Introduction
Charizard is one of the most consistent defoggers in the April metagame, with its excellent Fire-Flying typing enabling it to come in against many of the threats, as well as offering a significant offensive presence through its powerful hurricane. However, it is important to consider that Charizard is very reliant on its item, namely Heavy Duty Boots, and that it is not as bulky as alternative hazard removal such as Tentacruel and Altaria. Utility: Charizard offers considerable use as a defogger and is its most commonly used set. With its Fire-Flying typing it can come in against common Pokemon like Coballion (although it is important to consider volt switch which does a fair amount depending on if it is special or physical Coballion), Hippowdon, Lokix and Tinkaton. Physically defensive sets in particular are noteworthy for being 2HKOed by +6 Coballion Body Press (and 3HKOed by +2) and being able to one-shot it in return with Flamethrower/Overheat, thus serving a great counter to one of the most dangerous set-up sweepers in the metagame. It also can offer more than simply Defog, with physically defensive sets generally running Will-O-Wisp which can permanently neutralise certain Pokemon like the aforementioned Coballion, Lokix and Hippowdon if given the opportunity. Its quad-resistance can also be quite handy against one of the most common priority moves in First Impression from Lokix and Golisopod. Furthermore, it also helps against sand abusers such as Stoutland. Defensive sets need to run Heavy Duty Boots naturally, however the moveset can be more diverse; Defog of course, alongside Overheat/Hurricane or potentially both if it is more offensively oriented, Roost and Will-O-Wisp.
Offenses
Charizard is also very offensively threatening in both offensive and defensive sets with its incredibly powerful STAB moves in Overhear and Hurricane. Defogger Charizard with fully invested special attack firmly 2HKOs Alomomola who might try to use it to pivot on and can stop it from passing wishes, thus putting significant pressure on the opponent. It is also notable for being able to 2HKO Hippowdown with Hurricane and one of the primary special walls in Tinkaton with Overheat. STAB hurricane is really threatening against the metagame as a whole and Charizard is the strongest abuser of this. Whilst Defogger Charizard is a strong user of its STABs, Specs Charizard is even better, and with reliable hazard removal from a partner such as Altaria, it can use its typing to pivot into something like Coballion or Hippowdon and proceed to break a whole into the opponent's team, with little not being 2HKOed by its Overheats and Hurricanes, with the exception of one of the best special walls in Fezandipiti. Something to note is that, while Hurricane and Overheat are both strong, they aren't reliable due to their accuracy and special attack drop respectively, and so the user must take care not to let the opponent exploit this. Alternatively, Belly Drum Salac Berry has seen some usage and is indeed a very threatening sweeper once it has got going, however due to its lack of boots and relative fragility it is very situational and needs a lot of set up and careful planning to get it working.
Weaknesses
Charizard as a whole is very reliant on its item, whether it is Specs or most notably Heavy Duty Boots, and as such it is necessary for the user to play very carefully around potential knocks. Furthermore, as mentioned above its main STAB options in Hurricane and Overheat being very exploitable whilst powerful, with Hurricane especially being a risky option, with Pokemon such as Alomomola being able to chance a miss to get significant Scald or Flip Turn damage off. Charizard is also quite slow and threatened significantly by Pokemon like Gengar and Manectric, as well as the fact that it is walled by common Pokemon like Slowking and Fezandipiti. Slowking in particular is an annoyance with it being able to profit off of Charizard for Regenerator heals, and so Charizard needs a partner who can consistently beat it down such as Gengar or Lokix. Sets: On Defog sets Charizard either runs physical bulk for some of the main physical threats its typing counters or max special attack and speed with potentially some attack investment to 2HKO a would-be counter in Tentacruel.
Written by Bell