Top 5 reasons why Piloswine can outclass Nidoqueen (you won't believe #4)
s/o to Holly who involuntarily inspired me to make this thread.
1. Piloswine has higher Attack (and lower special attack).
Piloswine is an amazing pokemon because it has a naturally high amount of splashability in terms of offence. Though Nidoqueen can hit more things super effectively, that advantage can sometimes pale in comparison with Piloswine’s secondary STAB, Ice Beam. That’s because there aren’t many things that resist Ground and aren’t already weak to Ice (take Scyther and Bellossom for instance). Furthermore, her Ice Beam is weaker than Piloswine’s because of it being STAB, even though she has higher SpA. That means that Pilo’s Ice Beam is better than Nidoqueen’s Ice Beam and in some situations even better than her Fire Blast.Non super-effective hits
Piloswine Ice Beam vs. Granbull: 102-121 (26.6 - 31.5%) -- 31% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
Nidoqueen Fire Blast vs. Granbull: 98-116 (25.5 - 30.2%) -- 0.8% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
Nidoqueen Ice Beam vs. Granbull: 78-92 (20.3 - 24%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery
Super-effective hits
Nidoqueen Fire Blast vs. Scyther: 168-198 (51.3 - 60.5%) -- 93.2% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Piloswine Ice Beam vs. Scyther: 175-206 (53.5 - 62.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Piloswine Ice Beam vs. Bellossom: 153-180 (43.3 - 50.9%) -- 56% chance to 2HKO after Spikes and Leftovers recovery
Nidoqueen Fire Blast vs. Bellossom: 146-172 (41.3 - 48.7%) -- 12.3% chance to 2HKO after Spikes and Leftovers recovery
Piloswine Ice Beam vs. Granbull: 102-121 (26.6 - 31.5%) -- 31% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
Nidoqueen Fire Blast vs. Granbull: 98-116 (25.5 - 30.2%) -- 0.8% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
Nidoqueen Ice Beam vs. Granbull: 78-92 (20.3 - 24%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery
Super-effective hits
Nidoqueen Fire Blast vs. Scyther: 168-198 (51.3 - 60.5%) -- 93.2% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Piloswine Ice Beam vs. Scyther: 175-206 (53.5 - 62.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Piloswine Ice Beam vs. Bellossom: 153-180 (43.3 - 50.9%) -- 56% chance to 2HKO after Spikes and Leftovers recovery
Nidoqueen Fire Blast vs. Bellossom: 146-172 (41.3 - 48.7%) -- 12.3% chance to 2HKO after Spikes and Leftovers recovery
2. Piloswine is a sleep talker.
Perhaps you could say that Nidoqueen can walk the walk because she’s faster, but Piloswine can definitely Talk the Talk. In spite of what her name implies, Nidoqueen is a great pokemon for her jack-of-all-trades abilities. She can use Earthquake and threaten many things, she has some speed and can end games early, has Thunder to KO water types, Fire Blast can hit things even Pilo cannot threaten, and she's sufficiently bulky to allow herself to take hidden power Ice or Water. She even has a recovery move in Moonlight. But she cannot do all of these things at once. Piloswine on the other hand, doesn’t even have to worry too much about prediction. Either way it’s going to hit like a truck. It’s also not afraid of status at all thanks to the moves Rest and Sleep Talk which let it replenish health and fight back against many threats. That just gives it an edge in certain situations such as facing a Psychic type like Mr.Mime without being worried of Hypnosis or facing a Jumpluff and fearing its Sleep Powders or Stun Spores. Furthermore, Sleep Talk may have a tendency to be annoying for the users, but it comes with some unpredictability so opponents may end up keeping a weakened Jumpluff in fear of losing their Slowbro in the back only to lose Jumpluff to an Ice Beam. You cannot predict this psycho killing machine, not even when it's sleeping. 3. It eats bolt beam for breakfast.
Talk about power hungry. Real liveboars are known for tearing through just about anything in its way limb from limb and eat just about anything. That isn’t too far from what mr.Swine is able to do. It preys upon Electric users with a limited coverage by just coming in with almost no care in the world. And the best part? It can do this sufficiently well in OU too! No wonder it’s friends with Quagsire. It still has to watch out for Hidden Power Waters, though, and, unlike Nidoqueen, has some other weaknesses to look out for. 4. The meta just isn’t ready for a Ground+Ice type.
What I mean with this is two things. Firstly, its typing makes it one of the few Ground pokemon in GSC UU that shrugs off Ice Beam. And second, its ice typing comes with the benefit of not being weak to Psychic like Nidoqueen is. Piloswine matches up against Psychic types way better than Nidoqueen, to the point that even Baton Pass users don’t want anything to do with this beast. But that’s Nidoqueen’s fault for wanting to be the center of attention. Do you think we’d have so many viable Psychic types in a metagame with Scythers and Granbulls running rampant if Nidoqueen weren’t considered top-tier UU material? How many Fighting types are there in UU that counter Piloswine? NONE. Wake up! Stop kidding yourselves, folks. The truest counter to Piloswine is Gyarados who doesn't take anything from EQ while not being afraid of Ice Beam (ok, maybe a little afraid of freezes).5. Piloswine can play the game more slowly.
Having access to Rest and two of the most powerful attacking moves in the game means that Piloswine doesn’t have to necessarily attack every turn, giving the opposing player the difficult onus of trying to win back some momentum and playing in an aggressive way that can cost them some valuable teammates. Nidoqueen can typically get a lot of value out of every turn she’s on the playing field but sometimes she can get caught off guard and be forced to pick a move just to save the team from a sweep or herself from silly chip damage (I’m looking at you, Magneton and Ampharaos).CONCLUSION
Piloswine has the intelligence of a pig and the sturdiness of a mammoth and it knows that with its god-like powers, it’s able to make opponents tremble in fear without even looking at them.That said, I still think that Nidoqueen is still the tried and true top tier ground type that she is, because in old generations the prowess of a mixed attacker is also proven by how many different situations they can find themselves in and take out even their own checks. I even think that Ice Beam Nidoqueen can prove more viable in certain situations in today's meta. Piloswine still struggles in some matchups like Gyarados, who can b****slap it across the planet and not care about Ice Beam at all.
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed my brief showcase of why I love Piloswine so much and I also hope that I’ve proven that you don’t need a Physical Special split to get value out of Ice and Ground typing. I am pretty happy to have pushed this pokemon in past tournaments and given some attention that players may have previously considered a little bit more tentatively.
Until then, it’s best to be prepared for the monstrosity that it becomes in DPP.
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