Durant [QC 3/3] [GP 0/2]

Natan

...
is a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
[OVERVIEW]
Durant has a good attack stat and the ability Hustle, which makes it one of the strongest wallbreakers in the tier, it has access to great coverage options that allows Durant to cover virtually any viable Pokemon and a good Speed tier, outspeeding most unboosted Pokemon on its own and most threats in the metagame with Choice Scarf. However, while Hustle is a useful ability, it's a double-edged sword as it reduces the accuracy of its physical moves besides Z-moves by 20% which makes Durant often an unreliable Pokemon, but Durant has access to Hone Claws, which makes up for its low accuracy and, thanks to its decent physical bulk, good defensive typing, and ability to force switches, it's not very hard to find an opportunity to set up. It's not as easy, though, because Durant has a terrible special bulk, making it somewhat harder to find opportunities as it won't be able to take even strong resisted hits such as Swellow's Boomburst after some prior damage.

[SET]
name: Hone Claws
move 1: Hone Claws
move 2: Iron Head
move 3: Crunch
move 4: Superpower
item: Fightinium Z / Darkinium Z
ability: Hustle
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Hone Claws boosts Durant's attack and accuracy which covers the accuracy drop from Hustle and enables it to KO most Pokemon in the tier. Iron Head is the main STAB that at +1 KOes Pokemon like Nidoqueen most of the time after Stealth Rock, Florges, and Tyrantrum. Crunch allows Durant to cover Ghost- and Psychic-type Pokemon such as Cresselia, Durant, and Decidueye for super effective damage. Superpower covers Steel-, Normal-, and Dark-types such as Umbreon, Mega Steelix, and Porygon2.

Set Details
========
252 EVs in Speed and Attack with a Jolly nature are used to make Durant as fast and strong as possible. Hustle is the chosen ability that increases Durant's power at the cost of some accuracy on its moves. With Fightinium Z Durant has an accurate and powerful Fighting-type attack with no drawback that KOes Milotic after Stealth Rock at +1 and Bewear with no boosts. Darkinium Z is an option that lets Durant beat Cresselia and Doublade more easily, it can also make Hone Claws boost Attack by 2 stages instead of 1 once.

Usage Tips
========
Durant shouldn't switch into anything trying to keep HP to set up more easily in the late-game, but it can switch into weak Pokemon unable to beat it like Bronzong, non Choice Band Escavalier, Mega Glalie, and Registeel, it should still be careful to don't get much weakened, though, as Pokemon like that could be used later as a setup fodder once Durant can clean. It should always be brought in safely and most of the time doubling into things that can threaten its potencial switch-ins like Qwilfish or Milotic can be a good idea to pressure them for Durant to clean later, it should wait until the opposing team has no faster threats that can KO Durant and defensive checks like Qwilfish are weakened to set up, it can set up to pressure the opposing team's switches or wallbreak for another Pokemon to clean later, though. The Z-Move should be used to get past a threat Durant can't otherwise like Bewear or Mega Steelix or to bypass accuracy on some Pokemon if Durant hasn't setted up yet and can't afford to miss. If using Darkinium Z and Z-Crunch won't be needed, Durant can use Z-Hone Claws but it shouldn't be used until it can just set up and clean.

Team Options
========
Durant fits well with Pokemon that appreciates Durant's ability to weaken threats like Gligar, Milotic, and Doublade such as Shaymin, Gardevior, and Yanmega or cleaners like Scarf Tyrantrum and Zygarde-10% as Durant can weaken or beat threats like Chesnaught, Milotic, and Gligar for them. Due to Durant's subpar Special Defense, Pokemon that can take special hits like Porygon2, Umbreon, and Snorlax are much appreciated, Snorlax also provides a Fire-type resist and Salazzle check for Durant. Aerodactyl can check and trap Swellow and Salazzle for Durant. It can also and weaken the opposing team for Durant to clean later or vice-versa. Pokemon that can set Stealth Rock like Kommo-o, Nidoqueen or Necrozma or Spikes like Chesnaught, Roserade, and Mega Glalie helps pressuring the opposing team making it easier for Durant to win. Kommo-o also works as a Fire-type check. Flygon is particularly a great teammate as they have a good type synergy, with Flygon being able to check Salazzle and Durant checking some Ice-types while Flygon can work as a pivot and give Durant free switch-ins with U-turn. They also share similar checks like Milotic and Gligar, weakening them for each other.

[SET]
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Iron Head
move 2: Superpower
move 3: Crunch
move 4: X-Scissor
item: Choice Band / Life Orb
ability: Hustle
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Iron Head is the main STAB that, allowing Durant to 2HKO most Pokemon that don't resist it in the meta. Superpower hits most Steel-, Normal, and Dark-types for super effective damage, covering Mega Steelix, Porygon2, Snorlax, and 2HKOing Quagsire with Choice Band due to Unaware ignoring Hustle. Crunch hits Psychic- and Dark-types like Doublade, Cresselia, and Decidueye that Durant could have problems breaking otherwise.
X-Scissor 2HKOes Milotic always with Choice Band and always after Stealth Rock damage with Life Orb and hits Psychic-types with Colbur Berry and Grass-types like Shaymin and Tsareena.

Set Details
========
Max Speed Jolly makes Durant outspeed most unboosted Pokemon in the tier and be very strong, 252 EVs in Attack with Hustle are used making Durant able to break most Pokemon in the tier at the cost of some accuracy. Choice Band boosts Durant's attack enabling it to break through most bulky Pokemon in the tier, Life Orb makes Durant less strong and cost 10% of its HP each time it attacks but allows it to swap its moves.

Usage Tips
========
This set works mainly as a wallbreaker, as with the right prediction Durant can 2HKO almost the entire tier, weakening the opposing team for a teammate to clean later. If using Choice Band, Durant has to predict its opponent most of the time, judging which your opponent would do or switch into to decide the best option to hit that is a good idea, however be careful as a wrong prediction usually means Durant being KOed or much momentum loss. If using Life Orb Durant can afford to predict less as it can trade its moves, but always being careful as it's being weakened at each turn. It should only switch into Pokemon that can't threaten it very well like Mega Glalie, Registeel, or Bronzong to use a powerful attack against the opposing team, and if possible never switch into any damaging move if using Life Orb as it is prone to harshly weaken itself with Life Orb recoil.

Team Options
========
Cleaners that benefit from Durant weakening the opposing team like Zygarde-10% and Flygon. Choice Scarf users like Tyrantrum, Shaymin and Flygon appreciate Durant's ability to weaken the opposing team making it easier for them to clean and they provide speed control for Durant by checking Pokemon like Salazzle. Flygon in particular has a great type synergy and can give free switch-ins to Durant as well as check Fire-types. Other Fire-type checks include Snorlax, Milotic, Kommo-o, and Rhyperior, they are very appreciated as Durant usually gives a free hit to Fire-types. Rhyperior and Kommo-o can also set Stealth Rock for Durant. Pokemon bulky on the special side like Umbreon, Porygon2, and Specially Defensive Gligar also help Durant as it fails to take strong Special hits. Entry hazards makes it easier for Durant to wallbreak, allowing it to break Pokemon like Milotic and Gligar more easily, for instance. Nidoqueen sets Stealth Rock and Mega Glalie and Chesnaught set Spikes.

[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Iron Head
move 2: Crunch
move 3: Superpower
move 4: Rock Slide
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Hustle
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Iron Head is Durant's main STAB with a decent coverage doing a decent damage to most Pokemon that don't resist it even without any boosting item. Crunch hits Psychic- and Ghost-types such as Cresselia, Doublade, and Decidueye. Superpower hits Steel-, Normal-, and some Dark-types like Registeel, Pangoro, Porygon2, and Linoone. Rock Slide hits Fire-types, being necessary to KO Moltres and Salazzle as Durant needs more damage to do it otherwise. X-Scissor is an option that hits Grass- such as Shaymin and Tsareena and deals more to most Psychic-types.

Set Details
========
252 EVs in Speed, a Jolly nature, and Choice Scarf are used to make Durant outspeed most Pokemon in the tier like Salazzle, Flygon at +1, and Modest Venusaur under sun. Max Attack with Hustle makes Durant as strong as possible at exchange for some accuracy. It can use an Adamant nature to hit harder but it's unable to outspeed some threats like Flygon at +1 and Venusaur under sun, which makes it a worse choice.

Usage Tips
========
This set works mainly as a revenge killer, beating most fast threats such as Salazzle, Choice Scarf Shaymin, and Swellow and after some prior damage Venusaur under sun, Kommo-o, Feraligatr and Flygon. It can be used as a cleaner, if aiming for that the opposing team's checks like Doublade and Gligar should be either weakened or beaten for Durant to win the late game by clicking one of its STABs, although since Hustle makes Durant's moves less accurate, it's not that workable as a cleaner. Most of the time Durant should be clicking Iron Head as it is Durant's most powerful and spammable move, only clicking some coverage option in order to beat a threat like Moltres or Salazzle. It shouldn't switch into anything most of the time, but it can come into resisted physical attacks like Mega Glalie's Double Edge if Durant doesn't need much HP on the match.

Team Options
========
Spikes setters such as Mega Glalie, Chesnaught, and Roserade and Stealth Rock setters such as Nidoqueen, Kommo-o, and Necrozma make it easier for Durant to get KOes and potencially clean. Kommo-o also checks Fire-types and can instead use a Dragon Dance set that can act as a wallbreaker for Durant to clean later or clean once Durant has weakened the opposing team. Wallbreakers that help Durant by breaking or weakening threats such as Gligar and Doublade are very appreciated, that includes Salazzle, Machamp, and Pangoro. Nasty Plot Salazzle particularly helps Durant by breaking through most Pokemon Durant struggles against and making it easier for Durant to clean later. Fire-type checks like Milotic, Snorlax, Flygon, and Rhyperior are also useful as Durant will most of the time give a free turn against Fire-types like Salazzle or Moltres whenever it gets a KO.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Life Orb or Figy Berry can be used on the Hone Claws set if Durant can't afford to have a Z-move. Life Orb increases Durant's power at exchange for some HP while Figy Berry provides it longevity and makes it easier to set up and harder to be revenge killed, but the reliability and power of the Z-move are usually better. A set with Rock Polish can be used to make Durant stronger more threatening against Offense. Choice Scarf Durant can use Swarm to act as a revenge killer or cleaner more reliably, however most of the time the power boost given by Hustle is needed for Durant to perform these roles. Durant's choiced sets, mainly Choice Scarf, can use Toxic somewhere to cripple Pokemon such as Milotic and Quagsire on switch to make them easier to take later, but it's hard to fit as Durant generally misses out an important coverage option.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Fire-types**: Fire-types like Torkoal, Rotom-H, Moltres, and Salazzle resist Durant's STAB attacks and can resists most of its moves or outspeed it without Choice Scarf in Salazzle's case and KO it with their Fire-type STAB.

**Faster Attackers**: Due to Durant's typing and special bulk, most faster Pokemon can beat it with Fire-type coverage or strong special attacks, that includes Venusaur under sun, Swellow, Espeon, Choice Scarf Moltres, Choice Scarf Flygon, and Choice Scarf Roserade, they have to be careful against Choice Scarf Durant is in range of its moves, though.

**Physically Defensive Pokemon**: Physically defensive Pokemon can usually beat Durant depending on its set, Gligar can beat choiced sets and U-turn out into some faster Pokemon against Hone Claws, however it is easy to pressure Gligar into 2HKO range from Choice Band Iron Head and is a fodder to Durant without U-turn. Qwilfish can beat any set thanks to its typing, bulk, and Intimidate, Defensive Mega Ampharos, Quagsire and Milotic can usually beat Durant, but they have to watch out for Choice Band boosted X-Scissor or Z-move as Durant can usually pass them with that. Mega Steelix and Doublade can generally take Durant but they have problem with Choice Band, and with Fightinium Z and Darkinium Z sets, respectively.
 
Last edited:

aVocado

@ Everstone
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
[Hone Claws]
- Life Orb in OO not set details
- Gligar is set up fodder and easily pressured, don't use it as an example of a mon that needs to be gone/weakened before durant sets up
- Mention mlix as a z-fight target (way more relevant than mega amph), it and milotic are the 2 biggest targets imo. besides that, having a 190 bp move is really good. so far u have no mlix mentions in general
- Flygon in team options, they have good type synergy (flygon covers salazzle and durant switches into randy ice shards etc) and flygon can u-turn too which is nice

[Physical Attacker]
- same as above mention mlix its way more relevant than registeel atm
- scarf users in team options, flygon is nice for the same reasons as above

[Choice Scarf]
- flygon over goodra, fuck that mon

[OO]
- remove stone edge who uses this.. rock slide is literally only for moltres and i suppose rotom-h
- add figy berry as an alternative item to hone claws if u dont want life orb/cant have z-move. i used it to some success because it fucks up opp's plan if he tried to sack something to weaken durant for priority to kill it.

[C&C]
- change faster special pokemon to just faster pokemon in general, its not just special attackers that can handle it. add fire punch scarf flygon
- maybe add mlix to physical walls, as well as doublade. sure +1 fightinium or darkium either kills or does huge damage to both but they can generally live and take a hit.


good job

qc 1/3
 

teachable

Banned deucer.
hiya
  • Good

[Hone Claws]
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
  • Good
Set Details
========
  • good
Usage Tips
========
  • Mention bringing it in preemptively before a sweep is possible to double into stuff that threatens its checks (which you should list), like Yanmega, Nidoqueen, etc.

Team Options
========
  • I'd remove Regi since it isn't a Durant check and isn't switching into or staying in on Durant.
  • Mention what it is weakening, like Milotic or Chesnaught.
  • I'd change the SR mention into an entry hazard section and mention some Spikers that pair well with Durant also.
  • Add Kommo-o as a Stealth Rocker, mention Fire-type check.
  • with flygon mention you can reference again that they share defensive checks that are weakened by each other like Milotic/Chesnaught/Gligar.

[Physical Attacker]
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
  • Mention Superpower potentially 2HKOing Quagsire due to Unaware.
Set Details
========
  • Good
Usage Tips
========
  • good
Team Options
========
  • Change swellow to Flygon, you aren't weakening Swellow checks like Registeel/Gigalith/Diancie since they aren't staying in on you. You can maybe just elaborate more on how you threaten Swellow's checks and what that does.
  • Add Kommo-o as a Stealth Rocker, mention Fire-type check.
  • Otherwise good
[Scarf]
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Set Details
========
  • 252 EVs in Speed, a Jolly nature, and Choice Scarf are used to make Durant outspeed most Pokemon in the tier like Salazzle, Flygon at +1, and Modest Venusaur under sun.
  • Max Attack with Hustle makes Durant as strong as possible at exchange for some accuracy.
Usage Tips
========
  • Good
Team Options
========
  • Add Kommo-o as a Stealth Rocker, mention Fire-type check.
  • Good.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
  • Swarm mention for Scarf Durant, but mention the notable drop in power usually not being worth it.
Checks and Counters
===================
  • Good


2/3 :)
 

Natan

...
is a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
hiya
  • Good

[Hone Claws]
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
  • Good
Set Details
========
  • good
Usage Tips
========
  • Mention bringing it in preemptively before a sweep is possible to double into stuff that threatens its checks (which you should list), like Yanmega, Nidoqueen, etc.

Team Options
========
  • I'd remove Regi since it isn't a Durant check and isn't switching into or staying in on Durant.
  • Mention what it is weakening, like Milotic or Chesnaught.
  • I'd change the SR mention into an entry hazard section and mention some Spikers that pair well with Durant also.
  • Add Kommo-o as a Stealth Rocker, mention Fire-type check.
  • with flygon mention you can reference again that they share defensive checks that are weakened by each other like Milotic/Chesnaught/Gligar.

[Physical Attacker]
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
  • Mention Superpower potentially 2HKOing Quagsire due to Unaware.
Set Details
========
  • Good
Usage Tips
========
  • good
Team Options
========
  • Change swellow to Flygon, you aren't weakening Swellow checks like Registeel/Gigalith/Diancie since they aren't staying in on you. You can maybe just elaborate more on how you threaten Swellow's checks and what that does.
  • Add Kommo-o as a Stealth Rocker, mention Fire-type check.
  • Otherwise good
[Scarf]
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Set Details
========
  • 252 EVs in Speed, a Jolly nature, and Choice Scarf are used to make Durant outspeed most Pokemon in the tier like Salazzle, Flygon at +1, and Modest Venusaur under sun.
  • Max Attack with Hustle makes Durant as strong as possible at exchange for some accuracy.
Usage Tips
========
  • Good
Team Options
========
  • Add Kommo-o as a Stealth Rocker, mention Fire-type check.
  • Good.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
  • Swarm mention for Scarf Durant, but mention the notable drop in power usually not being worth it.
Checks and Counters
===================
  • Good


2/3 :)
I was trying to avoid mentioning Kommo-o as it's very likely it will be banned by the time I finish this, however I'm keeping them as you asked for, getting this ready for 3rd QC soon.
Edit: Written and ready
 
Last edited:

feen

control
is a Top Tiering Contributoris a Team Rater Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
in first set, mention how sometimes using z when you absolutely need to hit a move is good

rock slide is more necessary to ko moltres in the third set
can mention adamant scarf too as it hits rly hard
mention dd kommo as partner for scarf ant

gligar falls to cb variants after a bit damage and iron head can flinch so might wanna reword that

qc 3/3
 

Natan

...
is a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
Ok I arrived home later than I should and I'm really tired now, implemented this and will proof read and post on the GP Queue tomorrow (btw I'll also write up Cofagrigus tomorrow)
Edit: Proofread and ready for GP
 
Last edited:
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[OVERVIEW]

Durant has a good attack stat and the ability Hustle, which makes it one of the strongest wallbreakers in the tier, it has access to great coverage options that allows Durant to cover virtually any viable Pokemon. and a Durant's good Speed tier, allows it to outspeeding most unboosted Pokemon on its own and most threats in the metagame with Choice Scarf. However, While Hustle is a useful ability, it's a double-edged sword, as it reduces the accuracy of its physical moves besides Z-moves by 20% which makes Durant often an unreliable Pokemon, but Durant has access to Hone Claws, which makes up for its low accuracy and, thanks to its decent physical bulk, good defensive typing, and ability to force switches, it's not very hard to find an opportunity to set up. It's not as that easy, though, because Durant has a terrible special bulk, making it somewhat hard er to find set up opportunities, as it won't be able to take even strong resisted hits such as Swellow's Boomburst after some prior damage.

[SET]
name: Hone Claws
move 1: Hone Claws
move 2: Iron Head
move 3: Crunch
move 4: Superpower
item: Fightinium Z / Darkinium Z
ability: Hustle
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Hone Claws boosts Durant's attack and accuracy which covers the accuracy drop from Hustle and enables it to KO most Pokemon in the tier. Iron Head is the its main STAB move that is very powerful for example; at +1 it KOes Pokemon like Nidoqueen most of the time after Stealth Rock, Florges, and Tyrantrum. Crunch allows Durant to cover hit Ghost- and Psychic-type Pokemon such as Cresselia, Durant, and Decidueye for super effective damage. Superpower covers deals with Steel-, Normal-, and Dark-types such as Umbreon, Mega Steelix, and Porygon2 Mega Steelix, Porygon2, and Umbreon (ordered differently to match 'Steel-, Normal-, and Dark-types').

Set Details
========

252 EVs in Speed and Attack with a Jolly nature are used to make Durant as fast and strong as possible. Hustle is the chosen ability that increases Durant's power at the cost of some accuracy on its moves. With Fightinium Z Durant has an accurate and powerful Fighting-type attack with no drawback that KOes Milotic after Stealth Rock at +1 and Bewear with no boosts. Darkinium Z is an option that lets Durant beat Cresselia and Doublade more easily er, it can also make Hone Claws boost Attack by 2 stages instead of 1 once.

Usage Tips
========

Durant shouldn't switch into anything trying to keep preserve HP to set up more easily easier in the late-game, but it can switch into weak Pokemon that are unable to beat it like Bronzong, non Choice Band Escavalier, Mega Glalie, and Registeel, it should still be careful to don't so it won't get much weakened too much, though, as Pokemon like that could be used later as a setup fodder once Durant can clean. It should always be brought in safely and most of the time doubling into things that can threaten its potencial potential switch-ins like Qwilfish or Milotic can be a good idea to pressure them for Durant to clean up later,; it should wait until the opposing team has no faster threats that can KO Durant and if defensive checks like Qwilfish are weakened enough for Durant to set up, it can set up to pressure the opposing team's switches or wallbreak for another Pokemon to clean later, thoughaswell. The Z-Move should be used to get past a threat Durant can't get past otherwise like Bewear or Mega Steelix or to bypass accuracy on some Pokemon if Durant hasn't setted up yet and can't afford to miss. If using Darkinium Z and Z-Crunch won't be needed,; Durant can use Z-Hone Claws but it shouldn't be used until it can just set up and clean.

Team Options
========

Durant fits well with Pokemon such as Shaymin, Gardevior, and Yanmega that which appreciates Durant's its ability to weaken threats like Gligar, Milotic, and Doublade. such as Shaymin, Gardevior, and Yanmega or Late-game cleaners like Scarf Tyrantrum and Zygarde-10% also appreciate Durant as because, Durant it can weaken or beat threats like Chesnaught, Milotic, and Gligar for them. Due to Durant's subpar Special Defense stat, Pokemon that can take special hits like Porygon2, Umbreon, and Snorlax are much appreciated, Snorlax also provides a Fire-type resist and Salazzle check for Durant. Aerodactyl can check and trap Swellow and Salazzle for Durant. It can also and weaken the opposing team for Durant to clean later or vice-versa. Pokemon that can set Stealth Rock like Kommo-o, Nidoqueen, or Necrozma or Spikes like Chesnaught, Roserade, and Mega Glalie helps pressuring the opposing team; making it easier for Durant to win. Kommo-o also works as a Fire-type check. Flygon is in particularly is a great teammate as because, they have a good type synergy, with Flygon being able to check Salazzle and Durant checking some Ice-types while Flygon can work as a pivot and give Durant free switch-ins with U-turn. They also share similar checks like Milotic and Gligar, weakening them for each other.

[SET]
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Iron Head
move 2: Superpower
move 3: Crunch
move 4: Rock Slide / X-Scissor
item: Choice Band / Life Orb
ability: Hustle
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Iron Head is the Durant's main STAB move thatwhich, allowing s Durant it to 2HKO most Pokemon that don't resist itin the meta. Superpower hits most Steel-, Normal, and Dark-types for super effective damage, covering Mega Steelix, Porygon2, Snorlax Umbreon (Steel-, Normal-, and Dark-types), and while also 2HKOing Quagsire with Choice Band due to Unaware ignoring Hustle. Crunch hits Psychic- and Dark Ghost-types (you mention Doublade and Decidueye, which are Ghost-types, not Dark-types) like Doublade, Cresselia, Doublade, and Decidueye (Psychic- and Ghost-types) that Durant could have problems breaking otherwise. Rock Slide is used mainly to hit Fire-types such as Moltres and Rotom-Heat,; and it also hits Pokemon like Araquanid. X-Scissor always 2HKOes Milotic always with Choice Band and always after Stealth Rock damage with Life Orb and hits Psychic-types with Colbur Berry and Grass-types like Shaymin and Tsareena.

Set Details
========

Max 252 Speed EVs with a Jolly nature makes allows Durant to outspeed most unboosted Pokemon in the tier andbe very strong,. 252 EVs in Attack with Hustle and Choice Band are used; making Durant able to break most Pokemon in the tier at the cost of some accuracy. Choice Band boosts Durant's attack enabling it to break through most bulky Pokemon in the tier, Life Orb makes Durant less strong weaker and comes with the cost of 10% of its HP each time it attacks but allows it to swap its moves.

Usage Tips
========

This set works mainly as a wallbreaker, as with the right prediction Durant can 2HKO almost the entire tier, weakening the opposing team for a teammate to clean later. If using Choice Band, Durant you will has have to predict its against your opponent most of the time,; judging which what your opponent would do or switch into to decide the best option to hit that is a good idea, however, be careful, as a wrong prediction usually means Durant being KOed or much momentum loss. If using Life Orb, Durant can afford to predict less as because, it can trade switch up its moves, but always being be careful as it's being gets weakened at each turn. It should only switch into Pokemon that can't threaten it very well like Mega Glalie, Registeel, or Bronzong to use a powerful attack against the opposing team, and if possible never switch into any damaging move if using Life Orb as because, it is prone to harshly weaken itself with Life Orb recoil.

Team Options
========

Late-game cleaners that benefit from Durant weakening the opposing team like Zygarde-10% and Flygon (this sentence seems incomplete? maybe merge the 1st and 2nd sentence). Choice Scarf users like Tyrantrum, Shaymin, and Flygon appreciate Durant's ability to weaken the opposing team making it easier for them to clean and they provide speed control for Durant by checking Pokemon like Salazzle. Flygon in particular has a great type synergy with Durant and can give it free switch-ins to Durant as well as check Fire-types. Other Fire-type checks include Snorlax, Milotic, Kommo-o, and Rhyperior, they are very appreciated, as Durant usually gives a free hit to Fire-types. Rhyperior and Kommo-o can also set Stealth Rock for Durant. Pokemon that are bulky on the special side like Umbreon, Porygon2, and Specially Defensive Gligar also help Durant, as it fails to take strong Special hits (ealier you mentioned that it cant even take swellow'sboomburst). Entry hazards makes it easier for Durant to wallbreak,; allowing it to break Pokemon like Milotic and Gligar more easily easier, for instance. Nidoqueen can sets Stealth Rock while, and Mega Glalie and Chesnaught can set Spikes.

[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Iron Head
move 2: X-Scissor
move 3: Superpower
move 4: Rock Slide
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Hustle
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Iron Head is Durant's main STAB move with a decent coverage; doing a decent damage to most Pokemon that don't resist it even without any boosting item. X-Scissor hits Grass-, Dark- and Psychic-types such as Umbreon, Tsareena, Shaymin, Meloetta, and Cresselia Tsareena, Shaymin, Umbreon, Meloetta, and Cresselia (reordered to match 'Grass-, Dark-, and Psychic-types'). Superpower hits Steel-, Normal-, and some Dark-types like Registeel, Pangoro, Porygon2, and Linoone Porygon2, Linoone, Registeel, and Pangoro (reordered to match 'Steel-, Normal-, and Dark-types'). Rock Slide hits Fire-types,; being necessary to KO Moltres and Salazzle, as Durant needs more damage to do it otherwise.

Set Details
========

252 EVs in Speed, a Jolly nature, and Choice Scarf are used to make Durant outspeed most Pokemon in the tier like Salazzle, Flygon at +1, and Modest Venusaur under sun. Max 252 EVs in Attack with Hustle makes Durant as strong as possible at exchange for some accuracy. It can use an Adamant nature to hit harder but it's makes Durant unable to outspeed some threats like Flygon at +1 and Venusaur under sun, which makes it a worse choice.

Usage Tips
========

This set works mainly as a revenge killer, beating most fast threats such as Salazzle, Choice Scarf Shaymin, and Swellow and after some prior damage Venusaur under sun, Kommo-o, Feraligatr, and Flygon. But, it can also be used as a late-game cleaner, if aiming for that the opposing team's checks like Doublade and Gligar should be either weakened or beaten for Durant to win the late-game by clicking one of its STABs, although unfortunately, since Hustle makes Durant's moves less accurate, it's not that workable as a cleaner making it a liability as a late-game cleaner. Most of the time Durant should be clicking Iron Head, as it is Durant's most powerful and spammable move, only clicking some a coverage option in order to beat a threat like Moltres or Salazzle. It shouldn't switch into anything most of the time, but it can come into resisted physical attacks like Mega Glalie's Double Edge if Durant doesn't need much HP on in the match.

Team Options
========

Spikes setters such as Mega Glalie, Chesnaught, and Roserade and Stealth Rock setters such as Nidoqueen, Kommo-o, and Necrozma make it easier for Durant to get KOes and potencially potentially clean. Kommo-o also checks Fire-types and can instead use a Dragon Dance set that can act as a wallbreaker for Durant to clean later or clean once Durant has weakened the opposing team. Wallbreakers that help Durant by breaking or weakening threats such as Gligar and Doublade are very appreciated, that includes Salazzle, Machamp, and Pangoro. Nasty Plot Salazzle in particularly helps Durant by breaking through most Pokemon Durant struggles against and making es it easier for Durant to clean later. Fire-type checks like Milotic, Snorlax, Flygon, and Rhyperior are also useful, as Durant will most of the time give a free turn against Fire-types like Salazzle or Moltres whenever it gets a KO.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Life Orb or Figy Berry can be used on the Hone Claws set if Durant can't afford to have a Z-move. Life Orb increases Durant's power at exchange for some HP while Figy Berry provides it longevity and makes it easier to set up and harder to be revenge killed, but the reliability and power of the Z-move are usually better. A set with Rock Polish can be used to make Durant stronger more of a threatening against Offense. Choice Scarf Durant can use Swarm to act as a revenge killer or cleaner more reliably, however most of the time the power boost given by Hustle is needed for Durant to perform these roles. Durant's choiced sets, mainly Choice Scarf, can use Toxic somewhere to cripple Pokemon such as Milotic and Quagsire upon switchin to make them easier to take break later, but it's hard to fit, as Durant generally misses out on an important coverage option.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Fire-types**: Fire-types like Torkoal, Rotom-H, Moltres, and Salazzle resist Durant's STAB attacks and can resists most of its moves or outspeed it without Choice Scarf in Salazzle's case and KO it with their respective Fire-type STAB move.

**Faster Attackers**: Due to Durant's typing and special bulk, most faster Pokemon can beat it with Fire-type coverage or strong special attacks, that includes (timid?) Venusaur under sun, Swellow, Espeon, Choice Scarf Moltres, Choice Scarf Flygon, and Choice Scarf Roserade, they have to be careful against Choice Scarf Durant is if they are in range of its moves, though.

**Physically Defensive Pokemon**: Physically defensive Pokemon can usually beat Durant depending on its set, Gligar can beat choiced sets and U-turn out into some faster Pokemon against Hone Claws, however it is easy to pressure Gligar into 2HKO range from Choice Band Iron Head and is a fodder to Durant without U-turn. Qwilfish can beat any set thanks to its typing, bulk, and Intimidate, Defensive Mega Ampharos, Quagsire, and Milotic can usually beat Durant, but they have to watch out for Choice Band boosted X-Scissor or a Z-move, as Durant can usually pass through them with that. Mega Steelix and Doublade can generally take Durant but they have problems with Choice Band, and with Fightinium Z and Darkinium Z sets, respectively.

Finished :o Randomnick
 
Last edited:

eren

je suis d'ailleurs
nonono

rock slide should be deslashed on the CB/LO set, x-scissor is eons better.

crunch is a better option than x-scissor on scarf.

Randomnick
 

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