Project USUM UU Research Week v2 (On a break)

[Galactiknight]

So I used Durant for this week. Currently peaked at 1610 but I might ladder some more. Anyway, durant is an interesting mon that I was going to try to use anyway, so I have a lot to say about it.

Durant sets I used

Durant @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Hone Claws
- Iron Head
- Superpower
- Crunch

Durant @ Life Orb
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Hone Claws
- Iron Head
- Superpower
- Thunder Fang / Crunch

Life Orb Durant Set
The first set is the all out pummeling set that I noticed a lot of other people used to, I think this is its best set, but I'll talk about the life orb set first.
Life orb is the set I was initially drawn too, mostly because of its raw power and even has the potential to break stall. Life orb super power has a chance to 2hko quagsire after spikes or chip. However, I found that life orb reduced durant's longevity way too much, limiting its ability to continue to break down bulkier team. For example, you hone claw as your opponent switches to hippowdon. +1 Life orb iron head does not KO hippo, so you take 2 turns of LO recoil and 50% from eq, leaving you at ~30% hp (or less if rocks are up). This scenario comes up a lot, where durant dies to its own recoil before it can break through a team like it should on paper. This set could possibly be very good if it was paired with a healing wish user though.

Replay:The first time durant manages to do something other than being fodder

All out Pummeling Durant

The team I Built

Kevin (Durant) @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Hone Claws
- Iron Head
- Crunch
- Superpower

Altaria-Mega @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 180 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Return
- Refresh
- Roost

Talonflame @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Brave Bird
- Flame Charge
- Flare Blitz / Taunt

Empoleon @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 172 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Toxic
- Protect

Rotom-Mow @ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 76 HP / 180 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Leaf Storm
- Will-O-Wisp
- Defog

Westbrook (Hydreigon) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Defog
- U-turn

I had a lot more success with this durant set, for without life orb cutting durant's longevity, I was sometimes able to bring it in multiple times a match to put in work. Its also able to immediately nuke something with its z-superpower (and yes I realize I'm running double z-move on my team, but sometimes you want to use skystrike with talon or pummeling with durant). For example, an unboosted all out pummeling can completely decimate an unsuspecting scizor trying to u-turn on you, paving the way for altaria. You also almost OHKO rotom-heat with it, paving the way for talonflame.

Calcs

• 252 Atk Hustle Durant All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Scizor: 274-323 (79.6 - 93.8%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
• 252 Atk Hustle Durant All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 236 HP / 0 Def Rotom-Heat: 259-305 (86.3 - 101.6%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
• +1 252 Atk Hustle Durant All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Filter Aggron-Mega: 292-345 (85.1 - 100.5%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

I have a lot more replays of Durant putting in work here:

Replays

• Durant 6-0s in a room tour lol
• Durant putting in some massive work
• Durant sweeping a mono water team
• Durant getting the late game sweep

Conclusions:
I think Durant is kind of an underrated pick, as it can cause some serious damage under the right circumstances. Its great speed tier and even more amazing power lets it power through mons that would normally stop scizor cold, such as moltres, rotom-heat, non-scarf infernape, etc. However, durant's main shortcoming is its very limited opportunities to set up. If its special defense wasn't so horrendous, it could set up on a lot of the stuff scizor does, such as latias, draco meteor, fairy types, etc. But unfortunately durant finds itself 2hkoed by most of these special attacking moves (lati's devastating drake just OHKOs it straight up), leaving durant not many chances to switch in and put in the work it can. Thats why most of my teams had durant paired with u-turn hydreigon, because most of the stuff that hydreigon lures in (fairies, special walls) durant can come in safely with a u-turn and then set up on the expected switch out. Thats mainly how you have to use durant in general, setting up on expected switches like if they have out a togekiss or blissey, or on something like sd u-turn scizor. If you make the right plays, and can get durant on the field safely, the mon can potentially put in a lot of work and carves itself a small niche in the tier. I enjoyed using this mon a lot once I got out of low ladder and made a decent team.

Note: Might update my ladder ranking or the post in general.

 

[Rawbi]

So I'm 1365ish right now and while I'd like to get higher, since I can see work getting in the way, I'll give my impressions of CM Zeraora right now.

I don't think it's its best set. For one, its special movepool is pretty lacking. I ran CM / Thunderbolt / Focus Blast / Grass Knot. This is serviceable, but makes it harder to get around Zera's common checks. As examples, Z-Bounce/Z-Giga Impact can lure things like Amoonguss and Knock Off can dent Latias -- CM Zera can't touch them at all. (Blissey also doesn't give a damn.) Without a boost or a Life Orb, it fails to get OHKOs even on mons weak to its moves. I suppose you could run Volt Switch, but you lose the stat gain in the process. You can still run Shuca Berry to bop Krookodile -- just hope that Focus Blast decides to hit.

Overall, I don't believe CM Zeraora has much merit compared to its physical sets.

Switching gears, Durant has been a pretty cool boy. I expected it to be a bad Scizor, but its stats force it to play differently. Like Galactiknight said, its awful HP and SpDef means it has trouble setting up on mons Steel types would ordinarily handle, but the enormous power you have at +1 and its great Speed tier makes it a formidable threat, and likely deserving of a small niche in UU. I haven't tried Choice Band or Scarf as Hustle misses can cost games. Hone Claws / Iron Head / Superpower / Crunch with Fightinium Z is probably Durant's best bet.

Haven't tried CB Kommo and probably won't get to it in time, rip

EDIT: Here's the CM Zeraora team. Aside from Zera itself, it's a carbon copy of a lab team made by awesome user vivalospride, so all credit to him.

CM Zera Team

https://pokepast.es/edc8e03eeff90fae

 

[Sickist]

Alright, I did laddering with Kommo-o and I'm starting to think choice band Kommo-o is a

Kommo-no.

This is not a set worth using in my opinion. The immediate power may seem like a good idea, but it just misses out on so much. On the team that I used, I would have appreciated either specs, ddance, or heck even SD kommo-o rather than banded. it's coverage is great, its just that depending on what you lock yourself into, you get either walled or revenge killed or forced out next turn. Heres the team that I used:

Banded Kommo-o Team

https://pokepast.es/25c03038ebf25ce6

This unintentionally looks alot like Moutemoute's team (I didn't copy, I had the team built for 2 days before Moute posted, just to clarify)

Anyways, Kommo-o was essentially useless every game unless they had no Close Combat switch in. Kommo-o literally did nothing unless it was vs low ladder teams. Here's some replays:

Replys with Kommo-o

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-844179962
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-844181901

As you can see, I only have low ladder replays (because the second I get anywhere beyond 1200, I get crit froze back down). Kommo-o can put in a little bit of work down there, but It's not worth using in higher ladder play. I've only played 7 games with it at the time of this post (accidently played 2 and a half games before realizing I wasnt on the USMRW3 disease account oof)

In summary, I don't quite recommend using Banded Kommo-o unless you really want to.

I will not be using Zera as I cannot build around it correctly (rip)

However, when I get done with this, I'll be using Durant to try and see what that whole ordeal is, so expect an update to this post before/on Sunday.

Edit: No time to use Durant :( but from what Ive seen it looks pretty solid.

Banded Kommo-o: 1.5/5

 

[avarice]

This was probably my favorite Research week purely for Durant <3 _ <3. Similar to the others, I find Kommo-o garbo, Durant quality, and CM Zera mediocre at best. I peaked 1400s I think? I got bored bit early since I've been using Durant before the Research Week . Nonetheless, I think its worth sharing my teams/thoughts.

Importable

Kommo-o @ Choice Band
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Outrage
- Poison Jab
- Toxic

Krookodile @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge

Moltres @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Agility
- Roost
- Hurricane
- Fire Blast

Empoleon (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP / 248 SpD / 20 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Defog
- Scald
- Roar

Pidgeot-Mega @ Pidgeotite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hurricane
- Refresh
- Work Up
- Roost

Florges (Florges-White) @ Leftovers
Ability: Symbiosis
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Synthesis
- Defog
- Wish

I really really wanted CB Clanger to work out, but unfortunately it is simply not as good as Kommo-o's other options. I'd use pretty much any other set over it lol. I decided to pair CB clanger with the flying spam core of Moltres and Pidgeot. Rest of the team is pretty basic with Scarf krook, florges, and empoleon supporting them really well. The sets for each mon switched around a bit while playing with the squad, though. I feel that this is the best variant of the team, even with Empoleon running both Rocks and Defog. The fourth move on Kommo-o probably had the most exploration. Toxic is easily the most consistent and it can chip Alo to potentially 2HKO with CC and rocks later. Sleep Talk is nice for Amoongus and means you don't have to run Overcoat. Dragon Dance is pretty funny to use and was kinda effective with a U-turn > Agility version of Moltres. Stealth Rocks was decent but meant a fair amount of doubling which could easily backfire. Most of my games with the team were on Mobile so I haven't saved many replays.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-842900326

Importable

[
Durant @ Steelium Z
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Hone Claws
- Rock Slide
- Superpower

Chandelure @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Shadow Ball
- Flamethrower
- Substitute

Krookodile @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge

Stakataka @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Gyro Ball
- Rock Blast
- Stealth Rock
- Protect

Tsareena @ Lum Berry
Ability: Queenly Majesty
EVs: 244 Atk / 36 Def / 228 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Power Whip
- Rapid Spin
- High Jump Kick
- U-turn

Altaria-Mega @ Altarianite
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 212 HP / 32 Def / 88 SpA / 176 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Roost

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-842041929
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-842039188

Importable

Durant @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Superpower
- Iron Head
- Crunch
- Hone Claws

Togekiss @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Heal Bell
- Air Slash
- Roost

Empoleon @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 180 SpD
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Knock Off
- Toxic
- Protect

Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Whirlwind

Hydreigon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Draco Meteor
- Defog
- U-turn

Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 168 Atk / 88 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Overheat
- Close Combat
- Grass Knot / Slack Off
- Gunk Shot

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-840597760

Durant was easily my favorite mon of the week and I’ve been using it before the research week anyhow. The Hustle boost is really nice and Durant gets a fair amount of opportunities to Hone Claws up anyway. The first squad was definitely my favorite to play with, considering Chandy has seen better days itself. Strangers/the second build was made before research week and was a simple way of utilizing Durant with a more bulky team with HippoEmpo and Scarf Hydreigon. Scarf Hydreigon is pretty nice with Durant, similar to Nidoking with how Hydreigon draws in fairies and can U-turn out. Fightinium is probably my favorite Z for Durant, as needing less chip on Steels is always nice. I'd say Rock Slide is a must for Durant, but I haven't tried out Crunch enough.

Some replays of a team I didn't wanna share uwu:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-839817461
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-839825886

I wasn't really satisfied with any of the teams I used CM Zeraora with. Adrenaline Orb is cool for beating scarf krook and keeping momentum against offense but I'd prefer BU or even Work Up boosting wise. Overall, All Out Attacker is its best set imho. I'd say that most of the CM Zera teams could be better executed with Work Up, though.

Thanks for reading

 

[ishtar]

This was my first time getting into Research Week and I decided to try out Durant and CM Zeraora. I didn’t have that much time to try out these two mons and sets and Ill be busy during the weekend, but I still feel like I gathered enough information to form an opinion and share it on a post.

Fightinium Z Durant team.

Team 1.

Durant @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Superpower
- Crunch
- Hone Claws

Rotom-Heat @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 240 HP / 20 SpA / 248 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overheat
- Volt Switch
- Toxic
- Defog

Hydreigon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- U-turn
- Fire Blast

Togekiss @ Babiri Berry
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Air Slash
- Flamethrower
- Nasty Plot
- Roost

Slowbro-Mega @ Slowbronite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic
- Block
- Rest

Nihilego @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 176 SpA / 80 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot
- Stealth Rock

Durant has a great offensive presence and speed but often these attributes will be held back by its awful special defense and its ability. While Hustle grants Durant with a boost in its attack, it also lowers the accuracy of its physical moves which can be incredibly problematic in certain situations. Using Durant often puts the player in circumstances in which its better to use its Z-move early or in sub-optimal occasions since a regular attack might miss and be crucial to the outcome of a battle.
Of course, this is when the move Hone Claws comes into play, you increase the accuracy and attack of Durant and try to be slightly less frightened of missing a move that can be very important in a match. The issue that I find with this Hone Claws set is that, while Durant often forces switches due to its great coverage and typing, there will be many matches in which the ant will simply not have a moment to setup due to being pressured by special attackers.
Despite these complains, I did find a lot of merit in the offensive power that Durant brings. There will always be comparisons between Scizor and Durant due to their typing, but a great quality that sets Durant apart is in its ability to revenge kill a lot of the threats that would KO it if it had a worse speed tier like Scizor.

Some calcs.

252 Atk Hustle Durant All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 236 HP / 0 Def Rotom-Heat: 259-305 (86.3 - 101.6%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Hustle Durant All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Infernape: 361-425 (123.2 - 145%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Hustle Durant Iron Head vs. 92 HP / 0 Def Primarina: 222-262 (68.5 - 80.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Hustle Durant All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Quagsire: 219-258 (55.5 - 65.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Durant Rock Slide vs. 248 HP / 44 Def Moltres: 452-532 (118 - 138.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Durant Rock Tomb vs. 248 HP / 44 Def Moltres: 360-428 (93.9 - 111.7%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Leftovers recovery

I also tried out a banded set for Durant that wuhoodude passed me. The damage output is considerably higher, but I didn’t find it superior to the Hone Claws set. Something great about this earlier set is its ability to KO and revenge kill a series of mons thanks to its great coverage, which the banded set does not provide due to locking the mon in one move. I was also running Rock Slide on this choice band set, which missed 3 times in front of a Moltres during a battle. While I enjoyed the offensive pressure that it can put on certain mons, I’d rather have the mobility and freedom that its Z-set provides.

Banded Durant team.

Team 2.

Gengar @ Fightinium Z/Metronome
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Substitute/Taunt

Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake
- Icicle Crash
- Stealth Rock

Rotom-Heat @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 240 HP / 20 SpA / 248 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overheat
- Volt Switch
- Toxic
- Defog

Hydreigon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Fire Blast
- U-turn

Altaria-Mega @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Facade
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- Roost

Durant @ Choice Band
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Slide
- Iron Head
- Superpower
- X-Scissor

I was not able to build around CM Zeraora when I first entered the project, but DubFreaknakeeb passed me his team which I tried for a very short amount of time. I won’t paste it since it was pasted by another user earlier, but I do feel like I learned most of what I wanted to know about this set by seeing Dub battle and studying the sets.
I noticed that, while many teams are unprepared for Zeraora, the coverage that a move like Knock Off provides is almost necessary for the mon to not be walled by threats like Latias. Using a Z-item on Zeraora for an accurate fighting move also makes the damage output of the mon rather pitiful since it can't make use of a Life orb or Expert belt. When I tried building for this mon, I thought of a set with Substitute (without any boosting move), but after seeing many battles with CM Zeraora, I noticed that this mon requires as much coverage as possible in order to not get walled by threats like the aforementioned Latias or simply giving the utility provided by knocking off an item.
I do believe that this Zeraora set can function relatively well, but the player might find itself lacking coverage against certain threats that the usual mixed set doesn't normally have trouble with. This will not be a problem if the player covers for its weaknesses with other mons, of course this is what teambuilding is all about, but I’m not sure if the boosts in special attack and special defense make up for it. That's all I'm willing to comment on it with my little experience with it though.

As a conclusion, I agree on the fact that Durant is an underrated pick in the current metagame, but I also acknowledge the fact that it struggles a lot against common special attackers and has trouble setting up (and landing attacks). I’m disappointed in CM Zeraora, its set technically works but I don’t think its as useful as the regular one.This was really fun to do, and I hope to get more involved in this during the next few weeks. I definitely feel like these were two really fun mons to use and I do see some merit in Durant under its different sets but its ability and stats function as a double-edged sword.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Nakeeb]

Hey guys it's ya boy Dub, back with another post. First let me talk about how much I loved this research week. I loved the fact that we got to try out 2 mons that I wanted to build around with but never had the chance to, Zeraora and Durant. Here are the teams I got to use and my analysis for those said pokemon.

CM Zeraora

Zeraora @ Grassium Z
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Grass Knot

Slowbro @ Slowbronite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Block
- Scald
- Toxic
- Rest

Amoonguss @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 72 SpD / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Clear Smog
- Spore

Scizor @ Iron Plate
Ability: Technician
EVs: 152 HP / 252 Atk / 104 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Superpower

Moltres @ Sharp Beak
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hurricane
- Fire Blast
- Roost
- Defog

Diancie @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Heal Bell
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast

So the set I ran for CM Zeraora was Fightinium Z with Focus Blast>Hp Ice. Then I changed it to Grassium Z with CM, HP ice, Tbolt, and Gknot. Reason why was because I didn't kill hippowdon at +1 with Grass Knot, also I wanted to be able to hit Gligar and dragons aswell. It worked out better for me to get rid of Focus Blast. Overall, I thought CM Zeraora was cool but it wasn't really cuttin it for me. I was able to peak high 1500s then I started to tilt a shit ton. Zeraora could run so many different sets ranging from Z Bounce to just it's standard mixed set. Now, onto Durant.

Fightinium Z Durant

Durant @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Superpower
- Crunch
- Hone Claws

Nihilego @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 116 HP / 136 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot
- Stealth Rock

Rotom-Heat @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 240 HP / 20 SpA / 248 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overheat
- Volt Switch
- Toxic
- Defog

Hydreigon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- U-turn
- Fire Blast

Togekiss @ Babiri Berry
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Air Slash
- Flamethrower
- Nasty Plot
- Roost

Slowbro @ Slowbronite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic
- Block
- Rest

This team right here is what my boy KellyKafka stirred up. It featured Fightinium Z Durant, which is arguable it's best set. Being able to hit opposing steels and whatnot. I didn't really get to play around Durant because I wasn't really in the mood for battling at all after New Year's because I've been tilting on every PS account I had. Anyway, enough about my life story. I feel like Durant is only effective after a hone claws because before HC, hustle takes huge affect and makes you miss almost every fucking move you click. It's really annoying. Everything else, I love. Just that I'd use Scizor instead. Scizor can switch into moves while Durant is most likely to get ohko'd if it switches in to any move.

Alright, I think that's about it, I didn't try out Banded Kommo-o because the shit just looked so ass that I didn't even want to bother. I got some replays of me using these teams.

Replays

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-842657143 First time trying the team out I think.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-843110769 Against fellow USMRW guy.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-844286895 Me losing to my own team.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-844289446 Durant winning it

Thanks for reading this :)

 

[Smallsmallrose]

importable

Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
- Taunt
- Knock Off

Durant @ Life Orb
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Hone Claws
- Iron Head
- Superpower
- Crunch

Houndoom @ Houndoominite
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Taunt

Gengar @ Life Orb
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast

Latias @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Calm Mind
- Recover

Scizor @ Iron Plate
Ability: Technician
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Atk / 92 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off
- Superpower

Here's the team I used for my testing of Durant. I wanted it to share a team with Scizor so I could compare the two (And also because Scizor can take some hits Durant can't.) I wanted a team that would be quick to make and had quick battles, since I was on a bit of a time constraint (I won't be available tomorrow) but wanted to get this out, so I used an Azelf 5 goons HO. Of course, the team isn't perfect since it was built in a day, but it was surprisingly decent and very fun to use despite some matchups that can be difficult for it. I built with the HO playstyle in mind as well as what I thought would work well with Durant. I got 30 or so battles with it including testing and ladder. But enough about the team, lets hear my opinions about Durant! I was actually quite impressed with it's performance. For one, it does a lot better against the various steel resists of the tier. Let it be known that this and Scizor DO NOT share every check. Common Scizor Checks like Volcanion, Moltres, and Rotom-H really struggled with my Durant when they were thrown at it. And some softer Scizor checks like Cobalion and Infernape couldn't even BEGIN to challenge it. This surprise factor put Durant in a good position whenever it was given a free hone claws. Speaking of Infernape and Cobalion, outspeeding and OHKOing both of the above and Terrakion unboosted is absurdly useful, since it lets it revenge them where they would otherwise threaten my team, and forcing out 3 of the most common fightings in the tier just oozes with setup opportunities. It's surprise factor comes in handy too, I mentioned how it doesn't really share answers with Scizor, and it really shows. There were some games I cleaned up because they simply just weren't prepared for Durant. It's immediate power with hustle is also surprisingly useful. There were also games I won with Durant just by coming in and launching off attacks rather than trying to hone claws, and I might want to even test an All-out-attacker set sometime down the line. Of course, Durant does have it's shortcomings. There are mons that can stop it fairly hard such as some bulkier waters, and some general physical walls that it can't hit super effectively. It's low bulk also made it hard to get in. There were times where I felt it would be better to sack it just to get something else in. Durant is mostly offense and it's only form of defense is it's typing and mediocre physical defense that can take a couple priority moves or unboosted neutral hit in a pinch. Of course, due to this mediocre bulk, I often found it struggling against faster mons and scarfers that could even just hit it decently hard. All in all, I think Durant does have a genuine niche over Scizor, but it's to be used very selectively. That being said, teams that can properly build around it will be rewarded. Its a mon that deserves more exploration.

I hope you enjoyed my first research week post!

 

[bukemon123]

I only used CM Zeraora for this week. I hit mid 1400s before making bad plays and tilt back to 1391.

The sets that I used

Fighting Gold (Zeraora) @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 64 HP / 252 SpA / 192 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Focus Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot/ Hidden Power Ice

Golden Win (Zeraora) @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 64 HP / 252 SpA / 192 Spe or 252 SpA / 64 SpD / 192 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Grass Knot
The 64 EVs in SpD allows Zeraora to become bulkier after +1.

First, Shuca Berry vs Fight-Z

Even with 64 EVs investment in defense, CM Zeraora is still fragile so faster mons like M-Aero and Scarf Krook or Priority mons such as Bisharp still hurt a lot. Faster EQ users requires Zera to trade Fight-Z for Shuca Berry ( You can support Zeraora with teammates but Pursuit also hurts).
That's why 2 special wall-breakers: NP Ape and Lucario are more preferred ( higher SpA boost + Priority move + Z nuke ). Moreover, NP Ape and Lucario are good partners to Zera because they pressures two of Zera's most solid checks: Amoongus and bulky SpD Fairies respectively.

Second, Zera checks.

CM Zera struggles against Amoongus and fatter builds with Wish support. Furthermore, Amoongus and bulky SpD Fairies wall all versions of +1 Zera.

• A healthy Amoongus can eat a +2 HP Ice -> Spore -> Clear Smog. With Regenerator, Amoongus can reliably check Zera in the long run.

calc

+2 252 SpA Zeraora Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 72+ SpD Amoonguss: 222-262 (51.3 - 60.6%) -- 90.2% chance to 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery

• Fairies/Blissey

Without Fight-Z, Zera can not really touch Blissey at all ( while at the mercy of the 70% hit rate of Focus Blast). Blissey can 1v1 Zera with Toxic/ Protect/ Seismic Toss/ Recovery move.

calc

+1 252 SpA Zeraora Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey: 256-302 (35.8 - 42.2%) -- 91.1% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

Bulky SpD Faries can wear out Zeraora with Moonblast, potentially lower Zera's SpA while recovering with Wish.

calcs

+1 252 SpA Zeraora Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Florges: 127-151 (35.2 - 41.9%) -- 83.4% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252 SpA Zeraora Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Sylveon: 148-175 (37.5 - 44.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

• Some other checks are Rotom, Mega-Altaria, Umbreon, M-Steelix, Swampert,... However, they must be cautious against Zera's coverage.

CB Terrakion and Gengar are good partners to punish fat pokemons like Blissey and Fairies.

Third, the pros

Nuking Steel-type mons through Z-Fight while Grass Knot also deals good damage if you do not want to take the risk.

calcs

+1 252 SpA Zeraora Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Steelix-Mega: 136-160 (38.4 - 45.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+1 252 SpA Zeraora Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Aggron-Mega: 154-183 (44.7 - 53.1%) -- 28.9% chance to 2HKO

Deal good damage to Mega-Altaria

calcs

+1 252 SpA Zeraora Hidden Power Ice vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Altaria-Mega: 158-188 (44.7 - 53.2%) -- 30.5% chance to 2HKO

Handling Mega-Manectric , forcing it out most of the case

calcs

+1 252 SpA Zeraora Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Manectric-Mega: 112-132 (39.8 - 46.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Manectric-Mega Overheat vs. +1 0 HP / 64 SpD Zeraora: 108-128 (34 - 40.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Eating Dragon Pulse from Mega-Sceptitle or Dark Pulse from Hydreigon and deals heavy damage back with HP Ice

calcs

252 SpA Sceptile-Mega Dragon Pulse vs. +1 0 HP / 64 SpD Zeraora: 112-133 (35.3 - 41.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Hydreigon Dark Pulse vs. +1 0 HP / 64 SpD Zeraora: 94-112 (29.6 - 35.3%) -- 24% chance to 3HKO

Replays

HP Ice/ Grass Knot putting in work
Wall-breaking early game
3 videos on countering Zeraora
Sylveon shutting down Zeraora early games with some chips
Rotom-H wears down Zera boi
Amoongus constantly checks Zera throughout the game

tl;dr
Without a priority move, CM Zeraora is kinda forced to choose between Shuca Berry and Fight-Z which makes NP Ape or Lucario more popular wall -breakers because they have higher SpA boost + Priority move + Z nuke.
Three most solid checks to +1 CM Zeraora are Amoongus, Sylveon, Florges.
Except those checks, players need to scout for Zeraora's movesets because +1 CM Zeraora has potential to do heavy damage.

Thank you for reading!

 

[CashKP]

So i didnt play as much RW as I would have liked, mostly because I was trying to put some stuff together for masters but I still tried out Durant and Banded Komo. I just played to 1500 again which took me 43 games, decayed down to 1470 after.

First I'll talk about Komo

Banded Komo

So I cant lie, I was 100% expecting this thing to be complete and absolute trash. However, it defied my expectations and was just not great. I was just running adamant because I might as well just hit as hard as I can and it was actually blasting some things. I had one game where I crit an Alomola after rocks with outrage and it died which is pretty insane actually. I have one replay I'll post where I just one shot a Rotom-H with outrage but beside that it wasent great.

The biggest problem for me is that it has no spamable moves. You cant really lock yourself into outrage because there are so many strong faeries like Mega Altaria or Primarina. You cant lock yourself into Poison Jab because we have all these strong fighting types and Scizor is on every other team. You cant lock yourself into Close Combat again because of the faeries and Moltres. It's just a pain honestly and it gives your opponent so many good oppertunites to get momentum or set up. I think maybe on like a more bulky semi stall this set might work best but I wasent sure how to build it so I didnt try.

Overall it wasent too bad if you could actually get hits off but I dont see any reason to literally ever use this over any other Komo set.

Durant

Durant on the other hand was actually a beast. I could have made a montage of how many times this thing just smashed people. I was using the Hone Claws Z rock set with a screens team. I found it pretty easy to find Hone Claws oppertunites with screens up on some pretty common mons like Scizor or Krook or Physical Mega Alt. After a Hone Claws you hit so hard with hustle. Rockium Z just blows everything away, Romom/Moltres/Tenta/Amoongus/Arcanine.

The biggest issue is obviously the accuracy but I found Hone Claws pretty easy to get off most games and that basically eliminates that problem.

I just want to end talking about the Scizor comparison. A lot of people in chat were saying "oh just use Scizor' but Durant and Scizor dont really function the same way. Durant has this niche where its actually fast enough to hit things with nukes. Normal steel checks cant really come in on Durant because of the coverage it was + the speed it has. Lots of teams where really unprepared for it because it wasent very common and ending up having to sac two mons just to try to chip it down. I think Durant has a ton of potential if someone can figure out the ideal team to place it on.

Here are some replays, nothing too crazy

Replays

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-843697146 - Komo slaws Rotom

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-843192083 - No Durant answers

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-842847483- Durant versus Rain

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-842843686 - Durants Cleans

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-842757383 - Durant Bops Arcanine on Low Ladder

So overall I am going to give Banded Komo a 2/5 and Durant a 4.5/5

 

[abonniertxxxlutzyt]

Ok, i did not have much time this week, so I only played 40 games which all were with Durant. I used a very simple ho team which is very weak to elecrirc types and scizor is also a good breaker against this team but it worked well on low ladder and i reached an elo of 1498 with 77,5% GXE.

Team

Zecke (Durant) @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Hone Claws
- Iron Head
- Superpower
- X-Scissor

Die Now Saur (Aerodactyl-Mega) @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Roost

Araquanid @ Mystic Water
Ability: Water Bubble
EVs: 68 HP / 252 Atk / 188 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sticky Web
- Liquidation
- Toxic
- Leech Life

Kommo-o @ Life Orb
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Close Combat
- Clanging Scales

Primarina @ Choice Specs
Ability: Liquid Voice
EVs: 160 HP / 252 SpA / 96 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Moonblast
- Psychic
- Sparkling Aria

Latias @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psychic
- Defog
- Healing Wish

In my opinion Durant is a very underrated mon and it does some things better than scizor. The disadvantages are obviously the bad spezdef so you are not able to deal with things like latias or scarf hydreigon and that u often miss your moves thanks to hustle. But the good points are that you have a really good speedtier. You outspeed Cobalion and Terrakion because of 109 base which is really helpful especially if you run z superpower. Durant is not in a 50/50 situation if the opponent has an terrakion on the field because it is faster so it can do a lot of damage to something in the opponent´s team even if the opponent switches out because there are not so many switch ins while you are in a 50/50 with scizor because you are not sure if the opponent switches out or if he stays in and most teams have a good bullet punch resist.
I think fightium z is the best set because you hit steel types like scizor, cobalion, aggron-mega and steelix-mega really hard while also hitting things like rotom-heat, terrakion and mamoswine if you dont want to risk a miss. The first three moves have to be hone claws, Iron head and superpower but i think the fourth move is pretty variable.



I unfortunately saved one replay where Durant does something which was not
on the lowest low ladder:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-843193696

Overall i would say Durant is a really good breaker which definitely can find some niches in the UU Metagame

 

['sei.]

And with that Week 3 comes to a close. GJ to Galactiknight for coming out on top of the laddering portion for this week. Now, let's get to it.


Durant
Possibly the most well received and most researched pick of this week, Durant proved to be a hit with the participants. Durant's speed and coverage granting it a niche over its Bug/Steel counterpart was the general consensus. Its lack of defensive utility on the special end (as noted by KellyKafka, Smallsmallrose, Galactiknight, Twilight, Daiyaga, DubFreaknakeeb, abonniertxxxlutzyt, and Rawbi) puts it in an awkward position as it cannot set up on "resists" or any neutral special coverage for that matter. In addition to its mediocre bulk, the inaccuracy from Hustle stood out as another flaw to DubFreaknakeeb, KellyKafka, Rawbi, Moutemoute, Daiyaga, I'm actually Cash and Twilight. Despite its shortcomings, Durant managed to carve itself a niche thanks to its speed and ability to threaten Scizor's common checks with its coverage and hard-hitting capabilities.

Band Kommo-o
In short, no one liked Banded Kommo-o --- everyone who tried it said it felt extremely underwhelming in comparison to any of its other sets, as Swords Dance or Dragon Dance would've been preferred over Band in most cases. As Moutemoute, Sickist, and Daiyaga pointed out, the set calls for an unnatural amount of prediction and can lead to some 50/50s that ultimately held back the set's potential (along with the weaker coverage options pointed out by Daiyaga). These quotes summarize how everyone felt about Kommo-o in short.

Alright, I did laddering with Kommo-o and I'm starting to think choice band Kommo-o is a

Kommo-no.

EDIT : ok I'm done with CB Kommo-o. I played like 10 games with it, I hated building around it, I hated playing it, and there's litteraly nothing it did that the other sets couldn't have done, and it didn't even put that much work anyway.

Calm Mind Zeraora
Our third and final pick for W3 ended up falling prone to its 4MSS more now than ever with the Calm Mind variant, hinted at by Moutemoute, DubFreaknakeeb, Rawbi, and Twilight. The lack of damage output when unboosted and common RKO'ers forcing Zera out make for a tough job that can only be resolved in the teambuilder (with a considerable amount of support, courtesy of Moutemoute and KellyKafka). In conclusion, it can make for a dangerous pick with the right support but falls short in comparison to its Mixed sets in certain regards.

----------

This Week's Selections

OTR Reuni

Reuniclus @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Psychic

Banded Stakataka

Stakataka @ Choice Band
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Lonely / Brave Nature
IVs: 15 / 31 Def IVs, 0 Spe
- Gyro Ball
- Stone Edge
-
-

Absol-Mega

Absol-Mega @ Absolite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly / Naive Nature
- Knock Off
-
-
-

Reuniclus does what it has done most of the time since it was released: sit down and set up with Calm Mind. However, by making use of the common passiveness of that set to surprise opponents and being an interesting late-game cleaner, OTR Reuniclus has found itself a space in this week. Trick Room coupled with its good coverage can be a scary sight in the lands of UU.

Stakataka has gone from a dreadful threat in his early UU days with even some calling it broken to the lowest of its decline with its recent drop to RU. However, this decline also made people wonder about how other sets could do in the current meta aside from its OTR set and the Stealth Rock set; a Choice Band set has been posted about in other threads, making use of its good bulk, its high Attack, and CB's immediate power boost to hit Pokémon that dare to switch in hard.

Mega Absol has been out of the public eye for a long time now and has only been seen on some sporadic HO teams. However, the rise of Gliscor freed up the obligatory Ice Beam slot, and with it still being a very fast Pokemon with STAB Pursuit, strong priority, and even access to Swords Dance, it should be worthy enough of a slot in Research Week.


Sign up with a fresh USMRW4 alt, post your ladder results as well as your findings on the 'mon(s) in question. Feel free to edit your sign-up post if you wanna keep that crispy post:like ratio. This week the deadline is Sunday, January 13, at 11:59 pm GMT-2. Darksafadao or I will tally up the ladder results and reveal the winner at the end of the week. Good luck to all the participants, go get it done.​

 

[CashKP]

USMRW4 Cash

Not sure what I'm trying yet. I wont be using OTR Reui because half my teams already have it and I know its busted good

 

[Moutemoute]

I just realized that the winner was the player with the highest Elo, I'm dumb..

Btw I will try my best to try these 3 new Pokemon.
USMRW4 Moute

 

[avarice]

USMRW4 plot twist

most likely just OTR Reuni

 

[Sickist]

USMWR4 disease

Taking Absol and maybe Bandedtaka

 

[Smallsmallrose]

USMRW4 Disaster

I'll be taking Mega Absol and Bandtaka

 

[Rawbi]

USMRW4 hangover

I want to try all three, depending on if I can build any noteworthy teams

 

[Lazadamn]

USMRW4 Laza

First time participating in anything on the forum so probably won't be able to contribute much. Will be taking OTR Reun plus maybe Stakataka.

 

[Twilight]

USMRW4 Twilight

I think I'll only give mega absol and Staka a try this week.

 

[Daiyaga]

USMRW4 Daiyaga

Gonna give Stakataka and Absol a try this week

 

[Nakeeb]

USMRW4 DUBBY

all of em actually

 

[Notily]

i'll do mega absol

usmrw4 ntly

 

[dingbat]

mfw my man actually picked CB STAK

usmrw4 cuck

edit: if you guys want ideas on cb stak, here ya go

 

[Mangoze]

USMRW4 Mango

CB Staka
and OTR reuni

 

[TMM]

USMRW4 Edgy

I wanna try mega absol and stakataka