[Overview]
<p>When you think of Durant, you think of that one annoying Pokemon that appears on Victory Road. However, it is much more than that; Durant is one of the most underrated Pokemon in the VGC 2012 metagame. With the right support and effective play, Durant can be one of the most unexpected threats in the metagame.</p>
[SET]
name: Risk and Reward Attacker
move 1: Iron Head
move 2: X-Scissor
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Crunch / Protect
item: Focus Sash
ability: Hustle / Swarm
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Durant's power and potential vary depending upon which ability you use; with Hustle, it gets a free Attack boost at the cost of a drop in accuracy, negating the effects of Intimidate. Swarm Durant's Attack is still respectable, but the only move that receives a boost when Durant's Focus Sash activates is X-Scissor. Iron Head is Durant's best STAB move, as it has a chance to flinch an opponent. Its other aforementioned STAB move, X-Scissor, can do massive damage to many common VGC 2012 Pokemon such as Latios, Tyranitar, Cresselia, Ludicolo, and many others. While Rock Slide is risky with Hustle, it gives trouble to most of Durant's counters, such as Chandelure and Volcarona. A set with Hustle should use Crunch in the last moveslot because attacking prowess is necessary, but a set with Swarm always appreciates survivability, so Protect is the alternative option.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>A Jolly nature is necessary in order to outspeed common threats such as Terrakion, Garchomp, Zapdos, and other fast Pokemon. 252 EVs are put into both Attack and Speed to emphasize Durant's two best stats, and the remaining 4 EVs are put in Defense due to Durant's naturally high Defense.</p>
<p>Almost any Fake Out user, such as Hitmontop, Infernape, and Toxicroak, can allow Durant to hit faster opponents, such as Latios, Ludicolo, and Thundurus, on the first turn that the teammate is sent out. Gastrodon helps Durant tremendously by absorbing most Water-type moves that would normally deal massive damage due to Durant's extremely low Special Defense, and Chandelure gets rid of most of the Steel-types that give Durant a lot of trouble. Other Pokemon with Flash Fire can be considered, but Chandelure is the best at the job. A partner that can use Telekinesis or Gravity is useful if Durant is using Hustle in order to alleviate the accuracy loss. Partners that can use Helping Hand will make sure that Durant gets an extra boost in Attack even without using Hustle. Fighting-type partners are also good as they take out the Steel-type Pokemon that wall Durant.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>If running the Hustle set, Faint Attack can be considered. While it has 20 less Base Power than Crunch and no secondary effect to lower Defense, it is guaranteed to hit. Also, with Hustle, Durant can use Hone Claws, though it is tricky to pull off due to its overall frailty. Stone Edge has less accuracy and lacks the damage spread of Rock Slide, but it's still powerful enough to be considered. Thunder Fang is also an option, but Rock Slide is generally the better move for getting rid of Flying-types. Durant can also use a Choice Scarf or Choice Band with Hustle for extra Speed or power, respectively. If you're still having issues with the accuracy loss, Wide Lens can be an option, but Focus Sash is the safer and generally better choice.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Infernape, Blaziken, Conkeldurr, Hariyama, and Lucario take minimal damage from Durant's STAB attacks and take neutral damage from the rest of its moves; they can then take Durant down to its Focus Sash and KO it the next turn with ExtremeSpeed, Mach Punch, or another priority move. Nearly anything with a high Special Attack stat will knock Durant down to its Focus Sash with a neutral move, and Durant's awkward base 109 Speed stat means that special attackers such as Latios, Latias, and Thundurus will easily outspeed it. Priority attacks, such as Scizor's Bullet Punch, and hail will also KO Durant after its Focus Sash is activated. If Durant cannot knock out a Trick Room user, Trick Room teams will walk all over it. Defensive Pokemon such as Ferrothorn and most Steel-type Pokemon will cause trouble, although Durant can hit Metagross and Scizor neutrally for respectable damage.</p>
[Unreleased]
<p>Durant receives Truant from the Dream World. While Truant can be used in conjunction with Entrainment, this strategy is gimmicky and Durant can be used for better things.</p>
