A new series of move updates for Pokémon Go at the start of Battle League Season 8 will have more players using shadow Nidoqueen in the Great League. Many of this Pokémon’s moves were given a substantial buff, and this Pokémon can now learn another move that also received an update, greatly increasing this Pokémon’s use in the Great League. Previously, it was much lower in the rankings and wasn’t used too widely by too many players. That’s going to change in Season 8 and moving forward.
Shadow Nidoqueen is a Ground and Poison-type Pokémon. It will be weak to Ground, Ice, and Psychic-type attacks, but it is resistant against Bug, Electric, Fighting, Fairy, Rock, and Poison-type moves. With it being resistant to Fighting and Fairy-type moves, that can make it an extremely useful Pokémon in several Great teams, especially with so many Fighting-type Pokémon, such as Medicham and Deoxys.
These are all of the moves Nidoqueen can learn.
Fast moves
- Bite (Dark-type) – 4 damage and 2 energy per turn (4 damage per turn ) – 1 turn
- Poison Jab (Poison-type) – 7 damage and 3.5 energy per turn (3.5 damage per turn) – 2 turns
Charged moves
- Earthquake (Ground-type) – 120 damage and 65 energy
- Earth Power (Ground-type) – 90 damage and 55 energy (10% chance to lower opponent’s defenses by one rank)
- Frustration (Normal-type) – 10 damage and 70 energy
- Poison Fang (Poison-type) – 40 (57) damage and 35 energy (100% chance to lower opponent’s defense by one rank)
- Sludge Wave (Poison-type) – 110 damage and 65 energy
- Stone Edge (Rock-type) – 100 damage and 55 energy
When considering shadow Nidoqueen’s fast move, you always want to go with poison jab. Given its recent buff, it delivers quite a bit more damage, and the energy it generates is better than the other alternative, bite. While bite is a faster attack, poison jab will do slightly more damage because of Nidoqueen’s STAB, and it’s an overall better choice. You can expect to use Nidoqueen’s charged moves far more often.
There are several charged moves to consider for shadow Nidoqueen. We highly recommend making sure you use one that has frustration removed. Otherwise, it won’t be as effective as it could be in battle. When you have both charged move slots available, you want to use poison fang and earth power. Poison fang is a very low energy charged move that does quite a bit of damage and comes with a solid defense debuff capable of always hitting. For the second attack, you want to go with earth power. It’s also a lower energy charged move that can deal some heavy damage against the opponent.
The downside to using shadow Nidoqueen is that it is not a particularly durable Pokémon. It lacks more bulk than some players might feel comfortable with, but if you can work around this and have gone beyond level 40, you can expect to use Pokémon in both the Great and Ultra Leagues.
The best moveset to teach shadow Nidoqueen is the fast move poison jab, and the charged moves poison fang and earth power.
