Durant - Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Battle | Pokemon Sword and Shield

This is a strategy guide for using Durant in competitive play for the games Pokemon Sword and Shield. Read on for tips on the best Nature, EV spreads, Movesets, Builds, and Held Items to use with Durant, as well as its strengths and weak points.

Durant - Related Guides
Evolution and Learnset	Build for Ranked Battle

Basic Information for Durant

Types and Abilities

Pokemon	Type 1	Type 2
Durant
Abilities
Hustle	Boosts the Attack stat, but lowers accuracy.
Swarm	Powers up Bug-type moves in a pinch.
Truant (Hidden)	Pokemon can't attack on consecutive turns.

Type Defenses

	Type
Takes 4x damage
Takes 2x damage	-
Takes 0.5x damage
Takes 1/4x damage
Takes 0x damage

What is Type Effectiveness?

Base Stats

Best Nature for Durant

What are Natures?

How to Learn Durant's Egg Moves

Singles Movesets for Durant

Hustle Moveset & Best Build

Hustle and Dynamax are a powerful combination

Durant's ability Hustle has the drawback of detracting from its accuracy, but as all Max Moves have perfect accuracy, Durant can use Dynamax to attack with 1.5x Attack power with no penalty. This build has Durant hold the Life Orb to further push its damage higher.

Learns a variety of moves

Because of its ability to learn not just powerful STAB moves such as Iron Head and First Impression, but also Thunder Fang to strike the Bug and Steel-resistent Corviknight and Toxapex, as well as Superpower to use against Steel-type Pokemon. Having attacking moves in four different types will allow Durant to hit most Pokemon with super effective or at least neutral damage.

Get STAB priority with First Impression

Having a priority move with First Impression allows it to knock out fast foes like Hydreigon with the Choice Scarf without worrying about taking a hit. Although you can usually only use it on the first turn after switching in, this downside can also be removed by Dynamaxing Durant.

Other Viable Moves

Truant + Entrainment Moveset & Best Build

Creates an opportunity for its teammate

Durant is the only Pokemon who can carry both the Truant ability and the move Entrainment. With its high speed, it can use Entrainment to share its purely-negative ability with the opponent, then on being hit by an attack, it will automatically be switched out by the Eject Button. On the next turn, the opponent will either by unable to move due to Truant, or they will switch out, either way allowing one free turn where the foe cannot attack.

Good for pairing with Gothitelle or Dugtrio

After switching out Durant with the Eject Button, possible candidates for the switch-in include Gothitelle and Dugtrio. These Pokemon have abilities that prevent the opponent from switching out and removing the Truant ability. The Pokemon can then use the opponent's missed turns to boost their stats without fear, while using Protect on the opponent's active turns.

Other Viable Moves

How to Use Durant Effectively

A powerful attacker with Hustle

Durant's ability Hustle increases the power of its attacks by 50% while also lowering the accuracy of all its moves to 0.8x their normal rate. As long as its attacks land, it's able to deal massive damage. On top of that, because all Max Moves have perfect accuracy, Durant can overcome Hustle's accuracy drop while Dynamaxed. And because it boasts a high Base Speed of 109, it can serve as a ruthless Physical attacker in the current metagame.

Can set up for a sweep with Truant and Entrainment

Durant's Hidden Ability Truant prevents it from using a move every other turn. It's an ability with nothing but disadvantages, but can be paired with Entrainment to pass Truant to an unfortunate opponent. When the opponent switches out to restore their ability to normal, Durant can take the opportunity to disadvantage the switching-in Pokemon with moves like Rock Tomb and Thunder Wave.

Counters for Durant

Weakness

Use Fire to barbecue it

Durant is host to a 4x weakness to Fire-type moves. However, because of Durant's incredibly high Attacking power, it's no piece of cake to survive a hit and strike back after. Instead of switching in a Pokemon to take a hit, it's best to send a Pokemon faster than Durant as the switch-in after one of your Pokemon is knocked out.

Best Pokemon to Use

Pokemon	Description
Dragapult	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Faster than Durant and can score 1HKO with Fire Blast ・Needs Focus Sash to survive a hit on switch-in Moveset & Best Build for Dragapult
Cinderace	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Can take Iron Head with reduced damage. ・A Fire-type Pokemon with greater Speed than Durant. Moveset & Best Build for Cinderace
Heat Rotom	Ranking: ★★★★ ・Can take Iron Head with 1/4x damage ・Can be safely switched in to take a hit from Iron Head, then outspeed with Choice Scarf for the knock out Moveset & Best Build for Heat Rotom
Naganadel	Ranking: ★★★★ ・Faster than Durant. ・Defeat Durant and raise stat with Beast Boost. Moveset & Best Build for Naganadel

Take a hit with a Defense wall

Pokemon who take reduced damage from Durant's STAB attacks and do not take super effective damage from its other attacks have the potential to withstand its attacks. Even if these Pokemon cannot take Durant down, they may be able to survive 3 turns of Dynamax, giving the next Pokemon in line a better shot.

Best Pokemon to Use

Pokemon	Description
Aegislash	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Must watch out for the super-effective Crunch ・Can stall to outlast Durant's Dynamax ・If Special-oriented, can use Special attacks to hit Durant's weak Special Defense Best Ranked Battle Build for Aegislash

Best Teams Featuring Durant

Best Durant Team for Ranked Battle
Grimmsnarl	Durant	Ditto
Hydreigon	Mimikyu	Snorlax

This is the team that made Durant, a minor Pokemon unseen in the metagame, into a superstar. Even ignoring all the trends, it's notable for its highly aggressive attacking style.

This team is available for free rental, and usable in Ranked Battle with no EV Training necessary. You can try out this team to get a feel for using Durant, or even use it as your go-to team if it fits your play style.
Best Durant Team for Ranked Battle

Related Links

All Competitive Builds for Ranked Battle

Competitive Guides for Pokemon Sword and Shield

Competitive Pokemon Battle Guides
Tier List		Best Builds		Series 8 Tier List Contenders
Doubles Tier List		Team Building		Rental Teams

Best Builds for Returning Pokemon

Movesets & Best Builds for Returning Pokemon
Mimikyu	Wash Rotom	Gyarados
Ferrothorn	Aegislash	Excadrill
Tyranitar	Hydreigon	Heat Rotom
Arcanine	Mamoswine	Toxapex
Togekiss	Cloyster	Durant
Snorlax	Charizard	Sylveon
Lucario	Hippowdon	Umbreon
Conkeldurr	Quagsire	Gastrodon
Lapras	Whimsicott	Rhyperior
Goodra	Haxorus	Glaceon
Mow Rotom	Type: Null	Gengar
Milotic	Gardevoir	Flygon
Chandelure	Lanturn	Torkoal
Bisharp	Seismitoad	Silvally
Butterfree	Primarina	Incineroar
Blastoise	Decidueye	Venusaur
Darmanitan	Alolan Ninetales	Gothitelle
Crawdaunt	Clefable	Reuniclus
Kommo-o	Terrakion	Cobalion
Virizion	Noivern	Fan Rotom
Toxicroak	Pelipper	Jellicent
Celebi	Clefairy	Hitmontop
Diggersby	Ditto	Raichu