How viable is Marowak in VGC. Could the lightning rod be a good answer to T-wave spam? does he need TR to work well?
Also what would a Nidoking generally run?
Marowak wants TR, yes. Bonemerang / Protect / Rock Slide / EQ or Fire Punch with a simple 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Sp. Def Brave spread would most likely do just fine. Bonemerang allows you to be more flexible in teambuilding, by striking a single target very hard (and crushing Substitute / Focus Sash / Sturdy); EQ lets you spam powerful STAB spread with an ally like Musharna or Cresselia, Fire Punch nails Ferrothorn/Escavalier which are huge threats to TR. Rock Slide is the best move ever in Doubles, crushing Flying types immune to Ground, and is a good move to spam in moments where you're unsure of what your opponent may switch in to.
T-Wave spam, yes, it's a good answer; even LO Modest Thundy-T fails to OHKO with Grass Knot / HP Ice (both have 60 power against Marowak) and Thundurus has a hard time surviving 2 Rock Slides. Klefki can Prankster Magnet Rise, so be a bit careful around that one (but you still troll its T-Wave spam). Keep something handy for Intimidate and WoW though, Marowak is very open to both and Lando-T. Reuniclus can absorb WoW / Intimidate, with Magic Guard. Overcoat can stop Amoonguss like no other, but tbh there's other ways around Amoonguss and you probably want Cresselia or Musharna on TR Ground spam.
Nidoking, I'll be frank: I adore Nidoqueen in Doubles, and haven't tried the King yet, but I'd use one of these:
Nidoking @ Life Orb
Naive, 20 Atk, 252 Sp. Atk, 236 Speed
Ability: Sheer Force
- Poison Jab
- Protect
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
Poison Jab is better than Sludge Bomb if you need Fairy killing - higher base stat, and aside from Granbull, Fairies have higher or equal Sp. Def (Gardevoir, Azumarill, Sylveon, Florges, Togekiss, Clefable, etc). Beyond that, it's mainly a Special attacker, by virtue of Ice Beam being massively superior to Ice Punch and Earth power being ally-friendly. Also stops you from being useless against intimidate and burns. Speed outruns max Speed Gyarados and neutral 95 (Arcanine); max Speed ties with Modest Hydreigon so not much point going max. Poison Jab OHKO's Sylveon by quite a bit:
20 Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoking Poison Jab vs. 188 HP / 68 Def Sylveon: 203-242 (104.6 - 124.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoking Sludge Bomb vs. 188 HP / 0 SpD Sylveon: 159-190 (81.9 - 97.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Could go physically oriented and use Earthquake + Poison Jab + Ice beam too I guess. Ice Beam will murder any 4x weak you want uninvested anyway.
Rock Slide could be used to OHKO Charizard-Y / Talonflame, but both deal very high damage to Nidoking and can outspeed with a neutral nature and 252 Speed. Or less.
But if you don't need to use Nidoking to kill fairies... just use its classic Special set.
Nidoking @ Life Orb
Timid, 20 HP, 252 Sp. Atk, 236 Speed
Ability: Sheer Force
- Earth Power
- Protect
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
Same spread as above; just a tad bulkier.
Ground + Ice is great coverage in the current metagame, slamming a lot of common Pokemon super effectively. Thunderbolt hits Charizard, Talonflame, Suicune, Milotic, Gyarados, and
pretty much anything you'd be ratarded to leave Nidoking in against most other things that don't mind Ground+Ice. Fire Blast only really hits Ferrothorn. Rotom-H walls you forever though.