Introduction
Charizard is a powerful but high execution character who relies on the threat of his powerful mix ups and long ranged normals to condition and bait his opponents into making a mistake, then proceeding to wreak havoc on their health bar.
Unlike traditional fighting game grapplers, Charizard primarily excels at playing at mid range in neutral, poking opponents with his long ranged normals such as j6Y and 2X. He also has jump and special cancels on some of his grounded normals, namely 2X and 5Y, giving him multiple ways to pressure or frame trap shielding opponents and open them up.
While Charizard's grounded walk is fairly slow, he has plenty of movement options in the air, allowing him to be rather elusive. His glide, jR, has high horizontal speed, allowing him to quickly fade in and out, bait anti airs, and whiff punish with j6Y or dropping down in anticipation of them. This aspect of his gameplay is further enchanced when he has Synergy Burst, due to having a double jump and the ability to use his Burst Attack while in midair.
Naturally as a grappler, Charizard's mix up game is very powerful. Once he wins neutral, the opponent must guess right if they do not want to take absolutely horrifying damage. Both Charizard's standard grab and his command grab Seismic Toss are among the most damaging grabs in the game, the latter allowing him to continue maintaining pressure in duel phase. If the opponent does not block, Charizard can wreak havoc on their health bar with a jY starter combo, which is technically demanding but can also lead into very damaging combo routes ending with Flare Blitz or another Seismic Toss.
Charizard's shortcomings include his slow frame data and lack of consistent answers to certain forms of zoning or pressure. While his moves are not terribly slow by any means, they are still slower than those of most of the cast. In addition, his reversal options such as Fire Punch are rather punishable if predicted.
Holding the input during Homing Attack 1, 6X, and 6A or holding R before 5X and 4A come out transitions into Flying Stance, a unique state where Charizard is Airborne, hovering slightly above the stage. During Flying Stance, Charizard can't block, but can slowly move forward or backward. Pressing R ends Flying Stance, returning Charizard to the ground.
There are also a number of Pokemon Moves exclusive to Flying Stance with very combo friendly properties, from powerful extenders in Air Slash and Dragon Claw to FS Flare Blitz, one of Charizard's primary combo enders. Flying Stance can also be used to make Charizard safe with attacks that transition into it, letting him continue his pressure with Flying Stance moves or end Flying Stance after a block string to steal his turn back.