Charizard Raid Guide: How To Counter The Fire-breather In Pokémon GO

Pokebattler, which calculates all possible combinations of Pokémon and moves, lists the top 10 Charizard counters as such:

• Shadow Tyranitar (Smack Down, Stone Edge)
• Rampardos (Smack Down, Rock Slide)
• Rhyperior (Smack Down, Rock Wrecker)
• Terrakion (Smack Down, Rock Slide)
• Shadow Omastar (Rock Throw, Rock Slide)
• Tyranitar (Smack Down, Stone Edge)
• Gigalith (Smack Down, Rock Slide)
• Aerodactyl (Rock Throw, Rock Slide)
• Omastar (Rock Throw, Rock Slide)
• Landorus (Rock Throw, Rock Slide)

It is recommended to power up your counters as much as possible, and creating that amount of strong Shadow Pokémon with their moves unlocked is a tall order for even the most practiced players. Here are ten additional non-Shadow counters that can help take down Charizard with efficiency.

• Alolan Golem (Rock Throw, Stone Edge)
• Golem (Rock Throw, Stone Edge)
• Archeops (Wing Attack, Ancient Power)
• Regirock (Rock Throw, Stone Edge)
• Aggron (Smack Down, Stone Edge)
• Zekrom (Charge Beam, Wild Charge)
• Carracosta (Rock Throw, Ancient Power)
• Solrock (Rock Throw, Rock Slide)
• Lunatone (Rock Throw, Rock Slide)
• Crustle (Smack Down, Rock Slide)

How Many Trainers Are Needed?

The instinct when taking on a Fire-type like Charizard may be to choose Water-type Pokémon, but the above list demonstrates that the most effective way is to exploit Charizard's double-weakness to Rock-type moves due to its dual typing of Fire/Flying. Because of this weakness, using the top Rock-types will enable two-level 40 trainers to defeat this Pokémon easily.  If trainers are not able to guarantee the use of the top counters, three-level 35+ trainers can take it down with relative ease as well.

Expert players have been able to solo Charizard in the past in ideal weather conditions, but it is not recommended.

Catching Charizard

Charizard is a very easy Pokémon to hit Great and Excellent throws on, as its medium-distance proximity to the screen gives it a big catch circle. Still, it normally has a red catch circle, so even with expert throws, be sure to employ the proper Berry and catching technique, detailed below.

Using the circle lock technique, players can hold down the ball until Charizard's catch circle shrinks. Releasing when the circle is at its smallest point allows the circle to lock, guaranteeing an "Excellent" throw if the ball can hit that point. To make sure that can be done, throw the ball when Charizard is finishing its attack. The attack is a smooth loop and strike at the player. The Pokémon will settle back into its place and, as it settles, throw the ball. The best berry to help catch this Fire-type is the Golden Razz Berry. Paired with "Excellent" throws, this should lead to a successfully caught Charizard.

Catching Dragonite

Charizard is the third-stage of Charmander and, while Charmander can be found Shiny in the wild, Charizard cannot be caught in its Shiny form… but wow, is it a great Shiny.

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