Best moveset for Charizard and Mega Charizard X and Y in Pokémon Go

For many, Charizard has been a primary choice for every Pokémon player since they started playing the game when it initially released. You have the option to choose a Charmander when you initially start Pokémon Go, continuing the tradition, and for those who actively encounter enough of them, you can potentially evolve them into a Charizard. It’s also one of the few Pokémon to have Mega-Evolve form, which make it incredibly powerful to use in five-star raids, and in the future, against other trainers. It can learn various moves, but what are the best combinations?

Charizard is a Fire and Flying-type Pokémon. It has a maximum CP of 2,889, an attack of 223, a defense of 173, and stamina of 186. It’s weak to Electric and Water-type attacks, and it especially weak to Rock-type moves. It has two Mega-Evolved forms, Mega Charizard X and Mega Charizard Y.

Mega Charizard X has a maximum CP of 3,850, an attack of 273, a defense of 213, and a stamina of 186. It becomes a Fire and Dragon-type, making it weak to Dragon, Rock, and Ground-type moves. For Mega Charizard Y, it has a maximum CP of 4,445, an attack of 319, a defense of 212, and stamina of 186. It remains a Fire and Flying-type, retaining the same weaknesses as the standard Charizard.

Here are all of the moves all versions of Charizard can learn.

Fast moves

• Air Slash (Flying-type) – 9 damage and 3 energy per turn
• Dragon Breath – (Dragon-type) – 4 damage and 3 energy per turn
• Ember (Fire-type) – 6 damage and 3 energy per turn
• Fire Spin (Fire-type) – 9 damage and 3.3 energy per turn
• Wing Attack (Flying-type) – 5 damage and 3.5 energy per turn

Charged moves

• Blast Burn (Fire-type) – 110 damage and 50 energy
• Dragon Claw (Dragon-type) – 50 damage and 35 energy
• Fire Blast (Fire-type) – 140 damage and 80 energy
• Flamethrower (Fire-type) – 90 damage and 55 energy
• Overheat (Fire-type) – 130 damage and 55 energy (has a 100 percent chance to lower the attack of the user by 2)

Charizard has plenty of choices available, which makes picking out these options fairly difficult to narrow down. For it’s fast move, you don’t want to use air slash or wing attack. Charizard has better options available to it. It’s a toss-up between fire spin and dragon breath. Of the two, fire spin looks better, but it takes three times as long to fully attack. Dragon breath is a faster move, and does more damage, and provides more energy, making it the best option of the choices.

For the charged move, much like the fast one, Charizard has several options. Because of the devastating after effects of overheat, you want to not use that move. Flamethrower doesn’t do anything bad to you, but there are better options choices you can go with. The same for fire blast. With those three out of the way, your final two options are blast burn and dragon claw. These are the best choices for Charizard, making it a solid choice in the Ultra League.

Now, things change when it Mega-Evolves. If you go with Mega Charizard Y, the Fire and Dragon-type, you want to keep the same moves. However, if you go with Mega Charizard X, the Fire and Flying-type Pokémon, then you want to use fire spin for your fast move. Because Mega Charizard Y is a straight Fire and Flying-type, fire spin will do more overall damage, but the logic only applies if you plan to exclusively use this Charizard in its Mega-Evolved form.

Overall, the best fast move choice for Charizard is dragon breath, and the best charged moves are blast burn and dragon claw. You can teach Charizard dragon breath during the Charmander Community Day on October 18, 2020, or teach it using an Elite TM.