Smeargle is a Basic Pokemon, 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 Pokemon 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 20x per coin flip (you only flip twice).

While the attack might sound weak, if you get 2 heads, you OHKO 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 Poke-Power “Portrait” and that is what makes this card truly shine. I will go into more detail of this Poke-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 Poke-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!

Almost every deck has to play Pokemon 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 match-up anyways 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. 

Smeargle 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 Pokemon are KOed), 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 Poke-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:

1/2x Smeargle 
1x Unown Q
Warp Energy (0-2 copies depending on the deck)

3/4x Smeargle
1/2x 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 Poke-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 Pokemon Forums  

Smeargle UD Analysis (Undaunted #8) is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.

You may have asked yourself, “Why does it take so long to start tournaments?” Or, “Do I always have to frantically hand-write my deck list before every tournament and triple check for accuracy?” In this age of digital wizardry, isn’t there anything that can take that boring and error-prone paperwork out of Pokémon? Read on to find out!

If you’ve been to any of the Battle Roads this season, you’ve probably noticed the deck checks at the beginning of the tournaments have been kind of hectic due to the card rotation. If you don’t know what I mean by “card rotation”, it means cards from certain sets can no longer be used at official tournaments. Popular cards such as Claydol and Night Maintenance are now illegal.

But you already know this… why should you care? Because while the judges are dealing with kids with old cards, you’re sitting there waiting… and waiting….and waiting. And no, it’s not just Juniors that have this problem. At a tournament this weekend, I saw a Master who had been out of the game for a while with an illegal Night Maintenance in his deck.

What do judges do when your deck has an old card in it? Do they pull you out of the tournament so everyone else can start playing? Of course not, nor should they! They resolve the situation as best they can, (usually replacing the offending card with a basic energy) which results in:

• Occasional tears from younger players, especially if the old card is found during a game. Kids are not always kind to each other when that happens: “You can’t plat THAT! Don’t you know its ILLEGAL????!!!! JUDGE!!!” Better have some tissues handy for little Johnny.

• Sometimes a parent has to get involved to buy a starter deck. BTW, some parents really take offense to this because they are the ones who spent their hard earned money to by the “illegal” cards in the first place.

• A lot of discussion and explanation about why this is happening, which takes TIME.

And what are YOU doing while all this is happening? Nothing. You are waiting. Patiently. Probably chatting up your friends, but you’re not playing. And after all, you drove two hours to the store to play, not chat, right?

The bottom line is that the “rotation confusion” is occurring at even well-staffed tournaments with dedicated deck-checkers and is certainly nobody’s fault. I can only imagine what the delays must be like when a single person is judging, deck checking, and running the tournament alone. Or what may happen when the larger tourneys like States and Regional’s come around this season.

I know what you are thinking right now: “This is a brilliant and insightful post. I wonder if he has a solution in mind.” Why, yes… yes I do.

You may already know about the on-line deck builder at BebesSearch.com. But did you know that it automatically checks every deck before printing? That means problems are discovered and corrected before you even leave home. And that means fewer problems at the tournament which means YOU get to play SOONER.

So why am I preaching to the choir by telling a bunch of experienced players about this? Because most young players and their parents, not to mention older players that have been away from the game for a while, are not going to magically learn about the deck builder\checker. We have to tell them about it.

I would ask all of you to tell your PTO\Judge\League Leader about the deck checker on BebesSearch.com and have them read this post or just explain to them how it can help reduce the “rotation confusion” that has been throwing a wrench in their previously smooth operations.

Here are some things you can say to your PTO about why they should promote the deck-checker:

• It’s FREE.

• Deck problems are corrected at home so fewer problems at the tournament.

• Tournaments start faster so they finish faster.

• “Wouldn’t you rather read a neatly printed page instead of messy handwriting?”

• “Aren’t you tired of hoping that all the numbers add up to 60?”

• It reduces the time parents need to invest in taking kids to tournaments which may increase turnout. Personal note: To be honest, I used to DREAD filling out decklists for myself and my kids – it was a major inconvenience. If I hadn’t gotten hooked on the game myself, this paperwork might have become an excuse to not take them. I see a lot of parents filling out decklists for their kids and can only imagine how many young players may have been lost over the years because parents decided they didn’t want more paperwork in their lives.

Here’s a quick summary of what’s checked before the decklist is printed:

• The deck must have 60 cards.

• The deck must have at least 1 basic Pokémon.

• All cards must be from legal sets.

• No more than four of any time of card except basic energy and Arceus.

• Lv.X’s count towards the four card rule.

• Also checks for duplicate rows which aren’t illegal but are probably human error.

And now here’s a fun game you can play at home. It’s called “Pretend You’re a Deck Checker”. Here’s how to play:

• Get a stopwatch or a clock that shows seconds.

• Try to find all the errors in this hand-written decklist. Note the number of seconds it takes you.

• Did you find them all? Remember, you’re doing this for an official tournament so you “gotta catch ‘em all!” There were (spoiler alert)… six types of old cards plus two other errors in the decklist.

• Multiply your time by the number of players at your last tournament. And yes, you must count Seniors and Masters, not just Juniors. Remember that Master with the Night Maintenance I saw? If it took you 30 seconds (to find all the errors) and the tournament has 30 players, well, you can do the math. Wouldn’t you rather spend that 15 minutes playing? And that 15 minutes assumes no problems. Imagine if the judges have to sit down with little Johnny to explain why he can’t use his 4 “Amulet Coin” cards. Better hit the snooze button.

• Now, try it with the same decklist from BebesSearch.com. Hint: look at the “deck check” box on the left first…

• Quite a difference, don’t you think? And remember, the player gets the bad news AT HOME, so they have time to fix the problem.

And one last thing… BebesSearch does not have the only on-line deck builder out there. For example, Steve P makes an excellent one too. But please be careful because as of the writing of this article, the version that comes from PokeBeach is NOT updated to know about the Set Rotation as you can see from this decklist that I just created on Sept 29. If you are using that product, make sure you follow the link on SixPrizes. But whichever on-line deckbuilder you choose, please try one out. Even if it’s just for one tournament. Believe me – a lot of you experienced players that try it will never go back to handwriting your decklists. And that benefits all of us because the fewer sloppy decklists the judges have to deal with, the faster the tournaments will start. And who wouldn’t like that?

So, click here to see how BebesSearch can help you! Go to the “Decklist” section and log in or register for a free account.

In closing let me just admit that the Deck Builder\Deck Checker at BebesSearch has a tough matchup against LuxChomp but beats everything else, including the mirror. Thanks for reading and happy printing!

bbSearch

(And thanks to Tony for his assistance – much appreciated)

How Can We Get Tournaments Started Faster? is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.

Instead of analyzing the pros/cons of specific Pokemon, I would like to instead focus on the best way to get your Stage 2 Pokemon in play and evolved so that you can start wreaking havoc on your opponent.

Step #1- Get Off to a Great Start

We sometimes forget that the key to getting your Stage 2 Pokemon out quickly is getting the basic form of that Pokemon in play as quickly as possible. With some exceptions, the best way to get these into play is using Call Energy, Supporters or Trainers that help you search for the ones you need. My personal preference is to play with 4 Call Energy and Roseanne’s Research to have the best chance of getting the basics needed in play either T1 or T2. Of course, you can always use Bebe’s Search or Luxury Ball to find a basic, but if possible, try to save these to find either Stage 1 or Stage 2 Pokemon.

Step#2- Evolve ASAP

Must-Have #1- Rare Candy. Rare Candy is absolutely critical to every Stage 2 deck. It’s a Trainer and lets you skip the Stage 1 evolution to get those big, beefy Poke-Powered and -Bodied Stage 2 Pokemon in play. You should play with 4 Rare Candy in every Stage 2 deck.

Must-Have #2- Bebe’s Search or other Supporter or Trainer Pokemon Finders. All Stage 2 decks should have a nice collection of Trainers and Supporters to help you find the Pokemon you need to evolve to the next stage. My preference is to play with 4 Bebe’s Search and 1-2 Luxury Balls, but there are other good options with the HGSS set like Pokemon Communicator and Professor Elm’s Training Method.

And now for some Optional Tips.

Option #1: Broken Time-Space. Broken Time Space is a Stadium Card that allows you to evolve your Pokemon as many times as you want during your turn so that you don’t have to wait until next turn. This can be extremely helpful to you (and unfortunately to your opponent), especially when you can get the basic, Stage 1 and Stage 2 in your hand your 1st or 2nd turn.

Option #2: Spiritomb AR. I have found that adding 4 of these is uber for speed and consistency. I used to play more BTS but have found that playing Spiritomb helps in an additional way. Since Stage 2 decks require the extra Pokemon for Stage 1 and Stage 2 evolutions, these decks tend to get off to worse starts than their lesser-evolved relatives. By playing 4 Spiritomb, you greatly increase your odds of getting a basic Pokemon in play which also helps you set up more quickly.

Note: a few words of caution when playing Spiritomb. Playing this with Rare Candy in the same deck can cause problems as an active Spiritomb prevents you from playing Trainers like Rare Candy. Even though this is a risk, it is manageable and still beneficial to have both. You just have to be careful when you retreat/play/sacrifice Spiritomb in order to not trainer lock yourself at the wrong time. Also, Spiritomb is more than likely going to wind up getting knocked out in the 1st few turns of the game, and you will often lose the 1st prize card in return for setting up your Pokemon. This means playing comeback (which is a great Hollywood theme anyway) which can sometimes be challenging.

Option #3: Poke-Power speed. One additional way to really give your deck a boost is to leverage Pokemon with good setup powers. Claydol and Uxie are the most obvious choices here, but there are others that tend to help specific Pokemon types. For example, Beedrill from Rising Rivals has the “Flutter Wings” Poke-Power which lets you search for any one Grass-type Pokemon once a turn. This is an incredibly helpful power when trying to get a Stage 2 Grass deck set up quickly. Other notable Pokemon that have similar boost searching powers are Magnezone SF with “Magnetic Search” and Gardevoir SW with “Telepass” that can often let you use its power to perform a second Bebe’s Search or Roseanne’s Research to find the Pokemon you need.

Well, that’s about it. Thanks for reading, and get those Stage 2 tanks moving!

Jump Start Your Stage 2 Deck! is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.

The game went Trader-less for a while until the second set in the Diamond and Pearl block was released. Mysterious Treasures brought us the sort of reincarnated version of the Pokemon Trader in Bebe’s Search. Bebe took the Traders effect and made it so much better as now you could trade any card in your hand. For me and I am sure many of us this opened up a whole new world of possibilities as now we could trade and card that was just dead weight (e.g. A nights maintenance with nothing in our discard piles to target) for a Pokemon that could turn the game in our favor.

Now as we enter the HeartGold & SoulSilver era a lot of old favorites have returned in some way such as Double Colorless Energy and Professor Elms Training Method. However, once again I have found Pokemon Trader to be revived this time in Pokemon Communication. Pokemon Communication says I can choose one Pokémon in my hand and switch it up for one Pokémon in my deck.

So now the question becomes in a format where for a short time we have both Bebe’s Search and Pokemon Communication which is the better choice for your deck. Each card has differences to them in comparison to the other so I am going to go through them and see what we can come up with.

Bebe’s Search (Supporter)

Bebe’s Search being a supporter means you can only play one per turn. This kind of puts a hindrance on the card itself as in the current format there are a lot of great supporters out there and only being able to play one per turn means you might not be able to get the combo you need to win going right away if you play it. The main perk to Bebe’s search is the fact that you don’t have to trade in a specific card to fetch a Pokemon from your deck as you need to do with Pokemon Communication.

Pokemon Communication

While it does have the freedom to be played as many times as you want Pokemon Communication has the one drawback of specifically needing a Pokemon to use its effect. This doesn’t give you as much freedom as Bebe’s Search but the fact that Pokemon Communication is not a supporter means you can play it in addition to a supporter such as Professor Elms Training Method.

There is little to no doubt that once the Diamond and Pearl sets are rotated out of our format Pokemon Communication will be a key card in all decks. The only real question now is for the little bit of time we have both Pokemon Communication and Bebe’s search Which will find spot in your decks.

Bebe’s Search Vs Pokemon Communication is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.

If you have questions about using it, feel free to drop a comment here. It’s pretty sweet; you can search for very specific criteria and attributes of cards, and those that match will come up in the search results. There is nothing like it out there.

HUGE thanks to Brian, the maker of Bebe’s Search for creating a module for us to use on the site. :)

In other news, Heart Gold / Soul Silver prereleases are slated for next weekend. I’m holding off on looking at any spoilers until the actual set comes out, but after we see the full set list I’ll be sure to start prepping for states and keep you guys updated with some articles.

Bebe’s Search Module on 6P is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.