Veritas said:
I also had this idea, but I find ''Durant (+ [insert title here])'', ''Durant + KGL'', and ''Durant + DPL'' all different decks.in their own right, as when I first tested Durant I tried it with PDL as well. All three variants focus on milling, that is a given, but setting them up and getting them going is the problem. My own conclusions will be worked out here below, if you're not interested in any of the three types, I suggest you just read what interests you, as well as skipping to the ''conclusion'' part of the stories if you don't want to read the whole thing...! Just keep in mind these things are MY opinion on these matters, and are in no way 100% based on facts...!
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''Durant (+ [insert title here]'' (aka straigt Durant, or with any desired tech you want to include)
My entire coverage of ''my version'' can be found a few posts previous to this one, my partner in crime of choice is Weavile. I find the ''straight Durant'' lists the ones with the most potential, seeing their tactical flexibillity is optimal and concistent. It is not only the fastest variant, but also the easiest to get rollin- errr, I mean milling. Also, using nothing more than the ''basics'' of the deck (no pun intended, lol), you can maximize recovery and disruption in the deck by exploiting your meta's weaknesses and flaws with your own (simple) techs.
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''Durant + KGL'' (aka Durant + Kyogre & Groudon Legend)
Durant along with KGL combines milling along with some strong offensive fire power; but it also increases Durant's ''luck factor''. With this I not only mean lady luck being on your side, but as well as for your opponent (depending on what you mill you can get a huge smack of damage on your opponent's board!).
While the main idea will remain milling (both cards work well in this aspect), KGL requires way too much energy to be powered up consistently, and you'll need to get both halves in play (as with any Legend, I know) along with your Durants. Pokémon Communication will be your friend here, along with Collector obviously, but you'll need cards to ''trade in'' which can be missed. Along with all the techs Durant will be bringing (this indeed varies on your own build, but still), you can easily fetch your Legend, but weren't those techs there for a reason (I know, some techs are useless in certain matchups, but still)? I suppose if you like a small gamble (this once again depends on your list) you could try out Legend Box as well, and during my testing it sped up my KGL considerably, however, it was not concistent enough to truly rely on during some tougher matches while I playtested the list I had.
On top of that, KGL uses 2 different types of energy than Durant (though Im guessing you'll mainly need Water energy) doesn't use (which isn't the worst, as you probably have other typing techs anyway, and usually along with the energy they require). What is both quite the advantage and a big backlash is that KGL can (ab)use DCE. ''But why can this backlash?'' you might think. Simply put, this backlashes for one reason: your list might not include DCE at all (I don't feel obliged to mention the huge energy cost here again as I did before, as it should be obvious by now)! And even if you do run DCE, it's probably for techs like Zoroark, Cinccinno, or whatever else takes your fancy. Slapping that on KGL means one less option for your tech to use during the match, and even though rare, Lost Remover will eat you alive(I know Lost Remover also eats your Special Metal energies, but tell me, what's easier to recover?).
And while were discussing energy, let me bring KGL's crucial downside to the daylight when comparing the synergy with Durant; the big 3 retreat it brings along. Do I see ''catcher bait'' written all over this ''little'' monster of us? I think so! And even if it's not dragged up front (ie, you send it up, or whatever reason it has for getting up front), expect it to stay there and remain there until it hits the discard (once again, depends on your list, but if you don't use 4 Switch or the likes (which isn't needed for Durant on it's own either way), don't expect it to leave the Active slot once it enters it. Note that SSU isn't a real option here, as you'd need to re-build those 4 energy all over again...!). And my final ''backlash'' which most of us forget when including them Legends in our decks (or at least, I get the impression most people forget it): KGL gives up two prizes when going down. A straight flushing down of your Durant line and one of these babies means your opponent won the game. Keep that in mind!
While these points sound more negative than positive, KGL's selling points provide some pro's to the deck; it's 150 HP make it very durable against anything not Zekrom and/or Jumpluff like, and the typing adds Durant's Fire (and Electric/Colourless)-counter to the deck. The water attack featured on KGL boasts enough power to do a straight cleanup from your opponent's field with exception from the Active, while the fighting attack can smash any active pokémon straight to the discard; the problem with them being the luck factor once again (Slowking and Research Record anyone?); depending on what you mill, and when.
Conclusion: KGL's cons outweigh the pro's a little too much to be a really viable choice, and especially if you're a ''concistency type'' player.
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''Durant + DPL'' (aka Durant + Dialga & Palkia Legend)
Durant including DPL is a difficult matter to discuss really, as it also strongly depends on your matchup. While only ''Psuedo-Milling'' (as I like to call anything that only discards the top X number of cards from your opponent's deck where X can be anything from 1 to 3), DPL also adds the option to ''bounce'' away anything that could get in the way. However, DPL will also reduce Durant's speed, and require some serious resource-investment to first include it in your deck, then secondly getting it out, and thirdly getting it rolling on the field.
Getting it into play is our first concern. Stuff like Collector and Communication provide a reliable way to build it up at the cost of some other resources, but if you're more of an adventurous type of person you might even give Legend Box a try. Just ask yourself beforehand if you can miss all those resources, and if what DPL does during the matchup was worth all the effort?
While adding prizes to your opponent's field at the extent of their deck can sound good, take in mind the following factors as well: After adding the two prizes, you'll lose all your metal energy attached to DPL (this is not just limited to the two you use mandatory for the attack cost!) without any decent way to recover them quickly enough (depending on your list, I know, but even if you recover them in your hand, they'll be needed on the field asap anyways!)... Take into account you probably don't have anything to re-fuel DPL again with another 2 metal energy (at least!), meaning you'll be ''Psuedo-Milling'' two card every other turn, meaning DPL is actually a ''I take two turns to work'' attacker, which is not good at all. Secondly, we are discissing an attack that first discards two metal energy, and then only ''mills'' 2 cards... Our main attacker does double the milling for half the cost...! And to finish my ''ranting'' on this attack, I would like to point out that if they KO your DPL after you used Time Control on them (at least) once, you've essentially given them a free draw move of 2 cards, at the cost of not taking one prize. I don't know about the rest, but sometimes I'd prefer a free 2 card draw over a prize anyways? ''But I can lay down more than 2 prizes for them before DPL goes down!'' Well, let me get this straight; without any dedicated super method to recycle and attach your metal energies to DPL every turn, you'll be adding 4 prizes in 4 turns. Now tell me, any opponent who hasn't wrecked DPL by 4 turns isn't on the winning side anyways? so why not keep milling with your Durant anyways?
This brings us to the other attack. While it requires a different type of energy (Water), it only requires one of said energy. On top of that, depending on what you slap on your DPL you could switch between using Time Control and Sudden Delete, first dropping two prizes on your opponent, and then ''deleting'' anything that could take out DPL during the ''dead turn'' in between your Time Control attacks. The problem with this is what to choose? Bounce back that horrible tech, or that dangerous main attacker? And will you focus on keeping DPL in play, or is it just a ''stepping stone'' for Durant to make the matchup easier? No use in bouncing basics back either; they will either be splashed right back onto the bench, or they will be replaced by something far worse (probably) anyways. The final ''flaw'' of this attack being that if your opponent doesn't have any benched pokémon at all, you can't ''delete'' anything anyways...!
Things to consider before putting DPL in don't stop there though; take a look at it's stats for example. The monster 160 HP, along with the abillity to (ab)use Special Metal Energy are wonderful, but if you look further, you'll see all the good news ends here; DPL packs the same weakness as Durant features, and adds Electric to that as well. The big 3 retreat aren't likely to be paid either, so bring something like switch and/or SSU along the way too (SSU is great in the way you could dump 2 prizes on your opponent, they smack it for damage but don't KO it, and you just bounce it back to your hand for prize denial, as well as adding 2 prizes. The obvious downside to this is that you'll need to re-build your DPL from scratch again (if you didn't have to already); otherwise your DPL will be stuck in the Active slot until you either win, or until it goes down to the discard. Besides, doesn't the 3 retreat scream ''Catcher bait'' loudly into your ears? That's right, either bring cards like Switch and/or SSU, or get some ear buds. Ironically, if we just take typing into account, DPL could be Durant's sought Fire-counter, but when we look at the attacks DPL doesn't deal a single damage counter (or at least 10 damage) to your opponent whatsoever, making it's typing only rellevant when (ab)using Special Metal Energy, checking for weakness and/or resistance, and attacks that have an additional attack when there is a specific type in play (but I guess to use it to determine a card's attack energy costs as well I guess?).
Conclusion: DPL's pro's and cons are kind of balanced, but in a general Durant list DPL will cause more problems than that it adds to the deck. On paper this looks wonderful, but when playtesting it turns out that DPL is too resource and effort heavy to get out, in ratio in what it does for you.
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Please feel free to share any of your opinions and experience with the above mentioned cards; I'd love to hear a scenario where they actually worked (on a concistent basis, not just some lucky matches of course!), and how you did it? I'd also love to discuss anything you might not agree with me, either in this topic (but let's stay on topic) or by pm.
Once again, everything above is just my personal opinion and experience. Not everything is 100% based on facts, but just what I think and experienced with the cards, thank you!
,i completely agree...straight durant +weavile +some techs is much faster and consistant than the other versions 
