Theorymon Discussion and Viability Ranking

[ShootingStarmie]

What is Suicune Got Hydration?

Rest has always been Suicune's main means of recovery. Suicune's top-class defenses (tougher than almost anything found in OU, except the Kyurems) and good defensive typing meant that it could safely sleep off the two turns, and just keep going and going-- setting up to destroy as a CM user, or just be a major pain with Roar.

In BW though, while Suicune's defenses were as top-class as ever, and Scald + CM seemed a lethal combo screwing special and physical attackers, Suicune's healing just wasn't fast enough to keep up.

So, what if Suicune's Rest handicap was cured by Hydration-- an ability all too fitting for a "water god" like Suicune.

Suicune
Hydration
@Leftovers
-Rest
-Calm Mind
-Scald
-Roar / Ice Beam

For the first time since ADV, Suicune would be able to drop Sleep Talk for that extra vital slot needed for Roar or an extra attack. Under Rain, Suicune's durability would be increased significantly-- finally allowing it truly abuse its CM + Scald combo to the fullest.

Whether or not this would bring Suicune back up to OU class seems questionable; a reliance on rain as well as the exact same typing as Politoed cause some team building problems Vaporeon is all too familiar with. A game flooded with Water-type immunities and Celebi isn't helpful either. Would Hydration be enough to make Suicune viable again?

It'd basically be a bulkier version of Manaphy. Holy crap. This thing would receive insane usage, as nothing can OHKO it (that's a broad claim, but you know what I mean, it's just really really really really bulky). I could see this thing being banned tbh. Instant reliable recovery, crazy good bulk, Water STAB, as well as being able to fill roles early / middle game, such as being a study wall / phazer. Crazy good Pokemon, and an unstoppable sweeper after 3 or 4 boosts.

Edit: lol at a user named "leftovers". You're gonna be tagged in so many posts. Someone make a "Life Orb" account please

 

[Schpoonman]

We'd start to see way more powerful electric attackers. Good. Use Specs Magnezone more.

 

[Chou Toshio]

It'd basically be a bulkier version of Manaphy. Holy crap. This thing would receive insane usage, as nothing can OHKO it (that's a broad claim, but you know what I mean, it's just really really really really bulky). I could see this thing being banned tbh. Instant reliable recovery, crazy good bulk, Water STAB, as well as being able to fill roles early / middle game, such as being a study wall / phazer. Crazy good Pokemon, and an unstoppable sweeper after 3 or 4 boosts.

Edit: lol at a user named "leftovers". You're gonna be tagged in so many posts. Someone make a "Life Orb" account please

There is a user named "life" you know.

Neway, I thought the same thing too, but honestly suicune has some considerable problems to overcome (compared to manaphy).
-No Grass Knot (really limits Suicune's offensive ability)
-3 attack + boost not really a viable set (if it was, we'd see it already)
-Low speed. Manaphy's CM set really benefited from Speed suicune doesn't really have
-no nasty plot

All of this makes suicune a lot less flexible. Yes, CM + Rest was a great manaphy set, but it was really deadly because Manaphy's unpredictability with Tail Glow or 3 attack sets. With Suicune's lower speed and power, it's a lot less flexible. I'd say suicune is a lot more monstrous potentially as it sets up, but all the Keldeo hate in the meta may make Suicune very hard to set up. Perish song and NP Celebi would f Suicune up-- but Amoongus definitely wouldn't lol

 

[PDC]

I definitely agree with Chou here, Suicune just can't sweep as hard as Manaphy could, it just isn't overall strong enough to set up completely and devistate a team. There are still a lot of things that could wall it and if was outside of Rain it literally would have no chance of actually sweeping. I could see it as maybe a Rain Stall partner simply because of how it could check Dragons (aside from Lati@s and Kyurem-B). But outside of that I don't think it just has that "push" to sweep teams or give them a full on Calm Mind sweep, it would also be very weather-inclined.

 

[Chou Toshio]

I wonder though... maybe with Hydration a 3 attack set would actually be viable.

calcs:

Hide

+1 252 SpA Suicune Hydro Pump vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Rotom-W in rain: 162-191 (66.94 - 78.92%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252 SpA Suicune Hydro Pump vs. 248 HP / 232+ SpD Rotom-W in rain: 120-141 (39.6 - 46.53%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

+1 252 SpA Suicune Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 236+ SpD Celebi: 176-208 (43.56 - 51.48%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+1 252 SpA Life Orb Suicune Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 236+ SpD Celebi: 229-270 (56.68 - 66.83%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

+1 252 SpA Life Orb Suicune Hidden Power Electric vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Politoed: 234-276 (60.93 - 71.87%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252 SpA Life Orb Suicune Ice Beam vs. 24 HP / 0 SpD Toxicroak: 222-263 (70.92 - 84.02%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Rotom-W Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Suicune: 236-282 (69.2 - 82.69%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Rotom-W Thunderbolt vs. +1 0 HP / 4 SpD Suicune: 158-188 (46.33 - 55.13%) -- 63.28% chance to 2HKO

28 SpA Rotom-W Volt Switch vs. +1 0 HP / 4 SpD Suicune: 98-116 (28.73 - 34.01%) -- 0.88% chance to 3HKO
28 SpA Rotom-W Volt Switch vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Suicune: 144-170 (42.22 - 49.85%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

0 SpA Celebi Giga Drain vs. +1 0 HP / 4 SpD Suicune: 98-116 (28.73 - 34.01%) -- 0.88% chance to 3HKO

It still won't be getting OHKO'd by much, but it doesn't change the fact that it's still slower than Rotom-W (though it actually has a chance of beating Rotom-W!

Maybe Timid + LO + CM + Rest + Hydro Pump + Ice Beam would be legit too


This set could be pretty devastating:

Suicune
Hydration
Modest
36 HP / 252 Sp.A / 220 Spe
@ Life Orb
-Tail Wind
-Hydro Pump / Surf
-Ice Beam / Roar
-Rest

Tail Wind boosts you to right past Scarf Terrakion's Speed. Modest LO means you’re hitting almost as hard as a Timid Specs Toad.

In the mid game, you support the team by setting up Tail Winds (while healing off damage with Rest), and wall break here and there with Rain boosted water attacks.

In the late game, you can go for broke by trying to sweep with LO + Rain-boosted Water attacks coming off of more Speed than Terrakion, 350 / 266 / 266 defensive stats (more bulk than fully defensive Rotom-w...), instant recovery and immunity to all status. I imagine this Suicune would be a pretty dam fearsome late game sweeper if you kept the rain up.

Maybe this set, along with CM Tank, and speedy CM + Rest would be enough to solidify Suicune as a major OU threat.


Of course, the stupidest Hydration Suicune set (if allowed) would be:

Suicune
Hydration
Bold
252 HP / 36 DEF / 220 SPE
@ Leftovers
-Tail Wind
-Rest
-Aqua Ring / Scald / Roar
-Sheer Cold

Just think about how awful and wrong this set would be.

 

[GCSChris]

I really like the speedy CM + rest set. It's kinda hard to say where it would be tier wise. I think it would be OU, but regardless it seems pretty fun.

 

[EJ190]

So i was making lunch when this idea hit me.
What if snatch stole the effects of boosting moves ONLY(not recovery moves) as long as the opponent stayed in battle? Use this move on a pokemon and as long as it stays in, any stat boosts it obtains go to ur mon. So basically its a permanent taunt made just for sweepers :). I think snatch would become popular to deal with set-up sweepers like dnite, latias, landorus-t etc. This is of course assuming that a decent ou mon gets it

 

[Chou Toshio]

Sounds a lot like Unaware honestly... I guess if your Pokemon got the boosts the opponent set up, it would make the enemy easier to defeat-- but it would mean still having to take a hit from a boosted attack before getting to use Snatch (assuming you're switching in to the setup user), which kind of sucks. hmmm

 

[MikeDawg]

Sounds a lot like Unaware honestly... I guess if your Pokemon got the boosts the opponent set up, it would make the enemy easier to defeat-- but it would mean still having to take a hit from a boosted attack before getting to use Snatch (assuming you're switching in to the setup user), which kind of sucks. hmmm

Not neccesarily. Assuming I read correctly, the boosts would stay with the snatch user, so they would also get free setup (even if it's just a useless speed boost or something). In regard to the second part, I feel as if it would moreso be used on something like blissey. The opponent comes in to set up, blissey uses snatch (which has priority) and now they can't do anything.

 

[Chou Toshio]

Hmm, forgot it has priority-- but his post does say only "as long as they stay in," so the way I read it, if they switch out you lose the boost. If you got to keep the boost it would be way too broken. Heck, even if you don't get to keep the boost, seems pretty lame. It takes a lot of skill to set up a good situation to boost, and you take a turn to do it-- imo, that's something that should be rewarded, not shat on.

 

[GCSChris]

I think Ditto still is kinda better cause it copies the boosts and out-speeds (choice scarf). Also this:

It takes a lot of skill to set up a good situation to boost, and you take a turn to do it-- imo, that's something that should be rewarded, not shat on.

 

[Millky95]

I appoligise if this has been done before but What if critical hits were calculated just like they were in RBY?

I feel like choice scarf would become more used than choice band/specs due to the extra crit chance assuming it multiplies the base stat (unsure if it does the base stat or final stat). Areodactyl, Jolteon and Swellow may get more usage due to the extra chance they'll get to crit. According to the main site Pokemon with a base 100 spd stat have a crit chance of 19.53% Ninjask has a crit chance of 31.25%. The offensive nature of the game would greatly increase.

 

[Chou Toshio]

Speed boosts have no impact on crits (nor does paralysis) in RBY. Choice Scarf would do nothing. That said...

Some notable changes though:

Stone Fail becomes Stone BROKE. For Terrakion it would become a 200 base STAB attack!! SD Terrak would be dead (SD doesn't affect crit moves in RBY), but so would Landorus-T. With Stone Edge 100% crit, Intimidate would be useless and almost all Landorus-T would come close to getting OHKO'd by any Terrak Stone Edge!

Even TTar has a 95% chance to crit with it. Salamence's Stone Edge would be stronger than its Outrage!! Toxicroak's Cross Chop would be similarly ridiculous.

All the slash-type attacks would be monstrous. Slash, Night Slash, etc., as 140 base moves would be crazy.

Weavile would get a huge boost (23% to crit on moves other than Night slash)

Sandslash would be insane! It JUST makes the cut off for flawless Slash (100% crit slash). Imagine Sand Rush Sandslash with 200 base Stone Edge and 140 base Night Slash.

Also, imagine Venusaur with 100% crit Razor Leaf!! (Not boosted by Growth though) Better yet, Victrebell with 100% crit Leaf Blade (as strong as a STAB Outrage)

 

[Chou Toshio]

Holy shit, even Primeape might be OU worthy (with RBY crit mechanics)! This is just based on it having STAB Cross Chop and Stone Edge for an Adamant Choice Scarf Primeape:


Stone Edge:
-1 252+ Atk Primeape Stone Edge vs. 200 HP / 244 Def Landorus-T on a critical hit: 176-208 (47.69 - 56.36%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
-1 252+ Atk Primeape Stone Edge vs. 32 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T on a critical hit: 226-266 (69.11 - 81.34%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Primeape Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 88 Def Amoonguss on a critical hit: 246-290 (56.94 - 67.12%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Primeape Stone Edge vs. 248 HP / 216+ Def Jellicent on a critical hit: 193-228 (47.89 - 56.57%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Primeape Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 236+ Def Tentacruel on a critical hit: 198-234 (54.39 - 64.28%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Cross Chop
252+ Atk Primeape Cross Chop vs. 224 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory on a critical hit: 178-210 (54.43 - 64.22%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Primeape Cross Chop vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Forretress on a critical hit: 178-210 (50.28 - 59.32%) -- 78.52% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Primeape Cross Chop vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Donphan on a critical hit: 198-234 (51.56 - 60.93%) -- 93.36% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Primeape Cross Chop vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Hippowdon on a critical hit: 270-318 (64.28 - 75.71%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Primeape Cross Chop vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon on a critical hit: 201-237 (47.85 - 56.42%) -- 28.91% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Primeape Cross Chop vs. 244 HP / 120 Def Toxicroak on a critical hit: 186-220 (50.54 - 59.78%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Primeape Cross Chop vs. 100 HP / 0 Def (Offensive) Nidoqueen on a critical hit: 174-205 (50.28 - 59.24%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Choice Scarf Primape comes close to cleanly 2HKO'ing every major physical wall in the metagame!! The only OU Pokes that can wall it and are somewhat viable are Cresselia, Slowbro, and bulky Nidoqueen (wtf?). Even physical wall Tangrowth is cleanly 2HKO'd! You NEED a fighting resist, a neutraltity+ to Rock, and some beefy defensive stats to even be in the running!

Imagine if CB affected crits too.

252+ Atk Choice Band Primeape Cross Chop vs. 224 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory on a critical hit: 264-312 (80.73 - 95.41%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Choice Band Primeape Cross Chop vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon on a critical hit: 297-351 (70.71 - 83.57%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Primeape Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia on a critical hit: 197-232 (44.36 - 52.25%) -- 82.42% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

And we're just talking about Primeape-- I think even with Close Combat as its "weak" STAB, Terrakion would truly be a monster.

 

[Schpoonman]

Weavile would suddenly become a premier OU late-game sweeper, thanks to guaranteed Night Slash crits. Think about it, Weavile has absolutely brutal sweeping stats, but is entirely held back by low BP moves. Boom, in comes Night Slash with effective 140 BP and zero drawbacks. Ice Punch still would crit nearly one out of every four, as would Ice Shard and Low Kick. Jesus.

 

[termi]

Nice discussion we got going on here. I'd like to add the ability Sniper to the discussion: This ability makes it so that a crit doesn't double an attack's power, but triples it. Considering Drapion has access to Sniper and learns Night Slash, he'd become a beast with a move that essentially has a BP of 210 and gets a STAB bonus to top it all off. Base 90 Attack might not seem like much, but with Night Slash, he'd tear through teams with ease.

An even bigger beast would be Crawdaunt. While his low Base Speed might say otherwise, his chance to score a crit with Night Slash and Crabhammer would still be a good 85%. Crawdaunt, however, has one big ace up its sleeve: Adaptability. With a STAB move that has 85% to get critical and gets its base power doubled by Adaptability, it's no fun for anything to meet with its STAB moves. Here's some calcs to show this monster's potential:

252 Atk Adaptability Crawdaunt Crabhammer vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Keldeo on a critical hit: 204-240 (62.96 - 74.07%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Adaptability Crawdaunt Crabhammer vs. 224 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory on a critical hit: 214-252 (65.44 - 77.06%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Adaptability Crawdaunt Night Slash vs. 244 HP / 120 Def Toxicroak on a critical hit: 175-206 (47.55 - 55.97%) -- 22.27% chance to 2HKO

Resists? 2HKO'd. Pokemon with stupidly high physical defense? 2HKO'd. And don't get me started on Crawdaunt in the rain:
252 Atk Adaptability Crawdaunt Crabhammer vs. 252 HP / 88+ Def Ferrothorn in rain on a critical hit: 188-222 (53.4 - 63.06%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Funny thing is that he wouldn't even be overpowered, becaue he still is slow as molasses in an OU environment, pretty frail, vulnerable to Mach Punch and he has to rely on a move with 90% accuracy that gets a crit "merely" 85% of the time. Still, mons like Crawdaunt would turn into potential monsters.

 

[Plastic Moose]

What if there was a Psychic type equivalent to Vacuum Wave?
I think this would definitely make Terrakion, Breloom and Keldeo much less dominant, as many pokemon could come in and defeat it even if it was scarf. I think it would lead to a lot of changes so what do you guys think this would cause?

 

[psVoltage]

Holy shit, even Primeape might be OU worthy (with RBY crit mechanics)! This is just based on it having STAB Cross Chop and Stone Edge for an Adamant Choice Scarf Primeape:


Stone Edge:
-1 252+ Atk Primeape Stone Edge vs. 200 HP / 244 Def Landorus-T on a critical hit: 176-208 (47.69 - 56.36%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
-1 252+ Atk Primeape Stone Edge vs. 32 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T on a critical hit: 226-266 (69.11 - 81.34%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Primeape Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 88 Def Amoonguss on a critical hit: 246-290 (56.94 - 67.12%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Primeape Stone Edge vs. 248 HP / 216+ Def Jellicent on a critical hit: 193-228 (47.89 - 56.57%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Primeape Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 236+ Def Tentacruel on a critical hit: 198-234 (54.39 - 64.28%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Cross Chop
252+ Atk Primeape Cross Chop vs. 224 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory on a critical hit: 178-210 (54.43 - 64.22%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Primeape Cross Chop vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Forretress on a critical hit: 178-210 (50.28 - 59.32%) -- 78.52% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Primeape Cross Chop vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Donphan on a critical hit: 198-234 (51.56 - 60.93%) -- 93.36% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Primeape Cross Chop vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Hippowdon on a critical hit: 270-318 (64.28 - 75.71%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Primeape Cross Chop vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon on a critical hit: 201-237 (47.85 - 56.42%) -- 28.91% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Primeape Cross Chop vs. 244 HP / 120 Def Toxicroak on a critical hit: 186-220 (50.54 - 59.78%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Primeape Cross Chop vs. 100 HP / 0 Def (Offensive) Nidoqueen on a critical hit: 174-205 (50.28 - 59.24%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Choice Scarf Primape comes close to cleanly 2HKO'ing every major physical wall in the metagame!! The only OU Pokes that can wall it and are somewhat viable are Cresselia, Slowbro, and bulky Nidoqueen (wtf?). Even physical wall Tangrowth is cleanly 2HKO'd! You NEED a fighting resist, a neutraltity+ to Rock, and some beefy defensive stats to even be in the running!

Imagine if CB affected crits too.

252+ Atk Choice Band Primeape Cross Chop vs. 224 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory on a critical hit: 264-312 (80.73 - 95.41%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Choice Band Primeape Cross Chop vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon on a critical hit: 297-351 (70.71 - 83.57%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Primeape Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia on a critical hit: 197-232 (44.36 - 52.25%) -- 82.42% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

And we're just talking about Primeape-- I think even with Close Combat as its "weak" STAB, Terrakion would truly be a monster.

If these mechanics were real again, i would just flat out quit. Then cry myself to sleep because i have nothing else to to ;-;

 

[Alex Rose]

Slightly different question regarding Smeargle:

What if Smeargle gained a move that permanently copied any (copiable) ability?

As discussed previously, PrankSmeargle would almost immediately be delegated to Ubers, similar to Speed Boost Blaziken. But what about other options? Rain/Sun support while doing what it does? Multiscale so it can use other items besides Focus Sash? Shadow Tag to prevent switching after spore? Simple or Speed Boost for even stronger passes?

 

[Kingler]

Slightly different question regarding Smeargle:

What if Smeargle gained a move that permanently copied any ability?

As discussed previously, PrankSmeargle would almost immediately be delegated to Ubers, similar to Speed Boost Blaziken. But what about other options? Rain/Sun support while doing what it does? Multiscale so it can use other items besides Focus Sash? Shadow Tag to prevent switching after spore? Simple or Speed Boost for even stronger passes?

Yeah, I'd most likely use spore/belly drum/sub/baton pass with speed bboost. As for theorymoning,
What if volcarona got flash fire?
We all know and fear volcarona, an amazing OU sweeper who can work in any weather and rip apart teams. Well, what about giving it flash fire? One thing that popped to my mind is that offensive HP ground variants can switchin on heatran or ninetales and use them as setup bait. It would also wall any non sludge bomb venusaur and the like.

 

[EJ190]

What if dragonbreath was 80bp with 30% paralysis rate? Discuss :)

 

[G-Von]

Yeah, I'd most likely use spore/belly drum/sub/baton pass with speed bboost. As for theorymoning,
What if volcarona got flash fire?
We all know and fear volcarona, an amazing OU sweeper who can work in any weather and rip apart teams. Well, what about giving it flash fire? One thing that popped to my mind is that offensive HP ground variants can switchin on heatran or ninetales and use them as setup bait. It would also wall any non sludge bomb venusaur and the like.

Yea I would say that would give Volc some more room to switch in and give it even more power behind its fire move of choice. It would probably be the main ability used by Volc since Flame Body isn't too reliable and even though Swarm isn't bad I think having a boosted fire move at any possible amount of health is better than having boosted bug moves at 1/3 or less of your health.

 

[sparktrain]

What if Smeargle gained a move that permanently copied any ability?

Smeargle would probably be broken with certain abilities, most notably Prankster (priority on Spore, Substitute, all boosting moves, Baton Pass, DESTINY BOND). Stuff like Lum Berry Cloyster could be used to absorb sleep and KO with Icicle Spear through subs and sashes, but even then, a misprediction on Cloyster's part would lead to it being brought down by Destiny Bond. Wonder Guard Smeargle would also probably a bit too much to handle, being able to set up on anything lacking a Fighting move. Having more than 1 HP is awesome, as it can still afford to take several turns of residual damage while it sets up (it doesn't even need very long, it can come in on something without a Fighting move, Shell Smash while the opponent switches, then passes).

What if Volcarona got Flash Fire?

Volcarona is still walled depending on what coverage moves it runs. It can run HP Ground for Heatran, but then it becomes set up bait for other Volcaronas, since it can no longer hit them with a Fire Blast early on or a HP Rock. Two Volcaronas in a Quiver Dance war turns into russian roulette, except with crits instead. However it's always kinda been this way with the moth, and Flash Fire is still a slightly better alternative to Flame Body, allowing it to potentially grab a boost from Heatran and start setting up.

Lots of cool ideas going on! Which brings me to one of my own...

What if Froslass got Dry Skin?
Hey, maybe she's cold and her skin is all chapped and dried up or something. But anyway, she becomes much better at setting up Spikes in front of water types, especially in rain. She's now able to heal herself from a water attack, and she doesn't take much from common coverage moves such as Ice Beam and HP Grass. She also walls Keldeo as long as it doesn't carry HP Ghost (and Keldeo needs Specs to secure the OHKO), which is awesome, although it admittedly can't do much back to it other than set up another layer of Spikes, or possibly using Destiny Bond. A 2.5x weakness to Fire moves isn't too much of a bummer, as Froslass was already weak to them to begin with, and having an immunity to water outweighs the only negative.

 

[Alex Rose]

Wonder Guard Smeargle would also probably a bit too much to handle, being able to set up on anything lacking a Fighting move. Having more than 1 HP is awesome, as it can still afford to take several turns of residual damage while it sets up (it doesn't even need very long, it can come in on something without a Fighting move, Shell Smash while the opponent switches, then passes).

My apologies, I meant normally copiable abilities. Wonder Guard is, fortunately, not copiable.

What if Froslass got Dry Skin?
Hey, maybe she's cold and her skin is all chapped and dried up or something. But anyway, she becomes much better at setting up Spikes in front of water types, especially in rain. She's now able to heal herself from a water attack, and she doesn't take much from common coverage moves such as Ice Beam and HP Grass. She also walls Keldeo as long as it doesn't carry HP Ghost (and Keldeo needs Specs to secure the OHKO), which is awesome, although it admittedly can't do much back to it other than set up another layer of Spikes, or possibly using Destiny Bond. A 2.5x weakness to Fire moves isn't too much of a bummer, as Froslass was already weak to them to begin with, and having an immunity to water outweighs the only negative.

Pretty much that. Her role, and her strengths and weaknesses, doesn't change; she basically just gets an free switch in every now and then.

 

[klvkboom]

What if Smeargle gained a move that permanently copied any (copiable) ability?

Aside from some abilities being way too strong and obvious (Prankster, Shadow Tag, Speed Boost, weather starters), I'd say there are some other notable abilities that would be pretty effective for Smeargle.

Sand Rush/ Chlorophyll: These make him pretty fast in the respective weathers, which means he can set-up hazards or boosts a bit easier. It should be noted that he'll be a nice revenge "killer?" with a very fast Spore.

Sturdy: Custap Lead Hazards Smeargle, with the ability to threaten with a Spore. Or you could be a Custap Lead Baton Passer, which is quite strong by taking away a lot of the issues you normally have passing boosts.

Magic Guard: Notable with Focus Sash. Pretty good with a FEAR tactic as well...

Magic Bounce: Probably one of the scariest thing about this ability is that your opponent will never see it coming. With this, you'll most likely guarantee bouncing at least one thing because, unlike Espeon/Xatu, Smeargle has more surprise value.

Scrappy: Notable for having a guaranteed Rapid Spin.

No Guard: luckily OHKO moves are banned, but otherwise some moves like Zap Cannon or Dynamic Punch could be interesting, albeit pretty weak. Will-O-Wisp now guarantees hitting, and your opponent will be scratching his head wondering why you're using Grasswhistle>Spore.

Download: Now personally I think this one I think has some good potential. The thought process behind this is interesting: delegating a Pokemon slot as a set-up sweeper for all of your other Pokemon. Essentially, once Smeargle is in, you just Baton Pass to a Poke that can use the boost. It may be a rather small boost of +1, but it has some very nice advantages such as being only 1 turn to set-up, and the limitless option to choose the Poke you need, not to mention BP is a great scouting/momentum tool since Smeargle scares a lot of "slow Pokes" (lol, punny) with Spore. I wouldn't say it'll be used mainly as set-up for sweepering but rather a good pivot throughout the game to give all your Pokes a nice boost of power.