durant update

Overview

Even though Durant seems outclassed by the various powerhouses of OU, as well as Scizor, which has better bulk, priority, and U-turn, Durant finds its niche as a high risk, high reward Pokemon. Thanks to Hustle, Durant's Attack is higher than any other Pokemon's in OU and with its good coverage, Durant is almost impossible to wall. In addition, it sports a base Speed stat of 109, making it faster than most of the tier and allowing it to just barely outpace Pokemon such as Terrakion, Keldeo and Infernape. Finally, Hone Claws allows Durant to get past even the sturdiest physical walls in OU, such as Hippowdon and Skarmory, and fixes the lowered accuracy caused by Hustle.

Although Durant looks extremely difficult to stop, it has a number of flaws. Its Special Defense is downright awful, and it will almost never take a neutral special hit. While its Speed is good for outpacing some Pokemon, it finds itself barely outsped by many special attackers, including Latios, Gengar, and Starmie. Also, while Hustle is Durant's big selling point, the accuracy drop that comes with it can be fatal. It has Hone Claws to fix this, but this is difficult to set up with Durant's bad special bulk. Overall, Durant is a high-risk, high-reward Pokemon, and must be considered as such when being placed onto a team.

Name	Item	Ability	Nature
Offensive
Life Orb / Choice Band	Hustle	Jolly
Moveset	EVs
~ Iron Head
~ Superpower
~ Thunder Fang
~ Hone Claws / X-Scissor
8 HP / 252 Atk / 248 Spe

If Durant has any hope of competing in the OU environment, this is arguably the best set it can have. Thanks to Hustle, it hits very hard, even compared to the titans of OU, and its Speed allows it to outpace common Pokemon such as Terrakion and Keldeo, allowing it to be a formidable offensive threat. Iron Head is the main STAB option, OHKOes most offensive Pokemon that don't resist it after Stealth Rock, such as Dragonite and Terrakion, and hits even Pokemon that resist it for considerable damage. Superpower was BW2's gift to Durant—it is Durant's best option against the omnipresent Steel-types in OU, and OHKOes Pokemon that previously could defeat Durant, such as Heatran. Despite Thunder Fang's low Base Power, it hits Keldeo, Tentacruel, Skarmory, Jellicent, and Gyarados for massive damage, all Pokemon that otherwise counter Durant.

The last slot comes down to personal preference, as well as confidence. As mentioned in the overview, Hone Claws is difficult to set up, but it complements Hustle well. After one boost, it fixes Durant's accuracy problems while allowing it to power through some of its usual checks—Thundurus-T, for example, is OHKOed by Iron Head at +1 after Stealth Rock damage despite resisting the move, Hippowdon is 2HKOed by Iron Head, and Skarmory is 2HKOed by Thunder Fang. However, Durant finds it hard to set this move up due to the prevalence of Choice Scarf users and faster special attackers that can threaten to destroy it easily due to Durant's bad special bulk. If this is a problem, X-Scissor is another STAB option. While it doesn't gain that much additional coverage, it allows Durant to OHKO Celebi, Latias, and offensive Reuniclus, OHKOes 252 HP Jirachi at +1 after Stealth Rock and one layer of Spikes without cutting your sweep short like Superpower does, and hits certain Pokemon for the same damage as Superpower but without lowering Durant's stats, such as Rotom-W, Gastrodon, and Metagross.

Team Options & Additional Comments

The given EVs allow Durant to maximize its offensive prowess. A Jolly nature is mandatory to outspeed fully invested Pokemon at base 108 Speed or lower. Because Durant has a unique Speed tier, it can move the other 4 EVs from Speed to HP to help it take hits slightly better. Life Orb is the best item for Durant, making it as powerful as possible and virtually unwallable. Rock Slide can be used on the last slot in order to OHKO Zapdos after Stealth Rock, an otherwise flawless counter to Durant, and to unconditionally OHKO Thundurus-T and bulky Volcarona, both Pokemon that Durant can't OHKO otherwise when unboosted even with Stealth Rock up, while they OHKO back.

One of the biggest problemss of Durant are most neutral or super effective special attacks, due to Durant's horrible special bulk, so naturally its best partners are those that can take special hits. Heatran in particular is a good partner, as it can take special hits well and has Flash Fire to absorb hits from Fire-type moves, Durant's only weakness. Heatran also deals with Forretress, the only true counter to Durant in OU. Tyranitar is also a good partner, as not only is it incredibly bulky on the special side, but it also sets up a sandstorm which Durant happens to be immune to. Both Pokemon can also learn Stealth Rock, which allows Durant to secure some KOs on Pokemon. Rotom-W is a good answer to Choice Scarf Keldeo, Skarmory, Landorus-T, Hippowdon, and Forretress, all good checks or counters to Durant. Gravity is an interesting option to help Durant out, as it increases the accuracy of its moves without the need of Hone Claws or an item. Both forms of Landorus are the most common users of the move in OU since they get mileage out of the move themselves. Weavile is also an effective partner, as it can defeat several Pokemon that Durant fears, such as Gengar, Starmie, Latios, and Tornadus.
Other Options

Durant has a shallow movepool, but it has a few other options. Choice Band can be used isntead of Life Orb to make Durant even more powerfull, but Durant's real strenght lies in its ability to switch moves and possibly boost with Hone Claws. Agility or Rock Polish are decent options, as Durant isn't weak to any priority moves and the opponent will have a tough time outspeeding it at +2. However, Scizor's access to Bullet Punch and Swords Dance makes Scizor superior in most cases. Thunder Wave is always a useful support option, but Durant's low special bulk makes it hard to use. Baton Pass can be used to pass off a boost at the last minute, but Durant will rarely even have the opportunity to use Hone Claws in the first place. Substitute is useful mainly because it is the only way Durant is going to take a special hit from a Pokemon such as Starmie. As a side note, do not use Wide Lens—even though it somewhat improves Durant's accuracy, it doesn't offer any additional power, which is Durant's main (and really only) advantage.

Checks and Counters

Due to the immediate power it brings onto the field, Durant can be tricky to stop. Forretress is the only true counter to Durant in OU, as it can avoid the 2HKO from everything Durant has and use Volt Switch to bring in a faster Pokemon that can KO Durant. Without Rock Slide, defensive Zapdos counters Durant as it avoids a 2HKO from all of Durant's moves even at +1. Physically defensive Hippowdon and Skarmory avoid the 2HKO from unboosted Durant and can either stall it with Life Orb damage or phaze it if it attempts to set up, acting as good checks. Landorus-T avoids the 2HKO from anything that Durant has and deals 60% damage minimum back, meaning that it is a good check after Durant suffers a couple Life Orb rounds. Choice Scarf Magnezone or Magneton can switch into any of Durant's moves other than Superpower and trap and OHKO it with Thunderbolt. Jellicent, Tentacruel, and most other bulky Water-types can switch into an Iron Head, survive one Thunder Fang, and hit hard with Scald, potentially burning or outright OHKOing Durant. However, a much safer way to defeat Durant is by revenge killing it. To put it bluntly, any Pokemon either holding a Choice Scarf or that has a base Speed over 109 with a neutral special attack is going to either force Durant out or destroy it. Examples of these Pokemon include Choice Scarf Keldeo, Starmie, and Gengar, and if Durant has Hone Claws, these Pokemon will discourage its setup heavily. Be warned that some of these Pokemon, such as Alakazam and Gengar, must sometimes rely on the inaccurate Focus Blast, while Durant can OHKO some of them in return.