Charizard:
[Overview]
Charizard may be a childhood favorite to many, but that doesn't necessarily translate to competitive viability in RBY UU. It certainly has access to some great moves with Earthquake and Slash, but it struggles heavily to make an impact in the metagame. This is mostly because of its Fire typing generally not being suitable for UU, since Tentacruel has such a stranglehold on the metagame. To add to this, Charizard's typing makes it weak to the most common types in the tier in Water, Rock, Electric, and, because Fire doesn't resist it in RBY, even Ice. Charizard's main niches are having a speed tie with Tentacruel, immunity to Dugtrio's powerful Earthquake, and has access to Swords Dance,
and a really strong STAB Fire Blast that can land a game-winning burn on Tentacruel or Dugtrio. However, in addition to its other flaws, Charizard suffers greatly from Wrap; faster Wrap users like Agility-boosted Dragonite shut it down, and slower ones force it to choose between switching out and losing Swords Dance or being worn down. In Tentacruel's case, Charizard still has to hope it wins the Speed tie even if it stays in. Overall, Charizard has decent and unique perks that make it a decent late-game cleaner, but it's usually just too difficult to make use of and clear the way for.
[SET]
Name: Late-game Cleaner
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Slash / Body Slam
move 4: Earthquake
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
This is about as good as it will get with Charizard. Swords Dance is essential for it to do any significant damage to many foes, Slash is a near-guaranteed critical hit with Charizard’s Speed, and Earthquake is your best chance for beating Tentacruel with the Speed tie. If you manage to pull off Swords Dance, this set can clean through teams late-game very efficiently. Body Slam is a solid option for its paralysis chance, which could give Charizard a setup opportunity and sweep. This set is extremely fragile, so keeping up the momentum from Swords Dance will be quite the challenge against insufficiently weakened teams.
Other options:
Counter can be used as a fringe option against Persian and Kangaskhan. In the event Charizard can force something out after an Explosion, it can counter said Explosion as they switch, providing massive damage and possibly scoring a knockout. Counter is also useful if you survive a Hyper Beam to fire back during the recharge turn, but this is gimmicky. Toxic is also a nice niche option to check the infamous Agility + Wrap Dragonite, and Hyper Beam is an incredibly strong finisher if one decides to use an even more aggressive set.
Charizard gains the ability to pivot, with Fire Spin, which is stronger than Wrap thanks to STAB. However, there are better options for this role, most notably Moltres, which has a higher Special stat and access to Agility, and Rapidash, with its great Speed and access to Agility as well.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Rosewing, 540631]]
- Quality checked by: [[Plague von Karma, 236353]], [[Amaranth, 265630 ]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429], [, ]]
[Overview]
Charizard may be a childhood favorite to many, but that doesn't necessarily translate to competitive viability in RBY UU. It certainly has access to some great moves with Earthquake and Slash, but it struggles heavily to make an impact in the metagame. This is mostly because of its Fire typing generally not being suitable for UU, since Tentacruel has such a stranglehold on the metagame. To add to this, Charizard's typing makes it weak to the most common types in the tier in Water, Rock, Electric, and, because Fire doesn't resist it in RBY, even Ice. Charizard's main niches are having a speed tie with Tentacruel, immunity to Dugtrio's powerful Earthquake, and has access to Swords Dance,
and a really strong STAB Fire Blast that can land a game-winning burn on Tentacruel or Dugtrio. However, in addition to its other flaws, Charizard suffers greatly from Wrap; faster Wrap users like Agility-boosted Dragonite shut it down, and slower ones force it to choose between switching out and losing Swords Dance or being worn down. In Tentacruel's case, Charizard still has to hope it wins the Speed tie even if it stays in. Overall, Charizard has decent and unique perks that make it a decent late-game cleaner, but it's usually just too difficult to make use of and clear the way for.
[SET]
Name: Late-game Cleaner
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Slash / Body Slam
move 4: Earthquake
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
This is about as good as it will get with Charizard. Swords Dance is essential for it to do any significant damage to many foes, Slash is a near-guaranteed critical hit with Charizard’s Speed, and Earthquake is your best chance for beating Tentacruel with the Speed tie. If you manage to pull off Swords Dance, this set can clean through teams late-game very efficiently. Body Slam is a solid option for its paralysis chance, which could give Charizard a setup opportunity and sweep. This set is extremely fragile, so keeping up the momentum from Swords Dance will be quite the challenge against insufficiently weakened teams.
Other options:
Counter can be used as a fringe option against Persian and Kangaskhan. In the event Charizard can force something out after an Explosion, it can counter said Explosion as they switch, providing massive damage and possibly scoring a knockout. Counter is also useful if you survive a Hyper Beam to fire back during the recharge turn, but this is gimmicky. Toxic is also a nice niche option to check the infamous Agility + Wrap Dragonite, and Hyper Beam is an incredibly strong finisher if one decides to use an even more aggressive set.
Charizard gains the ability to pivot, with Fire Spin, which is stronger than Wrap thanks to STAB. However, there are better options for this role, most notably Moltres, which has a higher Special stat and access to Agility, and Rapidash, with its great Speed and access to Agility as well.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Rosewing, 540631]]
- Quality checked by: [[Plague von Karma, 236353]], [[Amaranth, 265630 ]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429], [, ]]
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