Competitive Information for Nihilego [Sword/Shield]
Rock / Poison
Abilities:
Movesets for Singles
What is a good competitive moveset for Nihilego? These builds have been optimized for Pokemon competing in Sword/Shield Single Battles. The movesets and EVs have been specifically calibrated to deal the most amount of damage to the largest group of potentially common opponents and typing threats for the Sword/Shield generation metagame.
UrshifuKartanaIncineroarTornadusRegidragoRotom-HeatThundurusClefairyTapu FiniLandorus-Therian
Nihilego is an interesting Rock and Poison-typed Pokemon. It's normal to find yourself dealing with Nihilego when battling in the 8th generation meta. Nihilego is weak to Ground, Psychic, Steel, and Water-typed attacks.
Item: Focus Sash / Electric Seed
Ability: Beast Boost
Nature: Timid (+Spe, -Atk)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk |
Moveset:
- Meteor Beam / Power Gem
- Sludge Bomb
- Protect
- Trick Room
Special Sweeper Nihilego (Popular/Trending)
Nihilego is an awesome Special Sweeper. It is primarily designed to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. Focus Sash helps protect Nihilego from being one-shotted and allowing it to atleast use a crucial move when brought out. With Beast Boost, Nihilego's highest stat is raised by 1 if it attacks and koes another pokemon.
♦ Power Gem is a special STAB-boosted 80-base power Rock-type move that deals a substantial amount of damage.
♦ Sludge Bomb is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Poison-type move (30% chance to poison the target).
♦ Protect is a status move (prevents moves from affecting your Nihilego this turn).
♦ Trick Room is a status move (goes last. for 5 turns, turn order is reversed).
Item: Focus Sash / Air Balloon
Ability: Beast Boost
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
Nature: Timid (+Spe, -Atk)
EVs: 36 Def / 252 SpA / 220 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk |
Moveset:
- Sludge Wave / Sludge Bomb
- Power Gem / Meteor Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic / Psyshock
Special Sweeper Nihilego (Beast Boost)
Nihilego is a remarkable Special Sweeper. It is designed to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. Focus Sash helps protect Nihilego from being one-shotted and allowing it to atleast use a crucial move when brought out. Air Balloon makes the holder ungrounded, which means Nihilego is immune to Ground-type moves until the balloon pops when hit by a damaging move. With Beast Boost, Nihilego's highest stat is raised by 1 if it attacks and koes another pokemon.
♦ Sludge Bomb is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Poison-type move (30% chance to poison the target).
♦ Power Gem is a special STAB-boosted 80-base power Rock-type move that deals a good amount of damage.
♦ Meteor Beam is a special STAB-boosted 120-base power Rock-type move (raises Nihilego's special attack by 1 stage on turn 1. hits turn 2).
♦ Thunderbolt is a special 90-base power Electric-type move (10% chance to paralyze the target).
♦ Psychic is a special 90-base power Psychic-type move (10% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
♦ Psyshock is a special 80-base power Psychic-type move (damages target based on defense, not special defense).
Movesets for Doubles
What is a good doubles moveset for Nihilego? These builds have been optimized for Sword/Shield Double Battles. They have movesets and EVs specifically calibrated to generally work best versus multiple Pokemon at once as well as helping to support other team members and allys in the Sword/Shield generation metagame.
UrshifuKartanaIncineroarTornadusRegidragoRotom-HeatThundurusClefairyTapu FiniLandorus-Therian
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
Nature: Timid (+Spe, -Atk)
EVs: 52 Hp / 204 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk |
Moveset:
- Power Gem
- Acid Spray
- Protect
- Thunder Wave
Doubles Special Sweeper Nihilego (Popular VGC)
Nihilego is an outstanding Special Sweeper. This particular build was popular during past competitions. It's designed to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. Life Orb boosts the power of Nihilego's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Beast Boost, Nihilego's highest stat is raised by 1 if it attacks and koes another pokemon.
♦ Acid Spray is a special STAB-boosted 40-base power Poison-type move (100% chance to lower the target's special defense by 2 stages).
♦ Protect is a status move (prevents moves from affecting your Nihilego this turn).
♦ Thunder Wave is a status move (paralyzes the target).
Item: Focus Sash / Air Balloon
Ability: Beast Boost
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
Nature: Timid (+Spe, -Atk)
EVs: 36 Def / 252 SpA / 220 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk |
Moveset:
- Sludge Wave / Sludge Bomb
- Dazzling Gleam
- Power Gem / Meteor Beam
- Thunderbolt
Doubles Special Sweeper Nihilego (Beast Boost)
Nihilego is a notable Special Sweeper. It's purpose is to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. Focus Sash helps protect Nihilego from being one-shotted and allowing it to atleast use a crucial move when brought out. Air Balloon makes the holder ungrounded, which means Nihilego is immune to Ground-type moves until the balloon pops when hit by a damaging move. With Beast Boost, Nihilego's highest stat is raised by 1 if it attacks and koes another pokemon.
♦ Sludge Bomb is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Poison-type move (30% chance to poison the target).
♦ Dazzling Gleam is a special 80-base power Fairy-type move (no additional effect. hits adjacent foes).
♦ Power Gem is a special STAB-boosted 80-base power Rock-type move that deals a considerable amount of damage.
♦ Meteor Beam is a special STAB-boosted 120-base power Rock-type move (raises Nihilego's special attack by 1 stage on turn 1. hits turn 2).
♦ Thunderbolt is a special 90-base power Electric-type move (10% chance to paralyze the target).
Item: Room Service / Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
Nature: Quiet (+SpA, -Spe)
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Def / 252 SpA
Moveset:
- Sludge Wave / Sludge Bomb
- Power Gem / Meteor Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Trick Room
Offensive Trick Room Nihilego (Beast Boost)
Nihilego is popular Offensive Trick Room. Focus Sash helps protect Nihilego from being one-shotted and allowing it to atleast use a crucial move when brought out. With Beast Boost, Nihilego's highest stat is raised by 1 if it attacks and koes another pokemon.
♦ Sludge Bomb is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Poison-type move (30% chance to poison the target).
♦ Power Gem is a special STAB-boosted 80-base power Rock-type move that deals a substantial amount of damage.
♦ Meteor Beam is a special STAB-boosted 120-base power Rock-type move (raises Nihilego's special attack by 1 stage on turn 1. hits turn 2).
♦ Thunderbolt is a special 90-base power Electric-type move (10% chance to paralyze the target).
♦ Trick Room is a status move (goes last. for 5 turns, turn order is reversed).
Movepool
Wondering what moves can Nihilego learn? Here is the list of moves this Pokemon can learn in this selected generation.
Sort and organize the learnset by move type, category, accuracy, and power. Bolded moves will gain the same-type attack bonus (STAB) if this Pokemon uses them.
Damage Modifiers:
Combo List
These are a list of several common move combinations Nihilego can perform in Sword/Shield. Not every combo going to be game-changing, but some can be pretty fun to play with. Sometimes these can be easily overlooked or forgotten, hence why we find and list them here. Discover what items, abilities, and moves this Pokemon can use in combination with each other to gain a strategic advantage in competitive battles.
Competitive SS Move and Ability Combos for Nihilego
- Moves: Rest + Sleep talk
- Moves: Rest + Snore
- Moves: Psyshock + Tickle
- Move: Facade + Item: Flame Orb
- Move: Facade + Item: Toxic Orb
- Move: Meteor Beam + Item: Power Herb
- Moves with Priority: Endure, Protect, Ally Switch
Most notable and possible best moves for Nihilego
- Meteor Beam
- Power Gem
- Protect
- Sludge Bomb
- Trick Room
Common Effort Values for Nihilego in Sword and Shield
- Timid Nature ( 4/0/0/252/0/252 )
- Timid Nature ( 4/0/20/228/4/252 )
- Optimize Nihilego's EV spread for Pokemon Sword and Shield
Related Videos
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