I thought of another interesting idea for an Assault Vest user. Something, that not many of you will expect, but her niche may actually be solid, because of addition of Sheer Force - this ability alone allows her to hit harder than expected. And I always really liked her in OU tier as one of the most underrated picks there. Also her unique typing allow her to check/counter Pokemon which normally may be hard to handle for many teams.
Nidoqueen @ Assault Vest
Nature: Modest (You want as much damage as possible)
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
~ Earth Power
~ Ice Beam
~ Sludge Bomb / Shadow Ball / Dragon Tail
~ Fire Blast / Flamethrower
Idea behind this set is really simple - as bulky pivot for bulky offense/balanced team to handle Pokemon which may trouble your team. I mention this mostly for Pokebank and I will also use Pokebank example as well. Her ability to check some dangerous Pokemon like Gengar, Jolteon, Thundurus-T, Lucario, Terrakion, Virizion and few others is really impressive to say at least. Her unique Poison/Ground typing give her unique bunch of resistances, allowing her to take both physical and special hits. Some damage calculations:
Timid Life Orb Gengar Shadow Ball
34.38%-40.63%
This isn't even close to 2HKO which is really a nice thing to see. Now let's see how it hits without Life Orb, like for example with Leftovers. Same Nature.
26.56%-31.25%
Pretty weak hit if you ask me. For fun let's also check MegaGengar Shadow Ball. Timid Nature.
32.03%-37.76%
Also as Nidoqueen you resist both Focus Blast and Sludge Bomb or Sludge Wave, so you let's face it - Nidoqueen 100% counters Gengar no matter what it throws on her as you also take at best neutral damage from something odd like Energy Ball ;).
Hmmm... this time let's go with Nasty Plot MegaLucario. Annoying fella, I know. Also it's harder to wall than Swords Dance version IMO. Well, Nidoqueen makes a pretty good check here though. Assuming Timid natures, as I don't think MegaLuke can afford to go with Modest Nature.
Resisted +2 Aura Sphere:
36.72%-43.23%
+2 Flash Cannon:
73.44%-86.46%
While I admit Flash Cannon hurts, you 100% survive this hit and KO easily back with Earth Power. I think MegaLuke is one of those cases where you may afford to go Max HP/Max SpD as well with Assault Vest as with Sheer Force her damage output should be pretty decent anyway. Although Max SpA investment is still recommended because you want to have a pivot which actually allows you to keep offensive momentum while still taking some heavy hits when needed. Well, she can also check physical Lucario, although it would be better to keep SR off the field.
+2 Close Combat from MegaLuke:
82.81%-97.66% (28,21% OHKO with SR up)
While this isn't impressive by any means, AV Nidoqueen is one of those really rare Pokemon which actually hold a title of Pokemon capable of checking both versions of Lucario (although +2 Ice Punch KO this version, but if you want to counter specifically SD Lucario, go with Physically Defensive one, my advice). As long as SR is up and you didn't loose HP (and with SR your odds are not horrible as well) you counter all versions of Lucario except the ones with Ice Punch. This time - let's go with Thundurus-T.
+2 Life Orb HP Ice Timid Nature Thundurus-T:
73.44%-86.46%
Well this hurts, but he can't KO you back anytime soon, while you do it back with Ice Beam. Now the same calc without Life Orb:
56.25%-66.67%
Also you counter all other versions of Thundurus-T (unless he goes with Modest), because your typing resist or is neutral to all hits he can dish out except HP Ice. And it's also time to check normal Thundurus, which is as scary, if not more.
+2 Life Orb HP Ice Timid Nature:
65.63%-77.60%
+2 HP Ice Timid Nature:
50.52%-59.90%
Well, I also wanted to check some Aegislash calculations. So far Nidoqueen (this version) looks like a really decent Aegislash check. Some calculations:
Max SpA Rash Nature Life Orb Shadow Ball:
41.67%-49.22% (14.66% chance for 2HKO with SR up)
While you may still loose if you are unlucky, those odds are not really high, while Earth Power hits hard back. And this is the strongest hit Aegislash can dish out against you from special side.
Same type of hit with Neutral Nature:
37.50%-44.53%
Max SpA Rash Nature Spooky Plate:
38.28%-45.31%
Max SpA Neutral Nature Spooky Plate:
35.16%-41.41%
+2 Shadow Sneak Life Orb Adamant Nature:
60.94%-71.88%
Same hit but without Life Orb:
46.88%-55.47%
Nidoqueen outspeeds Aegislash, so he must use Shadow Sneak here. Looks really good in overall as Aegislash check if you ask me. Terrakion time this turn I guess ;).
CB Stone Edge Jolly Nature:
35.68%-42.19%
+2 Life Orb Jolly Close Combat:
73.96%-87.24%
Same hit, but without Life Orb:
57.03%-67.19%
With Rock Gem:
68.49%-80.47%
In other words you still keep your ability to check offensive physical titan like Terrakion without hardcore invest into defense, which is nice. I would be careful in case of CB Close Combat (which hits for 42,71% - 50,26% making this 35,77% chance for 2HKO with SR up, but this fact alone allows you to easily work around Choice set by switching into resists).
I'll add later on some other calcs when needed (or just post which ones you want to see as well), but so far this looks more than solid. Something worth to consider as some of those are top tiers threats ;).
