Smog article very rough outline

Benefits
Faster match searching – Going on forums to find a battle in-game can be a frustrating endeavor. First you need to post somewhere hoping someone will see it, agree on rules, wait for a reply, add someone’s FC, wait for them online, connect, and selecting rules. Battle Spot is the most convenient way to find games against other players on the cartridge. As long as you have a team ready and are willing to abide by the rules, the queue process is much more simple than going through the trouble of waiting.

International players – As much as Pokemon Showdown is easy and convenient, one thing that playing on the simulator doesn’t do is allow you to do is play with international players who either do not speak English or a language supported by the simulator, especially non-Western players. Most notably, Japanese players dominate the Battle Spot ladder and they don’t use simulators period! Even practicing Battle Spot on the simulator doesn’t give you the full picture because of the smaller sample size.

Rankings – Like the simulator, PGL has a leaderboard that is publicly viewable. Getting high ratings fairly prestigious as trainers throughout the globe can see how awesome you are.

Free Aegislash – While the writers respect the tiering council, we also understand that many people disagree with tiering decisions. We feel that the hate towards Smogon is fairly pointless - those who do not agree with the tiering council and would prefer to play in a tier without Kyogre, Arceus, and Xerneas should try Battle Spot. If you are one of these people, please do not complain or spread hatred towards Smogon and those who prefer to play by their tiers  – play Battle Spot instead! Here, you can use Swagplay, Moody, Blaziken, Mega Kangaskhan and Aegislash to your heart’s content. Just don’t expect to autowin as you climb up the ladder. High rated players come prepared for whatever stands in their way – regardless of whether or not it carries the stigma of being banned in Smogon OU.

Misconceptions about Battle Spot
Arbitrary banlist means an unplayable tier. – Nothing can be further from the truth. No one is arguing that Mega Kanga is balanced, but its predictability means that skilled players can be easily prepared for it be it Rocky Helmet or burning.

lv. 50 is difficult to get into – The main thing to look out for at lv50 is that offenses scale a little better – ergo, lv. 50 Pokemon hit each other harder than their lv100 counterparts. If you are the type to run EV spreads to make or prevent OHKOs or 2HKOs, make sure to rerun your calculations if they were not made for lv50 play. You will often find yourself running less Atk and SpA EVs and more HP/Def/SpD than for lv100 play. However, speed tiers and simple 252/252 spreads retain their efficacy in lv50 play so you can start simple if you need to.

I don’t like 3v3, doubles, or any “gimmick” metagames. – First of all, there is a 6v6 singles metagame available on Battle Spot right now, albeit with no items.

Less convenience makes it less fun – Many regulars in the Battle Spot forum are willing and able to provide whichever Pokemon you need so you can jump into the fun. A few of us actually like to play in-game doing the “grind” and we have no problem assisting those who don’t as long as that means you will be joining us on Battle Spot. How can you get free Pokemon? By jumping into the discussion and participating in the community. In fact, there is a triples CCAT going on right now.
We don’t like the lack of events! – While we would like for some of the event mons to be allowed, it is probably for the better that it isn’t.