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Should I evolve my Onix to Steelix?

I have an 561 wonder Onix and 54 candy with metal coat. If I evolve it into a Steelix, it would be around 1400CP.

Shall I do it? Is Steelix good for gym defending at 1400 cp? Or should I wait for a better onix (never seen an onix in wild before)?

I only have 3 scyther candy so for using metal coat for scizor is still a long way.

Thanks

Asked by Lintendo5 years 9 months ago

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Answers

Steelix has all the makings of being a great defender. The downside is it's weak to a lot of common counters. Don't even consider it for offense.

Scizor is a good niche attacker - it doesn't have a lot of roles but it does them pretty well. Not that great on defense due to double fire weakness.

If you need it for a Pokedex filler go ahead. Unless you come across a Scyther nest you'll likely get another Metal Coat through 7 day spin streaks or from opening gifts before getting the candy to evolve one.

561 CP? I guess that is a hatchling? Its exact IVs could be 13/15/15, 14/13/14 or 15/13/10 (A/D/S).

How many stardust and Onix candy do you have?

Yeah I have 30K stardust and 61 onix candy, from an egg hatching.

The only Pokémon truly good at Gym Defense in the current Meta is Blissey, followed at a noticeable distance by Snorlax. Any Snorlax you get out of the current Research Rewards will be a better defender than Steelix. Steelix isn't a BAD Gym Defender, but in the current Gym Meta, only 3 (maybe 4) Pokémon are actually good - Blissey, Snorlax, Chansey and maybe Slaking. (If it has Play Rough.) All other Pokémon are a distant 3rd place compared to the above 3 (4, if you count Slaking)

That being said, you should have no trouble putting a Steelix into a Gym as a Defender - I honestly don't remember the last time I saw one in a Gym. So for that reason, I'd suggest evolving your Onix into a Steelix - not directly for Gym Defense, but to make it far easier for you to put a decent Pokémon on a Gym in the first place. As it's vulnerable to Fighting, it won't cause any attackers to make line up changes (Machamp/Hariyama, maybe a Mewtwo with Focus Blast too) for sweeping the Gyms, but at least it looks like you're making an effort to defend the gym.

Disagree with this since most trainers are well-equipped enough now to not time out against Blissey, meaning that the goal is to take enough time and potions to demotivate gym attackers rather than time them out. A great way to do this is vary the weaknesses/resistances of gym defenders. Steelix is weak to Fighting so it doesn't pair well with Blissey, but it pairs well with Pokemon like Dragonite because it counters ice and resists dragon. Steelix also has good defending Quick Moves that are slow and high-power, and have either good neutral coverage with Dragon Tail or STAB with Iron Tail. It also has a good bulk to cp ratio for some staying power.

You can't do Gym Defense without getting on the Gym first. And... most players who are tossing Pokémon in Gyms have Blisseys, Snorlax, Dragonites, etc. Hence why I recommended evolving a Steelix - people don't use it in Gyms very much, so the OP is going to be able to place it in just about any gym. That's the strength of Steelix on Gym Defense - its ability to be placed on most any gym because people don't use it very often. That's just about the same strength that any Pokémon outside the Big 3 (4 if you count Slaking) have on Gym Defense.

Pairing and planning based on typing is a nice idea, but it doesn't particularly matter in the current Gym Defense Meta. If you REALLY want to make things difficult for attackers (and leaving aside the Big 3), you put on Pokémon like Wobbuffet with Counter/Mirror Coat or a low level Wigglytuff with a Fairy Charge Move - low CP, High HP Pokémon that are very likely to take 2-3 battles to be kicked off the gym regardless of the motivation decay, and which will likely survive a battle long enough to get at least 1 Charged Move off that will cause damage to the Machamp Army that would be going after the Big 3 (4...maybe).

Or you just toss on a random Pidgey - it won't do much damage (if any) but it will cause the attacker to have to attack it 2-3 times to get rid of it, wasting their time and sometimes even triggering the best Gym Defense imaginable - Error 26! Or maybe Error 29. Either way, guaranteeing it takes more time for the attacker to take the gym from you.

In highly competitive areas, good defensive pairings (like Steelix with Dragonite) could buy more time for golden razzberry feeding.

Blissey isnt a good defender, because of its reputation, everyone has the tools to dismantle it, its usefulness was what made it less viable

Steelix isnt that good of a defender, its got a lot of common weaknesses, most players have its weaknesses in spades (Charizard event, kyogre, groudon, etc) defensive stats doesnt mean a pokemon's good at defense, look at aggron

You are the first person to openly declare that Blissey is not a good defender. Its performance against its best counter (Machamp) remains superior to other defenders (even against their worst counters).

For Steelix I didn’t look at IVs, but CP. I caught an 800 plus CP Onix and evolved it into a 2000 CP Steelix. Even with garbage IVs it’s better than a 1400 CP Steelix. Just my 2 cents.

Personally, I wouldn't go for it if you intend for defense, it's not that great because its got a lot of common weaknesses to prominent pokemon, and doesnt have the bite to threaten other players, any event Charizard, kyogre, groudon, or really any pokemon its weak to can obliterate it, its like tyranitar in that way, defensive stats, but not a good typing considering the meta.

Scyter's a better option as with regirock coming up, and a beldum event not likely to come before it, scizor's going to be effective against it. But thats just my philosophy, raids over gyms