N I D O Q U E E N
It's one of my most favourite Pokemon in all of Pokemon. It shares the same unique typing as Nidoking only that it's less offensive stat-wise and misses out on running the added powerful attack in Megahorn unlike it's male counterpart. I tried looking up forum posts about the Pokemon as of recently and I wasn't able to find anything which inspired me to write this up myself. I've been giving it a try in Gen 3 OU and I think it's actually an underestimated threat, and I feel like it has a unique niche in OU
This is the set I've been running. 12 EVs are expendable in this set. I personally put the last 12 into SpDef. Nidoqueen's advantage over Nidoking is being able to survive more hits throughout a game and this is what I fully capitalized on. I started using Nidoqueen with the intention of countering Thunder Wave Zapdos however I found that this Pokemon was capable of so much more and was actually winning me lots more games due to its unique attributes.
The EVs:
The 192 HP / 176+ Def is for always surviving 252 Atk+ Metagross Choice Band Earthquake (84.5% - 99.7%) which also survives the same attack from Adamant Choice Band Salamence. Nidoqueen is also capable of surviving Jolly Dugtrio's Choice Banded Earthquake (81.3% - 95.9%)
128 Atk gives Nidoqueen a guaranteed KO on Choice Banded 4HP/0Def Dugtrio after 1 layer of Spikes damage (87.7% - 103.3%).
Moves:
The move you'll be throwing out the most. Sludge Bomb's 90 BP STAB with a 30% poison chance can be absolutely deadly, and coming off of a 232 attack stat: it'll both be chipping away the opponent alongside giving you chances to put most mons on a timer
STAB Earthquake. You can't say no to it ever really
This is the most expendable move and you can really use whatever other move you prefer. Shadow Ball lets you hit Gengar while still covering Starmie. You can also use Ice Beam for hitting Flygon and Salamence (though the latter can still be chipped away with Sludge Bomb)
Thunderbolt with an Impish (+Def, -SpA) might seem weird at first but giving Nidoqueen a Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spe) is something I found not to be helpful because it would hit a speed stat of 169, which is outsped by neutral Skarmory. The difference between Thunderbolt's damage to 252HP / 252+SpDef Skarmory are as follows:
Impish: Thunderbolt deals 26.3% - 31.1%
Relaxed: Thunderbolt deals 29.3% - 34.7%
Having Nidoqueen's speed be neutral allows for it to pressure the Skarmory throughout the course of a game. Thunderbolt also covers Starmie and Cloyster while dealing a respectable 46.1% -54.4% to Aerodactyl
The main thing that makes Nidoqueen stand out against Nidoking is the ability to stay alive throughout a game a lot longer due to its superior bulk and I chose to fully abuse that. Nidoqueen is immune to sand meaning that it can use Protect and gain monumental heals throughout a game. Protect also allows for Nidoqueen to scout out Choice banded moves so it can react accordingly while still gaining health. It also works nicely against pokemon you've poisoned with Sludge Bomb.
Poison Point deserves a special mention too from me as the ability can come in clutch a lot and can potentially punish Focus Punches and Rapid Spins. It can also stand up to Aerodactyl's Double Edges easily giving you opportunities to poison it also
I want others to try this pokemon and give their feedback on it. This is the team I played around with for a while and it was good fun. I'm not going to explain the EVs and movesets for each pokemon in the team: I just want to show some love for Nidoqueen and the fun I had using it in the tier
TEAM: https://pokepast.es/ab442dc8b3339c00
Sometimes I run Protect Zapdos, sometimes I run Substitute. Depends on how I'm feeling that day lol
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