Legendary levels: How best to play these

I have noted that levels marked as legendary often follow the same pattern on how to pass, and that I keep repeating the same advice to players regardless of which level they are stuck on.

You need to be aware that the level design is fixed and the candies that drop are not random: From the moment the starting board appears the decision which of these three possible outcomes is possible has already been made by the game:

1. If the board is set to "fail" you will fail, unless you play powerful boosters, no matter what moves you make.
2. If the board is set to "lucky" then if you make the right moves you will pass.
3. If the board is set to "near miss" then that will be the outcome if you make the right moves. The game senses this and adjusts the candies that drop in the last 6 or 7 moves. So you will be left one move or one jelly short. Sometimes on the higher levels you may be left one UFO short.

So my strategy to approach legendary levels is:

1. I always play starting boosters on my first attempt. I have found on the first attempt, (and sometimes on my second attempt) starting boosters will often either trigger a "lucky board" or trigger a "near miss" board.
2. I always play the first move the game suggests unless I see an obvious better move, such as a double colour bomb or colour bomb/wrap combo. I have found that on a lucky board the game suggests a move that will open up opportunities and might even create an opening cascade
3. I don't waste starting boosters if I failed twice as they are wasted and seem to no longer affect luck after the first two attempts
4. Most legendary levels are full of blockers, so they can only be passed with combos of special candies to break through them. Watch out for any chance to make a colour bomb, wrapped or striped candy. Don't miss any opportunity you see to make special candies, even if they don't seem to help at the moment, you might be able to create a combo with other special candies or create cascades with them on a later move.
5. If the board is hopeless then accept it's set to "fail". Play to the end if you want the extra moves offered to keep increasing, of just quit and try again
6. Keep 10 gold in store to pay your way out those levels set to "fail" permanently and to keep your sanity on those. Keep a lollipop and a UFO in stock to use on the "near miss" opportunities

These are some more general tips to succeed through the game and help tackle legendary levels:

1. Make sure you have enough friends so you can keep replaying the difficult levels for long enough with the extra lives they give you.
2. Play each episode in a 24 hour period so you will win the episode race to earn gold to pay your way out of legendary levels in the next episode
3. Use the events in the game to the best advantage to gain boosters, then use them wisely. We all get different events, but check this forum for tips on events.

Good luck!