[OVERVIEW]
Chansey holds a strong niche in Ubers due to having the best Special bulk in the game; it's one of the best switch-ins available to special attackers such as Starmie, Alakazam, and particularly tier titan Mewtwo, taking a mere 21.4% maximum from its STAB Psychic and threatening it and its team with paralysis and sleep. It can also switch into Mew when healthy and threaten it with paralysis, as it survives all of Mew's regular attacks even at +2. It is one of the most reliable paralysis spreaders in the tier thanks to its access to reliable recovery and consistent entry points.
However, outside of threatening status, Chansey is extremely passive, as Seismic Toss can only 4HKO or 5HKO most foes, and it completely thuds into Rhydon, failing to break its Substitute. Ice Beam, meanwhile, does not particularly threaten non-Ice weak foes. Chansey can't even wall Mewtwo well in the long term, as it takes 44.2% minimum from a +4 Mewtwo Psychic; even with Light Screen it can easily be overwhelmed by Special drops and critical hits. Mewtwo can also use Self-Destruct or Submission to break through Chansey. It also can very easily run out of Soft-Boiled PP in longer games. Its low base Speed, which leaves it outsped by every relevant threat outside of Snorlax, Rhydon, and Slowbro, along with its physical frailty, notably being 2HKOed by Rhydon's Earthquake and taking 38.1% minimum from a Snorlax Body Slam, can at times make Chansey quite exploitable and a potential liability on teams.
[SET]
name: Sing
move 1: Sing
move 2: Seismic Toss / Ice Beam
move 3: Thunder Wave
move 4: Soft-Boiled
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Chansey can switch into Mewtwo and other special attackers and attempt to land Sing, as Mewtwo usually cannot risk being put to sleep. Seismic Toss threatens consistent damage on every foe in the tier, 4HKOing or 5HKOing most foes and forcing predictable recovery turns from the likes of Starmie, Alakazam, Mewtwo, and Mew, which can be exploited to switch in strong physical attackers, such as Snorlax, Rhydon, and Tauros. However, Seismic Toss can be exploited by Rhydon, as its Substitute is not broken by the move. Ice Beam 2HKOes Ground-types and threatens freeze on unparalyzed foes; however, it has far less PP than Seismic Toss and does pathetic damage to boosted Mewtwo. Chansey is usually better off just paralyzing the foe than fishing for freeze. Thunder Wave allows Chansey to spread paralysis across the opposing team, with Pokemon such as Tauros, Starmie, and Alakazam being completely crippled if they become paralyzed, and paralyzed Mew and Mewtwo becoming being far more vulnerable to physical attackers such as Snorlax and Rhydon.
Chansey is one of the best status spreaders and Mewtwo switch-ins in the tier, so Pokemon that want Mewtwo and other Special attackers paralyzed, such as Cloyster, Tauros, Rhydon, Snorlax, and Sandslash, make great partners to Chansey. Exeggutor and Zapdos make good switch-ins to Mew, which may otherwise cause Chansey issues. Exeggutor can also switch into Rhydon, which threatens Seismic Toss Chansey immensely. Pokemon that get forced out by strong Psychic-types, such as Tauros, Rhydon, and Cloyster, also make good teammates to Chansey, as Chansey can switch into special attackers for them.
[SET]
name: Light Screen
move 1: Light Screen
move 2: Seismic Toss / Ice Beam
move 3: Thunder Wave
move 4: Soft-Boiled
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Light Screen lets Chansey be a proper wall to Special attackers, taking only 26.4% maximum from Mewtwo's +4 Psychic and only 27.8% maximum from Slowbro's +6 Surf, allowing Chansey to stall them out of attacking PP. However, Chansey can be overwhelmed by Special drops and critical hits from Mewtwo or potentially get stalled out of Soft-Boiled PP, as it does not have enough PP to stall both Mewtwo and Slowbro. Seismic Toss is Chansey's best option for solid damage across the entire tier and to force recovery turns for Pokemon such as Mewtwo, Alakazam, and Starmie, which can be taken advantage of by the likes of Snorlax, Tauros, and Rhydon. Ice Beam allows Chansey to hit Ground-types for super effective damage, notably 2HKOing Rhydon, which otherwise is only 5HKOed by Seismic Toss and can set up a Substitute freely. Ice Beam also lets Chansey fish for freeze against unparalyzed foes. Thunder Wave allows Chansey to hamstring fast threats such as Tauros, Starmie, and Alakazam, and paralysis makes the omnipotent Mew and Mewtwo much more vulnerable to strong physical attackers such as Snorlax, Tauros, and Rhydon.
Light Screen Chansey makes a great partner to Pokemon that appreciate status on fast foes such as Tauros, Rhydon, Cloyster, and Snorlax. These Pokemon are usually threatened by strong Psychic-types, which Chansey can switch into. Light Screen Chansey is much more of a dedicated stall set than Sing Chansey, so Pokemon with high longevity, such as Reflect Snorlax, Cloyster, Exeggutor, and even Aerodactyl, can make good partners to it.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Sing can be dropped if there is already a sleeper on Chansey's team, such as an Exeggutor or Jynx, and Light Screen is droppable for teams that are not dedicated to stalling. Counter can be used to OHKO Snorlax and Tauros by returning damage from Body Slam, and it also OHKOes Mewtwo using Submission and Mew using +2 Body Slam. However, Counter becomes practically useless once it is revealed and can easily be scouted by Snorlax, Mew, and Tauros with Earthquake. Reflect makes Chansey far better into physical attackers such as Snorlax, Tauros, and Zapdos, and it also allows Chansey to survive Self-Destruct and Explosion. However, Reflect leaves Chansey without many tools to adequately deal with Mewtwo and other special attackers outside of paralysis. It also has a major Soft-Boiled PP issue, as it cannot stall Mewtwo or Slowbro at all. Thunderbolt can be used alongside Ice Beam to give Chansey perfect coverage and deal super effective damage to many threats, such as Water-types. However, Water-types are quite uncommon, so Chansey rarely has to give up a moveslot to cover for them. On top of this, this perfect coverage still does not threaten Mewtwo or Mew in the slightest. Flash allows Chansey to prevent Mewtwo and Mew from setting up safely in front of it and reapply the Speed drop from paralysis, but it is inaccurate and fishing for misses is inherently unreliable.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Mewtwo**: Paralyzed Mewtwo can switch into Chansey and start boosting with Amnesia, 2HKOing Chansey with +4 Psychic 20.2% of the time while only being 5HKOed in return by Seismic Toss. Even with Light Screen, Chansey can be overwhelmed by Psychic Special drops and critical hits, especially if it's paralyzed. Chansey also has to be wary of the rare Submission Mewtwo, which 2HKOes it 86.7% of the time. Mewtwo can also use Self-Destruct, which does 80.3% minimum. However, if Mewtwo is unparalyzed, it should be wary of switching in due to Sing, and it becomes far more vulnerable to physical attackers if it becomes paralyzed.
**Mew**: Paralyzed Mew can switch into Chansey quite easily, tanking Seismic Toss and Ice Beam well and threatening it in return with Thunder Wave and boosted physical attacks. UnparalyzedMew has to be cautious of Sing and dislikes paralysis.
**Snorlax**: Snorlax is only 6HKOed by Seismic Toss and Ice Beam, and it threatens Chansey back with a KO from Body Slam followed by Hyper Beam. It also OHKOes Chansey with Self-Destruct, but Snorlax hates paralysis if it lacks Rest.
**Rhydon**: Rhydon is immune to Thunder Wave and is only 5HKOed by Seismic Toss, letting it set up a Substitute in front of Chansey with ease and 2HKO it with Earthquake. However, Rhydon has to be conservative with its HP, as it lacks recovery bar Rest and can find itself worn down quickly. Rhydon also has to be wary of Ice Beam, as it's 2HKOed by the move.
**Explosion users**: Explosion and Self-Destruct users, such as Exeggutor, Snorlax, Mew, Mewtwo, Cloyster, Gengar, and Golem, all OHKO or do heavy damage to Chansey with the move. Snorlax's Self-Destruct and Golem's Explosion OHKO Chansey, while Cloyster, Exeggutor, and Mew's Explosion are heavily favored to OHKO it. Mewtwo's Self-Destruct and Gengar's Explosion never OHKO Chansey, but both still deal significant damage to it.
**Slowbro**: Slowbro can switch into Chansey lacking Sing and Thunderbolt with ease, as it's only 4HKOed by Seismic Toss and takes barely any damage from Ice Beam. Slowbro threatens Chansey with Thunder Wave and boosted Surf, 2HKOing it 76.2% of the time with +6 Surf and 4HKOing it 88.4% of the time if it has Light Screen up. Slowbro only has to be wary of its predictable Rest being exploited by the likes of Mewtwo, Snorlax, and Rhydon.
**Zapdos**: Zapdos outspeeds Chansey, can paralyze it, and 3HKOes it with Drill Peck 76.2% of the time. It also has Agility to ignore the Speed drop from paralysis. However, Zapdos is 3HKOed by Ice Beam and 4HKOed by Seismic Toss, and it needs critical hits or full paralysis to break through Chansey. However, with the amount of turns Chansey needs to KO Zapdos safely, it is likely that Zapdos will break through it.
**Tauros**: Tauros is only 4HKOed by Seismic Toss and Ice Beam and KOes Chansey in return with Body Slam followed by Hyper Beam. However, Tauros becomes far less threatening once paralyzed and can only reliably beat Chansey one-on-one if Chansey is also paralyzed, so it should only fight Chansey if it absolutely has to.
[CREDITS]
Written by
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/notverycake.625260/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gastlies.540559/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
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