Charizard (QC 1/3)

[shrang]

LONG LIVE THE KING

Overview
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- Best Pokemon ever
- Undisputed king of Ubers
- Got two new Mega forms which really improved its standing in the game
- Mega Zard X is strong as fuck, Tough Claws + awesome STABs = gg
- Mega Zard Y is also strong as fuck, Drought + good SpA also = gg
- Zard X Has massive competition from Blaziken who is better most of the time, but has Dragon-typing to beat Giratina formes and check Electriceus, has Roost to last longer and a higher defense to take priority and weaker attacks to set up more easily
- SR weakness sucks massively, although Defog makes things a bit easier
- Fire/Dragon and Fire/Flying are both pretty poor defensive typings too
- Still very frail, Charizard will always be a high-risk mon
- BellyZard is still the best


Dragon Dance
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name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Flare Blitz
move 3: Dragon Claw / Outrage
move 4: Roost
ability: Blaze (Tough Claws)
item: Charizardite X
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

Moves
=========
- Dragon Dance boosts Attack and Speed
- Flare Blitz is strong as fuck
- Dragon Claw matches coverage extremely well as in a reliable STAB if you don't want to hurt yourself all the time
- Outrage is strong as fuck and gets you some OHKOs that you may miss with Dragon Claw (Hi ScarfOgre w/o SR), but is very risky since you'd probably Outrage onto a Xerneas and then get raped (need to be very careful), also 2HKOes Quagsire
- Roost is nice to recover health from Flare Blitz and Charizard can actually kind of use it since its bulk is not that bad
- EQ smashes Heatran that otherwise resist your STAB combo, also hits Steels and Rock Arceus in the rain, also avoids getting your Attack lowered via King's Shield
- Iron Tail can be used to kill Xerneas in the rain
- Overheat and a Naive nature can be used so you 2HKO Hippowdon after Flare Blitz

Set Details
=========
- Dragon Dance, good bulk and base 100 Speed makes Charizard pretty hard to revenge kill
- Strong as fuck
- Fire and Dragon are excellent STABs, hits pretty much everything for neutral except Heatran (or Steels/Fairies if rain is up)
- Has heavy competition against Mega Blaziken, but Charizard differentiates itself by beating Giratina formes easily (while Blaziken can't as easily), Roost and better bulk (not as easily picked off by priority, unless you've killed a couple of things with Flare Blitz)
- Dragon-typing also makes Zard X a strong Electriceus check
- Being a dragon and not being weak to Xerneas is not a bad thing, although you'd probably end up getting totalled if you let it take Moonblast anyway
- EVs are very simple - max Speed to tie with Palkia and outspeed Xerneas
- Use Blaze before you transform since you don't gain anything from Solar Power (since you're not using SpA), while you could potentially get hurt if sun is up

Usage Tips
=========
- Bring it in on resists or things you can threaten out (which are plenty) and set up to kill lots of shit
- Or you can give it Wobb support for some easier set up opportunities
- Sometimes better to just spam Flare Blitz or Dragon Claw, since it's strong as fuck without a boost
- Don't be stupid and set it up when checks are still around

Team Options
=========
- Defog or Rapid Spin - even with the Dragon-type replacement, you're still 2x weak to SR at best (you still have that first turn which you're 4x weak) - Defoggers = shitty support Arceuses, Scizor, Skarm, Latias, spinners = Excadrill, Forretress, Tentacruel
- Sun is nice to have - so use Groudon, which conveniently can switch into Rock moves and unboosted EQs pretty well
- Wobb support is good
- Stuff to switch into Kyogre is good - Palkia is good since it's offensive, but others include Gastro/Grassceus/Waterceus
- Heatran is a pain, but it's generally not worth it putting Dugtrio on your team just to trap it - just have a couple of things to switch into Heatran is good (Palkia, Waterceus with Heal Bell support if possible)


Godzillard
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name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Flare Blitz
move 3: Dragon Claw
move 4: Roost / Earthquake
ability: Blaze (Tough Claws)
item: Charizardite X
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

Moves
=========
- SD makes Zard X even stronger with the cost of not increasing speed
- Flare Blitz and Dragon Claw are just like DD, except even more gg this time around
- Roost to heal off damage, EQ to wreck Heatran and Rockceus
- Outrage is even less indicated on this set, since +2 Dragon Claw does almost as much as +1 Outrage anyway
- Like Outrage, Iron Tail isn't as needed on this set either since you do massive damage to Xerneas in the rain with Flare Blitz anyway, although you can still use it if you REALLY want to OHKO Xern in the rain.

Set Details
=========
- Even more retardedly strong, pretty much the only Poke that can take a +2 Flare Blitz in neutral weather/sun is probably Hippowdon or 252/252+ Arceus
- Primary a set that functions on Sticky Web
- Unlike some Sticky Web sweepers, MegaZard X is pretty damn fast even with DD, outspeeding Yveltal which pressures a lot of Webs teams
- What makes Charizard so strong is that its STABs hit most most physical walls harder than a lot of other Pokemon - Dragon Claw lets it swat aside Giratina formes, Flare Blitz wrecks Groudon since it brings in sun, etc etc, which means to actually counter Charizard X, you'd need to 1) change the weather or 2) run unconventional physical walls
- Use Blaze before you transform since you don't gain anything from Solar Power (since you're not using SpA), while you could potentially get hurt if sun is up


Usage Tips
=========
- Use with Webs, Charizard isn't fast enough without webs support
- Use with sun if possible - Flare Blitz kills a lot of shit with sun, sometimes it's better to just spam strong moves to soften up some checks
- Bring it in on resists or things you can threaten out (which are plenty) and set up to kill lots of shit
- Or you can give it Wobb support for some easier set up opportunities
- Don't be stupid and set it up on something that can hit you for a truckload of damage

Team Options
=========
- Sticky Web - Smeargle, Shuckle, Ariados
- Sun - Groudon
- Wobb
- Stuff to switch into Kyogre - Palkia, Grass/Water/Dragonceus, Gastro
- Stuff to take advantage of broken walls that Charizard leaves behind - other strong physical sweepers that aren't as amazingly manly as Charizard (looking at you, Ekiller) are good to have


King Charizard
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name: Drought
move 1: Fire Blast / Overheat
move 2: Solar Beam
move 3: Sunny Day / Roost
move 4: Roost / Tailwind / Roar
ability: Solar Power (Drought)
item: Charizardite Y
nature: Timid / Modest
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

Moves
=========
- Overheat + auto-sun = gg
- Fire Blast lets you stay in and nuke for longer without having to switch, but loses some OHKOes like on Groudon, which is sad
- Solar Beam + Drought + Mega evolution happening after Kyogre/Tyranitar switching = awesome, since Kyogre/Tyranitar loves to switch in on Zard, and Solar Beaming them on the switch takes a massive dump on them, also 2HKOes Lustrous Palkia after SR most of the time
- Sunny Day lets you turn the tables on Kyogre more than once: having sun up as Kyogre switches in is very advantageous for your own momentum
- Roost lets Charizard heal itself, which is pretty important since it takes 50% from SR if that's up
- Tailwind is a really cool support move from Zard Y
- Roar lets you spam Overheat and not become setup fodder, as well as letting Charizard Roar out GeoXern in an emergency (or better yet, Roar it out as it Geomancys :D)
- Dragon Tail can be used over Roar if you really don't want to get setup on by Taunt users, but you miss out on Xerneas, making it totally not worth it
- Dragon Pulse lets you 2HKO Leftovers Palkia and 3HKO AV variants
- Blast Burn is actually a semi-legit option, since it OHKOes Arceus, and Overheat would make you setup fodder anyway
- HP Ice can be used to OHKO Rayquaza, but is kind of shitty otherwise
- Toxic/WoW can replace Roar as the "piss off setup sweepers" move, but Roar is generally better
- Focus Blast lets you kill Tyranitar without sun, as well as 2HKOing Heatran


Set Details
=========
- Makes Ninetales completely useless
- Good secondary Drought inducer for sun teams that can 1) abuse the sun itself and 2) potentially lure in Kyogre/Tyranitar and wreck their faces
- Sucky typing sucks, but whatever, at least you get Roost, unlike some other Drought inducers (see Ninetales)
- Solar Power is preferred ability pre-Mega evo this time, since you are using SpA, and Solar Power Zard in sun is even stronger than MegaZard Y

Usage Tips
=========
- Pretty easy to use - just bring in and nuke something
- If you see Kyogre/Tyranitar, may be a good idea to Solar Beam as you Mega evolve, or use Sunny Day if you've already Mega evolved
- Name your Charizard "Arceus" since Charizard does a better job of being Arceus than Arceus ever could :P


Team Options
=========
- Defog and Rapid Spin - even more important now since you're always 4x SR weak
- Wobb is really cool for getting rid of Kyogre - if need be you can just switch MegaZard Y in (provided already transformed) and then Mirror Coat the crap out of the whale
- Stuff that like sun or work well with sun (Fire-types, Chlorophyll abusers even though they suck, Electric Arceus to take on rain)
- Stuff to switch into Heatran and Ho-oh (can be hard on sun teams), but Rock Arceus, Tyranitar (if you can fit it in), Rhydon are all good, cleric support is very nice to have just in case since Heatran and Ho-oh tend to throw status around


Other Options
=========
- BellyZard fucks everything - even more amazing on Zard X
- Solar Power Zard is still strong as fuck in the sun - especially if you give it LO/Specs/Scarf - problem is that sun is not permanent, and you really want to Charizard itself for sun... so no
- Fire Punch can be used if you don't like Flare Blitz's recoil, but the power drop is so massive it's kind of like using Shadow Claw on Ghostceus (ie weak as fucking shit)
- Rock Slide for Ho-oh, especially on Zard Y
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower / Fire Spin / Ember Zard ftw
- EQ can be used to wreck Heatran on Zard Y, but you got Focus Blast so...
- Defensive Zard X(?)


Checks & Counters
=========
- Charizard is just too manly to be countered
- To be serious, Charizard IS quite difficult to counter, since it has two Mega formes that are so vastly different you can't immediately counter it.
- Once its Mega forme is revealed, it makes Charizard much easier to come up with an answer to.

**Stealth Rock**: Will fuck up every Charizard

**Change weather**: Need to be careful with this, since you don't want to switch your Kyogre/Tyranitar/Hippowdon into Solar Beam as Zard Y transforms, switching Kyogre/Tyranitar into Dragon Claw from Zard X is not fun either

For Zard X:

**Hippowdon**: A good check in general, although you need to watch out for Overheat variants, since it gets 2HKOed after taking Flare Blitz damage

**Heatran**: Need to watch out for EQ variants, and it can't take repeated, boosted Dragon Claws - can Toxic, Protect and Roar Zard X out however

**Rock Arceus/Tyranitar**: Can take a boosted Dragon Claw and OHKO in return with a Rock move, but need to watch out for EQ variants

**Quagod**: Gets 2HKOed by Outrage, but takes Dragon Claw like a champ and beats Zard X pretty easily with EQ

**Physical walls in rain**: Includes Gliscor, Landorus-T, bulky Arceus formes, physically defensive Xerneas and Yveltal, Lugia - can all take Dragon Claw easily and cripple Zard X in return

For Zard Y:

**Heatran**: Beats pretty much every Zard Y set unless they use Focus Blast, can Toxic Zard Y, Roar it out, set up SR in its face with ease

**Ho-oh**: Unless Zard Y wants to be funny and uses HP Rock or Rock Slide, Ho-oh beats Zard Y easily - walls pretty much every set and deals massive damage with Brave Bird

**Palkia**: Needs significant SpD or Assault Vest to avoid 2HKO from Dragon Pulse (low bulk investment also means Solar Beam can 2HKO you sometimes after SR), but otherwise switches into Charizard pretty well and hits it hard with Spacial Rend or Hydro Pump

**Kyogre**: Make sure you don't switch into Solar Beam turn 1, and Sunny Day as you switch in will suck, but otherwise rain will render Zard Y pretty useless

**Tyranitar**: Same as Kyogre

**Zard X and Reshiram**: Like Palkia, it doesn't want to switch into Dragon Pulse but can hit Zard Y very hard or just set up if Zard Y doesn't have Roar (for Zard X)

**Rock Arceus**: Can take a Solar Beam (not very well though), but outspeeds Zard Y and OHKOes with Judgement

 

[malefic]

Am I the only one who thinks the 2 Zard X sets should be merged as such:

Dancer
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name: Dancer
move 1: Dragon Dance / Swords Dance
move 2: Flare Blitz
move 3: Dragon Claw / Outrage
move 4: Roost / Earthquake / Swords Dance
ability: Blaze (Tough Claws)
item: Charizardite X
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

A pure SD set seems pretty niche, really performing only with webs support. Zard X is going to want to use DD most of the time but SD is good for breaking through hard stall so it seems logical to run both. Webs with SD can be mentioned in usage tips. Overheat (Naive) seems to go better in moves.

EDIT: Slashed SD with DD in the first slot.

 

[Sweep]

1. Mention in the Overview that both Fire/Dragon and Fire/Flying are pretty meh defensively, leaving Charizard with few opportunities to safely switch directly in (especially Charizard Y).

2. For Charizard X, Overheat is worth a mention in moves, but I wouldn't slash it as it's really situational and slightly weakened Hippowdon can be 2HKOed on the switch anyway. It's nice to fry steels without the nasty recoil I guess. And like you seem to be, I am vehemently opposed to using Fire Punch on Charizard...even with the Tough Claws boost it is kinda weak, and Charizard is meant to go HAM. If you're worried about Flare Blitz recoil, you probably shouldn't be using Charizard (you ninnies).

3. Mention Sticky Web support for Dragon Dance Zard X in Team Options since it outruns all common scarfers with it and destroys everything ever after a Dragon Dance. It puts a TON of pressure on Defog users (bar Rock Arceus I guess) since it cannot be burned by Will-O-Wisp and Skarm/Scizor/Giratina's hate it...so yeah, it pulls its weight on those teams. I know Web teams can use Swords Dance instead but if your opponent gets a Defog off, DDance would be moe reliable anyway.

4. Alluded to this earlier, but I'd move Fire Punch to OO. Not even worth a set mention on either DDance or SD. Swords Dance looks very good, though I admit I have never used the set before so other QC will need to chime in there.

5. Focus Blast should be slashed somewhere on Zard Y, as it 2HKOes Heatran and is a nice failsafe against Tyranitar, both of which are annoying otherwise. I would slash it after Sunny Day instead of Roost, and just keep Roost listed below.

6. HP Ice is awful...it has one target and Rayquaza is not switching in if SR is up very easily regardless since Fire Blast will rip off 1/3rd of its health even taking Air Lock into consideration. OO please.

7. Pls no mention of Chlorophyll users PLS.

8. Roost Zard X is actually a really nice check to Zard Y lol, I'd move it up a little. Reshiram can get mentioned too since Dragon Pulse is fairly uncommon. Heatran and Tyranitar both hate Focus Blast. As for WoW Zard X, I really want to try that. It's sex in OU and has some favorable match-ups in Ubers for sure (particularly steels) but it is outsped by many physical sweepers such as SD Arceus-Ground. I'll keep you informed.

Good job overall, I need to do a little more testing before finalizing this post.

 

[shrang]

Oops forgot about Focus Blast

 

[PISTOLERO]

Shrang, maybe mention that Charizard X likes Genesect as all Genesect can really do to threaten it is go boom?

 

[Nayrz]

Is it fair/silly to compare Zard X to Rayquaza? I feel like Ray gives it competition in the Dragon Dancing role, as it has a better movepool but arguably worse typing than Zard X, while Zard X also takes up the team's mega stone slot and can be somewhat harder to set up since it may take 50% SR damage before Mega Evolving. I'd mention the differences and advantages between Rayquaza and Zard X.

 

[Disaster Area]

Godzillard best set name.

 

[Sweep]

QC 1/3

Charizard is great in Ubers yet again this generation :).

 

[Inspirited]

Not sure if it warrants a CC mention because of how specialized the set is, but Stallbreaker Mewtwo-Y soft checks Zard-Y and if Zard Y has Overheat > Fire Blast, (It only has a ~66% chance of living Modest Overheat after rocks though) it can recover stall until it is roared out or threaten to KO Zard, if it is ~80% or less, with an un invested Psystrike. This should be at the bottom of the Zard Y checks if it is worthy of mention.

Zard Y is very vulnerable to revenge killing since it, unlike other nukes, doesn't have Deoxys-A's great Speed / Extremespeed and has terrible bulk when compared to Kyogre who can also utilize a Choice Scarf to fix its Speed problem. Just about everything faster can revenge kill Zard Y either from full or with chip damage. This should probably also be at the bottom of the list or close to it. (Zard X can fix this with DD so I think this is purely a Zard Y thing)

Also, why has no one named any Dragon Dance set "Begin The Draguine"?

 

[PISTOLERO]

Did you know that Charizard gets Flame Charge? it's very specialised but you can come in on something like Ferrothorn, scare the shit out of it and either kill it with Flame Charge or get a free one as it runs away. maybe worht a mention, if it hasn't been already?

 

[Fireburn]

Roost should be the only move slashed in slot 4 of the DD set with Earthquake and Overheat in Moves. Roost is one of the main things that sets Charizard apart from Blaziken, so it should be non-negotiable. Earthquake is only really nice for Heatran (who is rare) and Overheat is rather situational tbqh. Having to run a Naive nature because of Overheat is also super lame since Zard X is actually a pretty decent offensive check to Electric Arceus.

You also need to really stress Zard-X's advantages over Blaziken since the competition for that teamslot is fierce and Blaziken is better in most cases. The main advantages are Dragon-typing (Eleceus check + STAB for Giratina formes), Roost (you can be a threat all throughout the match), and significantly higher Defense (so not as easy to revenge with priority, also you can tank a Brave Bird from defensive Ho-Oh and Gliscor's Earthquake which is cool).

SD set is good.

I don't know if I like Zard-Y's slashing (Fire + Grass as only attack types = Dragons and Ho-Oh have lots of fun), I'll get back to you on it.

 

[Unowninator]

Did you know that Charizard gets Flame Charge? it's very specialised but you can come in on something like Ferrothorn, scare the shit out of it and either kill it with Flame Charge or get a free one as it runs away. maybe worht a mention, if it hasn't been already?

It also gets Dragon Dance, and I think Ferrothorn can handle a weak Flame Charge.

 

[shrang]

Implemented Fireburn's changes

 

[MMII]

I kinda feel like sunny day is too big to have slashed. Getting hard walled + punished by Kyogre after the first time you bring out Zard really lowers it's effectiveness as a punisher itself.

Mention how much it helps to get the Zard-X mega evolve'd before Rocks are up. It actually isn't very hard since good speed and strongth.

looks good QC Approved 2/3

 

[Edgar]

For the Dragon Dance set. I don't know if I'd put bulky Arceus formes in rain on C&C as the only one that could do the job of checking it properly would be Fairy (aside from the mentioned Rockceus).

+1 252 Atk Tough Claws Mega Charizard X Dragon Claw vs. 252 HP / 144 Def Arceus: 196-232 (44.1 - 52.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

 

[Mega-Swampert]

I think this might be a typo, but why does the King charizard set have 252 atk evs?

 

[SylveonIsCute]

I think scarf Zekrom should be listed in the checks and counters section. Zekrom can easily outpace and OHKO both zard variants with his STABS, and if it hasn't megaevolved yet (a scenario in which Zekrom and zard are sent out at the same time), then adamant scarf Zekrom OHKOs both zards with outrage anyway.

 

[Disaster Area]

... zekrom can't switch in onzard X if it DD's and dragon claw will pummel it...?

 

[shrang]

That and SD normally runs with Webs, so Zekrom is going to die in that situation too. I guess it checks Zard Y relatively well, but it won't enjoy switching into sun boosted Fire attacks.

 

[SylveonIsCute]

How is Fire/Flying a bad typing? Sure it takes halve from rocks but other than that it's quite a good defensive typing with resistances to powerful types such as fairy and fighting while also being immune to the ever-popular equake. Can basically absorb u-turns and grass-moves, also immune to webs, I just think it's a great typing tbh.

 

[shrang]

How is Fire/Flying a bad typing? Sure it takes halve from rocks but other than that it's quite a good defensive typing with resistances to powerful types such as fairy and fighting while also being immune to the ever-popular equake. Can basically absorb u-turns and grass-moves, also immune to webs, I just think it's a great typing tbh.

You just answered your own question

 

[Edgar]

Looks fine to me.

QC Approved 3/3

 

[CyberWolf]

should Latias be mentioned considering Soul Dew isn't out yet

 

[SylveonIsCute]

should Latias be mentioned considering Soul Dew isn't out yet

yeah I agree with CyberWolf here, Latias doesn't seem like a good defogger in ubers, let alone a good zard teammate. Latias doesn't provide much synergy for either zard forms and other bulky defoggers such as the omnipresent Arceus outclass it.

 

[BPC]

Hey Shrang, try using fire punch instead of flare blitz because of recoil and brick break is good too for Tyranitar to OHKO it because earthquake doesn't OHKO Tyranitar and Then tyranitar can destroy Mega-Charizard-X, nice analysis though! :]