively.

Nidoking and Nidoqueen can in some ways be viewed as two sides of the same coin: their stellar typing grants them useful resistances to Fighting-, Bug-, and Fairy-type attacks and an immunity to Electric-type ones as well as Thunder Wave and Toxic, and their shared access to Sheer Force and a phenomenal movepool combine to make them two of the premier wallbreakers in UU. However, the similarities end there, as the pair's starkly contrasting base stats force them into filling very different roles with varying degrees of success.

Playing with Nidoqueen: "Almost Always the Better Option"

Nidoqueen @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 180 HP / 252 SpA / 76 Spe
Modest Nature
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock / Toxic Spikes / Thunderbolt
- Sludge Wave

Nidoqueen's superior bulk is what sets her apart from Nidoking and makes her the only one of the two who is a viable pick on anything other than purely offensive teams. It's because of this bulk that she can afford not to run much Speed investment and use a Modest nature, which allows her to hit harder than Nidoking, who must run a Speed-boosting nature to take full advantage of the base 85 Speed tier that is his most important advantage over his partner. Another result of Nidoqueen's lack of reliance on Speed is that she can afford to invest a vital 180 EVs into HP that are often the difference between a foe nabbing a 2HKO and the same foe scoring a 3HKO. That said, Nidoqueen has an interesting Speed tier that, with the right allocation of EVs, can allow her to creep threats such as Hoopa, Mega Blastoise, and even opposing Nidoqueen.

Nidoqueen is a staple on bulky offense and balance teams, as she can switch into and shut down VoltTurn cores and easily counter very common offensive Pokémon like Cobalion. In addition to her stellar defensive capabilities and incredible wallbreaking potential, Nidoqueen has access to Stealth Rock and Toxic Spikes and the bulk necessary to reliably set them up throughout a match.

Nidoqueen tends to fare well against offensive teams, as she can reliably switch into resisted attacks throughout a match, and most Pokémon on standard offensive teams struggle to OHKO her; in addition, with her plethora of coverage options, smart predictions can make Nidoqueen almost impossible to switch into. Semi-stall is another playstyle against which she excels due to the fact that these teams typically rely on Florges to check special attackers and often contain team members that are slower than Nidoqueen, meaning that unless the other team has Snorlax, she can often run wild.

Overall, thanks to the sheer number of important metagame threats she checks both offensively and defensively, Nidoqueen is very easy to fit onto bulky offense and balance teams.

Playing with Nidoking: "Underrated and Underappreciated"

Nidoking @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Sludge Wave
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam / Thunderbolt
- Superpower / Focus Blast

It's generally held that on the majority of teams, one should choose Nidoqueen over Nidoking; however, the infamous "boys rule, girls drool" chant hasn't been discounted quite yet, so hold off on calling up that bully from fourth grade or triumphantly shoving this article in your boyfriend's face. The King has two main advantages over his Queen: superior Speed and the respectable Attack necessary to run a mixed set.

Because Nidoking has to run a Timid nature to fully take advantage of his Speed, he doesn't hit quite as hard as Nidoqueen; however, thanks to the Speed advantage, he's capable of pressuring Pokémon that she couldn't dream of touching, such as Gyarados, Feraligatr, and the Choice Specs variants of Chandelure and Gardevoir. It's also worth mentioning that Nidoqueen doesn't hit that much harder:

252 SpA Life Orb Nidoking Sludge Wave vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Hydreigon: 165-195 (50.7 - 60%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Nidoqueen Sludge Wave vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Hydreigon: 168-199 (51.6 - 61.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

In fact, in the vast majority of situations, their damage output is virtually identical.

While Nidoking isn't exactly frail, his bulk isn't anything special and forbids him from switching into even some resisted attacks, such as Mienshao's High Jump Kick. For this reason, Nidoqueen generally fares better against offensive teams.

Nidoking's STAB attacks are an absolute necessity on his set; however, the last two slots are a toss-up and should be determined based on team needs. Ice Beam takes care of Dragon- and Ground-types, Thunderbolt handles bulky Water-types (especially Gyarados, who loathes it), and Superpower gives Nidoking a chance at handling special walls like Blissey, while Focus Blast provides the same coverage but with a Sheer Force boost. Shadow Ball, which nails common Nidoking counters such as Cresselia and Bronzong, and Sucker Punch, which smashes Alakazam, are two other very viable options in the last two slots. Stealth Rock is another option, but a fourth attack is generally preferred, as Nidoking should be used more for offensive presence and pressure than utility.

Nidoking is a marvelous pick for any offensive team seeking a reliable answer to semi-stall staples such as Florges and Doublade.

Playing Against Nidoking and Nidoqueen

Although the pair can be tough to handle, Nidoking and Nidoqueen are far from unbeatable—if your team struggles with either or both, consider these your Band-Aids.

Bronzong is the ultimate counter for both Pokémon; if Nidoking and Nidoqueen are running their typical sets, neither can hope to do more than click Ice Beam in hopes of landing a crit and nabbing a crisp 7HKO rather than an 8HKO. That said, both can run Fire Blast and eliminate any chance of this threat posing an issue.

Blissey is but the poster child for a rather lengthy list of special walls (other notable names include Umbreon, Cresselia, and Porygon2) with access to reliable recovery that typically check Nidoking and Nidoqueen; it's because of these extremely bulky Pokémon that the pair are generally useless against hard stall teams. Nidoqueen can equip Focus Blast to help deal with this, but the more reliable and powerful option to deal with these nuisances is Nidoking's Superpower, which can ruin Blissey's, Umbreon's, or Porygon2's day.

Mega Sharpedo and Krookodile represent those Water- and Ground-type Pokémon who can outspeed even Nidoking and deal massive damage even to Nidoqueen, while Mega Aerodactyl and Entei exemplify the similarly fast Pokémon who either carry coverage that hits the pair super effectively or simply hit hard enough with their STAB attacks to OHKO Nidoking and nearly OHKO Nidoqueen. Because they have no useful setup moves, the pair will never have any way of dealing with faster threats, so Pokémon who surpass their Speed tier are easily the most reliable checks for Nidoking and Nidoqueen.

Coverage is another answer for this pair: Mega Beedrill's Drill Run and Heliolisk's Hyper Voice (or Surf if you're desperate enough) are massive headaches for both Nidoking and Nidoqueen. Hidden Power Ice Zapdos, Earthquake Lucario, and Magnet Rise Cobalion are other prominent examples of Pokémon that can lure and KO them effectively.

Get Out There!

As two of the most reliable wallbreakers in UU, Nidoking and Nidoqueen are an easy fit on many teams and playstyles—despite all the debate over which is better and why, there aren't many situations where either one is an objectively poor choice. Amidst the constant turbulence of tier shifts and fluctuating metagame trends, this royal pair are two steady options sure to age like wine, only getting better with time.

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