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Community POTW #122

Serebii

And, as if by magic, the webmaster appeared...
Staff member
Admin
Time for the next Pokémon of the Week, and this week it is a classic!

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It's Charizard!

 

Divine Retribution

Conquistador de pan
With the removal of Mega Evolution it seems at first that Charizard would get demoted back to a lower tier weather abuser, but Gen 8 did toss him a couple bones, even if they don't really make up for the loss of his Mega forms.

The first of these is a new Gigantomax form. While it looks impressive and it's used by Sw/Sh's champion, it's no Mega Form, as its stats are all the same save for the doubled HP. It is, however, arguably one of the better G-Max forms, as its new G-Max move is essentially a stronger version of its already potentially souped up Fire moves that inflicts a rather devastating damage-over-time effect for 4 turns, chipping away a noticeable 1/6th of the opponent's maximum HP per turn. If I recall correctly, this effect is also applied to the opponent's side of the field rather to the opponent specifically, meaning if they switch out, the Pokemon who comes in will take damage instead of the effect dissipating entirely.

The other thing Charizard gains is Heavy-Duty Boots, an item practically designed for Pokemon like him. As long as he can avoid Knock Offs, he no longer has to worry about his crippling 4x Stealth Rock weakness. It does mean giving up a boosting item like Life Orb or Choice Specs, however.


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Charizard @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Timid - Solar Power
252 Sp. Atk, 252 Speed, 4 Sp. Def
-Fire Blast / Flamethrower
-Solar Beam
-Focus Blast / Scorching Sands
-Roost

This Charizard is heavily reliant on Sun support, at least in the higher tiers where he needs to justify using him over other Fire types. However, thanks to Solar Power, this Charizard set actually outdamages Mega Charizard Y in the sun.

252 SpA Charizard-Mega-Y Flamethrower vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mew in Sun: 256-303 (75 - 88.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Solar Power Charizard Flamethrower vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mew in Sun: 294-346 (86.2 - 101.4%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO

The drawbacks, of course, being that he doesn't automatically summon Sunshine, and he lacks the significant Sp. Def boost that Mega Charizard Y gained.

Fire Blast or Flamethrower are your main STAB. You don't really need Air Slash or another Flying STAB; there isn't a whole lot that it actually hits that isn't already getting obliterated by a Sun-boosted Fire STAB. Solar Beam blasts through Water, Rock, and bulky Ground types and in general gets good coverage with his Fire STAB. Focus Blast nails Tyranitar, who is otherwise a bit of a problem for Charizard as it overwrites the Sun with Sandstorm, neutering Charizard's Fire moves and Solar Beam. Focus Blast blows it away, along with Heatran, who also takes pittance from those moves. Scorching Sands is a more accurate way to deal with Heatran and at least deters Tyranitar, but doesn't flat out KO it like Focus Blast can do. Finally Roost lets you take advantage of switches you force to heal off Solar Power damage as well as any other chip you might have taken in the process.

Forgoing Heavy-Duty Boots and packing a Life Orb or even Choice Specs instead can be an option, turning Charizard into even more of a devastating wallbreaker, but aggressive hazard control becomes mandatory in such a situation. With a Choice Specs equipped, however, he does have a fairly good chance to 2HKO Chansey with Sun-boosted Fire Blasts, so if you want obscene amounts of power at the cost of longevity and ease of use, it might be something to try on your next Sun team. Charizard can be a monstrous wallbreaker that slower teams can really struggle to deal with, and I think he gets a bit overlooked by the competitive community. I'm not saying he's fantastic, but he definitely has a valid niche in my opinion as a wallbreaker on Sun teams, even without his Mega forms.​
 

Mestorn

Wandering Battler
Everyone predicted that losing Charizard's Mega-Evolutions would be its death knell for competitive viability in Generation 8. However, Charizard bucked expectations, and as one of the most brutal abusers of Dynamax in the game carved a small niche for itself in the limited Generation 8 movepool. As the Dex expanded, Charizard has fallen off of singles viability... but not in doubles. In Doubles, Charizard continues to rampage. Solar Powered STAB Max Airstream and G-Max Wildfire have helped place Sun as one of the preeminent weathers in the game despite how broken Rain is. And Charizard is to thank for that. Solarbeam becoming a drawbackless Max Overgrow enables Charizard to eviscerate the normal Water and Rock types that would otherwise trouble it.

This is thanks to Solar Power Charizard's power being utterly bonkers -2HKOing Blissey after leftovers is nothing to sneeze at. The other main contributing factor is how excellent Gigantamax Venusaur is as a partner. The flexibility Venusaur and Charizard provide in addition to playing off each other is insane. Venusaur is a serious wall for Rain, Regieleki and Water heavy teams while Charizard can match/exceed max Airstream abusers with its own Max Airstreams as well as melting Amoongus and Calyrex Ice Rider.

What hold Charizard back the most is its fraility. Fire-Flying is a typing littered with weaknesses (and resistances), and with Solar Power and potentially Life Orb, Charizard's own power will eat it alive if the opponent doesn't do it first.

Fire Dragon King
Charizard
(G-Max)
Ability: Solar Power
Item: Life Orb
-Fire Blast/Blast Burn
-Hurricane
-Protect
-Heat Wave
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SATK / 252 SPE

This set is designed to Dynamax off the bat, and setup Max Airstream and G-Max Wildfire to place Charizard's team in an advantageous position that can ride to victory. Fire Blast is recommended for a strong G-Max Wildfire and still has utility for when it isn't a good idea to Dynamax Charizard. Blast Burn has supreme power, but it is extremely risky outside of Dynamax as that lost turn can outright lose you the game. Hurricane for the strongest Max Airstream and has niche use against Rain teams. Protect is the best move in doubles. Stall out opposing weathers, screens, Trick Room, Dynamax. Scout for moves, etc. Heat Wave rounds out the set, giving Charizard spread damage, that in conjunction with its extreme power is great for cleaning up teams when not Dynamaxed.

Torkoal and Groudon are the preferred Sun Setting partners. The accolades of Venusaur + Charizard have been sung plenty already.
 

Yveltal91057

It’s Kalos season!
how come we forgot charizard we got blastosie and venusaur as PotWs after charizard we don't know what's next
Flapple is next in line for the POTW after Charizard. As for why it took so long for Charizard to be a POTW, the POTW is completely random and done by a RNG.
 
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