Pokemon of the Week #5 - Mega Charizard X

[Ver-go-a-go-go]

#006 - Mega Charizard X

Species: Flame Pokemon
Abilities: Tough Claws
Height: 5'07
Weight: 221.6lbs​

Notable Moves:

Flamethrower
Heat Wave
Flare Blitz
Hone Claws
Dragon Claw
Roost
Earthquake
Flame Charge
Fire Blast
Overheat
Will-o-Wisp
Swords Dance
Rock Slide
Dragon Tail
Belly Drum (Egg move from Snorlax)
Crunch (Egg move from mult.)
Dragon Dance (Egg move from Kingdra line, Gyarados, Dragonite line, Altaria, Haxorus line)
Dragon Pulse (Egg move from mult.)
Outrage (Egg move from Dragonite line, Haxorus line, Hydreigon line, Druddigon, Goodra)
Air Slash (Tutor)

Overview:

Mega Charizard X, the flame Pokemon, is something that fans of the series have wanted since the very first entry. Dismissed as overrated due to the anime, and a terrible participant on the competitive battlefield, normal Charizard didn't have much going for it back in the day. Whereas other original starters got a new lease on life in Gen V with their hidden abilities, (Venasaur with Chlorophyll made it viable in ubers) Charizard was stuck with the mediocre Solar Power. Solar Power made it absolutely deadly under the sun, but in return cost a good amount of HP each turn,

making it's crippling x4 Stealth Rock weakness even more obvious and worse. At the end of Gen V, Charizard didn't have much else to say for itself other than having the dubious honor of top-attacker in the NU (Never Used) tier. That all changed with one simple concept in Gen VI: Mega Evolution.

No longer a Fire/Flying type, Mega Charizard X takes on the type that it has deserved for a long time: Fire/Dragon. But the typing isn't all that changes when Charizard takes up it's Charizardite X. Mega Charizard gets a beastly stat increase in both Attack and Special Attack, as well as a slight increase in Defense, making the potential viable spreads it can run skyrocket. This new form also brings with it a new ability: Tough Claws, which acts as a free Life Orb with no recoil when it comes to contact moves. All of these factors have propelled Charizard up to the top in OU usage.

All it takes is a quick glance at Megazard X's stats and movepool to realize that this thing can do A LOT of things. Tough Claws makes physical moves an absolute wall-breaking terror, with diverse coverage such as Earthquake, Rock Slide, and Crunch, and absolutely lethal dual-stabs in Flare Blitz and Dragon Claw/Outrage. Excellent boosting moves round off the physical variant, with tools such as Swords Dance, Hone Claws, Flame Charge, and, of course, DRAGON DANCE.

But all of that tends to cloud the facts that Charizard X has a massive 130 Special Attack as well, and also has an awesome move pool on the special side. Stab coverage offers Dragon Pulse, along with Flamethrower/Heat Wave/Overheat/Fire Blast. Other coverage moves include the potent Focus Blast, Solar Beam, and Air Slash. Although a purely special Charizard X arguably doesn't have the same OU viability as other sets, the ability to go mixed along with the physical set is enough to make every dedicated wall in the tier cry.

But wait, there's more! Defense and support aren't the two things that pop into most people's mind when they think about this monster, but Charizard X is fully capable of a support-esque roll. Roost is no longer a hindrance as it's Flying type is already lost, Sunny Day can be a major boon to many Pokemon, and Will-o-Wisp is still the best counter to any physically oriented Pokemon that exists. Phazing moves like Roar and Dragon Tail means that, with some Defense EV investment, you can completely catch someone off guard with a new physical tank that can even set up if you wish.

If you're feeling gutsy, you can always attempt a Belly Drum set. If you get it off freely along with a Dragon Dance or two.... well, gg.

Honestly, I can't do all of the options this awesome Mega Evolution brings justice, because there's just too many options and combinations to possibly cover. I'll be covering what I think are the absolute best ones, but keep in mind that you can experiment and try something even better according to what your team needs.

Stats Breakdown:

HP: 78 - Acceptable.
Attack: 130 - Incredible, especially when paired with Tough Claws. This makes the physical attacking variant the most common.
Defense: 111 - Surprisingly awesome, and makes defensive sets a very real possibility
Special Attack: 130 Incredible, and coupled with the Attack stat, makes Megazard X a deadly mixed attacker
Special Defense: 85 - Acceptable
Speed: 100 - Kind of lack-luster in the grand scheme of things, but can be patched up with the incredibly common Dragon Dance and even Flame Charge

Viable Sets:

1.) "Tough Luck"

Charizard@CharizarditeX
Ability: Tough Claws
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 HP
-Dragon Dance
-Earthquake
-Flare Blitz
-Outrage

- This is my person set for my own Charizard X, and it's an absolute terror. 100 base speed really isn't all that great compared to other speed creeps in the tier such as Garchomp and Keldeo, but Dragon Dance is an excellent way to mitigate what is, arguably, the only flaw of Charizard X. After one or two Dragon Dances, the only thing that you'll truly fear are Pokemon that have a much naturally high base speed (and thus probably aren't powerful enough to OHKO you) or Choice Scarf users like the aforementioned Garchomp. The coverage provided by this set hits just about everything hard; Outrage dents everything that isn't outright immune, even steel types, and Earthquake and Flare Blitz bring the excellent Ground/Fire combination of attacking that can damage almost everything in its path with super-effective attacks.

- Because this Charizard doesn't carry any special moves with it, Adamant is an appropriate nature in order to assure maximum effectiveness. Jolly is also an option, but as I've found that it really isn't worth it to forgo any extra power you can muster up for a speed stat that is going to be trumped by whatever did trump it before regardless.

-It's possible to sub in Roost for Earthquake if you feel like you need more longevity, or if you think that reliable recovery is important in your move sets. I would advise omitting the stab options in favor of it though, as stab + tough claws is a rough combination to deal with.

2.) "The Mixed Menace"

Charizard@CharizarditeX
Ability: Tough Claws
Nature: Lonely
EVs: 252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 HP
-Overheat
-Flare Blitz
-Outrage
-Focus Blast

- Again, the options are unlimited here. I wouldn't recommend Dragon Dance for this one as well, but you can certainly still try it out. Seeing as Megazard X has outstanding coverage moves on both sides of the attacking spectrum, you can substitute in any other special move you think you may need. Overheat acts as an awesome one-time hit for huge damage on physically dedicated walls, and the drawback of losing your special attack stat by two stages doesn't matter when it comes to the other physical dual-stabs with Flare Blitz and Outrage. I pick Focus Blast mainly because Fighting attacks are such a critical thing in OU, but you could, again, easily put in Roost or even Solar Beam in its place if you're running a run team.

- I did have to do some thinking when deciding on the nature, but I eventually decided that another Adamant nature doesn't really do the set justice. As previously mentioned, Charizard X's Defense stat is surprisingly awesome for what role it seems to want to fill. Most traditional mixed attackers, such as Infernape, were always paper-thin in the defensive department anyway; a Lonely nature isn't completely out of the question for the purpose of this set.

3.) "Defense Dragon"

Charizard@CharizarditeX
Ability: Tough Claws
Nature: Careful
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Defense, 4 Special Defense
-Roost
-Will-o-Wisp
-Flare Blitz
-Dragon Tail

- This is more of an experimental set that might be fun to try out. Taking advantage of its good physical bulk, an all out tank approach might be enough to catch some off guard. The trick is to switch in to any dedicated physical attacker, and proceed to pass a nice burn with Will-o-Wisp (a move uncommon on Charizards), crippling that physical attacker for the duration of the match. Roost is there to keep up Charizard X's staying power, with Dragon Tail acting as a utility move to deal with special attacks who think they can set up in Megazard X's face. Flare Blitz can be exchanged for other moves such as Dragon Claw, but seeing as Fire is such an awesome attacking move, you would need a good reason to do so.

- The EV spread favors a purely physical tank. Charizard X's Special Defense isn't really anything to write home about, but you could attempt to capitalize on that aspect if you want a mixed tank (editing the EV spread as necessary).

- Entry hazards work well with this set because of the phazing aspect of it.

Conclusion:

- The sheer amount of things you can do with this Mega Evolution is ridiculous. In creating a new way to mix up the Pokemon games, GameFreak did an awesome job of taking an old-school fan favorite and bringing him into the competitive spotlight. Charizard itself always had the moves and potential to do quite well in the OU tier, but was always held back by its absolutely garbage typing and somewhat lack-luster stats. The new generations did an excellent job of breathing life into old Pokemon, and Charizard is absolutely no exception.