How should I use my Chansey candy?
What I currently have is inadequate for the competitive gyms in Singapore, especially with my shift in focus from tier 3 and 5 raids to earning gold gym badges:
L30 Blissey, ZH/DG, 14/13/13
L20 Chansey, Pd/Ps, 15/14/14 (recent hatch)
L20 Chansey, ZH/DG, 15/14/12
L20 Chansey, Pd/HB, 15/10/12
L15 Chansey, Pd/DG, 13/14/11 (from research)
(No wonder Snorlax. My other defenders include a L30 84% Slowbro with Conf/IB, a L30 82% Clefable with ZH/DG, a L20 82% Steelix with DT/HS and a L20 89% Lapras with FB/Bl. Also have two L30 Gyaradoses WF/HP and a L30 96% Gardevoir with Cn/DG.)
Chansey candy has always been hard to come by. After walking 200km to power up my Blissey, I buddied Larvitar (500km) and Beldum (400km), but switched back to Chansey when Adventure Week started. I now have just enough candy to do only one of the following:
A. Power up two Chanseys (96% and 91%) to level 30.
B. Evolve one Chansey (96%) and power up to level 30.
C. Evolve two Chanseys, leaving them at level 20.
D. Almost max out my only (89%) Blissey.
Which option should I choose? (EDIT: Options A to C imply that I will eventually turn the 96% Chansey into a maxed Blissey as more candy becomes available. Options C and D are probably bad, but mentioning them for completeness.)
I have 1.5M dust, 294 RC, 18 FTMs and 9 CTMs. Other planned investments include a second maxed Machamp, a ES/SA Lugia, a Moltres or Flareon (for Jynx and Regis), a few Tyranitars (after Community Day) and an Articuno (once I have four).
Answers
Chansey's attack is so low that it is only a punching bag. Its advantage is long term defense, staying motivated longer.
Blissey gets time consuming to fight at around 3000cp. So bring a Blissey close to max is my advice.
Taking down a level 30 Chansey or level 30 Blissey is no real difference to higher level players, I'd say.
I barely notice if a Blissey is 2800 or 3100 before I attack. Just pound away with your Machamps. Revives/potions are no problem for me. I take my Blisseys to level 30 and then focus on the next. A level 30 Chansey is my next one, nice to have when there already is a Blissey in the gym. A real demotivator for someone with limited time to fight the gym. For the dedicated gym-attackers there simply is no way to stop them.
Nah, there is a tangible difference between those CPs. Maybe you don't experience it yourself but all of my CP3100+ Blissey constantly rack up victories from underleveled challengers while the ones lower than CP3000 ALWAYS get beaten at full motivation, no matter the level of the dweeb fighting it.
So no matter how dedicated they are, some players still can't get through a maxed Blissey wall at full motivation, which filters out a lot of competition when trying to passively remain in control of a gym in case a raid spawns or whatever and the best part is that you don't even have to feed them GRBs in order to "motivate" them back to a full heart.
Max out your best Blissey, kids, it's absolutely worth it.
I also notice the difference. Even if I can easily beat a maxed Blissey, doing so takes longer and uses more potions/revives, which definitely matters when the Blissey is fed GRBs. There are also many high-level players who do not use (or even know) optimal counters, relying on autoselect (and thus more likely to time out against a maxed Blissey).
I definitely intend to max out a Blissey; the question is whether that will be my current L30 89% Blissey or my recently-hatched 96% Chansey.
Is it more common for you to take a gym yourself and leave a Blissey there or to add to a gym that already has a Blissey but no Chansey? With only one Blissey and not that high level either, I would strengthen your team there. Take the first Blissey to 2800-2900cp and put the rest of the candy towards making a second one.
Looking at your other defenders, surely you have a level 30 Vaporeon also? That would be much better than a level 20 Lapras.
GRB feeding is common, so taking down gyms solo is difficult and in the past, I rarely did so, except for the gym nearest to my house in the middle of the night. I had to look for blue gyms with open slots (feeding GRBs if they were under attack) or red/yellow gyms already under attack. With my focus shifting to gold gym badges, I expect to launch sustained sieges and take down gyms myself more often. Occasionally others will join in and even if the gym turns blue, someone else may slot in their Blissey first.
Yes, I have a level 30 Vaporeon (96%) with WG/HP, which I did not list because I thought Vaporeon is no longer a good defender.
Vaporeon has suffered as a defender but its counters also counter Lapras. 10 level advantage is huge though, a level 30 Vape is absolutely better than a level 20 Lapras.
Maybe you should collect data for a few days on how many times you could have put in a Blissey but don't have it available. If it's rare or never happens, maybe it's not so worth it to put resources to the second Blissey for now. A big Chansey can also be very much worth it and can always be evolved to a Blissey later if necessary.
