Overview
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- 105 base attack grants decent physical power.
- Decent 85/85/50 bulk with eviolite boost allows Gurdurr to take at least one hit from anything not super effective.
- Ability guts means that Gurdurr isn't crippled by burns and actually hits harder.
- Access to Knock Off in gen 6 grants fantastic coverage for psychic and ghost types.
- Reliable movepool with bulk up and priority in mach punch.
- Low speed so outsped by mons such as Mesprit and Xatu which can revenge kill Gurdurr or switch in on a drain punch.
- Despite fighting type Gurdurr hates Knock Off because it loses eviolite bulk.
- Gurdurr can be worn down easily because it's only recovery is it's main STAB move and mediocre special defense.
Bulk Up
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Name: Bulk Up
Move 1: Bulk Up
Move 2: Drain Punch
Move 3: Knock Off
Move 4: Mach Punch
Ability: Guts
Item: Eviolite
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Nature: Adamant
Moves
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- Bulk Up allows Gurdurr to hit incredibly hard and also set up on weaker physical attackers with it's already decent bulk.
- Drain Punch justifies eviolite bulk by giving gurdurr some fairly reliable recovery.
- Knock Off is fantastic coverage for mons such as Xatu and Spiritomb on the switch whilst also hurting anything that switches in by removing their item.
- Mach Punch grants Gurdurr useful stab priority.
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- 252 HP / 252 Atk utilizes Gurdurr's nice bulk and powerful Atk stat to hit hard and take hits making Gurdurr a deadly set up sweeper.
- A spread of 252 HP / 136+ Atk / 120 SpD can be preferred to allow Gurdurr to set up on certain special attackers easier such as Cryogonal.
- Guts is the chosen ability to prevent Gurdurr being crippled by burns (and hence checked by Spiritomb)
- Eviolite to give Gurdurr as much bulk as possible.
- Adamant nature to utilize Gurdurr's high Atk stat.
Usage Tips
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- Don't set up Gurdurr if your opponent has a fairy type or poison type like Vileplume on their team as these hard wall even a set up Gurdurr.
- Your opponent will always switch straight into their Gurdurr check/counter so Knock-offing to predict this is always recommended.
- Don't be afraid to let Gurdurr get burned, it'll only make you stronger and help you recover more HP with Drain Punch.
- Since Gurdurr can be worn down easily it's advised that you don't switch Gurdurr in recklessly, even on things it can check.
Team Options
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- You should be sure to bring support for fairy types, examples including Vileplume and Klinklang.
- Support from psychic types such as a Mesprit for poison types that check Gurdurr like Muk, Garbodor and Vileplume.
- T-wave support allows Gurdurr to outspeed many of it's checks and OHKO them such as Mesprit and Uxie.
- Pawniard makes a good teammate for Gurdurr as it can wear down lots of Gurdurr's counters with Knock Off to a point where Gurdurr can KO them or it can straight out KO them with Iron Head like with Granbull.
Other Options
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- Poison Jab is the only other option really to give you something to hit Slurpuff and Togetic, as well as Granbull but intimidate still hinders you. Gurdurr's set already works like clockwork so it's hard to find room for Poison Jab.
- Ice Punch is nice to hit Vileplume harder but has the same problem as Poison Jab in finding room for it.
- Iron Fist is an option but guts tends to be superior with Spiritomb in NU.
- Stone Edge is worth a mention to catch out Pelipper and mons such as Vivillon that get a free switch in on a fighting move.
- Taunt on Gurdurr is an option to stop clerics/defoggers and even for things like Dragalge that try to set up tspikes. For this it's worth trying to hit at least a 140 speed stat to outspeed relevant threats like Dragalge and Audino (at least 96 EV's).
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- **Fairy types**: Gurdurr is hard countered by the majority of fairy types specifically Granbull which can switch in on any Drain Punch or Knock Off and 2HKO Gurdurr back with a Play Rough. 252+ Atk Granbull Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Gurdurr: 236-278 (63.1 - 74.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO Togetic also counters Gurdurr pretty easily: 4 SpA Togetic Dazzling Gleam vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Gurdurr: 168-198 (44.9 - 52.9%) -- 24.6% chance to 2HKO Slurpuff is a big issue for Gurdurr as it is complete set up fodder for both Belly Drum and Cotton Guard/Calm Mind variants of Slurpuff.
- **Poison types**: such as Vileplume check Gurdurr (Vileplume can be classed as a counter as it will defeat Gurdurr one on one). Others such as Garbodor and Arbok simply check it.
- **Offensive Checks**: Offensive psychic types that outspeed gurdurr can come in safely on a fighting move and OHKO it back such as Mesprit and Xatu. Furthermore, Vivillon and Rotom-S can similarly switch in safely and take advantage of Gurdurr's mediocre SpD stat.
- **Offensive Pressure**: rather vaguely, any sort of offensive pressure that prevents Gurdurr from setting up and wears it down counters it, since Gurdurr needs time to set up before doing any real damage most of the time and with no reliable recovery except through it's main STAB, offensive pressure really stops this guy.
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