Thoughts on Specific Gym Defenders Tier List
1. Dazzling Gleam is the best charged move for Gardevoir, as other charged moves make her toothless against Tyranitar.
2. For pre-raid or otherwise immediate defence, that nobody wants more Eevee, Slowpoke or Magikarp candy makes the Tier 2 defenders less likely to be fed berries by others.
3. Resisting Fire-type damage is not that important for a defender.
Nevertheless, good list and analysis overall.
Answers
Shadow Ball Gardevoir is good for dealing with the likes of Focus Blast Mewtwo (Potentially the most dangerous Gym attacker in terms of having few counters), Espeon, and Alakazam, better takes on Fire sunny DPS generalists, and is super-effective against its biggest counter, Metagross. I like to keep a maxed one of each since it's also pretty good for dealing with Focus Blast Mewtwo/Alakazam.
1. It's a bit risky attacking a Gardevoir with TTar since DG is a very liked move. SB also has an interesting counter coverage, especially interesting against Metagross.
2. For pre-raid defence, pokemon are not fed because people want candy from them, but because they want defenders to keep high motivation and maintain control of the gym. So this is a non issue.
1. Shadow Ball has its advantages, but Psychic is definitely inferior. Once you know the Gardevoir does not have Dazzling Gleam (you need to attack her at least thrice; more if she is fed berries), then using Tyranitar is not risky.
2. In high-turnover areas, some players try to get into gyms (owned by their team) under attack by repeatedly feeding only three to five defenders and letting the rest fall, hoping to grab an open slot after ten minutes. Defenders whose candy is more desirable may be more likely to be chosen and in exceptionally crowded areas (like shopping malls), there are also drive-by feeders tossing spare Nanabs hoping for a candy.
1. Let's forget about Psychic here :) We are talking about a situation where the attacker worries about the damage a Gardevoir with 2/3 motivation could deal (after the first fight where the attacker went with a safer option to probe the charge move). Except if Gardevoir is heavily fed, there is nothing to worry about, whatever the charge move. And if it is heavily fed, the attacker will probably use an optimal counter whatever the charge move, so the choice of charge move doesn't really matter (bar the awful Psychic).
2. Interesting point here. Good to learn things from places where gym dynamic is different :)
