Pokemon Competitive Guide: Naganadel

Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon Added a small handful of New Ultra Beasts and Today im going to Talk about The Poison Pin Ultra Beast Naganadel,

Naganadel

Type:

Poison, Dragon

Ability:

Beast Boost - Raises Highest Stat when Pokemon Knocks out a Foe.

Stats:

HP: 73
Attack: 73
Defense: 73
Sp.Atk: 127
Sp.Def: 73
Speed: 121
Total: 540

Resistances and Weaknesses

Resist: Poison, Fighting, fire, Bug, Electric, Water, Grass

Weak: Ice, ground, Psychic, Dragon

Thoughts

Naganadel is a powerful Pokemon with a Great Special Attack Stat and Speed Tier combined with Beast Boost allow for a Great Deal of Versatility.

It's Type is pretty Decent, Poison and Dragon Gives it a Respectful Number of Resistances but it's not the Best type in the World.

Defensively Naganadel is Pretty Average with 73 in HP and it's Defense Stats all across the board. Its not as Fragile as "Take it hit and it always Died" but its certainly not a Bulky Pokemon.

Because of how Similar it's Speed and Special Attack Stats are you get a Choice of which one you want to Boost with Beast Boost Depending on Which Nature and EV spread you use, This Versatility can be Terrifying on this Mon.

Suggested Move-sets[Smogon Singles]

Now These Movesets are for the Two Formats I Typically play, VGC and Smogon Singles, also note THESE SETS ARE NOT GOD'S WORD, I suggest you Take these Sets and Change them around to Suit Your Play-Style

Lets Start with Smogon Singles

Singles Nasty Plotter
Item: Life orb / Dragonium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA, 4 SpD, 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
Moves:
-Nasty Plot
-Draco Meteor/Dragon Pulse
-Sludge Wave
-Hidden Power[Fighting]/Hidden Power[Ice]

Naganadel was Banned in OU thanks to this Set, While This set was Originally Designed Around when it was in OU, it Should be Adjustable no Matter what meta it is in.

This First set is by Far my Favorite Singles set, its a Nasty plot set, Timid Max Speed Naga Outspeeds anything Slower then Greninja. Which is the Majority of OU. and a Uprising number of Mons in Ubers. This Mons Threatens Many Mons, forcing them to Switch out. Usually into Checks and Counters Like Dusk Mane Necro, Zygarde Comeplete, Solgaleo, Dialga, and Primal Groudon.

This Set can Either Use Life-Orb or Dragonium Z, With Life Orb it can Allow Hidden Power to do Insane Damage to a Assault Vest T-Tar, Meaning if you have Chipped the T-Tar at all, You get a Free Nasty Plot because the T-Tar get's ko'd.
Draco Meteor Hits like a Truck against Anything that Does not Resist it, and Nasty Plot Eliminates the Downside of using Draco Meteor.
Finally Sludge Wave will Shut down any Fairy Types Like Arceus-Fairy, and Xerneas that will just get in the way.

1 Beast Boost in this Set will Net you +1 Speed which will Allow you to Outspeed Almost anything in Ubers, and Everything in OU. Turning this already Threatening Mon into a Monster.

Finally the Dragonium Z will Give you the Ability to Break Tough Walls Like Deoxys-Defense, Celesteela, Giratina-Altered and Even Counter Checks and Counters like the ones mentioned above.

Just Note, If you are using the Life-Orb Variant of this set, You Might want to use Dragon Pulse instead of Draco Meteor. But Personally Draco Meteor is Better because it does not Force you to Nasty Plot to get a Kill and hit Hard.

This Set is Customizable and I Suggest you Change it Around to Make Different Tactics

Suggested Move-sets[VGC 2018]

The VGC set I made is a Dragonium Z set

Item: Dragonium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA, 4 SpD, 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
Moves:
-Heat Wave
-Sludge Bomb
-Draco Meteor
-Hidden Power[Ice]

I Think with it's Decent Typing and Strong Stats, this Mon can be a Real threat in VGC 2018, Its not as bulky as Pokemon you Normally see as Staples of VGC, so Im not Sure this will be a Staple of the Meta, I do think in the Next Season It will be a threat.

Thanks to Max Speed Timid Nature It will get 1 point More Speed then Mega Salamance, a Mon that I Expect will be Common in this Meta Game.

Due to the Nature of VGC We Can Focus on Making Naganadel a Powerful Mon without Worrying about Checks and Counters Like T-Tar and Lando-T.

We Need to be Max Speed timid For Mega Salamance as said before, so I put the Rest of the EVs into Special Attack, it Bothers me to use 252/252 Sets in VGC, but there is not Much of a Choice here. as We dont know what Defensive Mons People are going to be using, so we need as Much Special Attack as possible,

While this Set does have 4 attacking moves you can Drop ANY of them for Protect if those moves are not needed thanks to your Teams Composition, Naganadel Suffers from 4 move slot Syndrome, so This set is more Offensive,

Heat Wave is Fantastic on this Mon, Due to it Hitting Both enemies and with a High Special Attack is Always a Bonus.

I Put Sludge Bomb Over Sludge Wave because Sludge Bomb has Higher Single Target Damage, and it does not hit your Teammate which is Important in this Meta.

Draco Meteor is Essential, The Special attack Drop is not much of an Issue due to Naganadel being most useful near the End of the Match, and you are only facing 4 Pokemon from the opponent, and Launching a Powerful Hit with Draco Meteor near the end-game is Essential, this Mon is Heavily Offensive, and Draco Meteor Takes Advantage of that.

HP Ice is actually pretty Good here, as HP Ice can do as much as 84% on a Defensive Mega Salamance, and Oh-ko a Offensive Mega Salamance Without having to get a Special Attack Drop or Wasting your Z-Move. On top of that It can Oh-Ko a Scarf Landorus-T or Life Orb Landorus-T that does not have any SpD Investment, Which is Good if you Outspeed the Scarf Variant of Landorus-T, Giving you a Free Beast Boost.

VGC Allies

Choosing Allies for Naganadel is tough, mostly because I dont want to keep saying "Landorus-T" Because Lando-T is a Solid Ally for any pokemon, But Otherwise, Lando-T is a Great Partner For Naganadel, It Walls Mons that Normally Wall Naganadel Like Heatran, and Tyranatar, and It Provides offensive presence will being able to Block your opponents access to the Real Threat, the Downside is that Lando-T uses Earthquake as it's Main attacking move, and it Knocks out your own Naganadel.

Tapu Bulu, While not Traditionally Good in VGC, Might Actually be a Great Partner For this Pokemon, It Weakens the Power of Ground moves so Ground Types cant Oh-ko Naganadel with Earthquake, Bulu is also a Fairy Type so it makes a great Switch in with Naga if you predict a Dragon move on your Naganadel, Bulu can also Benefit Tailwind users like Naganadel if you really want to Run Tailwind on your Naganadel.

Stakataka, is Also a Great Partner for Naganadel, Thanks to it's Typing and its access to Both Ally Switch and Wide Guard

and Suicune is a Great Support Mon for Naganadel

Overall

Naganadel is a Fantastic Mon, and is a Personal Favorite of mine. While it does have weaknesses you can see why it's banned in OU

I am Ultra and See you all Later