Charmander Movesets & Competitive Sets

Item

Choice Scarf

Ability

Solar Power

Nature

Timid

EVs

HP 44 / Defense 12 / Sp. Atk 196 / Speed 236

Moves

Analysis

Charmander's only viable set is as a sun attacker; under sun, Charmander's Solar Power-boosted Fire-type moves deal massive damage. Weather Ball is Charmander's most spammable STAB attack in sun, while Overheat and Fire Blast allow it to clean weakened teams even without sun. Finally, because Charmander does not have any coverage moves and sun teams often struggle to fit a Spore absorber, Sleep Talk allows it to fulfill the role of a sleep absorber. Choice Scarf allows Charmander to outspeed the entire unboosted metagame and common Choice Scarf users like Mudbray, Porygon, and Magnemite. Charmander requires sun support from Vulpix. It can break down shared checks for other Fire-types and benefit from other sun sweepers like Ponyta weakening Water-types like Frillish and Mareanie, which are challenging Pokemon to chip down. Fighting-types that lure Mareanie and remove its Eviolite, like Mienfoo and Timburr, also help Charmander. Diglett helps trap Pokemon like the aforementioned Mareanie, Ponyta, and Staryu.

Item

Life Orb

Nature

Adamant

EVs

Attack 180 / Sp. Atk 92 / Speed 236

IVs

HP 21

Moves

Analysis

Charmander aims to set up on a predicted switch, an attack that it resists, or a Pokemon that is asleep to sweep. However, it gets easily stopped after a boost by Ground-types like Mudbray. Charmander gets easily worn down from recoil from its Life Orb and Flare Blitz, which can limit its sweeping power and be easily stopped by priority moves. Charmander is outclassed by other setup sweepers like Magby and Ponyta because of their better Attack and Speed stats, which allow them to take on Pokemon that Charmander cannot.

Item

Choice Scarf

Ability

Solar Power

Nature

Timid

EVs

HP 44 / Defense 12 / Sp. Atk 196 / Speed 236

IVs

Attack 0

Moves

Item

Choice Scarf

Nature

Adamant

EVs

HP 44 / Attack 180 / Defense 16 / Speed 236

Moves

Analysis

Charmander is fast enough to reach 21 Speed while holding a Choice Scarf, allowing it to function as an effective revenge killer. The moves are quite simple here. Flare Blitz is the main STAB move and has considerable power, making it the primary option. Thunder Punch gets coverage on Water-types, while Brick Break hits Houndour and Munchlax. Lastly, Rock Slide is a good option to hit opposing Fire-types. These four moves combine for great coverage, allowing Charmander to revenge kill a myriad of threats. Due to this Charmander's relative lack of power compared to the Dragon Dance set, bulky Pokemon such as Hippopotas and Wooper are problems. In addition, Hippopotas commonly sets up Stealth Rock, which can quickly wear down Charmander when combined with recoil from Flare Blitz. Snover is a good teammate for Charmander, as it can deal with both. Slowpoke only fears Toxic from Hippopotas, making it a solid teammate as well. Dratini is again a threat to Charmander, so consider carrying Ferroseed to check it.

Item

Life Orb

Nature

Adamant

EVs

Attack 180 / Defense 92 / Speed 236

IVs

HP 21

Moves

Analysis

Dragon Dance is Charmander's best move for setting up a sweep, which makes it an obvious choice to base a moveset around. Flare Blitz is Charmander's main attacking move, being its most powerful STAB move by far. Thunder Punch complements Flare Blitz quite well, doing a good amount of damage to most Water-types. In the last slot, two options can be considered. Brick Break is the main option, as it pummels Flash Fire Houndour and Thick Fat Munchlax, two Pokemon that this set can otherwise have problems with. Rock Slide is a viable alternative, however, as it still hits Houndour as well as other Fire-types; keep in mind that it has similar power but lower accuracy, meaning it falls just short of the reliability that Brick Break provides. A 21 IV in HP is used to lower Charmander's HP to 19, which in turn lowers Life Orb recoil. As for potential threats, Chinchou and Wooper resist Flare Blitz and are immune to Thunder Punch, making them major problems to this set. Dratini can set up Dragon Dances on Charmander as it resists Flare Blitz. It also has Extreme Speed to revenge kill it if needed. Snover is a good teammate for Charmander, as it can deal serious damage to all three aforementioned Pokemon. Ferroseed can also be used if the residual damage from hail is unwanted. Ponyta and Darumaka work well against Charmander that choose not to use Rock Slide, so Wooper can be a good teammate for checking them. In addition, Wooper attracts Grass-types that Charmander can set up on, providing good synergy. Munchlax can deal with Charmander sets lacking Brick Break, as Thick Fat provides a useful resistance to Fire-type moves. Timburr works well against Munchlax, making it a good teammate. Timburr itself also causes problems to Charmander with its priority moves, and Duskull can be a good switch-in to it.

Item

Oran Berry

Nature

Adamant

EVs

HP 44 / Attack 180 / Defense 12 / Sp. Def 36 / Speed 236

Moves

Analysis

Although Dragon Dance Charmander is a fearsome threat in its own right, it seems outclassed by other Dragon Dance sweepers with better offensive stat layouts, most notably Dratini. However, what makes Charmander a decent user is its ability to take down Bronzor, which Dratini struggles to do. Flare Blitz is Charmander's STAB attack and primary attacking move, being able to even 2HKO the likes of Bronzor after a single boost from Dragon Dance. Brick Break allows Charmander to hit Pokemon who resist Flare Blitz, such as Houndour. Thunder Punch rounds off the set by providing Charmander with a reliable attack to strike Water-types with. Priority attacks are Charmander's bane, especially from Pokemon who have Aqua Jet, such as Carvanha, Totodile, Kabuto, Buizel, and Squirtle. Substitute can be used over Brick Break or Thunder Punch as a way to shield Charmander from priority attacks but if Charmander does run Substitute it won't be sweeping for long, as Life Orb, Flare Blitz recoil, and Substitute will quickly deplete all of Charmander's health. Wynaut can be a valuable partner to Charmander, as it is able to trap and remove many of the Choice item priority users who can end Charmander's sweep. Also, Wynaut can Encore a resisted attack or a support move, allowing for an easy set-up by Charmander. Dual screens courtesy of Bronzor can be very useful, as they also allow Charmander to set up much easier. Munchlax can switch into and defeat Chinchou, who completely walls Charmander. Also, Dratini can benefit from Charmander's presence on its team, as Charmander can heavily weaken Dratini's checks and counters, allowing it to have a much easier time sweeping.

Moves