Noivern - Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Battle

This is a strategy guide for using Noivern in competitive play for the games Pokemon Sword and Shield. Read on for tips on the best Nature, EV spreads, Movesets, and Held Items to use with Noivern, as well as its strengths and weak points.

Noivern Movesets in Other Games
SV	SWSH

Noivern - Related Guides
Evolution and Learnset	Build for Ranked Battle

Basic Information for Noivern

Types and Abilities

Pokemon	Type 1	Type 2
Noivern
Abilities
Frisk	The Pokemon can check a foe's held item.
Infiltrator	Passes through the foe's barrier and strikes.
Telepathy (Hidden)	Anticipates an ally's attack and dodges it.

Noivern Weaknesses and Resistances

	Type
Takes 4x damage
Takes 2x damage
Takes 0.5x damage
Takes 1/4x damage
Takes 0x damage

What is Type Effectiveness?

Base Stats

HP	Attack	Defense	Sp. Atk	Sp. Def	Speed
85	70	80	97	80	123

Best Nature for Noivern

Best Natures
Timid (+Spd, -Atk)

What are Natures?

How to Learn Noivern's Egg Moves

Defog	Inherit from Galarian Farfetch'd (learns at Lvl.35), Sirfetch'd (learns at Lvl.35), Rufflet (learns at Lvl.60), and Braviary (learns at Lvl.64).

Singles Movesets for Noivern

Life Orb Sweeper Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Timid (+Spd, -Atk)
EV Spread	HP 4 / Sp.Atk 252 / Spd 252
Final Stat Values	HP 161 / Def. 100 / Sp.Atk 149 / Sp.Def 100 / Spd 192
Ability	Frisk
Held Item	Life Orb
Moveset	・Draco Meteor ・Hurricane ・Flamethrower ・Solar Beam

Noivern's great speed and access to many coverage moves make it a great lead. While its Special Attack is a bit lacking, its ability to identify the opposing team's held item gives it utility over other leads and can help ease with predictions.

About Noivern's Moves

Draco Meteor and Hurricane are Noivern's strongest attacks and STAB moves, with the latter having a 30% chance to confuse the target.

Flamethrower its its main coverage move and hits Steel-types for super effective damage.

Solar Beam is its last move, hitting bulky Ground and Water-types but is a two-turn move that requires charging before it can fire it off - unless Sunny Day is in effect.

About Noivern's EV Spread

We're using a standard EV spread with full investment in Sp.Atk and Spd so that Noivern hits hard with Draco Meteor. The remaining 4 EVs are invested in HP to round off its bulk.

About Noivern's Ability

Frisk is the best Ability for this scouting set, allowing you to see what the opposing Pokemon's held items are.

About Noivern's Held Item

Life Orb boosts the power of Noivern's moves by 30% at the cost of recoil damage at the end of every turn.

Other Viable Moves

Air Slash	A weaker alternative to Hurricane but has a 30% to cause flinching and works well with Noivern's high speed.
Boomburst	A strong Normal-type move. Becomes Max Strike during Dynamax, lowering the opponent's Speed by 1 stage.
U-Turn	A pivoting move that allows Noivern to quickly switch out from the battle.
Tailwind	Can replace Solar Beam. This move doubles Noivern and its team's Speed.
Taunt	Can replace Solar Beam. This move prevents the opposing Pokemon from using status moves.

Choice Scarf Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Timid (+Spd, -Atk)
EV Spread	HP 4 / Sp.Atk 252 / Spd 252
Final Stat Values	HP 161 / Def. 100 / Sp.Atk 149 / Sp.Def 100 / Spd 192
Ability	Frisk
Held Item	Choice Scarf
Moveset	・Draco Meteor ・Hurricane ・Flamethrower ・U-Turn

Although Noivern already has a great Speed stat, there are now new Pokemon that can outspeed it naturally. Choice Scarf remedies this, doubling its Speed and allowing it to surprise its usual checks and counters.

About Noivern's Moves

Draco Meteor and Hurricane are Noivern's strongest attacks and STAB moves, with the latter having a 30% chance to confuse the target.

Flamethrower its its main coverage move and hits Steel-types for super effective damage.

U-Turn is its last move and allows Noivern to quickly pivot from the battle when it's facing a Pokemon that it can't hit with its STAB or coverage moves.

About Noivern's EV Spread

We're using a standard EV spread with full investment in Sp.Atk and Spd so that Noivern hits hard with Draco Meteor. The remaining 4 EVs are invested in HP to round off its bulk.

About Noivern's Ability

Frisk is the best Ability for this scouting set, allowing you to see what the opposing Pokemon's held items are.

About Noivern's Held Item

Choice Scarf doubles Noivern's Speed but restricts it to using only the initial move it used at the start of its turn.

Other Viable Moves

Solar Beam	A Grass-type coverage move that hits Water-types for super effective damage.
Boomburst	A strong Normal-type move. Becomes Max Strike during Dynamax, lowering the opponent's Speed by 1 stage.

Doubles Movesets for Noivern

Utility Lead (Doubles) Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Timid (+Spd, -Atk)
EV Spread	HP 4 / Sp.Atk 252 / Spd 252
Final Stat Values	HP 161 / Def. 100 / Sp.Atk 149 / Sp.Def 100 / Spd 192
Ability	Frisk
Held Item	Heavy-Duty Boots
Moveset	・Tailwind ・Super Fang ・Taunt ・Draco Meteor

Noivern's high speed stat, moderate bulk, and access to Tailwind and Taunt support moves make it an excellent lead in doubles. The ability Frisk scouts the opposing Pokemon's held item, allowing you to better predict your opponent's moveset and build.

About Noivern's Moves

Tailwind doubles Noivern and its team's speed, allowing slower teammates to potentially outspeed their usual checks and counters. Taunt shuts down opposing support Pokemon, preventing them from using status moves.

Super Fang separates this utility set from other leads, supporting its teammate offensively by halving the opponent's health.

It's last move is Draco Meteor and allows Noivern to threaten or clean up weakened opponents.

About Noivern's EV Spread

We're using a standard EV spread with full investment in Sp.Atk and Spd so that Noivern hits hard with Draco Meteor. The remaining 4 EVs are invested in HP to round off its bulk.

About Noivern's Ability

Frisk is the best Ability for this scouting set, allowing you to see what the opposing Pokemon's held items are. In Doubles. this Ability identifies both Pokemon's held items.

About Noivern's Held Item

Heavy-Duty Boots is the preferred held item as it protects Noivern from entry hazards. This allows you to switch out without fear of accumulating damage from Stealth Rock.

Other Viable Moves

Hurricane	A strong, Flying-type STAB move that has a 30% chance to confuse the target. This move has 100% accuracy in rain, making it a good alternative when you're expecting to face Pelipper leads.
Roost	Allows Noivern to heal damage and stay in the field longer without switching out.
Defog	Allows Noivern to clear entry hazards, Reflect, Light Screen, Aurora Veil, Mist, Safeguard, and Terrain. This move also lowers the target's evasion by 1 stage.
Shadow Ball	Allows you to hit Ghost-type Pokemon that are immune to Super Fang.

How to Use Noivern Effectively

An Excellent Scout Thanks to Frisk

Frisk allows Noivern to reveal your opponent's held items, helping you to better plan your next move and strategies.

One of the Fastest Tailwind Users in Doubles

Noivern's high speed stat and access to Tailwind make it a top choice for Doubles lead. It's faster than weather setters such as Torkoal, Hippowdon, and Tyranitar, and speed ties with Choice Scarf Pelipper without needing to hold Choice Scarf!

Super Fang Deters Bulky Pokemon

Noivern seperates itself from other lead Pokemon with Super Fang, giving it some offensive utility in Doubles. Bulkier Pokemon are less likely to set up and face this speedy dragon when it can cut their HP in half with one move!

How to Build a Team with Noivern

Noivern's mediocre Special Attack stat means that it usually fills the role of a support-oriented attacker to differentiate it from the likes of Dragapult.

A Lead for Hyper Offense Teams

Noivern makes a great lead for offensive-oriented teams, either using its many utility moves or Max Moves to support its team.

Example Lead + Offensive Team

Lead / Scout	Physical Attacker	Offensive Pivot
Noivern	Buzzwole	Heatran

Novern fills the role of both lead and scout - using utility moves such as Taunt and Tailwind to support its team, while also identifying the opposing team's held items.

Buzzwole appreciates the speed boost Noivern provides as while it's strong, its base Speed stat means it's easy to outrun. With a speed boost, Buzzwole can potentially knock out its normally faster checks and counters.

Heatran rounds off this team by serving as an offensive pivot. Not only does it threaten Fairy-types that can take advantage of both Noivern and Buzzwole's weakness, it can also spread burns with Lava Plume or trap opponents in Magma Storm.

Check out our full article to learn more about building a Hyper Offense Team:
How to Build an Offensive Team | Best Hyper Offense Team

A Utility Lead for Doubles

Example Build Team

Utility Lead	Physical Attacker
Noivern	Urshifu Rapid-Strike Style
Special Attacker	Redirection Support
Galarian Articuno	Amoonguss

Noivern's ability to Taunt opposing teams, set up Tailwind, and identify held items with Frisk make it a staple utility lead in balanced Doubles Teams.

Urshifu Rapid-Strike Style, while strong, has a rather mediocre Speed stat. It appreciates Noivern's Tailwind support, allowing it to outspeed its usual counters and use fire off powerful G-Max Rapid Flow against the opposing team.

Galarian Articuno and Amoonguss are this team's back up Pokemon, filling the role of a Special Attacker and Redirection support respectively. Like Urshifu, Galarian Articuno also appreciates the speed boost Noivern provides.

Counters for Noivern

Weakness

Overpower it with Ice Moves

Noivern isn't particularly bulky and falls easily to strong super effective attacks, especially if you take advantage of its 4x Weakness to Ice-type moves.

Best Pokemon to Use

Pokemon	Description
Lapras	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Great mixed bulk allows it to withstand Noivern's STAB and coverage moves ・Can hit Noivern with priority Ice Shard Moveset & Best Build for Lapras
Mamoswine	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Easily KOs Noivern with Icicle Crash ・Thick Fat Ability resists Noivern's weak coverage moves Moveset & Best Build for Mamoswine
Galarian Darmanitan	Ranking: ★★★★ ・Easily KOs Noivern with Icicle Crash ・Requires Choice Scarf to outrun Noivern Moveset & Best Build for Galarian Darmanitan
Glastrier	Ranking: ★★★★ ・Great defensive stats lets it survive Noivern's weak coverage moves ・Easily KOs Noivern with boosted Avalanche Moveset & Best Build for Glastrier

Counter it with a Fairy Type

Noivern lacks any coverage moves that can threaten Fairy-types, which will happily switch into its Dragon-type STABs and threaten it with super effective Fairy-type moves.

Best Pokemon to Use

Pokemon	Description
Tapu Fini	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Threatens Noivern with Moonblast ・Misty Surge sets up Misty Terrain, which halves the damage of Noivern's Dragon-type moves Moveset & Best Build for Tapu Fini
Sylveon	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Easily KOs Noivern with Pixilate boosted Hyper Voice ・Its Fairy typing lets it switch into Noivern's Dragon-type Moves Moveset & Best Build for Sylveon
Primarina	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Threatens Noivern with Moonblast ・Its Fairy typing lets it switch into Noivern's Dragon-type Moves Moveset & Best Build for Primarina
Azumarill	Ranking: ★★★★ ・Easily KOs Noivern with Play Rough ・Its Fairy typing lets it switch into Noivern's Dragon-type Moves Moveset & Best Build for Azumarill

Related Links

All Competitive Builds for Ranked Battle

Competitive Guides for Pokemon Sword and Shield

Competitive Pokemon Battle Guides
Tier List		Best Builds		Series 10 List of Contenders
Doubles Tier List		Team Building		Rental Teams

Best Builds for Returning Pokemon

Movesets & Best Builds for Returning Pokemon
Mimikyu	Wash Rotom	Gyarados
Ferrothorn	Aegislash	Excadrill
Tyranitar	Hydreigon	Heat Rotom
Arcanine	Mamoswine	Toxapex
Togekiss	Cloyster	Durant
Snorlax	Charizard	Sylveon
Lucario	Hippowdon	Umbreon
Conkeldurr	Quagsire	Gastrodon
Lapras	Whimsicott	Rhyperior
Goodra	Haxorus	Glaceon
Mow Rotom	Type: Null	Gengar
Milotic	Gardevoir	Flygon
Chandelure	Lanturn	Torkoal
Bisharp	Seismitoad	Silvally
Butterfree	Primarina	Incineroar
Blastoise	Decidueye	Venusaur
Darmanitan	Alolan Ninetales	Gothitelle
Crawdaunt	Clefable	Reuniclus
Kommo-o	Terrakion	Cobalion
Virizion	Noivern	Fan Rotom
Toxicroak	Pelipper	Jellicent
Celebi	Clefairy	Hitmontop
Diggersby	Ditto	Raichu
Hawlucha	Shiftry	Tsareena
Ludicolo