NationalDex
nidoking
#034

Nidoking

Drill Pokémon

PoisonGround

Its steel-like hide adds to its powerful tackle. Its horns are so hard, they can pierce a diamond.

Base Stats

HP 81
Attack 102
Defense 77
Sp. Atk 85
Sp. Def 75
Speed 85
Total 505

Type Effectiveness

Abilities

Evolution Chain

Moves

Locations

Details

Category Drill Pokémon
Height 1.4 m
Weight 62.0 kg
Base Exp 227
Growth Rate Medium Slow
Capture Rate 45
Base Happiness 70
Gender 100% ♂ / 0% ♀
Habitat Grassland
Egg Groups Monster ,Ground

Sprites

nidoking Front Front
nidoking Back Back
nidoking Front Shiny Front Shiny
nidoking Back Shiny Back Shiny
nidoking Official Art Official Art
nidoking Official Art (Shiny) Official Art (Shiny)

Competitive

Life Orb Attacker
Item
Life Orb
Ability
Sheer Force
Nature
Timid
EVs
SpA 252
SpD 4
Spe 252

Strategy Overview

Nidoking's access to a great pool of Sheer Force-boosted coverage options such as Ice Beam, Flamethrower, and Thunderbolt allows it to deal heavy damage to defensive Pokemon like Zapdos, Toxapex, Tapu Fini, Landorus-T, and Tangrowth. Its great typing combination grants it immunities to Electric-type attacks, Thunder Wave, and Toxic and lets it absorb Toxic Spikes, something most wallbreakers in the tier cannot do, thus giving it a defensive niche. However, it must compete with stronger or faster wallbreakers in the metagame like Kyurem-B, Hoopa-U, and Mega Charizard Y, and its mediocre bulk and Speed tier make it vulnerable to fast offensive threats like Greninja, Garchomp, Tornadus-T, and Tapu Lele, which doesn't help much in that regard.

Most Used Moves

Ice Beam
98.8%

Most Used Items

Life Orb
76.8%

Competitive data from Smogon University via data.pkmn.cc