Metagame np: Stage 17: Somebody That I Used To Know (Duraludon Unban Suspect)

DugZa

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:sv/duraludon:

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Duraludon was quickbanned last year following the October tier shifts, which saw PU lose a chunk of its staples at the time, including Slowbro-G, Milotic, and Bronzong. This quickly led to Duraludon dominating the metagame with Steel-types being in short supply and the departure of some of its best checks, leaving the tier with little to no reliable switch-ins against its Choice Specs-boosted STAB combination. At the time of its quick ban, Copperajah was still in PU; however, since then Copperajah has risen to NU, which has limited our Steel-types even further, leaving just Sandslash-A and other extremely fringe options such as Orthworm and Perrserkerr, both of whom do an extremely poor job switching into it, regardless.

Moreover, since then, the tier has also lost many offensive options such as Tornadus, Scyther, Meloetta, and Flamigo, that were able to reliably revenge kill Duraludon, so if the tier has the tools to deal with the Dragon-type stapler remains unclear. In addition to this, Duraludon could also run other sets such as Eviolite and Choice Scarf sets; the former of which allows it to switch moves unrestricted while also further bolstering its naturally decent bulk, making revenge killing it a harder task, while the latter allows it to outspeed the entire unboosted metagame while sacrificing its breaking abilities. That said, the original ban last year was almost solely due to the threat posed by Choice Specs sets and none of the other sets in its arsenal, and the majority believe it would still be the most threatening set even in the current metagame.

All this said, some things are going against Duraludon right now. For starters, Slowbro-G and Milotic are back in the tier, along with a new drop in Amoonguss. While none of these are absolute counters, they can act as soft checks, especially in the case of Slowbro-G and Amoonguss with Assault Vest sets in tandem with Regenerator. Moreover, the tier as a whole is significantly more fast-paced than it was a year ago, with most offensive threats, such as Pawmot, Delphox, and Tauros-Paldea-B, capable of revenge killing Duraludon residing in speed tiers above 100, which hinders Duraludon's average speed tier.

Above all, the key argument posed by many for Duraludon's unban is its ability to act as a defensive Steel-type—something the tier significantly lacks— capable of checking Pokemon such as Articuno-Galar, Espeon, and Dudunsparce, while others argue that it is also incapable of fulfilling a reliable defensive role as a Steel-type that does not resist Fairy- or Dragon-type moves, especially in a metagame where Florges is as dominant as it is.

In conclusion, Duraludon's quick ban was warranted at the time as a cautionary practice to keep the metagame stable and was a largely uncontested decision until recent major shifts in the tier, but its potential presence in the tier still raises some concerns among many. While the tier did recently receive a few Pokemon capable of checking Duraludon, whether they can do the job reliably enough to keep it in check at a healthy level is a question mark. Similarly, it is unclear if the positives it could offer as another defensive Steel-type outweigh the potential negative implications it could have in the tier. As such, Duraludon has been a hotly debated topic in the past few weeks, and all of this is, of course, purely speculative. Do the pros outweigh the cons or vice versa? The ball is in your court now. Be sure to post your thoughts on Duraludon!


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  • To participate in this suspect test, create a new account on PS. You do not have to follow any specific naming convention, but your suspect account must have never played a game in PU before this suspect test went up, or you will not receive valid requirements (resetting W/L does not count for this - the account you use must never have played PU before the test, full stop.)
  • At any point on your new account, use the command /linksmogon on Pokemon Showdown! You will receive instructions on what to do once you run this command.
  • You have to reach a COIL of 2800 in order to get reqs. For reference, the B-value for this suspect will be 7.
  • This suspect test deadline will be on Friday, August 8th, 2025 at 11:59 PM (GMT -4).
  • Check HERE to see if you have reqs.
  • If you have any questions about this new process, feel free to PM me or asa or post here!

GXE = Games Required
71 = 343
72 = 173
73 = 116
74 = 88
75 = 71
76 = 59
77 = 51
78 = 45
79 = 41
80 = 37
81 = 34
82 = 31
83 = 29
84 = 27
85 = 25

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Regarding the Tiering Contributor badge
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  • TC is awarded to those with 10 tiering-related votes across all tiers or 4 tiering-related votes in PU suspect tests.
If you have achieved the above threshold, feel free to PM asa or I with the links to your votes so we can process your request.
 
just got recs and i used duraludon in every single match i played, also facing it very often. i really like duraludon in this metagame and do not think it's broken. the main positive traits are being able to offensively switch into status-inducing bulky attackers like slowbro-g, milotic, and amoonguss (which this metagame lacks), the defensive utility of a steel type notably resisting psychic, flying, rock, and normal type attacks, translating offensive pivoting and play into progress against more uninteractive teams, as well as having the bonus of destroying nonsense mu fish cheese like full terrain teams.

i used specs for almost the entire run and from my experience using it, there are more than enough soft checks/offensive checks available that this set, while very good, is not broken. i found that while specs dura is difficult to switch into by virtue of two shotting a decent amount of the tier, it does not actually one shot most of the tier naturally without tera reliance. soft checks in av gbro, amoonguss, milotic, and faster pokemon who can switch into draco exist, while offensively anything faster than 295 speed is probably forcing it out due to horrible spd and proneness to chip damage (it's not that easy to actually get in). while people cite the "fake steel" lingo to claim that duraludon does not serve as defensive utility and therefore is a bad influence, i respectfully disagree, and find that the simultaneous resistance to psychic and flying as well as normal types is extremely valuable defensively. the fact that it cant even resist fairy is a weakness to the pokemon; florges can 1v1 it and aggressively switch in to the most spammable and clicked move (draco), if needed.

overall, i think duraludon is a positive influence on the metagame and is strong but balanced. i think the metagame can adapt quite well to its presence and i will confidently be voting to unban it.
 
Hello,

I'll most likely be voting unban. Outoffensing Duraladon isn't overly difficult. Its speed tier of 295 at timid is pretty decent but feels paltry in comparison to some of the other premiere breakers.

Here are some mons that make Duraladon cry (pending Tera shenanigans) -

Delphox
Hoopa
Redbull
Pawmot
Florges
Salazzle

This means that offensive structures might become more viable and interesting and I think PU could benefit from a boost to these styles.

Defensively, there are a plethora of ways of dealing with the dreaded specs Draco. Pory2, Spdef Milo, Wochien, AV Bro, some spdef Amoong. With a strong balance line-up, it's easy to gain momentum into specs duraladon and outmaneuvre it.

I think it brings a nice flavour into a meta of tox spam, regen Spam and incredibly tedious balance.

It also adds further role compression with access to rocks, phazing, twave.

It's a new toy. It's not as overtuned as it would have been pre the most recent shifts and I think it would make the meta more interesting.
 
High tide, brahs.

I too will be voting for a Duraladon unban. I think that there are several reasonable courses of action when up against it. As esteemed user DDJ mentioned :Assault-vest: :Slowbro-galar:/:Milotic: and :Amoonguss: with some Sp.Def investment to switch in on it once dropped.

:Wo-chien: - A good answer to not only the specs set but also the :Eviolite: set. As getting rid of it is always super beneficial.

:Salazzle: - A rather miserable matchup for it, as well as the fighting bruisers (:Tauros-paldea-blaze:/:Pawmot:)

There exists plenty of setup sweepers that can punish it after clicking Draco :Frosmoth:/:Espeon:/:Rhydon:/:Rotom-heat:/:Uxie:

I was concerned initially because of how many threats that made it more manageable previously rose to NU, being :Heracross:/:Scrafty:/:Bronzong:/:Copperajah:/:Scrafty: but I’ve found that it is just a healthy and welcome change to the metagame providing another viable rocker/pseudo phys wall.

Worth noting this Pokémon is super shut down by Tera fairy so long as you have something that resists flash cannon. If you are struggling into it consider the switch-up

Welcome back para spam :tymp:
 
We will be hosting two suspect tours this weekend in case you don't feel like laddering but really wanna show your love (or hate) for Duraludon. They will take place on the following dates and times:

  • Saturday, July 26 at 12:00 PM (-4), hosted by MZ
  • Sunday, July 27 at 5:00 PM (-4), hosted by gulch

Be sure to join for a chance to save (or banish) Duraludon!!
 
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