Charizard is completely unviable in RBY OU, being outclassed by fellow Fire / Flying type Pokemon Moltres in almost every way. Moltres packs a higher Special stat and Agility, making it a more powerful threat better suited for the OU metagame. Charizard finds itself overwhelmed by common Water-types like Starmie, Slowbro, and Cloyster, and there's very little it can do in return. Additionally, while Swords Dance could make you assume it has some sort of niche, many better Swords Dance users exist such as Kingler, Kabutops, and Sandslash. The only benefits to using Charizard over Moltres are its base 100 Speed, Swords Dance, and Slash. +2 Hyper Beam or Earthquake can threaten most Pokemon, but it's difficult to use Swords Dance due to the omnipresence of Thunder Wave users like Alakazam and Starmie, and being paralyzed makes Charizard's fragility much more apparent. Its weaknesses to common attacking types leave it 2HKOed by Starmie, Slowbro, Zapdos, Jolteon, most Blizzards, and Gengar, as well as OHKOed by Rhydon and Golem. While Charizard is explosive after setting up, it just requires too much support and risk compared to its reward.
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Hyper Beam
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Slash / Fire Blast / Counter / Fire Spin
[SET COMMENTS]
Charizard should be used exclusively as a late-game Pokemon, once Water-types like Starmie have been paralyzed or, ideally, KOed. Charizard's utmost priority is to set up Swords Dance, as it won't be able to KO much without it. Use Swords Dance when given an opportunity or use Fire Spin to pivot out of bad matchups, for example against a predicted Alakazam or Starmie switching in. +2 Hyper Beam KOes most Pokemon after an Earthquake or Slash, with notable exceptions being Snorlax, Exeggutor, and Slowbro. Earthquake threatens Jolteon and Rock-types, which threaten Charizard. Slash gives Charizard immediate power without the need for setup, ignoring Reflect and knocking most Pokemon into range for a +2 Hyper Beam. Fire Blast threatens Jynx, Exeggutor, and Victreebel while scaring Pokemon like Tauros and Snorlax with the risk of game-losing burns. However, it risks thawing frozen Pokemon and burning Pokemon that appreciate the resulting immunity to other status effects, such as Starmie. Counter can let Charizard lure Snorlax variants with only STAB moves and Earthquake into effectively KOing themselves, but if revealed without payoff, it becomes useless.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Useless Uses, 589128]]
- Earlier versions by: [[Giga Punch, 1668]]
- Quality checked by: [[May, 236353], [Amaranth, 265630]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429]]
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Hyper Beam
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Slash / Fire Blast / Counter / Fire Spin
[SET COMMENTS]
Charizard should be used exclusively as a late-game Pokemon, once Water-types like Starmie have been paralyzed or, ideally, KOed. Charizard's utmost priority is to set up Swords Dance, as it won't be able to KO much without it. Use Swords Dance when given an opportunity or use Fire Spin to pivot out of bad matchups, for example against a predicted Alakazam or Starmie switching in. +2 Hyper Beam KOes most Pokemon after an Earthquake or Slash, with notable exceptions being Snorlax, Exeggutor, and Slowbro. Earthquake threatens Jolteon and Rock-types, which threaten Charizard. Slash gives Charizard immediate power without the need for setup, ignoring Reflect and knocking most Pokemon into range for a +2 Hyper Beam. Fire Blast threatens Jynx, Exeggutor, and Victreebel while scaring Pokemon like Tauros and Snorlax with the risk of game-losing burns. However, it risks thawing frozen Pokemon and burning Pokemon that appreciate the resulting immunity to other status effects, such as Starmie. Counter can let Charizard lure Snorlax variants with only STAB moves and Earthquake into effectively KOing themselves, but if revealed without payoff, it becomes useless.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Useless Uses, 589128]]
- Earlier versions by: [[Giga Punch, 1668]]
- Quality checked by: [[May, 236353], [Amaranth, 265630]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429]]
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