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Why should I keep my Chansey?

(A Pojo Exclusive)

by Keith Williams (Abra)

"Chansey? What good is he? I would rather have a Charizard or Blastoise." Oh how many times I have heard that said in my local card shop. The kids see the card, laugh at how it does nothing and trade it away for Machamp or Raichu. Sigh.

Many people just don't understand why Chansey is, in my humble opinion, the best card in Pokemon.

Let's take an overall look at the card first:

Chansey
Colorless Basic Pokemon
120 HP
Weak: Fight
Resistance: Psychic (30)
Retreat: 1

Attacks:
[2] Scrunch. Flip a coin. If heads, prevent all damage done to Chansey during opponents next turn. (All other effects still happen)
[4] Double-Edge (80) Chansey does 80 damage to itself.

The first thing that sticks out is that it's a basic colorless pokemon. This means ANY deck can use it. Sometimes your deck has that sick weakness to something. It's a royal pain. That's what ALL basic pokemon are for. It's a measure of defense and offense vs. those colors that give your decks the most problems.

Next we notice the key part to Chansey, it's high hit points. It has a WHOPPING 120 HP! This is only matched by Charizard in the current set. This is a HUGE advantage as Chansey just won't be falling dead at the second hit of an enemy pokemon. He can stay around a   long time. Especially vs. those evil psychic decks since his resistance makes psychic pokemon attacks next to useless.

Do not overlook the power of Double-Edge. It's an excellent ability to pull off just before Chansey is going to die. You can take out ALOT of big uglies with this ability. In fact, a good trick is too kill a Pokemon with double edge, leaving Chansey with 30 HP's left, then double edge again! This kills 2 for the price of 1. Don't be afraid to use it as a suicide measure. Just make sure you have enough prizes. He gets one just like you do. Make sure it isn't his last prize. ;)

There are alot of strategies based around Chansey, but the most effective seems to be the "Chansey Wall" strategy. Basically if your deck is slow (Charizard/Venasaur decks come to mind) Chansey allows you the time needed to set up your combo. You let him soak up all the damage in the front, then retreat it when it has alot of damage on it. An even better idea is to use Scoop Up with Chansey. Allowing you to move your built up meanie into the active role and re-playing Chansey on the bench, waiting to block for you again with no damage on it.

Another strategy is to combo Chansey with Alakazam. Alakazam moves damage to other Pokemon. You can move the damage off of an active Chansey to another Pokemon. Maybe another Chansey! This combo when used in conjunction with Scoop Up, can stall the fastest decks into a long drawn out war in which your slow deck can easily turn the tide into your favor.

The only real drawback to Chansey is his weakness to fighting. Since fighting is becoming more and more popular, Chansey is becoming less effective. However, I still think it takes a longer time to do 120 HP of damage even WITH weakness. Add Scoop Up/Alakazam and it's not as bad as you might think.

When I first starting playing this game and I saw the cards, I immediately traded some good holos for Chansey. I have never regretted that decision. Chansey is truly the only Pokemon card that can be played in ANY deck. He allows the slow decks to compete with the quick striking decks.

Now when I go into my local card store, I have kids coming up and asking, "Hey I will trade you my Blastoise for your Chansey." Now I can't hold four Chanseys at any time. I think I might have corrupted my own meta-game. ;)

Good luck!

Keith Williams

Believer in the "Quad Bill Strategy" ;)

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