What to power up?

I no longer power up defenders. So I'll be working my way down from Tier 1 to Tier 3 in order. I don't have a Dragonite with DB/DC so I'll be working on my two Rhydon's first, then Gengar.

I currently power up only attackers as soon as I get candy or will level up, Dragonite DB/DC, Vapos, diverse Gyarados, Tangela. The only defender I power up is a Chansey currently CP 1.297 cuz it's a major nuisance and I'm an asshole :)

My best defenders:

1 - Dragonite SW/DC, 3171 CP, maxed out;
2 - Snorlax ZH/BS, 3027 CP, maxed out;
3 - Dragonite SW/DP, 2867 CP, never powered;
4 - Dragonite SW/HB, 2826 CP, never powered;
5 - Lapras IS/Bliz, 2617 CP, maxed out;
6 - Vaporeon WG/WP, 2554 CP, never powered;
7 - Snorlax ZH/HB, 2254 CP, never powered.

I reached my CP goal with these monsters. The only one that i will still maxing out is the Snorlax ZH/BS, 3027 CP and 93.3% IVs. I am now just farming dust and waiting for gen 2, but elite Pokémon still welcome to the team (especially Snorlaxes with ZH/BS or HB and good ivs) and can be powered up if worth it.

3x Gyarados (only for placement in Gyms thanks to its CP) 3x +90% IV

1x Exeggutor ZH-SB 95% IV (need candy for another 3 Exeguttors +90%)

1x Lapras FB-IB 93% IV (need candy for another 3 Lapras +90% IV)

1x Golem Mud shot - Earthq 91% IV(mud shot legacy moveset)

1x starmie WG-HP 100%IV (best starmie there is)

1x Charizard 92%IV SW+FT ( personal favourite)

i am level 33 now and ive maxed out a couple of defenders to get top spots in gyms

dragonite SW/DC >90%
gyarados B/DP >90%
lapras IS/IB 89%
exeggutor ZH/SB >90%

im still trying to max out my >90% arcanine FF/FT but unfortunately its very hard to get candys here.

Attackers:

i have maxed out a 100% vaporeon with WG/HP and a >90% victreebel RL/SB

and then i have hatched a snorlax L/HB, lapras FB/B and made some several high cp evee/shellder/slowpoke/staryu evolutions but did not spend any stardust on them at all. They are already strong enough to take down any defender when dodging charge moves.

but actually there is absolutely no real need to max out pokemon - except the fun to do so.

EDIT
i have a maxed out gengar, too but just bc its one of my favourite pokemon - he gets his powerups since i got him at level 19

I'm still focused on defenders mostly, I try to use easy to prestige defenders.
3124 dragonite prestiged with crap lapras
2666 Exeggutor with scyther.
try to open a few spots before I leave.
I always keep a maxed snorlax in "my" gym
I throw fun stuff in the liquor store down the road.

Not a whole lot of gym turnover around me so defenders are still relevant. Players still guarding their "turf" but the average level is probably about 25 around me so I'm just keeping attackers leveled to save time.

There's only maybe 5 competitive players around and only 1 is on an opposing team so it's not really a struggle, might as well spend the dust and make the attackers use some potions though.

I have an unbelievable amount of gyms compared to players and stops. There's probably 75-100 churches around, each one is a gym.