NationalDex
nidoqueen
#031

Nidoqueen

Drill Pokémon

PoisonGround

Its entire body is armored with hard scales. It will protect the young in its burrow with its life.

Base Stats

HP 90
Attack 92
Defense 87
Sp. Atk 75
Sp. Def 85
Speed 76
Total 505

Type Effectiveness

Abilities

Evolution Chain

Moves

Details

Category Drill Pokémon
Height 1.3 m
Weight 60.0 kg
Base Exp 227
Growth Rate Medium Slow
Capture Rate 45
Base Happiness 70
Gender 0% ♂ / 100% ♀
Habitat Grassland
Egg Groups No Eggs

Sprites

nidoqueen Front Front
nidoqueen Back Back
nidoqueen Front Shiny Front Shiny
nidoqueen Back Shiny Back Shiny
nidoqueen Official Art Official Art
nidoqueen Official Art (Shiny) Official Art (Shiny)

Competitive

ou Usage: 2.2%
Physically Defensive Toxic Spikes
Moves
Protect / Stealth Rock
Earthquake / Earth Power
Ice Beam / Flamethrower / Thunderbolt
Item
Black Sludge
Nature
Relaxed
EVs
HP 252
Def 252
SpA 4
Specially Defensive Toxic Spikes
Item
Black Sludge
Nature
Sassy
EVs
HP 252
SpA 4
SpD 252

Strategy Overview

Nidoqueen has found a home in OU as a surprisingly versatile Pokemon. It's a great fit on stall builds with access to both Stealth Rock and, notably, Toxic Spikes. With key resistances to Rock- and Fighting-type attacks through its Poison / Ground typing, Nidoqueen is a great defensive check to Pokemon like Breloom, Lucario, Tyranitar, and sometimes even Infernape. Over time, Nidoqueen has proven to fit very well on balanced builds and even offense, clearing Toxic Spikes on entry and setting up its own entry hazards to support its offensive teammates. Defensive Pokemon can sometimes find themselves irritated by Nidoqueen, as its typing grants it an immunity to both Thunder Wave and Toxic. On top of that, its movepool is quite vast, so it can be molded to suit a team's needs very often.

However, Nidoqueen's biggest weakness is its lack of reliable healing, meaning it gets chipped down really easily by a myriad of offensive threats and even defensive ones as well. Its base stats are underwhelming for OU, with decent defenses at best and subpar Attack, Special Attack, and Speed. While it is a great fit on stall builds, it can also be a detriment by being setup fodder for Spikes users like Skarmory and Roserade as well as setup sweepers like Calm Mind Suicune, Calm Mind Clefable, and Dragon Dance Gyarados if it doesn't have the right moveset.

Most Used Moves

Protect
74.3%
Ice Beam
56.6%

Most Used Items

Competitive data from Smogon University via data.pkmn.cc