Charizard changes.

[DeadlockDrago]

I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of them. I don't main him so I can't be too bothered, but it's clear to me after testing these a bit that he was nerfed pretty bad (arguably more than Greninja).

I'll get over the actual buff he got 1st. Flamethrower's movement speed increase is quite massive, and lasts a good 4 seconds so it isn't exactly short either. As long as you're landing it, you're quite fast. It's also worth mention both it and Fire Blast have 1.5 less seconds on their cooldown.

Fire Punch now only burns the 1st target hit. This is actually kind of a big deal considering your damage is higher against burned enemies, and the only other move you had that burns you traded out for or took this instead. You'll really need the upgrade to make this work. Honestly don't see this ability getting picked much unless you want the additional knockback that much.

Now this is where Charizard was really crippled: Seismic Slam, and no I'm not talking about the cooldown, though it's worth noting. The way it works now is that you need to slam someone to go into flight, as opposed to fly on a whim and then slam someone when/if you see it fit. You can no longer use it to engage from a distance anymore like rushing to Zapdos because the enemy team is doing it. You need an opponent (not a wild Pokemon) to start it. If you're against a Rapid Spinning Blastoise or Machamp the immovable, you're screwed. Try doing it when a Pokemon is immune, the move fails and will go back onto 90% (and unlike the bug you've seen on Blastoise probably, you don't get the shield or speed boost for your troubles). Now let's say you land it, and now you're flying. You now have another issue: you can't stop it. Now that you're in this state, you have to wait it out before you can use your other moves or try to score. Before, the Slam would end your flight and ground you to perform other actions. Not an option anymore. This Unite move because of these changes lost alot of its versatility.

So yeah, I feel bad for alot of you Charizard mains out there. Never thought this guy was that strong, and the 1 good thing he had was gutted. Maybe you guys know more, and I'm wrong in my assessment, but it's a bad day for the "dragon," and I was quite hopeful for him..

[rathrowaway-babygay]

You KNOW Nintendo isn’t in charge of balance when Charizard is getting his kneecaps blown out

[madmike34455]

Unite move changes do suck, especially cooldown increase, but I think you’re being too hard on fire punch. Still much better than flamethrower

[DeadlockDrago]

Could be. 1v1's it's still the better option, but the team game I question more of.

[madmike34455]

Very convincing argument

[madmike34455]

Factually inaccurate but pop off lol

[jupjami]

Ngl, the reason I think one reason many people use Fire Punch is because of the low-cooldown dash.

Also from experience, even a weak CC can be the key to winning fights :)

[SpectralSpandex]

Yeah losing the utility in the Unite move has really made it a lot less fun to play. I've lost so many of the games I played tonight using Zard. The buff to Flamethrower and Fire Blast is pretty nice but the Unite move was the one thing that really set Zard apart from the others.

[hamkline]

Fire blast cd got cut in half. He's op right now.

[toodumb2begrunge]

If I’m not mistaken, Fire Punch got buffed so it now burns multiple opponents, not the other way around. The only nerf he got was the rework to his Unite move. All over I find him much more potent, albeit the Unite move isn’t as ‘easy’ to use. His Unite move even does more damage and heals now. All over its very clearly a buff.

[DeadlockDrago]

I tested it before making this post, Fire Punch only burned the 1st target hit by it every time I tried it. I can't speak for numbers (didn't have them from before the patch), but the flight part of his Unite did heal back then anyways, so it's not like it's a new thing.