pokebeach.comWell, this is my first article for SixPrizes and I think it should be an interesting one. The article is going to be about Smeargle UD, a card from an otherwise lackluster set, Undaunted. Smeargle is a very versatile card and as a result, can be used in many different decks. Now that the intro is out of the way, let’s move onto the more interesting bit, the Card Analysis.
Smeargle is a Basic Pokémon, this means that it is EXTREMELY easy to get out, and it means that it could be used in almost any deck you could think of. It has 70 HP which is decent for a Pokémon that can’t evolve and it is Colorless type but, it isn’t a great attacker so it isn’t very important. Although I just stated it isnt a great attacker, it does have a decent attack, “Tail Rap”, that does 20× per coin flip (you only flip twice).
While the attack might sound weak, if you get 2 heads, you 1HKO a Garchomp C because of your Colorless typing. Smeargle is weak to Fighting which isnt too bad and it had only 1 Retreat, meaning an Unown Q is golden on this painting dog. It has a Poké-Power “Portrait” and that is what makes this card truly shine. I will go into more detail of this Poké-Power in the next paragraph:
Portrait allows you to look in your opponent’s hand, find a supporter card you find there, and play it as this Poké-Power. You may also use this power multiple times per turn if you use Portrait with multiple Smeargle. So you have to think about it, are Supporters really that great to copy? The obvious answer is… YES!
pokebeach.comAlmost every deck has to play Pokémon Collector, Bebe’s Search, Cyrus’s Conspiracy, or some other combination of Supporters and they almost always play more than one copy (usually 2-4). Lets use 8-12 Supporters per EVERY single deck as a guideline number, you have to think of the odds of hitting one at least once in the game. Yeah, that’s right, it is a seriously fantastic power.
I also just mentioned 3 Supporters only, what about the other Supporters you may ask? Well, you can copy those too! If you battle vs a Sablock deck, you can hit a Cyrus’ Initiative, if you battle vs a random deck, you can hit a Mom’s Kindness, either way, every deck plays supporters. Smeargle also allows you to see certain cards in a different light, you Amy actually enjoy some of the more interesting Supporters and play a copy yourself. You may also be thinking, ugh, what if I battle a deck with Mom’s Kindness in it??? Well, odds are, you should easily win that matchup anyway but, you still net 2 free cards per turn and that is still very good no matter what.
Smeargle is great but, it can also lead to your demise.; It’s power states that if you find a Supporter, you MUST use it! This isn’t absolutely horrible because most players won’t be able or know how to play around Smeargle but, if your opponent is holding onto a Judge or a CopyCat or a PONT, you may just lose your fantastic hand. If you ever feel like your opponent is holding onto one of those cards and you don’t want to risk your hand, don’t be greedy, just forget about Smeargle until you need him again.
pokebeach.comSmeargle gets even better after Triumphant’s Release with cards like Twins, Black Belt, and Hunter. If you are behind in prizes (think about sending up Smeargle after one of your Pokémon are KO’d), you can use Twins to search your deck for any 2 cards or BlackBelt to do an extra 40 damage. You can also use Hunter to pick up that useless Azelf or bench your opponent out for that final KO. You might not find any of see cards in your opponent’s hand but, they will be played because of their great potential in this format.
Well, now that we have gone through Smeargle’s Poké-Power, we should probably get down to the deck construction aspect of Smeargle. Smeargle can be a 1-of in any deck or you can play 2, 3, or even 4 to maximize him as a starter. Here are some sample Smeargle lines:
1/2× Smeargle
1× Unown Q
Warp Energy (0-2 copies depending on the deck)
3/4× Smeargle
1/2× Unown Q
Super Scoop Up (0-4 copies depending on the deck)
Switch/Warp Point (0-3 copies depending on the deck)
Warp Energy (0-2 copies depending on the deck)
With cards like Unown Q, Warp Energy, Super Scoop Up, and Switch/Warp Point, you can use multiple Portrait Poké-Powers in a turn which will allow you to set-up your deck faster than your opponent. Also, if your opponent doesn’t have any supporters in their hand, they are probably in a pretty bad position which should allow you to take control. You also get the benefit of seeing your opponent’s hand which will allow you to predict their moves better (so you can counter them better).
Well, I hope that you have learned a thing or two about a great card from this article and I also hope that you enjoyed it for what it is worth. Give Smeargle a try in any of your decks and post your results in the comments section below. Feel free to ask me questions either on the comments section or through my email (zlesage@hotmail.com).
Thanks for reading,
Zachary Lesage (smacktack)
zlesage@hotmail.com
Zachary Lesage @ Facebook
smacktack or smacktack15 on various Pokémon Forums
i also heard of smeargle being used in shuppet, first to set up, then to potentially disrupt by using initiative judge etc
This is hardly an article man. We’re STAFF WRITERS, that means if we write an article it needs to be incredibly well written, longer than that, and full of valuable wisdom. There’s a lot of other things you could have talked about Smeargle that’s pretty important in my opinion…
1. By leaving Smeargle out at the end of your turn, you automatically force your opponent to play supporters they don’t want you to use during their turn. Or else you’ll just use it and gain a huge advantage. So just by leaving smeargle up, your opponent might have to use an inferior supporter for that turn.
2. Smeargle’s even better job at sniffing out Power Sprays. That’s what makes it so good in SP vs SP. 1. you could potentially copy a cyrus when you don’t have one. Or 2. You could sniff out some Power Sprays!
3. Countering Smeargle? Why didn’t you talk about it’s obvious weakness for being “locked up” or “chattered” I just watched an SP vs SP in a finals match where someone used azelf to potentially seal the game for them by just locking up 4 turns in a row on a Smeargle, when his hand had no supporters in it.
4. You didn’t really talk about how valuable Smeargle is or isn’t. He’s a risky play and can be a resource hog (taking up a Q and often times taking up a spot on collector, bebe’s etc, and isn’t even guaranteed to copy a supporter) I think he really only belongs in SP vs SP, like I said earlier. If you play him in anything else, it’s just a giant risk sometimes.
5. “Rocket Prof” even brought up something that was overlooked. Maybe you should of listed what type of decks could benefit from running a bunch of smeargles or something?
I dunno Zach, seems like this article is too skimpy. And if I was Adam I would be disappointed. But I’m sure Adam will say he isn’t, just because he’s a classy guy! Try to write more for your next article and make sure you look at whatever your topic is about in every aspect you can think of.
1. I sorta agree with that, but there’ll be a lot of times where they’ll only have 1 supporter, so it won’t hinder them much or they have a supporter they plan to play that they don’t want you to use again. I get what you mean, but it won’t happen as often as you’d like.
2. Finding Sprays is nice.
3. I agree with 3 all the way.
4. I think that, although Smeargle is at the top of it’s game in SP, it’s still very good in other decks, without being a huge risk.
5. Yeah, that coulda been good.
I agree that this was a really confusing article, but it got the point across at least: Smeargle is good in a lot of different ways.
Hey, I understand where you are getting at but, idk my article wasn’t bad. I just thought it would be an ok first article for a staff writer (we aren’t UG writers). I already asked Kenny and Adam to look it over to see if it was article worthy and I was told it looked good. I am a straight up person and I want other to be like that with me, if my article wasn’t great, I want feedback. I’ll do my best for my next article.
– Zach
I’m glad you’re taking the criticism alright. I might of been a little harsh, but hey that’s just who I am. Anyway, it was a fine article. But we have to set a higher precedent for ourselves since we are staff writers. I know it doesn’t mean anything but it could end up being a big deal. And once you see the caliber of articles I’m writing, I’d like the other staff writers to step up to the plate as well.
I’m looking at this title of “staff writer” (which really doesn’t mean anything, but it looks nice on a resume) as an opportunity to actually get me a real writing job in the real world for real money. I’m sure most of the other guys writing on here don’t think that or even care, but a spotlight like sixprizes.com to show off your writing skills doesn’t come along everyday.
Couldn’t you use an intiative to see their hand and pull out good cards, then portrait for a good supporters. I think Smeargle is good with a supporter that helps see their hand before you use portrait.
Cyrus’s Initiative is generally used to take supporter away or vital pokemon away from opponent’s hand. Doiesnt make sense to use Initiative from your hand to put back vital supporter like cyrus away from their hand, than using portrait
In my chenlock variant I do it the other way around. You portrait to know what’s in their hand to determine if retreating to a sableye for an initiative is worth it.
Hmmm . . . can I be very critical cos this is a ‘staff writer’ thing?
In a constructive way, hopefully.
The repetition leads to confusion and contradiction at times, eg here:
‘it isn’t a great attacker so it isn’t very important. Although I just stated it isnt a great attacker, it does have a decent attack, “Tail Rap”, that does 20x per coin flip (you only flip twice)’
Does it have a decent attack or not? (Obviously not)
Whole thing just feels rushed with a lot of important stuff missed out (See rokman’s comment)
It’s a good idea for an article cos Smeargle isn’t appreciated enough by a lot of players, but it needed to be done a whole lot better than this.
Hmmm . . . can I be very critical cos this is a ‘staff writer’ thing?
In a constructive way, hopefully.
The repetition leads to confusion and contradiction at times, eg here:
‘it isn’t a great attacker so it isn’t very important. Although I just stated it isnt a great attacker, it does have a decent attack, “Tail Rap”, that does 20x per coin flip (you only flip twice)’
Does it have a decent attack or not? (Obviously not)
Whole thing just feels rushed with a lot of important stuff missed out (See rokman’s comment)
It’s a good idea for an article cos Smeargle isn’t appreciated enough by a lot of players, but it needed to be done a whole lot better than this.
I was actually going to say this is a pretty sloppy article as well, but didn’t want to be the only one.
If it’s sloppy, tell me, it will make me a better writer over time.
only to grab free supporter after a ko (Gyarados anyone?)
only to grab free supporter after a ko (Gyarados anyone?)
It’s awesome Vs sablelock, it really hurts them and turn the tide of the match to yours, Vs every other Sp is quite awesome, abusing aaron’s collection to get your garchomps back DUDE that’s awesome!
I actually run it in dialgachomp to take full advantage of DEAFEN
I understood the point of the article, so who cares if it’s perfectly or poorly written, it points out the main ideas of using painting dog.
Great article, i know you’ll make it better next time,
cheers from México City
The thing is, if you go 2nd to a Sablelock deck it’s hard because a lot of Sablelock decks play SP and playing SP means you can play Power Spray, and if they do, a lot of times, Sable-Donk!!!!!:D
Hey guys, if you have any issues with my article, be sure to bring them up. I want to become the best possible writer I can be and if nothing is said, I can only assume my articles are good. I am willing to take criticism.
Either way, I still hope some players (probably some of the less-informed/weaker players) learned something at the very least.
Do you get to discard the supporter or does it remain in their hand? The Power reads “use the effect of this supporter” and an effect of ALL supporters is to put it in play, then discard it at the end of your turn. Does this apply here?
No, it does not, the supporter stays in their hand.
it would be quite nice if it did xD
That is why you play Cyrus’ Initiative as a 1-of in a deck that plays Cyrus’ Conspiracy, you can utilise it normally with Conspiracy or by using your opponent’s Conspiracy to use Initiative to get rid of their good cards.
My Smeargle Engine in DialgaChomp:
1x Smeargle
1x Unown Q
1x Staraptor FB Lv.X
1x Staraptor FB
4x Cyrus’ Conspiracy
3x Pokemon Collector
2x Bebe’s Search
1x CopyCat
1x Cyrus’ Initiative/Judge/Looker’s Investigation/Cynthia’s Guidance
0/1x Twins/BlackBelt
1x Aaron’s Collection
1x VS Seeker
2x Warp Energy
It basically is a very great Supporter Engine for any SP deck
The best writing is concise writing. Since this is not concise, this is certainly not the best it can be, or even close.
Thanks for the comment. I will try to make my articles have more substance and more concise in the future.
LoL zach xD you should have written an in depth article about DialgaChomp and it’s potentials xD I think I’m going to run somethign else for cities as my DialgaChomp testing was done in 3 BR with top 2 in every one of them xD Prob gonna test out VileGar with Gengar Prime tech and twins and Gyarados
“You may also use this power multiple times per turn if you use Portrait with multiple Smeargle.”
How exactly? It requires Smeargle to be Active. I supposed if you start one active, then retreat (Unown Q or burn an energy) and bring up a second Smeargle you could do that but that seems a far fetched situation and now you’ve burned two bench slots with this card…
One way you could use it twice:
You start with an active Smeargle and one benched. You use portrait and see your opponent has a Pokemon Collector and a Bebe’s Search in his or her hand. You use the collector to get a bunch of basics, but you also really want to get that crucial Evolution/Lv.X. So you play Super Scoop Up/Switch/Warp Point to bench your active and replace it with your other Smeargle. Then you use portrait for the Bebe’s Search, Unown Q the active and retreat it for your actual attacker.
Yeah, it is cumbersome, but it could mean the difference between winning and losing in the right situation.
I just had this happen:
1. Smeargle was active after a knockout
2. I Portraited
3. He sprayed
4. I retreated Smeargle (unown Q)
5. Brought up crobat
6. Poke-Turned Crobat
7. Brought up Smeargle and Portraited again (no spray this time) for an Aaron’s I knew he was holding.
Granted I couldn’t attack that turn but I did get to use it twice.
Mmm im not really sure, but isnt that move wrong?
The card specifically says “once per turn”, i dont think retreating nulifies that, to do that you would need a second smeargle, different from the one that portraited first.
Retreating that specific Smeargle does nothing TBH. You could SSU the Smeargle or Seeker it and then use it again but, retreating has no other effect on that power.
By chaining smeargle’s, I meant having 2 in play and using Unown Q/Warp Energy/Switch to effectively use 2 separate Smeargles. TBH, I only use 1 Smeargle in my DialgaChomp but, it is always great if you are able to hit a Cyrus early or late game.
Thanks for the replies.
I thought retreating a pokemon would remove all special conditions including effects of attacks and powers.
I’ve seen plenty of folks retreat a garchomp lv x after dragon rushing, poketurn something up and bring up the same garchomp and dragon rush again (energy attach of course).
I could be wrong…
Is there a judge in the house?
I’m not a judge, but I searched the forums at pokegym and found this ruling: http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?t=134362&highlight=portrait
It basically says that effects of powers are not treated the same as effects of attacks and do not clear when hitting the bench.
There are several other interesting questions that have been answered by the judges there concerning Portrait, so it might be worth doing a search of your own.
Hi Zach,
man people are really piling on you. I thought your article was a good read. I learned some new things about a card I dismissed as “cute”. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the reply. I thought the article was a good starting point and I wanted to describe it as a very flexible card that might have a few more uses than most players have thought about. Perhaps the readers who disliked this article have already seen these uses and disregarded my article because of it. IDK, I will try to have more substance and be more concise in the future.
Peace
No one would of said anything if he was a regular sixprizes reader contributing an article.
But he’s a staff writer…
I played this at all the BRs. People gave me weird looks because I was playing Smeargle in my list. I ended up making top cut 3/4 times. Two of the times was T2 but I didn’t win any. Haha
I played against a VileGar deck during Battle Roads that used Smeargle with an Unown Q attached. This helped him out several times to know if he should use Poltergeist or not. This was especially nice setup because with the trainer lock that Vileplume gives, I couldn’t spray the portrait.
I think the point was already made, but to reiterate it, anything that benefits from seeing your opponent’s hand ahead of time can use Smeargle’s power.