Smeargle

Smeargle: Analysis

I have close to 300 battles logged on Battle Spot, and for about 60 of them I experimented with a Lum Berry Smeargle with a set of Dark Void, Quick Guard, Kings Shield, and Transform. I ran Moody because I found that a good Moody boost could win me a game. At first, I was extremely impressed with how Smeargle performed. It was able to immediately disable slower opponents with Dark Void and give me an enormous advantage. Furthermore, its versatility with Kings Shield caught a majority of the physical metagame off guard as, fearing the possibility of scarf or sash, they attempted to remove Smeargle as quickly as possible. I also found Quick Guard to be useful when dealing with the extremely prevalent Prankster Swagger, which my team struggled with. Lastly was Transform, a move I used after my opponents were asleep, when my opponent had a threat to his own team on the field, or I wanted some insurance on one of my Pokemon. Transform was a phenomenal move, and I wish to experiment more with it in the future. As more time passed, however, I found myself struggling the most in the games I brought Smeargle, and after analyzing the problems, I believe I have found the cause. Smeargle is, in a word, inconsistent. The main source of its inconsistency lies within Dark Void. For me, Dark Void was the main draw of using Smeargle, and was the only move I was sure I wanted on the set initially. However, Dark Void’s 80 percent accuracy lent itself to missing the targets I wanted to hit, or both targets entirely, so often that I considered changing to spore. Additionally, Sleep itself as a status condition is extremely unreliable. Even in a best case scenario where Dark Void hit both Pokemon, Smeargle immediately became dead weight as transforming so early was generally impractical for fear of a 1 turn sleep or a switch, and Smeargle's other moves provided no field presence. Because of this, I was essentially limited to one attack a turn, and a single one turn sleep could ruin my plans entirely. I lacked damage output with only one Pokemon capable of attacking per turn, which essentially made me an easy candidate for “bad luck”. Lastly, is the random elements I chose myself to enter into the equation by invoking Moody as my choice of ability. While I found Moody to be useful more often than not, there were games where it interfered in an otherwise certain victory, and for this reason I would not recommend it. Lum Berry was a useful item, though Mental Herb, Choice Scarf, Focus Sash, and Safety Goggles are all other options that should be considered. Assault Vest is not recommended. Smeargle is an extremely versatile Pokemon who has enormous potential; however, my experiences with it lead me to advise against strategies that require more random elements than are necessary.

-Wolfe

EV Spread and Moves:

  Smeargle (M) @ Lum Berry

Trait: Moody

EVs: 196 HP / 84 Def / 228 Spd

Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

- Dark Void

- Quick Guard

- Transform

- Kings Shield

Other Options: Any Move that benefits a specific team.

The given EV spread was chosen in order to allow Smeargle to survive a -1 Adamant, maximum invested, Talonflame Brave Bird, with Life Orb. I found that because of Smeargle's mediocre defenses it was more beneficial to commit to a single defensive stat rather than spread investment across both sides of the spectrum. With Kings Shield it made more sense to invest in the physical side because of the likelihood of opponents attacks being weakened.