Well seeing some activity in Competitive Discussion the last few days finally convinced me, that it is time to try making my first competitive quide, and as it is my first one, i used the opportunity to write a guide on my favourite Uranium fakemon and first bred shiny ever: Barand

Barand

HP:          45
Atk:         115
Def:         45
SpAtk:     40
SpDef:     30
Spd:         85     
BST:        360
Abillity: Rivalry, Shed Skin, Tough Claws (HA)

Well that is certainly a glass cannon if there ever was one! To give you an idea of how frail Barand is, Adamant Life Orb Daikatuna does up to 40% with a resisted Aqua Jet, so every defensive option for Barand is out of the question. However not all is lost for the serpentine dragon as it has the highest Base Attack stat out of all the Dragon-types in Tandor, beating out Fafninter by 5 points. That alone wouldn't be enough to give it legitimate usage, though, and here comes Barand‘s real claim to fame: access to Tough Claws and a godly movepool to take advantage of. Seriously, the amount of diverse moves this Pokemon can use effectively is absurd and this makes Barand a real threat if you face one unprepared, as very few Pokémon can safely switch into it.


Not bare handed (Choiced sets)
 
Barand @ Choice Band/Choice Scarf  
Abillity: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk, 4 Def, 252 Spe
Jolly/Adamant nature
- Extreme Speed
- Outrage/Dragon Claw
- Poison Jab/Knock off
- Superpower/Knock off

Extreme Speed boosted by Tough Claws is the reason why an Adamant Choice Band set can work as it lets Barand pick on weakened, speedier threats. Dragon Claw or Outrage are your go-to STABs and must be chosen carefully as Outrage deals disgusting amounts of damage, but Dragon Claw is a much safer option. Poison Jab deals with Fairy-types such as Luxelong and Mega Syrentide; and Superpower with Steel-types like Lanthan, Metalynx or Gararewl. You can choose Knock Off over one of these for utility and if you are particularly worried about S51-A (there is a legitimate reason to be). Barand hits incredibly hard with Choice Band and if you are locked into the right move, it can 2HKO almost every Pokémon in the game bar physically defensive Laissure, physically defensive Tubareel and physically defensive Beliaddon.
A Choice Scarf can let Barand work as a revenge killer, but there are other mons that do this job better as its Speed stat, although not too terrible, is somewhat slow compared to more prominent Revenge killers. Nonetheless it can prove effective, as it lets Barand use it's near perfect coverage to revenge kill its opponents instead of over relying on Extreme Speed, effectively threatening healthier targets such as Rock- and Steel-types that can tank an Extreme Speed fairly well, and the rarer Dramsama and Mismagius because of their lack of priority. Both Adamant and Jolly natures can work with Choice Scarf. Adamant allows Barand to hit harder in general and still outspeed almost the entire unboosted metagame bar Inflagetah, Mega Archilles and Mega Inflagetah, although it loses the ability to outspeed scarfed Pokémon with a base speed of 74 and above, which can create a problem with Xenoqueen, Lavent and Paraboom in this speed tier. Going Jolly has the benefit of outspeeding these threats, even when scarfed and speed tying with Chimaconda at worst as well as actually damage non-Mega Inflagetah with Extreme Speed which deals about 25% to Inflagetah's HP.


The Dancing Snake (Setup Sweeper)
 
Barand @ Focus Sash  
Abillity: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk, 4 Def, 252 Spe
Jolly nature
- Dragon Dance
- Extreme Speed
- Drain Punch/Poison Jab
- Outrage/Dragon Claw

A difficult set to pull off, but that can save you in some sticky situations. Dragon Dance combines the power of Choice Band and the speed of Choice Scarf into one set, which can spread destruction on the opposing team, but it comes with a few issues: by sacrificing one of its moveslots to Dragon Dance it loses the ability to check either Fairy- or Steel-types depending on the chosen coverage move. Extreme Speed is still a must-have to not loose the duell against any Priority user in the game and to smack weakened Inflagetah after a Dragon Dance. A notable change in the moveset is Drain Punch instead of Superpower due to Superpowers attack drop which would ruin your sweep and to restore the function of an unused Focus Sash should Barand survive an Attack naturally like Leaf Blade from defensive Metalynx. Poison Jab can be used instead of Drain Punch to damage bulky Fairy-types that would otherwise wall this set to no end. Dragon Claw can be chosen over Outrage, to not be choice locked into one move, which can be easily exploited but the damage difference is noticeable. Focus Sash is the best item to use on this set because of to Barand’s less than stellar defenses that can lead to many opposing Pokémon OHKOing it. Since Barand is affected by all entry Hazards, a Hazard removal from the likes of S51-A is desperately needed to take care of them before they break the Sash or slow Barand down. Since Barand is either walled by Fairy types or Steel types depending on the coverage move, it is advised to deal with them before you start to set up preferably in the late game. All in all, a more niche set, but it cuts the need of prediction, which can severely hinder its usage in the choiced sets.


Nuclear Slap (Choice Scarf)

Barand @ Choice Scarf  
Abillity: Shed Skin
EVs: 252 Atk, 4 Def, 252 Spe
Jolly nature
- Nuclear Slash
- Knock off
- Superpower
- Fire Punch/Half-Life

Barand’s nuclear version is sadly locked out of its HA Tough Claws and Extreme Speed, therefor making a Jolly nature and Choice Scarf necessary to be able to attack first in most cases. Barand could use as much speed as possible, given it's horrendous defensive typing that causes Barand to faint from almost any attack. While undoubtedly inferior to Tough Claws, Shed Skin can still be useful due to it's 30% chance to cure any status condition which may help against Flame Body or Static. Priority users will destroy this set given how frail even regular Barand is, and the other moves of Barand will suffer from the lack of Tough Claws, but no other Pokémon with Nuclear Slash (besides Urayne, but yeah that is Urayne) has quite the power and speed of Barand (Gliscor and Tanscure are faster but not quite as strong), giving it an effective niche as a physical Nuclear-type revenge killer. Granted special Nuclear-type revenge killers are vastly superior to physical ones with beasts as Nucleon and Nuclear Jerbolta, but it is worth mentioning, especially with the high critical hit rate of Nuclear Slash. Knock off is there to deal with S51-A and Superpower for the rest of the Steel-types. The last move should either be Fire Punch to maul Metalynx or Half Life to soften up walls like defensive Laissure, although most of the time you will spam Nuclear Slash. Note that, although four times effective against most Pokémon, Nuclear Slash is still only a move with a Base Power of 55 and it will fail to kill the prominent walls of the meta if they don't receive some chip damage before that. Also, since its niche is a Nuclear-type move, Steel types will have an easier time with it. S51-A does not appreciate being Knocked Off but it will still live 2 hits most of the time even if it's the special defensive set and will dispose of Barand with any of its moves.


Team options:
Because Barand can't switch into attacks at all, a slowturner like S51-A is a great partner for it as it can also keep Hazards off the field. Barand also appreciates Stealth Rock support as it allows it to force switches with Extreme Speed against weakened foes and with Stealth Rocks it can always OHKO Nucleon with Extreme Speed. Chainite is a great Partner because it can remove S51-A from enemy teams and can damage Steel types with Drain Punch. Nimflora is also a fantastic partner for Barand because it can lay down Sticky Webs and use Sleep Powder to give Barand the opportunity to set up.


Counters:
Keep your Fairy- and Steel-types healthy as they prevent Barand from spamming absolutely deadly Outrages and force prediction games. Revenge killing it is also a pretty safe way of dealing with Barand if it's not locked into Extreme Speed or doesn't have it in it's moveset. Sticky Web is a huge nuisance to Barand as it forces it to spam Extreme Speed to outspeed; and Stealth Rock or Spikes break its Focus Sash. Physically defensive Tubareel and physically defensive Laissure are the only mons that can safely switch into any of Barand’s moves and not be 2HKOed. Physically defensive Fafninter also survives one attack no matter what and can finish Barand with Ice Shard if it has taken a little bit of damage before. Trapping it with Chainite is also an option as Barand only needs to take little damage beforehand to be safely killed by a Shadow Sneak.


Other Options:
If you choose Dragon Claw instead of Outrage, the Elemental Punches can be used to cover specific types, otherwise Outrage is superior in most cases. If you are particularly worried about Cocancer, Metalynx, Gyarados, Gliscor and Frosthra (although that's a stretch) these moves can still be used on an Outrage set. Iron Tail is an option if you want to maul Fairy-types even harder, but it's difficult to justify over Poison Jab, because of its less than stellar accuracy. Facade can be nice if Barand ends up being burned, but it's difficult to fit on sets. Another option on the Choice Banded set could be Focus Punch for an even stronger hit, but it's still difficult to justify over Superpower, since it can be used in succession unlike Focus Punch which will most likely fail if your opponent is playing somewhat decent. Another option (suggested by Dragonstrike) is to swap out Choice Band for Life Orb, to make you less dependent on prediction and since your bulk is almost non-existing anyways the recoil won't matter as much. I would recommend using Life Orb if you choose to use Dragon Claw instead of Outrage.


Summary:
Well it's obvious that Barand will never be the most consistent performer and will only have niche usage in all tiers since it's so frail, but it's surprisingly powerful for a Pokémon with a BST of 360. It's not a Pokémon you have to consider building against since you will almost never encounter one, but if you do you have to keep up your prediction game, as you will most likely have no switch-ins if it's the Choice Band set.

Huge thanks to shademonkey who really helped me out with this guide It wouldn't have been half as good if he didn't helped me to not be an idiot xD

Some Calcs: