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!
- 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
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
- TC is awarded to those with 10 tiering-related votes across all tiers or 4 tiering-related votes in PU suspect tests.
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with some Sp.Def investment to switch in on it once dropped.
- A good answer to not only the specs set but also the 
set. As getting rid of it is always super beneficial.
- A rather miserable matchup for it, as well as the fighting bruisers (
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