Charizard unusable as a sweeper in OU these days?

[moleman]

I don't know whether this is the right place to try and host this discussion... but here goes.

Charizard's ability as a sweeper seems to have been diminished with every new generation of game that Nintendo has released. It has reached the point now, with Stealth Rocks' creation, where he is no longer seen on teams anywhere in the OU meta-game.

Has the OU meta-game reached a point now where it is impossible to run a charizard as a sweeper? And if you believe he still has use, then what is it as?

Now I'm not looking for all the answers from other people. I have my own thoughts which I will express in a few lines. I'm just interested to start a discussion about a pokemon who has fallen from grace with every enhancement.

Personally, I'm torn between him as the awesome Belly drummer he is and the pretty good Sunny day sweeper he can be.

As the Belly Drummer your team really needs a lot precautions (Double screens and a rapid spinner) to really even make it likely that you could set up. I love the Bellyzard set but sometimes its frailty is off putting as a sweeper… despite its ability to be devastating.

Meanwhile, the Sunnyzard set boasts protection from STAB surfs when the sun is up and can use one turn Solarbeams to really exploit his solid Special Attack stat.

So my question to you is: which is more useable in the OU meta-game? Or maybe you feel neither are and that his days are really done in this level of play?

Also I do realise he is in the UU tier, but want to know if he has any use in OU in anyway in your opinion:)

 

[Staraptor Call]

Charizard has some potential as an anti-lead. Being this first Pokemon in line helps mitigate its problem with Stealth Rock, and Charizard can beat some common leads. Metagross, the #1 lead, is 2HKOed by Flamethrower, and Charizard resists all of lead Jirachi's common attacks except for the neutral Ice Punch. It also resists Infernape's most common moves and can 2HKO the monkey. Charizard can also carry Hidden Power Grass to deal with Swampert, and Earthquake for Heatran.

 

[R S E FR LG]

Most people run Infernape over Charizard for many reasons.

1) Takes regular damage from Stealth Rock
2) Can learn many more moves
3) It has a higher base Attack and Speed, while its Special Attack is only 5 Base Points less

Belly Drum in this Metagame is an absolute no-no. A Pokemon with 1 HP can't sweep really well. If you must use him, then compliment it with a Rapid Spinner.

The Sunnyzard is more usable. But since he is UU, why not use him there?

 

[moleman]

But since he is UU, why not use him there?

Just because I like using some UU in OU teams and wanted to make Charizard one of them. :)

But these points are good. The idea of the anti lead is interesting since he's pretty fast as well which helps in that role, hm.