It’s no different in Pokémon GO, where Charizard is among the most popular Pokémon. Very few Pokémongoers keep this iconic powerhouse on their team. With powerful Fire- and Flying-type attacks, Charizard shreds through opponents in raids with ease and is a powerful contender in Great and Ultra League PvP. It’s only by equipping Charizard with the right moveset that it can deal maximum damage in these various modes of play. Home to a wide variety of 11 regional and gender forms, the Charizard family is one of the largest in Pokémon GO. The movesets that Pokémon like Staraptor use can vary depending on their formline. But to unleash an opponent’s full potential, trainers need to ensure that they are using the moveset to its maximum potential.

Understanding Charizard’s Strengths and Weaknesses

Charizard’s Typing: Fire and Flying

 Liking to Poli whose evolution Poliwhirl boasts the dual typing of Water and Flying, the evolution Charmeleon grants its first Fire typing, but it is only when Charizard evolves again that it gains its second Flying typing. This fact carries a multitude of benefits and drawbacks for Charizard in Pokémon GO.

Advantages of Fire/Flying Typing:

 Thanks to Charizard’s Fire-type moves, she’s super effective against Grass, Bug, Ice and Steel types. She’s also useful in battles with Ground-type Pokémon, since the Flying-type grants resistance to Ground-type moves – these otherwise would be a major threat to a Fire-type Pokémon. That’s a pretty good assortment of resistances to have, covering off against Fighting, Fairy and Fire-type moves.

Disadvantages and Weaknesses:

 On the other hand, Charizard’s typing makes it doubly weak against Rock-type attacks – which do a whopping four times the normal damage – and also exposes it to Water- and Electric-type moves. Charizard’s inhalation and exhale animation from Pokémon Blue. It seen here that we can have evolution without change by ‘updating’ two Pokémon as their design progresses Typically, this means that you’ll want to hold out on switching Charizard into play until you’re sure you’ve got an advantage.

Charizard’s Base Stats

Charizard’s base stats are well-rounded, making it a competitive choice in battles.

Attack, Defense, and Stamina Breakdown:

 Charizard’s Attack stat is great such that it can dish out a lot of damage in a few turns, but its defence and stamina stats are mediocre, such that Charizard can get swept by opponents who know what they are doing, unless she is not used right. As such, we need to play to Charizard’s strengths while minimising her weaknesses.

Comparison with Other Fire-Type Pokémon:

 Where others seem to trail, Charizard makes up for it with access to exclusive moves such as Blast Burn. Ultimately, that ability – coupled with its all-round move diversity and type coverage – can lead it to victory over other Fire-types in certain match-ups, despite lacking overwhelmingly high stats.

Charizard’s Fast Moves

Fire Spin

Advantages and Energy Generation:

 It is arguably Charizard’s best Fast Move – a good balanced move that offers decent True Damage (damage that does not depend on the opponent’s defence stats) and great energy generation. Thanks to Charizard’s own Fire typing, it also gets the Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB) buff that makes it slightly more powerful.

When to Use Fire Spin:

 Spin is worth using if you need a reliable Fire-type attack to power up a Charged Move such as Blast Burn, and you’re facing Grass, Bug, Ice or Steel-type opponents.

Air Slash

Benefits of Air Slash:

Our second option for Fast Move is the uninspiring Air Slash, which gives Charizard some coverage against Flying-type Pokémon but does relatively little damage (equal to Around Our Way) and recovers energy quite quickly. This used in limited circumstances against certain fighty Pokémon, such as melmetal, as a welcome alternative to Fire Spin.

Situations Where Air Slash Is More Effective:

 Air Slash does more damage when the target is the same type as Grass, Bug or Fighting-type Pokémon. It’s also especially useful if you want to avoid Fire-type moves, such as if you’re going up against a Water or Rock typed Pokémon. 

Wing Attack

Overview and Comparisons with Other Fast Moves:

Wing Attack is a Flying-type Fast Move also open to Charizard. It generates energy fast, which handy in both PvP and PvE situations where energy management is important, and might even be a good choice to have on your Pokémon because it allows you move faster through the gauge. Of course, it doesn’t do as much damage as Fire Spin, so probably wouldn’t be a top choice in a PvP situation where you need to dyna-Evolve a Pokémon and do as much damage as quickly as possible.

Charizard’s Charged Moves

Blast Burn

Exclusive Community Day Move:

Blast Burn is a super effective Fire-type Charged Move released during Community Day events that every single Charizard needed to learn. It has relatively low energy cost and high damage, making it one of the best Charged Moves in the game. 

Why Blast Burn Is Charizard’s Best Charged Move:

 With his high damage output, low energy cost and STAB, there is really no other choice than Blast Burn – and no Charged Move capable of matching Charizard’s damage output. Although it is justly feared for its damage per second in Pv is also essential for Pokémon Showdown PvP battles.

Dragon Claw

Versatility and Coverage:

 Dragon Claw is a super-fast Charged Move that gives Charizard coverage against Dragon-types. A low energy cost makes it a good bait move in PvP play or just a consistent damage-dealer in PvE.

Ideal Matchups for Dragon Claw:

You can use Dragon Claw against Aldo when he’s hanging out in the clouds and flying across the screen with his Dratini, Dragonite or Giratina. It’s also good for applying quick pressure on your opponent in PvP.

Overheat

High Damage Output and Drawbacks:

Overheat is, however, a powerful Fire-type Charged Move that deals double damage, but sharply lowers Charizard’s Attack stat after use, making its use high-risk, high-reward. 

When Overheat Is a Good Choice:

 Overheat is good for PvE only (boss-fights against raidbosses) since you gain a lot of damage-output in one single hit, and bad for PvP since the damage-debuffs you create on yourself have a disadvantage in PvP elements.

Fire Blast

Analyzing the Use Cases for Fire Blast:

Fire Blast is another Fire-type Charged Move but is generally less favoured than Blast Burn and Overheat because of the higher energy cost and slower charge time, but useful for knock-out situations.

Comparisons with Blast Burn and Overheat:

Sure, Fire Blast deals way more damage, but why use Fire Blast when you have such a more efficient and high-damage move like Blast Burn OR a more powerfull move that does more damage than Blast Burn plus a self-debuff for more damage by using Overheat?

Ancient Power

Situational Use and Coverage Against Rock-Type Pokémon:

The fact that Ancient Power is Rock-type – great against Flying, Bug and especially Fire – as well as its small chance to boost Charizard’s stats, make Ancient Power a fun move to use against a few specific opponents.

Solar Beam

Surprise Factor and Coverage Against Water- and Ground-Types:

Solar Beam is a Grass-type Charged Move that can take opponents off-guard, hitting Water- and Ground-types who would otherwise counter Charizard. It also has a high energy cost. In this way, Charizard’s moveset tailored to the situation, but is not reliant on any one Charged Move.

Best Moveset for PvE (Raids and Gyms)

Optimal Fast and Charged Move Combination

Fire Spin + Blast Burn:

For the competitive PvE (Player vs Environment) battles that Charizard is usually used for, such as raids and gym offences, it’s best to go with Fire Spin w Blast Burn. This allows Charizard to deal as much damage as possible while still not wasting excess energy.

Situational Alternatives: Dragon Claw, Overheat:

In specific circumstances, dragon of claw could be used as a quicker Charged Move or overheat used as a powerful one-time blow, but blast burn usually remains the greater option.

How This Moveset Maximizes DPS

Effective Matchups in Raids and Gym Battles:

With a powerful pairing of Fire Spin and Blast Burn, Charizard can stand as possibly the best DPS against Grass, Bug, Ice and Steel-type raid bosses and gym defenders.

Calculating Damage Per Second (DPS):

DPS is the most important thing you have to consider in PvE, and since Charizard can dish out exactly the amount of DPS you need – thanks to Fire Spin and Blast Burn – you’ll take down Pokémon before they have time to do much damage to you.

Best Moveset for PvP (Trainer Battles)

Great League

Ideal Moveset for Charizard in Great League:

In the Great League, Charizard boasts the movepool Fire Spin, Blast Burn and Dragon Claw, which makes up for that, offering a winning betweener of quick energy gaining, shield baiting and hulking blows. 

Common Opponents and Matchups:

 Charizard excels in Great League against Grass, Bug and Steel-types, and it can match up with a great many other popular Pokémon like Altaria, and Registeel.

Ultra League

Why Charizard Excels in Ultra League:

That said, its versatility and access to moves such as Blast Burn make it competitive in the Ultra League, where it can check many threats you’re likely to face, including Cresselia and Registeel. 

Best Moveset for Winning Matches:

For Ultra League, the Fire Spin/Blast Burn/Dragon Claw moveset continues to hold up – Charizard is a team player, good at dealing with a variety of opponents and keeping the pressure on.

Master League

Charizard’s Viability in the Master League:

The higher the CP, the more the goal is challenging. More powerful Pokémon mean stronger competition in the Master League, but a well-equipped Charizard will still be useful, and a killer against certain matchups.

Recommended Moveset and Strategy:

Fire Spin, Blast Burn, and Dragon Claw are still the preferred moveset for Master League, although Charizard is not as oppressive as in the lower leagues or as easy to use. Still, he can catch opponents off guard, particularly those who do not expect such power from a Fire-type. 

Charizard’s Role in Team GO Rocket Battles

Best Moveset for Team GO Rocket Battles

Combating Team GO Rocket Leaders:

In fact, Charizard is a great choice for taking on Team GO Rocket leaders because it’s quite versatile, and you can use these moves on a variety of the Pokémon they use: Fire Spin, Blast Burn and Dragon Claw.

Maximizing Effectiveness in Shadow Pokémon Battles:

Using him against Shadow Pokémon, Blast Burn’s massive damage output easily cuts down double-tough Pokémon, and Dragon Claw breaks shields and whittles down opponents’ health.

Community Day and Legacy Moves

Importance of Legacy Moves

How to Obtain Legacy Moves Like Blast Burn:

Secondly, legacy moves such as Blast Burn become available during special events only, like Community Days. If you didn’t obtain the Charizard with Blast Burn, you can get it through Elite Charged TMs (when available on special events).

Why Legacy Moves Can Give Charizard an Edge:

Moves with theseast Burn, are known as legacy moves – they are essential to Charizard’s maximum raid and PvP viability because they have better stats or unique properties (spread damage, damage against flying types, etc) that make them better than conventional learned moves.

Evolving Charmander During Community Day

Tips for Getting the Best Charizard:

It’s possible it isn’t. You might have a Charmander you feel is the perfect fit – but it’s better to wait until Community Day or while the exclusive move is available to evolve that Charmander. Use Pinap Berries and Ultra Balls. Build up as many Charmander as possible so you have variety. And, of course, power them up with Stardust and Candy.

Comparison with Other Fire-Type Pokémon

Charizard vs. Other Fire Types

How Charizard Compares to Other Top Fire-Type Pokémon:

Charizard generally vies with creatures such as Blaziken and Moltres as the best Fire-type in the metagame, but while these Pokémon have higher base stats, Blast Burn often gives Charizard the edge in both damage output and flexibility.

Situations Where Charizard Is the Better Choice:

Charizard’s better suited to circumstances where its Flying-type gives extra resistances, for example, or for which Blast Burn’s output is of higher value, that sort of thing. Or when you want a high performance jack-of-all-trades in your party.

Alternatives to Charizard

When to Choose Other Fire-Types Over Charizard:

While Charizard is arguably the superior Fire-type, that doesn’t mean there aren’t other Fire-types better suited to a specific situation, like a gym defender that requires more bulk (Entei or Heatran) or a fight where moving in with a Fighting move (Blaziken) lets you dictate the pace of the match.

Tips for Using Charizard in Battles

Charizard in Raid Battles

Specific Raid Bosses Where Charizard Shines:

 This almost completely counters Charizard’s main weakness, which is Fire, and makes it incredibly useful against early-game raid bosses of Grass, Bug and Steel-type like Venusaur, Scizor and Registeel, as its Blast Burn is the most powerful attack in the game until at least the second gym.

Charizard in Gym Offense and Defense

Strategies for Using Charizard in Gyms:

Charizard’s high DPS with Fire Spin and Blast Burn means he is particularly strong at tearing down defenders, especially if the Pokémon in question is weak to Fire-type attacks. On defence, Charizard isn’t as good since he is weak to so many attackers, although he can still deter many Grass and Bug types.

Charizard in PvP Battles

Tips for Mastering Charizard in Trainer Battles:

 In PvP, mastering Charizard also means learning how to exert it into a calculated assault of precise energy management and perfectly timed Charged Moves, either to bait out shields or score the KO. Be wary of the handful of defensive weaknesses that can take Charizard down – Rock, Electric and Water – and switch out quickly before they get a chance to punish you. 

Conclusion

Recap of the Best Moveset for Charizard:

 (‘Power’,Versatility’ are referred to in the game as ‘damage’, ‘energy’, and ‘flexibility’.) For most situations, the ‘moveset’ that gives Charizard the best mix of these traits would involve ‘Fast Move’ of Fire Spin, and ‘Charged Moves’ of Blast Burn and Dragon Claw. Charizard is a powerful, nice, balanced creature, yet not the best-est in class.

Final Thoughts on Charizard’s Versatility in Pokémon GO:

 In other words, Charizard makes a good team player with awesome fire moves, a solid defensive typing, cool decoys, and splendid all-round utility. If you can get Charizard at level 40 with the right set of moves, it will assist you in almost any situation involving raid bosses, defending gyms, or PvP.

FAQs

What is the best fast move for Charizard in Pokémon GO? 

Fire Spin is considering the best fast move for Charizard in Pokémon GO because it allows the move Blast Burn to function better and generate energy.

Is Blast Burn a necessary move for Charizard? 

Yes, because Blast Burn makes Charizard very powerful, so you would definitely want it if you want Charizard to be good.

Is Charizard a good raid Pokémon without legacy moves? 

Yes, Charizard is a good raid Pokémon without legacy moves, but it is much better with Blast Burn to level up quicker in both PvE and PvP.

Pokémon are counters of Charizard? 

The counters of Charizard are Rock-type such as Rampardos and Tyranitar and Water-types like Kyogre and Swampert.

How can you get a Charizard with Blast Burn in Pokémon GO? 

You evolve a Charmander during a Community Day event for a chance to get the Charizard with Blast Burn, or you can use an Elite Charged TM on a Charizard to get it.