Useful for Baton Pass chains, keeps everything from being Roared / Whirlwinded. If you lack Umbreon, Spider Web is very important to prevent Haze from killing you as well. It can go over Spore or Substitute, as Ingrain and Baton Pass are required. These EVs allow you to live through a Zapdos Thunderbolt all the time (barring Sand Stream, Spikes, and other damage taken), which is about the strongest unboosted Special Attack used in standard, so you'll live through things like Starmie Surf as well.
The ultimate instant Baton Passer setup. This thing works marvels. It's useful to have Exploud, Mr. Mime, Magneton, Octillery, or Cradily on your team, but not required. This works simply: send out Smeargle against something slow and use Substitute. If they switched to a Pokémon that doesn't have Roar / Whirlwind, Haze or multi-hit moves, use Belly Drum, otherwise, Spore. Next turn, Baton Pass or Spore if you just Belly Drummed, Belly Drum if you just Spored. Sweep with Medicham, Aerodactyl, Cradily, Gyarados, or whatever. Medicham is the best if you can guarantee the pass, as it OHKOs every single Pokémon in OU, with only Groudon even having a minor chance of surviving in Ubers (with max HP and Defense, Impish). Cradily, however, has the benefit of being immune to Roar and Whirlwind, making it easier to pass to. Aerodactyl and Gyarados are easier to get in and have Taunt for stuff they can't OHKO.
Guaranteed one kill in a match if your opponent does not have a Ghost AND doesn't know what you are pulling. A dastardly surprise. Endure a hit from just about any Pokémon, Spore it, and if you aren't facing a Sleep Talker, Endeavor. If they stay in, attack them with your last move. If they stayed in on that too, just repeat the cycle. It's more likely that they switch, in which case you can Endeavor that one too. Now you will have put one opponent to sleep, and one a sitting duck at 1 HP. Beware of Reversal and Flail though. Some opponents are so shocked by this they make odd switches, and every switch to a new Pokémon means another Pokémon screwed by Endeavor. Where this set really shines, however, is in 2v2 Stadium Mode, which, incidentally, is what the 2006 Pokémon Journey Across America Tournament was. Lead with this guy and a Pokémon that knows the move Explosion or Selfdestruct—the higher Attack and Speed they have, the better. Use ExtremeSpeed in this mode of play: it helps against things like Rayquaza. Use Explosion / Selfdestruct on your ally and Endure with Smeargle, then send in a Pokémon that has Fake Out (Jynx is preferred, but Persian works, as well). If one enemy is faster than Jynx / Persian, Spore that one and Fake Out the other, otherwise, Spore the Pokémon least likely to be carrying a Lum Berry (since there is Item Clause, only one Lum Berry is allowed per team). Next turn, Endeavor the Pokémon that is awake, and Ice Beam it with Jynx. Since you Spored the Pokémon that is faster, the Pokémon awake should be slower. Endeavor brings them down to 1 HP, and Ice Beam finishes them off, killing them before they do anything, leaving them with a sleeping Pokémon on the field. Repeat on every awake Pokémon, finally finishing off the sleeping Pokémon. The last 4 EVs on this set have been omitted because they would be detrimental to this Smeargle's quality; it needs to be able to get to as low HP as possible after Endure for Endeavor to work well. The 0 HP IVs are for the same reason.
Set this Smeargle to level 5, and pair it up with Tyranitar's Sand Stream. It is nearly impossible to get in, but if you manage to pull it off and there are no Ghosts on the opposing side you WILL screw up at least one opponent. Substitute or Spore when you can to buy a little more time, and Endeavor anything you can. Because of Smeargle's extremely low HP you will put them straight into Sand Stream's KO range, unless they are Ground-, Rock- or Steel-typed (or Cacturne, Golduck, or Rayquaza). The last move is to finish those, or anything really if Sand Stream isn't up. ExtremeSpeed is just a nice move to stop a Salac Pokemon at 1 HP from ruining you. You'll be doing about 2 damage to most Pokemon. Your EVs and hold item will likely not matter. Don't give Smeargle HP EVs when running this set: you'll reduce Endeavor's damage. In fact, you'll want to set your HP IV to 9 or less. This puts your HP at 20, which is the lowest Smeargle can get. To get it in, one of your best options is a Pokémon with a trapping move and a sleeping move. Mean Look / Lovely Kiss Jynx, Block / Yawn Snorlax and Mean Look / Hypnosis Gengar are good options. Smeargle essentially needs one turn to get in and one to set up Spore or Substitute. If you ever encounter something that cannot really touch him, like a Pokémon with no attacking moves or only Ghost-typed moves, use that to come in more than once. This set is extremely deadly, especially if your opponent doesn't catch the whole level 5 thing and switches into something to take the Spore, not realizing everything is faster and powerful enough to kill it. Defensive EVs are helpful on this set because this Smeargle's HP is already enough to kill most anything with Sandstorm in effect, so it doesn't need to take any more damage than Sandstorm will inflict. Meanwhile, the defensive EVs may help Smeargle, unlikely as it is, survive something.
Because OHKOs are banned, this is the next best thing to using Lock On and Sheer Cold. This will only work if you can predict a switch. Use Spider Web on the switch, Spore them, Substitute, and Perish Song. Spam Substitute and Spore while you are waiting, in case they wake up before dying. This set has trouble with Sleep Talkers like Heracross. The EVs given maximize Smeargle's defenses with max Speed.
A STAB ExtremeSpeed or Explosion after a Belly Drum from this dude can hurt like hell. It's not as common as the "Belly passer" or the Endeavor set, but you can still find it in a few places tearing stuff up. It OHKOs Skarmory after Belly Drum with Explosion, so imagine it on other Pokémon with not nearly the same Defense as Skarmory. The 4 Defense EVs allow you to Belly Drum twice if you ever manage to get that in without dying to Sand Stream.
Transforming is a somewhat viable strategy: it allows you to see your opponent's moveset, and you can use their moves against them. Spikes, Aromatherapy, Toxic, Light Screen, they are merely examples. Transform also automatically copies any stat boosts your opponent has: you are free to Transform into a Snorlax with a bunch of Curses and try to beat it. You may not have the extremely high HP, but your other stats will probably be superior. The usual response to Smeargle is a Sleep Talker, which is why it may not be wise to use Spore first. You can check for Sleep Talkers by Transforming into them. The last two slots are pretty much just an invitation to use whatever you want. Other options in those slots are: ExtremeSpeed, to finish off Salac Pokémon, Whirlwind, to catch stuff like Ninjask who thinks it can Substitute, then boost up in front of you, Spikes, Rapid Spin, and Aromatherapy. Basically, any "support" move. Reflect and Light Screen are there to give you an edge after you Transform. Other OptionsSmeargle is one of the two Pokémon in the game that can Baton Pass Tail Glow. If you pull that off and pass to Raikou, Zapdos, or any powerful and fast special sweeper, you can give your opponent a hard time. Besides that, anything in the game really, but nothing useful that isn't mentioned already. Smeargle doesn't have the stats to pull anything off besides what's already listed. EVs252 Speed, Jolly, rest in HP and the defenses for Baton Passers, rest in Attack if you are using the attacker or the Endeavor version with ExtremeSpeed. OpinionSmeargle is a veteran in Baton Pass chains; it's the reason why it isn't so simple to just Roar / Whirlwind the hell out of them. Smeargle can cause your loss right away, even outside of the chain, because Baton Passing a Belly Drum and a Salac boost to something like Medicham is just plain "good game". Beware of Smeargle, despite its fragility. CountersGhosts block the Endeavor set. Otherwise, Quick Attackers and Ninjask hurt Smeargle a lot as long as they avoid ExtremeSpeed from a Belly Drummed Smeargle. Skarmory, Suicune, and Steelix are phazers that scare Smeargle by default, and Weezing can Haze away its boosts. Banette and Primeape are immune to Spore thanks to their abilities, and can kick Smeargle's ass. Anything that hits Smeargle is its demise, so you can imagine Sleep Talk being good to make Smeargle less effective. |
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