If you have played Hearts more than once, you should know about this thing called "Shooting the Moon". The general goal of Hearts is getting as few hearts (and no Queen of spades) as possible, as every heart is worth 1 point and the Queen is worth 13. However, if you manage to get all hearts AND the Queen, all of your opponents get 26 points, and you get zero. But if only one heart is kept away from your pile, you are in huge trouble.
Shooting is comparable to using Belly Drum. It takes a lot of effort and strategy, and both the risk and the pay-off are extremely high. If you ruin it, you'll have to rely on the rest of your team to win. But if you can set the game your way, and bring out your Drummer in time, you can clear your opponent out completely.
The strategy Belly Drumming is split in two main ways: Substitute and non-Substitute. The Substitute way is very easy to pull off, but the non-Substitute way leaves up one more attacking move slot, which increases your versality (and your KO range).
I'm going to discuss 3 Belly Drummers mainly, because those are simply the best. Most of the others are quite unworthy of mention, as they require a lot of luck, support, set-up and whatnot...they are too weak, too slow, or too unversatile.
#1 - Charizard
Who doesn't know this monster? Especially those who have played GSC the non-gay way know that Bellyzard is the fear of slow or vulnerable teams. In R/S, with the addition of the Salac Berry, the Blaze trait and a little more love for Hidden Power, it's hard to deny it's sexiness.
Substitute
~ Belly Drum
~ Substitute
~ attacking move
~ attacking move
@ Salac Berry
(attacking move = Hidden Power Flying, Fire Blast/Overheat/Flamethrower, Rock Slide or Earthquake)
It shouldn't be very hard to bring in Charizard on something that will switch out, especially against someone who doesn't know what Charizard is so famous for. Choice Banded Earthquake (Dugtrio, Metagross, Salamcne, etc), Forretress, Skarmory, Sceptile, enough examples. Simply use Substitute on the switch to whatever, and Belly Drum away. Salac activates, and hopefully you will sweep your opponent.
As you see, Charizard has 4 main choices for moves, and if you have used this you have thought this at least once: "god why did I use this move and not that one". Without Earthquake, Tyranitar eats you. Without Hidden Power Flying, Claydol owns your face. Without Rock Slide, Zapdos laughs. Without a Fire move, Skarmory is just going to blow you away. Obviously you should pick the moves that counter the Pokémon you think you cannot take out before your Belly Drum - or do it the other way - design your team to a set of moves. However, keep in mind that some Pokémon are offensively so weak that you might not want to kill them, but use them to let Charizard scare them off. More about this on the pro version of Bellyzard.
non-Substitute
~ Belly Drum
~ Hidden Power Flying
~ Fire Blast/Overheat/Flamethrower
~ Earthquake
@ Salac Berry/Leftovers
(Rock Slide is an option)
Without Substitute, you can play this Charizard two ways.
1) Like the previous one, you bring it in with full health on something that will switch. Belly Drum on the switch and hope they brought in something slower you can kill. When you face something that will kill you (whether it's too fast or too durable to kill), switch out. If you thought the first step was hard, good luck doing this part. You need your opponent to do nothing against Bellyzard for a turn again, with your opponent in the knowledge Charizard can Belly Drum and sweep their team! However, if you manage this, and you get a second Belly Drum in, Charizard is even harder to bring down. Your opponent now has to cop with a 400+ Speed monster, with a dual STAB on Fire-moves, in addition to over 1200 Attack, Earthquake, Hidden Power Flying and an instant mess-up for Skarmory and Forretress (other Steels fall to Earthquake).
2) You can also bring in Charizard on something that you are sure of that it does less than 50% damage to you. A great example is the standard Blissey with Ice Beam over Thunder Wave, or Claydol with Rest over Explosion (preferably no Reflect). A Skarmory that wants to Drill Peck you is fine too...which it does if Charizard is the last Pokémon. Found your target? Belly Drum, and if you get hit you instantly get the Blaze + Salac boosts. If your opponent switches or doesn't touch you, continue in the first way I described.
Charizard is probably the best Belly Drummer in the game, because of it's extreme versality, and quite a good typing for such an offensive tactic (Earthquake and Spikes immunity, double STAB). It can totally tear teams apart, of course...unless!
- has one of these Pokémon at high health: Suicune, Zapdos (if no Rock Slide), Armaldo (if no Rock Slide), Cradily, Regice (with Def EVs), Miltank, Explosion Claydol, Surf Swampert, Vaporeon, Milotic, Solrock, Weezing. Plus anything I forgot that survives +6 HP Flying, Earthquake and all Fire-moves. Blazed Fire-attacks are not taken very lightly by some of these, though.
- manages to juggle his Intimidating Salamence/Gyarados in repeatly by sacrificing or trying to alternate them with Pokémon weak to Earthquake/Fire moves and resistant to the other attacks, for example Metagross, to cut your Attack in pieces
- has a powerful priority modified move on his team...Linoone, Dodrio, and repeated Fake Outs are the best counters in this department
- has Tyranitar and stalls your (already low) health away. This is the reason @Leftovers is an option, but I just recommend Salac Berry.
- has a Pokémon faster than a Belly Drummed Charizard that can KO him. Very few of these, especially if you invest in Speed EVs and have Salac Berry (I always max it, then go Lonely nature). Electrode, Ninjask and Deoxys-E fall in this category.
Always, and I mean always, have a Damage Calculator check before you take a risk you're unsure of. If you have over 50% health left (or have Wish) and think you can pull another drum off later, don't try to kill a Swampert that you most likely cannot. This goes for all Belly Drummers.
#2 - Smeargle
Our special little guy. Suicidal stats, but an instant sleep to help him through. Using it without Substitute is VERY hard and not recommended.
Substitute
~ Belly Drum
~ Spore
~ Baton Pass
~ Substitute
@ Salac Berry
Very simple to put: Spore something slow, use Substitute on the switch, Belly Drum to trigger Salac Berry, and then Baton Pass to something with at least 264 Speed (hopefully with accurate attacks) to kill your opponent completely. Aerodactyl and Salamence are both excellent choices. Metagross can work, but his inaccurate Meteor Mash and the 262 max Speed will make you cry once.
non-Substitute
~ Belly Drum
~ Spore
~ Baton Pass
~ Extremespeed/Taunt
@ Salac Berry
Use Substitute, it's easier. HOWEVER Extremespeed is a great help against Dodrio, Ninjask, and anything at somewhat low health. You will have to max Attack on this or it won't hurt anything, of course, which takes away the last bits of defenses Smeargle has with the Substitute version. Taunt eats that Skarmory/Weezing out that comes in on your Belly Drum, as well as about anything that wants to status your recipient (paralyzed Aerodactyl won't sweep shit). Good luck triggering Salac Berry though, seriously.
Smeargle's tactic is countered by anything with Sleep Talk, Roar, Whirlwind, Haze, Taunt, Quick Attack, Mach Punch, Extremespeed, Fake Out, a status move, or Explosion. Dugtrio rapes it a new one if it doesn't have Extremespeed or the Salac boost, and Focus Punch can cause a load of trouble.
I must say though, the first version is VERY easy to get to work with. You can even try to Substitute on a switch to anything your opponent wants to sleep. If it's faster, Belly Drum to get Salac Berry boost, then Spore it. Baton Pass, see what your opponent does, and go to an appriopate speedy counter. If the sleep-taker is slower, Spore first, then Belly Drum on the switch. You can now Baton Pass both a Sub and a Drum.
Unlike Charizard, however, Smeargle can't do anything as the last Pokémon and only has an immunity to Shadow Ball.
#3 - Linoone
The other Normal-type Drummer, one of my favourite Pokémon. It's Attack is weak, but it's Speed is decent. It's main pro? Extremespeed. You don't need Salac Berry as much as you need it on Charizard, and it is the best candidate to the finisher function Belly Drummers automatically bring. More about this later.
non-Substitute
~ Belly Drum
~ Shadow Ball
~ Extremespeed
~ Hidden Power Ground/Return
@ Leftovers/Salac Berry/Shell Bell
One of Linoone's advantages over the Drummers is that faster Pokémon, other than Aerodactyl and Gengar, aren't a trouble at all. Usually those are sweeping-based Pokémon and have little to no Defense EVs, and are easily killed by Extremespeed. The trouble comes when a Pokémon is sluggish, but has more than, say, 90 in both HP and Defense, and enough EV investment. when this is not Dusclops, it's not much trouble. But you will need Hidden Power Ground to own Tyranitar and Metagross, and you're not going to kill Skarmory or Forretress any time soon. Venusaur and Swampert are very stable as well. You CAN use Return to kill slow things not resistant to it, but you will be completely helpless to Steels and Rocks.
Leftovers to protect against Sandstream, Salac Berry to be able to catch aforementioned Aerodactyl and Gengar, or Shell Bell in the assumption you will KO lots of stuff to gain health back, but I would not use that.
Substitute
~ Belly Drum
~ Substitute
~ Flail
~ Shadow Ball/Hidden Power Ground
@ Salac Berry
A Flailing set. Belly Drummed Flail kills a SHITLOAD of stuff, but Flail/Reversal tactics are even more vulnerable than Belly Drumming ones.
A third way
~ Belly Drum
~ Extremespeed
~ Flail
~ Shadow Ball/Hidden Power Ground
@ Salac Berry
To employ Flail effectively, you will need to use the first tactic in the Bellyzard part. On your first Belly Drum, you sweep anything you can with Extremespeed and your last move. On your second one, you kill about anything with Flail, and use Extremespeed to fend off priority modified moves. I don't really recommend this set as it's impossible to get that second Drum in, even harder than with Charizard. If you must, use it in conjunction with Gengar. If someone uses a Choice Bander with Shadow Ball, you can safely switch Gengar in anytime, because if they Shadow Ball it, Linoone can come in to rape.
As I said, it's one of my friends, but it's Attack is weak and very hard to pull off. Not much doesn't do over 50% to it, and those that don't are usually stallers that will survive it's unslaught. You are warned.
The Finisher Function
Back to Hearts again. One of your opponent is shooting, and you have a chance to prevent it. However, if you do this, you will have to take the Queen. It's better to do it than to let it, because if you don't, you get 26 points, while if you do you only get 13. It's not worth taking the risk.
So, if your opponent sees you with a known Belly Drummer (or you are trying to get your second Drum in), he is going to take risks into account. A Charizard against a stalling team with a Suicune that's asleep, has come in on Forretress' Spikes. This opponent will know he can do NOTHING at all to a Belly Drummed Charizard, and probably blow up Forretress. This is where you just Fire Blast it back to hell.
This whole mind-game is important for the finisher function. If your opponent has nothing that can take on your Belly Drummer when it's set-up, he will have to risk a sacrifice of the Pokémon that's out. Of course, it's still a 50/50 thing...it's also possible that you will just Fire Blast their Thunder Waving Blissey in the face.
Linoone is probably even more fit for this job because of Extremespeed. Alakazam is an easy kill for you because if it tries to save itself by going out, there is a chance you saw this coming and used Belly Drum.
Do not over- or underestimate your opponents, especially not in this case. The safe option here is to attack. Your opponent can know all this and take the decision you considered too risky.
Free Turns
Other than "the opponent fears being hit", what are good ways of forcing your opponent to keep you alive?
- Substitute
Other than using it yourself, let it get Baton Passed by Vaporeon, Jolteon, Celebi or whatever you feel like using. Jolteon is one of the coolest if a Pokémon with Earthquake comes in, for reasons you should understand by now.
- Perish Song
Simply use Perish Song and wait until Perish Count on your opponent is 2. Switch to your Belly Drummer. Your opponent is now in a checkmate position - if you use Belly Drum, you will have killed or crippled one Pokémon in 99% of the cases. Watch out for Explosion.
- Dugtrio
This is very circumvental, but can work in your advantage. It will either allow your Drummer to set up, or kill a big threat. Say your Charizard is facing Magneton, and you have Skarmory + Dugtrio in the wings, and your opponent knows this, plus he has no Spinner. If you use Belly Drum and Magneton kills Charizard, finish it off with Dugtrio, and then have the Spikes roll in later. If Magneton switches out or uses Hidden Power, expecting Dugtrio, Charizard gets his +6 Attack.
- Choice Band
I've mentioned it before. Choice Banded Earthquake or, in Smeargle/Linoone's case, Shadow Ball, is a beg to come in and Drum.
- pseudo-passing
Reflect/Light Screen can help you take that hit and get between 0% and 25% to trigger Salac Berry. Safeguard gives you a free Belly Drum against any Blissey, Thunder Wave or not.
Support
BLAGH BLAGH WITH SPIKES DUGGY MAGGY PARA AND WISH SUPPORT, IN LATE GAME, THIS POKEMON CAN REALLY SWEEP IF IT'S COUNTERS ARE GONE
I hear stuff like that often. It sounds really professional, but seriously it isn't. However, in the case of Belly Drummers, all of these can be of use.
- Spikes
Spikes wear down counters that are counters because they survive hits - the most famous one is Suicune. It takes circa 60% from a Drummed Charizard HP Flying, so after two switches with multiple layers, it's dead.
- Dugtrio
See "Free Turns" section.
- Magneton
This can help, but also get in the way. You do not want to kill Skarmory when Charizard is alive, because Skarmory is your chance to get Belly Drum in. However, Magneton can encourage Choice Banded Earthquakes, and if you must, can kill Skarmory so you don't need a Fire attack on Charizard, provided you found another way of getting that precious Belly Drum in.
- Paralysis
A good player will rarely get his fast Pokémon paralyzed, but it can also bring fully paralysis when you just needed it (on a Substitute, for example), lure Blissey to Aromatherapy and force stuff (like Suicune) to Rest. Of course, paralysis blocks Smeargle's Spore.
- Burn
A Will-o-Wisping Gengar is a great example of a great surprise that helps Belly Drummers. You think Metagross is a threat to you? Burn it, then let Linoone or Charizard (if he doesn't carry Rock Slide) come in.
- Wish
Wish can give your Drummers another chance, though if Salac Berry has already triggered they are of course not as effective as before. If you could only Wish your HP out of the negative, this would be a lot more useful.
- Perish Song
See "Free Turns" section.
- Sleep
Not many players keep in a Sleeping Pokémon. However, I do when it's Venusaur - I'd rather have my sleeping Pokémon I'm going to switch out anyway seeded than the one that has to scare off Venusaur. A Mean Look + Lovely Kiss Jynx, or even Spore + Spider Web Smeargle can work, or even (lol) Wrap/Sleep Powder Victreebel. Umbreon is very scary when you take all of this into account.
- Memento
I love this tactic. Back in the day, I had my awesome Mementozard team, consisting of Vaporeon, Jolteon, Charizard, 2 Memento'ers (2 from Weezing, Dusclops and Gardevoir) and either Snorlax or Exeggutor...sometimes changing around. The Memento'ers could all Will-o-Wisp stuff which helps excellently, but the greatest part is of course Memento'ing a Snorlax, then bringing in Charizard to easily Belly Drum and survive the Return. Once, I burned a Venusaur, then Memento'ed it. The incoming Jolteon's Substitute survived the Earthquake, and I passed to Charizard on the second Earthquake. Belly Drum, gg. If Metagross or Regice come in on Memento, you are going to get laughed at.
- Explosion
Very effective if your opponent doesn't know if you have a Drummer and which one. The one that in theory works the best is a Metagross against a team with a sturdy Water. Explode on this Water, who doesn't expect Metagross to boom early.
- Grudge
Grudging the attacking move that touches your Belly Drummer is the way to open up the game. On a Choice Bander, this is a guaranteed set-up.
Closing words
As you probably have understood by now, I hold Belly Drum in a high regard. It is very hard to pull off, and after you did you might get blocked anyway, so you need a clear vision of the game status. It might be wise to write down what you know about your opponent's team in a text document, and to have a Damage Calculator at hand.
Belly Drum is not an easy sweep, but it's pay-offs are amazing.
Shooting is comparable to using Belly Drum. It takes a lot of effort and strategy, and both the risk and the pay-off are extremely high. If you ruin it, you'll have to rely on the rest of your team to win. But if you can set the game your way, and bring out your Drummer in time, you can clear your opponent out completely.
The strategy Belly Drumming is split in two main ways: Substitute and non-Substitute. The Substitute way is very easy to pull off, but the non-Substitute way leaves up one more attacking move slot, which increases your versality (and your KO range).
I'm going to discuss 3 Belly Drummers mainly, because those are simply the best. Most of the others are quite unworthy of mention, as they require a lot of luck, support, set-up and whatnot...they are too weak, too slow, or too unversatile.
#1 - Charizard
Who doesn't know this monster? Especially those who have played GSC the non-gay way know that Bellyzard is the fear of slow or vulnerable teams. In R/S, with the addition of the Salac Berry, the Blaze trait and a little more love for Hidden Power, it's hard to deny it's sexiness.
Substitute
~ Belly Drum
~ Substitute
~ attacking move
~ attacking move
@ Salac Berry
(attacking move = Hidden Power Flying, Fire Blast/Overheat/Flamethrower, Rock Slide or Earthquake)
It shouldn't be very hard to bring in Charizard on something that will switch out, especially against someone who doesn't know what Charizard is so famous for. Choice Banded Earthquake (Dugtrio, Metagross, Salamcne, etc), Forretress, Skarmory, Sceptile, enough examples. Simply use Substitute on the switch to whatever, and Belly Drum away. Salac activates, and hopefully you will sweep your opponent.
As you see, Charizard has 4 main choices for moves, and if you have used this you have thought this at least once: "god why did I use this move and not that one". Without Earthquake, Tyranitar eats you. Without Hidden Power Flying, Claydol owns your face. Without Rock Slide, Zapdos laughs. Without a Fire move, Skarmory is just going to blow you away. Obviously you should pick the moves that counter the Pokémon you think you cannot take out before your Belly Drum - or do it the other way - design your team to a set of moves. However, keep in mind that some Pokémon are offensively so weak that you might not want to kill them, but use them to let Charizard scare them off. More about this on the pro version of Bellyzard.
non-Substitute
~ Belly Drum
~ Hidden Power Flying
~ Fire Blast/Overheat/Flamethrower
~ Earthquake
@ Salac Berry/Leftovers
(Rock Slide is an option)
Without Substitute, you can play this Charizard two ways.
1) Like the previous one, you bring it in with full health on something that will switch. Belly Drum on the switch and hope they brought in something slower you can kill. When you face something that will kill you (whether it's too fast or too durable to kill), switch out. If you thought the first step was hard, good luck doing this part. You need your opponent to do nothing against Bellyzard for a turn again, with your opponent in the knowledge Charizard can Belly Drum and sweep their team! However, if you manage this, and you get a second Belly Drum in, Charizard is even harder to bring down. Your opponent now has to cop with a 400+ Speed monster, with a dual STAB on Fire-moves, in addition to over 1200 Attack, Earthquake, Hidden Power Flying and an instant mess-up for Skarmory and Forretress (other Steels fall to Earthquake).
2) You can also bring in Charizard on something that you are sure of that it does less than 50% damage to you. A great example is the standard Blissey with Ice Beam over Thunder Wave, or Claydol with Rest over Explosion (preferably no Reflect). A Skarmory that wants to Drill Peck you is fine too...which it does if Charizard is the last Pokémon. Found your target? Belly Drum, and if you get hit you instantly get the Blaze + Salac boosts. If your opponent switches or doesn't touch you, continue in the first way I described.
Charizard is probably the best Belly Drummer in the game, because of it's extreme versality, and quite a good typing for such an offensive tactic (Earthquake and Spikes immunity, double STAB). It can totally tear teams apart, of course...unless!
- has one of these Pokémon at high health: Suicune, Zapdos (if no Rock Slide), Armaldo (if no Rock Slide), Cradily, Regice (with Def EVs), Miltank, Explosion Claydol, Surf Swampert, Vaporeon, Milotic, Solrock, Weezing. Plus anything I forgot that survives +6 HP Flying, Earthquake and all Fire-moves. Blazed Fire-attacks are not taken very lightly by some of these, though.
- manages to juggle his Intimidating Salamence/Gyarados in repeatly by sacrificing or trying to alternate them with Pokémon weak to Earthquake/Fire moves and resistant to the other attacks, for example Metagross, to cut your Attack in pieces
- has a powerful priority modified move on his team...Linoone, Dodrio, and repeated Fake Outs are the best counters in this department
- has Tyranitar and stalls your (already low) health away. This is the reason @Leftovers is an option, but I just recommend Salac Berry.
- has a Pokémon faster than a Belly Drummed Charizard that can KO him. Very few of these, especially if you invest in Speed EVs and have Salac Berry (I always max it, then go Lonely nature). Electrode, Ninjask and Deoxys-E fall in this category.
Always, and I mean always, have a Damage Calculator check before you take a risk you're unsure of. If you have over 50% health left (or have Wish) and think you can pull another drum off later, don't try to kill a Swampert that you most likely cannot. This goes for all Belly Drummers.
#2 - Smeargle
Our special little guy. Suicidal stats, but an instant sleep to help him through. Using it without Substitute is VERY hard and not recommended.
Substitute
~ Belly Drum
~ Spore
~ Baton Pass
~ Substitute
@ Salac Berry
Very simple to put: Spore something slow, use Substitute on the switch, Belly Drum to trigger Salac Berry, and then Baton Pass to something with at least 264 Speed (hopefully with accurate attacks) to kill your opponent completely. Aerodactyl and Salamence are both excellent choices. Metagross can work, but his inaccurate Meteor Mash and the 262 max Speed will make you cry once.
non-Substitute
~ Belly Drum
~ Spore
~ Baton Pass
~ Extremespeed/Taunt
@ Salac Berry
Use Substitute, it's easier. HOWEVER Extremespeed is a great help against Dodrio, Ninjask, and anything at somewhat low health. You will have to max Attack on this or it won't hurt anything, of course, which takes away the last bits of defenses Smeargle has with the Substitute version. Taunt eats that Skarmory/Weezing out that comes in on your Belly Drum, as well as about anything that wants to status your recipient (paralyzed Aerodactyl won't sweep shit). Good luck triggering Salac Berry though, seriously.
Smeargle's tactic is countered by anything with Sleep Talk, Roar, Whirlwind, Haze, Taunt, Quick Attack, Mach Punch, Extremespeed, Fake Out, a status move, or Explosion. Dugtrio rapes it a new one if it doesn't have Extremespeed or the Salac boost, and Focus Punch can cause a load of trouble.
I must say though, the first version is VERY easy to get to work with. You can even try to Substitute on a switch to anything your opponent wants to sleep. If it's faster, Belly Drum to get Salac Berry boost, then Spore it. Baton Pass, see what your opponent does, and go to an appriopate speedy counter. If the sleep-taker is slower, Spore first, then Belly Drum on the switch. You can now Baton Pass both a Sub and a Drum.
Unlike Charizard, however, Smeargle can't do anything as the last Pokémon and only has an immunity to Shadow Ball.
#3 - Linoone
The other Normal-type Drummer, one of my favourite Pokémon. It's Attack is weak, but it's Speed is decent. It's main pro? Extremespeed. You don't need Salac Berry as much as you need it on Charizard, and it is the best candidate to the finisher function Belly Drummers automatically bring. More about this later.
non-Substitute
~ Belly Drum
~ Shadow Ball
~ Extremespeed
~ Hidden Power Ground/Return
@ Leftovers/Salac Berry/Shell Bell
One of Linoone's advantages over the Drummers is that faster Pokémon, other than Aerodactyl and Gengar, aren't a trouble at all. Usually those are sweeping-based Pokémon and have little to no Defense EVs, and are easily killed by Extremespeed. The trouble comes when a Pokémon is sluggish, but has more than, say, 90 in both HP and Defense, and enough EV investment. when this is not Dusclops, it's not much trouble. But you will need Hidden Power Ground to own Tyranitar and Metagross, and you're not going to kill Skarmory or Forretress any time soon. Venusaur and Swampert are very stable as well. You CAN use Return to kill slow things not resistant to it, but you will be completely helpless to Steels and Rocks.
Leftovers to protect against Sandstream, Salac Berry to be able to catch aforementioned Aerodactyl and Gengar, or Shell Bell in the assumption you will KO lots of stuff to gain health back, but I would not use that.
Substitute
~ Belly Drum
~ Substitute
~ Flail
~ Shadow Ball/Hidden Power Ground
@ Salac Berry
A Flailing set. Belly Drummed Flail kills a SHITLOAD of stuff, but Flail/Reversal tactics are even more vulnerable than Belly Drumming ones.
A third way
~ Belly Drum
~ Extremespeed
~ Flail
~ Shadow Ball/Hidden Power Ground
@ Salac Berry
To employ Flail effectively, you will need to use the first tactic in the Bellyzard part. On your first Belly Drum, you sweep anything you can with Extremespeed and your last move. On your second one, you kill about anything with Flail, and use Extremespeed to fend off priority modified moves. I don't really recommend this set as it's impossible to get that second Drum in, even harder than with Charizard. If you must, use it in conjunction with Gengar. If someone uses a Choice Bander with Shadow Ball, you can safely switch Gengar in anytime, because if they Shadow Ball it, Linoone can come in to rape.
As I said, it's one of my friends, but it's Attack is weak and very hard to pull off. Not much doesn't do over 50% to it, and those that don't are usually stallers that will survive it's unslaught. You are warned.
The Finisher Function
Back to Hearts again. One of your opponent is shooting, and you have a chance to prevent it. However, if you do this, you will have to take the Queen. It's better to do it than to let it, because if you don't, you get 26 points, while if you do you only get 13. It's not worth taking the risk.
So, if your opponent sees you with a known Belly Drummer (or you are trying to get your second Drum in), he is going to take risks into account. A Charizard against a stalling team with a Suicune that's asleep, has come in on Forretress' Spikes. This opponent will know he can do NOTHING at all to a Belly Drummed Charizard, and probably blow up Forretress. This is where you just Fire Blast it back to hell.
This whole mind-game is important for the finisher function. If your opponent has nothing that can take on your Belly Drummer when it's set-up, he will have to risk a sacrifice of the Pokémon that's out. Of course, it's still a 50/50 thing...it's also possible that you will just Fire Blast their Thunder Waving Blissey in the face.
Linoone is probably even more fit for this job because of Extremespeed. Alakazam is an easy kill for you because if it tries to save itself by going out, there is a chance you saw this coming and used Belly Drum.
Do not over- or underestimate your opponents, especially not in this case. The safe option here is to attack. Your opponent can know all this and take the decision you considered too risky.
Free Turns
Other than "the opponent fears being hit", what are good ways of forcing your opponent to keep you alive?
- Substitute
Other than using it yourself, let it get Baton Passed by Vaporeon, Jolteon, Celebi or whatever you feel like using. Jolteon is one of the coolest if a Pokémon with Earthquake comes in, for reasons you should understand by now.
- Perish Song
Simply use Perish Song and wait until Perish Count on your opponent is 2. Switch to your Belly Drummer. Your opponent is now in a checkmate position - if you use Belly Drum, you will have killed or crippled one Pokémon in 99% of the cases. Watch out for Explosion.
- Dugtrio
This is very circumvental, but can work in your advantage. It will either allow your Drummer to set up, or kill a big threat. Say your Charizard is facing Magneton, and you have Skarmory + Dugtrio in the wings, and your opponent knows this, plus he has no Spinner. If you use Belly Drum and Magneton kills Charizard, finish it off with Dugtrio, and then have the Spikes roll in later. If Magneton switches out or uses Hidden Power, expecting Dugtrio, Charizard gets his +6 Attack.
- Choice Band
I've mentioned it before. Choice Banded Earthquake or, in Smeargle/Linoone's case, Shadow Ball, is a beg to come in and Drum.
- pseudo-passing
Reflect/Light Screen can help you take that hit and get between 0% and 25% to trigger Salac Berry. Safeguard gives you a free Belly Drum against any Blissey, Thunder Wave or not.
Support
BLAGH BLAGH WITH SPIKES DUGGY MAGGY PARA AND WISH SUPPORT, IN LATE GAME, THIS POKEMON CAN REALLY SWEEP IF IT'S COUNTERS ARE GONE
I hear stuff like that often. It sounds really professional, but seriously it isn't. However, in the case of Belly Drummers, all of these can be of use.
- Spikes
Spikes wear down counters that are counters because they survive hits - the most famous one is Suicune. It takes circa 60% from a Drummed Charizard HP Flying, so after two switches with multiple layers, it's dead.
- Dugtrio
See "Free Turns" section.
- Magneton
This can help, but also get in the way. You do not want to kill Skarmory when Charizard is alive, because Skarmory is your chance to get Belly Drum in. However, Magneton can encourage Choice Banded Earthquakes, and if you must, can kill Skarmory so you don't need a Fire attack on Charizard, provided you found another way of getting that precious Belly Drum in.
- Paralysis
A good player will rarely get his fast Pokémon paralyzed, but it can also bring fully paralysis when you just needed it (on a Substitute, for example), lure Blissey to Aromatherapy and force stuff (like Suicune) to Rest. Of course, paralysis blocks Smeargle's Spore.
- Burn
A Will-o-Wisping Gengar is a great example of a great surprise that helps Belly Drummers. You think Metagross is a threat to you? Burn it, then let Linoone or Charizard (if he doesn't carry Rock Slide) come in.
- Wish
Wish can give your Drummers another chance, though if Salac Berry has already triggered they are of course not as effective as before. If you could only Wish your HP out of the negative, this would be a lot more useful.
- Perish Song
See "Free Turns" section.
- Sleep
Not many players keep in a Sleeping Pokémon. However, I do when it's Venusaur - I'd rather have my sleeping Pokémon I'm going to switch out anyway seeded than the one that has to scare off Venusaur. A Mean Look + Lovely Kiss Jynx, or even Spore + Spider Web Smeargle can work, or even (lol) Wrap/Sleep Powder Victreebel. Umbreon is very scary when you take all of this into account.
- Memento
I love this tactic. Back in the day, I had my awesome Mementozard team, consisting of Vaporeon, Jolteon, Charizard, 2 Memento'ers (2 from Weezing, Dusclops and Gardevoir) and either Snorlax or Exeggutor...sometimes changing around. The Memento'ers could all Will-o-Wisp stuff which helps excellently, but the greatest part is of course Memento'ing a Snorlax, then bringing in Charizard to easily Belly Drum and survive the Return. Once, I burned a Venusaur, then Memento'ed it. The incoming Jolteon's Substitute survived the Earthquake, and I passed to Charizard on the second Earthquake. Belly Drum, gg. If Metagross or Regice come in on Memento, you are going to get laughed at.
- Explosion
Very effective if your opponent doesn't know if you have a Drummer and which one. The one that in theory works the best is a Metagross against a team with a sturdy Water. Explode on this Water, who doesn't expect Metagross to boom early.
- Grudge
Grudging the attacking move that touches your Belly Drummer is the way to open up the game. On a Choice Bander, this is a guaranteed set-up.
Closing words
As you probably have understood by now, I hold Belly Drum in a high regard. It is very hard to pull off, and after you did you might get blocked anyway, so you need a clear vision of the game status. It might be wise to write down what you know about your opponent's team in a text document, and to have a Damage Calculator at hand.
Belly Drum is not an easy sweep, but it's pay-offs are amazing.
