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 a wonderful Rock and Poison-typed Pokemon. It's pretty regular to find yourself dealing with Nihilego when battling in the 8th generation meta. Nihilego is typically seen in the UU tier (Underused). 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 a spectacular Special Sweeper for single battles. It attempts 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. With a Electric Seed equipped to it, if the terrain is electric terrain, raises Nihilego's defense by 1 stage then the Electric Seed gets consumed.
◆ Power Gem is a special STAB-boosted 80-base power Rock-type move that deals a good 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).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/is10a319
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
- Foul Play
- Thunderbolt
Special Sweeper Nihilego (Beast Boost)
Nihilego is pretty popular Special Sweeper for single battles. It attempts 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 large 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).
◆ Foul Play is a physical 95-base power Dark-type move (uses target's attack stat in damage calculation).
◆ Thunderbolt is a special 90-base power Electric-type move (10% chance to paralyze the target).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/is11a319
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 extraordinary Special Sweeper for double battles. This particular build was popular during previous competitions. It's purpose is 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).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/id10a319
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
- Foul Play
Doubles Special Sweeper Nihilego (Beast Boost)
Nihilego is a fabulous Special Sweeper for double battles. 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. 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 decent 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).
◆ Foul Play is a physical 95-base power Dark-type move (uses target's attack stat in damage calculation).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/id11a319
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
- Foul Play
- Trick Room
Offensive Trick Room Nihilego (Beast Boost)
Nihilego is popular Offensive Trick Room for single battles. 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. With a Room Service equipped to it, if trick room is active, Nihilego's speed is lowered by 1 stage then the Room Service gets consumed.
◆ 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 mighty 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).
◆ Foul Play is a physical 95-base power Dark-type move (uses target's attack stat in damage calculation).
◆ Trick Room is a status move (goes last. For 5 turns, turn order is reversed).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/id12a319
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
- Moves that inflict status (and combo with the move Hex): Thunder Wave
Moves that boost Nihilego's stats
- Meteor Beam
Most notable and possible best moves for Nihilego
- Head Smash
- Light Screen
- Meteor Beam
- Power Gem
- Protect
- Rest
- Sludge Bomb
- Stealth Rock
- 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
Here are various how-to-use and competitive moveset analysis video guides for Nihilego in Sword/Shield. These featured videos will most likely contain additional strategies and combos not listed on our site. Disclaimer: All videos belong to their respective owners along with the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the videos. They belong solely to the author and not to us.
We currently do not have any competitive video guides for Nihilego in Sword/Shield
Want to have your Competitive Pokemon videos sponsored on our site? Contact us!
Some builds on this page have been hidden, click here to display them
Here are the best movesets for Nihilego. Top rated Nihilego Sword/Shield movesets. You can find Nihilego builds Sword/Shield. Nihilego movesets Sword/Shield are listed here. VGC Nihilego Competitive Movesets can be found here. Find various EV spreads, find the best nature for Nihilego in Sword/Shield along with competitive movesets. Basic info and Movesets for evolution