QC: Zangooser, Yelawolf, Gunner Rohan
GP: Haund, Horyzhnz
[OVERVIEW]
Smeargle is unique for both its excellent movepool and position as the best Moody user in the metagame. Due to its incredibly poor bulk, Smeargle is relegated to Baton Passing stat boosts to its teammates, but it can also make use of Ingrain to help prevent Pokemon with Roar from ruining Baton Pass chains and Spore to find extra setup opportunities. Smeargle is also very easy to KO without obtaining any evasion boosts from Moody, making it reliant on beneficial boosts to be successful. Additionally, Smeargle is reliant on setting up versus sleeping foes but almost every team will naturally be able to deal with this thanks to the omnipresence of Darkrai.
[SET]
name: Baton Pass
move 1: Spore
move 2: Ingrain
move 3: Spiky Shield / King's Shield
move 4: Baton Pass
item: Focus Sash
ability: Moody
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Spore puts slower Pokemon such as support Primal Groudon to sleep, giving Smeargle extra time to accumulate Moody boosts. Spiky Shield helps to stall for extra turns, as well as dealing chip damage to Pokemon with contact attacks, while King's Shield can potentially allow Smeargle to survive attacks from weakened foes, such as avoiding the 2HKO from Extreme Killer Arceus. Ingrain helps support Smeargle's teammates by preventing phazing and providing some passive recovery, while Baton Pass passes Moody boosts and Ingrain to a teammate.
Set Details
========
Moody allows Smeargle to accumulate stat boosts without the need for setup moves. A Focus Sash allows Smeargle to survive a single attack before Baton Passing its stat boosts or putting its foe to Sleep. Maximum Speed investment and a Timid nature help Smeargle to outspeed as many foes as possible to put them to sleep before they can attack, while Maximum HP investment provides a slight bulk increase to weather weaker attacks, such as avoiding the 2HKO from Klefki's Dazzling Gleam.
Usage Tips
========
Smeargle's only function is to pass Moody boosts and Ingrain to its teammates. Ideally, Smeargle should be Baton Passed Speed boosts from a teammate such as Scolipede as it is brought in so that it can outspeed and Spore foes that would normally be faster, such as Ground Arceus. Smeargle should be brought in versus slower foes that it can put to sleep with Spore and accumulate boosts against, as any faster foe can easily KO it if its Focus Sash is broken or leave it in range of priority users. Ingrain only needs to be used if the opposing team has a foe with a phazing move, such as Primal Groudon or Skarmory, as the passive recovery is fairly useless. Stall for as many turns as possible with Spiky Shield or King's Shield in order to obtain extra Moody boosts to pass on to Smeargle's teammates, but be wary because stalling for too many turns can give time for foes to wake up or set up. This can be especially dangerous when facing priority users such as Arceus, which can KO Smeargle without giving it a second chance to put them to sleep.
Team Options
========
This set should only be used on full Baton Pass teams. Only teammates such as Scolipede, Mr. Mime, Zapdos, and others that can utilize Baton Pass to accumulate stat boosts before passing them to Espeon to sweep should be used. Entry hazard removers can be useful for keeping Smeargle's Focus Sash intact; however, they cannot be easily fit onto Baton Pass teams.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Smeargle can be run outside of full Baton Pass teams utilizing Substitute instead of Ingrain and Leftovers rather than Focus Sash to more effectively stall for Moody boosts. However, it is still unreliable at passing boosts and is extremely vulnerable to being KOed without a Focus Sash, which it cannot use without being unable to easily accumulate boosts. A hazard lead set can be run thanks to Smeargle's access to every single entry hazard and Spore, but this is generally outclassed by other leads, such as Scolipede, due to its poor Speed and bulk and inability to beat Magic Bounce or Magic Coat users. It is, however, the only viable user of Sticky Web in the metagame. Minimize can make Smeargle less reliant on grabbing evasion boosts with Moody but sacrifices a moveslot and Smeargle often lacks the free turns to set up. Magic Coat can annoy Taunt users such as Yveltal and reflect Darkrai's Dark Void, but it is often useless, as every Pokemon in the metagame not reliant on Foul Play to do damage can OHKO or 2HKO Smeargle anyway.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Faster Pokemon**: Smeargle's terrible bulk means that it's OHKOed by all faster attackers if Stealth Rock has broken its Focus Sash, including weaker attackers such as defensive Water Arceus. However, it can still put faster foes to sleep and Baton Pass out to a teammate if its Focus Sash is intact or if it gets passed Speed boosts first.
**Sleep Talk and Lum Berry**: Sleep Talk and Lum Berry users such as Ho-Oh and Mega Rayquaza are not crippled by Spore and can OHKO Smeargle before it has the time to accumulate Moody boosts.
**Taunt**: Taunt users such as Darkrai, Yveltal, and Mewtwo can render Smeargle totally useless and break its Baton Pass chain. Mega Gengar can trap Smeargle and prevent it from Baton Passing out with Taunt before KOing it.
**Mega Diancie**: Mega Diancie can reflect Spore back at Smeargle and threaten to KO it with Moonblast, as well as deal significant damage to any teammate Smeargle attempts to pass its boosts to.
**Priority**: Priority users such as Arceus and Mega Rayquaza can threaten to pick off Smeargle with Extreme Speed before it's able to pass its Moody boosts to a teammate.
GP: Haund, Horyzhnz
[OVERVIEW]
Smeargle is unique for both its excellent movepool and position as the best Moody user in the metagame. Due to its incredibly poor bulk, Smeargle is relegated to Baton Passing stat boosts to its teammates, but it can also make use of Ingrain to help prevent Pokemon with Roar from ruining Baton Pass chains and Spore to find extra setup opportunities. Smeargle is also very easy to KO without obtaining any evasion boosts from Moody, making it reliant on beneficial boosts to be successful. Additionally, Smeargle is reliant on setting up versus sleeping foes but almost every team will naturally be able to deal with this thanks to the omnipresence of Darkrai.
[SET]
name: Baton Pass
move 1: Spore
move 2: Ingrain
move 3: Spiky Shield / King's Shield
move 4: Baton Pass
item: Focus Sash
ability: Moody
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Spore puts slower Pokemon such as support Primal Groudon to sleep, giving Smeargle extra time to accumulate Moody boosts. Spiky Shield helps to stall for extra turns, as well as dealing chip damage to Pokemon with contact attacks, while King's Shield can potentially allow Smeargle to survive attacks from weakened foes, such as avoiding the 2HKO from Extreme Killer Arceus. Ingrain helps support Smeargle's teammates by preventing phazing and providing some passive recovery, while Baton Pass passes Moody boosts and Ingrain to a teammate.
Set Details
========
Moody allows Smeargle to accumulate stat boosts without the need for setup moves. A Focus Sash allows Smeargle to survive a single attack before Baton Passing its stat boosts or putting its foe to Sleep. Maximum Speed investment and a Timid nature help Smeargle to outspeed as many foes as possible to put them to sleep before they can attack, while Maximum HP investment provides a slight bulk increase to weather weaker attacks, such as avoiding the 2HKO from Klefki's Dazzling Gleam.
Usage Tips
========
Smeargle's only function is to pass Moody boosts and Ingrain to its teammates. Ideally, Smeargle should be Baton Passed Speed boosts from a teammate such as Scolipede as it is brought in so that it can outspeed and Spore foes that would normally be faster, such as Ground Arceus. Smeargle should be brought in versus slower foes that it can put to sleep with Spore and accumulate boosts against, as any faster foe can easily KO it if its Focus Sash is broken or leave it in range of priority users. Ingrain only needs to be used if the opposing team has a foe with a phazing move, such as Primal Groudon or Skarmory, as the passive recovery is fairly useless. Stall for as many turns as possible with Spiky Shield or King's Shield in order to obtain extra Moody boosts to pass on to Smeargle's teammates, but be wary because stalling for too many turns can give time for foes to wake up or set up. This can be especially dangerous when facing priority users such as Arceus, which can KO Smeargle without giving it a second chance to put them to sleep.
Team Options
========
This set should only be used on full Baton Pass teams. Only teammates such as Scolipede, Mr. Mime, Zapdos, and others that can utilize Baton Pass to accumulate stat boosts before passing them to Espeon to sweep should be used. Entry hazard removers can be useful for keeping Smeargle's Focus Sash intact; however, they cannot be easily fit onto Baton Pass teams.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Smeargle can be run outside of full Baton Pass teams utilizing Substitute instead of Ingrain and Leftovers rather than Focus Sash to more effectively stall for Moody boosts. However, it is still unreliable at passing boosts and is extremely vulnerable to being KOed without a Focus Sash, which it cannot use without being unable to easily accumulate boosts. A hazard lead set can be run thanks to Smeargle's access to every single entry hazard and Spore, but this is generally outclassed by other leads, such as Scolipede, due to its poor Speed and bulk and inability to beat Magic Bounce or Magic Coat users. It is, however, the only viable user of Sticky Web in the metagame. Minimize can make Smeargle less reliant on grabbing evasion boosts with Moody but sacrifices a moveslot and Smeargle often lacks the free turns to set up. Magic Coat can annoy Taunt users such as Yveltal and reflect Darkrai's Dark Void, but it is often useless, as every Pokemon in the metagame not reliant on Foul Play to do damage can OHKO or 2HKO Smeargle anyway.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Faster Pokemon**: Smeargle's terrible bulk means that it's OHKOed by all faster attackers if Stealth Rock has broken its Focus Sash, including weaker attackers such as defensive Water Arceus. However, it can still put faster foes to sleep and Baton Pass out to a teammate if its Focus Sash is intact or if it gets passed Speed boosts first.
**Sleep Talk and Lum Berry**: Sleep Talk and Lum Berry users such as Ho-Oh and Mega Rayquaza are not crippled by Spore and can OHKO Smeargle before it has the time to accumulate Moody boosts.
**Taunt**: Taunt users such as Darkrai, Yveltal, and Mewtwo can render Smeargle totally useless and break its Baton Pass chain. Mega Gengar can trap Smeargle and prevent it from Baton Passing out with Taunt before KOing it.
**Mega Diancie**: Mega Diancie can reflect Spore back at Smeargle and threaten to KO it with Moonblast, as well as deal significant damage to any teammate Smeargle attempts to pass its boosts to.
**Priority**: Priority users such as Arceus and Mega Rayquaza can threaten to pick off Smeargle with Extreme Speed before it's able to pass its Moody boosts to a teammate.
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