Charizard: The desolation of Smogon

It should be obvious to anyone who's a true Pokéfan, but Charizard is the best of them all. Just check out this link: it's a poll of everyone's favorite Pokémon. Pretty obvious who's number one, isn't it? To start off, I'm going to explain exactly why Charizard has found its place in our hearts, and then I'll feature Charizard's standing in the competitive scene, from RBY to XY.

Part of why everyone loves good old 'Zard is because of its incredible design. You just can't go wrong with a dragon, especially when the typical triangle at the end of its tail is replaced by a burning flame. The orange and cream coloration has a beautiful contrast together, and the teal underside of the wings gives a nice effect when you consider that the hotter a flame burns, the more it turns blue. Its sharp claws and fangs show that this obviously isn't a Pokémon to mess with, but the lack of a defined musculature shows that it's not a vicious or nasty Pokémon, and can also be loveable. This is especially true if you grew up with Ash's Charizard in the anime. At first it was always disrespectful of Ash (perfectly understandable), but after it kicked Magmar's ass over a volcano, they started to develop a true bond. Charizard undisputedly remains the ultimate powerhouse on Ash's team and is basically called upon when no other Pokémon can manage to do the job (except for in the Sinnoh League for some reason...). Charizard is so popular, so famous, that if you were in possession of the legendary holofoil TCG card—with its devastating 100 damage Fire Spin and 120 HP—you were pretty much the undisputed hero on the playground. I myself came into possession of such a card by scamming over a friend. I lost the friendship, but I'd do anything for Charizard.

This is all well and good, but this is Smogon, so we're gonna have to get to the competitive side of things, eventually! I'm not going to sugarcoat it; Charizard didn't have an easy start. However, like any true hero, he had to fight for it. It took six long and grueling generations for what should be everyone's favorite Pokémon, but he's finally made it: Charizard is without a doubt one of the most dangerous Pokémon in OU. But before we reach this happy ending, we need to begin our journey in the dark and murky waters of RBY.

Charizard was most often seen as a mixed Swords Dancer. It was something it had over other Fire-types at the time, as well as access to Earthquake, which meant beating its burning brethren, as well as Rhydon and Golem, was far less of a hassle. In-game, everyone used Slash on their Charizard due to the critical hit chance, but as critical hits ignored the Attack boost from Swords Dance, Body Slam and Hyper Beam were the preferred moves. Fire Blast was used as a powerful special STAB move, and its burn chance could cripple Rhydon and Golem. One had to be careful not to burn certain other threats such as Alakazam or Starmie, as that would leave them unable to be paralyzed or frozen. Charizard never really took off in RBY OU though, as the aforementioned Starmie, along with other Water-types such as Slowbro, often made Charizard's life hell; it couldn't even hit them super effectively. Zapdos easily shrugged off Fire Blast and was immune to Earthquake, while being able to fry Charizard with its Thunderbolt. If Rhydon and Golem could avoid being burned or KOed by a +2 Earthquake, they could send Charizard running for the hills with Rock Slide.

With every generation, a whole bunch of new game mechanics and moves are introduced. In GSC, Charizard received its new base 109 base Special Attack, which would make Fire Blast a staple on nearly every future set. It also received Belly Drum, a move that would give rise to the iconic "BellyZard." BellyZard was a particularly interesting Pokémon at the time, because it was one of the few Pokémon that could steamroll the incredibly popular teams that featured both Skarmory and Blissey, a combination that was incredibly difficult to break through then and remains solid to this day. The high risk and high reward factor of this set made people grudgingly admire those that used it and managed to pull it off. Stall was everything in those days, and a Pokémon that could quadruple its Attack in one turn while sporting a very neat base 100 Speed (keep in mind that Choice Scarf didn't exist and priority moves were uncommon) would have seemed nifty. Of course, if BellyZard could win every game, it would have been one of the most used Pokémon in GSC. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case. Charizard lacked any sort of physical STAB to use sans Wing Attack, and the introduction of Raikou and Suicune meant that it couldn't afford to set up until the user was sure that neither of these were on the opponent's team. Charizard was a cool Pokémon, but still a somewhat rare sight in OU.

Charizard maintained its role as a high-risk, high-reward attacker in Advance, but got a lot of new toys to play with. Advance saw the introduction of EVs and natures, which made every Pokémon that much more customizable. Previously, you could expect any Charizard to only really have one set, but now the fiery dragon became a tad less predictable. It still chiefly used its Belly Drum set though, which with the addition of Salac Berry made it nigh impossible to revenge kill after having set up. It became starved for moveslots though, as with Substitute and Belly Drum, it was easier to gain the Speed boost, but it lacked a crucial coverage move. For this reason, a set utilizing Double Edge to bring Charizard into Blaze and Salac range became popular, as after a Belly Drum, using Double Edge on the bulky Water-types allowed it to KO them and then be able to sweep with Earthquake and Fire Blast. Other new sets using Substitute later saw the light of day because it was used in place of Belly Drum to further surprise opponents. Petaya Berry was used to increase Charizard's Special Attack and, when used in conjunction with Blaze, let Charizard fire off incredibly hard-hitting Fire Blasts that even bulky Water-types didn't like. Throw in possible Sunny Day support, and we're reaching levels of power seen in later generations. Focus Punch was also a good way to take out the SkarmBliss combo, as well as Tyranitar.

While Charizard got a fair few nice little buffs in DPP, such as the physical/special split, which meant it could now finally use Fire STAB on its physically-oriented sets, the new move Roost which provided reliable recovery, and the introduction of Life Orb, they just doesn't compare to the biggest nerf it could ever have received: the introduction of Stealth Rock. This single filthy move completely crippled Charizard, and was the cause of people saying "lol ur a zard noob. get gud." Stripping 50% of Charizard's HP merely by it switching in was a curse that Charizard could not deal with, and so it fell to UU, and later on, NU. With the Belly Drum set thus pretty much crippled—unless you could manage to sweep at 1%—players began to look for new ways to use Charizard. Competition was fierce, as Moltres also resided in UU, but Charizard had a couple of perks over it. Mainly, it had a higher base Speed, which meant that it couldn't be forced out as often (a huge plus due to its Stealth Rock weakness), not to mention the fact that it outsped a whole slew of Pokémon that Moltres couldn't, such as Rotom, Houndoom, Uxie, and Drapion. It also had Blaze, which let it fire off extremely powerful Fire Blasts while at low HP. While relatively uncommon, it wasn't unheard of for Charizard to be used in tandem with Moltres by using a Sunny Day set, which weakened Moltres's counters such as Regirock, Lanturn, and Milotic so that it could then proceed to sweep with them thus eliminated. Charizard was also able to differentiate itself from its legendary counterpart with its access to a whole slew of boosting moves. Dragon Dance and Swords Dance became pretty popular, as Charizard could now use Flare Blitz as a primary STAB move. Dragon Dance was best used late-game when everything else was weakened, and Charizard could avoid being revenge killed by the likes of Choice Scarf Hitmonlee and Rotom. Swords Dance was more of a hole buster, being able to take large dents out of bulky Rock- and Water-types with a boosted Earthquake or Thunderpunch, which allowed other Pokémon to then finish off the foe. However, while Charizard did have access to setup moves, it was often neglected for Arcanine or Blaziken, which hit far harder straight off the bat. Apart from its obviously terrible weakness to Rock, the addition of Roost to its movepool meant that Charizard could now put its resists to good use and allowed it to switch in on offensive juggernauts such as Blaziken.

Charizard received a couple of new toys in the transition to the fifth generation, such as its Dream World ability, Solar Power, which gave a new definition to the word "nuke," and finally a physical Flying-type STAB move in Acrobatics. Unfortunately, Stealth Rock again forced it down to the depths of NU, but in the lowest tier, Charizard shone even brighter than its flame. As if sniffing what was to come with the advent of XY, Charizard gave NU players a glimpse of its true power. In short, it was easily one of the best Pokémon in the tier. Its Choice Specs set was generally its most common, as it hit an excellent Speed tier and could pretty much just spam Fire Blast with few repercussions. Due to the lack of recoil, it could be said that sometimes Stealth Rock even benefitted Charizard, as it could unleash Blaze-boosted Fire Blasts while easily being able to reach 1 HP. Being able to outspeed and OHKO Jynx, possibly the most dangerous offensive Pokémon in the tier, was also no small boon. Charizard wasn't just limited to a Choice Specs set though. Life Orb was commonly seen with Roost and also Substitute, which made it really easy to get into Blaze range and at the same time provided Charizard with recovery to mitigate Stealth Rock damage. A Swords Dance set also became very popular with Flying Gem and Acrobatics, as it could utilize the excellent coverage Acrobatics and Earthquake provided. The last slot was usually Roost, but Flare Blitz could also be used to annihilate Eelektross, which could otherwise force Charizard out. Of course, some people decided to forego Blaze and opt for its new ability, Solar Power; Charizard's Fire Blast thus stacked up boost after boost (STAB, sun, Solar Power, and possibly an item boost such as Flame Plate). Nothing could avoid being 2HKOed by this set, and under the sun it also had an incredibly powerful SolarBeam to abuse, which gained pseudo STAB. It's longevity was compromised, however, as it lost 12% of its HP every turn, which meant it could generally only switch into Stealth Rock once. Choice Scarf Solar Power Charizard was also an amazing cleaner on dedicated sun teams. Charizard was considered so powerful in NU that it's even been discussed as a possible Suspect!

Yeah, about that. Right now Charizard has what it takes to be a possible suspect somewhere down the line ... in OU. XY brought us 'Zard fanboys pretty much exactly what we've been longing for this entire time: a new mechanic that would give players seeing a Charizard in their opponent's Team Preview shivers down their spine. As of now, Charizard is the only Pokémon apart from Mewtwo (but since Mewtwo is definitely the second coolest Pokémon it's fine) to have received two Mega Evolutions, and they are simply incredible. It's difficult to classify one to be superior than the other, because they have different roles. Charizard X uses its monstrous Attack, while Charizard Y uses its powerful Special Attack. This is a real problem when facing one in battle, as what might deal with the former may be entirely unable to deal with the latter, and vice versa. For example, Landorus-T can switch into the X version and attempt to cut its Attack with Intimidate, but is straight up OHKOed by the latter's Fire Blast. Chansey can easily take on almost everything Charizard Y can throw at it, but is in an incredibly dangerous position if it's revealed to be a Charizard X. And that's the one I'm going to focus on first.

Mega Charizard X is, first and foremost, a sweeper, and possibly the most vicious Dragon Dancer in OU. It sheds its Flying-type for a Dragon-type, something that fans have been begging for for a very long time. This gives it an incredible offensive typing: its STAB moves are only resisted by Heatran and Azumarill, and 'Zard X has ways around both of them. Another amazing aspect of its typing is that it leaves it unable to be hit super effectively by any priority attack, and sheds the horrible quadruple Stealth Rock weakness to a more manageable 25% damage per switch in, which means that 'Zard X can attempt to come in more than once a game, especially thanks to its much increased bulk and access to Roost. Said typing also allows it to set up on a lot of common Pokémon, including Rotom-W, Genesect, Scizor, and even its own brother, Charizard Y. Another awesome aspect of 'Zard X is its ability: Tough Claws. This essentially provides an Adaptability boost to all of its contact moves (and since 'Zard X is always running either Flare Blitz, Fire Punch, Outrage, or Dragon Claw, this limitation is irrelevant). The trick is to choose which STAB moves to run. While one may be tempted to use both Flare Blitz and Outrage for sheer massive damage output, do keep in mind that both of these moves have rather severe drawbacks. Flare Blitz's recoil begins to sting on a Pokémon with no passive recovery, and Outrage's locking effect is dangerous in a tier where many Steel-types lurk. The most common variant uses both Dragon Claw and Flare Blitz, where the former has excellent neutral coverage (and an effective 104 Base Power), while the latter is used to punch through anything that can take a Dragon Claw with its effective 156 Base Power. 'Zard X is very customizable when regarding its other moveslots, though. Earthquake is an excellent option for perfect neutral coverage, and obviously obliterates Heatran. Brick Break has a comparable Base Power to Earthquake after Tough Claws, deals far more damage to Tyranitar, and also wallops Heatran; however, it leaves 'Zard X still walled by Azumarill. Roost is also commonly seen on 'Zard X as a means of recovering from Flare Blitz and Stealth Rock damage, and also makes good use of its great resistances. My personal favorite, however, is to make Mega Charizard X a "Double Dancer" by utilizing both Dragon and Swords Dance. Dragon Dance easily sweeps offensive teams, while Swords Dance boosts just obliterates most defensive teams. It needs a lot of support though, as it has no recovery and needs certain Pokémon removed before it can come in safely. Another variant of Mega Charizard X completely forgoes setup and instead uses the combination of Roost, Will-O-Wisp and its STAB moves to tear through cores and the would-be counter, Azumarill. This uses a bulkier EV spread, as it doesn't focus on breaking through entire teams by itself.

However, if setting up isn't for you, you need to heavily consider Charizard's alternative Mega Evolution. 'Zard Y, while perhaps not as dangerous in singles as its brother, should in no way be overlooked (it's definitely superior in Doubles though). The defining characteristic of 'Zard Y is its sky-high base 159 Special Attack, and its ability, Drought. 'Zard Y's entire purpose is based around this ability; without it, it wouldn't really give 'Zard X much competition. Unlike in BW, when Drought was an ability entire teams were built around, the weather nerf of XY makes this impractical, especially since 'Zard Y is unable to hold a Heat Rock. But that's just fine, as you'd have a hard time thinking of a weather abuser more suited to the role than Charizard itself. The first thing that comes to mind is the fact that sun boosts the power of Charizard's Fire-type moves. 'Zard Y's Fire Blast is so ungodly powerful that it 2HKOes standard Latias after Stealth Rock (this is a Pokémon that not only resists the move but also has a base 130 Special Defense). As previously mentioned, bulky Pokémon such as Landorus-T are straight up OHKOed without the need for Stealth Rock, so you can already deduct that 'Zard Y's role on a team is that of a hole puncher that tears chunks out of your opponent so that another Pokémon on your team can easily clean up. The next benefit of Drought is that it weakens Water-type moves, essentially giving 'Zard Y a neutrality to them, and, obviously, linked to this is the fact that 'Zard Y is one of the only good users of SolarBeam, which utterly burns up OU's most common bulky Water-types, Azumarill, and Rotom-W. Focus Blast or Earthquake generally takes up the next slot, as 'Zard Y definitely need a way around Heatran. Earthquake is pretty much only for Heatran, but hits it for considerably more damage than Focus Blast, while Focus Blast gets a much stronger hit on Tyranitar. Dragon Pulse can be used to get a stronger hit on the Dragon-types, but Fire Blast generally does enough damage, anyway. Roost is practically required on 'Zard Y, as it maintains the crippling Stealth Rock weakness, and can also make good use of its buffed Special Defense with access to reliable recovery.

Charizard's come a long way over the years, from a decent-ish Pokémon, to a joke in the higher tiers, to an incredibly dangerous threat that one must prepare for at all costs. It's too early to think about what the seventh generation might bring, but it's hard to imagine a buff better than the one it received in XY. Thanks for reading this biography, and remember: CHARIZARD FTW!

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