Welcome to Pokemon of the Week! This week we'll be focusing on one of the original awesome Pokemon from the days of 151 who had the honor of being in the line of the first assuredly male gender Pokemon. This week, we're discussing Nidoking

Ah, Nidoking. While this beast has been the backbone of many, many, MANY in-game teams, Nidoking really never took off in competitive. In generation 1, it's Poison typing and lack of power in comparison to Rhydon and Golem made it a bad choice in general. Generation 2's Nidoking requires an event move that you will literally never find a legal version of to be effective. Generation 3 brought about many more powerful threats, and there have only been more and more in the following generations.

There is good news, however, and it comes from the world of dreams, once again. Dream World brought Nidoking Sheer Force, and through it, Nidoking has received a buff in power that it has desperately needed. Now, don't get me wrong, Nidoking is absolutely not OU material at the moment, and you'll often find that he falls just short of those crucial OHKOs, but it is a huge improvement over what Nidoking had in the past. Nidoking is a huge threat in UU, and should be considered on any UU team, due to his fantastic coverage and power.

In the UU tier, teams need to be prepared for Nidoking. His combination of excellent coverage, Sheer Force and the extra power from Life Orb without recoil damage, this monster is capable of dealing out huge chunks of damage out of many opponents in the tier. His Speed, however, is where his downfall often happens, and it's a problem that looms over Nidoking's head constantly. Paralysis support and entry hazards may be necessary to make the most out of Nidoking on your team, but with this provided, Nidoking is very capable of wrecking opposing teams.

Nidoking@ Life Orb Sheer Force Timid nature (+Speed, -Attack) EVs: 252 Speed / 252 Sp. Attack / 4 HP Earth Power Fire Blast Ice Beam / Focus Blast Substitute / Stealth Rock

This is the most standard Nidoking set, and it's fairly effective. Earth Power is Nidoking's best STAB attack, benefitting from great coverage and the boost from Sheer Force, while dealing with some of the tier's most threatening Pokemon, such as Arcanine, Empoleon and Rhyperior. Fire Blast is necessary to deal with Shaymin, one of the absolute most dangerous Pokemon in the tier, while also dealing with Heracross and other Grass types spread through the tier.

Ice Beam is a good option for the third slot, to hit Flygon on the switch-in, as it is immune to Earth Power and resists Fire Blast, and can outspeed and OHKO Nidoking with Earthquake. Focus Blast is an option, however, for dealing with Snorlax and Umbreon, two of the best special walls in the tier.

The last slot offers two very different things for Nidoking. Substitute gives Nidoking a very safe move, and a very effective one at that. With all the switches that Nidoking forces, putting up a Substitute makes prediction much easier on him. Couple this with the fact that Nidoking is immune to Volt Switch and resists U-Turn, and the opponent will be hard-pressed to prevent you from knocking one of their Pokemon out, provided you have the right moves equipped to deal with their check or counter. This is risky, however, since Nidoking doesn't have the most powerful defenses, has numerous weaknesses, and if the opponent doesn't switch out, the sub can be broken fairly easily, causing you to have just chipped 25% off your own health with little-to-no benefit. Your second option here is Stealth Rock. This may seem odd on an offensive Pokemon such as Nidoking, but again, Nidoking tends to force opponents out for fear of him OHKOing them, which gives it time to setup Stealth Rock. If you have another Pokemon that can use Stealth Rock on your team, however, Substitute is much preferred.

Nidoking@ Choice Scarf Sheer Force Modest nature (+Sp. Attack, -Attack) / Timid nature (+Speed, -Attack) EVs: 252 Speed / 252 Sp. Attack / 4 HP Earth Power Sludge Wave Ice Beam Fire Blast / Thunderbolt

Giving Nidoking a Choice Scarf allows it to overcome his major flaw: his lack of Speed. Earth Power is Nidoking's best STAB move, having great Super Effective coverage on many threats in UU. Sludge Wave is used on this set because it has good neutral coverage, and when running a Choice Set, this allows Nidoking to clean up late-game. Ice Beam gives Nidoking the tool to deal with Flygon, Zapdos and Togekiss. In the last slot, Fire Blast puts Heracross out of commission, as well as giving you a move to deal with Bronzong. Thunderbolt is an option to hurt Water types, but it really lacks the power to do much damage to the bulky Waters of UU, so I recommend sticking with Fire Blast unless you really have problems with bulky Water types.

This set really has a problem with power, though. Without the Life Orb, Nidoking struggles to achieve necessary OHKOs and 2HKOs that it really needs. This kind of Nidoking is best suited to cleaning up late-game or for revenge killing weakened Pokemon.

Getting a Nidoran (M) from the Dream World is very easy, and it's the best route to go with, since it grants Nidoking his best ability. Raising one can be annoying, since both Nidoran M and Nidorino get Hustle from Dream World, but it's worth it once you evolve it. However, if you don't have access to Dream World, Nidoran M can be found with his usual abilities, Poison Point or Rivalry. Here's what I'd suggest for Nidoking in-game:

Nidoking Sheer Force Earth Power Ice Beam Flamethrower / Fire Blast Thunderbolt / Sludge Wave

This is the best set Nidoking can use in-game, and it's similar to the competitive ones. Earth Power makes a return as Nidoking's best STAB attack, providing great Super-Effective coverage. Ice Beam provides incredible coverage and is just all-around good to have. Flamethrower is solid, reliable damage, but Fire Blast has much more power with only 15% less accuracy, so the choice is yours. Thunderbolt provides coverage on Water types, but Sludge Wave is an extra STAB attack that can deal solid neutral damage on many Pokemon.

Nidoking Poison Point Earthquake Ice Beam Thunderbolt / Stone Edge Megahorn / Sucker Punch

Nidoking without Sheer Force can make use of his physical movepool and better Attack stat, though it still likes having a couple special moves as well, to stop physical walls from stopping him cold. Earthquake is more powerful than Earth Power if you don't have Sheer Force backing it, so that's the STAB of choice here, and it's a reliable STAB attack. Ice Beam makes a return on this set to provide excellent coverage, especially on Dragon types, but also for Flying types that are immune to Earthquake. Thunderbolt provides nearly perfect coverage alongside Ice Beam, and can deal with Water types, though if you'd like to deal with Flying types with Nidoking's superior Attack stat, Stone Edge is a good option. The last slot provides Nidoking with two options to deal with Psychic types with Megahorn or Sucker Punch. Megahorn is considerably stronger, though somewhat inaccurate, while Sucker Punch gives Nidoking a fairly reliable priority move.

Nidoking holds the honor of being the first Pokemon I ever trained to level 100, all the way back in Yellow Version. He's an incredibly reliable Pokemon to use in any game, but he was essential to me in Yellow Version. Not only would Nidorino's Double Kick massacre Brock's Pokemon, but he and Pikachu had pretty good synergy together. I cannot say this enough: Nidoking is an amazing Pokemon that can fit on any in-game team and become a star in no time.

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