Full disclosure: this team was half stolen from a Japanese BSS player who popularised a rental code team
INTRO AND BACKGROUND
In lieu of actually learning to play the game this generation due to my very limited free time these days, I've continued to use the brainless and cheesy strategies I've enjoyed the last few gens...
It all started with a Japanese Vivillon team given to me by DragonWhale in gen 7 with both Mega Gengar and Greninja with Icy Wind to get the speed advantage for Vivillon, and Mega Kangaskhan and Volcarona to lure in tanks that were slower than Vivillon to do the same thing. It was a really strong strategy that I re-used in gen 8 with Butterfree, Scary Face Grimmsnarl and Dracozolt in BSS UU, and Zacian in BSS Ubers.. I tried building versions of this with Vivillon this generation which had mixed results but ultimately fell off with Ting Lu's surging popularity.
Going back to gen 7... I also got really into using Drifblim + sweepers. The best version was with lead Tapu Koko and I was able to cover most Baton Pass counters with Magic Guard Espeon for phasing, Gear Grind Klinklang for Mimikyu, Soundproof Kommo-o for Perish Song, and Taunt Tornadus when there was a mix of threats. In gen 8 the framework was modified to use Galarian Weezing as the lead, Zekrom for 'Mold Breaker,' Suction Cups Cradily for phasing, and Galarian Slowbro for 'priority' physical poison vs Xerneas.
As soon as gen 9 dropped and I saw Gholdengo's ability I had to make another Drifblim team, and then later this gen when legendaries became allowed again I transferred over the same Weezing and Zekrom, except I also got to try things like Magearna and Terapagos which were really fun.
If it weren't for these two strategies carrying me for almost a decade I probably wouldn't be playing gen 9 BSS. It just takes way too long to prepare real pokemon in-game and I don't have the time to do that or study the metagame. I know what beats sleep and evasion and it's always the same kind of stuff no matter the meta. Except the current gen 9 BSS meta is so anti-sleep and evasion it's insane. I streamed with current versions of the Vivillon team and Drifblim team and it was brutal. Miraidon is on every team and I couldn't find the right Pokemon to take advantage of that with Vivillon forcing it onto the field, and Whirlwind Ting Lu is the most used Pokemon so Drifblim couldn't pass to anything other than Suction Cups Malamar which could only get +2 evasion before Taunt is gone. I thought I was washed. I'm an old man now. My favourite ways to play flat out don't work...
Then marilli sent me a team so good and so simple it annoyed me so badly:
The trick here is you just give everything Taunt! It also doesn't scream evasion-pass as Smeargle had up until this point been more of a Sticky Web lead. I felt offended that I had been trying to come up with the most clever Baton Pass teams with answers for all threats covered and all you had to do was use Taunt on everything. But the team was beautiful. I loaded it up, went undefeated for the stream and realised something - this framework is perfect for me! It's like Vivillon and Drifblim had a baby and Spore + Minimize Smeargle was born. I played some more matches and figured out some weaknesses it had and tried to build my own.
This was clearly the main core of the team. Grimmsnarl and Koraidon were fine but they weren't really addressing the issues Smeargle + Calyrex were having, more just feigning Sticky Webs offence at team preview. So I took these three and went from here.
+ 
The problem with sleep - whether it's Vivillon or Smeargle - is Miraidon, and this thing is insanely popular. I had been testing an Espathra team and Terapagos was an insane receiver of boosts thanks to Tera Shell and great against Miraidon's electric terrain thanks to Teraform Zero. Stealth Rock is basically mandatory for sweeping and I wanted to deter Miraidon even more so I added Ting Lu.
+ 
I ran into a few mirror matches with the original version of the team and I was told it was becoming more popular on the ladder due to the rental code being spread around. In my quest to be the best Baton Passer I wanted a hard counter to win the mirror every time. It also gives Miraidon even more team preview pressure.
ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS:
+ 
As Ting Lu has such high usage there are lots of checks to it on the ladder. Iron Treads is slightly better vs Miraidon and can remove the terrain, but is a little worse in general.
Since Clodsire is literally for the mirror it can be dropped if you'd rather just get lucky. Ursaluna Bloodmoon is really dangerous but struggles against Maranga Berry + Power Trip Corviknight.
MOVESETS:
Flutter Mane @
Timid | 124 HP / 252 Def / 132 Spe
Icy Wind | Thunder Wave | Taunt | Memento
Throw this out in the lead and cripple theirs as much as possible. Thunder Wave is needed for Ogerpon, Scarf Urshifu, Sneasler, or anything else ultra fast. Taunt stops hazards from going up so Smeargle's sash isn't broken. Memento isn't crucial for Smeargle's survival but is important for getting it onto the field safely and is nice for setting up Terapagos when not going Smeargle mode. The Japananese version of the team had Tera grass, I don't know why honestly. I re-used a Charm, Calm Mind, Pain Split Flutter Mane that I had in-game which is Tera water.
Ting Lu @
Impish | 252 HP / 60 Def / 196 SpD
Earthquake | Rock Tomb | Memento | Stealth Rock
There's nothing I can say about this thing. It's the most used Pokemon for obvious reasons. It's unkillable. It does damage. It handles BOTH Miraidon and Calyrex-Shadow. But for me it fits the niche of Rock Tomb and Memento with Stealth Rock which I haven't seen used by other players. I made the EVs for this:
252 Atk Orichalcum Pulse Koraidon Collision Course (133.3251953125 BP) vs. 252 HP / 60+ Def Ting-Lu: 222-264 (84.7 - 100.7%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Hadron Engine Tera Ice Miraidon Tera Blast (80 BP) vs. 252 HP / 196 SpD Vessel of Ruin Ting-Lu: 222-264 (84.7 - 100.7%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
Smeargle @
Moody | Jolly | 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 Spe
Spore | Minimize | Taunt | Baton Pass
Get this in with a speed advantage and start clicking Spore. If the opponent has an obvious Spore answer you can always go for a straight up Minimize. Not a whole lot of thinking required here. Just keep Taunt active so you aren't passing stats into a Whirlwind. Don't get greedy and stay in to get +6 evasion all the time. If you vulnerable to a KO then pass. Be aware of Moody. Try to pass if you get early speed or SpA boosts before Moody takes them away. Look out for moves that ignore Minimize like Sacred Sword on Chien Pao, Heavy Slam on Ting Lu, Tachyon Cutter on Iron Crown, and anything from Unaware Dondozo.
Tera Grass is for surviving Choice Band Urshifu Water's Surging Strikes with the max Def EVs. The original Japanese team was Tera Ground.
Calyrex-Shadow @
Timid | 220 HP / 60 Def / 52 SpA / 12 SpD / 164 Spe
Stored Power | Draining Kiss | Substitute | Taunt
Main sweeper. If you manage to pass +6 evasion to it you're looking at 140BP Stored Power + whatever you've passed from Moody which can be all over the place. You're normally on the field with Smeargle for at least 5 turns with a net gain of 1 stat boost per turn. Basically, not much is stomaching 200BP Stored Power and not much can hit you back anyway. The cool thing about this is White Herb removes ALL stat drops when it hits the field. So you don't have to stress about drops with Smeargle but you should fish for at least a speed boost before passing, or some SpA boosts if the opponent has dark types. I stole the EVs off the original Japanese team and don't know what they do lol.
Terapagos @
Modest | 116 HP / 252 SpA / 140 Spe
Tera Starstorm | Meteor Beam | Calm Mind | Rock Polish
Between Memento, Tera Shell, and Teraform Zero, this thing has crazy bulk and is one of my favourite sweepers. I previously used this with Heavy Duty Boots on an Espathra team and thought that was the best way to use it. I thought the double dance set would be better on this team and it has been really fun. EVs taken from the BSS strategy dex.
Clodsire @
Unaware | Careful | 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Earthquake | Poison Jab | Recover | Curse
This thing is really satisfying to use. Unaware and Tera Dark make you immune to the usual Stored Power + coverage move of other Baton Pass teams. I've also just used it against certain Miraidon teams and more generic set-up sweepers and it just lives forever. I haven't quite settled on the attacking moves and have just gone for highest base power available. Just don't bring it vs Corviknight!
FINAL THOUGHTS
SIKE! No thoughts. Head empty. Win with cheese over skill. I don't have any PS! replays because I just play on the Switch these days. Say hi on twitch if I'm using this team on stream!
