[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker Lead
move 1: Fire Blast
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Body Slam / Slash
move 4: Counter / Slash / Fire Spin
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Charizard is a strong lead that can trade blows well with any typical lead. Fire Blast 3HKOes Mr. Mime and Clefable, and Blastoise—the typical Charizard check—has difficulty switching in early without allowing Venomoth in freely to put something to sleep. Earthquake is Charizard's strongest physical move without drawbacks and provides solid damage into everything except Charizard and Moltres, crucially nearly 2HKOing Kabutops and Nidoking and dealing significant damage to Golem. Body Slam lets Charizard fish for paralysis against Mr. Mime and still 3HKO it by following up with Fire Blast, and it can also paralyze opposing Charizard. It also gives Charizard a chance to hamstring switch-ins like Blastoise and Seadra, but Charizard can instead choose Slash for consistent high damage, notably 4HKOing Blastoise, 3HKOing Mr. Mime without risking a Fire Blast miss, and dealing more damage to Seadra than Charizard's other options. Charizard's fourth moveslot is flexible. Counter helps it against an opposing Charizard lead, allowing it to return Body Slam or Slash for massive damage, especially against Swords Dance Charizard, which tends to attack with Body Slam after boosting to +2. It can also use Slash; Body Slam twice followed by Slash twice usually 4HKOes Charizard while providing good odds to paralyze it, and Body Slam followed by Slash twice efficiently 3HKOes Mr. Mime. Fire Spin is a rarer but still dangerous option, allowing Charizard to pivot around its checks, albeit inconsistently. It notably also wears down Nidoking and Mr. Mime into 2HKO range quickly, potentially allowing Charizard to turn around a desperate game with a little luck if it's able to avoid paralysis until late-game.
This Charizard set can be played in two main ways. It can either trade hits and take down the opposing lead, sacrificing itself to remove a crucial threat like Mr. Mime, or it can land one hit, take paralysis, and flee, which allows it to perpetually block sleep from Venomoth. Usually, Charizard will simply take the trade to remove Mr. Mime, freeing up its teammates, like Venomoth and Mr. Mime, to exploit this. Since Charizard often wins this matchup, it gets KOed after the opposing lead, allowing its team to take advantage of the opposing revenge killer—for example, by sending Venomoth in against slower foes. This also frees up Mr. Mime to deal immense damage later with less fear of taking paralysis. Taking paralysis to sleep block instead enables more methodical play, but it does come with drawbacks; it requires Charizard to switch a teammate into a scary threat, potentially making for a very poor trade, and paralyzed Charizard's switch-ins are fairly predictable and punishable with smart double switching or attacking. Still, blocking sleep can potentially enable much more aggressive play from slower teammates like Clefable, Blastoise, and Golem. If Charizard escapes the lead matchup unparalyzed, it can use its Speed and coverage to effectively revenge kill most foes later on or to chip foes down and pivot with Fire Spin. In the Charizard versus Charizard matchup, Body Slam is the usual choice to weaken and hopefully paralyze it; however, a Swords Dance Charizard can take advantage of this 70% of the time, so switching out to Blastoise is a reasonable move to ensure it can't set up. However, this invites Venomoth in, so double switching back to Charizard afterward may be the correct choice to gain an advantage. Against more unorthodox leads like Wigglytuff and Clefable, Charizard often has no choice but to trade hits, as nothing switches into them well; unfortunately, these are often worse trades for Charizard than other matchups.
Charizard has a few notable options for teammates beyond obvious choices like Mr. Mime, Clefable, Venomoth, and Blastoise. Exeggcute can take advantage of opposing lead Mr. Mime, switching into Thunder Wave before putting it to sleep and acting as a passable sleep blocker against Venomoth. Electrode can deal immense damage if Charizard takes out Mr. Mime, cleaning up the opposing Charizard and Blastoise late-game. Raticate provides another fast option to help clean up or wallbreak, especially if the lead matchup is Charizard versus Charizard, leaving both paralyzed or KOed; Raticate crucially outspeeds Mr. Mime, allowing Charizard to wallbreak recklessly without giving up the ability to revenge kill Mr. Mime. Seadra is a great teammate, as Charizard baits in and weakens Blastoise for it, freeing it up to sweep with Agility.
[SET CREDITS]
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/juoean.486979/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/mrsoup.375193/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/autumn.384270/
name: Mixed Attacker Lead
move 1: Fire Blast
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Body Slam / Slash
move 4: Counter / Slash / Fire Spin
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Charizard is a strong lead that can trade blows well with any typical lead. Fire Blast 3HKOes Mr. Mime and Clefable, and Blastoise—the typical Charizard check—has difficulty switching in early without allowing Venomoth in freely to put something to sleep. Earthquake is Charizard's strongest physical move without drawbacks and provides solid damage into everything except Charizard and Moltres, crucially nearly 2HKOing Kabutops and Nidoking and dealing significant damage to Golem. Body Slam lets Charizard fish for paralysis against Mr. Mime and still 3HKO it by following up with Fire Blast, and it can also paralyze opposing Charizard. It also gives Charizard a chance to hamstring switch-ins like Blastoise and Seadra, but Charizard can instead choose Slash for consistent high damage, notably 4HKOing Blastoise, 3HKOing Mr. Mime without risking a Fire Blast miss, and dealing more damage to Seadra than Charizard's other options. Charizard's fourth moveslot is flexible. Counter helps it against an opposing Charizard lead, allowing it to return Body Slam or Slash for massive damage, especially against Swords Dance Charizard, which tends to attack with Body Slam after boosting to +2. It can also use Slash; Body Slam twice followed by Slash twice usually 4HKOes Charizard while providing good odds to paralyze it, and Body Slam followed by Slash twice efficiently 3HKOes Mr. Mime. Fire Spin is a rarer but still dangerous option, allowing Charizard to pivot around its checks, albeit inconsistently. It notably also wears down Nidoking and Mr. Mime into 2HKO range quickly, potentially allowing Charizard to turn around a desperate game with a little luck if it's able to avoid paralysis until late-game.
This Charizard set can be played in two main ways. It can either trade hits and take down the opposing lead, sacrificing itself to remove a crucial threat like Mr. Mime, or it can land one hit, take paralysis, and flee, which allows it to perpetually block sleep from Venomoth. Usually, Charizard will simply take the trade to remove Mr. Mime, freeing up its teammates, like Venomoth and Mr. Mime, to exploit this. Since Charizard often wins this matchup, it gets KOed after the opposing lead, allowing its team to take advantage of the opposing revenge killer—for example, by sending Venomoth in against slower foes. This also frees up Mr. Mime to deal immense damage later with less fear of taking paralysis. Taking paralysis to sleep block instead enables more methodical play, but it does come with drawbacks; it requires Charizard to switch a teammate into a scary threat, potentially making for a very poor trade, and paralyzed Charizard's switch-ins are fairly predictable and punishable with smart double switching or attacking. Still, blocking sleep can potentially enable much more aggressive play from slower teammates like Clefable, Blastoise, and Golem. If Charizard escapes the lead matchup unparalyzed, it can use its Speed and coverage to effectively revenge kill most foes later on or to chip foes down and pivot with Fire Spin. In the Charizard versus Charizard matchup, Body Slam is the usual choice to weaken and hopefully paralyze it; however, a Swords Dance Charizard can take advantage of this 70% of the time, so switching out to Blastoise is a reasonable move to ensure it can't set up. However, this invites Venomoth in, so double switching back to Charizard afterward may be the correct choice to gain an advantage. Against more unorthodox leads like Wigglytuff and Clefable, Charizard often has no choice but to trade hits, as nothing switches into them well; unfortunately, these are often worse trades for Charizard than other matchups.
Charizard has a few notable options for teammates beyond obvious choices like Mr. Mime, Clefable, Venomoth, and Blastoise. Exeggcute can take advantage of opposing lead Mr. Mime, switching into Thunder Wave before putting it to sleep and acting as a passable sleep blocker against Venomoth. Electrode can deal immense damage if Charizard takes out Mr. Mime, cleaning up the opposing Charizard and Blastoise late-game. Raticate provides another fast option to help clean up or wallbreak, especially if the lead matchup is Charizard versus Charizard, leaving both paralyzed or KOed; Raticate crucially outspeeds Mr. Mime, allowing Charizard to wallbreak recklessly without giving up the ability to revenge kill Mr. Mime. Seadra is a great teammate, as Charizard baits in and weakens Blastoise for it, freeing it up to sweep with Agility.
[SET CREDITS]
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/juoean.486979/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/mrsoup.375193/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/autumn.384270/
Last edited:
