Is Charizard still worth using in Pokemon GO in 2022?

Fans know how good Charizard is in the main series games, but how does it hold up in Pokemon GO?

Charizard has been one of the all-time greats ever since Ash evolved his Charmeleon in the anime. Charizard always had excellent stats and a strong movepool with Flamethrower, Earthquake, Solarbeam and the like.

In Pokemon GO, though, things work a little differently, making Charizard’s performance more difficult to judge.

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How well does Charizard perform compared to other Pokemon?

Charizard lacks one essential thing that would make it a top threat in GO League PvP: bulk. It only has 173 Defense and 186 Stamina, placing it firmly in the category of glass cannon.

Now, as a glass cannon, trainers could do worse than Charizard. Its Attack stat, though, is 223. This puts it in an odd tier where it’s stronger than many threats but weaker than other strong attackers like Mamoswine and Excadrill.

Its typing doesn’t necessarily do it favours either. Charizard’s Flying typing does help it against Ground, but now it has a double weakness to Rock as a Fire/Flying-type. This can be a death sentence in metas like the Great League, where Galarian Stunfisk, Deoxys Defense-Forme, and several other Pokemon run Rock Slide.

One area where Charizard indeed dominates, though, is its moveset. It gets access to one of the best weapons in the game in Blast Burn. This attack has a solid damage output of 100 base power and requires low energy cost.

Charizard can also pair this move with Dragon Claw, which helps it deal with opposing Dragon-types. These aren’t too much of an issue in Great League, but Charizard will have both Altaria and Giratina Altered to contend with in the Ultra League.

Charizard's Dragon Claw can help it against Giratina Altered (Image via The Pokemon Company)

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Verdict

Regardless of how good Charizard is, the bottom line is that any trainer who can Mega evolve it should do so. Mega Charizard Y is an ally any trainer would be glad to have.

Compared to Charizard’s 223 Attack stat, Mega Charizard Y’s is 319. This titan can take down some Raid bosses with neutral damage faster than others can with super effective damage.

That being said, base form Charizard is not a horrible pick. It may be accurate to say that Talonflame outclasses it, but Charizard can help a team pick up more wins.