Community POTW #021

[Serebii]

This coming week is time for the Pokémon 2026 World Championships and so this week we are covering one of the most used Mega Evolutions in Regulation M-B.

It's Mega Charizard Y and its lesser used friend!

Charizard #006 - Serebii.net Pokédex

Charizard Pokémon Serebii.net Pokédex providing all details on moves, stats, abilities, evolution data and locations for Pokémon Champions

www.serebii.net

 

[Pokemon Power]

Somehow I knew that Charizard, Sceptile and Greninja would their respective Pokemon of the Week pages first, before the rest their respective starter trios.

 

[XaelOstigian]

Behold the most overrated Pokémon in existence! Though to be fair, a giant fire-breathing dragon (Despite not actually being a Dragon type) pretty much taps the dopamine in every child's brain upon seeing it. The fact Gamefreak kept giving the OG Fire starter mega evolutions and G-Max forms certainly helped. The former gimmick having returned has certainly given Charizard its time in the sun again (For the Y mega quite literally), and love it or hate it, you cannot deny the impact it has had on the franchise both commercially and now competitively.

Draco Drum
Ability: Blaze/Solar Power
Item: Sitrus Berry
Nature: Jolly
EVs: (HP 4) (Attack 252) (Speed 252)

Moves:
Belly Drum
Flare Blitz/Temper Flare
Acrobatics
Earthquake

Set Details:
Every set that regular Charizard can use can be done better by its megas, with one notable exception. By combining Belly Drum with a Sitrus Berry, Charizard can become a surprise physical sweeper that has access to power that surpasses even its X mega. After the set up we have Flare Blitz or Temper Flare as your Fire STAB with the former offering great power at the cost of hefty recoil or Temper Flare which is weaker but has no durability issues. Acrobatics also pairs well with this set since you quickly consume your held berry allowing it to reach 110 base power STAB easily with no drawback. Finally we have Earthquake for coverage. Invest everything into attack and speed, and your ability comes down to either chancing upon Blaze activating fire power below 1/3 or Solar Power if you can reliably get sun support.

Black and Blue and Dread All Over
Ability: Blaze -> Tough Claws
Item: Charizardite X
Nature: Jolly
EVs: (HP 4) (Attack 252) (Speed 252)

Moves:
Dragon Dance
Flare Blitz/Temper Flare
Dragon Claw/Scale Shot
Earthquake

Set Details:
It's dark, it's edgy, it's finally a Dragon type, it's Mega Charizard X! Fanfare out of the way, this is a pretty straightforward physical sweeper set that relies on Dragon Dance for additional speed and power alongside your newly obtained Tough Claws ability for that nifty extra 30% attack for contact moves. Flare Blitz offers immense power but costly recoil, or you could play it safer with Temper Flare. Your newfound Dragon typing calls for a Dragon type move, which either goes to Dragon Claw for consistency or Scale Shot for inconsistent power but guaranteed extra speed boosts at a defensive cost. Finally there is Earthquake for coverage. Max attack and speed once again, and enjoy the carnage while you act like an edgelord.

Solar Saurian Sweeper
Ability: Blaze -> Drought
Item: Charizardite Y
Nature: Timid
EVs: (HP 4) (Sp. Attack 252) (Speed 252)

Moves:
Fire Blast
Solar Beam
Scorching Sands
Air Slash/Dragon Pulse/Focus Blast/Weather Ball

Set Details:
A scorching sun special sweeper. Arguably the strongest Drought setter right now, Mega Charizard Y offers both reliable sun support while also being one of the best abusers of this weather. The harsh sunlight jacks up the power of Fire Blast to new levels and turns Solar Beam into a single turn move you can spam against the Water, Rock, and Ground types. Scorching Sand offers important coverage against opposing Fire types trying to take advantage of the sun and may even burn surviving non-Fire targets. Finally, the last slot is a matter of what you want to be prepared for. Air Slash is a nifty secondary STAB option with flinch chance, Dragon Pulse is a good answer to Dragon types that can eat your Fire Blasts and Solar Beams, Focus Blast is unreliable but could pull through in a clutch, or you can opt for Weather Ball which is a more accurate supplement to Fire Blast and may give you new coverage options if your opponent tries to shut you down by setting up Rain, Sand, or Snow. Invest everything into special attack and speed and become the draconic incarnation of Helios.

Now if only Gamefreak could give more love to Pokemon other than Charizard...

 

[KyogreThunder]

Charizard
Jolly nature
@Charizardite X
EVs: 252 Speed/252 Attack/4 Def
Ability: Blaze ->Tough Claws
-Flare Blitz/Temper Flare/Fire Punch
-Dragon Claw/Outrage
-Thunder Punch
-Crunch/Steel Wing/Roost

 

[Luthor]

Charizard is an interesting Pokémon. It was added back in gen 1 and has been through a lot of highs and lows ever since. One of the biggest lows was the addition of Stealth Rocks which did massive damage every time it switched in given it didn't initially get the dragon type many wanted it to get (despite being a common Dragon Specialist team pokemon) it seemed like it was going to never adapt to the stealth rocks. Then things started to change. Stealth rock sometimes wasn't a TM so it can sometimes be less common. There was also the addition of a hidden ability in solar power, heavy duty boots and then came the battle gimmicks. It had options with Z-moves, Dynamax, Gigantamax and Tera which when they are added to champions may make it even more unpredictable. For now though its 2 Megas are what might (at time of writing) take it to the world championship. In non-open team sheets having 2 Megas makes it much less easy to predict and even when you can predict it both of its Megas are good enough they can be a major threat. Its X mega is all about physical attack and finally gets it the dragon typing that it never got before and has had some success. However its Y mega has become one of the face of Pokémon champions era of battling. The ability to set up Sun is by no means exclusive but it is incredibly useful (especially on a non-limited Pokémon). Being a gen 1 starter it has had many gens to pick up useful move variety and while it no longer has access to some of is moves it still has great movepool and great options. It may never have got the Z mega many predicted but even with all the Megas added in Z-A it has certainly managed to keep up in a way that many of the previous Megas had. That being said while its Megas are the dominating its usage there is still potential to use Charizard without it.

Basically Charred
Item- Charcoal/Heavy Duty Boots
Ability: Solar Power- Increase damage significantly
Timid Nature
Heat Wave- A really good move in doubles that can hit two pairs
Solar Beam- If sun is already up
Air Slash- Useful to hit fighting types and bug and grass types not weak to fire
Protect- A good defensive move



This is its set that you can run if you have another sun setter or a different mega. Was a set it once ran with Gigantamax/Dynamax and still can work. Charcoal buffs its power significantly but Heavy-duty boots helps it to avoid damage.

This set was more popular in gen 7 but still has some usage.

Finally a Dragon
Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze (becomes tough claws)
Adamant Nature
Thunder Punch- Great coverage to deal with other Charizards especially the Y variant
Roost- Good healing option
Flare Blitz- Excelent damage with tough claws
Protect/Dragon Claw/Outrage- Either a defensive option or taking advantage of the dragon type


There are many ways to run Char Y these days. This is an attempt to run it more supportive that was useful in the past
Thermal wind
Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze (becomes drought)
Modest Nature
Heat Wave- good way of hitting both in doubles
Overheat- All out power
Tailwind- Allows you to dominate the speed.
Protect-Defensive stable as mentioned

Other options

Hurricane- A good move for the Y or the basic form if opponent is running rain but can be unreliable otherwise
Rock Slide- Good to hit opposing charizards and quite an interesting addition for the X form.
Scale Shot/Dragon dance- Speed boosting options and either damage (but defence drop) or additional attack boost but no damage.
Blast Burn- basically its hyper beam with STAB. Powerful but probably not that popular unless more power than overheat is needed.
Shadow Claw- Ghost Coverage can be useful
Ancient Power- For special variants this gives damage to other charaizards (and rock weak opposition) and a possible omni-boost
Weather Ball- Great damage and can function with weather changes and with Y setting up sun it can be great.