Charizard: Then and Now

Back when I started playing the Pokemon TCG ten years ago...there was a force to be reckoned with in the meta in the form of Charizard. It was the most unstoppable thing back in the day. Everybody wanted it.

You took Charizard to tournaments and the only thing that could stop you was the famous Blastoise (still my favorite card). Other than that, you would destroy everyone at your local tournaments.

Flash forward to present day.

Today, upon my return to Pokemon tournaments after a 10-year hiatus, who do I see in my first round? Why, none other than Charizard. And in all this time, it hasn't missed a beat!


However, this one seemed much more frightening than the one from my early teens. This one can do up to 80 base damage for one fire energy, and it's all thanks to it's poke-body. Fire Formation allows Charizard to gain 10 more damage for each fire Pokemon in your bench.

This power alone makes it much more threatening than it's predecessor from my teen years. This one can deal a whopping base 130 damage with Burning Tail if you have a full bench (and that's not even applying weakness here). It certainly puts Fire Spin to shame.

By allowing Charizard to deal nearly 80 base damage (if your bench is full of fire pokemon) for one energy, you can clear your opponent's team for a clean sweep. This card is sweeping my local meta by storm...and there's barely any way to stop it quickly.

It seems that as time goes on, the titans of the past seem to get even stronger in this game. I don't even want to imagine what the Charizard of 2020 would look like!