(Copyediting) Durant (Analysis) [GP 0/2]

[JellyOs]

[Overview]

<p>Despite somewhat common typing and overall mediocrity, one shouldn't be deceived by Durant. Good offensive stats, a great Speed tier, and two very useful abilities give it its niche is the Dream World metagame. What niche? Durant can allow Chandelure, Gothitelle or Dugtrio to set up on any Pokemon using its ability, Traunt. Although that is its primary stratagey, Durant can set up using Hone Claws to further increase its stats, possibly leading to a sweep. What Durant truly has going for it, though, is its unorthodox appearance in the DW metagame. Many teams don't pack counters to Durant, giving several normally carried Pokemon trouble.</p>

<p>Happy days may exist for Durant, but there are some grim ones, too. Durant, although rare, is highly predictable. Entrainment is a known gimmick and can be bypassed several ways. The Hone Claws set, if unboosted, has terrible accuracy due to Hustle and is weak enough to be walled by common threats. The ant also compounds upon many teams' weaknesses with another 4x Fire weakness that many Pokemon (Ferrothorn, Scizor, Forretress) also share. Among these problems also lies Durant's overall underwhelming bulk. 58 / 112 / 48 defensive stats are quite poor compared to the many other options available, and Durant's lacking special side means he will get OHKOed by even strong resisted attacks, not to mention Durant's susceptibility to Scarf Chandelure. Overall, Durant is a Pokemon meant to annoy or surprise the opponent. Its lackluster defenses and predicable strategy let it down tremendously, and, along with accuracy and power issues, are the main reasons for its lack of use. Being discouraged by this is unwise though, as Durant is a formidable foe.</p>

[SET]
name: Entrainment
move 1: Entrainment
move 2: Thunder Wave
move 3: X-Scissor
move 4: Superpower / Stone Edge
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Truant
nature: Hasty
evs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
ivs: 0 HP / 0 Def / 0 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set's only goal is to give Chandelure, Dugtrio, or Gothitelle a chance to boost and set up. How is this done? By dying quickly. The plan is to use Entrainment, giving your foe Truant. They will (hopefully) OHKO you, letting you bring in your trapper to spam Protect or Substitute on the turns they can actually attack while using a boosting move on the other ones. Examples are Chandelure with Calm Mind and Protect, Gothitelle with the former and Substitute and Hone Claws Dugtrio.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Nearly useless without activating Entrainment, Durant's other moves are there in case of a dire emergency. Thunder Wave can try to stop an opposing sweep, although Entrainment can be used in the case of a last resort to stop a sweeper, too. X-Scissor is used for STAB move and Superpower compliments its coverage. Stone Edge is an alternative to the latter, but usually doesn't provide any better coverage when locked in. 0 defensive IVs means Durant dies fast and hard. Modifications can be made to any move on the set not called Entrainment, but they should rarely be used because they are not this set's focus.</p>

<p>Entry hazard support is highly advised for Durant, as Entrainment will often cause switching. Other forms of team support are usually unneeded, as Durant's primary objective is to die after passing on Traunt.</p>

[SET]
name: Hustla'
move 1: Hone Claws
move 2: X-Scissor
move 3: Stone Edge
move 4: Superpower
item: Life Orb / Shed Shell
ability: Hustle
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p> Durant is an incredibly capable sweeper, practically designed to use Hustle. Its modestly capable Attack, great Speed, and ability to boost both accuracy and Attack in the same turn is great piled on top of Life Orb and Hustle. This is done by using Hone Claws, a move nearly tailored for this ant's use. X-Scissor provides a stable, powerful STAB move the packs a punch at +1. Stone Edge hits many things Durant's STAB moves cannot, notably Chandelure, Ninetails, Inferanpe, and other miscellaneous Fire-types. Superpower completes the set's coverage, letting Durant hit Steel-types that would normally wall him. This gives Durant a fighting chance against Pokemon such as Terrakion, Heatran, and Excadrill. However, Superpower's Attack and Defense drops can be extremely harmful to Durant and should only be used when there is no other option.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Durant's choice of item comes from the fear, or lack there of, of being trapped by Chandelure. Obviously Life Orb gives Durant the power it needs to sweep through many walls, but a Shed Shell allows Durant to escape from Scarf Chandelure. The EV spread allows for maximum power and speed to go along with either item, and Jolly allows for outpacing Terrakion and Virizion. Despite having an utterly barren movepool, Durant has one other move option. Iron Head grants Durant another STAB move, although the coverage is nothing significant. The Fighting / Rock coverage given by Superpower and Stone Edge is much more preferable than Iron Head.</p>

<p>Good teammates for a sweeping Durant are ones that can take out its main checks, namely Scarf Chandelure, Tornadus-T and faster Pokemon. For both scenarios, Scarf Rotom-W serves as an excellent check because it's faster and can break down a few physical walls that stop Durant. It also has access to Volt Switch, letting Durant get in easier. Another good teammate is Excadrill, although only in sand. It can outspeed and OHKO many faster Pokemon, soften up walls for Durant, and even spin away hazards. On the same note, Scarf Thundurus-T can also outspeed threats to Durant as well as soften up physical walls. Tyranitar has good special bulk and can hit many of Durant's counters hard, as well as provide sand support. </p>

[Other Options]

<p>With literally only a two other options, Durant is not one for versatility. It can run a choice set, consisting of X-Scissor, Iron Head, Stone Edge, and Superpower with either a Choice Band or Scarf. The only reason either is viable is because of Hustle boosting the attacks' power. Both sets are walled easily and lack punching power and the ability to switch moves many other successful choice users have. Durant's other viable option is a Baton Pass set consisting of one or two boosting moves, Baton Pass and attacks to fill in the remaining slots.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>When using Entrainment, Durant's primary focus aren't things that cannot kill it. Instead, the primary counters to Durant in the way are Pokemon that don't kill Durant on the first turn it is out. Any Pokemon can do this by simply using Protect when Durant attempts to use Entrainment or the foe simply fails to kill Durant, meaning Durant must then either switch out or die without passing on Traunt. Another thing Durant can run into is the VoltTurn strategy, which means the opponent can take the Entrainment, attack, and switch out, effectively neutralizing the entire plan. Other than game play methods, Durant's primary counters are those that are faster and carry Taunt or pack priority Taunt (as in the case or both Tornadus and Thundurus). When sweeping, Durant is easily beaten with faster sweepers or Scarf Chandelure. Tornadus-T excels in the former role, being faster and hitting Durant's pitiful Special Defense. As mentioned, Scarf Chandelure is pretty much a hard stop to Durant lacking Shed Shell, as is Choice Scarf Magnezone.</p>

[TrollFreak]

I know this is a WIP, but I think Shed Shell is a must for Durant. Without it, its easy pickings for Chandelure. At the very least, maybe Substitute so it have a sub up as Chandy comes in.

[Tobes]

Entrainment is actually the only reason I approved Durant for an analysis. Choice Scarf should be the only set.

[NixHex]

Sadly, Entrainment is very predictable. See a Durant? Switch to Rotom, eat the Entrainment, use Volt Switch to OHKO. In fact, Volt turn as a whole eats EntrainmANT alive.

Well if it's to be its only set, then fine, that's what Checks and Counters is for.

[Omicron]

But it's ok, because VoltTurn really isn't that common in DW. That being said, Entrainment is still very very predictable :/

[Tobes]

The reason it's predictable is that Durant blows otherwise.

Things to note: Calm Mind Gothitelle and Hone Claws Dugtrio with Sub or Protect also make for good partners. Additionally Choice Scarf Durant can act as a last-resort failsafe to opposing sweepers by giving Dragonite or something Entrainment, allowing a partner to deal with it. Entry hazard support is also important, as the threat of Entrainment will often force a switch.

[JellyOs]

Is that any better? I left both my previous Overview and the Hustle set intact though, in case a decision is made that they're needed.

[NixHex]

Durant needs a Hasty nature since its Defense is still "good." You literally gain nothing from using Jolly. Also, the overview needs to be expanded a lot, since right now it looks like a RBY analysis.

[JellyOs]

Nix's changes made on overview.
There's really not much to talk about on the other parts because all Durant is doing is using a single move then dying.

[jrrrrrrr]

Scarf Entrainment?

I'd use Entrainment/Protect/Hone Claws/ Baton Pass or X-Scissor.

[JellyOs]

AC mention made, my only problem with that is Traunt stopping you from doing a lot.

[jrrrrrrr]

I had a brain fart and thought that Entrainment switched your abilities instead of copying it. But either way I still don't like Scarf as the only option on the set =[

[JellyOs]

I'm reluctant to put anything else because of faster things...maybe a Focus Sash but that's iffy because of hazards.

[NixHex]

Choice Scarf lets you outspeed everything but Excadrill. The point is to DIE immediately once you have used Entrainment, and Choice Scarf is the only way to do both. It also makes it difficult for your opponent to dance around switching and trying to take advantage of one Truant turn, since they will have a hard time outspeeding Durant. Also, this isn't too important, but you may want to give a mention to Giga Impact in OO as it is Durant's most powerful attack. Nothing more than an OO mention, though.

[JellyOs]

@Nix, I'll out the changes in shortly, but I liked J7r's idea because it mean you're not locked, but only as an AC mention, nothing more. I also like the idea of Giga Impact, thanks.

[bluemon]

I think BATON PASS is a great option on this set because it provides pseudo scouting like u-turn or volt switch. You are now able to scout out anything that can take an entertainment

[JellyOs]

@bluemon, I'll slash it in.

[JellyOs]

Durant got Superpower!!! I don't know how we're going about this but I'd like to add in the Hone Claws set again because of it. Any thoughts?

[Cherub Agent]

YES! especially because the only thing Durant was lacking was a way to hit Steel-types. Hone Claws and Choice Band are probably perfectly viable options now IMO

[JellyOs]

I'll hesitant on CB because of the accuracy drop and Band takes away its only method of fixing that, but I'll certainly OO it.

edit: updated OP with Superpower and some other changes. I'll get around to writing up a new OO and Overview.

[JellyOs]

Updated for BW2

[Tobes]

In Overview mention it's extreme susceptibility to Scarf Chandelure.

Dugtrio doesn't Calm Mind :P Reword it to boost up. I don't really like the alternative Entrainment set but I'll let other QC weigh in.

Mention Tyranitar as a partner for Hone Claws. Mention Scarf Thundurus-T for the same reasons.

QC APPROVED: 1/3

[V0x]

Not a fan of the Entrainment set in AC since it would take twice as long to get anywhere, IE it does a lot of nothing. Remove.

Baton Pass in OO since Durant is pretty fast and can take a physical hit or two.

QC 2/3

[Omicron]

Choice Scarf Magnezone can trap and KO Durant as well.

QC APPROVED (3/3)

[JellyOs]

Changes made, thanks!
Edit: made changes as Omicron posted lol I'll put his in now
Edit2: done!