Taken over from Shaymin :D
Overview
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Durant is one of the premier wallbreakers in RU, hitting physical walls extremely hard with its Hustle-boosted attacks. Durant's typing gives it a ton of resistances, while only leaving it weak to Fire-type moves. This allows Durant to set up with ease on many targets. There are also few Pokemon in RU that resist Steel-type moves, making Durant's STAB Iron Head very threatening. Durant also has a great base 109 Speed, which allows it to outspeed key threats such as Cobalion, Virizion, and Delphox and Speed tie with Heliolisk. Hone Claws is a great boosting move for Durant, as it not only boosts Durant's great base 109 Attack, but also boosts the accuracy of Durant's moves, thereby negating Hustle's negative effect. This means Durant is a great Pokemon against stall teams, 2HKOing threats such as Alomomola and Gligar. The Choice Band set hits incredibly hard and can be a huge problem for offensive teams. Durant also has nice coverage options that let it deal with most Pokemon that resist Iron Head. It has a great base 112 Defense as well, although its physical bulk is hurt badly by its poor base 58 HP. Durant's biggest flaw is the side effect of Hustle, which lowers the accuracy of its moves by 20%. Durant's special bulk is also terrible, as it only has base 58 HP and base 48 Special Defense.
Hone Claws
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name: Hone Claws
move 1: Hone Claws
move 2: Iron Head
move 3: Superpower
move 4: Crunch
ability: Hustle
item: Lum Berry / Life Orb
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly
Moves
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Hone Claws allows Durant to not only boost its already impressive Attack stat to monstrous level, but also boosts the accuracy of its moves. As such, Hone Claws negates Hustle's accuracy-lowering side effect. Iron Head is a Steel-type STAB move that can continuously be used because few Pokemon in RU resist it; it also has a nice chance of flinching the opponent. Superpower is used to hit Steel-types extremely hard, namely Registeel and Cobalion. Crunch allows Durant to not be walled by Doublade, Cofagrigus, and Jellicent. Baton Pass can be used to pivot into a teammate or pass Hone Claws boosts. Rock Slide OHKOes Moltres, but Moltres is KOed by Crunch after Stealth Rock and one Hone Claws boost, while Emboar and Delphox are hit harder by Superpower and Crunch, respectively. Thunder Fang allows Durant to beat both Alomomola and Moltres, as well as more direct checks and counters such as Poliwrath, Qwilfish, Pelipper, and Jellicent. However, Durant is forced to run Life Orb to secure KOs with Thunder Fang, and Thunder Fang is also quite weak when not hitting a foe super effectively.
Set Details
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Lum Berry allows Durant to set up on opponents that rely on status moves such as Spore, Will-O-Wisp, and Scald to threaten it. Life Orb provides more power at the cost of slowly depleting Durant's health. 252 Attack EVs and 252 Speed EVs allow for maximum sweeping potential. Maximum Speed and a Jolly nature allows Durant to be as fast as possible and to outspeed various threats, including Cobalion, Virizion, and Delphox.
Usage Tips
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This set is fairly straightforward when it comes to use. Durant is able to set up Hone Claws on a multitude of Pokemon, including Alomomola, Aromatisse, Bronzong, Cresselia, Gligar, and many others. However, before attempting a sweep with Durant, it's preferred that you have weakened most of its counters, because it's not guaranteed that Durant will get a second chance to set up and sweep.
Team Options
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Stealth Rock support is nice for Durant, as it lets Durant beat Moltres even without Rock Slide. Druddigon and Rhyperior have excellent type synergy with Durant, hit very hard, and can set up Stealth Rock. Slowking is a great tank that can take most special hits for Durant and recover health thanks to Regenerator. Slowking also defeats Moltres and Emboar, while Durant beats the Grass- and Dark-types that plague Slowking. Substitute + Baton Pass Jolteon lures in Grass-types and brings Durant in easily, allowing it to set up Hone Claws.
Choice Band
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name: Choice Band
move 1: Iron Head
move 2: Superpower
move 3: Crunch
move 4: X-Scissor / Baton Pass
ability: Hustle
item: Choice Band
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly
Moves
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Iron Head hits extremely hard and has a nice 30% chance to flinch the opponent. Superpower hits Steel-types such as Registeel and Cobalion extremely hard. Crunch is used to deal with Ghost-types, and it 2HKOes Doublade, Cofagrigus, and physically defensive Jellicent. X-Scissor is a strong Bug-type STAB move that allows Durant to hit most Pokemon that resist Steel-type moves, such as Alomomola, hard. X-Scissor also has decent super effective coverage, dealing with Grass-, Dark-, and Psychic-types, such as Tangrowth, Cresselia, and Meloetta. Baton Pass allows Durant to pivot out of unfavorable situations and is useful when you are struggling to predict what the opponent will do. Rock Slide can be used to deal with Moltres more easily, but other Fire-types are hit harder by other moves.
Set Details
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Choice Band and 252 Attack EVs are used to make Durant as powerful as possible. Maximum Speed investment and a Jolly nature allow Durant to outspeed threats such as Cobalion, Virizion, and Delphox, all of which are easily OHKOed by Durant. This, in combination with maximum Attack investment, allows Durant to be a great revenge killer and wallbreaker. 4 Defense EVs are used over over 4 HP EVs to allow Durant to switch into Stealth Rock more often.
Usage Tips
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Iron Head is a Steel-type STAB move that can continously be used due to few Pokemon in RU resisting it. If the opponent has a Pokemon that resists Steel-type moves, you can predict the switch and use the appropriate coverage move or use Baton Pass to gain momentum and switch advantage. After any Pokemon that resist Steel-type moves are worn down or KOed, Durant can use Iron Head without worry as long as it doesn't miss. Removing Pokemon that outspeed Durant, such as Dugtrio, Jolteon, Archeops, and Choice Scarf users, is greatly appreciated.
Team Options
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Stealth Rock is very important, as it lets Durant break through teams much easier. Druddigon and Rhyperior are, once again, great choices when it comes to Stealth Rock setters, and they also resist Fire-types moves which Durant is weak to. As Durant is going to be switching a lot, entry hazard removal is essential, as Durant gets hit by all hazards other than Toxic Spikes. Kabutops can use Rapid Spin, provide offensive pressure, and provide decent synergy with Durant. Hitmonlee is also a good Rapid Spin user that can revenge kill faster threats with Mach Punch for Durant. Durant also beats all spinblockers with Crunch. Slowking beats Moltres and Fire-types in general, and it has good type synergy with Durant both offensively and defensively.
Durant can deal with many different types of Pokemon, such as Grass-, Ice-, Dark-, Fairy-, Rock-, and Psychic-types. Pokemon that benefit from this, such as Fletchinder, Rhyperior, Cresselia, and Hitmonlee, all enjoy Durant's wallbreaking power immensely. Volt Switch users such as Jolteon not only threaten Alomomola and Jellicent, but also form a pseudo-VoltTurn core with Durant if it carries Baton Pass. Fast late-game cleaners such as Swellow, Jolteon, Delphox, and Choice Scarf Emboar can easily run through most teams after Durant breaks the appropriate walls.
Other Options
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A set with Substitute and Hone Claws can easily avoid status moves such as Will-O-Wisp and Spore. However, such a set loses out on a coverage move, and Life Orb recoil along with Substitute will wear Durant down very quickly. A Choice Scarf set can clean and revenge kill nicely, but missing is particularly annoying when attempting to revenge kill a particularly threatening Pokemon. Swarm might seem usable, but the power Hustle provides is mandatory. Agility allows Durant to deal with normally faster threats, such as Jolteon and Choice Scarf Rotom-C.
Checks & Counters
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**Fire-type Choice Scarf Users**: Fire-types equipped with a Choice Scarf force Durant to switch out. Only Moltres and Emboar can switch into it safely, but they need to watch out for Rock Slide and Superpower, respectively.
**Ghost-types**: Ghost-types such as Mega Banette and Cofagrigus can easily burn Durant with Will-O-Wisp if Durant is not using Lum Berry. Cofagrigus also causes Durant to lose Hustle because of its ability, Mummy. However, Ghost-types are hit hard by Crunch, although Mega Banette can use Prankster Destiny Bond.
**Faster Threats**: Faster threats such as Jolteon and Choice Scarf Rotom-C can easily revenge kill Durant. When Durant is weakened enough, it can also be revenge killed by Hitmonlee's Mach Punch.
**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Cobalion and Registeel wall Durant if it lacks Superpower.
**Bulky Water-types**: Bulky Water-types such as Alomomola, Poliwrath, Qwilfish, physically defensive Jellicent, and Pelipper can all wall the Choice Band set quite well if Durant doesn't carry Thunder Fang. Some of them are setup bait for Hone Claws, however.
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