Blissey

Months before Generation II came out, many trainers had Chansey as their buddy, which comes as no surprise – Chansey is a very rare spawn and a great gym defender due to its low CP decay. Chansey evolves into Blissey, the meta defining HP powerhouse and undoubtedly the #1 gym defender in the current metagame.

Pokémon Stats Max CP
ATK DEF STA
Blissey Normal 129 229 510 3219

Blissey overview

The beast with many names, the devil of Gym defense. You can’t simply bring superior typing to a Blissey fight, you need to bring your biggest gun, your TOP tier attacking Pokémon. Blissey is the best gym defender since Generation II was released for the following reasons.

Its main strengths are:

  • It’s normal typing is only weak to Fighting
  • Only a few counters can stand a real fight against her (and the timer)
  • Its best moveset (even though it does not benefit from STAB) deals super effective damage against most of her main counters
  • A 510 Base Stamina stat makes it by far the strongest tank to leave in a Gym
  • She’s outclassed Snorlax, one of the best gym defenders in the past

However, its main weaknesses should be mentioned too:

  • It can’t be used for offensive purposes, as its Attack stat is too low
  • It reaches a very high Max CP, so expect its motivation to drop quite fast
  • MachampHariyama and several other fighters know how to counter it effectively (but they will take lots of damage while trying to do it)

Best Blissey movesets

 Role Quick move Charge move
Gym offense Pound normal Hyper Beam normal
Gym defense Zen Headbutt psychic Dazzling Gleam fairy
PvP (speculative) Zen Headbutt psychic Dazzling Gleam Fairy or Hyper Beam normal

Best Blissey moves in Pokémon GO

The following Table compares the cycle DPS (with STAB) of every single moveset that Blissey is able to learn. Some movesets are more viable or commonly used than others. Keep in mind that some movesets might not top the DPS charts but could be good to use in certain scenarios.

Fast Move Charge Move Cycle DPS (STAB)
Pound Normal Hyper beam Normal 23.19
Zen headbutt Psychic Hyper beam Normal 20.27
Pound Normal Dazzling gleam Fairy 20.00
Pound Normal Psychic Psychic 18.75
Zen headbutt Psychic Dazzling gleam Fairy 17.78
Zen headbutt Psychic Psychic Psychic 15.94

*Keep in mind that STAB cycle DPS calculations just compare the different movesets and they are not Pokémon-specific

  • Pound and Hyper Beam is the best moveset for offensive purposes, and it benefits from the STAB bonus
    • It could also be used for defending purposes, with only rock, steel and Ghost (x2) type Pokémon resisting it. However, keep in mind that Blissey is a very bad gym/raid attacker due to its low attack stat and also Hyper Beam is very easy to dodge (as it has a large damage window and move cooldown) and not super effective against any of her main counters
  • Zen Headbutt psychic and Dazzling Gleam fairy is the best defending moveset. Zen Headbutt deals more damage and generates energy quicker on defense than Pound. Dazzling Gleam being a 2-bar charge move outclasses Hyper Beam for gym defending purposes, as it will probably be used more and it will be a bit more difficult to dodge, as well as being super effective against dragon, dark and fighting. With Rayquaza, Dragonite, Tyranitar and Machamp being used as gym sweepers, this moveset will be the hardest one to face. In all honesty, any Blissey moveset is a good defending moveset, mostly due to her incredible stamina, but this is just our suggestion. 

Blissey counters in Pokémon GO

Supreme Counters

 Pokémon Fast move Charge move
Machamp Fighting Counter Fighting Dynamic Punch Fighting
Hariyama Fighting Counter Fighting Dynamic Punch Fighting
Blaziken Fire Fighting Counter Fighting Focus Blast Fighting
Mewtwo Psychic Psycho Cut or Confusion Psychic Focus Blast Fighting
Rayquaza Dragon Flying Dragon Tail Dragon Outrage Dragon
Dragonite Dragon Flying Dragon Breath* / Dragon Tail Dragon Outrage / Dragon Claw Dragon

* Legacy move

Machamp is the #1 choice when it comes to fighting Blissey, followed by Hariyama. The main difference between these two Pokémon is that Machamp will finish the job faster than Hariyama (since it has a higher attack stat) but Hariyama will probably have higher HP due to its greater bulk. From a time to win perspective, Machamp wins, but Hariyama is a very good alternative that costs less candies to evolve.

Blaziken has a high attack stat as well, but Focus Blast (even though it is a heavy-hitting charge move) is not as consistent and efficient as Dynamic Punch. Focus Blast is a full-bar charge move, whereas Dynamic Punch is a 2-bar charge move. Multi-bar charge moves are normally better than full-bar charge moves when attacking gyms due to the fact that (almost) no energy is lost and there will be plenty of situations where Blaziken could faint before firing off its charge move for the last time. It is a great alternative and in certain situations it will take less damage because it takes neutral damage from Blissey’s best defending charge move, Dazzling Gleam, whereas the fighting types take super effective damage.

The three remaining slots are outstanding generalists. Mewtwo has the highest attack stat in the game as of now and it even learns a charge move that deals super effective damage against Blissey, Focus Blast, plus it also resists Blissey’s Zen Headbutt! Keep in mind, however, that Focus Blast is a slightly inconsistent full-bar charge move and it does not benefit from STAB.

We strongly advise you to use strong Fighting type Pokémon such as Machamp, but if you want to use something different you can try Rayquaza and Dragonite, two oustanding generalists. Dragon Tail and Outrage is one of the best movesets in the game, and paired up with the legendary-tier attack stat of these beasts, it makes a great combo to use against Blissey. Remember to keep an eye out for those Dazzling Gleams, as both are weak to fairy type moves.

Other viable alternatives

 Pokémon Fast move Charge move
Breloom Grass Fighting Counter Fighting Dynamic Punch Fighting
Heracross Bug Fighting Counter Fighting Close Combat Fighting
Latios Dragon Psychic Dragon Breath Dragon Dragon Claw Dragon
Raikou Electric Thunder Shock Electric Wild Charge Electric
Moltres Fire Flying Fire Spin Fire Overheat Fire
Kyogre Water Waterfall Water Hydro Pump Water
Exeggutor Grass Psychic Zen Headbutt or Confusion* Psychic Solar Beam Grass
Tyranitar Rock Dark Bite Dark Crunch Dark or Stone Edge Rock

* Legacy move

Breloom has a high attack stat, but it is a glass cannon. It is a good choice from a time to win perspective but not from a potion-efficient one. Heracross is a good counter but Close Combat is not as good of a charge move as Dynamic Punch.

If you don’t want to use Fighting types, you can try Raikou, Moltres, Latios and Kyogre, great generalists with very good movesets, and Moltres even resists fairy type attacks! Yet again, keep in mind that Machamp will probably finish the job faster.

Exeggutor deals tons of damage with its Solar Beams and it resists psychic type attacks, and Tyranitar resists every single move that Blissey learns except for Dazzling Gleam, but it is not the best choice from a time to win perspective.

Weather influence

Weather Pros Cons
Sunny
Partly Cloudy Boosts its Normal type moves
Cloudy Boosts its Fairy type moves Boosts super-effective Fighting type moves
Rainy
Fog
Windy Boosts its Psychic type moves
Snow

Viability in raids

We’ll keep it simple this time – Do NOT use Blissey in raids, unless you want people to hate you.

POKEDEX

“Blissey, the Happiness Pokémon. It is kindhearted and loves helping people. Blissey is the evolved form of Chansey.”

Rating

 Pokémon Attacker Defender Generalist Overall Tier
Blissey Normal 1/5 5/5 1/5 4.0/5 I

Blissey is the BEST gym defender in the current metagame by far. It’s only weak to fighting type moves but its best defensive moveset deals super effective damage to them. With a massive 510 Base Stamina stat and an incredible bulk, Blissey is by far the strongest tank to leave in a Gym. Try not to use it for offensive purposes, though! Despite being a terrible attacker, it’s so good on defense that it’s overall score needs to be higher than just the average of the three ratings listed. Some Pokémon serve specific purposes, and Blissey serves the defensive purpose better than every other Pokémon in the game, that’s why it’s a Tier I Pokémon you need to consider adding to your collection if you care about gyms.

Author & tags

Zeroghan
Zeroghanhttps://pokemongohub.net/
Zeroghan started the Hub in July 2016 and hasn't had much sleep since. A lover of all things Pokémon, web development, and writing.

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