Charizard and why he doesn’t suck.
Charizard is one of the few pokemon with multiple Mega evos. First I’ll cover what each version of Charizard brings to the table.
So your standard non-mega Charizard, at first glance, looks like a pretty... weak special sweeper. 109 base SpA and 100 base Speed. The stats aren’t what strike me as “weak” though. Typing, Fire/Flying, isn’t great. 4x weakness to rock means Stealth Rocks cut your HP in half on each switch in.
Mega X is next. Horray he’s a Yellow and gold Black and Blue Dragon type now! The typing DOES make him better. Yeah he gains a weakness to Dragon and Fairy but he doesn’t get totally destroyed by rock types now. On top of that he now gets to add another STAB move to his move pool with Dragon Pulse or Dragon Claw. What I’d love to note about this is his ability and stat spread. Tough Claws makes his 130 base attack very powerful with the use of things like Dragon Claw and Flare Blitz. Now let’s not forget that he can get access to Belly drum or Dragon Dance for even more sweeping power. But just because his ability only powers up Contact moves doesn’t mean he can’t use a special attack or two.
Mega Y finally. Alright so I looked at the sprite and he looked pretty cool. But I kinda came when I saw his 159 SpA Stat. Yes, yes, his typing still sucks with Fire/flying. However that 159 SpA stat is HUGE. Drought also brings out a lovely move called “Solar Beam” and makes it good for sun teams.
Alright so. Regardless on which set you run, unless it’s not mega-stone, I’d run a +speed nature. Timid or Jolly generally. But I’m a fan of Mega Y for a special sweeper and Mega X for a physical.
Mega Y Mega Y stone Timid HP/SpA/Spe 4/252/252 Flamethrower/Fire Blast Solarbeam Dragon Pulse Hidden Power (whatever you decide really.)/Air Slash
Mega X Mega X stone Jolly HP/Atk/Spe 4/252/252 Dragon Claw/Outrage Flare Blitz/Fire Fang Dragon Dance/Swords Dance Roost/Earthquake
Charizard Life Orb Solar Power Timid Hp/SpA/Spe 4/252/252 Flamethrower/Fire Blast Dragon Pulse Hidden power (again whatever helps your team out) Air Slash
So PLEASE be creative with him. His movepool may be somewhat shallow but he is still a great pokemon that deserves to eat the flesh of Bidoof and Magikarp everywhere.
