Durant in Pokémon TCG: References from Mainline Games and Anime

In TCG ·

Durant card art from BREAKpoint (XY9-9) by Kouki Saitou

Image courtesy of TCGdex.net

Durant in the Pokémon TCG: A Bridge Between Mainline Lore and Anime Moments

In the vast tapestry of Pokémon, Durant stands as a compact guardian with an armored shell and an appetite for strategy. In the mainline games, Durant is a Bug/Steel creature whose defenses mirror its stubborn, relentless nature. When Durant steps onto the Pokémon TCG stage in the BREAKPOINT era, it trades a bit of its canonical typing for a fresh rhythm: a Grass-type Basic with 70 HP that surprises players by leaning into deck disruption rather than raw tempo. Illustrated by Kouki Saitou, this card captures the beetle’s determined gaze and a sense of quiet, beetle-precision that fans recognize from both the games and the anime. ⚡

BREAKPOINT brought many players back to the XY era’s intricate meta, and Durant (XY9-9) is a lucid reminder that not all disruptors need to be flashy—some are simply stubborn enough to nibble away at an opponent’s plan, card by card. The card’s art and mechanical flavor mesh with Durant’s role as a resilient, methodical creature in the anime and games, where strategy often hinges on outlasting the opponent rather than delivering a sudden knockout. The set’s collectible charm is reinforced by Durant’s Uncommon rarity, a nod to the niche but dedicated corners of a player’s binder. 🔎

How the card plays: a practical battlefield portrait

Durant’s numeric profile—Grass type, 70 HP, and a modest two-attack toolkit—reads like a deliberate design choice for mid-game misdirection. The first attack, Mountain Munch, costs a single Grass energy and deals 10 damage while stipulating the effect: Discard the top card of your opponent's deck. On its own, that’s a quiet nudge to push a game toward late-monster grind rather than a quick finish. The real twist comes with Scrape Down, which costs Grass plus Colorless and adds a conditional trigger: If this Pokémon has any damage counters on it, discard the top 4 cards of your opponent's deck. The synergy is elegant—Durant can be loaded up with a few marks and suddenly become a larger threat to the opponent’s draw pile, a flavor match for Durant’s armored, relentless nature in the anime’s battles and the games’ late-game scrims. 🪨

With 70 HP and a retreat cost of 1, Durant isn’t meant to be a frontline finisher; it’s designed to endure, pressuring the opponent to clock their resources while you percolate your plan. Its Fire weakness—worth x2—serves as a reminder that Durant belongs to a broader, careful Grass-type ecosystem in the BREAKPOINT era, where players often balance recovery, stall, and disruption. The card’s basic stage and the expanded-legal status (not standard) make it a thoughtful pick for Expanded-format decks that prize card control or niche disruptor engines. And the fact that the illustrator Kouki Saitou lends his crisp, beetle-armor aesthetic to Durant’s visage only deepens the card’s collector appeal. 🎨

“A small beetle with a big mission: stall, disrupt, endure.”

From a strategic perspective, Durant shines when paired with other disruption-heavy or slower-control Grass cards that can help you set up perpetual deck-churn. In an Expanded environment, players may weave Durant into builds that leverage consistent draw denial and timing tricks to force an opponent into a corner—especially against decks that rely on heavy draw engines. The card’s stability and relative cheapness in market terms also make it an alluring pick for those exploring vintage tactics without a massive entry cost. 💎

Collector’s lens: rarity, variants, and the beauty of the art

Durant’s card art, especially through Kouki Saitou’s crisp linework and the BREAKPOINT palette, captures both the beetle’s armored silhouette and a hint of motion—the sense of a Pokémon preparing to strike when the moment is right. The card’s rarity as Uncommon places it in a sweet spot for collectors who chase specific sets and illustrators. The BREAKPOINT era features multiple variants (normal, holo, reverse holo), and Durant’s holo variant remains a coveted find for those who prize the subtle gleam of a textured battle card. As with many XY-era cards, the art’s appeal often translates into the value of a complete or near-complete binder, even if the non-holo versions tend to hover at friendly price points. For price-watchers, current data shows non-holo Durant hovering around a few cents to a couple of dimes in USD on platforms like TCGPlayer, with holo copies commanding higher, yet still accessible, ranges for casual collectors. 🔎

From a market perspective, the card’s data reflects a typical, steady drift for mid-era XY cards: TCGPlayer values show a normal around $0.11 with occasional bumps into the $0.25–$0.50 range for holo variants; CardMarket quotes in the €0.02–€0.20 territory for common fluctuations, with holo prices historically climbing higher during rotations or set retrospectives. For fans who adore the Breakpoint aesthetic or who want to test a disrupt-and-drag strategy in Expanded, Durant remains a practical and affordable option that offers both playability and nostalgia. 💸

References in mainline games and anime: where Durant’s story threads connect

Durant’s presence in the mainline games as a Bug/Steel pocket titan mirrors its armored, implacable silhouette in the anime. In the TCG, that same aura is refracted through the lens of a Grass-type disruptor, illustrating how card designers mine the broader Pokémon universe for tonal cues and strategic motifs. The mainline games celebrate Durant’s burly shell and relentless pursuit, while the anime often highlights its stubborn tenacity in the field. The BREAKPOINT iteration, with its straightforward, deck-disrupting toolkit, serves as a compact homage to that spirit: small but stubborn, capable of turning the tide through careful sequencing and draw-control—the Pokémon world’s favorite underdog tactic. ⚔️🎴

For fans who enjoy spotting cross-media references, Durant’s TCG incarnation is a delightful study in how a single creature can migrate across formats while maintaining its core ethos. The card’s design honors Durant’s lore while letting players experiment with tempo, disruption, and timing—proving once again that a beetle with a big plan can overwhelm a battle with strategy as much as with strength. 🔥

Market insight and deck-building notes

  • Legal in Expanded only (not standard) in this release, making it a niche choice for modern Expanded decks.
  • Grass-type attacks align with a broad Grass synergy in some Expanded decks, enabling energy acceleration through other Grass staples in the format.
  • Weakness to Fire invites careful matchups; pairing with other resistive or healing options can help keep Durant on the field longer to apply disruption.
  • Attack names Mountain Munch and Scrape Down evoke a tactile, nature-driven theme that resonates with Durant’s armored beetle motif.
  • Collector value remains approachable, with holo copies carrying a premium that’s still far from prohibitive for casual collectors.

For readers who want to dive deeper into related discussions—guitar strings of strategy, nostalgia, and the evolving market—check out these five networked articles below. Each piece touches on strategic shifts, price trends, accessibility in design, or the wonders of astronomical-scale photometry that quietly echo the patience and precision a Durant deck demands. ⚡🎨

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