What is a good moveset for Naganadel?

Question

If you have a good competitive moveset for Naganadel, post an answer below and upvote the best ones. Movesets for any of its pre-evolutions can also be shared on this thread.

Be sure to include full set details in your post, e.g. items, abilities, natures and EVs. Some detail, including the intended game mode for your set, is also appreciated. Access the full list of guidelines here.

Naganadel Pokedex and learnset for reference.

Answer 1

Naganadel @ Dragonium-Z / Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor / Dragon Pulse
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower
- Sludge Wave
- Nasty Plot

Draco Meteor with Dragonium Z is incredibly strong and hits really hard after a Nasty Plot. Dragon Pulse can be used if you don't want to have to deal with stat drops. Fire Blast / Flamethrower hit Steel-types and Sludge Wave is more STAB. Naganadel is hard to stop after a Beast Boost.

Comments

Nice Moveset!

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I agree that this is a great moveset but I'd recommend Sludge Bomb because while it does 5 less damage, it has a 30% chance of poison.

Answer 2

Naganadel @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Sp.Atk, 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
- Sludge Bomb
- Dragon Pulse
- Fire Blast/HP Ice
- Nasty Plot

Standard sweeping set: Set up with Nasty Plot, sweep & snowball with Beast Boost. Sludge Bomb & Dragon Pulse are STAB. That leaves the choice between Fire Blast & HP Ice: Fire Blast covers your Ice weakness and hits Steel-types that resist and are immune to your 2 main STABS, but HP Ice can hit Ground-types hard too.

Comments

I would go Sludge Wave instead of Sludge Bomb

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Why? Sludge bomb has a 30% chance to poison, sludge wave is 10%. Sludge wave only has 5 more base power, and sludge wave hits your ally in a double battle too (unless they are a steel type).

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you think an offensive pokemon like naganadel wants to focus on poisoning the opponent? have you ever seen a pokemon like gengar run bomb over wave? yes, the damage boost is miniscule, but is still a damage boost, and in turn the smaller poisoning rate doesnt affect it as much as some other, more defensive oriented mon, like galarian slowking and tentacruel

Answer 3

Naganadel @ Kings Rock
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: SPD 4 / 252 SPA / 252 SPE
Nature: Timid (+Spe, -Atk)
Moves:
Nasty Plot
Dragon Pulse (STAB)
Sludge Bomb (STAB)
Air Slash (Flinch Chance)

With the Kings Rock, Air Slash has a higher chance to cause flinching.
Nasty Plot ups the your SpA by two stages, making it an OP sweeper.
Every time you KO a Pokemon, Naganadel will up its speed, making it a fast sweeper.

Comments

Kings rock only boosts moves that have no chance to flinch already. Air slash has a 30% chance to flinch, so kings rock does nothing. A better item would be life orb or choice specs. Also, this set doesnt really do anything against steel types, air slash for fire blast or flamethrower. Personally I run dragonium z

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and beast boost doesnt up speed, it ups spatk, spatk is 127 and seed is 121

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Fwiw Beast Boost will raise speed if Naganadel has 252 speed EVs with a speed-raising nature. The set is intended to get boosts with Nasty Plot and sweep with the speed raises every time a Pokémon is KO'd.

Answer 4

my Naganadel support set

Naganadel @ Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Sludge Bomb
- Tailwind

this set is used with Nihilego. tailwind makes them both faster so they can sweep. fire blast is coverage for both. sludge bomb is STAB Draco meteor is powerful dragon STAB. focus sash so he can survive a hit while at least getting tailwind and Draco meteor.
nihilego set:

Nihilego @ Power Herb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Modest nature
- Meteor Beam
- Power Gem
- Sludge Bomb
- Protect

very easy to understand. meteor beam with power herb OHKO's a lot of things. After you get a K.O, you get +Spa because of the beast boost ability. meteor beam also raises your Spa so you get +2 Spa instead of one. power gem is STAB. Sludge bomb is also STAB and protect for stall. while with +2 Spa, it's effortless to sweep and you just get more Spa by doing this. watch out for physical ground and steel types as his melee defence sucks.

sorry if you got bored reading this. and as usual, PLEASE post any suggestions In the comments.

hope I helped.

Comments

Would dragon pulse also work for daganadel since I don't like the spa drop.

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dragon pulse is excellent but this is a support Naganadel. I use Draco meteor for the sash. otherwise, just use fire blast or sludge bomb when you are not close to dying.

Answer 5

Naganadel @ Life Orb/Wise Glasses/Choice Specs
Ability: Beast Boost
Nature: Modest
Moves:
- Sludge Bomb (So you wouldn't hit your allies in a double or multi battle plus STAB)
- Dragon Pulse/Draco Meteor (Draco Meteor can reduce special attack by two stages)
- Flamethrower/Fire Blast (Coverage against ice types)
- Air Slash/Dark Pulse (Air Slash has a chance to make an opponent flinch except for Pokemon with the Inner Focus ability while Dark Pulse is coverage against Psychic Types)
With the best boost ability, the special attack will boost with the help of some items I suggested.

Comments

Hmmmm... If your doing singles then Sludge Wave, if your doing doubles or multi battles go with the Sludge bomb

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@RainboeSheep, I'd still go for sludge bomb as 20% higher chance of poisoning is probably better than 5 more BP. Unless you talk about those situations where the opponent is left with 1 HP and naganadel is your last Pokemon.

Answer 6

What about PIMPNITE's Naganadel moveset:

Naganadel @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
Evs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)

• Fell Stinger
• Gunk Shot
• Dragon Claw
• Throat Chop

Expanation: You know PIMPNITE, always looking for crazy movesets! Now we can have fun too. Make your foe faint with Fell Stinger to get a +3 in Attack. Gunk Shot and Dragon Claw are your Relialble STABs for Naganadel. Throat Chop is just for some extra Ghost and Psychic coverage.

Heres the link to PIMPNITE's Epic Naganadel Sweep: https://youtu.be/PUu8NRYTZSY

Comments

Have you played Pokemon enough?

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He does, its just a PIMPNNITE set. Naganadel physical eats garbage in ubers and is generally hard to sweep with it. Especially with primal Groudon and defensive zygarde. Naganadel only has a 73 attack stat. Generally a PIMPNITE set, he clearly said. Also this could be a storyline (not competitive) set, but very rare, as everyone would have sludge bomb or sludge wave tm, fire blast/flamethrower, and if they used it on their team a lot, draco meteor (and since this is required in order to evolve) dragon pulse.

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Apologies if this is a late comment. I actually used this set and it’s pretty funny to use. Only two changes on my Naganadel are:

The nature on mine is Jolly instead of Adamant. I didn’t keep soft resetting on my game, but my wife got a Jolly Poipole with 31 IV’s in Atk, HP, Speed and Sp.Def. Def is pretty good, but not perfect. I was lucky for her to give me it!

Instead of Gunk Shot, I went for Poison Jab. More accuracy.

Despite not having Adamant, getting that Fell Stinger Atk boost still hits like a truck!

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What is pokemon if its not fun? Its just an expensive screen saver. You need to have fun when playing pokemon. I dont spend hours searching for the best move sets for pokemon, i try myself. Even though my pokemon may be “non-meta”, there still alot more fun to battle with then my older pokemon that i did alot of resaerch for. I knew i was going to win, there was no challange. That was back in my white 2 days. Know, i just see what pokemon are good, get them, and find a moveset that I like. It may not be the best, but it was fun, and still is.

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It's just meant to have fun. Yes pimpnites sets aren't viable but that's not the point he didn't say, go use it in ubers

Answer 7

Naganadel@Dragonium Z
Trait:Beast Boost
EVs:252 Sp.Atk/252 Def/4 Spd
Nature: Timid (+Spd -Atk)/Modest (+Sp.Atk -Atk)
Moves:
Sludge Wave-STAB/ Sludge Bomb-STAB(Sludge Bomb for VGC Doubles)
Thunderbolt/Flamethrower-Coverage
Nasty Plot
Dragon Pulse/Draco Meteor-STAB

The Devastating Drake will do big damage to whatever comes in except for fairies, but you got Sludge Wave for fairies so screw you Clefable, Thunderbolt or Flamethrower it's your decision for coverage but personally I would go Flamethrower because it covers ice types, The Nasty Plot is essential to sweep.

Answer 8

Naganadel @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk / 252 Speed / 4 Sp. Def
Nature: Modest (+Sp. Atk / -Atk)

• Sludge Wave (this is singles Naganadel)
• Draco Meteor
• Fire Blast
• U-turn

Sludge Wave, Draco Meteor and Fire Blast have perfect coverage together, so... reck stuff. U-turn to get the heck out of there.

Comments

why would you waste a moveslot on U turn? other than that, great moveset!

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Nasty plot is kind of useless because naganadel wrecks a lot in ubers. Also if naganadel wants to get chip damage on stuff it cant touch, then it could use u-turn. But kind of pointless cuz of choice scarf, maybe dragonium z?

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U-Turn is actually very good on a Scarfed Pokemon. If you're good at predictions that is. You bring it in, predict them to switch, U-turn the heck out of there, and get a more favorable matchup against what they send in. It works really well, IF you can predict well.

Answer 9

Choice Specs

Naganadel @ Choice Specs
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk/4 Sp. Def/252 Spe
Nature: Modest

-Draco Meteor/Dragon Pulse
-Sludge Wave (Singles)
-Fire Blast
-Dark Pulse

Draco Meteor is your main move, but Dragon Pulse can be used if you don’t want to deal with stat drops. Sludge Wave is STAB for singles, but Sludge Bomb should be used for STAB in doubles. Fire Blast is for coverage against Steel types, who would otherwise wall Naganadel. Dark Pulse is for coverage against Psychic types.

Have fun with this set!

Answer 10

This is Wolfe Glicke's (2016 Masters Division VGC Champ) favorite Naganadel set, seen here. I used this set to get high on the VGC 2018 Showdown ladder and win tournaments in the VGC room on the main server.

Naganadel @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 44 HP / 164 Def / 116 SpA / 4 SpD / 180 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Sludge Bomb
- Flamethrower
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Other options for moves are U-turn, HP Ground, Snarl, Sky Drop and Dragon Pulse.

This set outspeeds modest max speed Ludicolo in rain, OHKOing it with Sludge Bomb, can outspeed and OHKO boosted Kommo-o over 50% of the time with Draco Meteor, and does solid damage to would be checks like steel types and Landorus-T with flamethrower and hidden power ice respectively. The only viable Pokemon to wall it is Heatran, and you can run HP Ground if that's an issue.

Some replays that show off the advantages of using scarf Naganadel over the typical tailwind set:

Outspeeding and OHKOing Tapu Koko
Surviving powerful physical attacks thanks to bulk investment

Answer 11

Ultra beasts are intresting. Here is a set for the combination of mega beedrill, zekrom, and poipole.
Naganedal @ Focus Sash

Ability:Beast Boost
Nature:Timid
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 HP
•Nasty Plot
•Sludge Bomb
•Dragon Pulse
•Flamethrower
Start with a nasty plot to raise special attack through the roof. Timid makes speed>special attack, so beast boost boosts speed. Sludge bomb is STAB, and so is dragon pulse. Flamethrower covers ice.

Answer 12

Gen 8 BSS dynamax(or regular) sweeper
Naganadel @ Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 HP / 252 Spe
Timid / Modest Nature
- Dragon Pulse
- Air Slash
- Nasty Plot
- Flamethrower
Focus Sash allows it to survive a hit after setting up a Nasty Plot. Beast Boost is insane once you knock out a Pokemon. The EVs are the bread and butter sweeping ones. Timid Nature gives you more speed. Dragon Pulse is STAB, and can lower attack in dynamax form. Air Slash can flinch and in dynamax form boosts speed, which allows you to sweep even easier. Flamethrower is coverage for the steel types it can't hit and puts up sun in dynamax and can burn in regular form.

Answer 13

(speedy hard hitting set)

Naganadel @ Wise Glasses / Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Dragon Pulse / Draco Meteor
- Sludge Bomb / Sludge Wave
- Heat Wave / Flamethrower
- Hex / Air Slash / U-turn

Dragon pulse for consistent dmg, Draco meteor for burst dmg both for stab, sludge bomb for doubles or sludge wave for singles both also stab, heat wave/flamethrower for steel’s and coverage, heat wave for doubles and hitting both enemies, flamethrower for accuracy, hex for coverage, air slash for coverage, and you turn for pivot, wise glasses/life orb for good dmg without being choiced, ev spread is for max dmg, max spe to our speed faster opponents either it’s already great base 123 spe, and hp for a tiny bit more bulk

Answer 14

ApexDrake (Naganadel) @ Dragonium Z / Petaya Berry / Life Orb / Dragon Fang
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 140 HP / 112 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid nature
- Dragon Pulse / Hidden Power [Dragon]
- Sludge Wave
- Nasty Plot
- Flamethrower

• Dragon Pulse(STAB) / Hidden Power [Dragon](STAB and punish scarfed ditto users)
• Sludge Wave(STAB+Power+fairy coverage)
• Nasty Plot(sweep setup)
• Flamethrower(power+steel coverage)

my first post :)

EXPLAINED:
This is a sweeper Naganadel for single battles. evs for HP may let it survive a hit and let it use nasty plot to start sweeping from the next turn. timid nature makes beast boost to increase speed and imagine a +2SpA and beast boost(speed) Naganadel set. it is near unstoppable after the beast boost.

Dragonium z hits anything hard except fairies and steel types if you like petaya berry, it raises special attack by 1 stage when naganadel comes down into a pinch. if you want high-damage output, Life Orb is the thing but it also damages the holder. my choice is the Dragon Fang as it increases the power of dragon moves for the entire battle unless it is knocked off(still no problem if you setup nasty plot). ENJOY SWEEPIN THROUGH!

Comments

Do you have any particular attacks in mind that 112HP lets you survive? If not, I think it would be better to just put those HP EVs into Special attack to increase your damage output.

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oof, i thought i gave the 140 evs to hp. I tried it. it can survive an ice punch from a mega swampert with adamant nature and 252 atk evs. thx for correcting tho

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If you faced a Mega Swampert it would just OHKO Naganadel with Earthquake instead of using Ice Punch, so I still think you are better of just putting the HP EVs into Special Attack.

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ohh, okay, thank you, i still like to keep some decent hp on my naganadel so that its resistance pokes dont kill it by chipping it slowly. well nvm ig, i'll use mine with 190 SpA EVs 252 Spe then, rest to hp